World Cup 2010 Blog: “Liveblog: Germany vs Serbia” plus 9 more |  |
- Liveblog: Germany vs Serbia
- The World Cup Awards: June 17th, 2010.
- Photo: Diego Maradona, Juan Sebastian Veron’s Assistant
- Preview: Slovenia vs. USA
- Preview: England vs. Algeria
- Preview: Germany vs. Serbia
- Finding Other Uses For The Vuvuzela
- Match Review & Highlights: France 0-2 Mexico
- Liveblog Double: France vs Mexico
- Match Review & Highlights: Nigeria 1-2 Greece
| Posted: 18 Jun 2010 03:57 AM PDT
Welcome to the liveblog of Germany vs Serbia in World Cup Group D. Make your comments before, during and after the match in the liveblog window. Below the main liveblog are videos of the goals so far, and then a feed of trusted Twitter accounts either broadcasting from the match or talking about it. Read up on the match with our Germany vs Serbia preview, and if you like this liveblog then click the social media buttons, above right. Don’t just take our word on the match. Check out match comments from carefully selected Twitter accounts: FAN RESOURCES
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| The World Cup Awards: June 17th, 2010. Posted: 17 Jun 2010 07:01 PM PDT
Team of the Day: Team Messi, Argentina. Are they the same? They might be. A little indication of what Messi does for the Argentina attack:
Four defenders collapse on Messi, one, Higuain’s marker, turning to watch and with all his teammates locked on Messi, he goes to take Aguero, the ball man. Completely open at the back post? A drifting Higuain for the goal. Poor defending, but much of it necessitated by that little man on the ball. Rumor has it South Korea will be wearing a brand spankin’ new kit for Greece.
(It’s legit, too.)
I’d bet one million pesos his bidet has a picture of Pele at the bottom. Also notice he didn’t apologize to France. Probably because Diego thinks he is better than the rest. A Superstar Is Born Moment: So how about the composure to deftly skip past Lloris on that opening goal from El Chicharito? This boy might be special.
700 pizzas and counting. Or not counting, maybe. What we do know is this: Uruguay hate the Irish.
(Why yes, he is Irish – why do you ask?)
v.
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| Photo: Diego Maradona, Juan Sebastian Veron’s Assistant Posted: 17 Jun 2010 04:40 PM PDT
At one point Argentina’s first game there was a shot of Diego Maradona trying to tell Juan Sebastian Veron something, possibly what he was planning for dinner. Veron replied with hand gestures and pointing and words which probably made some sort of footballing sense, because they prompted a look and hand-on-chin placement from El Diego indicating he’d actually learned something. Now take a look at the second row, middle column. Who’s actually running Argentina these days? Is Diego merely the puppet and Veron the master manipulator? (An animated one at that, judging by the other pictures.) [Corriere]
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| Posted: 17 Jun 2010 03:00 PM PDT
THE BIG PICTURE USA claimed that famous 1-1 draw with Slovenia opened with a 1-0 win over Algeria, in which captain Robert Korean both bossed the game from midfield and scored the winner thanks to a Green-seque mistake from from Algeria keeper Faouzi Chaouchi. So Koren and Slovenia will be feeling pretty good about life. More at the Slovenia blog. WHAT’S AT STAKE Which would obviously suit Slovenia. So it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Slovenia take a less attacking approach, invite the USA to try and break them down, and then try to score on the counter. Let the Group C calculations begin… OUR PREDICTION FAN RESOURCES
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| Posted: 17 Jun 2010 01:52 PM PDT
THE BIG PICTURE England are in a bit of a shambles in the back right now after the nature of their draw with the US in the opening game. The questions surround Robert Green – whether or not he’s still Fabio’s No. 1 and if so, whether he can come back mentally from his first game howler. Fabio is holding his cards close, but maybe there’s a reflection in the mirror behind…
