An Interesting First Final Fixture Day

Today was the beginning of the simultaneous games experiment and it definitely could have gone worse. For those of you that didn't read yesterday's post, I'm choosing one game out of each of the concurrent sets and reporting on that since I'll have the alternate game spoiled by in-game updates. It's not a perfect system but it'll have to work for the next four days. Today I decided to watch South Africa vs France over Mexico vs Uruguay because if Mexico and Uruguay tied, they would both move on. In my mind, that meant that the game would be very cautious and boring, so I took a chance and watched the game featuring a discombobulated French team and a frenetic home squad. In hindsight, I'm actually pretty happy about that.


South Africa vs France

Both of these teams had been disappointing so far, but for different reasons. South Africa had a good opening match against Mexico but disappeared against Uruguay when it mattered the most. This was a chance for Bafana Bafana to get their fans into the game and maybe even make a charge at the knockouts stages. As everyone knows, France had been a mess in several different ways due to the rifts within their national team and with their coach. This game was a chance to bring their team together and even if they didn't make the next round and solve everything, they had a chance to bring a result back to France as recompense for at least some of the drama that had occurred during the last two weeks. Could one of these teams pull out a miracle and make it to the next round? Let's see.

France got an early chance when Andre-Pierre Gignac came in on goal in the 3rd minute, but South Africa's number two keeper Moeneeb Joesephs closed him down well. Then in the 10th, Djibril Cisse did well to get a head to a cross coming in but couldn't do any more than put it at the keeper. France may have had more half-chances early on but the game was pretty much a wash in possession. France did control more, but South Africa was able to hold the ball on the counter and none of France's possession was truly dangerous even if they were around the net. Everything changed in the 20th though when South Africa played a great ball in from a corner kick on the right hand side that French keeper Hugo Lloris came out to punch away but couldn't get a fist to. Waiting on the back post was Bongani Khumalo who came clear of his defender and put a good header into the back of the net. South Africa pulled ahead 1-0 and the crowd went wild. This is why it is so dangerous to be the home nation; the crowd swings can affect games and motivate lesser teams. No offense meant to South Africa, but they were the worst team on paper in Group A and would have to make it through on the strength of their fans.

South Africa was able to use this momentum moving forward, but were greatly helped by yet another debatable straight red card. While going up for a header, Yoann Gourcuff led too much with his elbow and ran it up into the cheek of a South African defender. The referee had seen enough right then and gave Gourcuff a red for an elbow. This is a very debatable red card and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, it was obviously not malicious. Gourcuff was just going up for a header and trying to stabilize himself, not throw at an opposing players' head. On the other hand, the elbow ran all the way up into the South African player's jaw and the referees had been previously instructed to fully penalize malicious elbows. After everything, I think the referee made a rash decision but I can definitely see why he did it. It's a tough card for the French to take, but I can't complain too much. From the 26th minute on, the French would have to work with 10 men, a difficult task for any team.

South Africa did not waste any time and in the 37th minute, they were able to put in a loose ball for a 2-0 lead. Tsepo Masilela drove the ball across the six yard box and after a battle with the defender, Katlego Mphela hammered in a tough goal to put South Africa up 2-0. As they pushed forward, South Africa had a goal disallowed in the 38th minute on an offsides, which was the right call in the end. After that, there was no other real action in the latter stages of the first half, except the action in the Uruguay vs Mexico match when the Uruguay side put a goal in via Luis Suarez at the back post. This goal gave life to the South African side, who needed a full result from the other game as well as a huge win to make it through. From here on out, the game would become a constant score check as South Africa needed to preserve their 2-0 lead while still gaining enough goals to move on to the next round. A difficult line to walk, but South Africa seemed able to do it early on.

France looked much better in the second half as they were able to move people forward. Early on, Franck Ribery made numerous runs into the attacking zone and got several good chances. In the 59th, Ribery made a nice run into the box but was shut down by Josephs. Then in the 66th, Ribery got free at the top of the box but rolled a shot in on the keeper that was easily saved. Despite the ease of those saves, Ribery did play a fantastic match that showcased a lot of unappreciated hustle and chances on goal. France may not be moving on but Ribery tried his best to get them moving and was a fantastic force in this game. France was somewhat rewarded in the 69th when Bacart Sagna played a lovely through ball into Ribery. Ribery smartly one-touched the ball across to substitute Florent Malouda who passed the ball into the goal to cut the deficit to 2-1. France stole a goal on South Africa, damning Bafana Bafana's plans for the next round which is a shame based on what we have seen from South Africa so far. There were several chances in the later game but South Africa was unable to gain a result that would allow them passage to the elimination stages. Uruguay beat Mexico 1-0 but South Africa's goal differential was not enough to see them through. This was the first time a host country would not make the second round and it was a shame. Not so much because of their quality of play, but because of the excellent organization and the fan support. It will be a shame to move on in the tournament without them, but I don't doubt their fans will provide appropriate support for the other squads.

South Africa 2 - 1 France


Greece vs Argentina

I chose this game because I thought that Greece would have to press forward more and it could turn into a wide open match with Argentina gaining plenty of chances. It's not that I thought South Korea vs Nigeria would be boring, I just thought that it would be more fun to watch Lionel Messi than a potential stalemate that ended in a tie. As it turns out, I was half right about the Nigeria vs South Korea match and probably should have watched that one instead. Even with that being said, the Argentina vs Greece game produced many interesting moments. In the first twenty minutes or so, Argentina held the majority of chances but couldn't put anything on goal. Then in the 32nd, Diego Milito threw a pass across the front of the goal that keeper Alexandros Tzorvas couldn't get to and Sergio Aguero put a shot on goal for Argentina that Tzorvas got across to block. Excellent block on an open shot. As time went on, we found out that South Korea tied up Nigeria, putting them through if everything held the same. Despite being down and outclassed, Greece needed to push forward and gain some possession as only goals could save them now. This was too tall of an order though because Argentina possessed too much superior skill and was able to drag possession on throughout the match. While a tie favored Argentina and put them through in first place, they were not short of attacking moves as they pressured the Greek defense throughout. The breakthrough came in the 77th minute when Martin Demichelis cleaned up a loose ball inside the Argentine offensive six. Demichelis headed a ball on goal that his own man got in the way of and inadvertently touched back out to him. He made no mistake the second time as his strong shot found the back of the net easily, putting Argentina up 1-0. Even with their need to push forward, Greece was abused yet again in the 89th when Messi made a clever touch to the middle and ripped a shot on goal. Keeper Tzorvas was able to get a touch to it, but the rebound fell directly to substitute Martin Palermo who finished calmly into the back corner, making it look easier than it actually was. They didn't need this extra goal, but Argentina used it to secure their first place and let things sort out as they would.

Argentina 2 - 0 Greece


Uruguay would move on in the first spot from Group A and Mexico would take the second spot. This left Argentina in first in Group B and South Korea in second, giving us our first set of elimination match-ups:

Uruguay vs South Korea
Argentina vs Mexico

I loved how these matches were in doubt until the very end and I'm looking forward even more to the United States match. I'm nervous even thinking about it. I hope this was useful to describe today's games and I'll talk to you tomorrow about the US match. Let's just hope it's something I actually want to talk about.