Really enjoyed the games today well except the Holland game, but we had a mixture of European technique, Asian organisation and African spirit, coming together in an enjoyable day of football, it was also a very momentous day, as I managed to predict the correct score in a game for the first time in the tournament, much to Cameroon’s disgust, oh and I’ve seen 3 examples today that show that there is bugger all wrong with the Jabulani ball, Sneijder’s shot, Bresciano’s free kick and Kjaer’s 60 yard pass. 

MY THOUGHTS:  

Not the best of matches to watch from a neutral point of view, Japan played to stifle the Dutch attack, when defending they had 10 men behind the ball, and the Dutch looked nervous to attack in numbers so not to be caught on the break and that stopped the game really going anywhere in the first half.  

The best thing that happened in the second half was Sneijder’s goal, a superb strike a rocket from the edge of the box, it may have moved in the air, the keeper Kawashima got a hand to it, but he couldn’t stop it bulging in the back of the net, this opened the game up, Japan came out and tried to attack.  

Matsui was the most inventive looking of the Japanese side, good on the ball, looks to pick a good pass and him, Honda and Okubo again worked tirelessly but never really threatened the goal, Endo played great in the middle of the park charging down the ball, and controlling the play, another player that impressed was the young fullback Nagatomo had a good game charging down the left wing all game, never really got caught out defensively and had a good chance to score when he cut inside and had a shot in goal. The other dangerous player was the centre back Tulio Tanaka every set-piece Japan had he more often or not won the ball and just couldn’t get an attempt on target, the Dutch defence seemed to struggle against his height.  

From the first half performance you would say they would struggle to beat Denmark, but from the 2nd half showing, you would give them a chance, they could have snatched a point if Okazaki cold have kept his shot on the turn down and troubled Stekelenburg.  

Wasn’t impressed by the Dutch today, noone really to pick out, good goal from Sneijder, no real chances to speak of until the subs Elia and Affelay came on, it was the Hamburg man that found the PSV man and Affellay chased through on goal and was 1 on 1 with Kawashima and the Japanese keeper made a good save.  

MY THOUGHTS:  

3 points for Ghana and they are all but through, and 3 points for Australia and the group is wide open, I had thought it would be a tight game and I wasn’t wrong, the Aussie’s started so well, an early free kick, Bresciano dipped it over the wall, Kingson fumbled the ball and Brett Holman was the quickest to react and he put it past the Ghanian keeper.  

The great start was followed up by a nightmare moment, the ball dropped to Asamoah Gyan in the Australian’s box he thumped a shot towards goal and standing on the goalline was Harry Kewell andhis arm stopped the ball, the referee had no choice but to send him off, disaster for the Socceroos, the dream start was over and they didn’t really recover till the 2nd half.  

Moore and Neill had a good game at the back, coping well with the pace and power of Gyan and Ayew, Carney looked bright in the first half trying to get to the byline I like his industry.  

Australia improved in the second half when Kennedy and Chipperfield came on with 20 minutes to go, creating more problems for the young Ghana defence but they couldn’t capatilise on the inexperience defensive duo.  

Australia have 1 point and need to beat Serbia and hope Germany beat Ghana by a bigger scoreline than their lose, it doesn’t look likely.  

Ghana played a decent match, has to be said Addy and Jonathan 18 caps between them although at times showed their youth but they handled most things that were thrown their way, Tagoe, Boateng and Asamoah had quite quiet games and apart from Boateng’s shot in the first half there was not much else to note from the trio, Gyan had a great game, using all his strengths and attributes, his power and pace cause numerous problems and maybe with more experience he would have cause more problems.  

Ghana should have capatilised on the fact Australia had 10 men for best part of an hour, they should have won this game and will be disappointed with the point, but qualification is in their hands.  

MY THOUGHTS:

The weight of a continent lay on the shoulders of the Cameroon players today, lose and they become they first team to be elimanated from the competition, and what a start they had, a lose pass from the Danes, Emana found Eto’o in the box and he made no mistake putting Cameroon 1-0 up, this was as good as it go though 80 mins later and it’s an early exit for Le Guen’s men. 

Some of the team played well, Eto’o was busy and dangerous, justifying his move to the centre of the attack, always dangerous and more like the Samuel Eto’o we know and love, his foil was Achille Emana he too played really well, floating round the pitch linking up with Eto’o and Webo, he had a chance to level the game when he went through on goal, but couldn’t finish it off, if only both had played in these positions against Japan. 

For the players that played well a could played pretty bad, Assou-Ekotto had an awful game getting pulled out of position on many an occasion and with the dangerous Rommedahl exploiting the space he left caused Cameroon the 2nd goal, Song and Enoh were too quiet, the latter was pulled off at half-time. 

Such a shame for the competition that Cameroon are going home but if they had showed this level of commiment and adventure in the first game they would probably still be in the competition. 

The Danes faced the do or die game tonight and took it by the horns after going a ball behind they played really well, Rommedahl was a constant threat down the right, still showing he has the pace to play at the highest level, collecting a lovely 60 yard pass from Kjaer he then found Bendtner in the box for the equaliser, he then took advantage of Assou-Ekotto’s attacking desire by breaking down the right, cutting inside Makoun and placing a lovely left-footed shot past Souleymanou, Kjaer, Agger, Jacobsen and Poulsen were good in defence, as much as Cameroon’s strikers cause problems the defence never looked stretched, I wouldn’t say it was one of Bendtner’s best games, good finish for the goal, but quiet apart from that. 

The Danes played well, much better than the first game, they now face a winner takes it all game with Japan and they showed enough about them to think they could beat the Japanese, will be an interesting game.

There is no doubt what the media over here will be focusing on in the papers tomorrow however there was 2 other games played today, one was a cracker and the other a shock result, really glad the World Cup has picked up the 2 ^nd stage of games have been really exciting.

MY THOUGHTS:

Lots of expectations on the German team today, after the impressive 4-0 win over Australia and the Serbian team had lots of questions against them after a poor performance against Ghana, so everyone could only foresee one result, and of course as this World Cup proved, things don’t always go according to plan, Germany were in control until Klose picked up his second yellow card, he was sent off and soon after Serbia hit on the break and scored, apart from the Penalty that Podolski scored Germany never really troubled the Serbians and the number of people backing Deutschland will have decreased rapidly.

