The CDB Awards: South Africa 2010

So, the greatest show on Earth has closed its curtains for another four years (at least until the first qualification match for Brazil 2014 is played in about 13 months’ time) and it’s time to have a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly of South Africa 2010 in the CDB Awards.

Best Match

For me, the most exciting match we saw over the competition was one of the most controversial games – Uruguay’s quarter-final win over Ghana could not be matched for sheer emotional drama. We were treated to some fluent attacking football by both sides, particularly by Uruguay, but Sulley Muntari’s long-range swerver just before half-time stole the initiative for the last remaining African side. Diego Forlan scored a great free-kick to equalise and both sides kept going for it, coming up pretty much on a par with each other and tiring a little. Extra time arrived and it got desperate by the end, with Ghana throwing a couple of kitchen sinks into the Uruguay box right at the death before the Hand of God 2: Hand Harder scandal. Luis Suarez’ instinctive block to deny a last-gasp winner spawned a ludicrously overblown furore, demonising the player for doing what any player (the Ghanaians included) would have done in his situation, and Asamoah Gyan’s failure to convert the penalty with the last kick of regulation play was a great shame, but you cannot deny the spectacle of it. Sebastian Abreu’s inappropriate but wonderfully ballsy chipped penalty to seal the win was the icing of the cake.

Runners-up: Slovenia 2-2 USA, Slovakia 3-2 Italy, Germany 4-1 England, Argentina 0-4 Germany, Uruguay 2-3 Germany

Best Individual Performance

Bastian Schweinsteiger’s unstoppable performance at the heart of Germany’s dismemberment of Argentina was a real highlight. It was a display of total dominance, with tough tackling that never became thuggery, sharp passing to start counterattacking moves, and involvement in two of the goals. His free-kick cross for Thomas Mueller’s opener and effortless slipping away from Angel Di Maria and Javier Pastore to supply Arne Friedrich were excellent. His performance only gets better when you consider that just one year ago, Schweinsteiger was an underachieving winger for club and country. Louis van Gaal has done wonders with him over the past season at Bayern Munich and no-one will have been prouder than him as Schweinsteiger announced himself as one of the world’s leading central midfielders.

Runners-up: Mesut Oezil (Germany 4-0 Australia), Diego Forlan (South Africa 0-3 Uruguay), Ryan Nelsen (Italy 1-1 New Zealand), Jean Beausejour (Chile 1-0 Switzerland), Thomas Mueller (Germany 4-1 England), Xabi Alonso (Germany 0-1 Spain)

The “Looks Like An Alien Sent From Outer Space To Play Just Off The Main Striker” Award

Mesut Oezil.

Best Hair

Honduras didn’t stand out for much in this tournament but fringe player (geddit?) Walter Martinez sported a breathtakingly silly dreadlock affair with the tips coloured alternately red and yellow. Stupendous effort.

Worst Individual Performance

I have never seen one player perform so badly and stay on the pitch the full ninety minutes as Wayne Rooney did for England against Algeria. He looked exhausted, uninterested and cripplingly short of ideas, and you could tell how angry he was with his outing by his outburst to the cameras at the end berating the fans for booing the team.

Runners-up: Abdelkader Ghezzal (Algeria 0-1 Slovenia), Sidney Govou (France 0-2 Mexico), John Terry (Germany 4-1 England), Felipe Melo (Netherlands 2-1 Brazil), Mark van Bommel (Netherlands 0-1 Spain)

Best Team Performance

Tough one to call, but I’m going for Spain’s slow-burning victory over Germany in the semi-final. They only won 1-0 and it was only through a Carles Puyol header from a corner, but what was so notable was the total cohesion and patience as they breezed past what had previously been the best team of the whole competition. Before the game there was reason to believe that Germany might neutralise Spain with their determined pressing all over the pitch but it turned out to be the eventual champions who took the German midfield out of the game, constantly hounding the defenders to force long balls forward, which just completely nullified Schweinsteiger, Oezil, and Sami Khedira. The scoreline suggested a close game, but it really wasn’t at all. Contrast Portgual’s 7-0 victory over North Korea where Carlos Queiroz’s side were no better than average at any stage.

Runners-up: Uruguay (vs. South Africa), New Zealand (vs. Italy), Germany (vs. Argentina)

Most Inspiring Team

Look no further than New Zealand – who would have predicted before the tournament kicked off that the All Whites would be the only team to leave South Africa with an unbeaten record? Ricki Herbert’s lower-leaguers and amateur bank clerks played with more pride than anyone else and you couldn’t help but wish they could have found that elusive goal against Paraguay which would have taken them through as group winners. Their backs-to-the-wall defensive performance to earn a draw with the holders Italy will live long in the memory.

Breakout Star of the Tournament

Turned out to be Bayern’s Thomas Mueller, the 20-year-old right-sided forward who came out of nowhere to sneak the Golden Boot with five goals and three assists. Displayed incredible poacher’s instincts to always arrive in the box at exactly the right time with lethal finishing to boot. Surely the natural successor to Miroslav Klose and now established as a world star.

Worst Team Performance

England’s dire 0-0 with Algeria wins on match alone, but France’s limp capitulation to Mexico takes the crown for its aftermath as well as the ninety minutes themselves. Literally nobody had a good game for France, utterly devoid of any desire and looking desperate to be eliminated just to get away from the clownish Raymond Domenech. Nicolas Anelka’s foul-mouthed tirade to the manager at half-time sparked a few days of hilarious self-destruction that brought such shame on everyone involved that President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed to personally conduct an investigation into the team’s performance.

Runners-up: Greece (vs. South Korea), England (vs. USA), Algeria (vs. Slovenia), Slovakia (vs. Paraguay), Switzerland (vs. Honduras), Honduras (vs. Switzerland), England (vs. Germany)

Team of the Tournament

Playing 4-2-3-1 as nearly all the successful teams did.

Iker Casillas (Spain); Philipp Lahm (Germany), Gerard Pique (Spain), Diego Lugano (Uruguay), Jorge Fucile (Uruguay); Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Sergio Busquets (Spain); Thomas Mueller (Germany), Andres Iniesta (Spain), David Villa (Spain); Diego Forlan (Uruguay)

Best Overall Player

Forlan for me was the only man to play really well in all seven games, leading his team to a fantastic fourth place finish with intelligence and flair. Never once did he dive or complain to the referee either, just got on with the job in hand. By all accounts the nicest man at the World Cup, too, always taking time to sign autographs or talk to journalists and fans.

Player Most Likely To Have Earned A Big Money Transfer

Most people will remember Luis Suarez for the handball against Ghana but don’t forget his three well-taken goals, including an absolute pearl against South Korea, his searing pace and constant willingness to get in the box and shoot. Considering his fifty-plus goals for Ajax last season, expect plenty of rumour regarding his destination in the next few weeks.

Runners-up: Mesut Oezil (Germany), Kevin-Prince Boateng (Ghana)

Goal of the Tournament

Look no further than Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s straight-as-an-arrow rocket blast against Uruguay in the semi-final. After several keepers had been caught out by the late movement of the Jabulani ball, Fernando Muslera could not complain about this one. From the moment it left his boot, it never deviated and struck perfectly off the inside of the far post and in.

Runners-up: Siphiwe Tshabalala (South Africa, vs. Mexico), David Villa (Spain, vs. Honduras), Fabio Quagliarella (Italy, vs. Slovakia), Keisuke Honda (Japan, vs. Denmark), David Villa (Spain, vs. Chile), Andres Iniesta (Spain, vs. Chile), Carlos Tevez (Argentina, vs. Mexic0), Miroslav Klose (Germany, vs. Argentina)

Alternative Team Of The Tournament

This is a team of players who might not have gone all the way in the tournament but still stood out as great without really getting all the praise they may have deserved. In many ways every bit as good as those who made the main team of the tournament. Also playing 4-2-3-1.

Samir Handanovic (Slovenia); John Pantsil (Ghana), Ryan Nelsen (New Zealand), Yuji Nakazawa (Japan), Carlos Salcido (Mexico); Anthony Annan (Ghana), Diego Perez (Uruguay); Landon Donovan (USA), Yasuhitu Endo (Japan), Jean Beausejour (Chile); Nelson Haedo Valdez (Paraguay)

Day 27: Puyol Throws España In The Works

Germany 0 – 1 Spain

Bow down before the octopus. After a really fascinating if not thrillingly entertaining semi-final, Spain advance to meet the Netherlands in the final to ensure that there will be a new name on the Jules Rimet trophy.

Before the game the feeling was that although Spain had undoubtedly the superior players, Germany’s hard work, organisation and team ethic would be perfectly suited to keeping a lid on the tiki-taka and stifle the Spanish creativity while counter-attacking devastatingly. What actually happened was much the opposite – it was Spain who pressed hard and stopped Germany from getting any passing moves going, and still managed to build long spells of forward movement in posession. It was obvious very early on that Vicente del Bosque had won the main tactical battle and that he could alter the shape of the game whenever he liked. It transpired, however, that he was either unwilling or unable to exploit that position.

For all Spain’s quick passing and dominance in posession, they were unable to turn the screw for most of the game. As often turns out to be their problem, they were struck with a touch of the Arsenals, with so many players queueing up to provide the killer pass that could unlock the German defense, but with no player actually attacking the penalty box to receive that pass. Dropping Fernando Torres was a reasonable call for del Bosque – he’s clearly suffering from what golfers call “the yips” – but although his replacement, Pedro, was Spain’s most enterprising player in the first half, he’s not the same player who can go forward and lead the line. David Villa was forced to try and be that central striker but he was clearly unsuited to the role – he is a player who needs to cut in from the left and play off the main striker, which is why he has partnered Torres so well in the last few years. As the clock ticked on and on, Spain were desperately crying out for the introduction of Fernando Llorente to reprise his cameo role from the Portugal game as the target man around whom Villa, Pedro, Xavi and Andres Iniesta could have swarmed. I say Llorente very deliberately rather than Torres – dropping a player suffering from the yips is fair enough, but dropping him is very much a final admittance that his confidence is shot. Turning to Torres as a player to come on and change the game on his form would have been disastrous. Later, when Spain were ahead, Torres did come on, and in that situation it was more understandable – if he’d been able to tuck away a late opportunity to make it 2-0 it could have been the spark that revived him. However it was David Villa who del Bosque brought off to make room for him, an awful substitution that could have backfired horribly had Germany equalised.

Luckily Spain had the cushion of Carles Puyol’s 73rd-minute goal, a bullet header from a corner scored from the edge of the area following a late run by the Barcelona centre-back. It would have been reassuring for Puyol who should have buried a heading chance in the first half. It always seemed unlikely after that goal went in that Germany would be able to respond, having been by some distance the inferior side. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira were effectively prevented from exerting their influence from midfield by the Spanish pressing high up the pitch, usually crowding the German defenders out enough to force aimless long balls toward Miroslav Klose. Mesut Oezil just couldn’t get any of the ball, and was only visible for a penalty shout just before half-time. He basically ran into Sergio Ramos, though, and it was the right decision not to give it.

Germany have been a brilliant part of this World Cup and in many ways it’s a shame to see them go out, but their time will surely come. This immensely talented young team will be reaching their peak in four years’ time, and although Klose has probably played his last World Cup, there are several young defenders who should have surpassed Arne Friedrich and Per Mertesacker by 2014, and the likes of Thomas Mueller should be ready to take Klose’s place. Joachim Loew has done a fantastic job with his side and I very much hope that he resolves his current contract dispute to keep developing his team, who have combined solid and resolute defending with scintillating counter-attacking forward play. Philipp Lahm has been a revelatory captain, too.

Spain, though, deserve to reach the final, and it’s really delightful to know that this tournament will definitely be won by a country that has never won a World Cup before. The incredible statistic that Spain and the Netherlands have never met each other in either a World Cup or European Championship match serves to underline how both these nations have underachieved on the world stage, and I’m in the happy position of not minding at all which team goes on to win it.

Man of the Day: Xabi Alonso was a standout for me, even though I would have taken him off for Llorente if I were Vicente del Bosque. He was unlucky to be penalised by the referee for a couple of brilliant tackles and he was more willing than most Spanish players to actually take a shot now and then. Puyol, too, had a good game.

Only one game to go! All right, the third place playoff too, but it’s not as if anyone actually cares about that. I’ll be covering both and will be handing out some CDB Awards both before and after the final.

Day 21: Wish You Were Here

The quarter-finals start tomorrow – good news for those of you who, like me, are suffering from withdrawal. While we wait for proceedings to begin again, though, I thought I’d take a look at those teams who will take no further part in South Africa 2010, having been eliminated already, and also one or two teams who didn’t qualify, whom it would have been nice to see involved in the tournament.

On the whole it’s hard to argue that the teams that failed to get out of their groups deserved to play any further part, but there are, I think, one or two notable exceptions to that statement. One side who I wish had been able to go further was the Ivory Coast. They’ll be looking at that shoddy opening match against a Portugal side who were there for the taking, and wondering how they let it finish 0-0. The last kick of the game, a conservative short corner rather than a cross into the box for someone to get a head on, is a moment that summed up a curious mentality going into that game that they realistically had to win to make sure of qualification, and so it proved. It’s something of a tragedy that probably the most talented African side the world has ever seen has been hamstrung by consecutive terrible draws at this World Cup and the last. Four years ago, they were dropped into a vicious Group of Death containing Argentina, the Netherlands, and what was then Serbia & Montenegro, an even more tricky group than they had this time around. Even if they’d qualified this summer they would have probably faced Spain. When you look at a side containing Kolo and Yaya Toure, Gervinho, Didier Zokora, you think they should be able to do well, but then you see Didier Drogba and you see a player who has such immense talent that with a slightly kinder draw he could have made history for African football. At 32, he has surely now missed his chance to make that impression on the biggest stage of all.

