World Cup Day 17 results: oh, the refs...

Day Seventeen

prediction: Germany 2-0 England - "Germany's attack is fast, dynamic and uses the width of the field"

result: Germany 4-1 England

We'll be hearing about Frank Lampard's disallowed goal forever. Literally, forever. The Brits don't forget football grievances (unless of course they benefit from them); I'm looking forward to the British tabloid headlines (Blitzed by Fritz, maybe?) tomorrow. Fair enough, it was clearly a goal and could have changed the game at 2-1 down.

World Cup Day 17: two world wars and one world cup!

Sunday sees a rematch of epic proportions and a game between the English and Germany (see what I did there?), as the matches in the top right quarter of bracket get underway.

The Germans don't really know there's a rivalry between England and them, while the English relish the chance at revenge, and chant such things as "Two world wars and one world cup!", referring to the one cup they won in 1966, beating the Germans in the final. Meanwhile, the Germans are far more focused on their rivalry with the Dutch. It's pretty amusing.

World Cup Day 13 predictions

Just in case you thought vuvuzelas were only annoying...

My predictions

Slovenia 1-1 England

I have a feeling one of the US and England will slip up, and the US look more determined. An easier prediction is 0-1 to England, but the turmoil and injuries to the team (specifically in the backline) should take a toll.

USA 2-0 Algeria

See above. Algeria looked okay against England but that's not saying much; the US will see this as a great opportunity to progress and should have a goal or two in them.

Australia 0-1 Serbia

Without Tim Cahill, Australia have struggled to create chances; he's available for this match. However, Serbia are well organized and should play with more purpose. Australia have to win to progress and could leave space at the back.

Ghana 1-2 Germany

Germany can get it done when they need to, and can score goals. Ghana have struggled to score, even though they lead the group. A draw (or even a loss and some luck) sees Ghana through, so they might not be the most adventurous.

World Cup: Has the rest of the world caught up to Europe?

The collective record of the best European teams at this World Cup so far is dreadful:

Team - W-D-L

France: 0-1-1

England: 0-2-0

Germany: 1-0-1

Netherlands 2-0-0

Italy: 0-2-0

Portugal: 0-1-0

Spain: 0-0-1

for a combined record of 3 wins, 6 draws and 3 losses. If you consider that neither of the Netherlands' wins have been convincing, you're left with one solid win from 12 matches. This could be seen as a crisis of continental proportions.

What it is is boring. Only Germany in their first match (and maybe the Dutch in theirs) were adventurous and attacked with skill, flair and intent. Other than that it's been boring, boring football from Europe's leading football powers.

I wonder if it hasn't become more about minimizing the damage to a team's reputation than anything else. It is so damaging to lose that teams don't venture forward in numbers, or they try to control the game as much as possible, with possession more important than chances on net.

Most of these teams still have good chances of going through to the Round of 16. France are almost certainly going home and the Dutch are already through. With wins in their next matches England, Italy and Germany will progress. Portugal and Spain have only played one each, so it's harder to judge, but both could struggle.

It would be interesting to compare this to other World Cups. My memory of team records isn't great, so I don't know if this is an anomaly or if it happens every World Cup. What is obvious is that teams like Paraguay, Mexico and Chile seem to have narrowed the distance between themselves and the traditional European footballing powers. Depending on how the next few games go, we might even be talking about how they have been surpassed.

World Cup Days Eight, Nine. I'm really slowing down.

Day Eight results - 0 for 3 again.

Germany 0-1 Serbia

me: Germany 2-1 Serbia. Wrong result, half-wrong score. Shit reffing. Nine cards in the first half. Klose should never have been sent off. The Germans looked good in the first half, but Podolski apparently found his club form for country. Well done to Serbia. They are my dark horse candidate, so...

Slovenia 2-2 USA

me: Slovenia 1-2 USA. Wrong result, half-wrong score. What a great game, though the US really should have won, with a ghost call pulling their third goal back. What was so impressive was that neither team stopped attacking. Compared to the next game, this was so refreshing and exciting.

England 0-0 Algeria

me: England 2-0 Algeria. Wrong result, half-wrong score. What a dire game for England. Only the play of keeper David James was any good. Could this finally put to rest the Gerrard-Lampard-midfield debate? Gerrard was England's best player against the US. Out wide against Algeria he was barely in the game, and Lampard was shit. It must be so frustrating for coach Fabio Capello to watch as pass after pass goes astray. Just for fun, compare the forwards for Spain with the England forwards. It's not a pretty sight.