Milos Krasic had a great game for Serbia, much like the player being tracked by Juventus and Man City, charging down the right-wing putting in dangerous crosses and he was just a constant threat to Babstuber and the German defence, Jovanovic was busy on the left and always showing a desire to get into the box, Zigic was disappointing, apart from the knock-down for the goal he did nothing, and showed no desire to go after the ball. Subotic and Vidic were pretty solid all of the game, apart from Vidic’s crazy moment when he raised his hands and touched the ball.

Serbia showed signs of life but they were more content in stopping Germany play than actually going on to dominate the game themselves, however unless Australia improve Serbia could have 6 points and no display of great football, worrying times for football.

The Germans started pretty well, the passing and moving was there, Ozil the conductor, with Muller and Podolski on the wings, but when Klose got sent off there was no spearhead to finish off the attack, I thought Muller worked really hard today, he never stopped running on the right wing, and tried as much as he can to bring Germany back level, he showed good pace and skill, but lacked support.

Apart from losing the game the one disappointing part for Germany was when Marin and Cacau came on, they added nothing to the German team, for the 20 minutes they were on no chances were created, this will worry Low and the German fans.

MY THOUGHTS:

What a game this was, probably the game of the tournament so far a talented Slovenian team that had a fantastic start but then spirit and commitment of the American team provided a great comeback and possibly deserved the victory which was stolen away by a poor referee decision.

Was impressed with Slovenia’s start much better than the game against Algeria, Ljubijankic caused trouble from the start not just in the air but his pace got in behind the US backline, Robert Koren had a very quiet match and it was up to Valter Birsa to step up to the plate, received the ball in the middle of the pitch turned it onto his left foot and curled a beautiful ball past Howard in net, a lovely goal and a great way to kick off the game, and they finished the half off superbly Novakovic slipped a ball through to Ljubijankic and he coolly placed the ball past Howard, Slovenia were on place to Qualify to the last 16, but the USA weren’t quite beat yet.

Bradley made 2 changes at half time bringing on Edu and Feilhaber and they couldn’t have gotten off to a better start with Donovan pushed upfront he latched onto the ball and raced toward the Slovenian goal and he smashed the ball past Handanovic, Donovan played much better on the frontline giving him more chance to be effective on the ball and caused more damage.

Coach Bradley’s son Michael played fantastically well, he was the driving force behind the US comeback and he got his deserved goal, charging forward from midfield and poking Altidore’s knock down past Handanovic, Altidore was a thorn in the Slovenians side, winning a lot of knockdowns, sometimes not using his power and speed as well as he could, but his aerial presence cause problems all game.

Now the US has to beat Algeria to have any chance of reaching the last 16, we know they can score goals but I have question marks over if they can keep a clean sheet.

MY THOUGHTS:

I’m going to start this the way most newspapers won’t Algeria impressed me tonight, great passing and moving a calm and controlled feeling to their game, if only they had a striker that could produce a great run or clinical finish.

Bougherra, Yahia and Halliche were imperial at the back any time an England player took a bad touch they were on it in a flash and stopped Rooney and co have any loose balls to punish them, Ryad Boudebouz was a surprise starter and the Sochaux midfielder played very well, his skill and ability shone through, first touch was brilliant and looks to have so much potential, Ziani and Belhadj ran themselves to the ground, Ziani was superb and was a shame he had to come off with an injury, apart from all Belhadj’s running it was a shame he couldn’t put a decent cross in.

After this performance Algeria will give USA a great game on Wednesday, and who knows a win and some goals could pull off a miracle and a place in the last 16.

A truly awful performance from England, not one player to pick out for a positive reason, no passion, no desire, no work ethic, one of the worst performances for heart and desire I’ve ever watched for an England team, I am the first person who wants them to fail, but usually they go down with a fight, Rooney one of the so called “best players in the world” was terrible, his first touch was garbage all game, never linking up with any of his teammates, Gerrard was asked to play on the left but he was continually found in the middle even on the right, leaving too much space on the opposite, I can’t believe England can play that bad again, and would expect them to play better on Wednesday.

Fabio Capello will receive lots of stick in the forthcoming days about his player selection, his tactics also his methods, I think Englands performances are to blame for part of the performance, but the players have to be to blame, Rooney’s attitude after the game was awful, those fans paid lots of money to travel to Cape Town etc to watch their team play and to have an attitude against them for voicing their concerns, Rooney should be ashamed of himself and should issue an apology, lots of things will have to change before Wednesday.

3 excellent games today, that I hope have kick started this World Cup  properly they way we all hoped it would, Impressive play from the Argentineans, First World Cup goals from Greece and Latin fire puts out the French light.

MY THOUGHTS:

Properly impressed by Maradona’s side today, started off really fast, attacking the Korean defence, Di Maria and Tevez were superb, Di Maria coming more into his own, knowing when to drift inside and letting Tevez drift wide, in which he was fantastic, showing his fighting spirit and he never give up attitude, Messi was his majestically self, picking the ball up deep and trying to dazzle the opposition, the 5 minutes before half time and the 5 minutes after the break the Argentine train stuttered they lost a goal and could have been cut down to 2 each, but for the other 80 minutes Argentina’s play was fast direct and effective, question marks over Higuain’s ability to recreate his Real Madrid form were mostly answered with a superb hat-trick, 2 neat headers and a tap in, Messi was the wizard that made it all happen, swishing his left foot around the pitch creating magic it was a joy to watch.

Interesting to see what Maradona does if Veron is fit the next match as I think that team was more balanced, another food for thought would be Sergio Aguero he was a constant threat when he came on in the second half, Maradona’s son-in-law pushing for a place in the starting lineup.

Korea didn’t look the same team that beat Greece on Saturday, the second half they started better putting some passes together, Park was too quiet, Ki was taken off for Kim Nam-Il at half time, this made them a bit more solid in midfield but nothing could have stopped Messi & Co. Park wasn’t as effective up front Demichellis and Burdisso kept him under wraps.

Korea needs to find the form they showed against Greece in their last game against Nigeria who are all but eliminated, and they have the players to do it.

MY THOUGHTS:

A Day Greece will remember for a long time, scoring their first ever World Cup goals and also coming form behind to win, Rehhagel came under lots of criticism from his teams performance and his selection in the first game, no surprise he made changes, Salapingidis came in on the wing after he impressed when he came on against Korea, and he had a superb game, small and very strong, great on the ball, has pace and power, he was my man of the match, he got some luck for his goal but good players make their own luck, Karagounis played much better than his first game, spreading the ball around, and having some attempts on goal, he looked like the playmaker he has made his reputation as.

