A Mild Hiccup

I must admit, today was the first day I had any problems with my plan to watch every game possible, which is embarrassing because it was a Sunday and I was available to watch all the games. What happened: I woke up this morning in time for the Paraguay vs Slovakia game, went out into the living room and set up on the couch with my notepad and pen in hand... and then I promptly fell asleep. I place the blame fully upon my friends who made me stay up late the night before. I was an innocent victim in all of this, of course. But let's not argue over who caused who to miss parts of a World Cup game. I did see pieces of the game in between mini naps and I of course went back to view highlights, so I can still make commentary on this. But I decided to be honest with you about my failure. Accordingly, this summary will be shorter than normal because I'm not going to fake like I saw it all in the run of play.


Slovakia vs Paraguay

Slovakia had a backbreaking goal scored on them last week by New Zealand with roughly 30 seconds to play so today's game against Paraguay was important for them to get back on track. Paraguay was moving in the opposite direction after an important tie over reigning champions Italy and this game was an opportunity for them to take control of the group and make a real name for their team. Both teams showed an ability to retreat into a solid defensive shell in their first match but with that common trait present here, teams would need to show an ability to break down the opponent's defense and not just sit back doing nothing. As it turns out, one of those teams showed that ability.

Through the first twenty minutes or so, Paraguay looked to be the more dangerous team due to their ability to possess and attack. Their trio of strikers (Nelson Haedo Valdez, Roque Santa Cruz, and Lucas Barrios) were able to cause havoc in front, such as early on when Cruz put a shot on goal that was deflected and forced a save from Slovakian keeper Jan Mucha. Most of the first half was played in the Slovakian's defensive third and the chances going the other way were few and far between. In the 27th, Paraguay was rewarded for their ability to push forward when Enrique Vera put a gorgeous outside of the foot finish in the back of the net. Barrios put a great ball through to Vera who beat a Slovakian defender to the spot and used the outside of his right foot to bend the ball past Mucha to change the face of the game. The pass from Barrios was well done but the skill by Vera to not only get a touch on the ball but to put it where he did was highly impressive. Fantastic goal for Vera and a much deserved goal for Paraguay.

Throughout the match, Slovakia seemed content to play for a draw, which I still don't understand since they have Italy to play next week and they can't expect to get a result automatically out of them. Once the goal went in, I thought that might change but they still seemed as timid as normal and to be honest, they never made a serious charge to get a result. Slovakia's strength is definitely their organized defense but down 1-0, you can't rely on that to get you through somehow. In fact, Slovakia only took six shots during the match, only one on goal. You don't deserve a chance at a win if you refuse to take the risk to make it happen. Paraguay controlled the rest of the match and took advantage of Slovakia's passive play to get chance after chance and eventually put in an unnecessary second goal when Christian Riveros collected a ball after a scramble on a corner kick and put it past all defenders into the left hand side of the goal. Paraguay dominated play anyway but this was a good finish by Riveros to cap the game off. Paraguay showed the ability to defend in the first match and in this game they showed their willingness to attack. Atop the standings now, Paraguay would have to wait to see how the Italy vs New Zealand game played out to determine their chances for the future.

Paraguay 2 -0 Slovakia


New Zealand vs Italy

This looked like an absolute laugher of a game going in. Italy is the defending World Cup champion and the toughest team New Zealand beat to qualify for the tournament was Bahrain. How could the Kiwis expect to stand up to the skill and experience of the Italians? Surprisingly, this was a question that actually had an answer. Play started even enough with possession going both ways but no real chances. The complexion of the game changed completely when New Zealand took a free kick from the left hand side of the field. The ball cleared all defenders and then Fabio Cannavoro couldn't control a touch off his thigh which Shane Smeltz touched in past second string keeper Federico Marchetti. Great hustle by Smeltz and the Italians were left to stand around and wonder what happened. Just to address all issues though, there may have been a flick on by a New Zealand player to free up Smeltz at the back post that would have put Smeltz offside. I watched this replay ten different times and I still can't say if the touch happened or not. Because it was so close, I have no problem with the ref letting things play on and it resulted in a completely unexpected New Zealand goal. Amazing start to the match.

Italy took immediate offense to this insult to their ability and endeavored to dominate the rest of the game. From here on out, it was constant pressure on New Zealand's defense and it became a question of whether or not the All Whites (I swear that's not a racist comment) could hold on. In the 22nd, Gianluca Zambrotta was given no resistance down the right hand side so he took a couple of touches and stepped into an impressive shot that went just over the left upper ninety. Very nice shot that could have easily put tied up this match. That, instead, would happen six minutes later when Daniele De Rossi was "fouled" in the box on a cross in and Italy was rewarded a penalty. To be clear, I understand that a foul was committed on De Rossi. The New Zealand defender has a grip on his jersey and to some degree was preventing him from moving forward. That being said, it is a really, really weak penalty to call. De Rossi went to ground to draw attention to the foul but a grip of a jersey on a cross in is a tough thing to take for the Kiwis. Vincenzo Iaquinta stepped up to take the PK and got Mark Paston to go the other way as he took a well placed kick into the right side about medium height. Well taken penalty kick but a really questionable call to set it up.

