So, I Hear Argentina is Kind of Good?

I have to admit, today is the first day that I've really wanted to go to sleep instead of watch the World Cup games. For the record, I don't blame the matches in the least because they were all highly entertaining. I instead blame the Lakers and Celtics for going to seven games and pushing back my DVR schedule to the point where sleeping started to become more valuable than watching. I only got one game in before Game 7 started, which meant I started my last two games at midnight, meaning I most likely wasn't going to bed until between 4-5. On the plus side, mark today down as yet another day when I didn't accidentally learn the scores of any of the games. And today was a low tension day, unlike Tuesday when I walked by some people discussing one of the games and had to literally cover my ears with my hands and say "la la la la la" to keep from hearing what was going on. Yes, I really did that so feel free to judge. Regardless, my severe lack of sleep would have to wait for the weekend as I soldiered ahead and took in another day's worth of games.


South Korea vs Argentina

This just in: Argentina is really, really good on offense. I know this is no surprise to most of you, especially after the first game where they carved up Nigeria despite only scoring one goal. They have the best player in the world in Lionel Messi, talented attackers such as Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain, and a pressure creating style that makes it hard for defenses to hold up for 90 minutes. The 1-0 score against Nigeria was on the one hand misleading because they were better than that all game and should have scored several times. On the other hand, they were better than that all game and should have scored several times. My point is that before this game, it was still a question if Argentina could do more than play pretty football and actually capitalize on chances in their attempt to win the Cup. I think today's game proved that they at least have a handle on the goal scoring part.

Argentina was the dominant force in the game early on and started creating chances in the 8th minute when Higuain just missed getting on the end of a cross after a solid build-up. South Korea was able to get some possession here and there, but it was all unimportant and far away from the Argentine goal. allowing Argentina to get behind the ball and put on pressure to create turnovers. Argentina was rewarded as early as the 16th minute, though not in the way you might have expected. Messi played an excellent ball into the box from the left hand side that just missed Martin Demichelis for a header, but dipped down to the ground and took a lucky bounce off of Park Chu-Young into the back of the net. It's very tough to fault the defender here as he just happened to be behind a flashing run and had no time to react to the ball's continued flight, but a goal is a goal and now South Korea was in a world of trouble.

South Korea did their best to take some possession and work the ball around, including getting Ki Sung-Yueng free for a shot from distance that sailed high. And that was the problem with most of South Korea's possession after the first goal. It was there, it existed, but it really didn't do anything except prolong the wait for the Argentinian attack. South Korea could possess and pass it around, but Argentina was still dangerous and pressing forward. They were rewarded again in the 33rd off a free kick taken by Maxi Rodriguez. Rodriguez played a ball across that at first looked like it would be entirely too flat and low, but an Argentine player put a flick on it and the ball sailed to the back post where Higuain put a smart header inside the far post for the 2-0 lead. This was absolute disaster for South Korea who had started to at least show some confidence in possession and were desperate to get back in the game. However, as much as Argentina had dominated possession and the game in general, South Korea got a huge break in stoppage time when Demichelis made a bad mistake in front of his goal that Lee Chung-Yong took control of and touched nicely into the back of the net. All of the sudden, a dominant performance by Argentina turned into a one goal game at the half that only needed one play to change it.

The second half was interesting because it was dominated by Argentina, but it was still a half of each side doing what they wanted to do, at least for the first part of it. Argentina needed to attack hard and possess the ball while South Korea needed to weather the storm whatever it took and hope to counter successfully, and both of these things happened. Messi had a chance in the 47th when he perhaps took one touch too many in order to cut inside and then take a weak shot as he was closed down and angled off. Then they had a nice passing combination from Tevez to Angel Di Maria to Higuain, but Higuain's clever touch on goal was saved by a hand from the keeper. At the other end, South Korea had an excellent chance to counter in the 58th and Yeom Ki-Hun received the ball in a good space but tried to shoot with the outside of his left foot rather than the inside of his right foot and he put it wide on the near post. South Korea did look more dangerous on the counter attack here, but they were pushing more and more people forward, just begging to be punished as their defenders were out of position.