A great come back from Greece helped in fact by the sending off of Sani Kaita, however they showed fight and spirit to get the goals and bombarded the Nigeria goal in the 2nd half, you wouldn’t fancy them to trouble Argentina, however anything goes in this World Cup.

Nigeria will be very disappointed in themselves, took the early lead and looked to be in control of the game until Kaita saw Red, lunging out a foot and kicking a Greek player, straight red, and it changed the game. Odemwingie was ineffective in the first half and was subbed at half time; the bright points were Lukman Haruna looking very impressive, calm on the ball, good passer, a bright future ahead of him.

It could have been so different, Enyeama made a fantastic save, Nigeria broke up the pitch Obasi using his speed to get free, found Yakubu in space he was 1 on 1 with Tsvoras and the keeper made a great save, the rebound fell to Obasi and his effort was terrible, he should have scored.

Nigeria need a miracle to qualify they need to beat Korea and hope Argentina beat Greece and they need to score goals, nothing is impossible.

MY THOUGHTS:

I thought that France couldn’t possibly play as bad as they did against Uruguay, boy was I wrong, they actually started pretty well, some nice passing, but no end product, however when they got to the second half, they looked a shambles not passion, no effort, before it was 1-0 they had given up.

Ribery started bright in the middle of the park, as did Malouda they 2 were Frances hopes to create something, Anelka and Govou were invisible, Toulalan very ineffective, and the France defence doesn’t even deserve to be mentioned.

Mexico were superb, gave 100% for the whole game, maybe didn’t look comfortable till Vela came off injured and Paulo Barrera came on and his pace and desire to attack cause endless problems, dos Santos worked his socks off, defending from the front not giving any French player any time on the ball, always in and about them, the back line of Salcido, Moreno, Rodriguez and Osorio were never troubled, Salcido had a great desire to get forward as well which kept Sagna and Govou quiet, Javier Hernandez replaced Franco in the second half and he got the first goal, a great run in behind the defence, took it past Lloris and finished calmly.

The second came when Barrera glided past Evra and then invited a challenge from Abidal he took Barrera down, and the veteran Cuauhtémoc Blanco stepped up and placed the penalty past Lloris and now Mexico only need a point to guarantee a place in the 2nd Round, but will want to win to avoid Argentina.

Personally the most disappointing day of the World Cup for me, was back at work today, so having to watch the games while working is not the best way to assess players and how they play, my plan was to record the games and watch them all back, however leaving the house today I forgot to set the recording, so the South Africa v Uruguay game, is the only one I’ve got to watch in all it’s HD glory, and it’s hard to watch games when you already know the score and in an office of football fans, so just gonna have to bear with it and watch as much as I can.

MY THOUGHTS:

Was really impressed with the football Chile played today, they 3-1-3-3 formation Bielsa plays worked an absolute treat, when they were going forward at times the man on the ball had 6 players in front of him to pass to, the players always kept moving, the passing and movement was great, Honduras did their best and showed they are no light-weights trying to hit Chile on the break whenever they could, they just didn’t have the quality to take advantage.

Valladares made one of the best saves not even in this tournament but EVER! Chile looked certain to make it 2-0 but Valladares’s diving save kept his team in the game giving them a chance to earn a point, however his efforts were in vain, the Premier League duo of Palacios and Figueroa weren’t impressive Maynor playing at Centre Back and not on the left as usual, Honduras missed the talents of David Suazo the pacey stiker would have made a big difference.

Can’t say how much Chile impressed me today Sanchez, Valdivia, Fernandez and Vidal all played superbly, Valdivia deputising for qualification top scorer Humberto Suazo impressed never seen him before, but he looked more like a playmaker than a striker, coming off the front to create chances, the best player on the pitch was Alexis Sanchez, fast, tricky very very skillful he was a trouble for the Hondurian’s all game, was unlucky not to score, but if he plays like that in the next two games, I can’t see him not scoring.

MY THOUGHTS:

Well I don’t think anyone predicted this score today, a definite coupon buster, Spain threw pretty much everything at the Swiss defence 63% possession and 22 shots on goal, usually would be enough to win any match, however the defence unlike the cheese didn’t have any holes in it. Lichtsteiner, Von Bergen, Gritching and Ziegler were superb the whole game stopping the Spanish Armada finding any clear cut chances, most shots that got through were luckily aimed straight at keeper Benaglio.

Barnetta, Inler and Fernandes worked tirelessly in the midfield in defence and going forward, and when the chance arose Fernandes was there to snatch the dream start from the Spanish, N’Kufo played the target man job well causing Puyol and Pique problems and helping the team break forward.

Spain at times bombarded the Swiss box, Iniesta played very well bamboozaling the defence at times just unable to find that killer pass, Xavi Alonso played pretty well controlling the midfield most of the game and also rattled the crossbar with a rocket of a shot, Villa looked very isolated upfront on his own, not getting the service, there comes a time when crossing the ball into the middle of two tall centre backs just isn’t the answer anymore but Spain kept trying, Torres when he came on looked at about 60% fitness, I beleive Spain wouldn’t have tried him out till at least the 3rd group game.

Going to be very hard for Spain to win the group now and a potential meeting with Brazil could be on the horizon, and he would all love that.

MY THOUGHTS:

Not the best game ever but a fantastic night for Uruguyans, Forlan has played 2 fantastic games and led his team to potentially a place in the last 16, Forlan’s slightly deflected shot opened the scoring and broke South African hearts, the Bafana Bafana never recovered from this, they just never got going at any stage, the fire from the opening game was just never there, the cold Pretoria air seemed to cool down the hosts.

Tshabalala tried his best in the first half tryin to be the spark in the team, but a few shots he had went wayward, after this he went as cold as the air night, Pienaar and Modise were very quiet, Letholonyane and Dikacgoi were solid for most of the game but Dikacgoi the Fulham man lost his desire after his booking and never looked the same.

With the likes of Bernard Parker and Siyabonga Nomvete you would think Pareira would have changed it up and gave the hosts a chance, but he never did and now a win against France and other results going their way will save South Africa from becoming the first home nation from going out in the Group Stage.

The back four of Uruguay looked more comfortable than the three that played against France, with Diego Perez superb as the anchor man this gave the platform for Forlan, Suarez and Cavani to forge forward, as much as Forlan impressed Suarez was ineffectual, also going down under challenges too easily, I have been expecting more from the Ajax man, Cavani played better, looking to link up with his attack partners troubled the South African back line, a little flick on that helped Suarez win the penalty, but it was all about Forlan, he was superb, leading his team, the oldest man on the pitch was a pillar of experience, his goal spurnned himon, he stayed calm in the 5 minutes he had to wait to take his penalty in which he dispatched expertly, top scorer in the tournament, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he got 4 or 5 in South African.

