Day Two

The Match of the Century ended up as a draw, just like the War of 1812, but just like that war, the tie was mostly caused by English screw-ups. I ended up watching the match at a local establishment, since I decided that I needed fellow fans (and beer) to make it through 90 minutes of USA vs. England.

After Gerrard's breakaway goal in the fifth minute (1-0 Engerlald) , it looked like the USA hadn't bothered to show up, and would be a long day for our boys in red, white, and blue, Then after Rob Green fumbled Clint Dempsey's strike in the 40th minute (1-1 tie!), I figured it would be another long afternoon, since it was going to be one of those games.

England is a really boring team to watch when they're trying to protect a lead, but they're even more boring when they're trying to break one. The entire second half was like a Johnny Horton song, where we fired our long balls but the British kept a' comin', firing long balls of their own. Kick, kick, kick, kick, with no sustained posessions. There were chances for both teams in the second half, but they were both playing to tie, so a tie was the most logical ending for both teams.

This means absolutely nothing in the short term, since both the USA and England should advance to the knockouts from a weak group, but it the long term it means that neither team is very strong against top-flight competition. But after a second place in the Confederations Cup, and draws in the World Cup against Italy and England, it's time for the rest of the world to stop making jokes about "American Soccer".

In the earlier games, South Korea beat Greece 2-0 and Argentina beat Nigeria 1-0. I forgot that Korea is fun to watch, since they attack constantly and don't play defense. This will probably hurt them against Argentina, but it wasn't much problem against the Greeks. And Argentina has a loaded team (Messi, Higuain, Tevez, Milito, etal) who should never lose a game, but they don't really play together that well. They should have scored 4 or 5 goals against Nigeria, but didn't because the chemistry was off, and the Nigerian goalkeeper was stopping everything!

Three games tomorrow: Algeria vs. Slovenia, Ghana vs. Serbia, and Australia vs. Germany. I don't have much interest in these matchups (other than go Socceroos!), so I might take the blogging day off unless something interesting happens.

Kicking off day one

The World Cup kicked off today with two draws in Group A, South Africa vs. Mexico (1-1) and Uruguay vs. France (0-0).



Fans in South Africa were fired up for the first game, screaming and blowing vuvuzelas for all 90 minutes. The game started at 6am, but I watched it time-shifted a bit later at a more normal hour. They don't break for commercials in soccer, but skipping the pregame and halftime means watching a game in 90 minutes instead of two hours, and those half hours saved add up over time. It was nice to see ESPN using international broadcasters instead of American novices for this Cup, and even nicer that they mixed the commentary high enough above all the vuvuzela humming.

The USA and Mexico have an intense CONCACAF rivalry, so American fans are required to cheer against Mexico, which made it easier for me to pick a side in this match -- South Africa all the way! They held their own for most of the game, and even took a lead early in the 50th minute before conceding a Mexican equalizer from Rafa Marquez in the 70th minute.

Even though I cheer against Mexico, Rafa is a (now former) Barcelona player, and I was glad to see one of my guys get a goal. Made me wish I was watching live so I could switch to Univision to hear the 30 second "Gooooool!" call whenever Mexico scores.



The South Africans were the underdogs, so holding Mexico to a tie was a great result for them and a setback for the Mexicans. The second game between France and Uruguay was also a matchup between a favorite and a determined underdog. When we were studying South America in sixth grade, I was assigned Uruguay (or "you're a gay" as my classmates pronounced it) as my country. This is my only connection to Uruguay, but 34 years later, I still know that its population is three million, its chief exports are soccer (two World Cup wins) and grain, and its capital is Montevideo, which is namechecked in this song by the Monochrome Set.



Because of my sixth grade assignment, I was pulling for Uruguay against France. They held the French pretty well, but didn't move the ball at all, especially when they were down to ten men. It was a pretty dull game until the last ten minutes, and it ended in a scoreless draw. There might be football purists who like the tactics of a defensive struggle, but there is nothing more boring than a 0-0 soccer game. It's a shame that these always happen in the World Cup final when the world is watching.

Three games tomorrow: South Korea vs. Greece, Argentina vs. Nigeria, and the USA vs. England. The last one should be the most watched soccer game in US history, surpassing the 20 million who watched the 2006 Cup Final. Hopefully this will shut up idiots like Glenn Beck who say "Americans don't like soccer".

My Cup Picks

Now that I've gone through all the groups, here are my picks for the 2010 World Cup. The draws are based on who finishes first and second in each group, with A1 vs B2 and C1 vs D2, etc., so it's possible to be way off.

I tried to pick "paint" (favorites) as much as possible in the groups, then went with my gut, ending up with two African teams (Nigeria and Cameroon) in the final 8, and two South American teams in the finals, which probably won't actually happen. Luckily I'm not betting any real money on this.