In a very different way it was also a great shame to see New Zealand eliminated. I think everyone took a shine to the All-Whites – written off before the tournament for being a squad comprised of lower league and amateur players, and dreaming of leaving the tournament with a point or even just a goal, they showed incredible determination and pride to bow out unbeaten, having held on for an historic draw with the world champions Italy, who they then finished above in the group standings. Their captain, Ryan Nelsen, had an immense tournament, marshalling the less experienced players like Tommy Smith and Winston Reid who also distinguished themselves against top class opposition. Reid’s last-minute equaliser in the first match against Slovakia to secure the Kiwis’ first ever World Cup point was a moment that will stick in my memory for a long time. Goalkeeper Mark Paston, coming in to the tournament second choice but playing due to Glenn Moss’ suspension, overcame a slightly nervy first game to deliver two assured performances against Italy and Paraguay, and up front young Chris Wood made a really good impression coming off the bench twice and was mere inches from scoring against Italy. It would have been wonderful to have seen them in the knockout stages.

The other team I’m sorry to have seen go was Chile. Their efforts in a losing cause against Brazil a few days ago were not as impressive as their group games, but they really were a breath of fresh air in the first phase. Marcelo Bielsa’s unwavering commitment to attacking football was delightful, and his truly original 3-3-1-3 formation was very effective. The players showed real flexibility in being able to get forward from any position or drop back when others did the same, and if only their star striker Humberto Suazo had been fitter they might have had more finishing prowess to put the icing on a fantastically entertaining cake. Alexis Sanchez seemed to draw all the plaudits from commentators and pundits but for my money the real emerging star for Chile was left winger Jean Beausejour, unoriginally nicknamed “The Frenchman” by his teammates. He showed pace, creativity, a willingness to cross whenever possible and the ability to pull it off most of the time. His goal secured the opening victory over Honduras and he was the most productive of the attacking quartet.

But what of the teams that might have, or maybe should have, been here? An obvious question is how would the Republic of Ireland have fared had they got through their controversial play-off with France? The answer, probably, is not hugely well, but let’s face it, they probably would have done better than the French. Ignoring the changes to group seedings which would have happened if France had not been present, you can’t imagine the likes of Glenn Whelan and Shane Long posing too much of a threat to Uruguay and Meixco, but the qualification alone would have been a significant achievement for Giovanni Trapattoni’s side, one that they would surely have appreciated more than the self-destructive French.

As for a team that really could have made a significant impact on the tournament but didn’t make it, look no further than African champions Egypt. The team that has won the past three Africa Cup of Nations finished inseparable with Algeria in the qualifying group requiring a one-off tie-breaker hosted in the neutral Sudan. Egypt-Algeria has always been a really spicy grudge match so it’s perhaps understandable that Egypt came out second best on the day, despite being unquestionably the best team from their continent, but I would really have liked to have seen how they fared against the rest of the world. I’m sure they would have put up a better fight than Algeria, who looked unpenetrative up front and disorganised at the back. Their squad is comprised of seriously talented players – Essam Al Hadary is by some distance the best African keeper. Ahmed El Mohammadi is an up-and-coming player who can play all along the right flank – at 22, he already has 38 caps and is moving to Sunderland this summer on a loan deal from ENPPI in Egypt. Amr Zaki and Standard Liege’s Emad Motaeb between them have 60 goals in 118 international games. And then there’s Mohammed Abou Trika, behind perhaps only Drogba, Samuel Eto’o and Michael Essien as Africa’s greatest player. It really is a great shame that they haven’t been here to contest the World Cup.

Still, they didn’t make it, and in the end it’s their own fault that they’re not. For those that did qualify, though, the action starts again tomorrow. I predict a win for Uruguay tomorrow over Ghana, but I really don’t know which way the Netherlands vs Brazil will go. My gut feeling is changing constantly, but I’ll listen to my head and say Brazil.

Day 19: Write The Future, My Arse

Paraguay 0 – 0 Japan (5-3 penalties)

Spain 1 – 0 Portugal

The quarter-final line-up was confirmed today, and each one of those four games will feature a South American side. That may well have some deep, meaningful significance but I don’t really think there’s any great secret that those teams have been hiding from anyone else.

For one thing, the Paraguay side that played out a pretty stinky 0-0 draw with Japan and then advanced on penalties was a step or two back from the one that had showed up to draw with Italy and beat Slovakia in its first two group games. They looked a little slower, particularly in attack, than they had been, at least until Nelson Haedo Valdez (a.k.a. My First Carlos Tevez) was brought on. I was really quite shocked that Valdez had been omitted from the starting eleven for this match, as his constant drive and energy had been a big part of Paraguay’s qualification from their group. As both teams played out a barren first half Valdez was conspicuous by his absence, and it was little surprise that he was brought on a few minutes into the second.

If it seems like I’m not saying much about this game, that’s because there’s really very little to say. Japan were set up defensively and didn’t attack well when they did get forward, Keisuke Honda not as impressive as he was in previous matches, and Paraguay were slow and ponderous. Even after Valdez came on, they couldn’t really conjure anything, but at least they had some bite and energy up front. Claudio Morel Rodriguez in particular had a poor game, floating several crosses hopelessly wayward. When extra time rolled around it was obvious that both sides were too scared of losing to really go for the win at all. Penalties were an inevitability. The shootout itself was reasonably exciting, most of the penalties being dispatched excellently, but Japan’s third taker, Yuichi Komano, broke a nation’s hearts by hitting the crossbar which proved to be the decisive miss.

Paraguay now ascend to their first ever World Cup quarter-final but I would be shocked if they made it any further on this form. Their opponents, Spain, had a decent game as they eliminated rivals Portugal by David Villa’s goal, a great finish to a thrilling passing move involving Andres Iniesta and Xavi. Spain controlled the entire game as Portugal sat back constantly, often with ten men behind the ball, content to play ultra-defensively and pray for a counterattacking opportunity at some stage which never truly materialised, save for one through ball that Iker Casillas rushed out to defuse. It was really disappointing to watch – it would be unfair of me not to compare them to Greece, to be perfectly frank. Meanwhile Spain spent the first half admirably trying to play through the Portuguese walls but got nowhere. Watching at home I was crying out for the introduction of Jesus Navas or David Silva to ping some crosses over the top towards Fernando Torres, who had another largely quiet game. However, Vicente del Bosque changed the game a different way, removing Torres for Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente, the best possible recipient of those crosses, and he had an instant impact. Sergio Ramos floated over a piercing cross that Llorente had to dive quite low to get a head on, so it wasn’t a great surprise that he couldn’t put it away convincingly, but the intention was signalled. From then on Llorente held the ball up excellently and brought others into play, and just a couple of minutes later, Villa scored. He’s certainly made a case for starting the quarter-final ahead of Torres, although I don’t think he well. Del Bosque knows that it Torres comes good he will be more effective against the top teams.

As for the red card late on that saw Ricardo Costa leave the field, replays seemed inconclusive as to whether his elbow connected with Joan Capdevila’s face. What’s for sure is that Capdevila’s reaction was embarrassing, but there seemed enough to indicate that the elbow was raised.

Cristiano Ronaldo, the Prancing Prat himself, had another letdown of a match, isolated and unused up front, desperately shifting from one flank to the other to through the middle to try and exert some sort of influence on the game, but Portugal’s defensive tactics just didn’t feed him at all. It’s been another pretty poor tournament for the man who thinks he’s the world’s best player, but for sheer effectiveness I think David Villa has overtaken him in the race to be the world’s second best behind Messi. (Well, actually I’d put the Xavi/Iniesta machine ahead of him, too.)

Man of the Day: I know I must be turning into a broken record this tournament, what with my constant praise of not only Messi and Oezil but David Villa, but Villa really was the difference again today. The most outstanding player in a group of outstanding players was a constant threat from a wide left position, which will encourage his new employers at Camp Nou who were wondering what they were going to do with Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He’s solidly established himself as the best centre-forward in world football.

Tomorrow, there’ll be….uh….oh. Hang on. There’s no football tomorrow. What? The World Cup’s over? But there’s a new one starting on Friday, I hear. I reckon England could do well this time.

Seriously, I’ll still be blogging on the rest days. In the couple of days before the quarter-finals I plan to discuss the French debacle and the teams who have left the tournament so far.

Day 18: Juan Thing Led To Another…

Netherlands 2 – 1 Slovakia

Brazil 3 – 0 Chile

Not, I think it’s fair to say, the most exciting day of the World Cup so far, but I suppose we can all breathe a sigh of relief that nothing went disastrously wrong, anyway.

The Netherlands reached the quarter-finals with a routine victory over Slovakia that suggested that they are still yet to move into top gear. They dominated posession without ever seeking to really kill their opponents off, even with a relatively early lead through Arjen Robben. It was a great goal from the returning winger, sprinting to get on the end of a slightly overhit through ball as if to assure everyone that his hamstring is completely fine now, rounding the defender, and slotting a low shot into the bottom corner of the net. In real time, the goal looked slightly strange, the shot being quite a slow one that I automatically assumed would be saved, but replays showed that it was placed perfectly so as to evade the hand of Jan Mucha. It was quite easy in the end for Robben, whose return has balanced the Dutch side better, quashing my initial worries that moving Dirk Kuyt to the left would create the same cutting-inside problems as there were with Rafael van der Vaart there.

The game remained at 1-0 for a long period, with the Dutch clearly in control but seemingly reluctant to expend two much energy against such lowly opposition, a little arrogant but in the end it proved to be justified. Slovakia were unable to muster many threatening attacks on goal, despite young wingers Vladimir Weiss (Jr., Jr.) and Miroslav Stoch looking peppy and potentially useful outlets. As such it was quite a flat, boring game with no sense that anything of any great importance was going to happen after the first goal. Holland wrapped it up with five minutes to go when Mucha came out to try to stop the oncoming Dirk Kuyt, who evaded and found himself in loads of space. His patience in setting himself for the pull-back to Wesley Sneijder was impressive, and Sneijder atoned for an earlier miss by making no mistakes this time. That killed the game completely and manager Vladimir Weiss (Jr.) took the opportunity to give two squad players a few minutes as subs just to say they had played in a World Cup, which I thought was good of him, even though one of them, Marek Sapara, was a player I’d hoped to have seen more of. Then, out of nowhere, Slovakia got a penalty with the last kick of the game when sub Martin Jakubko made a rather pathetic dive over goalkeeper Stekelenburg, and Robert Vittek converted it to make himself joint top scorer again. Most of the Slovakians have only really had one good game, but Vittek’s done well throughout and his four goals in four games reflect that.

In the other second round match today everyone’s second favourite team, Chile, were comfortably overcome by Brazil. Again it was a slightly disappointing match despite having a few goals, with Chile attacking gamely as they were always going to do but suffering from the same symptoms as they have done all tournament, being unable to find consistent finishing to complete their attacking barrages. This was exacerbated by some terrific Brazilian defending, led chiefly by the man of the match Juan, who was constantly getting in the way and was rewarded by scoring the first goal, a strong header from Maicon’s corner. Only a few minutes later the game looked dead and buried as Luis Fabiano passed into an empty net. Going in two-nil down at half-time, Marcelo Bielsa threw any last semblance of caution to the wind by making two substitutions that essentially left Chile with only two at the back, later falling to just one, although obviously part of Chile’s tactics is that the midfield players can all drop back reasonably effectively. It didn’t make much difference, though, as Brazil continued to do an excellent impression of a brick wall.

In fact, both teams could easily have had a penalty, but missed out by two extremes – first, Lucio performed such an elaborate dive that the genuine foul he suffered was overlooked, and later, Alexis Sanchez refused to go down under a challenge in favour of trying to get a shot away, which came to nothing. There was no question of refereeing mistakes, though, as Howard Webb and his assistants had a competent game in a match with little serious incident. If you were watching ITV, though, you would be forgiven for thinking that the English officials had brought peace to the Middle East with their performance. I don’t want to get into a rant that non-British-based readers won’t understand a word of, but suffice to say that even by his own hideously low standards, Clive Tyldesley had a mind-numbingly bad game.

So now the two teams have set up a quarter-final against each other in a few days’ time, and it could be a really interesting game. From what I can see, the Netherlands are perhaps the best-equipped team to beat Brazil left in the tournament, able to match their formation man-for-man and with Arjen Robben running at Michel Bastos on the Dutch right and Dirk Kuyt maybe being able to match Maicon’s work-rate on the other flank. Bert van Marwijk will obviously have to make sure his side fire on all cylinders for that match, though, as anything less will not be enough.

Man of the Day: Juan was absolutely imperious at the heart of the Brazilian defense.

Tomorrow, I fancy Paraguay to overcome Japan in a hard-fought game, maybe on penalties, and Spain to dispatch Portugal in the Iberian derby.

