World Cup 2010 Blog: “Group G Liveblog: Brazil vs Portugal, Ivory Coast vs North Korea” plus 9 more |  |
- Group G Liveblog: Brazil vs Portugal, Ivory Coast vs North Korea
- The World Cup Awards: June 24th, 2010.
- Preview: Switzerland vs. Honduras
- Preview: Portugal vs. Brazil
- Preview: North Korea vs. Ivory Coast
- Preview: Chile vs. Spain
- Match Review & Highlights: Japan 3 – Denmark 1.
- Match Review & Highlights: Cameroon 1 – Netherlands 2
- Group E Liveblog: Denmark 1-3 Japan, Cameroon 1-2 Netherlands
- Match Review & “Highlights”: Paraguay 0-0 New Zealand
| Group G Liveblog: Brazil vs Portugal, Ivory Coast vs North Korea Posted: 25 Jun 2010 05:40 AM PDT Welcome to the liveblog for the final round of Group G games. It’s Portugal vs Brazil and North Korea vs Ivory Coast. Brazil are already through, but will win the group by avoiding defeat against Portugal, who themselves can win the group by beating Brazil, or guarantee second with a draw. If Portugal loses then Ivory Coast can take second if they can beat North Korea by a big margin and catch up with Portugal’s impressive goal difference. The liveblog window is below, so leave all your comments in there.
Bet on North Korea vs. Ivory Coast
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| The World Cup Awards: June 24th, 2010. Posted: 24 Jun 2010 07:07 PM PDT Team of the Day: Japan. How impressive has this team been over the course of this World Cup? Just an alarmingly organized and well-drilled side which is maximizing the very most of its talents – and today, the offensive talents were finally put on show when Keisuke Honda and Yasuhito Endo were handed a set piece. The world shall stop revolving, some six billion people stop breathing when those two stand over a free kick against Paraguay. Justo Villar best get some adult diapers ready. Soak that in. I’d be willing to bet a good many of those big boys were wishing they’d gone after him now. Rapidly turning into Asia’s best player, and he’s just turned 24 last week. His absurd pallonetto was also quite nice.
This loving couple wasn’t quite as smart.
Also: Phil needs an eyebrow wax. That Bosingwa between his eyes is growing back. The Most Infuriating Award of the Day: You’ve got +/- six seconds to figure out what’s going on with this girl’s face. (Pick a @#$%ing side!)
v.
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| Preview: Switzerland vs. Honduras Posted: 24 Jun 2010 05:05 PM PDT THE BIG PICTURE WHAT’S AT STAKE Bet on Switzerland vs. Honduras OUR PREDICTION FAN RESOURCES
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| Posted: 24 Jun 2010 04:48 PM PDT THE BIG PICTURE The canarinho can win the group with a draw, while Portugal can afford to lose this game provided Ivory Coast don’t run up the score against North Korea. But let’s be optimistic and hope the lack of immediate danger produces a game that’s less about points than it is about pride and good football. WHAT’S AT STAKE OUR PREDICTION FAN RESOURCES
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| Preview: North Korea vs. Ivory Coast Posted: 24 Jun 2010 04:17 PM PDT THE BIG PICTURE WHAT’S AT STAKE Bet on North Korea vs. Ivory Coast OUR PREDICTION FAN RESOURCES
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| Posted: 24 Jun 2010 03:42 PM PDT THE BIG PICTURE From a footballing perspective, is this the most anticipated game of the groups? Perhaps. Both teams only know one way: forward. Chile will most certainly not kowtow to Spain’s attacking ways – not with Loco Bielsa in charge and just loving his rip-roaring attack. Nor will Spain suddenly change their methods to stick Xavi in the backline as a third centerback and forbidding Sergio Ramos to sit there with his only instruction to look pretty while keeping the tactical shape. This one’s going to be a fun ‘n gun shootout, with Spain looking to control and Chile looking to blitz on the counter, keeping their Spanish-speaking counterparts thinking defensively enough to shift that possession meter closer to the fifty mark. And it certainly won’t be boring, with Spain likely needing a win just to advance beyond the groups and both teams looking to avoid that Brazilian juggernaut likely awaiting the second place team. The stars are aligning for one of the World Cup’s great games. WHAT’S AT STAKE Who predicted this? Chile top the group and need just a draw, while Spain need a win or a draw plus a little Honduran help – or even a draw with a lot of Honduran help. But chances are, given Switzerland’s quality at full strength and Honduran’s lack of quality at any strength, Spain needs to win.
