Day 1 in the Books

I wish that I hadn't used the phrase "fraught with peril" in my original post because I desperately want to use that phrase again. And, by the rules of writing, my acknowledgment of this repetition allows me to use it acceptably. So, I say that today's adventure of not-hearing-about-the-scores-at-all-until-I-watch-the-games-on-DVR was fraught with peril. At roughly 9:30am today (the same time I accidentally picked all favorites in my boss's office pool for the World Cup because the deadline closed as I was making picks) I gave my "please don't tell me what happens in the World Cup" speech to my coworkers. This was treated with some head nodding and several mischievous grins. I was frightened. Then, around 10:30, a TV to my 2 o'clock was put on ESPN in an attempt to watch World Cup games while at work. Thank god we didn't get the channel or I would have had an immense amount of trouble averting my eyes and keeping today's events shrouded in mystery. Yes I could have tuned in but my whole mission is to give these games their appropriate due and handle them as the event they are. Regardless, other than these scares, everything went fairly smoothly at work. Louder than normal music in the headphones to avoid overhearing conversations, a healthy fear of people I hadn't discussed my situation with, headphones blaring all through my lunch break, and so forth helped me avoid all information. The funny thing is that as I was leaving, my scariest encounter of the day occurred with a Portuguese coworker confronting me about my mistreatment of Portugal in our office pool (the aforementioned pool that I didn't get a chance to complete). Thankfully all it took was several awkward placating comments and general restraint from how mentioning that Christiano Ronaldo is a diving ponce and I was in the clear.

Well, from work. I came home and avoided all outside world contact for a while and then left around seven to go play soccer. Soccer. I was willfully going to a field where 75 or so people were who all played the sport that was currently being played at its most dramatic level and who were each a walking (and occasionally running or prancing) landmine of information about today's events. Credit to everyone on my team though who respected my wishes of not knowing about the World Cup games and didn't tell me anything. The scariest moment was easily between the official and a player on the opposite team. I caught "oh yeah, that was a fantastic game" off to my side and that was enough to send me running on a completely ill advised corner sprint in an attempt to receive a pass that I knew would never come. All of this said, I made it back to the apartment with no knowledge of what had occurred and a DVR full of glorious games. Well, somewhat glorious. Let's just get to the games.

Mexico vs South Africa

This had all the makings of a super cautious opening match and I was fearful that it wasn't going to be worth all the risks from the day. South Africa, a lowly side that just happens to be the home side, has no reason to overcompensate in the first game. They needed a result to give something for the fans to get excited about so that the fanatical support would continue into the latter games and that could easily lend itself to a very conservative effort. And Mexico, a country well versed in the history and strategy of World Cup games, needed to not suffer an embarrassing loss in an opening game that would put them in a poor position to advance considering how competitive this group will be. I was worried that this would be a usual "feel them out" type of game that came with a couple of chances but nothing spectacular. Thankfully, I was proven wrong in what was easily the more entertaining match of the day.

The game did start out somewhat how I envisioned with both sides probing the other to test their shape and style of play. This, of course, furthered my worry and made me more anxious for quality chances. Mexico held the majority of possession earlier but didn't really create any dangerous chances, save a couple sketchy moments in the early minutes and a fierce Giovani Dos Santos shot that tailed away rather than curving in during the 19th minute (preemptive apology on my record of minutes as I tried to note them as they were happening but may be off by one here or there). I remember thinking "yeah, you have the ball but who cares" because they weren't doing enough with their chances. Then in the 33rd, Guillermo Franco received a beautiful ball into the box, played it perfectly to his feet off of his chest, but somehow still wasn't good enough to beat South African keeper Itumeleng Khune who made a quick one-handed save to deny an early goal. Khune was on top of his game throughout the match and was very impressive despite his youth and inexperience. And South Africa would most definitely need this performace as the match went on.

Later, in the 37th, Mexico seemed to put in the initial goal off of a blown assignment on a corner kick. However, the play was flagged offside and the goal was disallowed, prompting slightly confused cheers from the South African faithful. Now, I had to have this explained to me after the fact so my description may not be valid. But what I am told is that the offsides rule is based on being behind the "last defender" to create a one-on-goalie situation. On this play, the goalie came out of the box and the defender standing on the goal line clearly held the Mexican attacker onside. However, once the goalie enters the feel of play then he becomes the last defender and the man on the line is considered in the goalie position, therefore making the offside call valid (but still very close) because the attacker was behind all but one player (the "goalie"). I'm still not sure how I feel about it but if I have transcribed the rule correctly then a rule is a rule and Mexico was kept off the scoreboard.

A quick recap of the half is simple: Mexico dominated possession but just couldn't seem to put the last pass/shot in. They had a lot of room down the right flank, especially on switches, but couldn't convert that into goals on the board. To their credit, South Africa recovered from a shaky opening few minutes, and even some shaky minutes during those near Mexican goals, to pressure Mexico in the second half and make a Mexican pessimist think that they would steal a goal from a half that they didn't deserve. This didn't happen though and Mexico went into the half as the better team but with nothing to show for it.

