I decided after the final Group A games that I would wait until all matters in all groups had been resolved so that I could give you a complete overview of the World Cup group stages and the last 16 matches. I didn't write a blog concerning Wimbledon during this time either as I thought if I did write a blog, I wouldn't be able to fight the temptation to write about the World Cup and so there's some Wimbledon chat lumped in to this one for you aswell. With all that to get on with, and the fact that I still have to pack up my room to travel home tomorrow, I better blast on through.
Group A: The situation as we started the day was that South Africa and France both needed to win their final group game as they faced one another, but if Mexico and Uruguay managed to hold each other to a draw, then neither the hosts or the dissident French could qualify. Let's start with the Uruguay-Mexico game as this would be the one that would determine whether the South Africa-France result would have any bearing on the final face of the group. In what was a tense game, but one that really no-one was looking at as a make or break game for either team, Uruguay prevailed through a Luis Suarez header towards the end of the first-half. The player who has been linked heavily with Manchester United this summer showed great awareness to guide his header into the goal and make sure that his team would avoid Argentina, a team who many people, including myself, have tipped to win the tournament. That then added some importance and spice to the game between South Africa and France, and incredibly, it was the hosts who took the lead after just 20 minutes. A corner was played into the French area from the right and Bongani Khumalo rose heighest above the French defence to power in a header that sent the home nation into raptures. Then just 17 minutes later, Katlego Mphela doubled the lead for the host's and it looked like the South African's could actually overhaul the Mexican's, who at half-time in both games were trailing, and set up a last 16 tie against the Argentinians. When, however, Florent Malouda scored the first French goal of the World Cup and destroyed the South African's dreams. At the end of play then, the South African's tasted the delight of victory, but then also the heartbreak of going out of the World Cup purely on goal difference. That means that from Group A, the qualifiers are: Uruguay and Mexico.
Swiftly moving on, we have Group B. Going into the final fixtures, this group could be fairly easily predicted as Greece needed to beat Argentina to go through, a result which never looked likely, and South Korea just needed a better result than their Group B rivals. Firstly we'll start with the Argentinian's, who, despite a spirited performance from their Greek counterparts, ran out as 2-0 winner's on the night with the goals coming from Martin Demichelis and Martin Palermo. That result not only confirmed Argentina as Group B winners, but also made them the first team at the World Cup to win all 3 of their group games. That meant that if South Korea could either beat Nigeria, or scrape a draw against the African's, they would be through to face Uruguay in the next round. The Nigerian's could've technically still qualified for the knockout rounds if they could come out and thrash the South Korean's, although the way they've played at this World Cup, that seemed unlikely. The final result was however alot closer than had first been predicted as Nigeria managed to hold the South Korean's to a 2-2 draw that ended their campaign but put the Asian side through. Surprisingly, it was the Nigerian's who took the lead as Kalu Uche struck his second goal of the tournament after just 12 minutes. That was something I don't think many people would've predicted, but, perhaps predictably, the South Korean's scored 2 goals, either side of half-time through Lee Jung-Soo and Park Chu-Young to give themselves every hope of making the last 16. The Nigerian's did strike back through a Yakubu penalty, and could've even had a win if the Everton man had put the ball in the net as it was played to him a couple of yards from goal. That miss is quite possibly the worst of the World Cup so far, and I don't think we'll see many worse. Qualifiers from Group B are as follows then: Argentina and South Korea.
Onto Group C. This, as some of you may know, is England's group, and the nation watched on tensely on Wednesday as they played a make or break game against Slovenia. I saw some of it, but I have to admit, it was hardly a classic. England finally triumphed through a Jermaine Defoe goal after 22 mintes from James Milner's superbly delivered cross. The Slovenian's did have numerous chances throughout the match, but couldn't take advantage of any of these chances to deny England their last 16 berth. For a few minutes after the game, it seemed as if the United States apparent failure to beat Algeria would send Slovenia through behind England, but in a cruel twist for both Slovenia and England, Landon Donovan sealed the USA's place in the last 16 after 92 minutes of play against the dogged and determined Algerian's. That meant that England would go through in second place of Group C, with the US topping the group. Cue an agonising wait for the English players to see if they would have to face the old enemy (i.e. the German's) in the last 16, and hence face a tricky tie to get to the quarter-finals. Group C qualifiers were as predicted then: USA and England.
England didn't have to wait very long to find out their opponent's in the last 16 as Group D came to a conclusion on Wednesday night. Whoever triumphed between Germany and Ghana would earn the right to play England on Sunday afternoon and possibly have a tricky task against the somewhat reborn English player's. They learnt on Wednesday night that they would indeed have to face the old enemy in the ultimate last 16 showdown on Sunday at 3 pm as Mesut Ozil's stunning volley ensured a 1-0 victory for the Group D pacesetter's in Johannesburg. That victory also meant something more in the context of Group D, as Serbia could gain qualification if they managed to beat Australia in the other final Group D fixture. Surprisingly though, the Australian's produced an absolutely stunning performance against a decent Serbian side to knock them out of the competition. Unfortunately, the Socceroo's 2-1 win was not enough to carry them into second place of the group and thus into the knockout rounds of the tournament. The 2 goals came in the space of 4 second half minutes as first Tim Cahill headed in and then Brett Holman unleashed a stunning long-range strike to double their lead and effectively end the Serbian's chances. They did pull one back through Marko Pantelic, but the result was not enough for either team to gain progress to the last 16, and thus, the qualifier's from Group D were: Germany and Ghana.
