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World #1 Brazil versus North Korea - should be a goal scoring bonanza, right? I wish!
June 15, 2010
What is the world coming to when you can't count on Brazil to thrash the worst team in the tournament? North Korea (officially known as the Democratic People's Republic or Korea DPR) earned a lot of respect by working hard and shutting down Brazil for long periods. Brazil always looked threatening but it took them nearly 60 minutes to score the opening goal from an absolutely outrageous angle. A pass to Maicon seemed to be out of range, but he chased it down right on the by-line and bent the ball around the goalie. Very elegant - quintessential Brazil. They got another elegant goal but then came perhaps the most shocking moment so far of the World Cup - Korea scored! Sure it was too little too late, but still, they scored! That's cause for genuine celebration, especially considering who they scored against.
Group G is this year's "Group of Death", meaning one pretty good team is guaranteed to not make it out of group play. With Brazil all but assured of going through, that leaves Portugal and Côte d'Ivoire battling it out for the other spot. Fear of losing turned this into a scoreless tie - not exactly dull but far from the dazzling play both teams are capable of. It didn't help that Côte d'Ivoire's best player, Didier Drogba, was nursing a broken arm and only played the last 30 minutes. What this all means is that qualifying for round 2 may well come down to goal differential in the upcoming games.
Over in Group F, New Zealand is one of the weakest teams in the tournament, and they looked distinctly outclassed all game long against Slovakia. But Slovakia's failure to push for a second goal turned deadly when the Kiwis evened the score on a last minute header. Slovakia is going to have to amp up their play against Paraguay if they want to qualify for round 2.
June 15, 2010
What is the world coming to when you can't count on Brazil to thrash the worst team in the tournament? North Korea (officially known as the Democratic People's Republic or Korea DPR) earned a lot of respect by working hard and shutting down Brazil for long periods. Brazil always looked threatening but it took them nearly 60 minutes to score the opening goal from an absolutely outrageous angle. A pass to Maicon seemed to be out of range, but he chased it down right on the by-line and bent the ball around the goalie. Very elegant - quintessential Brazil. They got another elegant goal but then came perhaps the most shocking moment so far of the World Cup - Korea scored! Sure it was too little too late, but still, they scored! That's cause for genuine celebration, especially considering who they scored against.
Group G is this year's "Group of Death", meaning one pretty good team is guaranteed to not make it out of group play. With Brazil all but assured of going through, that leaves Portugal and Côte d'Ivoire battling it out for the other spot. Fear of losing turned this into a scoreless tie - not exactly dull but far from the dazzling play both teams are capable of. It didn't help that Côte d'Ivoire's best player, Didier Drogba, was nursing a broken arm and only played the last 30 minutes. What this all means is that qualifying for round 2 may well come down to goal differential in the upcoming games.
Over in Group F, New Zealand is one of the weakest teams in the tournament, and they looked distinctly outclassed all game long against Slovakia. But Slovakia's failure to push for a second goal turned deadly when the Kiwis evened the score on a last minute header. Slovakia is going to have to amp up their play against Paraguay if they want to qualify for round 2.
| Group F Standings | ||||||
| Team (FIFA rank) | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals For | Goals Against | Points |
| Italy (5) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Paraguay (31) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| New Zealand (78) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Slovakia (34) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Group G Standings | ||||||
| Team (FIFA rank) | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals For | Goals Against | Points |
| Brazil (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Côte d'Ivoire (27) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Portugal (3) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Korea DPR (105) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
