A wonderful Sunday full of football

I am currently typing this on my mates computer and it has a broken s button which is superb to be brutally honest. I will try my best to bring you my blog at the high quality I usually pride myself on, but I wanted to let you know the circumstances I am working with so that if it is rubbish you know why.

Today saw another wonderful football feast to which we've become accustomed to during the World Cup. I am gutted it only happens once every 4 years as I'm sure you lot are, but thats what makes this competition so brilliant. We started the day with a match from Group F as Slovakia took on Paraguay. Brilliantly, at the start of the second round of group matches in Group F, every single team was in the same position after two 1-1 draws in the opening games. That meant that both teams in this match had the chance to enhance their position before the Italian's met the All Whites (or New Zealand for any of you who are not comfortable with the nickname) in the second Group F game at 3 o'clock. In the end, it was the Paraguayan's who ran out as comfortable winner's in this game after two absolutely stunning goal's first from Enrique Vera and then Carlos Riveros. At the start of the day, I'm sure the Paraguayan's would have taken that result and its even better when you consider that they only really have to go and beat New Zealand in their final game to be sure of their last 16 place which many commentator's including myself would've said was an absolute must given the other teams in their Group at the start of the World Cup. However, the All Whites and the Italian's could've made it tense for the South Americans as they took to the field at 3 o'clock.

Now, you may be forgiven for thinking that this game was just a case of how many the Italians could put past their lowly opponents, but as has so often been the case at this World Cup, there was a surprise in the offing. Indeed, as early as the 7th minute, the All Whites showed that they're not just in South Africa to make up the numbers as Shane Smeltz sent the Kiwi's, a team ranked 78th in the World, into a shock early lead against the World Champions. That was in fact his 20th goal in 37 internationals, an impressive scoring rate by any countrys standard. After that, however, the Italians absolutely dominated their Group F rivals and it looked set to be the drubbing we'd all expected at the start of play. This seemed ever more likely as the Italians were handed the perfect opportunity to equalise after 29 minutes thank to Ipswich Town defender Tommy Smith' tug on Daniele De Rossi's shirt in the area. The penalty was duly converted by Vincenzo Iaquinta, a man who is once again being coveted by English clubs over the summer, and anyone watching the match who wasn't Italian or devoid of all sentiment towards the Kiwi's feared the worst for the team from down under. They did however, do exceptionally well in the face of their apparent adversity and even had a chance to snatch all 3 points from their Italian rivals but unfortunately for young Chris Wood, he pulled his brilliant effort just a few inches the wrong side of the post. Final reult then, Italy 1-1 New Zealand. That is an absolutely brilliant result for a country who doesn't even have a professional football league and whos internationals are not all full-time football players. They in fact only have one domestic team, but they play in the Australian A-League. Andy Barron, one of the players who was introduced late in the day actually had to get time off his regular bank job in New Zealand to come and play at the World Cup, which I think is an absolutely sensational story.

Moving on from the stat attack, the late game was all set to be an absolute thriller as Brazil, with all its world-wide superstars, came up against a well organied Ivory Coast side who many thought stood a very good chance of progression from what was generally recognised as this tournaments Group of Death. We did have a thriller, but not in the manner that we expected as Brazil came through as 3-1 winners. Luis Fabiano got the first goal with a brilliant finish after the Brazilians had crafted some good passes to create the opportunity. There was absolutely no controversy about that first goal, but his second was slightly more-so as he appeared to handle twice in the build-up to the finish. I can forgive the referee for missing the first handball, but the second one was downright criminal and how the referee A) didn't spot it, and B) didn't penalise Fabiano for blatant use of the arm is beyond me. He even candidly asked Fabiano if he had used his hand as the Brazilian striker was trotting back after celebrating his goal. Terrible reffing if you ask me, but then again, I guess they weren't asking for my opinion. The third Brazilian goal was quite simply outstanding as Kaka played a brilliant ball across the box for Elano to finish after a brilliant flowing passing move from the excellent Brazilians. Moments after his goal, the Brazilian playmaker was hobbling down the tunnel after a poor challenge from an Ivorian. In the 79th minute, the Ivorians got a consolation which their play definitely did not deserve, but it was nice to see Didier Drogba finally open his account at a World Cup where he was tipped to be one of the star players. I then thought this game was over but I carried on watching in the hope that the Ivorians would produce one of the storys of the tournament thus far. It was worth the watch too as we had one of the biggest moments of controversy so far at this World Cup in the closing stages of the game. Kaka, who had been booked mere minutes before the incident, had a fairly innocuos collision with Abdelkader Keita, who went down holding his face earning the Brazilian a second yellow and an early bath. I'm not trying to be controversial with my views, but in my opinion, I though Kaka elbowed Keita in the chest and that it was hence a good choice by the ref to send him off. I appreciate most people won't agree with me on that issue, but thats how I saw the incident. This win means the Brazilians join the Agrentines and the Dutch as the only team to have won their opening two games at this years World Cup, and also join the Dutch in the next round of the competition.

So, only thing left is todays drinking game! I'm currently tossing up which one to bring you...OK, I'll go with the "PELE!" rule. This rule works much in the same vein as all the other rules I've bought you thus far, excpet you use this whenever a hat-trick is scored or there is a mention of the Golden Boot award. Last person to shout "PELE!" does the usual drinking punishment which you guys at home use. I'm not about to tell you a system you must use as everyone has their individual system they prefer.

That then is your lot for today my friends, hope you have enjoyed, and as usual thank you so much for reading. Tomorrow, we have the start of Wimbledon, which I personally am very, very excited about, and of course, we have more World Cup, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow when I have a computer with a working s button. Trust me, you have no idea how irritating that is when you're trying to write a blog! Once again, thank you so much for reading, it really means alot and it brightens my day when you comment on it, even if you say you thought it was all pretentious nonsense! See you later guys