Day 6
06.14.2006Technorati tags: soccer World Cup
In a word: Spain. They could very well go all the way to win this thing.
Spain just dominated the Ukraine 4-0. Sure, the third goal probably shouldn't count. The penalty kick & red card that led to David Villa's second goal was the worst call made all tournament. Just a horrible call. But Spain played w/ enough speed, skill, and panache to look better than Brazil.
I'm going to skip the Tunisia v. Saudi Arabia match that starts in a bit. No offense to either team, but that'll probably be the least interesting match of the tournament. Of course, I'll kick myself if the match turns exciting — which would only happen if Tunisia plays like it sometimes can.
Yesterday was Brazil v. Croatia. And I gotta say, I was a little disappointed w/ Brazil's performance. Sure, they won 1-0. But w/ their best players starting (and by "their" best, I mean "the world's best" players, of course), they just sort of half-heartedly attacked. Yes, Croatia really played a solid game. So it's not the score I'm complaining about. It's the lack of sheer brilliance from Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Zé Roberto, and company.
But it's early, and Brazil will likely build slow. I still expect them to win, of course. But it's starting to look like maybe, just maybe someone else can win it. And my bet's currently on Spain after their magnificent performance today.
Yesterday's other games were South Korea v. Togo and France v. Switzerland. Both were decent matches. A very young Swiss team frustrated the '98 champs w/ a clockwork defense-to-midfield play that ended in a 0-0 draw. And South Korea came back from a surprising Togolese halftime lead to end it 2-1.
There's still one more game this afternoon: Germany v. Poland. That game starts up the second set of matches in Group play.
A German win means they qualify for the Sweet 16 round. Poland needs to win to keep their hopes of staying in the tournament.
Posted by Miguel at 11:56 AM
Comments
6:0, ARG: SCG? Is this for real? Well, SCG doesn't exist anymore, so... Wow ...
Posted by: Nenad at June 16, 2006 11:12 AM
I missed Spain's game, but the replays looked like they dominated.
As far as Brazil, I thought Kaka and Juan Carlos were pretty good--Carlos had a couple of very fast and powerful (but unaccurate) shots on goal. Ronaldo just seemed lazy, walking around midfield and not really pushing the defense. Not sure, but they might have been looking past Croatia...
My money is on Germany for the overall winner--they look very smooth and effective in just about all areas. Deutschland uber alles!!!
How about Australia? Coming back to beat Japan with 3 goals in the final minutes of the game? Amazing!!
I wish I was there drinking some heifenweisen...
Posted by: Patrick ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.centellas.org/miguel/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 16, 2006 02:21 PM
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