Despite South Korea's resilience and attempts at consistent pressure, the Argentine attack was just too skilled and too ever-present. In the 76th, Messi received a pass and made a run down the left hand part of the box, shooting across the keeper at the back post. Jung Sung-Ryong made an excellent left footed save to keep the ball from the back of the net, but Messi received the ball back on the rebound and struck a second shot off the left post, with the rebound rolling directly across the goal mouth to Higuain who tapped it in for his second of the game. Great, great save by the keeper but Messi was too lucky and too alert to allow his team to be denied. Soon after in the 80th, Argentina carved up the South Korean defense yet again and ended this passing display with a clever touch from Sergio Aguero to Higuain on the back post once again who put a head on the ground past the keeper and in. South Korea was game and tried their best, but they simply didn't have the skill to hang with Argentina. And as impressive as Argentina was, I'd be curious to see them play a solid defensive squad with the ability to sustain pressure on Argentina's defense. The defense looked very dicey at times and I think extended possession could easily expose them. But that's a debate for a future date. Today Argentina looked marvelous and were deserving winners.

Argentina 4 - 1 South Korea


Nigeria vs Greece

Ok, I've done my fair share of bashing the Greek national team in this blog and let me just clarify by saying that it is nothing against the Greeks personally. I don't have any particular reason to have it in for them or to wish them ill will. I was just taking an objective assessment of the first run of games and I felt that Greece was the weakest looking team. New Zealand has less talent but they kept fighting and took a result in the late, late stages from Slovakia. North Korea doesn't have a single player that any dedicated but non-expert would recognize, yet they scored a goal against a Brazil side that is the favorite to win the tournament. Greece looked terrible against South Korea in the first game with hardly any energy, seemingly no game plan, and, worst of all, no heart. It was up to them to prove people wrong and to try to get back in the race in Group B.

The match started off even and boring enough with each side probing a little here, testing a little there, and generally knocking the ball around. At the time I made no judgment on the tactics employed as you often need to figure out a team before exposing their weakness. I was just somewhat annoyed because I had watched Greece play a boring, dispirited game once and was worried that would happen again. In the 16th, I assumed that Greece was dead in the water when Nigeria scored on a free kick that didn't do anything. The ball was played in by Kalu Uche and Peter Odemwingie ran hard on to it, but at the last minute he pulled back and the keeper, fully expecting a touch off the header, could only watch as the untouched kick sailed into the back of the net. If Odemwingie truly meant to do that, then it was a beautiful dummy run. Regardless of his intention however, it is amazing that Greece could defend so poorly as to allow a ball to slide all the way through the box and into goal.

With a goal lead, Nigeria went right back into boring possession-with-no-result soccer and knocked the ball around between themselves for a while without finding any solid ways to move forward. Greece did play somewhat well here defensively as Nigeria could not gain any angles to attack and push the lead higher, but Greece never looked dangerous themselves as they couldn't counter well enough to really trouble Nigeria. The turning point came in the 34th minute when, unbelievably, Sani Kaita took a studs out kick at a Greek player on the sideline after a throw-in was awarded, an obvious red card in nearly any situation. I heard some talk about how the Greek player made a meal of it, and how the kick really wasn't that bad, and so on. Shenanigans. You can't attempt to step on someone thigh high and expect any kind of leniency from the ref because it "wasn't that bad." Justifiable red card and an absolutely mystifying scene in general. Unsurprisingly, Greece was able to use this man advantage to their, well, advantage. Immediately after the red card, the Greeks pushed forward and gained chances, including a flick on after a free kick that was cleared off the line in the 41st. The game was drawn level in the 44th though when Kostas Katsouranis laid a nice ball off to Dimitrios Salpingidis who ripped a shot that took a deflection off of Nigeria's Lukman Haruna and into the net. Perhaps a little bit of luck, but this may have been going regardless and it was a reward for pressure. The stage was set for 45 minutes of pressure as Greece tried to pull ahead using their advantage.