Day 15: Chile Lose Cool But Swiss Avoid Further Conflict

Portugal 0 – 0 Brazil

North Korea 0 – 3 Ivory Coast

Chile 1 – 2 Spain

Switzerland 0 – 0 Honduras

Well, in the end, the tables in Groups G and H turned out in much the same order as was generally expected, but there were some surprises on the final day of group stage action at South Africa 2010.

Portugal and Brazil kicked us off with a pretty dire stalemate, both teams happy to settle for what they’d got and showing very little flair or attacking interest. Brazil continued their streak as the least exciting South American side in the tournament, and there were more yellow cards than goalmouth incidents, getting to the extent in the first half as little feuds started to spring up between certain players that Felipe Melo had to be dragged off by Dunga just before half-time to avoid picking up a second booking. With Brazil missing Elano and Kaka, there was bound to be a slight reduction in flair, with the two replacements Dani Alves and Julio Baptista naturally more physically powerful players than technically gifted, but even with a nine-goal cushion separating them from the Ivory Coast, Portugal dared not attempt to go for the win that would have seen them top the group. Certainly this game suffered from the Ivorians’ failure to beat Portugal when Carlos Quieroz’s side were so utterly abject in the group opener, because that would have seen Portugal needing to attack. Instead what was talked up before the tournament as one of the most exciting games turned out to be a real disappointment.

There was little point in turning over to watch North Korea and the Ivory Coast, either, because while that game did at least produce some goals as the Ivorians won 3-0, everything they did hinged on a Brazilian victory. North Korea, who I’d hoped might be determined enough to leave with at least a point to really compete, just didn’t really show up, and their defense looked as frail as it had a few days ago. Sven’s boys bombed forward essentially at will and probably should have scored more than they did. Their second was great to watch – not for its scorer Romaric’s simple header but for the volley that ricocheted off the crossbar to set it up. Didier Drogba took the ball in mid-air with a sublime controlling touch before swivelling and rifling it powerfully against the bar. It was a moment of star quality that raised predictable “what if?” questions about what might have been had he been fully fit to face Portugal. It’s a shame for Drogba that his World Cup career will now almost certainly be over after two consecutive groups of death. He has his critics and he’s certainly prone to disappointing acts of petulance and dishonesty on the pitch, but he’s an astonishing player and a great humanitarian who does lots of work for his several charities, so I feel sorry he hasn’t had more of a chance of shine on the biggest stage of all.

No such injustices in Group H, where the two most exciting teams to watch managed to qualify (scoring some incredible goals in the process), and the closest rivals to Greece’s dullest-team-in-world-football title, Switzerland, were lucky to escape with a 0-0 draw with Honduras that put them out. I didn’t watch much of that game but I saw enough to know that the Swiss were again limited in attack (with Eren Derdiyok yet again missing one or two pretty easy chances) and that they should have lost, with a Walter Martinez goal ruled out for offside that looked on to me, and Georgie Welcome missing a golden chance right at the end of the game from very close in. Oh well, I don’t think anyone will really miss either team.

Chile 1 – 2 Spain was a slightly strange game in that Chile were the dominant side in the first half yet still went in at half-time two goals down. Both Spanish goals were contenders for goal of the tournament, the first a simply perfect sort-of golf drive of a shot by David Villa pouncing on a goal left open by Chile captain Claudio Bravo’s mad dash out of the area to rob Fernando Torres. That sort of shot looks easy but would usually be missed, but Villa executed it perfectly to take him joint top of the Golden Boot standings. The second was scored after the referee, Marco Rodriguez (a.k.a. Dracula), played advantage to a foul by Marco Estrada. Spain took full advantage with some gorgeous interplay between Villa and Andres Iniesta, who calmly placed his shot from the edge of the area precisely past the gloves of Bravo. I can’t decide which one I enjoyed more, but they were both absolutely beautiful. The foul in question led to the predictable culmination of a period of Chilean indiscipline, as Estrada was shown his second yellow card. The trip looked accidental but Estrada should have received his second booking a few minutes earlier when he hacked down Iniesta, so it rather evened out, but Rodriguez the referee really did have quite a poor game. Thanks to his distinctive appearance I do remember him from previous internationals and every time I’ve seen him he’s been too quick to hand out cards, and doesn’t even get them right that often. I hope he doesn’t take charge of many more matches in this tournament.

To Chile’s credit they kept going despite the obvious setbacks and opened up the game again with a goal just after the restart. Rodrigo Millar, who had only just come on at half-time, took a shot from the edge of the D that took a severe deflection off Gerard Pique past Iker Casillas. However Spain’s numerical advantage started to show and the game slowed down as both teams realised that this result was working out for both of them. Chile were beaten but did play reasonably well apart from the bookings, which earnt three important players suspensions for their second round meeting with Brazil, which could be a real cracker. I wouldn’t discount them from winning that by any means. Spain had another good game, with Pique impressing at the back and Iniesta and Villa running the show up front. Torres had another off day again, though, and was hauled off just a few minutes into the second period for Cesc Fabregas. He looked some way short of form and fitness and I hope he can recover to play a bigger part in this World Cup, because when both are fit and firing his partnership with Villa is the best in the world. Spain now go on to meet Portugal and they should win that game. Their midfield in particular stands out as being several levels above the likes of Raul Meireles and Tiago.

Man of the Day: David Villa had another great game, getting into some great positions and showing a really quick brain in some of his link-up play. His goal really was superb, as well.

Tomorrow the knockout stages begin! It’s getting serious now, and I think we will be seeing a win for Uruguay over South Korea, and I’ll go for an extra-time victory for the USA over Ghana.

Day 14: I Told You They Were Pasta Their Best

Slovakia 3 – 2 Italy

Paraguay 0 – 0 New Zealand

Denmark 1 – 3 Japan

Cameroon 1 – 2 Denmark

Six groups have now been resolved as the first phase of South Africa 2010 nears its conclusion, and there was a big shock in store as the reigning champions Italy were dethroned by a Slovakia side who looked reborn after two indifferent previous games. Looks like I picked the wrong game to focus on in Paraguay-New Zealand.

I did have both games on in front of me but paid most attention to the 0-0 draw that secured Paraguay’s place at the top of the table, even after Robert Vittek scored the unlikely opener, running onto a delightful pass from Juraj Kucka after Daniele de Rossi gave away posession poorly, because from that moment on it became apparent that the only next goal that could change the shape of the table would be a New Zealand one. So I kept watching, and while the goals kept flying in at both ends on the other screen, the All Whites (today in all black) and Paraguay played out a pretty dull stalemate. Paraguay were quite a way below the levels of their previous performances. Oscar Cardozo, so prolific for Benfica this season, was neither as dynamic, energetic or effective as Lucas Barrios, who was really missed and came on as a sub too late to lift the rest of the tam. Nelson Haedo Valdez put in a shift but couldn’t get any joy and it was little surprise to see him taken off as well. They did what they had to do, though, and took the draw, certainly giving New Zealand far fewer chances than the Azzuri did a few days ago. They’ll need to rediscover that energy in the knockout stages, though.

From what I did see of the Italy defeat it looked like a real classic, though – when Vittek joined Gonzalo Higuain as the tournament’s top scorer in the second half taking advantage of a moment of indecision by Giorgio Chiellini, it seemed impossible that even Italy, who so often squeeze through through sheer force of will, would be able to recover but they came close. Fabio Quagliarella, brought on at half-time with Christian Maggio as Marcello Lippi sought to correct a poor first half, had a shot sensationally cleared just off the line by Martin Skrtel, and later was involved in a strange incident literally inside the Slovakian goal when Antonio di Natale pulled one back with ten minutes to go. Quagliarella tussled with goalkeeper Jan Mucha to pick the ball out of the net and when Kucka intervened both men ended up on the floor, Quagliarella claiming to have been hit in the face. There was little time to dwell on it, though, as soon after, Italy conceded a really soft goal, allowing substitute Kamil Kopunek to run unchecked into the path of a simple throw-in and slot easily past Federico Marchetti. Quagliarella went on to score a good goal in injury time, but Simone Pepe wasn’t able to convert a far-post chance that would have equalised and spared Italian blushes.

For Italy this will be a real kick in the teeth despite low expectations coming into this tournament. On paper they really should have got out of this group, but the ageing elements of the squad were shown up today. Fabio Cannavaro in particular finished his exceptional international career with a shocking game today, lucky to have avoided a second booking for a lunge on Marek Hamsik, and Gianluca Zambrotta and Gennaro Gattuso hauled off at half-time. Cesare Prandelli, who will now take over from Lippi, will need to do some serious spring cleaning to rejuvenate this side, many of whom are sure to be in for a savaging by the Italian press.

In Group F, however, things went pretty much to plan for the top seeds as the Netherlands confirmed top spot with a relatively painless 2-1 win over Cameroon, who leave with nothing after a really poor World Cup. Robin van Persie finally opened his account for the competition with a decent finish from a wide-ish angle and, although Samuel Eto’o equalised from the penalty spot, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar put a straightforward rebound from the returning Arjen Robben’s post-rattling shot to take the points and book a meeting with Slovakia in the next round, which is more appetising than manager Bert van Marwijk could have expected, even accounting for the massive boost that Slovakia will feel having vanquished the holders.

I was more focused on Japan’s impressive victory over a limp Denmark, however, in what was essentially the first straight knockout match of this tournament. In the early stages Japan looked content to play on the counter, as a draw would have suited them, but Denmark had few ideas up front, with Jon Dahl Tomasson particularly having a poor game. The game really came alive when Keisuke Honda netted the first absolute belter of a free-kick of this tournament, following Park Chu-Young’s more measured effort two days ago, from a huge distance out. He was helped by Thomas Sorensen, who made the first mistake of a really bad game by positioning himself badly in relation to his defensive wall, and consequently being stranded when the ball flew past him. It was a spectacular strike, though, take nothing away from it. What was incredible was that the next free-kick was even better, Yasuhito Endo producing a very David Beckham-like curler from a slightly shorter range that again Sorensen prepared badly for, placing the shortest member of the wall on the edge which made it easier for Endo. By that stage Japan looked totally dominant and the result was really a foregone conclusion from then on. It was evident that Denmark just didn’t have any ideas of how to break down a very solid Japanese defense, resorting to aimless long balls in search of Nicklas Bendtner that led to nothing.

In the second half Honda really took control of the game, causing constant trouble for Lars Jacobsen and Daniel Agger as he drifted in and out of the inside left position, and he made the third with a powerful run, keeping hold of the ball magnificently with great strength and ball control before laying it on a plate for the substitute Shinji Okazaki. This came after Denmark had pulled one back with a penalty, given slightly softly for a foul on Daniel Agger, who immediately gave the ball to Tomasson, who had showed exactly why he hadn’t scored in his past fourteen internationals, having been stuck one behind the all-time Danish goalscoring record. He did his best to avoid equalling that record, his average penalty being saved by Eiji Kawashima and nearly fluffing the rebound from a tiny distance, but luckily for him it did just trickle in. The two teams had been about equal in their previous two games but on this evidence it is impossible to argue with Japan’s qualficiation, which is their first appearance in the knockout stages not on home soil, a fine achievement for a nation that will surely grow larger as a footballing power in the coming years.

Man of the Day: Keisuke Honda really ran the show for Japan today, although Yuji Nakazawa was also brilliant at centre-back and Daisuke Matsui was an industrious, creative influence in the midfield. Robert Vittek must also get a mention for his fine example of a good poacher’s performance, but I’m sticking with Honda, who really caught the eye with a performance hinting at greater quality.

Tomorrow will probably begin with a Brazilian win over Portugal, alongside what I suspect will be a draw between North Korea and the Ivory Coast. The real fun happens in the evening, in a Group H with plenty of permutations. I don’t really see Switzerland scoring many against Honduras, and I’m going to plump for a draw there, with Spain to beat Chile and secure qualification. See you tomorrow.

Day 11: I Wouldn’t Tell The Dear Leader If I Were You…

Portugal 7 – 0 North Korea

Chile 1 – 0 Switzerland

Spain 2 – 0 Honduras

The second phase of group matches came to a close tonight with things looking pretty clear in one group and wide open in another, although nobody has actually confirmed qualification yet in either case. Unfortunately all three games turned out to be mostly one-sided affairs, too.

This was most evident in the opening game, the final lunchtime kick-off where Portugal broke North Korea’s willpower to create a pretty depressing seven-goal rout. Watching the first twenty-five minutes, you wouldn’t have seen it coming, with the North Koreans having the better of the earlier stages, every bit as resistant in defense as they were against Brazil but now with some added adventure, getting forward with more purpose than the Portuguese. The captain Hong Yong-Jo was particularly prominent, getting involved with most of the North Korean play in the final third where star striker Jong Tae-Se was less visible, unable to get the better of Ricardo Carvalho and Bruno Alves. As soon as the first goal went in, though, a simple finish by Raul Meireles from an incisive Tiago pass, their determination was visibly weakened, and this only got worse in the second half. They had been lucky to hang on to 1-0 at half-time but it only took Simao five minutes to extend the lead, and then the underdogs were completely lost. Probably feeling a little beaten down by the driving rain and plentiful Portuguese support, their dogged determination and organisation in defense simply melted away as tiredness crept in quite quickly. The goals became easier and easier to come by for Portugal, particularly using the avenue of Fabio Coentrao hurtling up from left-back, who had a very good game, making mincemeat of Cha Jong-Hyok.