For the rest of the Group H scenarios check here. OUR PREDICTION These games so rarely deliver as advertised in a normal World Cup. This is anything but a normal World Cup. 5-4 Spain. FAN RESOURCES
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| Match Review & Highlights: Japan 3 – Denmark 1. Posted: 24 Jun 2010 02:15 PM PDT Takeshi Okada promised Japan would not sit on the draw, and they delivered as advertised. With their three goals they’ve earned a date with Paraguay in the second stage and the stigma of a team which has finally figured out the Jabulani on free kicks – they’re the Jabulani Masters. A game which promised to be close and hard-fought was anything but when two free kicks within the first half hour stunned Denmark into disbelief – possibly because both were so extraordinarily brilliant. The game was seemingly good and over from there, with the late trading of goals only for scoreline purposes.
The second which came less than 15 minutes later was equally stunning in that it was Yashuhito Endo who slinked in to take the free kick whilst the world was waiting breathless for Honda’s foot to strike Jabulani – and this one was a bit more elegant, and only slightly less spectacular. Two brilliant free kick takers, two brilliant goals.
Denmark would get a soft penalty late on which would be saved, but Jon Dahl Tomasson would get his own rebound and tuck it in for his first goal in two years, finally becoming Denmark’s joint-leader in goals.
Still needing two goals – Denmark needed a win, Japan only the tie – they pressed forward and, with another goal inevitable from one of the two sides, let their World Cup drift away when Honda put on a show again, this time with the ball on the floor.
A phenomenal showing from Japan and they deservedly go into the knockouts on the merits of all three games – even matching the Dutch only to be felled by their keeper – a stunning development for a side whose coach offered to resign mere days before the kickoff of the World Cup. Their defense has been stingy – the penalty was, again, very soft – and they’ve finally found the route to goal. What may be more ridiculous than the absurd promise from Okada that Japan would make the semifinals is that it doesn’t seem so implausible anymore. This is a properly good football team with their biggest attribute beating louder and louder by the game. Could it be… [Vids: TVGolo]
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| Match Review & Highlights: Cameroon 1 – Netherlands 2 Posted: 24 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT Most of the neutral world was watching Denmark – Japan with this game merely about the Oranje playing for first and the Indomitable Lions playing for the pride. (Sorry.) It started out anything but a simple run out for the top of the group, with Bert van Marwijk running out both Nigel de Jong and Robin van Persie, each a yellow away from missing a second round date. (Robin you can understand, but de Jong? That’s risky.) Neither, however, managed to pick up a yellow, but they did pick up a win, so all’s well in Holland tonight.
In the second there was a Rafael van der Vaart handball, which Samuel Eto’o coolly put into the net.
But the real news came late in the second, when both Eljero Elia and Arjen Robben got onto the pitch, and did they ever make a difference – even if Arjen was on half fitness. The name reads Huntelaar on the second Dutch goal, but it was a vintage Robben strike from distance which did the damage, hitting the woodwork and falling to Huntelaar, who put it away so the Dutch didn’t need to worry about a Cameroonian winner and thus second place behind Japan. Group E was all Oranje with this:
The biggest thing to take from the game is easily this: there’s been a lot of “wait til we/they get Robben back” floating around, and were they ever right. Slovakia is in for a nightmare whether he plays from the start or not, but if the Dutch back can hold watertight, the Oranje are now firmly entrenched into the contenders category. Arjen Robben is simply that much of a difference-maker on the world football landscape. But going out, we have not one but two Cameroonian bows: the team itself along with Rigobert Song, who came on to make his 138th and final cap in the second half. An exceptional international career which comes to a close…or maybe not, if his hair is anything to judge by. [Vids: TVGolo]
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| Group E Liveblog: Denmark 1-3 Japan, Cameroon 1-2 Netherlands Posted: 24 Jun 2010 10:37 AM PDT Hallo and welcome to our liveblog for the final round of Group E. Denmark vs Japan is the big game because both teams are fighting to go through, so we’ve got Aidan from the Japan blog and Cerberus from the Denmark blog on board to liveblog what should be a belter. Netherlands vs Cameroon is happening too, which sounds good in theory, but remember Netherlands are already through and Cameroon are already out.
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| Match Review & “Highlights”: Paraguay 0-0 New Zealand Posted: 24 Jun 2010 10:01 AM PDT Paraguay just needed a draw to go through. New Zealand needed a win, but knew they probably didn’t have the firepower to make it happen. The result was a game with just five shots on target, all of them belonging to Paraguay, and – according to the FIFA summary – not a single corner kick until the 62nd minute. Highlights, such as they are, below:
So nothing to write home about if you’re a neutral. But if you’re a Kiwi, then your team just went three matches unbeaten at World Cup 2010, and finished third in Group F, one place ahead of world champions Italy. If you’re a Paraguayan, your team just won Group F, and goes through to play Group E runners up Japan in the Round of 16.
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