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.

Portugal and Spain re-emerge as contenders whilst France and England continue to descend into a destiny of disappointment

Paraguay look certain to advance to the next stage of the world cup as a rather comfortable victory over Slovakia and the reintroduction of star players Roque Santa Cruz and Oscar Cardozo evolved Paraguay’s general expectation as outsiders into a potential dark horse of the competition.
The south Americans appear to have prepared well for the tournament which is certainly a manageable task considering the extensive length of four years between each world cup, in which time you have a number of exhibition matches and opportunities to formulate your push for victory. Maybe England could learn from this. Fabio Capello has been paid an astronomical amount to sit at home or English football stadiums for the majority of his time, such is the situation with international management, over a period of two years. In which case; how has he gone into the two week pinnacle of his job without knowing his goalkeeper, his formation, his line-up or how to motivate his players. Capello himself has questioned the players attitude and singled out the likes of Wayne Rooney for individual criticism, this all goes against the fabric of football management. Surely this man has been paid that obscene amount of money to mould the attitude of his squad.
A similar situation has occurred in the French camp. Following the euphemistic dismissal of Nicholas Anelka; the players have staged a successful strike. Surely the French Football Association could identify the problem with Raymond Domenech’s reign and he should’ve been the man dismissed before this unfortunate epidemic. Four years to prepare for this and it’s unravelling after just a week! Incredible.
The world champions, Italy, are another side who’s preparations appear to have been flawed to some extent. Rather than realistically and sensibly admit the sorry fact that the previous world beaters including, captain, Fabio Cannavaro, would have taken at least a few steps too far over the hill for this tournament, they’ve enforced their legends to experience another gruelling campaign rather than moulding a fresh team who are able to compete with the physicality of the competition. The fact they could only take a 1-1 draw against an inexperienced New Zealand side packed with semi-professionals and fraudulent, artificial Kiwis proves that the modern game has advanced so far that genuine athletes can effectively compete with players of any skill if they’re not muscularly prepared.
Brazil are, rather frighteningly, prepared in terms of physicality and an unusually unstylish victory against North Korea proved the Brazilians could now win in beastly fashion. However, ‘the beautiful game’ advertised by legendary, Brazilian teams of old thankfully hasn’t slipped out of the South Americans at the expense of the muscular approach of the likes of Lucio, Juan and Maicon. Luis Fabiano’s lack of confidence was well and truly redeemed when he netted two goals in thunderous fashion against a potentially dangerous Ivory Coast side. Some incredible football also enabled Elano to casually convert a critical third and despite an unjust dismissal to Kaka due to the detestable play-acting of African winger Keita and a late consolation goal for Didier Drogba, Brazil held onto a relaxed victory which will strike fear into the hearts of fellow contenders.
With Portugal’s recent displays of great disappointment despite the inclusion of Cristiano Ronaldo, their match against North Korea wasn’t predicted a push-over. But it was the definition of demolition. Despite a modest one goal lead at half-time, the Portuguese went on to claim a rampaging 7-0 win which leaves Ivory Coast’s hope of goal difference qualification hanging by a fraying thread and reinvigorates Portugal’s hopes of tournament victory.
Later in the day Chile were able to claim a vital three points at the expense of the surprising, Spain-conquering Switzerland which practically qualifies them into the last sixteen. Despite the disastrous start to the tournament, Spain achieved a solid 2-0 win against a Honduras team who looked severely out of their depth. With Spain re-emerging as potential, eventual victors with a quality display from David Villa in particular, can England achieve a similar goal and will Wayne Rooney claim a victorious brace which not only wins the game, but wins back the heart of millions.

Could it be an unpredictable contender who overthrows the Italians?

As the world champions, Italy, couldn’t even beat a Paraguay team missing their major threats in the form of Roque Santa Cruz and Oscar Cardozo, there’s sure to be a power shift this tournament and a new king. Although notoriously slow starters to major tournaments, Italy lacked speed and strength and with this world cup appearing to be one of stamina and endurance it’s unlikely they’ll progress too far in to the competition.
Paraguay took the lead in a tedious first half, which tends to have been the case with most games since the opening day. However, Italy did manage to net an equaliser from a set-piece with yet another goalkeeping mistake. As the ball was graciously floated in, the South American goalkeeper, Justo Villar flapped at his opportunity to catch and helplessly watched the infamous “Jabulani’” advance past his body and connect with Daniele De Rossi for an easy goal.
It was soon the turn of Group F’s other two contenders, New Zealand and Slovakia playing what was probably the least anticipated match of the entire tournament. With Australia, unfairly in my opinion, drafted into the Asian qualifying system for being ‘too good’ for their continent of Oceania, the Kiwis were presented with a timid route to the finals and with the emergence of deceitful “New Zealand internationals” born elsewhere, searching for world cup glory, such as Tommy Smith from England, who conveniently lived there for a while; they also had a whole new team.
The Slovakians duly took the lead with a rare attack on goal finishing with a converted header. More opportunities were scarce and you were left wondering how the likes of Sweden, the Czech Republic and even the Republic Of Ireland were left out of the tournament at the expense of this team of non-leaguers and fake national heroes. Romantically, the Danish, Winston Reid scored a header in injury time to gain New Zealand a point sending their team into hysterical celebrations. Celebrated as their ‘best result ever’ you have to wonder whether the system is flawed and FIFA’s interference with geographical qualification leagues is hindering the quality of the tournament which is famous for sporting the best teams and players in the entire world. With Dimitar Berbatov, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Petr Cech absent, should the qualification process be reassessed? I defiantly feel there is room for improvement.
With such a lack of quality in that group, it was time for the “group of death”, group G, to display their unquestionable talent and their right for a presence in South Africa, perhaps with the omission of North Korea. Arguably the best African side, Ivory Coast, were hit with a group including Brazil and Portugal, diminishing their favourable chances of progressing to an honourable stage of the tournament. With the appointment of Sven Goran-Eriksson as manager, the Ivorians’ hopes were instantly raised and despite a potentially fatal blow in the form of an arm fracture for the incredibly powerful, talismanic hit man, Didier Drogba, the Africans played better than they were given credit for.
Drogba was handed a place amongst the substitutes but Ivory Coast still managed to field an impressive side including the Toure brothers, Salomon Kalou and the particularly credible, Gervinho. A typical Eriksson display limited the Portuguese to only one satisfying attempt in the form of some Cristiano Ronaldo magic as the outstanding player produced a neat turn and distant snap-shot resulting in the woodwork. It was mainly the Africans who flaunted an undeniable urgency, rarely visible in the dull nature of this tournament’s competition by causing the majority of the problems.
Drogba’s passion could not be questioned as he appeared, constantly animated from the sidelines and he was finally allowed to join the game with twenty-five minutes remaining. His involvement was minimal as all his team-mates appeared to be aware of his unfortunate situation and intended to save his brilliance for other games, with a point seemingly, already gained from a disappointingly sedate European team. However; Drogba did make sure his presence was respected with an outstretching leg to send the ball agonizingly wide on one occasion, but it was obvious that this is the best African team and could, in my opinion, be a real contender for the title if they manage to sneak out of their difficult group as the improbable advancers.
Attention now turns to the world cup’s most successful nation, Brazil. Against an unassuming North Korean side, it’s likely this unusually solid side of Brazil’s, still containing the predictable flair, skill and brilliance of always will do their best to dismantle, devour and destroy the Koreans. But football is made for moments like this and it could be quite a moment of national pride if the underdogs manage an unlikely draw or even an inconceivable victory.