Portugal haven’t confirmed their qualification but now are clear favourites to get through, because the Ivory Coast will realistically need to at least match this scoreline on Friday and hope that Brazil, who are already through and will be able to rest a few players, do a similar job on Portugal. The latter isn’t that unlikely, actually – Portugal just aren’t all that, especially in midfield, and this result should not be taken out of proportion – but it’s tough to see the Ivorians producing such a concerted, focused battering ram of an attacking performance. They, perhaps above all other teams here at the tournament (except perhaps England), are the most prone to producing attacking displays that do the job but are not truly representative of their potential power. North Korea are out but I think we can safely say that this result will not go down well at home and they will be under pressure to get at least a point in the last game, so I have trouble imagining the Ivory Coast scoring a great many. Their fate seems sealed.

There were fewer goals in the second match but it was far more compelling viewing than Portugal’s victory – Chile eventually secured a 1-0 victory over Switzerland, who, with ten men for most of the game following Valon Behrami’s entirely preventable red card for a raised arm in the face, parked the bus for as long as possible and nearly got away with it too. There was only ever going to be one winner but it took a long time to get there, with Chile not quite being able to take full advantage of their total dominance. Returning striker Humberto Suazo looked short of match fitness and sharpness and was duly hauled off at half-time. Alexis Sanchez was again impressive with his pace and trickery but also showed the same lack of a killer touch as he had against Honduras, save the effort that he had rightly disallowed for offside. The standout attacker was Jean Beausejour, who put in several testing crosses from the left but that nobody was able to pick up on properly. The breakthrough came with about fifteen minutes to go when Esteban Paredes, the substitute striker who went on to miss two great and pretty easy chances to take the game beyond doubt, whipped in a lovely cross from the byline and CSKA Moscow winger Mark Gonzalez headed it well at an angle that prevented Stephan Lichtsteiner from blocking it lest he end up handling the ball. Chile definitely deserved to win but will be worried with the quality of their finishing. Chances may not come quite so easily against Spain in the final game.

A lot was taken away from the game by its frustratingly over-officious referee, Khalil Al Ghamdi, who set the tone by booking Suazo in the first minute and blew his whistle for pretty much any contact whatsoever. He ended up issuing nine yellow cards and a red, some of which, shall we say, were more deserved than others. Despite his clear desire to take full control of the game, Al Ghamdi seemed to be losing it as on more than one occasion the game threatened to descend into a brawl as Swiss and Chilean players clashed preparing for set pieces. It wasn’t easy on the eye, that’s for sure. Switzerland, for their part, weren’t great, even accounting for Behrami’s dismissal. The defense did well, with Diego Benaglio looking assured in goal and Stephane Grichting putting everything into his performance, but the midfield struggled to stop Chile’s dominance of posession in just the situation where Gokhan Inler should have been at his best. Blaise N’kufo, hero in the Spain victory, just couldn’t get anything done alone up front (poor captain Alexander Frei, just returned from injury, was withdrawn after the red card) and was most involved in the game when trying to defend set pieces. They have to give Honduras as big a thwacking as possible on Friday to maximise their chances of qualification but I just don’t see that many goals in them. They’re a 1-0 side built for exactly the situation that Spain put them in, and I think they could struggle to do the task required of them against the Hondurans.

Speaking of Honduras, they’ll be pretty chuffed to only have lost 2-0 having been outclassed in every department by a much more confident Spain, and particularly David Villa. The Barcelona forward showed his class by scoring unquestionably the goal of the tournament so far, beating two men as he ran in from the left flank and using the defender’s incoming tackle to slide down and power the ball past the grasp of Noel Valladares. He doubled his tally just a few minutes into the second half with another great shot, albeit one that took a crucial slight deflection on its way in from just outside the area. He seemed in such potent form that it was quite a shock to see him put the ball comfortably wide from the penalty spot after the impressive Jesus Navas was brought down in the area, having sent the keeper the wrong way.

Spain as a whole were very good, although still short of top form. The introduction of Navas from the start gave them a little more flexibility with greater crossing ability. Fernando Torres, the main target for such crosses through the middle, was a bit off-colour, though, obviously not yet at full match fitness following his injury, but Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos did well. Xavi got himself into great positions and passed well as usual but should have been more willing to shoot when it was one. One chance towards the end of the second half could have been taken if he’d had the drive to hit first time the return pass from Navas on the edge of the area.

Honduras just weren’t able to cope with Spain and never looked like equalising, although half-time substitute Georgie Welcome kept running and running as if he alone believed otherwise. Sergio Mendoza had a torrid time at right-back, given the unwanted task of keeping a lid on Villa, and the midfield just weren’t able to hold on to the ball for any length of time. Switzerland should be more to their liking, though, and it must be said that forward Walter Martinez has my favourite hairdo of the tournament (I’m sure that thought will comfort them after such a comprehensive loss).

Man of the Day: It has to be Villa, though he’s run close by Fabio Coentrao and Jean Beausejour. He underlined his status as the deadliest striker in the world with his stunning first goal and did my fantasy football team a world of good too.

Tomorrow, Groups A and B come to a close. Group A will be a close one but I have a feeling Uruguay will sneak a win over Mexico, and France’s remarkable spiral of self-destruction that saw them refuse to train yesterday will almost certainly end in a hilarious loss to the hosts South Africa. I think that’s what everyone would like to see happen, anyway. In Group B it should be straightforward for South Korea and Argentina, who should not have problems beating Nigeria and Greece respectively. I’ll probably be watching Mexico-Uruguay and Greece-Argentina but may switch games if it looks worth my while. See you then.

Day 10: Everything Turned Out All White

Slovakia 0 – 2 Paraguay

Italy 1 – 1 New Zealand

Brazil 3 – 1 Ivory Coast

It was a day to remember at the World Cup as we saw the most surprising, inspiring result so far in the tournament, as well as an impressive showing from a dark horse and some refereeing controversy.

I’ll start, as ever, with the lunchtime kick-off (only one more of those left!) and Paraguay’s routine win over Slovakia. A win was always expected Gerardo Martino’s side but it’s fair to say that we were hoping for a bit more from Slovakia and their captain Marek Hamsik in particular, their best player who was disappointing against New Zealand and completely anonymous today. Paraguay took full advantage of an off-colour Slovakian performance to comfortably record a victory that puts them in pole position to qualify (and on this form they’ll be glad to have earnt a two point cushion before facing New Zealand themselves), this time moving to the formation I was hoping to see them play with three up front, Roque Santa Cruz returning to the starting lineup. There were worries that they might not have enough width but that really wasn’t a problem at all. Nelson Haedo Valdez, in a performance that reminded me more than a little of Carlos Tevez, put in a brilliant all-action shift on the left of the forward three giving support to the full-back Claudio Morel. Neither Santa Cruz nor Lucas Barrios really took up the same role on the right flank but Slovakia were poor enough not to offer Carlos Bonet any significant resistance on his trips up from right-back. Ironically for a strikeforce that a) has been so lauded pre-tournament and b) has done quite a lot to justify that so far this tournament, none of them have scored yet, with midfielder Enrique Vera popping up to snatch the first goal in great style, latching on to a wonderful pass by Barrios to flick the ball confidently into the corner while being tackled by a Slovakian defender. For me that was the goal of the tournament so far. Cristian Riveros sealed the victory with a powerful shot, although had Oscar Cardozo and Vera not got in each other’s way just before one of them might have scored instead.

Paraguay have started really strongly, as good as Argentina I would argue, though obviously in a different way. They are solid, athletic, with clever passing and a really energetic frontline who should cause any team in this World Cup problems. Valdez in particular has been a real star.

Things may yet get more complicated for them, though, because their final group game will be against a team who will believe they can do anything – New Zealand, who made today the greatest day in their footballing history by bravely and exceptionally holding on to a 1-1 draw against holders Italy. They shocked the reigning champions by taking the lead after just six minutes, although the debate will rumble on about whether Shane Smeltz was offside when he poked it past Federico Marchetti. I was worried that their will might break when Tommy Smith conceded a soft penalty by holding Daniele De Rossi’s shirt and Vincenzo Iaquinta calmly converted the spot-kick, but they clung on until half-time and during the second half produced one of the most resilient, determined defensive performances I’ve seen in a long time. Inspired by the magnificent captain Ryan Nelsen, they blocked every shot, intercepted every pass, won every header to emerge unscathed from a barrage of Italian pressure. They might even have won it if the thoroughly impressive substitute, young Chris Wood from West Brom, had had just a little more luck when he did really well to power past two defenders and get a shot away. It was only a matter of inches away from restoring their lead.

Ricki Herbert has clearly done a fantastic job motivating this group of players, some of whom, like today’s late substitute Andy Barron, are semi-professionals who had to ask for special leave from their day jobs to play at the World Cup. They have nothing to lose and have channeled that into two performances full of pride, and now they have as good a chance as anyone to make it to the second round. Not even a spot of disappointingly blatant cheating by some Italian players when it came to feigning injury from inocuous challenges (mentioning no names, Domenico Criscito) could stop them. Italy didn’t play all that badly, either – they constantly pressed and changed their formation to keep asking questions of the All Whites. It was just that New Zealand handled everything they threw at them. There are problems for Italy going into their decider with Slovakia, though – Alberto Gilardino looked lost again today and doesn’t look like scoring any time soon, and Claudio Marchisio, supposedly one of the great hopes of this new-look younger Italian side, also had another very poor game. Marcello Lippi may be tempted to bring back an old hand or two into the starting lineup to try to ensure qualification.

The most anticipated game of the day came this evening as Brazil met the Ivory Coast. Sadly, it turned out to be both a one-sided and quite dull game, despite the scoreline. For most of the first half Brazil were unadventurous and uninteresting but too solid for the Ivorians to get anywhere, the returning and obviously below-match-fitness Dider Drogba forlorn and isolated up front, and then out of nowhere they fought their way through and Luis Fabiano hit an unstoppable shot from an improbable angle to give them the lead. It was a very impressive strike indeed, as was his second five minutes into the second half – pity it should have been disallowed for not one but two handballs as he forced his way into a shooting position. There was a laughable image that followed as the referee simply asked Fabiano if he had handled the ball. No prizes for guessing the answer, and that was that.

If it wasn’t already, the game looked totally dead and buried when Kaka suddenly remembered he was a good footballer and made a great run out wide before cutting the ball back right into the path of Elano who made it 3-0, but soon after the Galatasaray midfielder was taken off injured, having been caught painfully right on the shin bone. No word yet on if he’ll be back, but Dunga, who’s always been a big fan of Elano despite his struggles for consistent good form at club level in recent years, will have his fingers crossed. That will be especially true with Kaka suspended for the final group game against Portugal. Yes, Kaka got sent off this evening, given a ludicrous second yellow by the referee who had no view at all of the incident where Kaka simply put his arm out to ward Kader Keita off, it bumped into the Ivorian’s chest and then Keita shamefully crumpled to the floor clutching his face and screaming in “agony”. The Ivory Coast, seeing their teammate on the floor, appealed, then started a stupid scuffle with the Brazilians as they tried to remonstrate with Kaka, and the referee, who had been looking the other way and therefore could not fairly give a card for the matter (which of course was nowhere near a booking anyway), judged by their reaction and showed the Real Madrid man his second yellow. It was disgraceful refereeing, and astonishingly we are now at nine red cards in just ten days.

Man of the Day: Honourable mention to Nelson Haedo Valdez but the best player today was Ryan Nelsen, who was always one step ahead of Italy and who marshalled a less experienced defence to a stirring result. I can’t help but also give shoutouts to Mark Paston, Winston Reid, Tommy Smith, Simon Elliott, Leo Bertos and Ivan Vicelich – it really was an oustanding performance all over the pitch for the All Whites.

Tomorrow, an iffy Portugal may just struggle against North Korea but will probably depressingly scrape it 1-0 or some such, Chile should beat Switzerland and I fancy Spain to regain some confidence by giving Honduras a mighty battering, and then that’ll be that for round two of the group stage!

Day 5: Ki-we didn’t see that coming…

New Zealand 1 – 1 Slovakia

Ivory Coast 0 – 0 Portugal

Brazil 2 – 1 North Korea

Due to outside circumstances I wasn’t able to devote my complete attention to all the games today but luckily there were only a handful of important moments rather than entire games of tension and excitement. New Zealand versus Slovakia encompassed this completely. The first half wasn’t much of a spectacle but that played right into the Kiwis’ hands. They started solidly and determinedly, not giving much away to the Slovakians who enjoyed the majority of posession. Slovakia seemed a little low on ideas. Captain Marek Hamsik tried his hardest and Vittek took his chance well to open the scoring but they would have been flattered by a 1-0 win and so justice was done in dramatic fashion as, in the 93rd minute, right-back and former Danish under-21 international Winston Reid ran up to the opposition box to head home and secure the Kiwis’ first ever World Cup point. That was a great moment to watch as the New Zealand players went nuts.