Group G was the focus today Ivory Coast v Portugal and Brazil v North Korea and the day was started with New Zealand v Slovakia, a few of the worlds best players on view today with mixed results and there was one team that stole the show but went away empty handed.

MY THOUGHTS:

Not a bad game for me, both teams tried to control the game at time, New Zealand started well, Simon Elliot the chief playmaker in midfield, Lochhead made some moves down the left, the front 3 of Smeltz, Killen and Fallon were too quiet, Killen had one chance the whole game, but Slovakia’s defence kept them smoothered for most of the game, the team as a whole worked really hard for each other, giving 100% effort and then some, the 3 centre backs, Vieclich, Nelsen and Reid were superb, switched off for only a second for Vittek’s goal but apart from that the Slovak’s struggled to find space, Winston Reid espeically was fantastic, not only did he make a game saving tackle on Sestak,but then he popped up at the other end to head the injury time equaliser, a few scouts will have taken note of him as I did here.

I expected more from Slovakia with players with Hamisk, Sestak and Weiss quality they should have cause more trouble for the All Whites, Weiss was busy looking to take people on at all time, which I like in a winger, looks to maybe not have the top level speed to make it at the top level, too early to write him off though, Vittek did very well for his goal, I mentioned earlier he was a threat with his head and he punished New Zealand with it, cross from Weiss and Vittek guided it into the net.

Hamsik disappointed me, big build up, big reputation and he didn’t play anywhere near his full potential as captain he is meant to take charge of the game and he went missing at times, New Zealand deserved their point in the end, Slovakia will be devastated by losing the 2 points in the end, they will need to play a lot better if they want to advance.

MY THOUGHTS:

All I’ve read on twitter is how bad this game was, and I just didn’t see that, both teams came out the blocks fast, Ronaldo for 10 minutes looked in the mood until he was booked, Ivory Coast had a definite gameplan got all the bodies behind the ball and try and hit on the break, I think this gameplan can only work without Drogba, as he won’t chase back for 90 minutes, but with the front 3 they had on, they chased back and frustrated the Portuguese and overall the Cote D’Ivoire were the better team, they had the better chances, Gervinho should have done better with his header in the 2nd half, a point a decent start for both teams, if there had been a loser you would think that would have been game over for their tournament, now they both have a point and both have Brazil and Korea DPR to play, anything can happen.

Zokora and Toure at the back had a great game, didn’t give Liedson a sniff of a chance and backed up by Eboue and Tiene the wide players didn’t trouble them either, Yaya Toure did what he does best, controlling the game from the middle all moves start with him and he never looked stretched at any stage, Tiote looked vvery busy, not a player I have seen often but he looked good and worked very hard trying to create openings, of the front three Gervinho was the better of the three, he looked to take on the Portuguese defence, for me his pace was wasted in the middle and with Drogba coming back I would put him on the wing to take on the fullbacks, Dindane was ok but quiet for his ability and even more so with Kalou he just wasn’t involved at all, I can’t remember him doing anything of any good.

Drogba came on and got 25 minutes but failed to make an impact, just didn’t look like he got up to speed, he will start the next game I’m sure, with his power and world class ability it will change the dynamic of the Africans front line, and they will need him against Brazil.

Portugal were very disappointing, Ronaldo smashed the post after 5 minutes and after that they struggled, Danny on the left went missing, Deco and Liedson didn’t add anything, Ronaldo failed to terrorise the defence the way he could, Raul Meireles did a good job in the middle always available for a pass and was trying to create chances, Portugal’s best players were Paulo Ferreira and youngster Fabio Coentrao both fullbacks did a great job stopping the wide threat of Ivory Coast, Coentrao looked very impressive young full back plays for Benfica and I will be keeping an eye on him.

Portugal will need to show so much more against Korea DPR they need to create more chances and i think they are too lightweight in the middle to do that, Simao will replace Danny I would think, if the Koreans defend the way they did tonight against Brazil then Portugal could struggle.

MY THOUGHTS:

Everyone was waiting for the arrival of Brazil and I think for 45 minutes everyone was a bit dumbfounded, noone had given Korea a chance of doing anything, I myself had said 4-0 in an earlier prediction, myself and pundits alike couldn’t have been more wrong, for 55 minutes the Koreans defended expertly, not giving Brazil any time in the middle of the park and containing them out wide, then when they got the ball they looked to pour forward and cause an upset, once Maicon had opened the scoring some more space opened up and Elano made it two, everyone like me probably thought the goals would come now, this wasn’t to be and Korea snatched a dreamland goal by Ji Yun-Nam after a great knockdown by Jong Tae-Se a great performance from the Koreans.

Brazil at times looked superb, but in contrast at times looked to lack ideas, the Koreans worked to stifle them but Brazil could have done more to open them up, only once did Michel Bastos take on the Korea right back, too often did he cut inside making it easy for them to defend a narrow side, he did smash a cracking free-kick just past the post with his thunderous left foot, Lucio and Juan looked stunned by the early play by Tae-Se but dealt much better with him in the 2nd half, Melo and Silva did the usual job of the water carriers, breaking up any of Korea’s fast breaks.

I lost count of how many times Fabiano was caught offside, he didn’t have a good night, some nice touches but overall disappointing, Maicon was one of the better players athough he didn’t attack the byline as much as he could but when he did he smashed in a wonderful goal true Brazilian style outside of the boot with great swerve, the man of the night though was Robinho he looked superb from the first minute he looked up for it, pulling tricks and flicks and taking on players everytime he had the ball, if anything was going to happen it was going to come through him, and the 2nd goal was superb a fantastically weighted ball was dispatched first time by Elano, Robinho deserved a goal but his performance was good enough and looks like he has more in the bag.

I think Brazil will get better as the games go on, it’s hard taking on a team with 9 players behind the ball and a back 5 trying to stop you playing, in the confederations cup they played at their best on the break and they will get more space against Portugal and Ivory Coast.

3 games that I am actually looking forward to today, got New Zealand v Slovakia, I admit I know very little of the New Zealand team, Chris Killen, Rory Fallon, Ryan Nelsen and that’s it so will be interesting to see them play, Slovakia I think have a chance to shock a few times, Martin Hamsik is a quality player, Vittek upfront is great in the air, not seen the teams yet, so don’t know who’s playing.