Well, it sounds like Robert Green will get a crack at the second act. Ledley King, however, won’t, which means Fabio’s likely down to his fourth CB, Jamie Carragher, who was one of the more surprising callups of the tournament. Their confidence may be a bit shaky and though they have strength, it will take an emphatic win to get the pre-World Cup England to South Africa. Algeria, on the other hand, looked pretty poor against Slovenia and were pegged back for stretches. England is no Slovenia, and the Desert Foxes need to pull another Egypt – qualifying, not Angola – to even have a chance and perhaps becoming the first team to be bounced from the tournament. WHAT’S AT STAKE With Slovenia’s win, not unexpected but still an important confidence boost and an even more important three points, the group is a three horse race. England’s obviously strongest on paper and will want to prove that, but after the first round of games, it’s becoming evident the second place in Group C is likely to be playing this new Germany. No one wants that. They also need to avoid a draw or risk fighting against a Slovenian bus for their World Cup lives. Algeria are simply playing for their World Cup lives – or to become the latest Switzerland. If they lose, their World Cup may be over. If they win….somebody get the troops to the Champs d’Elysees. OUR PREDICTION There’s something in that Capello quote “I exist to win”. His teams typically find a way, and it’s worth remember England were a horrible howler away from beating the US without many chances coming from the other side. England 2-0
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| Posted: 17 Jun 2010 01:51 PM PDT
THE BIG PICTURE WHAT’S AT STAKE OUR PREDICTION FAN RESOURCES
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| Finding Other Uses For The Vuvuzela Posted: 17 Jun 2010 01:41 PM PDT
And that does not mean shoving it somewhere not easily retrievable in a human orifice, thank you very much. Unless it’s Sepp Blatter. In which case we’ll brand up a WCB vuvu for you real quick and pass it around the office to be signed. Georgie Thompson took out David Jones with a gift vuvuzela, proving it has more uses than bleeding ears or plastic corks. Any other uses for our new favorite friend? A nice candleholder, perhaps? Or maybe a suspicious looking inhalation device for our friends in college…
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| Match Review & Highlights: France 0-2 Mexico Posted: 17 Jun 2010 01:40 PM PDT
This is the way it ends for Raymond Domenech. Not with bang but a whimper. The least popular coach at World Cup 2010 left Thierry Henry and Yoann Gourcuff on the bench for the full 90 minutes while France failed to fightback and lost 2-0 to a Mexico. Stubborn to the bitter end. Just to underline the importance of subs, both of Mexico’s goalscorers started the game sitting down. Young Javier Hernandez came on in the 55th minute and made it 1-0 less than 10 minutes later. After France had spent 24 minutes failinng to equalize, Hernandez fellow sub Pablo Barrera won a (questionable) penalty, which was converted by all 37 years and [insert large number] lbs of Cuauhtémoc Blanco. Domenech could only watch, his face red from the cold. Let’s get a look at those goals. Javier Hernandez, aka “Chicharito” (The Little Pea), found himself onside and on the end of a chipped through ball from Rafa Marquez. Did he panic? Did he fluff? No. That was Carlos Vela’s job. Hernandez simply killed the ball, took a couple of touches, ran around the oncoming Hugo Lloris (no mean feat) and fired into the empty net: Second goal was harder to enjoy. Yes, Abidal caught Barrera in the box. But not enough to warrant Barrera’s Platoon re-enactment. Still, 37 year old Blanco happily stepped up for the spot kick and to made it 2-0 Mexico: Frankly, I’m amazed at this game. After seeing South Africa match Mexico but then get annihilated by Uruguay, I assumed Mexico just weren’t all that. But it’s easy to forget that transitive properties don’t really apply to a sport where every game takes place in a unique set of circumstances. France are mathematically still alive in Group A. But with just one point and a goal difference of -2, and group leaders Uruguay and Mexico both assured of progression should they bore us with a 0-0 draw next Tuesday, France’s game against South Africa will be their last at the World Cup and their last under Raymond Domenech.