But crikey, Ivory Coast – Portugal. That was dull as dishwater. We probably should have seen it coming – of course neither team wanted to lose that game and were always going to play cautiously, but I suppose I assumed that both sides’ being loaded with attack-minded players would override that. Bloody Ronaldo’s early long range shot that rattled the crossbar was probably the best chance of the match although by my reckoning the Ivorian forwards were more impressive, giving some hope if they have to start without Drogba again in the big game next up against Brazil. He didn’t seem to have much more to offer when he did eventually make it on, either. A just result all told, neither team deserved to get more than a point out of that, and seeing as both sides clearly would have taken 0-0 before the game, it leaves you wondering exactly why they bothered playing it at all.

Speaking of Brazil, we all expected them to beat North Korea in the final game tonight but it certainly wasn’t supposed to be quite so close. The Koreans went into half time at 0-0 having admirably kept the samba stars at bay, their five-man defensive line standing firm against admittedly a Brazil team somewhat lacking in inspiration, and once or twice nearly got star striker Jong Tae-se through on goal. When Maicon put Dunga’s team into the lead 10 minutes into the second half with a tight-angled strike that swerved in enough to raise questions over whether he really meant it, you did feel that it was inevitable, and there were understandable worries that it would cause a landslide as the Koreans’ work came to naught, but to their credit they kept going and even after they conceded a second (Elano’s fabulous one-touch finish one of the best goals so far this tournament)  you couldn’t help but smile when they grabbed a late consolation. The delight on Ji Yun-Nam’s face was a joy to see, doing justice to the one North Korean fan’s poster saying “forget politics for 90 minutes”. I certainly did.

Man of the Day: Robinho’s second half against North Korea saw him express himself very well and he threaded through a pinpoint pass of real class for Elano’s second goal. Probably the standout performance for me today.

Tomorrow, Honduras should lose to Chile, my picks Spain should get a good result against an average Switzerland, and then the hosts South Africa face Uruguay in what might be a tight game. My feeling is another draw.

Day 4: No Pun Found

Netherlands 2 – 0 Denmark

Japan 1 – 0 Cameroon

Italy 1 – 1 Paraguay

Netherlands midfielder Rafael van der Vaart summed up his team’s performance yesterday quite well – “Germany played like us and we played like them”. The Dutch opened their campaign with a game less full of attacking penetration than we expected but kept the ball well and in the end comfortably saw off Denmark. The Danes were a little unlucky that Simon Poulsen’s own goal, a pretty dreadful attempt at a headed clearance that went completely the wrong direction and rebounded off one of his teammates into the net, came just after half time, as it visibly deflated them when they would have hoped to be at their brightest. In the first half Denmark had been growing into the game, fashioning a chance or two for Nicklas Bendtner (albeit chances finished in true Bendtner style) and you felt that if they started the second half strongly that an upset could have been on the cards. Their Plan B never materialised after conceding, though, and the match was almost surrended entirely when Morten Olsen withdrew Bendtner to avoid any reoccurance of an injury after just an hour.

Van der Vaart himself had an average game, taking so badly to his role as Robben’s replacement on the left wing that Wesley Sneijder had to be moved out of his most influential position in the hole to let van der Vaart come back inside. It wasn’t until the young winger Eljero Elia replaced him that the Dutch looked really potent up front, with Elia immediately making an impact. He tore the Danish right back Lars Jacobsen to shreds on more than one occasion with blistering pace, great ball control and one or two sumptuous teasing balls into the box. He was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet with the dinked shot that came off the post for Dirk Kuyt to wrap up the victory.

Elia’s performance was certainly much more assured and exciting than anything in Japan’s 1-0 victory over Cameroon, which for a long time was a very very dull game indeed. Japan were set up for the 0-0 from the get-go and Cameroon were quite clearly set up in a way that didn’t play to their strengths, with Samuel Eto’o stranded out on the right wing and never brought back inside. It’s all very well him filling that role at Inter where his central striker is Diego Milito, but when he’s the best player in his team by miles, giving his best job to Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting is just not good enough. Major mistake by Paul Le Guen. Credit must go begrudginly to Japan, though, who at least looked more determined once Keisuke Honda’s goal shocked everyone out of their comas, and deserved their three points having held on well. Cameroon’s Stephane Mbia must also be mentioned for hitting the best long shot we’ve seen so far in the tournament, crashing against the corner of the crossbar and post just before stoppage time.

Speaking of teams obviously not playing to their strengths, I was surprised by Paraguay, who I would have expected to play more of a 4-3-3 to take advantage of their excellent strength in depth up front. They wouldn’t have needed to sacrifice their hard-working defensiveness as the three man midfield could have gotten behind the ball when Italy were in posession, but the best way to test an ageing Italian defense would surely to have started Oscar Cardozo, who’s a really gifted player, alongside Barrios and Valdez and really ask questions of Al-Ahli-bound Fabio Cannavaro. I would only have been more encouraged to do this in the second half when Federico Marchetti had to replaced Buffon in the Italian goal after the great Gigi suffered a back injury (he’s expected to be fit for the next match, by the way).

That aside, Paraguay played well although the Italian equaliser clearly took the wind out of their sails in a big way. You felt as the game drew to a close that Italy could score at any moment but Paraguay managed to cling on to what will end up as a good point for both teams. They had the better of a slightly off-colour Italy side for much of the game, until Mauro Camoranesi was introduced to make a more orthodox 4-4-2 and allow Iaquinta to play in his more natural role through the middle. Aureliano Torres provided some great deliveries from set plays, none more so than the free-kick that set up Paraguay’s goal, centre-back Alcaraz heading home confidently, and they will be confident on this form of beating both other teams in the group and maybe managing to top the table.

Man of the Day: Simone Pepe impressed me today, as did Thomas Sorensen, but the standout performance was Elia’s, who totally transformed the Netherlands when he came on and terrorised Lars Jacobsen and the rest of the Danish defence. He should have made enough of a case to start the next game if Robben isn’t available again.

Later today I fancy New Zealand to snatch a draw with Slovakia, the Ivory Coast should beat Portugal (please! I drew them in a sweepstake), and Brazil should royally thump North Korea. We could finally see some serious goal action.

World Cup Guide: Group G Preview

GROUP G

BRAZIL

FIFA World Ranking: 1

Team Colours: Yellow shirts with green trim, blue shorts, white socks. Away kit is blue shirts with yellow trim and pattern, white shorts, blue socks.

Manager: Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri is better known as Dunga (“Dopey”, after the dwarf) and is the second of two managers, next to Maradona, who is looking to emulate Franz Beckenbauer by winning the World Cup as a manager having lifted it as captain. His tactics are exactly what you would expect from the former battling midfield player – the most defensive Brazilian side in many years, with two holding midfielders who contribute little to the attacking play. In fairness to Dunga, this is as much influenced by the resources at his disposal as it is by his own nature. Look out for one or two hideous shirts that he wears because his daughter is a fashion designer.

Form: Brazil had no real trouble in topping the South American qualifying table but were criticised by many demanding fans for the run of form through the middle of the campaign that saw three consecutive goalless draws at home against Argentina, Bolivia and Colombia. In early 2009, however, they really hit their stride and sealed qualification to their 19th World Cup (they are the only team to have taken part in every tournament) with a dominant 3-1 win away in Argentina. Their only warmups for this competition have been routine victories against Zimbabwe and Tanzania, in which Brazil have scored 8 goals.

Captain: Originally a winger before retraining as a youth player to centre-back, Lucio is now the most solid rock in an already sturdy Brazilian back line. The Inter man, 32, has already won the World Cup with the Selecao eight years ago and was appointed captain by Dunga following the Germany tournament. At that tournament he set the record for minutes played at World Cups without committing a foul, going for an astonishing 386 minutes spanning two tournaments. Now a treble winner, Lucio will be determinedly aiming to make this the best possible season by securing the biggest prize of all once again.

Key Man: Kaka hasn’t had a very good season for his new club Real Madrid, struggling to pin down his identity in the team and get a run of form going, but he is still the vital piece of the Brazilian puzzle. He’ll play just behind Luis Fabiano, the Sevilla striker who is my bet for the Golden Boot, and in this generation of Brazilian players who are perhaps not as universally gifted as some of their recent predecessors, he’s the one man who really can do anything he wants with a football. Brazil will do well whether Kaka shines or not, but if he can find the form that he lost over the last year, their campaign will really come alive.

Man to Watch: You have to be a ludicrously good footballer to keep Dani Alves out of any team’s right-back slot, but Inter favourite Maicon, likely heading to join Kaka at Real after the tournament if the Special One gets his way, is just that good. Like Alves, he’s such a force of nature that playing a right midfielder really isn’t all that necessary, as he can somehow be a brick wall at the back and bomb down the wing to devastating effect seemingly without breaking a sweat. He’s an incredible athlete and I can’t see any opposition left-back at this tournament keeping him quiet.

Prediction: Built on organisation and athleticism more than flair, Brazil are as formidable as ever and will pose the sternest test to Spain for the Jules Rimet trophy. They are not invincible, though – while they do play with two holding midfielders the personnel they will be employing in that position (Gilberto Silva and Kleberson – yes, that Kleberson, who was rubbish for Manchester United a few years ago) are a little underwhelming. But Julio Cesar has matured into one of the world’s best keepers, they have the world’s two best right-backs, and Luis Fabiano has become one of the top poachers in world football without anyone really noticing. I still feel that Spain have the edge in squad depth and in midfield, but until the two meet in the final I don’t see anyone stopping Brazil.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Julio Cesar (Inter)

12. Gomes (Tottenham)

22. Doni (Roma)

Defenders

2. Maicon (Inter)

3. Lucio, captain (Inter)

4. Juan (Roma)

6. Michel Bastos (Lyon)

13. Dani Alves (Barcelona)

14. Luisao (Benfica)

15. Thiago Silva (A.C. Milan)

16. Gilberto (Cruzeiro)

Midfielders

5. Felipe Melo (Juventus)

7. Elano (Galatasaray)

8. Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos)

10. Kaka (Real Madrid)

17. Josue (Wolfsburg)

18. Ramires (Benfica)

19. Julio Baptista (Roma)

20. Kleberson (Flamengo)

Forwards

9. Luis Fabiano (Sevilla)

11. Robinho (Manchester City)

21. Nilmar (Villarreal)

23. Grafite (Wolfsburg)

NORTH KOREA

FIFA World Ranking: 105

Team Colours: Red shirts with white trim, red shorts, red socks. Away kit is the inverse.

Manager: I’m going to warn you now, this is going to be a short preview, because I’m pretty in the dark about North Korea. Anyway, Kim Jong-Hun is 53 and he favours a disciplined, pragmatic approach to tactics. That’s about as much as I, and apparently the official FIFA World Cup website, know.

Form: North Korea had to dispatch some reasonably handy Asian teams to reach the finals, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, and were a real surprise package, coming through every round of qualifying and meeting rivals South Korea in the third and fourth rounds. Results between the two were close, with two draws and then, in their final meeting, a 1-0 victory for South Korea in Seoul, after which Kim Jong-Hun suggested that the South Koreans had poisoned his team. I’m starting to like this guy. Their friendlies have ended with a surprising 2-2 draw with Greece and a more predictable 3-1 defeat at the hands of Nigeria.

Captain: Hong Yong-Jo is the only North Korean in the squad to be based outside of Asia (and one of only three based outside of North Korea, with two in Japan). The FC Rostov forward scored four in four in qualifying, although he only has three in thirty for his new club. There are no stats for how well he did in North Korea for the brilliantly-named club 25 April, though, so for all I know he’s a lethal predator.

Key Man: Goalkeeper Ri Myong-Guk was nominated for the 2009 Asian Footballer of the Year award after his heroic display in the qualification-sealing draw with Saudi Arabia, and my word, North Korea are going to need him this summer.

Man to Watch: Jong Tae-se is an interesting story. The “People’s Rooney” (I’m not joking) is so named for his stocky build and hard-working attitude and scores plenty too, with 15 in 22 for his national side. He was originally South Korean but renounced his country and got himself a North Korean passport from the embassy in Japan, where he plays his football for Kawasaki Frontale. He apparently had a trial with an unnamed Premier League side in January this year, so maybe he could earn himself a move to Europe with a good enough flight from this sinking ship.

Prediction: To be honest, I have no idea, but it strikes me as unlikely that North Korea will pick up a single point in this group. They may be focused on defense and disciplined but Luis Fabiano in the opening match, let alone the rest of the Brazilian squad, should take them apart. They should fulfill well the role of comedy team, though, having already had their plan to register forward Kim Myong-Won as one of their three goalkeepers foiled by FIFA. They’re now stuck with Kim only being allowed to play in goal, so I’m hoping for red cards for both their main keepers in the first game so we can see how he does in his new role. On a more serious note, if North Korea score a goal, they should be delighted.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Ri Myong-Guk (Pyongyang City)

18. Kim Myong-Gil (Amrokgang)

20. Kim Myong-Won (Amrokgang)

Defenders

2. Cha Jong-Hyok (Amrokgang)

3. Ri Jun-Il (Sobaeksu)

5. Ri Kwang-Chon (April 25)

8. Ji Yun-Nam (April 25)

13. Pak Chol-Jin (Amrokgang)

14. Pak Nam-Chol (Amrokgang)

16. Nam Song-Chol (April 25)

21. Ri Kwang-Hyok (Kyonggongop)

Midfielders

4. Pak Nam-Chol (April 25)

6. Kim Kum-Il (April 25)

11. Mun In-Guk (April 25)

15. Kim Yong-Jun (Pyongyang City)

17. Ahn Young-Hak (Omiya Ardija)

19. Ri Chol-Myong (Pyongyang City)

22. Kim Kyong-Il (Rimyongsu)

23. Pak Sung-Hyok (Sobaeksu)

Forwards

7. An Chol-Hyok (Rimyongsu)

9. Jong Tae-se (Kawasaki Frontale)

10. Hong Yong-Jo, captain (FC Rostov)

12. Choe Kum-Chol (Rimyongsu)

IVORY COAST

FIFA World Ranking: 27

Team Colours: Orange shirts with green trim, white shorts, green socks. Away kit is green shirts with white trim and white horizontal stripes (with their own orange trim) cut off at the right shoulder, white shorts, white socks.