Then we have Ivory Coast v Portugal, what a game this could be, 2 very strong teams and this match could guarentee 2nd place in the group, rumours are Drogba will play, an Ivory Coast team packed with stars against what is to me a Portugal team rebuilding after their Golden Era but they still have quality players.

Then it’s a match I am really looking forward to Brazil v North Korea, so many memories watching Brazil at World Cups, against a team that is the unknown entity, not one household name player, but they will have the eyes of a nation on them….only if they win, North Korea will only be shown the game back home if they win apparently, which is such a shame, can they pull off a shock like they did in ’66

**Players to Watch**

1.Vladimir Weiss (Slovakia) – Hot young prospect and the coachs son, was on loan at Bolton from Man City this season, plays on the wing, has alot of skill, great platform for him to shine.

2.Martin Hamsik (Slovakia) – The Napoli forward is a great player, likes to play off the front man, has an eye for goal, great technique, if he played for one of the top nations the media would be purring over him.

3.Robert Vittek (Slovakia) - the former Nuremberg and Lille front man is a great target man, holds the ball up well, great in the air, his best days may be behind him, but a player you still need to give respect to.

4.Chris Killen (New Zealand) – Didn’t have the best time at Celtic but his Hibs scoring record was very impressive, could lead the All Whites attack, but he hasn’t exactly set the league alight in Middlesbrough, could this be his stage.

5.Gervinho (Ivory Coast) - The Lille winger has had a great season, after a slow start he exploded, with his blistering pace and ability to score a great foil for Drogba, Looking forward to seeing him reproduce his club form for the world to see.

6.Michel Bastos (Brazil) - Following the great tradition of Brazilian Left Backs next comes Bastos, who is actually a Left Winger for his club Lyon but will suit Brazil’s style of pushing forward, he has an absoulte rocket of a left foot and will let fly if he gets the chance, and will take over the set-pieces, I predict a “next Roberto Carlos reference from the commentators

7.Ramires (Brazil) - I hope Ramires comes on at some stage today, Dunga has been playing Elano I prefer Ramires in the midfield he charges forward but defends well also, gives his all, powerful running and showed he can score in the game against Tanzania, the Benfica man could be the missing piece of this Brazilian jigsaw.

8.Jong Tae-Se (North Korea) - Never seen him play, but I read that he promised he would score in every game he played at this World Cup, so he’s made the claim, let’s see if he can deliver, I refuse to believe that they can be as bad as people think they will, time will tell.

**Predictions**

NEW ZEALAND 0 – 2 SLOVAKIA

IVORY COAST 2 – 1 POR TUGAL

BRAZIL 4 – 0 NORTH KOREA

Day Four will not go down as a classic in World Cup history however 6 teams got their tournament under way and I’m not sure many people would have predicted the outcomes, the much anticipated Dutch started off with a 2-0 win, but didn’t play anywhere near their famed “Total Football”, Japan then shocked Africa by beating Cameroon 1-0, some strange tactics from Paul Le Guen that I will get back to later, then Italy struggled againt Paraguay, the South Americans are my dark horses and I was happy they held onto the draw.  

  MY THOUGHTS:

A decent performance from the Dutch,a few good performances, tactical wise it just didn’t work havng van der Vaart and Sneijder in the same team,not width or pace down the left, both trying to play down the middle and without Kuyt giving natural width the Dutch played really narrow, a few times van der Wiel got down the right and cause some problems, de Jong was very lucky not to get sent off, quite a few bad tackles, van Persie suffered with the lack of service, they came to life when Elia came on giving natural width and his skill and electrifying pace terrorised the Danes, latching onto a pass from Sneijder he was unlucky to score himself but Kuyt was there to finish it off.

I would not be surprised if in the next game if Robben is still not fit Eljero Elia would start, I would if I was van Marwijk, the duo of Sneijder and van der Vaart just doesn’t work, kinda like Gerrard and Lampard for England.

The Danes started very well, defending well and hitting on the counter attack, Bendtner had a great chance to score with a header at the back post, Jorgensen and Rommedahl played well, maybe just a little old to really trouble the Dutch back line, they were dealt a major blow losing the goal so early, if they had kept a clean sheet for 10/15 minutes who knows what could have happened, they played well enough to show they can still com 2nd in the group, but they will need to execute a lot better.  

MY THOUGHTS:

A truly uninspiring game, I expected so much more from Cameroon, how you can play Samuel Eto’o on the right wing and not in the middle where he is one of the most dangerous players in the game, plus the inexperience of Matip and Choupo-Moting and not selecting Emana or Alexander Song surprised me.

Cameroon lacked any creativity and never really got going till late in the second half, they moved Jean Makoun to the middle and he controlled the play and was beind the chances they created, for me Le Guen got his team all wrong, of course I don’t know the ins and outs of the squad’s chemistry, but I’m sure I could have picked a better XI for this game.

Japan on the other hand will be estatic, against the run of the play, Matsui crossed in a great ball and everyone missed it except Honda who controlled it well and finished calmly, Endo has a good game playing very well in the middle of midfield, Honda was dangerous the whole game, he is the star player in the Japanese team, he has a good footballing brain, moves well, and also got an eye for goal, Okobu worked very had the whole game and ran himself ragged until he was replaced by Yano and although he didn’t sure he helped his team with all his hard work.

MY THOUGHTS:

The top two teams in Group F meet in a rainy night in Cape Town, noone has been picking the Italians as potential winners and from tonights game you can see why, usually slow starters, but this was really slow, Paraguay played well with their 2 banks of 4 defending well and no often did the Italians get in-behind them, the 4-3-3 lacked creativity without Pirlo, when they switched to 4-4-2 with Camoranesi on the right and Pepe on the left they created more problems, and apart from some good defending by Paraguay Italy would probably scored a 2nd.

Pepe impressed me in the second half throwing in lots of good crosses, Montolivo played well in the 4-4-2 he seemed more comfortable, as did Iaquinta when he moved to the middle and not on the left wing, with the players they had in the team tonight 4-4-2 suited their styles more.

Paraguay did well, played to their gameplan, smoother the Italians play and hit on the counter attack, and it worked until De Rossi’s 63rd minute goal, Paolo da Silva had a fantastic match nothing got by him and he was a man-mountain along with Alcaraz they deserved a clean sheet, Barrios and Valdez up front ran the channels all game doing their best to provide an outlet ball, they didn’t get many goal scoring chances but they worked their socks off.