Final 16
Group A: France, Mexico
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria
Group C: England, USA
Group D: Germany, Serbia
Group E: Netherlands, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay
Group G: Brazil, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Chile

Final 8
Argentina,Brazil,Germany,England,Netherlands,Nigeria,Cameroon,Spain

Final 4
Argentina, England, Brazil, Spain

Final
Argentina vs. Brazil

Champion
Brazil

The Cup kicks off tomorrow, and SBNation has the 2010 World Cup Likability Index for clueless Americans still wondering who to cheer on.

Grupo H

Wrapping up my World Cup breakdown with Group H:

Spain
Honduras
Chile
Switzerland

Another group with a clear cut favorite (Spain) and a bunch of teams vying for the second slot. Spain has a history of underachieving in the World Cup, but they're excessively talented and won the most recent European Cup, so they might be ready to put that history behind them. The Chileans also have a spotty Cup History, but were the second qualifiers from CONMEBOL after Brazil, so they should be the favorites for the second knockout slot (and an inevitable loss to Brazil). Honduras and Switzerland are the underdogs in this group, but not exactly easy sailing for the other two teams.

I'll do my predictions tomorrow, then let the games begin!

Grupo G

Continuing my Cup breakdown with Group G:

Brazil
Portugal
Ivory Coast
North Korea


This looks to be another group of death, with three strong teams (Brazil, Portugal, and Côte d'Ivoire) vying for two positions, but the North Koreans might be battling the NZ All Whites as the weakest team in the tournament.

The Brazilians are the five time champs who have been in every World Cup, and are probably the favorites in this one as the #1 SPI team in the world. They don't have Ronaldihno, but Kaka, Fabiano, and Dani Alvez make the core of a strong team that should contend for the title.

Portugal is another contender for the title with a front line of Cristiano Ronaldo (one of the top players in the world) and Nani (who replaced Ronaldo at Man United), but now that Nani is out, Portugal might be another one man team. The Ivory Coast are at least a two man team, with Chelsea's front line of Didier Drogba and Solomon Kalou, but now that Drogba is doubtful, Côte d'Ivoire are also doubtful to make it to the next round, even with their African advantage.

Apparently North Korea are the new Dukla Prague as far as being the ironic soccer gear of this World Cup. They're a very "secretive" country and part of the Axis of Evil, and they've only been to the World Cup one time in their history. Nobody knows what to expect from North Korea, but no one expects very much. Brazil and Portugal should breeze to the finals.

Grupo F

Continuing my Cup breakdown with Group F:

Italy
Paraguay
Slovakia
New Zealand

The Italians are the defending World Cup champs and it seems like they've drawn a fairly weak group this time so they should breeze into the next round. On the other hand, their core players (same ones from 2006) are all four years older, they've dropped down to #11 in World SPI and usually don't play well outside of Europe, so they probably won't repeat, but shouldn't have much trouble with this group.

Paraguay seems to be the odds on favorite for second place, which gives them the right to lose to the Netherlands in the first knockout stage. This is Slovakia's first appearance in the Cup Finals, so they're young and inexperienced but might also contend for second place and the right to lose to the Dutch.

I was in New Zealand last year when they qualified for the World Cup, only their second appearance ever and their first since 1982. Rugby union rules the NZ sporting world, and soccer is even a more minor sport there than it is in the US, but it was a big deal for the All Whites to even make the World Cup. I'll be cheering hard for them, but they really don't have a chance.

Grupo E

Today's Cup breakdown looks at Group E (as in Eclectic):

Netherlands
Denmark
Cameroon
Japan

Just like Spain, it's hard to believe that the Dutch have never won a World Cup. They're ranked #5 in the World in SPI, but tend to underachieve on the international stage. This group looks to be ripe for the Netherlands to take, but it's not inconceivable to see them struggling to make the next round after losing to Denmark or Cameroon.

Cameroon seems like a good choice for the second spot, with a home continent advantage and another one of the top players in the World (Samuel Eto'o) at the top of his game after winning back to back UEFA Championships for Barca and Inter. I watched one of their warmup matches, against Serbia, and they seem to be a one man team, but it's one of the best men you could have on a team besides Messi or Ronaldo.

Denmark is the sole Scandinavian team in World Cup 2010, advancing to the tournament after beating Sweden last November. They're another country that doesn't have a very strong record in World or European Cups, but a lot of young talent that might surprise someone. The key for the Danes is their second match against Cameroon.

Japan looks to be overmatched in this group and probably won't win any games, but they do have a cool J-punk anime World Cup theme (without any words). Vamos Nippon!