Day Nine results - finally some results in my favour

Netherlands 1-0 Japan

me: Netherlands 3-1 Japan. Right result, wrong score. What a boring game; worst I've seen so far. The Dutch seem to have forgotten how to attack. Full credit to Japan, who swarmed all over the field pressuring the Dutch at every touch, but a better team would have passed or dribbled through the pressure, while the Dutch were happy enough to just pass it back to the keeper time and time again. I can't remember any of the Dutch starting 11 trying to dribble past an opponent. They've got two wins, neither convincing, and I hope they either find their real form or lose their next game. I had such high hopes for their playing style.

Ghana 1-1 Australia

me: Ghana 1-1 Australia. Right result, right score. A good match that Ghana should have won. Winger Harry Kewell was sent off for stopping a goal with his arm; full credit to the Aussies, who needed a win and kept on attacking. Someone had obviously told the Ghanaians to shoot from distance; too often they did when a pass would have been better. This group is bonkers now, and this sets up a barnstormer of a game between Ghana and Germany.

Cameroon - Denmark

me: Cameroon 1-0 Denmark. I haven't watched the whole game yet. It's 1-0 to Cameroon in the 30th minute, so could be good for me. J-pop says it's a great one, so I'm looking forward to finishing later today.

I'll link to match highlights after the games today; I don't want to inadvertently see a result.

And now a seemingly forgotten segment here: Did you know?

Not available in Europe. Get it? Doesn't make as much sense now that he did well while on loan at Everton last season, but it's still funny.

Did you know that Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy golden boy and the face of the US national team, is known as Landycakes? He really is. Even to his fans. I really don't like him, but I can't remember why. This quote might explain it:

“They are jealous of us, the Mexican players, because we've got a life and they have nothing ... Because of that they despise us. ... Who is going to win this game? The best team. And we know good and well who is the best team between the U.S. and Mexico. We know it well.” - Landon Donovan

That's only slightly unfortunate right now, as the US are struggling to get out of the group stages while Mexico are almost guaranteed to go through.

World Cup Day Eight: predictions gone to shit

I'm watching the Germany-Serbia match right now, it's 0-1 in the 73rd minute, and my predictions (and I suspect most everyone else's) have gone to shit. The ref in this game is waaaaaaayy too card-happy. Klose should never have been given his first yellow.

Also, what is up with the cardigans worn by the German coaches? Horrible idea. Apparently others thought so too. I'm looking for a picture. He's usually so well dressed, as seen in this photo probably from Euro 2008:
And here is the cardigan in question:

You be the judge.

My predictions

Germany 2-1 Serbia (guess I got that one wrong)

There's still time (EDIT: full-time. 0-1 to Serbia. Argh) for Germany to get me the result, but after having a penalty saved I'm not sure they have it in them. Podolski has had a bit of trouble in front of goal today.

Slovenia 1-2 USA

I've never cheered for the US, and I almost hope I'm not right on this one. But they should be better than the Slovenians. Because I didn't see the Slovenia-Algeria game, I have no idea how they did, other than they barely beat one of the least-favoured teams. C'mon you plucky Balkan bastards!

England 2-0 Algeria

England have to win one game, right? There should be a gulf in class, and I don't think Algeria have a Swiss performance in them. Count on Rooney for one (he has that ad to live up to, after all) and maybe Crouch to gangle one in. Yes, gangle (from gangly) is a verb now.

World Cup Day Two: predictions, results and such

England keeper Robert Green having a better game than yesterday

Day Two predictions:

South Korea 1-0 Greece

Argentina 3-0 Nigeria

England 1-1 USA

I just inadvertently saw the result for the SK-Greece game (2-0 win for the Reds*), so I'm pretty good so far today.

UPDATE: I had a good prediction day. 3 for 3 on results, with that big 1-1 draw.

Results

South Korea 2-0 Greece

me: South Korea win 1-0 Greece. Right result, half-wrong score. The Greeks didn't play as negatively as I thought, and the Koreans showed more flair than I thought. Two really nice goals were the difference.

Argentina 1-0 Nigeria

me: Argentina win 3-0 Nigeria. Right result, half-wrong score. Again the keeper thwarted my high score prediction, turning away more than a few really good shots that would have hit the corners. Argentina played very well, but Nigeria managed to weather the storm and looked dangerous themselves, just missing the final touch. Maradona didn't do anything too crazy yet.

England 1-1 USA

me: England 1-1 USA. Right result, right score! Some poor defending left Gerrard wide open to score for England, then a gaffe led to the US goal. A decent game in which the Americans were outplayed but held firm at the back. England were typically frustrating.

Tidbits

Want to know the nickname of all the national teams? Good ol' Wikipedia has a great list with translations and everything. Most are simply based on the colour of the shirts (Les Bleus, the Azzurri, etc). My favourite right now? North Korea are Thousand-mile Horse. The list may be a bit suspect: Greece are listed as The Pirate Ship.

* That's South Korea in case anyone couldn't guess. Greece play in blue and white.