Paraguay will qualify to the last 16 I believe although Slovakia could be dangerous, it will take a good team that breaches Paraguays defence, and it will take a solid defence that’s not breached by Barrios and Valdez.

Morning all,I have been wanting to do previews since the start but not found the time, hopefully it can continue from today, not gonna be massive pieces, just players to watch, predictions, that kind of thing.

NETHERLANDS v  DENMARK – 12:30

This has the potential to be one of the great games of the tournament, 2 strong teams and both need a win to kick off their campaign.

***Players to Watch***

1.Gregory van der Wiel (Netherlands) - Impressive Ajax right back, will be unknown to most, loves to get forward, can play in a good cross, and can also defend pretty well.

2.Simon Kjaer (Denmark) - Palermo’s big centre back, tracked by all the big teams, a good tournament will see his value rise big test today against the Dutch forward line, interesting to see how he does.

3.Christian Eriksen (Denmark) - Rumours are this impressive teenager could start for Denmark today, the Danes have never fielded a teenager at a World Cup, the unknown midfielder has impressed at U-20 level, on the books at Ajax, reported he has already been shown round Real Madrid’s training complex, one to look out for.

JAPAN v CAM ERO ON – 15:00

Cameroon the 4th of the 6 African teams to play, pundits favourties of all the african teams to do well, with Eto’o, Song and Emana they have the ability to get out this group, I am wondering if Eto’o doesn’t score where the goals will come from, Korea showed on Sunday that you don’t need size and power to play well, Japan will take heart from this, the skills of Honda, Nakamura and Matsui will cause problems.

**Players to Watch**

1.Achille Emana (Cameroon) – Apart from Eto’o Achille is Cameroon’s highest scorer in the squad, can play off the front man or on the wings, very creative, loves bombing forward, powerful runner.

2.Shinji Okazaki (Japan) - A Player very much in form 16 goals in the last year make him a dangerous prospect, good movement off the ball works hard to find space, the Cameroon defence will have to stay alert.

3.Nicolas N’Koulou (Cameroon) - Strong central defender, had a starring role for Monaco this year, could be one of the stand out players in South Africa, has the experience of Rigobert Song potentially beside him.

ITALY v PARAGUAY – 19:30

The two big guns in Group F match up, both will fancy going through but they will not want to lose this, Paraguay have a talented squad, 4 quality strikers that will cause teams damage, a solid midfield and back line, the Italians will need to be at their best to dispatch Paraguay

**Players to Watch**

1.Lucas Barrios (Paraguay) – One of the great World Cup stories, 2 months ago he was Argetinian and had a great Bundesliga season, now he has his Paraguayan passport has scored 3 in 3 and could be the big goal threat in Group F

2.Antonio Di Natale (Italy) - Played as a subsitute most of his International career, now has the chance to shine, 29 league goals for Udinese is very impressive, pace, skill and an eye for goal, can’t ask for much else.

3.Oscar Cardozo (Paraguay) - Most likely to start on the bench, Santa Cruz getting the nod on experience, Oscar will come on at some point and he is deadly, can score from anywhere on the pitch, goals out of nothing he is a deadly predator 26 goals in 29 games for Benfica, not somone to leave unmarked.

**PREDICTIONS**

Now so far is this tournament I am off to a great start, I have predicted the score in all 8 games, and got every one wrong, I predcited correctly Argentina, Slovenia and Germany would win, but got the scores wrong, so I have an on going joke that I will get every result wrong, so here goes Day 4.

NETHERLANDS 3 DENMARK 1

JAPAN 0 CAMEROON 1

ITALY 2 PARAGUAY 2

If you agree or disagree let me know, give me your predictons

There is only one team that can dominate my thoughts today and that is the German team, very impressive and have made everyone sit up and take notice, Algeria and Slovenia sent most people into a afternoon snooze, and Ghana gave Africa the lift it needed. A decent days football overall, 3 games 3 red cards, 7 goals, the tournament is starting to pick up.

ALGERIA 0 SLOVENIA 1

ALGERIA: 16 Chaouchi – 2 Bougherra, 4 Yahia, 5 Halliche, 3 Belhadj – 8 Lacen – 21 Kadir, 19 Yebda, 15 Ziani – 11 Djebbour, 13 Matmour
Subs – 9 Ghezzal on for Djebbour (58mns), 10 Saifi on for Matmour (81mins), 17 Guedioura on for Kadir (82mins)

SLOVENIA: 1 Handanovic – 2 Brecko, 4 Suler, 5 Cesar, 13 Jokic – 17 Kirm, 18 Radosavljevic, 8 Koren, 10 Birsa – 14 Dedic, 11 Novakovic
Subs – 9 Ljubijankic on for Dedic (53mins), 7 Pecnik on for Birsa (84mins), 20 Komac on for Radosavljevic (87mins)

Goals - Koren 79′ (1-0 SLO)

Sent Off – Ghezzal (ALG – two yellow cards

MY THOUGHTS:

Not the best game by a long way, it started brightly but fizzled out, I actually thought Algeria looked the more likely to score and then Chaouchi made a goalkeeping mistake and Robert Koren’s shot sneaked in the far post.

Chaouchi looked a competent keeper before that moment dealing with all Slovenia’s attempts well, all that will be remembered is his mistake, Nadir Belhadj was impressive on the left getting forward enough to look like a midfielder, not a good final ball though, the midfield was quiet, Ziani should have done more didn’t take control enough, leading to a lack of chances for the front two, Djebbour then came off but his replacement Ghezzal got the third fastest booking of world cup history and was then soon after sent off for deliberate handball.

Not many impressive performances from Slovenia either, I expected more from Novakovic, Dedic tried at times to link up with him but to no avail, Birsa didn’t get enough of the ball to show his pace, Koren wasn’t the controlling factor he can be, they were very lucky to sneak the 1-0 win, England and USA won’t be too worried with these performances.

