World Cup Watching

[jlvsclrk]

To start, thanks to tyffi for pointing me to this ridiculously fun and catchy video about the World Cup from the German POV. Besides having the nicest hotel and the biggest bus, Germany were also far and away the most impressive team in the first set of games. Here's hoping some of the other powerhouses wake up!

June 16, 2010

Spain are the second ranked team in the world, and were #1 as recently as March. However, they have a reputation of never playing up to their potential in the big tournament, never winning the World Cup and often bowing out in the earlier rounds. They did break through though at the 2008 EuroCup, so expectations are high. Their supporters must be absolutely crushed after today's game. Spain passed brilliantly and had a lot of shots on goal, but all of this activity never really amounted to much. The Swiss defense was like a wall around the penalty area and Spain failed to find a crack. Meanwhile, although they attacked hardly at all, the Swiss made their chances count with one goal and another shot off the crossbar. Very strange! Hopefully Spain will wake up for their next two matches and still somehow win the group. Otherwise, the world #1 and #2 could well wind up facing off in the round of 16!

In other group H action, Chile beat Honduras 1-0 for their first victory at the World Cup finals in 48 years. Honduras was seriously over matched and looked lucky to stay this close. Expect Spain to try to thump them in the next match to make up some ground in the standings.

And now back to group A for the start of the second set of games. First up was South Africa versus Uruguay, with the home team hoping for a victory after managing a tie in the opener. Though Uruguay dominated from the start, still, it was only 1-0 when the referee made a HIDEOUS call that awarded Uruguay a penalty and sent off the South African goalie with a red card on what was a pretty blatant dive. Uruguay converted the penalty with flair and it was all over but the shouting. I really felt for the South African crowd but can't deny that Uruguay deserved the win.

Table H Standings
Team (FIFA rank)	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals For	Goals Against	Points
Chile (18)	1	0	0	1	0	3
Switzerland (24)	1	0	0	1	0	3
Honduras (38)	0	0	1	0	1	0
Spain (2)	0	0	1	0	1	0

Table A Standings
Team (FIFA rank)	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals For	Goals Against	Points
Uruguay (16)	1	1	0	3	0	4
Mexico (17)	0	1	0	1	1	1
France (9)	0	1	0	0	0	1
South Africa (83)	0	1	1	1	4	1