Manager: The Ivory Coast sacked previous manager Valil Halilhodzic after a disappointing quarter-final finish for the most hyped African team in the world at the Africa Cup of Nations in January, leaving themselves with the quandary of whom to appoint to bring together a divided dressing room full of egos and madmen. But they projected a dollar sign into the night sky, and lo! Sven-Man is here to save the day! Yes, it’s everyone’s favourite womanising underachiever, Sven-Goran Eriksson who is charged with organising this talented group of players into a team that can break out of the Group of Death.

Form: The Ivorians were a real letdown at the Cup of Nations but steamrolled their group without losing a game, although the toughest test in that group was Guinea. Didier Drogba was on incredible form, scoring six in five and salvaging results in a couple of hard-fought matches against Burkina Faso and Malawi. Their friendlies have been up and down – a 2-2 draw over Paraguay decent, a 2-0 win over Japan pretty good, but most recently a 1-1 draw with Swiss second division side Lausanne not good at all.

Captain: Talismanic striker Didier Drogba is desperate to play in what will surely be his last chance at a World Cup despite the broken bone in his elbow that seriously threatens his participation. We know he’s one of the world’s best strikers and we know he is absolutely vital to his country’s hopes to getting out of this tough group, but even if he does make it onto the field will he still be in the condition required to make an impact? For the sake of the competition (and the fact that I drew the Ivory Coast in my patented www.random.org sweepstake), I hope so.

Key Man: If Drogba is short of his potential this summer than Sven will look to his probable strike partner Gervinho for goals. The Lille striker has scored one every two games this season and has more guile and creativity than Drogba, though he is less of a one-man battering ram.

Man to Watch: Pay attention to versatile defender/midfielder Romaric, who will probably be employed as a playmaker in this Ivorian team. I would expect him to be the most advanced of a midfield trio alongside Didier Zokora and Yaya Toure, allowing Gervinho and Salomon Kalou to flank Drogba.

Prediction: For my money, everything depends on Drogba’s fitness. If he’s fit and his elbow doesn’t bother him, I think the Ivory Coast will get out of this group, but if not, I don’t think they’ll have enough to push Portugal out of the way. I can’t see them overcoming Spain in the second round though.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Boubacar Barry (Lokeren)

16. Aristide Zogbo (Maccabi Netanya)

23. Daniel Yeboah (Abidjan)

Defenders

2. Benjamin Angoua (Valenciennes)

3. Arthur Boka (Stuttgart)

4. Kolo Toure (Manchester City)

6. Steve Gohouri (Wigan)

17. Siaka Tiene (Valenciennes)

20. Guy Demel (Hamburg)

21. Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal)

22. Sol Bamba (Hibernian)

Midfielders

5. Didier Zokora (Sevilla)

9. Cheick Tiote (FC Twente)

12. Jean-Jacques Gosso (Monaco)

13. Romaric (Sevilla)

14. Emmanuel Kone (International)

18. Abdul Kader Keita (Galatasaray)

19. Yaya Toure (Barcelona)

Forwards

7. Seydou Doumbia (CSKA Moscow)

8. Salomon Kalou (Chelsea)

10. Gervinho (Lille)

11. Didier Drogba (Chelsea)

15. Aruna Dindane (Lekhwiya)

PORTUGAL

FIFA World Ranking: 3

Team Colours: Red shirts with green trim and a green horizontal stripe, white shorts, green socks. Away kit is white with green trim and two vertical stripes, one green and one red, green shorts, white socks.

Manager: Former manager of the host nation, Carlos Quieroz has had a rocky time of it since taking over as Portugal coach in 2008. He’s overseen their most frustrating qualifying period for some time and doesn’t look entirely comfortable as the top man rather than an assistant, in much the same way that he did when he was briefly in charge of Real Madrid a few years ago before skulking back to Fergie at Old Trafford.

Form: Qualifying was pretty horrific for Portugal, with very little cohesion and nearly avoiding even making it into the playoffs. Denmark beat them to the automatic qualification and they only finished a point ahead of Sweden and three ahead of Hungary. Among other lowlights were a 0-0 home draw with lowly Albania, and two nil-all draws with Sweden. Their friendlies have been improving – a pretty poor 0-0 draw with Cape Verde has been followed with more comforting wins over Cameroon and Mozambique, but Portugal are yet to be tested by a seriously good side, and therein lies the worry.

Captain: Now, for the most part of this blog, I will do my best to be unbiased, but I’m sorry, when it comes to this man, I can’t do it. Cristiano Bloody Ronaldo is to my mind the most odious man on the planet, a smug, arrogant cheating little rat. But I suppose he’s a pretty decent footballer. It doesn’t seem like Quieroz has figured out the best way to build the team around him yet, and at times he’s been the only man to have salvaged points for Portugal in qualifying. Another incredible goalscoring season, this time 26 in 29 for Real Madrid, means Ronaldo is the key man for his team, but in past major tournaments he hasn’t really shone. Let’s hope the same happens again for the obnoxious git.

Key Man: This may be an odd choice, but in a group filled with attacking firepower (and North Korea), Portugal need goalkeeper Eduardo to step up. The Braga man was behind Quim in the pecking order but since making his debut last year has won 15 caps and managed to force Quim out of the squad altogether, leaving Portugal with a very inexperienced group of keepers. Behind Eduardo, Beto and Daniel Fernandes have just 3 caps between them. Eduardo needs to marshal a potentially shaky defence if Portugal are to avoid being high-profile casualties.

Man to Watch: Venezuelan-born attacking midfielder/second striker Danny could be a breakout star for Portugal this summer. Probably playing behind Brazilian Liedson, he’s quick and nimble and scored ten goals last season for St. Petersburg side Zenit. Manchester United fans will remember him for scoring the winner in the Super Cup against them in 2008.

Prediction: Same thing I said for the Ivory Coast – if Drogba is fit then I can see Portugal failing to escape this group, as they have talent in their traditional areas (on the wings with Ronaldo and Simao, behind the striker with Danny) but leave something to be desired in midfield and defence. Exciting, dynamic players like Joao Moutinho have been left out of the midfield in favour of Deco, who rarely exerts any influence these days, and Tiago, who was never all that in the first place and has been passed around the European leagues trying to find a club where he can make an impression. My money is on Portugal to exit at the first opportunity, and I look forward to seeing poor ickle Ronnie have a good cry about it.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Eduardo (Braga)

12. Beto (Porto)

22. Daniel Fernandes (Iraklis)

Defenders

2. Bruno Alves (Porto)

3. Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea)

4. Rolando (Porto)

5. Duda (Malaga)

6. Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea)

13. Miguel (Valencia)

15. Pepe (Real Madrid)

21. Ricardo Costa (Valencia)

23. Fabio Coentrao (Benfica)

Midfielders

8. Pedro Mendes (Sporting CP)

10. Danny (Zenit St. Petersburg)

14. Miguel Veloso (Sporting CP)

16. Raul Meireles (Porto)

19. Tiago (Atletico Madrid)

20. Deco (Chelsea)

Forwards

7. Cristiano Bloody Ronaldo, captain (Real Madrid)

9. Liedson (Sporting CP)

11. Simao (Atletico Madrid)

17. Ruben Amorim (Benfica)

18. Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen)

World Cup Guide: Group E Preview

GROUP E

NETHERLANDS

FIFA World Ranking: 4

Team Colours: Orange shirts with black and white trim, black shorts, orange socks. Away kit is white shirts with blue trim and two thin Vs across the chest, one blue and one orange, blue shorts, white socks.

Manager: Bert van Marwijk took Rotterdam club Feyenoord to an unlikely UEFA Cup (remember that?) win in 2002 after a second-place Eredivisie finish in 2001, briefly returning there in 2007-08 before being appointed as Marco van Basten’s successor. Van Marwijk has maintained essentially the same formation as van Basten but the style has been turned down a notch to help protect a somewhat wobbly defence. He is well liked by the Dutch fans for his quiet and sensible approach.

Form: The Dutch swept their (admittedly not that testing) qualifying group with a 100 per cent winning record, scoring 17 goals and conceding just 2 in their eight games, and were impressive throughout with no signs of faltering. Their subsequent friendlies have been similarly promising, with one draw against Paraguay last November and wins over the USA, Mexico, Ghana and Hungary in the build up to the World Cup, the 4-1 and 6-1 victories in the latter two games being particularly fearsome. They look in very good shape.

Captain: Long-serving left-back Giovanni van Bronckhorst will retire at the end of the tournament after a fourteen-year international career, 454 club appearances and a trophy cabinet containing Scottish and English Premier Leagues, La Liga and Champions League medals. At 35, though, “Gio” has lost most of his pace and vigour to the extent that he is sometimes used in a defensive midfield role rather than the more demanding left-back position for which he is best known. Netherlands fans will hope that his experience and nous will make up for his physical shortcomings.

Key Man: Wesley Sneijder has had a gold star season at the forefront of Inter’s charge to a treble and will be the playmaker-in-chief for the Dutch side. Voted by 70% of Dutch fans as being the best free-kick taker in the country, Sneijder can spray passes with pinpoint accuracy to any of the forward three and is in arguably the form of his life.

Man to Watch: Exciting young right-back Gregory van der Wiel is the latest in a long line of products of the Ajax youth academy. The 22-year-old has attracted interest from Arsenal and Manchester United as a result of a season which saw him win the Johan Cruyff Young Player of the Year award in Holland, and has been hailed by team-mate John Heitinga as the spiritual successor to Michael Reiziger.

Prediction: The Netherlands look very strong this year, with the only real worry being a slightly shaky-looking back line. The ongoing worries over Arjen Robben’s participation are a problem, as well, and while young Hamburg winger Eljero Elia could step up in his place, Robben’s absence would be a real blow to a settled, cohesive attacking quartet. They should be able to overcome the challenges in this group but face a tricky road to the final stages, probably meeting Paraguay or Italy in the second round and likely Brazil in the quarters. I can see them edging past whoever they meet in the last 16, and they could give Brazil a heck of a match, but I don’t see them being able to undo their organised defence. Quarter finals.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax)

16. Michel Vorm (Utrecht)

22. Sander Boschker (FC Twente)

Defenders

2. Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax)

3. John Heitinga (Everton)

4. Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg)

5. Giovanni van Bronckhorst, captain (Feyenoord)

12. Khalid Boulahrouz (Stuttgart)

13. Andre Ooijer (PSV)

15. Edson Braafheid (Bayern Munich)

Midfielders

6. Mark van Bommel (Bayern Munich)

8. Nigel de Jong (Manchester City)

10. Wesley Sneijder (Inter)

14. Demy de Zeeuw (Ajax)

18. Stijn Schaars (FC Twente)

20. Ibrahim Afellay (PSV)

23. Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid)

Forwards

7. Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool)

9. Robin van Persie (Arsenal)

11. Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)

17. Eljero Elia (Hamburg)

19. Ryan Babel (Liverpool)

21. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (A.C. Milan)

DENMARK

FIFA World Ranking: 36

Team Colours: Red shirts with white trim and a white checkered strip horizontal across the chest, white shorts with red trim, red socks with white trim. Away kit is white shirts with red trim, red shorts with white trim, white socks with red trim.

Manager: 60-year-old Morten Olsen is one of the longest-serving managers at this World Cup, having taken the Denmark job back in 2000. Since then he’s led his team to qualification for the 2002 World Cup, Euro 2004 and now South Africa. He is best loved, though, for being the captain of the Danish team through much of the 1980s, a team much admired by the fans and considered the best in their history. Some say Olsen is the most important player in the history of Danish football, and so it’s no surprise that support for his management has always been high.

Form: Denmark defied the odds to top their group at the expense of Portugal and Sweden, only losing once on their way to qualification and completing a double over rivals Sweden to the delight of their fans. They also scored three goals in the last ten minutes to secure a vital victory in Lisbon over the group favourites. In friendlies they’ve been inconsistent, though – a reasonably assured win over Senegal was followed by a defeat to Australia.

Captain: Well-traveled veteran forward Jon Dahl Tomasson is as crafty as ever. The former Newcastle, A.C. Milan, Villarreal and Stuttgart player, now back for a second spell at Feyenoord, plays as a second striker behind Nicklas Bendtner for Denmark these days. His record for Denmark commands respect – 110 caps and 51 goals. He may be getting on a bit but is still dangerous and not to be underestimated.