SERBIA 0 GHANA 1

SERBIA: 1 Stojkovic – 6 Ivanovic, 5 Vidic, 13 Lukovic, 3 Kolarov – 17 Krasic, 11 Milijas, 10 Stankovic, 14 Jovanovic – 15 Zigic, 9 Pantelic
Subs – 22 Kuzmanovic on for Milijas (62mins), 8 Lazovic on for Zigic (69mins), 20 Subotic on for Jovanovic (76min)

GHANA: 22 Kingson – 4 Pantsil, 5 Mensah, 15 Vorsah, 2 Sarpei – 12 Tagoe, 23 Boateng, 6 Annan, 13 Ayew - 21 Asamoah, 3 Gyan
Subs - 10 Appiah on for Asamoah (73mins), 19 Addy on or Boateng (91mins), 20 Owusu-Abeyie on for Gyan (93mins)

Goals - Gyan 83′pen (1-0 GHA)

Sent off – Lukovic, two yellow cards

MY THOUGHTS:

A better game in the afternoon, I was backing Serbia as dark horses but it was Ghana that galloped out of the blocks showing great pace and skill, some nice movements down either wing, Serbia never got going, the partnership between Zigic and Pantelic just didn’t work for me, no pace up front to stretch the Ghana back line, Krasic and Jovanovic were kept quiet by Pantsil and Sarpei.

The Serbia back line played pretty well throughout Ivanovic was solid but not expensive, Lukovic was favoured over Subotic and did well until he was sent off, Krasic the big hope for Serbia didn’t turn up and live up to expectations, and the midfield duo of Milijas and Stankovic just didn’t perform and I expect big changes for the next game.

Ghana performed very well, Mensah and Vorsah were so solid at the back, the 6 foot 5 Vorsah challenging the 6 foot 8 Zigic to every ball, Prince Tagoe was very busy down the right started great and nearly burst through after  5 minutes his pace kept Kolarov from attacking most of the game, Annan labeled as the “new Essien”  had a good game, although he is a different player from Essien more a player that controls the play not a heavy ball winner, he was the controlling influence in the midfield Gyan was also impressive he gave Vidic and Lukovic a hard time, pace, power and and great work rate and will trouble other defences.

GERMANY 4 AUSTRALIA 0

GE RMA NY: 1 Neuer – 16 Lahm, 3 Friedrich, 17 Mertesacker, 14 Badstuber – 6 Khedira, 7 Schweinsteiger, 8 Ozil, 13 Muller, 10 Podolski
Subs – 19 Cacau on for Klose (68mins), 23 Gomez on for Ozil (74mins), 21 Marin on for Podolski (81mins)

AUSTRALIA: 1 Schwarzer – 8 Wilkshere, 2 Neill, 3 Moore, 11 Chipperfield – 13 Grella, 16 Valeri, 7 Emerton, 19 Garcia, 5 Culina – 4 Cahill
Subs – 14 Holman on for Grella (46mins), 17 Rukavytsya on for Garcia (64mins), 15 Jedinak on for Emerton (74mins)

Goals - Podolski 8′ (1-0 GER), Klose 26′ (2-0 GER), Mueller 68′ (3-0 GER), Cacau 70′ (4-0 GER)

Sent off – Tim Cahill (AUS) straight Red

MY THOUGHTS:

A statement performance from Germany some people had this as a possible upset but after seeing the Socceroos lineup I knew it wouldn’t happen, you can’t go to the World Cup with 2 strikers, and then not to start any of them, you are waiting for a beating, and Germany delivered.

Philip Lahm played great as captain charging forward on the right, playing a great ball for Klose’s goal and solid in defence, the duo of Khedira and Schweinsteiger were superb in the middle, Bastian deeper than usual adapted very well, Mueller had a effective game on the right, cutting in at the right times and scoring with a great finish, Podolski was great on the left showing he has the pace and the left foot to play out there, a superb finish for the 1st goal 83mph no goalkeeper was stopping it, he had no problem putting the Jabulani ball in the back of the net, Klose could have easily had a hat-trick and with the football they played you could see him scoring the goals needed to break Ronaldo’s goal scoring record.

The man of the match undoubtebly was little Mesut Ozil (pronounced Urshil apparently) he was fantastic, the dribbling the passing, ripping the Australians apart, the movement from the German front four was superb and Ozil was the architect, he could easily be one of the stars of this World Cup, the only blemish was the yellow card he picked up from diving, if he continues on form it would be hard to see Germany not reaching the Quarter-Finals.

Two of the big guns played today and with mixed results, the big winner today was the Korea’s a great result against Greece, followed by Argentina’s slim 1 -0 victory over Nigeria, in a game that could have been 4-0 or 1-1, then England stepped up and failed to deliver the result their thousands of fans beleived was due to them, drawing 1-1 with the United States

SOUTH KOREA 2 GREECE 0

SOUTH KOREA: 18 Jung Sung-Ryong - 12 Lee Young-Pyo, 4 Cho Yong-Hyung, 14 Lee Jung-Soo, 22 Cha Du-Ri - 19 Yeom Ki-Hun, 17 Lee Chung-Yong, 8 Kim Jung-Woo, 16 Ki Sung-Yong, 7 Park Ji-Sung – 10 Park Cho Young
Subs - 5 Kim Nam-Il on for Ki Sung-Yueng (74mins), 11 Lee Seung-Yeoul on for Park Chu-Young (87mins), 13 Kim Jae-Sung on for Lee Chung-Yong (90+mins)

GREECE: 12 Tzorvas – 2 Seitaridis, 8 Papadopoulos, 6 Tziolis, 15 Torosidis – 11 Vyntra, 21 Katsouranis, 10 Karagounis – 7 Samaras, 9 Charisteas, 17 Gekas
Subs – 4 Patsatzoglou on for Karagounis (46mins), 14 Salpingidis on for Samaras (59mins), 20 Kapetanos on for Charisteas (61mins)

Goals - Lee Jung-Soo 7′ (1-0), Park Ji-Sung 52′ (2-0)

MY THOUGHTS:

An entertaining game to start the day, the impressive Koreans started very brightly, Ki whipped in a good free-kick after 7 minutes that missed everyone apart from the centre back Lee he appeared unmarked at the back post to make it 1-0, then the very busy Park Ji-Sung stole the ball in midfield and ran through to place the ball past Tzorvas and the Koreans held on after a bit of Greek pressure near the end, a great start to their tournament.

The centre backs for Korea Cho and Lee did very well against all the high balls the Greeks threw at them, Right Back Cha was tireless in running down the right flank troubled Torosidis all game until he was replaced, the Koreans controlled the midfield the trio of Park, Ki and Kim ran the show, Ki never lost the ball once, and Park was the spark of class the team needed, Bolton’s Lee was quiet on the wing, one player that was fantastic was Park Cho-Young he worked the Greek centre backs all game was superb in the air, the myth that Koreans are small is gone Ki, Yeom, Kim and Park are all 6 feet tall, and Park played even taller winning nearly every ball in the air.