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| Liveblog Double: France vs Mexico Posted: 17 Jun 2010 10:30 AM PDT
Welcome to the liveblog of France vs Mexico in World Cup Group A. We’ve got a liveblog double header going on below, with one liveblog window from Laurie and Sarah of France blog fame, and a second liveblog window from Andrea and Al of Mexico blog fame. Make your comments before, during and after the match in the liveblog windows. Below the main liveblog are videos of the goals so far. Read up on the match with our France vs Mexico preview, or by visiting the team blogs. Note: If you like these liveblogs, then click on the social media (Facebook like and retweet) buttons in the top right corner of this post.
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| Match Review & Highlights: Nigeria 1-2 Greece Posted: 17 Jun 2010 10:20 AM PDT Predicted to be both boring and defensive (especially after the 4-1 Argentina slaughter of South Korea), this was certainly a match that exceeded its billing. In the first half alone, fans were rewarded with 2 goals and a red card which turned the entire match (and World Cup brackets?) upside down. Nigeria fans will be disappointed and their side arguably was dealt an unlucky hand of cards even before the tournament. Nigeria came into the World Cup off the back of a controversial preparation camp which saw them draw with a young Saudi team, forced to play in a closed stadium in their friendly against Columbia and lose their star player John Obi Mikel to injury. Though they managed to contain Argentina’s firepower to only one goal (with some unlikely help from Messi who couldn’t seem to get the ball in the net), their second group match vs Greece was a must-win situation. The same was true of Greece who lost in miserable fashion to South Korea in game 1. With South Korea’s loss to Argentina earlier in the day, both Nigeria and Greece had to get 3 points to have a hope of progressing….
At 11 minutes before the break of half-time, Sani Kaita lost his head. And I say that because there is no other way to explain what he did other than his brain literally not being attached to his body. Keep in mind Nigeria were about to go into half-time with the lead and had yet to be seriously threatened by Greece. Then, while chasing a ball that had rolled out of bounds, Kaita and Torosidis got into a bit of wrestling match on the sidelines. Torosidis did slightly push Kaita away first, but Kaita reacted by pushing with a lot more force and then a kick up that dragged his cleat over the Greek’s knee. That’s right, a guy on the team who were not only leading the score line but literally the entire game became so frustrated that he intentionally kicked another player not only off the ball but off the field (sidelines). Visual proof below. As you can see, it was an unquestionable red card (though some people in the liveblog did try to say it should have been a yellow). Yes, the Greek player made the most of it- but it was a silly foul to commit and clearly the intent was there. So Nigeria, who had already lost John Obi Mikel before the tournament, lost another key player as Kaita was dismissed for the rest of the match plus three additional matches (if Nigeria were able to salvage this game plus their game with South Korea). This turn of events along with a smart substitution by the Greek coach to bring in Georgios Samaras seemed to energize the Greeks who scored a minute before the end of the half with a strike by Salpigidis that was lucky to be deflected off of a Nigeria defender’s back. After the break, Nigeria admirably continued to try to push forward but the disadvantage of playing a man down made it difficult for them to sustain an organized attack. Throughout the second half, both teams had additional opportunities they squandered, including an open Greek goal that Nigeria’s Obasi somehow managed to miss just after the 60′ mark. It should be said that the Nigerian goalkeeper Enyeama, who impressed in the first game against Argentina, was equally impressive this game. However, he received no help from his defenders who depleted in the second half after both Taiwo and Echiejile (who was a substitute for Taiwo) were forced to leave with an injury in the second half. The Greek side continued to attack when finally their work was rewarded at the 71′ by Torosidis who scored the winning goal. The final whistle was both sad for an African team that will undoubtedly feel unlucky and a Greek side who managed to not only score their first EVER World Cup goal but also achieve their ever World Cup win.
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The game started off brightly for Nigeria- Taiwo was defensively stubborn and building attacks from the back as he does with him club team, Marseille. Nigeria pushed forward, trying to break down Greece’s stubborn defensive strategy. Nigeria’s work was quickly rewarded with the first goal at the 16′ by Kalu Uche. Even after grabbing the lead, Nigeria pushed forward and despite losing Greece seemed content to sit back…until the game turned upside down.| You are subscribed to email updates from World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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