Les Blahs, or ‘Haven’t We Been Here Before?’

A wild weekend of pre-wedding parties (including my own, for your edification) meant a lack of coverage on my part, so for those of you who think I’ve abandoned the post, fear not! I’ve returned and I apologize for not getting back on sooner.

A hangover won’t dilute what’s on my mind concerning the games I have seen, however. Here’s the breakdown for those of you keeping score.

Italy 1:1 USA

Two of the worst fouls I’ve ever seen (De Rossi’s looked like something out of the WWE; likewise, Mastroeni impresses with a decent shot just over the Italian crossbar, then takes himself out of the game with a disgraceful tackle on Pirlo) combined with a double yellow for Eddie Pope took a lot of fun out of a game that was actually more entertaining than it had a right to be. The USA actually looked like a world-beater at times, and Italy wasn’t nearly as dominating as in their Ghana matchup.

Incidentally, for those of us keeping track of the excessive number of cautions being awarded this year, this game was perfect ammunition for our opponents–if there are any players out there reading this, please try to keep the game civil–it’s no fun when a team’s on a 40-minute (thanks Patrick!) ‘power play’.

Ghana 2:0 Czech Republic

What a great game–total end-to-end football and a seemingly less than full energy Czech side allowed Ghana to score two nice goals and give them the nod as the African team to watch this year. I can’t wait for the USA/Ghana game, although it’s unfortunate that goalscorers Gyan and Muntari won’t be able to play.

If you saw both the Czech and USA games, you’ll note that both teams gave totally opposite performances in either game, with mixed success.

Korea 1:1 France

Though drunk while watching the game, I remember most of the highlights (or at least, noteworthy plays), and my take on the much-discussed disallowed goal? That’s unfortunately part of football, and the fact is, France were the dominant side throughout much of the match. They played much better than against Switzerland, but still couldn’t find the truckload of goals they were expected to put behind Lee Woon-Jae.

Speaking of Lee, I loved his post-match statements. Dig:

LEE Woon-Jae (KOR)
First of all, I’d like to say sorry to all the Korean people who are supporting us because I failed to keep my promise that we would get to second round with nine points. When I encountered Thiery Henry one on one in the last minute, there was no fear. Henry has a tendency to curve his shots towards the far post with his right foot. I could see what he wanted to do. If you watch the English Premier League, you can’t miss it.

His fortune-telling abilities aside, the tie has meant that Switzerland and Korea are now in the driver’s seat, and the pressure once again is on France. Shades of 2002? We’ll see. The loss of defender Abidal may prove to be costly for ‘Les Bleus’, even against a minnow like Togo, who are actually playing some respectable football, regardless of their status in the group standings.

Sweden 1:0 Paraguay

I have to say that after two games, I’ve very impressed with this Swedish side; they’ve put on two excellent performances and are easily the most sturdy and organized team in their group. Their final match against England may prove to be one of the best matches of the tournament (if England can step up their game). Freddie Ljundberg’s tap-in header was almost as gut-wrenchingly dramatic as Oliver Neuville’s game-winning strike the other night.

England 1:0 Trinidad & Tobago

Post-match comments from Becks himself about how ‘we haven’t played our best’ are nothing if not understatements. Although England played a bit better than against Paraguay, they’ve still shown me nothing to suggest they’ll progress past the round of 16. Note to Eriksson–bench Owen, throw Joe Cole up front, and keep Peter Crouch down at the pub. Although he claimed the game-winner, he blew at least 3 howling gimmes.

I’m sorry to say I haven’t had the chance to watch any of the Brazilian, Argentinean, or Dutch games (with the exception of the second half of Serbia & Montenegro/Holland), and so I’ll reserve judgement based on that fact, but I think a lot of people are re-thinking their picks. Here are my top 5 teams based on performances I have seen thus far (in no particular order):

1. Sweden–as I said before, a very well-rounded squad, full of energy and an amazing attack force that will not be leaving the tournament anytime soon.

2. Ghana–they topped off an adequate performance vs. Italy with an even better performance vs. the Czechs, and I can only hope they’ll run the USA off their heels–easily one of the most exciting teams to watch so far.

3. Germany–their biggest challenge in the group stages is coming up; I predict 2-2 versus Ecuador, which would still send both teams through, but I’m curious to see what changes Klinsmann will make (if any) up front.

4. Portugal–my pick to win it all, regardless of how many problems they’ve had getting the ball into the net. A super-solid midfield, and if they can maintain their pace, they’ll cause problems for just about any team.

5. Italy–although far from perfect, the Azzurri have been putting on airs like they just might have what it takes to go all the way this year. A team so good at scoring, they had to put one in their own net just to see what it felt like.

Keep in mind I’ve read the reviews about Argentina and Holland, and I’ve not forgotten Spain, however, that Spain-Ukraine game was extremely one-sided and I don’t think represents the full-strengths/weaknesses that either team possesses. I’ll tell you what I think of them after their second matches.