The amazing part of this half was that Nigeria got quality, quality chances as Greece pressed forward. With a team pressing, I understand that chances will come the other way. But to give up not just half chances but real goal scoring opportunities while you're up a man is inexcusable. In the 48th, Uche was able to shake his man on the goal line and take a shot on goal that Greek keeper Alexandros Tzorvas was forced to touch over the bar. Greece kept some chances for themselves and Sotirios Kyrgiakos directed a header at the ground off of a corner in the 55th minute, but Vincent Enyeama continued his brilliant streak and was able to make the save. Then in the 59th, Enyeama kept his team in the match with a point blank shot on a Greek chance. His hard work was put to direct use when Nigeria countered off of his save and looked poised to take the lead. However, Yakubu Aiyegbeni was stopped by Tzorvas and when Chinedu Ogbuke went to corral the rebound, his clumsy touch put it over the line. That is everything you ask for in a counter and it would be the Nigerians' doom that they didn't finish it.

In the 71st, Alexandros Tziolis put a relatively average shot on Enyeama but the ordinarily stellar keeper bobbled the save and Vasilis Torosidis pounced on it for the all important go ahead goal. Just a bad mistake really, and one that will be added to the film reel of important foul ups by the goalies in this tournament. And in this case, I do feel bad for Enyeama because he was brilliant against Argentina last week and except for this goal, he was brilliant against Greece as well. The rest of the game was more or less sad because it was 10 men running desperately at 11 men for a result and it just wasn't to come. It was an entertaining game because of the attacking that the Greeks were doing being up a man, but it's really hard to be satisfied with a game where 60 minutes were played at an unfair advantage, warranted or not.

Greece 2 - 1 Nigeria


Mexico vs France

This was to be a very important match as South Africa was reeling and Uruguay looked to be in ascendancy. A draw would definitely not leave either team out of the elimination rounds, but it would require a result in the next round, and probably more than just another draw. So with a win, either team would match Uruguay at the top of the group and make things nigh impossible for the loser.

Frankly, I'm tired and I want to get some sleep before the games tomorrow, so this is going to be relatively brief. But really, there isn't a reason to go very in-depth in this game. France was awful. For everyone who was waiting for France to shrug off the boring, uninspired game against Uruguay, keep waiting. This incredibly talented team did nothing to really get going in this game and take control. Of course they had their chances. Franck Ribery took a free kick in the 6th and was able to put it on goal, but it was fairly routine for keeper Oscar Perez. Sadly, their next real chance wasn't until the 54th minute when Florent Malouda took a nice cut inside and put a rising shot on goal, but one that was once again directly at Perez. Aside from other moments here and there, this really was all that France had to offer.

Mexico was notably better, though they took some time to get into the match. A couple of easy shots here, a couple of missed crosses there and by the 37th minute, when Giovani Dos Santos held off his defender long enough to free up some space and put a shot just wide, Mexico was beginning to fire on all cylinders. They still had to fight with France for possession, but their possession always seemed slightly more purposeful, more creative, and more dangerous. Mexico took the lead in the 64th minute when substitute Javier Hernandez timed a run through perfectly and came one on one with the keeper. Hernandez left no doubt by touching cleverly around Hugo Lloris to the right and then finishing into the back of an open net. Very smart run and excellent composure on the ball to score an incredibly important goal for Mexico. Insurance came in the 79th minute when Pablo Barrera drew a penalty kick and 37 year-old Cuauhtemoc Blanco converted perfectly inside the left post to beat a sprawling Lloris who even guessed correctly. Mexico would go on for the win and put themselves in an unassailable position to move on to the knockout stage of the World Cup.

Mexico 2 - 0 France


I'm afraid that for once, I'm out of things to say. I'm getting up in less than four hours to watch Germany take on Serbia in what should be an excellent match. Then, at 10am, an absolutely huge game for the United States against Slovenia. If the US can come away with a victory here, they will be in an excellent position to move on as well. Good luck to anyone who will be at work during the game. I hope whatever method you use to keep up with the scores serves you well. Goodnight all.