Germany, England, Argentina, Holland, Portugal, Italy, France,
Brazil and Spain, veterans and favourites of World Cup. We had seen
all of them except for Spain in the first round of group stages.
Most of them had only achieved the 1-0 score line against their
opponent, not winning very beautifully and faced a lot of pressure
from their opponents. The only fantastic performance came from
Germany in their opening match, scoring four goals against Costa
Rica; this match was most entertaining and exciting with the great
works from the host. Other than Germany, the other teams were not
in good form to play brilliantly. Many of the favourites were
against first-timers making their debut. Though the smaller teams
lost, they gave the veterans the utmost resistance and it had been
never an easy game for the veterans. With Spains match against
Ukraine coming up tonight, I hope that Spain can live up to their
expectations and play well, though it is a tough match for them as
Ukraine is not a bad team too.
Amongst all the favourites, Brazil is the hottest favourites for
the championship but after watching their match yesterday, it was
the most disappointing. If not for Kakas well-aimed powerful
strike outside the penalty box and the Croatians not grasping their
handful of goal-scoring chances, the Brazil might had created the
biggest upset in this World Cup. Ronaldo, scoring the most goals in
the last World Cup, was totally disappointing, with only a long
shot outside the penalty box and it was well wide over the
crossbar. I was too upset seeing him strolling in walking pace on
the field for almost all the time and I thought he almost had
disappeared if he had not the delivered the shot which was not on
goal. Brazil certainly had not displayed their champion qualities.
Other players, especially the forwards were very quiet, not causing
that much trouble to Croatian defence as it was supposed to have
been. It would be very embarrassing for them if they had not won
but thanks to Kaka, saviour of Brazil.
Disappointment from France too in their draw with Switzerland. They
had lots of goal scoring chances but continued their goal drought,
not scoring for four consecutive World Cup Finals matches for such
a France team. However, the 0-0 result was fair for both teams as
the Switzerland side was terrific in defence and they too had great
scoring chances, one which had struck the bar. Frances performance
too, was not bad as they displayed good football techniques every
minute. The opponents defence held up and they continued their
failure for goal scoring. Despite the results which were not
satisfactory for the French side, their chances for the second
round were high as they take on Korea in their oncoming
match.
It was unsatisfactory for England and Portugal with their small
win. They were uneasy at many times of the game. Though winning was
happy enough for their fans, I had expected them to play much more
brilliantly. Argentina, Italy and Holland looked good as they
emerged victorious in their important opening match. Argentina and
Italy had shown clearly their goal scoring ability as they troubled
the opponents defence again and again, scoring two goals each in
the match. Holland was inspired by the wonderful Robben. Robben had
given a dazzling display with his sheer speed, accuracy and finish
in the field. He was the most dangerous amongst all the players not
only in the Holland squad but also in this World Cup Finals.
I looked forward to more great football by these veterans over the
next month as they continued with their World Cup campaign. With
the favourites performing and the weaker teams striving hard for
surprises by giving the powerful the hardest times in this exciting
World Cup Finals.