This world cup provided some amazing plays and showcased some amazing players;
World Cup Finals
Diego Forlan won the adidas Golden Ball
Thomas Mueller won the adidas Golden Boot
Iker Casillas won the adidas Golden Glove
Thomas Mueller won the best young player award
Bookmark this post with;
The Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez has put together a plan of action to stop star Netherlands play maker Robben;
Robben & Van Persie
Sebastian Abreu the man who finnished off Ghana in the penalty shoot out, said: “Tabarez has been talking to us about Robben and how to stop a player like him. But it’s always different when you are on the field. So we know how to do it but whether the actual execution actually comes off is another thing.”
“Tabarez has asked us to concentrate fully, not just in the matches, but also in training,” added Abreu. “He is very satisfied with our work. Looking at the Dutch, we have watched a lot of videos on their team because we don’t know too much about them. The Netherlands and Uruguay play very similar football but they have very good potential in their attack, with very clever players like [Wesley] Sneijder and Robben.”
Bookmark this post with;
I have resisted the urge to blog about the dismal performance of England at the 2010 world cup – but heres my two pence worth… for what its worth.
England Down And Out
The England team I saw lacked spark, imagination and pace – against all of the teams that they played I would not rate any of their defenders as the best in the world, at least not any better than what most of the players play against week in week out in the English premiership, yet they were unable to break through and create any real chances. There was a real lack of quality crosses into the box and what appeared to be an unwillingness to beat the defenders.
Thomas Mueller, the German who scored two goals against England, said;
“It is difficult to have so many ‘alpha males’ and have them row in the same direction,”
“You don’t only need chiefs, you also need a few Indians. You need people who are willing to do the hard work.”
“It may be a problem with England that players are simply not mentally prepared to go that extra mile for their team-mates.”
I think that its unfair to single out any individual player as there were many who had bad tournaments Rooney, Heskey, Terry, Barry and of course Capello.
I can only tell of the agonising disappointment I felt I watched at my local sports bar/pub, The Westlake Arms in the southern suburbs of Cape Town with my wife and friends around me as we went down 4-1. Above all the team seemed to lack passion – which is what made it even worse!
Bookmark this post with;
Portugal V Brazil turned out to be a very low key game except for the high amount of yellow cards in the first half (7). kaka was suspended as he recieved two yellow cards in the previous match with Côte d’Ivoire and Brazil also rested star striker/play maker Robinho which probably had a large impact on the quality of the match.
Christiano Ronaldo was voted man of the match as he was probably the most exciting player in an otherwise dull match played in Durban.
This dull draw ensured Portugal went through to the 2nd round even though Côte d’Ivoire won their game 3 – 0 against Korea.
Korea V Ivory Coast on Fifa.com
Bookmark this post with;
Three excellent games yesterday with plenty of goals, thrills and red cards!
Argentina 4:1 Korea Republic – Johannesburg, Soccer City Stadium
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=249722/match=300061460/index.html
Greece 2 – 1 Nigeria – Mangaung/Bloemfontein, Free State Stadium (1 red card)
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=249722/match=300061457/index.html
France 0 – 2 Mexico – Polokwane, Peter Mokaba Stadium
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=249722/match=300061451/index.html
Bookmark this post with;
South Africa were crushed by Uruguay by 3 goals to 0 as two goals came from Diego Forlan and one from Alvaro Pereira. Forlans first goal is clearly the best strike of the world cup so far!
Diego Forlan
Diego Forlan celebrates
Several of the South African players and the South African coach Carlos Alberto Parreira have made comments that the ref was making many bad decisions and gave Uruguay many of the 50/50 calls!
Detailed match analysis at Fifa.com
Bookmark this post with;
Spain go down to minows Switzerland by a single goal from Gelson Fernandes – so far this is the biggest upset of the 2010 world cup!
Gelson Fernandes - Swiss scorer
For full match review visit Fifa.com
Bookmark this post with;
Beautiful image of the Cape Town stadium before the Italy Paraguay game;
Bookmark this post with;
A quick round up from around the web of all the latest news from the 2010 world cup;
BBC recieves 545 vuvzela complaints
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10317767.stm
Cape Town City report on second match at Stadium
http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/Pages/CitysreportbackonMondaysWorldCupmatch.aspx
Italy V Paraguay Match Report
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=249722/match=300061484/summary.html
Franz Beckenbauer criticises England
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8740637.stm
Bookmark this post with;
The first real nail biter of the 2010 world cup – Japan beat Cameroon 1 – 0 in Bloemfontein
No real match analysis.. I just wanted to say that I was rooting for Cameroon and I feel really bad for them (not as bad as I did on Saturday when Green let that USA shot slip through his fingers) as they really threw everything at the Japs in the last 15 minutes of the game!
From my unexperienced eye Samuel Eto’o was under utilised and seemed frustrated as he was out of his normal position.
Bookmark this post with;
BBC World Cup News