Key Man: Nicklas Bendtner thinks it’s him, but the main cog in the Danish engine is Juventus midfielder Christian Poulsen. The, shall we say, combative midfielder really gets stuck in and if Denmark are to compete with teams like the Netherlands who keep possession so well, they will need Poulsen to be at his irrepressible best to win back the ball whenever possible.

Man to Watch: You may have heard people talk about him already, but Palermo centre-back Simon Kjaer is a really promising player whose stock is rising fast in the world game. At just 21 years old he is already an assured and reliable presence at the heart of the defence who can confidently deal with any opponent. Clubs all over Europe are chasing his signature and he has a chance this summer to push his potential salary up by a digit or two.

Prediction: Even with the depth in this group Denmark look pretty interesting. They are arguably a better balanced squad than Cameroon in terms of ability in every position and could make life difficult for many a team in South Africa. I think they’ll make it out of this group and could even spring a surprise against Italy in the second round.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Thomas Sorensen (Stoke)

16. Stephan Andersen (Brondby)

22. Jesper Christiansen (FC Copenhagen)

Defenders

3. Simon Kjaer (Palermo)

4. Daniel Agger (Liverpool)

5. William Kvist (FC Copenhagen)

6. Lars Jacobsen (Blackburn Rovers)

13. Per Kroldrup (Fiorentina)

15. Simon Poulsen (AZ Alkmaar)

23. Patrick Mtiliga (Malaga)

Midfielders

2. Christian Poulsen (Juventus)

7. Daniel Jensen (Werder Bremen)

8. Jesper Gronkjaer (FC Copenhagen)

10. Martin Jorgensen (Aarhus)

12. Thomas Kahlenberg (Wolfsburg)

14. Jakob Poulsen (Aarhus)

19. Dennis Rommedahl (Ajax)

20. Thomas Enevoldsen (FC Groningen)

21. Christian Eriksen (Ajax)

Forwards

9. Jon Dahl Tomasson, captain (Feyenoord)

11. Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal)

17. Mikkel Beckmann (Randers)

18. Soren Larsen (Duisburg)

JAPAN

FIFA World Ranking: 45

Team Colours: Blue shirts with red and white trim, white shorts with blue trim, blue socks with white trim. Away kit is the inverse.

Manager: Takeshi Okada was briefly in charge of the national team at France 98 but left after the tournament. His second, more long-term spell started in 2007 when he replaced Ivica Osim who had suffered a stroke. He bears a certain resemblance to a Japanese Sven-Goran Eriksson, and would be happy to emulate Sven’s traditional quarter final finish.

Form: Japan cruised through the various Asian qualifying sections until the final phase, where they were twice frustrated by Australia and finished second, though they booked their plane tickets an hour earlier thanks to the quirks of kick-off times. Their preparations have been less than ideal, though, with four losses in four friendlies against Serbia, South Korea, England, and Ivory Coast. In the game against England they showed signs of quality but shot themselves in the foot with two late own goals.

Captain: This will be goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi’s fourth World Cup, and strangely though he has been named as captain for his experience he will not start as the first choice goalkeeper, with Seigo Narazaki having impressed in qualifying (he, too, is in his fourth tournament). Kawaguchi has amassed 116 caps and is just 7 away from the all-time Japanese record.

Key Man: 26-year-old central midfielder Makoto Hasebe is a candidate to wear the captain’s armband if, as expected, Kawaguchi starts on the bench. The Wolfsburg man is a disciplined, mostly defensive-minded central player with plenty of stamina and determination, but can pick a pass well if needed to play further forward or on the right flank.

Man to Watch: CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda became the first Japanese player to play in the Champions League quarter-finals this season and one of Okada’s main tasks this summer will be to find the best way to utilise him. Usually an advanced midfielder in the centre, Honda takes a powerful free-kick and likes to get forward and take a shot, and can also play at left-back if necessary.

Prediction: Japan should be willing enough but will be too short of quality to get out of this difficult group. Their former talisman Shunsuke Nakamura has been in decline in the last few years since leaving Celtic for Espanyol and they look a little devoid of invention and creativity.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus)

21. Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale)

23. Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, captain (Jubilo Iwata)

Defenders

3. Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata)

4. Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Nagoya Grampus)

5. Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo)

6. Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers)

13. Daiki Iwamasa (Kashima Antlers)

15. Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo)

22. Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama)

Midfielders

2. Yuki Abe (Urawa Red Diamonds)

7. Yasuhitu Endo (Gamba Osaka)

8. Daisuki Matsui (Grenoble)

10. Shunsuke Nakamura (Yokohama)

14. Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale)

17. Makoto Hasebe (Wolfsburg)

18. Keisuke Honda (CSKA Moscow)

20. Junichi Inamoto (Kawasaki Frontale)

Forwards

9. Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse)

11. Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus)

12. Kishu Yano (Albirex Niigata)

16. Yoshito Okubo (Vissel Kobe)

19. Takayuki Morimoto (Catania)

CAMEROON

FIFA World Ranking: 19

Team Colours: Green shirts with red trim, red shorts, yellow socks with red trim. Away kit is yellow shirts with thin vertical red stripes and trim, green shorts, red socks.

Manager: Paul Le Guen has been in charge of Cameroon for just one year after leaving Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the 2009 season, whom he led to a Coupe de la Ligue victory but couldn’t bring out of the relegation zone. He quickly imposed himself on the team by dropping veteran defender Rigobert Song as captain and installing talismanic striker Samuel Eto’o, who then inspired the team to complete qualification for the finals. Le Guen was part of the Lyon success story, winning the second, third and fourth of their incredible seven straight French league wins, but struggled at Rangers and PSG. Has made a solid start with Cameroon, though.

Form: Under former boss Otto Pfister (one of the best names in sport) Cameroon made a slow start to their qualifying group, losing to Togo and drawing with Morocco, before Le Guen’s arrival perked things up. Both Song and Eto’o responded well to the change in captaincy, with Song winning back his place and Eto’o scoring the goals that put the Indomitable Lions through. Their friendlies haven’t been amazing – a come-from-behind one-all draw with Slovakia was followed by a routine loss to Portugal and an exciting but eventually disappointing defeat at the hands of Serbia, albeit without Eto’o.

Captain/Key Man: Samuel Eto’o was the subject of one of the strangest transfers of recent years when he was included along with £60 million in a deal to bring Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the world’s most over-rated striker, to Barcelona from Inter. Under Jose Mourinho’s stewardship, Eto’o has been playing in a slightly unusual role out on the right wing as a hard-working inside forward to make room for Diego Milito in the centre, but has done pretty well in that position on the way to winning the treble in his first season. Still one of the world’s most devastating finishers, Eto’o is a striker feared the world over and will be Cameroon’s main chance of getting out of this group. If you take him out of the equation Cameroon just don’t have much in the way of firepower, but Eto’o knows that this may be his last chance of making the impact on the World Cup that we all know he is capable of.

Man to Watch: Stephane Mbia joined Didier Deschamps’ Marseille last summer and became an integral part of their title-winning side having repositioned himself from central midfield to centre half. The 24-year-old could yet start at right-back for Cameroon, though, with no player having made the position his own in qualifying. Strong, powerful and versatile, Mbia’s physical presence will make life difficult for forwards.

Prediction: Will run it close with Denmark to get out of the group, and while it could go either way, my money is on Cameroon being pipped at the post and having to settle for third in Group E. Their midfield is willing, but Alexandre Song aside, relatively limited and their strength in depth isn’t quite good enough, with everything depending on Samuel Eto’o being fit and firing. A lack of experience in defence past Song, Geremi and Mbia if he plays there may be telling as well.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Carlos Idriss Kameni (Espanyol)

16. Souleymanou Hamidou (Kayserispor)

22. Guy N’dy Assembe (Valenciennes)

Defenders

2. Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Tottenham)

3. Nicolas N’Koulou (Monaco)

4. Rigobert Song (Trabzonspor)

5. Sebastien Bassong (Tottenham)

8. Geremi Nijtap (Ankaragucu)

12. Gaetan Bong (Valenciennes)

14. Aurelien Chedjou (Lille)

19. Stephane Mbia (Marseille)

Midfielders

6. Alexandre Song (Arsenal)

7. Landry N’Guemo (Celtic)

10. Achille Emana (Real Betis)

11. Jean Makoun (Lyon)

18. Eyong Enoh (Ajax)

20. Georges Mandjeck (Kaiserslauten)

21. Joel Matip (Schalke)

Forwards

9. Samuel Eto’o, captain (Inter)

13. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (Nuremberg)

15. Pierre Webo (Mallorca)

17. Mohammadou Idrissou (Freiburg)

23. Vincent Aboubakar (Cotonsport Garoua)

Days 13-16: The Quarter-Finals

Thanks to some issues with final exams and celebrating the end thereof, I haven’t been able to keep up to date daily with the goings-on at the Euros as usual, so I decided before last night’s game to roll all four quarter-finals into one big post. And here it is.

Firstly, Germany 3 – 2 Portugal. I never thought I’d be desperate for Germany to win anything but I was happily singing Deutschland, Deutschland, über alles throughout that game, which was less entertaining in truth than the score suggests. Germany’s first goal, scored by Bastian “Look At My Hair” Schweinsteiger, was quite similar to the celebrated Sneijder goal against Italy, however, but overall it only really got exciting in the last five minutes of each half when Portugal remembered they were professional footballers and started playing properly. It was an extremely disappointing performance from Portugal but I wouldn’t be too quick to blame it on Scolari leaving. I really doubt the amount of influence that had – it was common knowledge that he was probably going to leave after the tournament anyway as his contract was up, so none of them should have been surprised. I’d be very surprised if Scolari himself changed in any way after the news, he’s far too strong a personality for that, so all this nonsense of the Portuguese FA reporting Chelsea to UEFA or whatever for the timing of their appointment looks very much like covering for what turned out to be a very ordinary side.

I must confess I didn’t see all of the Croatia-Turkey match – I managed to walk out of the pub we were watching it in pretty much at the point it became interesting, about 75 minutes in. Having received news of the dramatic finale via text message, I’m in no position to comment on the quality of the goals (though I gather Rustu Recber was at fault for the Croatia opener – no great surprise there), but the 75 minutes I did see were quite dull. Turkey seemed to have started believing the hype that they could only play in the last five minutes to sneak a win, and Croatia dominated accordingly, though without creating many clear-cut chances. And of course it went to penalties, where Croatia were apparently surprisingly bad, but they’re a young side and will probably come back stronger as a result of this. I shall be cheering for Turkey in the semi-finals, if only because they may have to field their third-choice goalkeeper as an outfield substitute at some point as they only have 14 players who aren’t injured or suspended. Seriously. Unfortunately, this does suggest that if Turkey had any chance before their best players ruled themselves out of the game, they probably don’t have a hope of beating Germany at all now. But we can hope.

On Saturday night, Russia produced a first-class performance to dispatch the disappointing Dutch 3-1 after extra time, during which Andrei Arshavin bumped his price tag up by about 10 million pounds. It was certainly the best individual performance of the tournament so far, and there’s a compelling argument that despite only having played two games, Arshavin’s already the player of the tournament. He completely ran the show – involved in everything Russia did, driving them forward and bulldozing the Dutch defence, who were always going to be the weak link, and more than deserved his goal. That’s not to say the rest of the Russian team didn’t play very well, though – even Roman Pavlyuchenko managed to score as many as one goal in about ten chances this time. Luca Toni looks on with envy.

Speaking of Luca Toni, he continued to do his best Emile Heskey impression during the frighteningly dull 0-0 draw with Spain last night, which Spain deservedly won on penalties. If it weren’t for Toni’s sudden and hilarious ineptitude in front of goal, I might be complaining a bit less about the Italian mentality, but it was truly atrocious. From the very first minute Italy were playing for penalties, making no attempt to stop Spain controlling the game, just as long as they blocked everything, which they did, and very well (what did you expect?). Spain played the game in the right way, and though they weren’t spellbinding they tried to find a winner and came very close, particularly with the uncharacteristic mistake from Gigi Buffon that spilled onto the post. The Spain-Russia semi-final could well be the pick of the tournament.

Speaking of semi-finals, I anticipate further difficulties in watching all of the games live but I’ll see what I can and probably be reviewing them on Friday, before build-up to Sunday’s final begins. See you there.

Day 12: Russia close the group stage in style

Group D concluded last night to end the round-robin stage, and there was only one match I was going to watch last night, despite supporting Spain. Sweden – Russia was the one that counted, and boy, am I glad to have seen that Russian performance. 2-0 does not tell an adequate story of just how vastly superior they were to Sweden, who were out of ideas despite huffing and puffing as they always do. The return of suspended skipper Andrei Arshavin catalysed a stunning attacking performance, the Russians gliding past the Swedish defence seemingly at will.

Despite the brilliant performances all around from Russia, there were obvious standouts. Arshavin showed us why Guus Hiddink felt it was worth the possibility of him only playing one game to pick him for the squad, supporting Pavlyuchenko eagerly and dictating everything that Russia did. His goal just after half-time was more than deserved. The other major plus was Yuri Zhirkov, the left-winger now turned left-back who dominated his entire flank with boundless energy and superb creativity. He was unlucky not to score with a couple of great free-kicks.

