Two days worth to get through...

As said in the title, we have 2 days worth of World Cup 2010 action to get through, including matches containing the hosts and a couple of the favourite's. With all that to get through and the new drinking rules I promised to provide as a treat, I guess I should stop dillying and get on with it.

We started Wednesday off with a bang as my sweep team, Honduras, came up against the dynamic South American's Chile. I foolishly held out some slender hope that we could get a result out of this, whether that be a win or a draw, and give ourselves a chance of getting through to the round of 16. I say foolishly as they've never won a match at a Wolrd Cup. The only other time that they qualified (1982) they held the Spanish and the Irish but lost to the Yugoslavians which meant that they were out at the group stages. Coincidentally, at this World Cup, we have also been drawn in the same group as the Spanish. If we can go and get something against them, and then somehow beat Switzerland, we may still be able to qualify for the next round. The performance against the Chilean's was, however, below dreadful and so there needs to be some improvement before the next Group H game if we hope to retain our slim hopes. The goal that defeated us was insanely sloppy as one of our defender's slid in to try and defend a ball that had been played in towards the striker, only to kick it against the attacker and hence into the net. So that was typical of the World Cup as a whole so far, but I have to admit I was kind of disappointed at the attitude of the Honduran player's.

The second game we had on Wednesday was Spain vs Switzerland. This game provided us with the biggest shock of the tournament so far as Switzerland came out and attacked a poor Spanish defence and, amazingly, came away with a 1-0 win. Yet again, you may say, we had another low scoring game, but, whereas I have lambasted many of the games at this World Cup for not being of a high enough quality, this was actually a very decent game. The Spanish looked much more likely to score, but after the Swiss goal, they seemed to feel as though they could go on and score more and looked very likely to add a couple more goals to their tally. This has given me hope considering that our next game is actually agaisnt the Spanish in Group H, so hopefully we can force a result there and then just play our hearts out against the Swiss for our last 16 place.

Wednesday night, I was with my mate celebrating his brithday, playing drinking games before we hit the town and had a really good night out. As a consequence of this, I missed pretty much the whole of the host nation's game against Uruguay. I did see the first goal, and although I'm pretty sure most of us would love to see more brilliant goals like that flying in in the World Cup, I couldn't help but find myself feeling very sorry for the South African's after the massive deflection off Aaron Mokoena that took it over Itumeleng Khune. Up until that goal, I thought the South African's had performed very noblely against the South American rivals, but that was not to be enough. In the second half, Itumeleng Khune unfortunately brought down Luis Suarez awarding a penalty to the Uruguayan's and securing himself an early bath in the process. This mean's he will miss the final game against France which is an absolutely massive game if the South African's hope to remain in their home tournament past the group stages. Alvaro Perreira also added a late thrid with a header, which leaves the host nation on only 1 point with a -3 goal difference going into their final group game with France. Incidentally, I will be commenting on the France-Mexico game towards the end of the post, but I feel I should go through the games in the order that they actually happened, so next we have Group B.

The first match we had in Group B today was Argentina-South Korea. For me, Argentina are the favourites to go and win the tournament. With the stars that they have in the starting line-up and on the bench aswell, and the small fact that they have the brilliance and experience of Diego Maradona as their manager, I honestly believe that they have to be the favourites. I'm quite glad that I have been saying that for a while as the team justified my faith in them today with a 4-1 routing of South Korea, which incidentally started with an own goal from Park Chu-Young. The next goal came from Gonzalo Higuain, who actually managed to score a hat trick throughout the match. For me his best was Argentina's 4th and his 3rd which was a stunning move that involved the brilliance of Lionel Messi, who showed today how good he is when he can be and when he is motivated to be at his best. The South Korean's goal came right at the end of the first half, as Argentina were leading 2-0 and was scored by Bolton Wanderer's very own Young Chon-Lee. It was a very good goal, but in all honesty I can't see past Argentina for the World Cup and they are henceforth my prediction to win the tournament as a whole.

The second match of today was the game between Greece and Nigeria. This was potentially a massive game for both teams given the fact that the Argentinian's moved to within a point of the qualification in the early game against the South Korean's. The only way they won't qualify is if the South Korean's beat the Nigerian's, and the Greeks slam the Argentinian's. I've kind of given away the result a bit there, but I'll bring you the details as I always try to. The Nigerian's were the first to break through after Kalu Uche's free kick deceived everyone in the Greek defence and nestled in the back of the net sending the green-clad fan's in the stadium into rapturous delight as they looked to go and take iniative to get through their tough group. Midway through the first half, with the Nigerian's still a goal up however, we had the main incident of the game, which wasn't even actually an equalising goal. Far from an equalising goal, it was a moment of complete madness from Nigeria midfielder Sani Kaita, who lashed out at Greek playmaker Torosidis after both players chased after a ball that eventually went out for a Greek throw-in. Indeed, Torosidis made no threatening movement or remark towards Kaita, rather the Nigeria man just kicked out at his opponent for no reason. Personally, I think he should be absolutely disgusted with himself for what he did and be sent home immediately by the Nigerian hierarchy. After this had happened, the game opened up for Greece, and a heavily deflected shot from Salpingidis flew in before, in the 72nd minute, Torosidis managed to tap-in a chance that left the Greeks with their first ever World Cup win, and the Nigerian's wondering how they let a game they were in charge of slip away from them.

So, seeing as I have already given the state of that Group, I will now move onto France-Mexico and what was a stunning game for the gathered fan's tonight. Just like they were against Urugauy last Friday, the French seemed subdued and so determined no to lose the game that they couldn't or perhaps more potently, wouldn't stamp their offence on the game. As a result, an enterprising Mexico managed to come away with a 2-0 win, courtesy of a well-taken goal from new Manchester United signing Javier Hernandez and a penalty taken by seasoned veteran, Cuathemoc Blanco (sorry if I've spelt that wrong, but it is late). That result leaves the French hopes of going one better than they managed 4 year's ago totally out of their hands and dependant on a positive result for one of the team's in the crunch match between Mexico and Uruguay early next week. Unfortunately, the same can be said of South Africa, although for them to stand any chance of progression, they must go on to beat France in their final game in Group A which now becomes crucial for both team's. It's turning out to be an absolutely brilliant World Cup this one despite what we thought having seen the first round of games in these two groups.

I'm only going to do one drinking rule tonight for two reason's. A) I don't want to run out of rules for you beautiful people, and B) I am absolutely shattered! The rule I have chosen tonight is the "MARADONA!" rule. This essentially works along the same lines of the "tactics" rule mentioned in the previous post with one key difference. Instead of shouting it when you see a coach, this rule applies to handball's. So, whenever you see a handball in the World Cup, the rule is, last to shout Maradona, does the pre-arranged penalty set out before the game, usually recommended as a sip of one's drink.

Anyway, it's been lovely writing for you again and I did genuinely miss it while I was away Wednesday night. I shall see you tomorrow evening for a full round-up of games, which tomorrow includes England's crunch group game against Algeria. Enjoy the football tomorrow, and I shall see you in a bit guy's. Thank's for all the support, and keep checking back because it makes me exceedingly happy when you read this. Peace and love