The final fixtures in Group E were kind of void as far as places in the last 16 were concerned, but still, let's take a brief look at them. The Netherland's faced off against Cameroon in the groups dead rubber, but the game was actually worth a watch, although not if you wanted to see both team's fighting for their spot in the last 16. Holland eventually came through as 2-1 winner's and also preserve their 100% winning record at this year's World Cup. The goals in that game came from Robin Van Persie (36 mins), then a Samuel Eto'o penalty (65 mins) levelled proceeding's for a while until Klaas Jan Hunterlaar's last gasp effort (83 mins) confirmed the Dutch victory. As stated above, the other match in this group was the big game that really mattered in deciding who would get a place in the last 16. The team that managed to secure their last 16 place were Japan as they beat Denmark 3-1, after two wonderful free-kick's and many brilliant performances from an enterprising Japanese side. Keisuke Honda's free-kick early on was absolutely stunning, almost Ronaldo-esque one could say, and nobody thought we'd see better than that in this match. Step up then, Yashuito Endo. His free-kick halfway through the first half was arguably better than that of his team mate Honda as he managed to get the ball up, around the wall, back down, and bend it in. It was a-la Beckham '98, and it showed what a good side Japan are that two of their players scored such beautiful goals. Jon Dahl Tomasson scored a late consolation after he followed up his missed penalty, but that would not be enough to save the Danish World Cup dream as Shinji Okazaki completed the scoring late on after some more beautiful Honda skill. That leave the qualifiers as: Holland and Japan.
Group F came to a very exicting conclusion on Thursday afternoon as Paraguay played New Zealand, and Italy faced Slovakia. Although New Zealand played very well and deserved their draw, the real excitement came in the Italy-Slovakia game. Slovakia managed to go and beat Italy 3-2, hence knocking the holders out of the competition and springing the biggest surprise of this World Cup so far. It was a pulsating game that captured the imagination of the World Cup fan and the skill and ingenuity shown by both team's was superb. The best goal of the game came when Quagliarella chipped Slovak keeper Jan Mucha to make it 3-2 late on. I think the biggest surprise of this game was that at one point, Slovakia actually led 2-0. I really couldn't do any of the goals justice if I described them on here, so just trust me, they were all absolutely beautiful. Final Group standings then: Paraguay in first, then Slovakia, then amazingly, New Zealand, and bottom of the group were the World Champions. They, as well as the French, will have to take a serious look at themselves before European qualifying and analyse exactly what went wrong at this tournament.
Group G I believe we're at. The big game in this group was the meeting of Portugal and Brazil, but in reality, it was that poor, I don't think I'll bother writing anything about it here. If anyone saw that game, they will understand why I don't want to write about it. Nothing happened, nobody tried anything and there were no goals. Disastrous. That result meant that Ivory Coast were going out of the World Cup no matter what they did against North Korea. They did in fact dominate against the North Korean's and run out as 3-0 winner's, but the dead rubber of the match between the two heavyweights meant that that result was pretty much null and void, but it was at least entertaining. The 3 goals came from 3 different players as first Yaya Toure netted early on, swiftly followed by a Romaric goal which gave the West African's hope. Unfortunately for them, their 3rd goal didn't come until the 82nd minute as Salomon Kalou met a brilliant cross into the box to at least send the team home with a smile on their face having won 3-0. Final Qualifiers from this group are as follows: Brazil and Portugal.
So, finally, we reach Group H. This group had alot of potential at the start of the evening as any one of the 4 teams looked to cement a place in the last 16. It was highly unlikely that Honduras (my team) were going to make it, but I was very happy that we at least got a point on the board as we played out a scrappy goalless draw against Switzerland. I have to be honest, when I pulled them out of the hat, I expected nothing, so I am ecstatic with a point, and would like to send my sincerest congratulations to the Honduran football team for their fantastic efforts at this World Cup. That result meant Switzerland's hopes relied on a decent-looking Chile side defeating Spain in the final fixture of the group, but unfortunately, that didn't happen as the European champions ground out a 2-1 victory over their South American rival's which then saw Spain top the group and Chile take the second qualifying spot. Qualifier's from this group then are: Spain and Chile.
So a round-up of your last 16 macthes. They are as follows, Uruguay will face South Korea, Mexico play Argentina, USA lock horns with Ghana, England re-ignite the rivalry with Germany, Holland take on Slovakia, Brazil come up against Chile, Paraguay face off against Japan, and the big rivalry of the second round as Spain take on Portugal. That one will be one you won't want to miss.
Some quick Wimbledon chat as I really need to pack my stuff, John Isner is out of Wimbledon after losing 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 to Thiemo De Bakker despite coming through the epic against Nicolas Mahut. If you hadn't heard, it went to a final set, and the score in games of that final set eventually stood as 70-68 to John Isner in a match that reached its conclusion in a little over 11 hours. That was stunning, and I just wanted to mention it as it a record. Also congratulations to both Isner and Mahut for giving us such a wonderful game of tennis, that's why we love the sport. In Murray news, Andy has already come through two matches at this year's tournament, with comfortable win's in both, and crucially last Thursday, a win in front of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II. Murray beat Jan Hajek in his first round match coming through 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 to seal his date in front of the Queen against Jarko Nieminen, a match he also won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Tomorrow, Andy takes to Centre Court, around 5 pm, to play his 3rd round match against Gilles Simon, a man he has beaten on each of the last 3 occassions they have happened to play each other.
Right, sorry it was so rushed, but I really need to pack. I realise I haven't done a World Cup drinking rule this week, but I promise I'll give you 2 tomorrow. I'm sorry about that but packing has to come first. Hopefully, I'll see you tomorrow night for another deliciously scintilating blog post! Love you all, and hope you are enjoying reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. Peace out
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