The second half started with South Africa on a mission to even out play and keep Mexico from dictating everything. And it worked. They fought for more balls, they were tighter on the ball, and they were especially efficient in working quick passes out of the back rather than just booting it upfield to clear the ball while turning it back over. This came to a head in the 55th minute when three perfect passes including a beautiful lead pass into the eighteen set up Siphiwe Tshabalala to finish with a simply spectacular back post upper ninety shot. Superb soccer and a goal that left Mexico, the team who had still dominated the majority of the play, looking dumbfounded. Well, momentarily dumbfounded. South Africa came out of that goal with momentum but Mexico quickly took possession and starting looking forward in an attempt to take back control of the game. In the 60th, Dos Santos took a bounce off a defender inside from the right of goal and unleashed a nasty shot to the near side upper ninety hoping to catch Khune offguard. The South African keeper was up to task though and made a snap two-handed save on a shot that looked destined to tie the game.

Mexico kept up the pressure, although South Africa looked like a different team in the first half. Gone were the awkward clears and turnovers that plagued the backs and in place were quick touches to both clear the defensive zone and push the attack forward. South Africa pushed well and was almost rewarded in the 66th on a shot on the back side of goal that simply should have been put in. Unfortunately this would prove costly as Mexico would continue their ball possession and put in a relatively easy goal in the 79th minute. No less than three attackers were unmarked on the back post and Rafa Marquez finished a ball that maybe should have been played back across to a teammate. But it was a goal, so no one will find fault with his decision making. After the tying goal, South Africa seemed to get the better of the chances in the last thirteen or so minutes, even hitting the post in the 90th in an attempt to gain a victory. It was not to be though as the match ended 1-1 leaving both teams very alive but perhaps somewhat frustrated. Mexico may have been the loser here, however, as they "should have" beat a very low ranked South African side and now need to go up against the likes of Uruguay and France. Still, an entertaining game with plenty of chances and solid drama at the end.

A few random notes about the game: I said this before, but Khane was very impressive in goal. No notable bad decisions and several excellent saves. He may be young, but he is giving South Africa the chance that they need so far. Even so, the best player on the pitch was Giovani Dos Santos. He unleashed several fierce shots on goal and created opportunities whenever he was in the offensive third. Not only did he create once he was given the ball, but he showed for the ball constantly and proved that he is a player who is not afraid to take responsibility for the play of his team. On the somewhat other hand, Guillermo Franco wasted the opportunities that he was given during the course of play. It is often difficult to say when headers should or shouldn't be dealt with better, but Franco seemed to be lacking that finishing touch when his team needed him. This isn't an indictment on him as a player or anything, just an observation about who could have changed the game and didn't. Lastly, highly touted South African forward Steven Pienaar didn't have as much of an impact on the match as he perhaps was supposed to. He wasn't poor on the ball and he wasn't a complete no-show getting lost in the game. But he didn't put his stamp on the game either and I'm certain left the South African fans wanting more.

South Africa 1 - 1 Mexico


Uruguay vs France

I'll be completely honest here: I wish I hadn't written so much about the first game because now this game will seem paltry by comparison. However, in my defense, that is a direct result of the game rather than a lack of energy on my part. This game was fairly boring from beginning to end. Of course there were chances and of course there were tense moments. But when your notes read "cautious game so far up to the 12th..," "still ok but not that great," "into the 59th and still cautious," and "65th and still boring," what else is there really to say about such a match?

The game was incredibly cautious early on with the theme of the game becoming clear: France holding more possession, but ineffective possession as Uruguay plays solid defense and negates all pushes forward. France had a chance early in the game off of a cross in the 7th, but just couldn't bury the goal that could have broken the game wide open. As a result, I blame them for everything else I watched. Diego Forlan looked dangerous up top all game for Uruguay and unleashed an impressive shot in the 16th minute, but one that was still handled by Hugo Lloris, the French keeper. France had a chance off of a free kick in the 18th but couldn't take advantage. This was pretty much the theme through the rest of the first half and into the second. I would love to tell you more, love to gush about the inspired play and effort, but nothing about this part of the game was impressive. It was constant probing by France, only to be met by a stout Uruguayan defense that would lead to some possession by Uruguay in France's defensive end. Uruguay's defense went so far as to cause my friend to call Franck Ribery a "bad player" and based on the results he showed, it's really hard to argue.

Forlan put another chance wide in the 73rd, which is the last real chance that Uruguay had in the game as Nicolas Lodeiro was sent off in the 81st on a reckless challenge that gave him his second yellow card of the match. This is one of those indefensible fouls that players take from time to time, one that you can't even get upset at the refs about if you're being honest with yourself. Essentially at half field, Lodeiro went into a challenge with studs up and cleaned out a French player roughly calf high. Do I think he was acting maliciously and meant to do grave bodily harm? Definitely not. But this is the kind of dumb challenge that costs teams games because they are set down a man.

Fortunately for Lodeiro, France did no better figuring out Uruguay with ten men than they did when it was still 11 v 11. Uruguay played superb defense to finish the game out and the most dangerous chance France had was on a free kick taken by Thierry Henry that was wasted at best. Overall, this game was boring. Sorry, but there's not much else to say. Both teams played relatively cautious and Uruguay's defensive style did not do much to help matters, though one can hardly find them at fault for doing so. France's attack was reduced to meaningless square passes and probing that never seemed to really break apart the shell that Uruguay had put up. I had hoped for better, but of course I did. What fan wouldn't want to see better soccer in any game?

France 0 - 0 Uruguay


Oh well. I'm off to get five hours of sleep before the South Korea vs Greece match and while I know that I will be exhausted, I couldn't be happier. Thanks for reading and I'll be coming back tomorrow.