Thus endeth the first weekend of a geek blogger’s deathless World Cup 2010 prose. For other coverage from non-specialists, much more amusing than mine, check out n+1 magazine’s World Cup Preview.
I didn’t get up at 4AM to watch Algeria-Slovenia but I guess I’m happy because I’ve been to Slovenia but not Algeria.
Sebia 0 Ghana 1 · I really couldn’t figure this game out. The Ghanaians totally sliced up the Serbian mid-field, time and again, quality moves all over the place, then failed to penetrate the penalty area. The Serbians looked clumsy and unpolished but actually had, on balance, more scoring chances. That handball? More clumsiness. I suppose Ghana deserved the win.
Germany 4 Australia 0 · Just a few minutes into the match, I tweeted “The Germans are scary good. Ouf” and, well, yeah. The Aussie defence didn’t seem that weak, which speaks volumes, probably unnecessary, to Germany’s lethal combination of precision passing and individual excellence up front.
On the other hand, the Aussie attackers did seem pretty hapless, which suggests a more capable opponent could give Germany real trouble at the back. It looks on balance like they and the Ghanaians should waltz out of Group D without breathing too hard.
Contributions
Comment feed for ongoing:
From: Steve (Jun 13 2010, at 18:33)
Nice summaries, Tim.
You were kind to us Aussies. They were made to look third-rate by the Germans who were all over us the entire match.
After Ghana get through with us, Australia will be looking forward to getting out of South Africa.
I couldn't believe either that Argentina could only score once with how they dominated the first fifteen minutes that I saw.
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From: brian (Jun 14 2010, at 06:29)
Hi Tim,
maybe you can get "ScoreBoard" working so we can get scores. Check the Android Market for more comments.
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From: Mike (Jun 14 2010, at 16:12)
That Serbian handball was not clumsiness. It was a deliberate attempt to stop the ball falling to a Ghanaian forward. Rightly punished by the ref!
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From: Darren (Jun 16 2010, at 17:46)
Don't write the Aussies off yet! There's a reason why they are ranked 20th in the world and Ghana 32nd. They had a shocking game - no doubt - but they had their two best goal-scorers (Josh Kennedy and Harry Kewell) on the bench and they're unlikely to repeat the same defensive mistakes against Ghana. Their biggest problem is that their backs are comparably slower than most so playing for the offside trap every time is, well, idiotic. Also, it's difficult to gauge just how much they sucked in that first game until Germany play Serbia.
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