The first week of the 2010 FIFA World Cup is almost over. So far the first week of action hasn't been a disappointment. Here are some of the highlights so far.
USA-England: There was a lot of hype leading up to the game and I'm not quite sure the game lived up to it. England was able to score a goal within the first 4 minutes which caused me to feel that it was gonna be a long game. The US defense seemed like they didn't want to defend England giving them plenty of chances to score other goals. The US offense couldn't get anything going. Luckily in the 40th minute the US was given a gift when the goalie for England misplayed the ball and let it bounce of his hands into the goal. When I saw Clint Dempsey kick the ball and it hit the goalies hands I thought the ball was stopped so I looked away and missed the ball slowly roll into goal. There were a couple of chances for both teams in the 2nd half, but neither side was able to capitalize. The game ended in a 1-1 draw giving both teams just 1 point in group play. Next up for the US, Slovenia on Friday.
Spain-Switzerland: Spain is a team that many feel have a chance to win it all. In my ESPN Bracket Predictor, I selected them to make it to the semifinals. Switzerland isn't necessarily a bad team, but when going up against Spain, you would expect Spain to dominate. When you look at the stats of the game Spain appeared to have complete control. Spain possessed the ball for 63% of the game and had 24 shots compared to Switzerland that had only 8 shots. But in the 52nd minute Switzerland was able to put one of their shots in the goal and pulled off what many believe to be the biggest upset of the first round.
Germany-Australia: Australia has a little place in my heart since I took them to the World Cup championship in the 2006 FIFA World Cup video game on the Gamecube. Unfortunately they had to play the mighty Germany in their first game of the 2010 World Cup and boy to Germany give it to Australia. Germany dominated the game and scored 4 goals. The most by any team in the first series of games. It was hard to not feel bad for Australia, they were dominated in every phase of the game. Germany looked great and potentially dangerous for any team that has to play them after group play.
Group of Death: The first big game in the Group of Death was played between Ivory Coast and Portugal. Both these teams know it will be hard fight to advance since Brazil is in their group. I had some pretty high expectations for this match but of course was disappointed when the game ended in a scoreless draw. Either team played exceptionally well. In the other game within this group, Brazil put on a fairly impressive performance against North Korea, winning the game 2-1. The first goal of the game for Brazil was scored by Maicon and so for has got to be the best goal of the 2010 World Cup.
These are just a few of the things that have happened so far. I hope to bring more updates about the World Cup soon.
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