Unfortunately for Russia, their only barrier to being a great side right now is the fact that everyone should have scored more. Their main striker, Roman Pavlyuchenko, looks first class in his work rate, pace and ability to get past defenders – but his finishing has been apalling throughout the tournament. Sure, he scored one last night, and what a good team goal it was, but he literally should have had 10. I counted. That inability to get the ball in the back of the net may cost Russia, probably against Holland in Saturday’s quarterfinal – and doesn’t that look like being a great game. Pick of the round for me, actually.

I saw very brief highlights of Spain’s comeback win against Greece. By all accounts it wasn’t too convincing but Xabi Alonso was unlucky not to score three magical goals and Ruben de la Red’s equaliser was a volley of such thundering speed it’s probably still moving. Spain are confident all right, and should have enough to see off Italy.

So that’s it for the group stages, which means that from now on it’s a knockout! We kick off the quarter finals with Germany v Portugal tonight, which I’m expecting to be a frustrating 0-0 for Portugal followed by an inevitable German win on penalties. I’m nothing if not unoriginal.

Days 9 & 10: Groups A and B resolved

Firstly, my apologies for not covering Day 9 yesterday – I’ve been busy setting up my new laptop. Hooray for me. Anyway, here’s a double-header to make up for it.

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So on Sunday it was the first of the simultaneous group wraps, with Turkey completing a stunning comeback to beat the Czech Republic 3-2 in one of the strangest fifteen minutes I’ve seen for a long while. The first half was a bore, the Czechs running the game without any real Turkish resistance at all. When Jaroslav Plasil made it 2-0 I was sure that was game over, and considered switching over to the Switzerland-Portugal game. Thankfully my decision to stick with it was worth it – first Arda Turan confirmed his growing reputation with the Turkish opener, then, more sadly, Petr Cech confirmed that he hasn’t been the same keeper since Stephen Hunt kicked his head in a year or so ago. That really was a first-grade howler – the Cech of two years ago would have caught that cross 100% of the time, no question. A real shame, but what made it more painful was the exquisite winner two minutes later, Nihat breaking the offside trap with ease and powering a fantastic shot in off the underside of the crossbar. Brutal.

As if that wasn’t enough, Turkish goalkeeper Arslan Volkan decided that it was a good time to blatantly push Jan Koller over in the penalty box. The most obvious red card you’ll ever see, you have to wonder what the hell he was thinking – and if I was Fatih Terim, I’d seriously consider not bothering to pick him after his ban even if they get past Croatia into the semi-finals. Luckily, I’m not Fatih Terim – I have no desire to be a Turkish Terry Venables any time soon. So, the Czechs were knocked out and Croatia-Turkey looks like being an interesting quarter-final.

As I said, I didn’t see any of the Swiss-Portugal game, aside from one replay of the disallowed goal (not enough for me to make a judgement on whether or not it was offside), and the two Swiss goals. I mean, seriously – what the hell were Portugal doing losing 2-0 to that side? I know they made 8 changes and were already through, but surely those 8 players wanted to earn a place in the quarter-final line-up? Difficult to argue with the heart of the Swiss performance, though, by the sounds of it. They’ve certainly given a better account of themselves than their co-hosts.

So on to last night’s action, where Germany qualified courtesy of Michael Ballack’s free-kick goal (the first decent free-kick of the tournament, I might add) in a 1-0 victory over Austria, who made a mockery of the nostalgia-fest covering their famous victory in Cordoba all those years ago by showing just how useless they are, particularly, again, in the opponent’s half. Despite the ineptitude of their opposite numbers, Germany weren’t great either, and again it was the strikers who were the issue. Miroslav Klose did pretty much nothing all night, though at least he did nothing wrong per se, which is more than can be said for his partner Mario Gomez. Having been hyped by everyone pre-tournament, including yours truly, he topped his anonymous first two performances by being actively bad last night, missing a tap-in nearly on a par with the easiness of Hakan Yakin’s puddle-aided goal last week. His confidence is clearly shot and I doubt we’ll see him start a game again in this tournament.

Meanwhile, what on earth went on between Jogi Low and Josef Hickersberger, the two managers, on the touchline shortly before half-time? I didn’t catch all of what was happening (more laptop fiddling) at the time, so am still quite clueless about the whole thing – but it looked surreal, Hickersberger not once but twice strolling into the German technical area and harassing the staff for no apparent reason, then as the two managers continued bickering, ignoring the referee’s attempts to get them to stop, they were quite rightly sent to the stands. Then, Low had the cheek to go and get his jacket first, before the two managers shook hands on the way out. What on earth was all that about?

In other news, Croatia top the table with 9 points having beaten Poland 1-0 thanks to Ivan Klasnic’s goal. That is all I know about the match, having seen none of it. Sounds like Croatia did pretty well despite playing a second team. I tell you, they’re going to the final.

Day 8: Spain qualify and Greece go home. Ah, justice.

So after two games in each group, we already know all four group winners. While it’s impossible to deny that Portugal, Croatia, Holland and Spain deserve to have gotten through, I can’t help feeling that the new preference for head-to-head results over goal difference makes the groups less exciting than they could be. As a result of this, today’s potentially interesting Switzerland-Portugal game has been made completely irrelevant, and it could have been more had results changed just slightly over the draw as a whole.

But let’s not dwell. Spain secured their first place in the group by beating Sweden 2-1 thanks to a late, late goal from David Villa. Sweden will be disappointed but over the course of the game Spain were definitely the better side, having created much more than the Swedes and being refused what looked like a clear penalty for a foul on Silva just before half-time. Silva in particular was impressive, stepping up while Xavi and Iniesta failed to extend quite as much influence as they had over Russia, and the two strikers continued to work hard but without the top-quality service they’d gotten before. I was glad to see Fernando Torres score as I’d felt he’d deserved a goal against Guus Hiddink’s team, and while it wasn’t particularly pretty, his finish from a free-kick was clever under pressure. Iker Casillas didn’t have much to do in the Spanish goal but should have stopped Ibrahimovic’s goal – he got a hand on it but definitely had time and room to make more confident contact. Villa spared his blushes somewhat.

I’d been worried that Greece v Russia later that evening would be another terminal bore after the Greek showing four days previous, but to their credit they tried to attack…a bit more. Remaining for the most part tedious, unimaginative, and plain ineffective (witness Angelos Charisteas’ woeful attempt to head the ball in from Basinas’ wonderful free-kick), they should have been roundly thrashed by a superior Russia side, who were strong in defence and industrious in midfield, but nearly suffered by way of having all the finishing of this sen

So with Spain winners, Sweden and Russia will play in four days’ time for the right to meet Holland in the quarters. That could be a real cracker, and I’ve got a feeling now after the disappointing Sweden showing so far that, with Arshavin back, Russia could sneak that one. Today, Group A draws to a close, but with the simultaneous kick-offs I won’t be able to cover both games completely. I’ll be focusing on Czech Republic v Turkey, as it’s the only meaningful game being played, but will have to try to balance a bit more later in the week.

David Pleat Watch

To his credit, ol’ Pleaty had one of his better days watching Spain and Sweden, though he was denied a perfect outing by suddenly turning the Spanish right-back into a Russian, Sergei Ramos. His companion in the box, Jon Champion, was a worse offender by virtue of being a smart-arse. Trying to be clever with his Spanish pronunciations, he got David Villa right by interpreting the double L as a Y sound, but then got a bit too cocky and started referring to the left-back as ‘Capdeviya’. Unfortunately, the one-L’ed Capdevila is pronounced as it reads. Nice try, though.

Day 6: Croatia shock Germany and Austria rescue a point

That’ll teach me for losing the faith. I’d thought before the tournament that Croatia would make the semis and now it looks like they probably will. Beating Germany 2-0 makes them group winners courtesy of the Austria 1 – 1 Poland result, so they will face either the Czech Republic or Turkey in the quarters – two teams that on this evidence they should beat well. Croatia were absolutely first-class against Germany yesterday, showing the discipline and organisation that was lacking from their second half against Austria. The switch to 4-5-1 definitely helped, though I was slightly disappointed by Niko Krancjar in the playmaker role – normally reliable in front of goal, he missed two relatively easy chances, which would have put the Germans out of sight. He worked hard though, as did every Croatian on the pitch, who in the end thoroughly deserved the win.

For me, actually, this was the perfect result. My Croatia prediction looks much better, and now the Germans can take a morale-boosting win over Austria in the final game (don’t pretend it won’t happen) and then beat Portugal in the quarters. They’re too good not to come back from this, and happily, the Prancing Prat will be the one to suffer for it. Then Croatia can beat them again in the semis and half of the table will be as I have foreseen.

A quick word on the Austria-Poland game – neither team played particularly well. Artur Boruc, who I’ve always thought of as one of the world’s best goalkeepers, played outstandingly well, but even accounting for his heroics the Austrian finishing was abysmal. They should have been 3-0 up within 15 minutes and Boruc should have been given no chance at all to deny them that. Instead, Christian Leitgeb and Martin Harnik (twice) made tame efforts and were punished for it by Roger Guerreiro’s goal. OK, it was marginally offside, but it was exactly what they deserved for being so impotent at the other end of the pitch. Three cheers for Southampton’s Marek Saganowski for getting the assist, carrying the torch for the mighty Saints at these championships while Rudi Skacel rots on the Czech bench.

I was glad to see Howard Webb give the Austrian penalty at the end of the game – it was a clear foul, but the kind that gets flagged up so rarely that it looks controversial. If more refs gave those decisions the game would be better for it.

Everything is falling into place. See you tomorrow.

Day 5: Swimming with the Swiss and Scolari to Chelsea

Czech Republic 1 – 3 Portugal. A decent enough game that was flattered somewhat by the two early goals – it was exciting without either team ever playing that well. The Czechs deserved more than they got – their midfield, and, shockingly, Milan Baros, were very hard-working and did well to bounce back from Deco’s early goal. Portugal will be praised for their attacking verve, but it’ll be blind praise based on reputation rather than substance – they weren’t that good at all yesterday. Deco did his best to fluff the first goal, and he would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for that pesky Marek Jankulovski. Cristiano Ronaldo’s second goal was the only noteworthy thing he did all game, Galasek and Grygera having done an excellent job of keeping him quiet for vast periods of time. Quaresma’s third was fair enough, but I’ll be bitter about it anyway. On this evidence, the Czech-Turkey group finale should be a good match, but I think the Czechs will come out on top.

Speaking of the Turks, what a brilliant game their 2-1 European Swimming Championships win over Switzerland was. I was anticipating an utter bore, but thanks to the monstrous downpour the match was given atmosphere, drama, and its fair share of comedy. If they hadn’t been on such a tight logistical schedule the game would have been abandoned, but I’m glad it wasn’t. Hakan Yakin’s goal was hilarious, the pass from Derdiyok slowing to the speed of continental drift over the goalmouth puddle, giving him the easiest tap-in of all time.

Yakin also got the second easiest tap-in of all time later in the game – but he missed that one, which is probably why Switzerland are now out of the tournament. It’s a shame for the co-hosts, but an inevitable one. Nul points, here we come. Glad to see my pick for Turkish Man to Watch, Arda Turan, get the winner – albeit fortuitously. When he got on the ball he played excellently, a real achievement considering the conditions. They’ll need him at his best if they want to get past the Czech Republic.

But the biggest story of the day was from the Portugal camp – but not for much longer. Big Phil Scolari’s the new Chelsea manager! WOOHOO!

I can’t tell you how excited I am. My dad, a Chelsea fan, isn’t so keen, but I can’t wait – this man is the best possible alternative to the Special One for comedy value. His English isn’t great but his journalist-punching is, and to be able to watch his touchline antics every week is great news. Bring it on!

Day 4: Spain set the standard and Greece get what they deserve

As impressive as Holland’s performance against Italy was, it was mostly their superb defending and opportunistic counterattacking two or three times a half that made them the team to beat in this competition. They’ve now been overtaken by Spain, whose 4-1 win over Russia yesterday afternoon came from entire halves of scintillating attacking play that for sheer quality outshone the Dutch resourcefulness. Yes, Russia were poor, but they were made to look worse than they were by the partnership of David Villa and Fernando Torres, which lived up to all our lofty expectations. It does make you wonder why Torres was withdrawn ten minutes into the second half, though. (I told you Aragones was mad.)

We’ll probably have to wait until the quarter-finals to be sure if Spain are the real deal, as I don’t see Sweden or Greece giving their centre-backs the test they still need, particularly after having seen their stale game last night, which Sweden won 2-0. It was a very dull game, lit up briefly by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s great goal from the edge of the penalty area (still second to Sneijder, but a worthy runner-up), but no amount of fireworks could make the Greek ‘football’ interesting. It was defensive to the point of incomprehensibility – spending 3 full minutes passing it between the three centre-backs at 0-0 thirty minutes in? Do they really intend to draw all three games to make it through? Mind you, they did look very limited in attack, but Charisteas, Gekas and Samaras were given so little opportunity to attack the defence that you have to wonder whether Otto Rehhagel is orchestrating this for a bet.

Greece got exactly what they deserved, and it will be a very tall order for them to get out of this group now. They may well beat Russia in their next game, who looked out of ideas without Arshavin and Pogrebnyak, but Spain in the final game? Not a chance. Good riddance.

Today we’re back to Group A, with Portugal-Czech Republic and Turkey-Switzerland. I’ll have a guess at 2-0 and 1-1 respectively, but I don’t expect any classics. Here’s hoping.