The Groups are finally decided. Will the knock-out stages prove to be the spectacle we expected?

In the famous words of Frank Sinatra; now the end was near. Round one of the illustrious world cup had been somewhat of a disappointment in comparison to it’s colossal expectations but as we enter what is seemingly ’where it get’s interesting’, it’s debatable as to whether this stage of the tournament is always an irrelevance which is rapidly washed from our minds and converted into fond memories of the knock-out stages.
When Paraguay only managed a goalless draw against the hollow side of New Zealand it’s likely they believed Italy had duly beaten Slovakia which would’ve accelerated the champions into first place. How wrong they were. The ageing Italians at least provided us with a good game from these rather fruitless group stages with their uncharacteristically awful defending which allowed Slovakia to net an amazing three goals. Famous for their defending; this performance would’ve left the Italian back-line as a national disgrace for un-doing the past generation’s good reputation of artistic defence. They did, however, manage to score two goals themselves and it’s debatable as to whether them or New Zealand can be more gracious in elimination. First instinct leads us to believe New Zealand can be proud for going through the entire tournament unbeaten but clearly they never believed they could get through. The entire campaign lacked ambition from their perspective and the tedious displays would’ve knocked the tournament’s integrity. Although much more expectation was placed on the champions in comparison to FIFA‘s engineered Kiwis, Italy at least attempted to win the game, perhaps this was what made them loose focus on their defending. When the manager, Lippi, returned to the helm after having a break between the world cups, he was hailed as somewhat of a saviour, but clearly he did not have the courage or fortitude to restructure the squad appropriately and stuck with his budding pensioners, leaving the unfortunate, troublesome duo of Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli at home, desperately watching their national team wither away into nothingness.
Holland duly gained victory over the pathetic Cameroon, despite the Africans at least managing to score a goal. Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie ingrained his name firmly on the score-sheet with a good finish which opens his world cup account and reboots his fancied chances of golden boot glory. The Dutch look an exciting prospect and with Arjen Robben yet to start a game, the potential best is still to come. In the other, more important, fixture between Japan and Denmark, the Danes succumbed to a 3-1 loss which ends their world cup and puts the Japanese through to the round of 16. They played some fantastic football and the likes of Keisuke Honda will have certainly caught the hungry eye of premiership managers.
Group G then climaxed with the most attractive game of the group stages. Brazil vs. Portugal. But frustratingly, yet again, the old cliché of the two best teams not producing the best games proved correct and a convenient 0-0 meant both teams qualified for the latter stages. However Portugal would have to take on the winner of Group H which would most likely be a glamorous, rival fixture against Spain. Ivory Coast smashed the North Koreans 3-0 in their game but following the astounding 7-0 win by Portugal, they never believed they would be able to qualify with goal difference being their only hope.
Spain emerged victors over Chile which meant they were set up for a tie against Portugal. David Villa continued his scoring run which leaves him chasing the golden boot and the Spanish national record, currently held by Raul. Chile would certainly have been worried that Switzerland would get a convincing win over a, so far insignificant, Honduran team but Wilson Palacios and his side admirably held the Swiss at bay in a game of pride which sends the reasonably impressive Chileans through to the next round.
So now we have some great fixtures on our hands. England vs. Germany and Brazil vs. Portugal are the particular stand-outs, but, as has been proved; it’s not always the best teams that make the best games. Hopefully games such as Uruguay vs. South Korea and USA vs. Ghana will be packed with thrill and excitement, out-flooding some of the dour performances we’ve been subject to in round one.