From here on out, Italy pushed forward as hard as they could in order to challenge the New Zealand defense. The Kiwis stayed compact to keep further damage from coming through, which allowed the Italians to run at them. The New Zealand defense stood solid as they repelled attack after attack from the Italians. Italy didn't even have a solid chance until the 70th minute when Riccardo Montolivo let a pass run onto his right foot and ripped a shot that Paston was mildly screened on but still got a strong right hand to. Amazing, fantastic save from Paston who did very well to keep his team in the match. Strangely enough, the next best chance came from New Zealand in the 83rd minute when substitute Chris Wood got a deflection off of a defender and took a left footed shot from the left hand side of goal that just skittered past the back post by a foot at most. Amazing play by Wood to almost steal a full result from the defending champions. As it stood, New Zealand was able to hold on to the draw and create one of the most improbable results in the entire tournament. Due to this slip up, the Group F standings looked all kinds of ridiculous:

Paraguay - 4 Points - +2 Goal Differential
Italy - 2 Points - 0 Goal Differential
New Zealand - 2 Points - 0 Goal Differential
Slovakia - 1 Point - -2 Goal Differential

Italy now needs a result against Slovakia in order to put themselves into the knockout round while New Zealand could take a result against Paraguay and still make it through. Outstanding drama and this makes for a nail-biting last week for all Italians and Group F in general.


Ivory Coast vs Brazil

This was the game I was most looking forward to today as I assumed the Ivory Coast would come into this game hungry and looking for a result after they managed to tie Portugal in their opening match. Of course, in an effort to spite me and me alone, the Ivory Coast refused to show up to this match. The first 20 minutes or so went by easily enough as both teams held the ball innocuously without really pushing forward to challenge the defense. The first goal came in the 25th minute when Kaka was able to gain control of the ball after a challenge from an Ivorian defender and put a beautiful through ball to Luis Fabiano. Fabiano was on a terrible angle and had no one to play a cross to, so he channeled a little Landon Donovan (yes, of course that's an absurd comparison) and roofed keeper Boubacar Barry to put in Brazil's first goal. Amazing strike from Fabiano and a great sequence in general to put Brazil ahead.

What I expected the Ivory Coast to do was come back hard at Brazil and work to level the match. What I did not expect was for them to do exactly what they did, which was sit back and act like they hadn't been scored on. I still can't believe that a goal by Brazil couldn't get a team up to a challenge and push forward. But the Ivory Coast did nothing. Brazil had the majority of the chances through the second half and deserved to go to the break up 1-0. Unsurprisingly enough (after watching the first half), Brazil came out and dominated the second half. They were quickly rewarded in the 51st minute when Fabiano had an amazing series of touches to score Brazil's second goal. Fabiano brought down the ball partly with his hand (Handball #1), touched the ball away from a defender, touched the ball over another defender, brought it down with his bicep (at best, Handball #2) and then took a shot on goal that the keeper got a hand to but couldn't stop. Great individual skill from Fabiano but a goal that should have been brought back for any number of infractions.

Up 2-0 in the second half, no one could expect Brazil to give up the lead and they would be right. Brazil even made things worse for the Ivory Coast when Kaka made a dedicated run to the endline and played a ball back across the middle to Elano who touched it well inside the right post for a third goal. At this point, it was just embarrassing for the Ivory Coast who should have been more aggressive and instead was the victim of yet another goal. The only thing worth mentioning about the rest of the game for the Ivory Coast was the beautiful goal that Didier Drogba scored in the 79th minute. A cross came in from the left hand side of goal and Drogba timed his run perfectly to run on to that cross and delicately touch the ball into the right corner of the net. Brilliant goal but way too late for the Ivory Coast to do anything about the end result. There was some scuffling at the end including Kaka getting a double yellow for a dive by an Ivorian, but I really don't want to give it the time of day. The fact of the matter is that Brazil dominated this game and the Ivory Coast did nothing to show that they belonged in the knockout stages.

Brazil 3 - 1 Ivory Coast


Today's post has taken entirely too long to write because of my interest in random terrible things on television, so it's about time that I stopped for now. I hope you enjoyed this interesting day's worth of games and I hope you tune in tomorrow for Portugal vs North Korea and the results from Group H. Just for the record, I would be shocked if Spain beats Honduras by less than three goals. I'm sure I'll regret that later when it's been proven untrue, but I'm willing to put it up for anyone to see. Lastly, if you're enjoying this blog or even visiting casually, please become a follower and leave some comments. I enjoy writing about the games but it would also be nice to get some discussion going as well.

Enjoy.