Really enjoyed the Koreans style of football, nice one touch passing, pace and really just doing the simple things well, ineresting to see how they match up against the Nigerians.

The Greek team will need to step up increidbly fast if they want to progress in this tournament 16 years ago they left USA ’94 without scoring a goal, and you could see it happening again, tough games against Argentina and Nigeria could prove extremly tough, the tactics just didn’t work, 2 big men on the wings and not a lot of pace in midfield, Samaras and Charisteas were awful the game plan seemed to be long balls up to the front men, but I can’t remember them winning one ball, Gekas was a non entity, and Karagounis didn’t show the creativity he is known for.

The only life they showed is when Salpingidis and Patsatzoglou came on and they showed more creatvity down the left and maybe left a little bit of hope for Rehaggel for the next match, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was 3 or 4 changes for their next match, god knows they need it.

ARGENTINA 1 NIGERIA 0

ARGENTINA: 22 Romero – 17 Gutierrez, 2 Demichelis, 13 Samuel, 6 Heinze – 14 Mascherano, 8 Veron, 7 Di Maria – 11 Tevez, 10 Messi, 9 Higuain
Subs – 20 M.Rodriguez on for Veron (74mins), 19 D.Milito on for Higuain (79mins), 4 Burdisso on for Di Maria (85mins)

NIGERIA: 1 Enyeama – 17 Odiah, 2 Yobo, 6 Shittu, 3 Taiwo – 20 Etuhu, 15 Haruna, 14 Kaita, 19 Obasi – 19 Obinna, 8 Yakubu
Subs – 9 Martins on for Obinna (52mins), 11 Odemwingie on for Obasi (60mins), 12 Uche on for Taiwo (75mins)

Goals - Heinze 6′ (1-0)

MY THOUGHTS:

Not the scoreline the Argentines would have hoped for but 3 points is 3 points, this game could easily have been 3 or 4 nil, but as long as the game went on the Nigerians looked just as likely to pull out a equaliser, for Argentina there was some good performances but also signs they are not as strong as the fans would hope, Messi looked in the mood, picking up the ball in space and attacking the Nigerian defence, only 2 great saves from Enyeama stopped him opening his World Cup account, in this form though his time will come.

Mascherano and Veron were superb, controlling the game, breaking up everything that Nigeria tried to create, Veron showing his passing abilities are still at their peak, Di Maria did well when he got the ball but wasn’t used enough, just didn’t seem to get involved enough, Tevez and Messi linked up really well, and created quite a few chances for Higuain who surely on another day he would have put them away.

For as well as Argentinas attacking players played the defence seemed suspect, Gutierrez looks vulnerable his positioning needs to improve, Samuel and Demichelis could be troubled by attackers with pace and purpose, and Romero is yet to be tested.

Nigeria’s best player by far was Goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, pulled out about 4 fantastic saves, 2 top notch saves from Lionel Messi, in the first half Nigeria struggled to get going the inexperience of Haruna and Kaita got overrun with Argentinas 4-3-3 and the front 2 of Yakubu and Obinna were isolated, Lagerback made a great decision in the second half bringing on Peter Odemwingie and it changed Nigeria’s play completely adding pace and composure to the attack, after his performance I’m sure he will start the next game, sub Uche had a great chance to equalise but just went over the bar.

Nigeria need to start their next game better if they are going to make the second round, they have the tools to win, it’s just whether they put it together or not.

ENGLAND 1 U N I T E D S T A T E S 1

ENGLAND: 12 Green – 2 Johnson, 6 Terry, 20 King, 3 A.Cole – 7 Lennon, 8 Lampard, 4 Gerrard – 21 Heskey, 10 Rooney
Subs - 17 Wright-Phillips on for Milner (31mins), 18 Carragher on for King (46mins),  9 Crouch on for Heskey (79mins)

UNITED STATES: 1 Howard – 6 Cherundolo, 5 Onyewu, 15 DeMerit, 3 Bocanegra – 8 Dempsey, 4 Bradley, 13 Clark, 10 Donovan – 20 Findley, 17 Altidore
Subs – 14 Edso Buddle on for Findley (77mins), 11 Holden on for Altidore (86mins)

Goals – Gerrard 3′ (1-0 ENG), Dempsey 41′ (1-1 USA)

MY THOUGHTS:

The big game of the day, the two top teams in Group C battling out for the advantage in the group, England of course the favourites couldn’t have started out any better a great move between Rooney, Heskey into the captain Gerrard and he finished calmly past Howard, everyone including myself expected England to charge on after a great start, wasn’t the case though England stood back and let the US come onto them, Milner got caught out on the right a few times by Cherundolo and after receiveng an early yellow, Capello had no choice but to remove him, then the massive moment that changed the game Dempsey hit a speculative shot looked easy for Green to collect but somehow the ball spilled off Green’s arm and into the net.

Gerrard really steppd up for England, playing with the captain’s armband, charging forward at all times Gerrard’s good play seemed to keep Lampard quiet not his best game, surprisingly Emile Heskey was one of the other best players in the game, holding up the ball very well, had a couple of chances that he could have scored but over all he was pretty good, Lennon and Johnson were good down the right, both troubling the American team with their pace, and provided quite a few crosses that could have easily have counted.

Overall I am against all the negativity headed towards the England team, they created quite a few chances if I was an England fan, you’ve got to think on other day it could have been 3 or 4 and if they create the same against Algeria or Slovenia they will have no problems, Green’s place is looking shakey now, and King’s injury will see Upson come in, and maybe also the inclusion of Gareth Barry this might change the side too much, will be interesting come Friday.

The USA played very well at times, started off looking very nervous and the goal would not have helped their nerves, Clark fell asleep for the goal, however he and Bradley managed to play better throughout the game in the middle, Donovan was their best player playing some great balls in the box and creating some chances too, I was surprised that Robbie Findley started up front with Altidore, Buddle was the striker in form but Findley picked for his incredible pace, and at times he troubled the back line and nearly got inbehind a few times.

Cherundolo had a great first half, terrorising Milner till he got booked and had to come off, Wright-Phillips kept him busier in the 2nd half and pinned him back, Jozy Altidore had 2 great chances to score, one from a Donovan cross where he should have done better, only managing to glance a header past the post, then he beat Carragher for pace and only a great save from Rob Green which tipped the ball off the post kept the scores level.

A great point for the US they will fancy themselves to go on and win at least 1 of the other 2 games, and show more attacking prowess, however they will remeber the night they took a point of one of the favourites in Rustenberg.