Steven Rubio's World Cup 2006

let's try something new

I get three blogs for what I'm paying TypePad ... maybe I should take advantage of that, while pacifying all those soccer non-fans who don't want to read about the World Cup every day for the next month. So I'll do an experiment and stick most of my World Cup stuff over here. I can blather to my heart's content, and no one will have to slog through it. I can also post spoilerish things here, so that people reading the regular blog who are waiting to watch particular matches can know the other blog remains safe.

pre-game show

Cup Fever is upon us ... I just got a phone call from my brother Geoff, who sounded like he was in a bar, asking me if I remembered the name of "that Brazilian defender who looked like Scott Glenn." (Anyone know the answer, leave a comment.)

To the side I've posted some basic links. Any suggestions for more links are appreciated.

Tomorrow's matches:

Germany-Costa Rica, 9:00 Pacific time

Germany's best player, Michael Ballack, is likely out due to injury. The most interesting German in Ballack's absence is probably coach Jurgen Klinsmann, a flamboyant diver in his playing days. Germany is the host country, which should help. West Germany won the World Cup three times, most recently in 1990, but the Germans have never won as a unified country. They tend to be efficient and methodical more than dazzling and inspirational. Costa Rica isn't thought to have a chance in this match. San Jose fans will enjoy seeing former Earthquake Mauricio Solis ... the rest of you will want to watch Paulo Wanchope.

Poland-Ecuador, 12:00 Pacific time

Poland is a nondescript team that should nonetheless finish second in this group. I can't recommend any particular player to watch on that team. As for Ecuador, any mention of them must include an obligatory nod to the advantage they get at home (they play at a very high altitude). Ecuador doesn't win much when the match is closer to sea level. The great Álex Aguinaga is retired now, leaving Edison Méndez as the man Soccernet tells us is the player to watch.

I wouldn't look to either of these matches to be great ones. The best chance for excitement might be if Costa Rica somehow stole an early goal against the Germans. I'll predict both Europeans to win mediocre matches.

readings

We're getting the point of this event -- slowly

News Flash: Soccer's Huge

who ate all the pies

Among the stories making the rounds as the first match finally approaches:

Is Ronaldo fat? asks Brazil president

No sex please, we're Ecuadorean

SVEN: GET STUFFED FERGIE

ingles

Minutes away, and I realize this is my first World Cup in English. High-definition trumps all else, I guess. I much prefer the Spanish-language announcers, and have listened to them ever since I started watching the World Cup. But I gotta go high-def, baby!

Here is the website of the first Spanish-language soccer announcer to make a real impact on me: Tony Tirado. Let's put it this way ... he was on Univision when it was still called SIN. And here is a great article from four years ago, by Peter Goldstein, on growing up Anglo but with soccer as a Spanish-language passion.

germany-costa rica at the half

Guess I've managed to forestall those English-language matches for a bit. Since we have two televisions with DVRs I can pause, I was able, with a bit of trial and error, to synchronize them fairly closely. So I've got the Univision audio coming out of the bedroom and the ESPN2 HD picture on the big screen.

Univision's play-by-play announcer, Pablo Ramírez, is not my favorite, but he's preferable to whoever ESPN is offering. His goal call is the standard GOOOOOL, unless it's a particularly good one (a "golazo" in Spanish), at which point he offers up one of the silliest goal calls around. After an initial GOOOOOOL, followed by anything from a burst of GOL GOL GOLs to a quick description of what just happened, he comes up with his trademark:

"GOLAZO GOLAZO GOLAZO! AZO! AZO! AZO!"

That "azo azo azo" thing is pretty ridiculous. But when Lahm scored five minutes in on a scorching blast and Pablo gave us the azo, I was a happy camper.

Even though Germany is probably my 32nd choice amongst 32 teams.

A fun first half. Three goals in the first seventeen minutes! Germany is dominating, but Costa Rica is only a goal down.

germany-costa rica

Nice start! Six goals in the opening match, some of them great ones. Good to see Germany play attacking soccer.

What is the purpose of this side-blog? I can jabber about the cup without worrying that I'm boring people. Beyond the many good sites for analysis and news, there are a billion World Cup blogs, most of them better than mine. I'm using this one to record stuff I'm thinking about ... it's even more narrow than my "real" blog.

But I'll also include pre-match info, just in case my imaginary readership includes those I mentioned earlier, who are watching the tournament but don't follow soccer otherwise.

chilavert

Looks like both networks have announcers actually at the matches ... at least that's my assumption, since they're using different people for match two, whereas in the old days, Cantor would sit in a studio and call every match.

This is good for Univision watchers because the color commentator for Poland-Ecuador is none other than José Luis Chilavert, one of the greatest goalkeepers in soccer history. Chila was never shy about offering his opinion, so he's pretty entertaining as a commentator. I have no idea who the play-by-play guy is ... hard to keep track when I'm watching one channel and listening to another ... his first-half goal call was solid if not spectacular.

poland-ecuador

Well, I was surprised. Nowhere near as entertaining as the opening match. Poland controlled much of the match in a dreary sort of way, without ever really looking like they'd accomplish anything. Ecuador took two goals somewhat against the run of play. Stats don't tell an easy story in a soccer match, but I'd look at these:

Poland had 54% of the possession, and they took 11 corner kicks to Ecuador's 2. But the two teams took the same number of shots ... whatever Poland was doing with the ball, it wasn't particularly efficient. They picked up their offense near the end, but it was far too late.

My predictions were off, as usual. I wrote, "I'll predict both Europeans to win mediocre matches." Only one European won, and only one match was mediocre.

tomorrow's matches

England-Paraguay, 6:00 Pacific Time

Perhaps the oddest angle here might be this one, reported on Soccernet:

Paraguay boss Anibal Ruiz is ready to hold a silent vigil during his side's World Cup opener against England.

The Uruguayan boss normally communicates with his players in Spanish but he and his squad are wary of England captain David Beckham eavesdropping on their on-field discussions in Saturday's Group B encounter.

Beckham has learnt the language playing for Real Madrid and, in order to negate this potential advantage, Paraguay's players will therefore only communicate using their native Guarani.

Ruiz cannot speak the language but feels his side's chances will be better served if they stick to Guarani.

``I do not speak it, but I understand the players. They teach me all the time,'' he said.

Paraguay's chances are better than you might think, but a betting man would still put their money on England. The key might be attacking star Roque Santa Cruz.

Trinidad and Tobago-Sweden, 9:00 Pacific Time

T&T would seem to have little chance of advancing out of the group stage. Watch for Dennis Lawrence, not because he's particularly good but because he plays for Wrexham, a small club I've followed since the mid-90s. (Lawrence isn't hard to find ... he's 6'7", 165 lbs.) Sweden, meanwhile, shouldn't have any problem advancing at all. Henrik Larsson is a longtime favorite making his final Cup showing. Arsenal fans will know Freddie Ljungberg, about whom Soccernet says "His female fan base is huge, yet he is also said to have plenty of male admirers." Zlatan Ibrahimovic plays up front, and it should be fun watching him against Lawrence ... Ibrahimovic is 6'4" himself, and outweighs Lawrence by 20 pounds.

Argentina-Ivory Coast, 12:00 Pacific Time

These teams are in the "Group of Death," where any team can win. Argentina, an outside contender to win not only the group but the Cup, will not play young phenom Lionel Messi, but the likes of Juan Roman Riquelme, Javier Saviola, and Hernan Crespo should prove entertaining. Didier Drogba is the best-known African. Argentina should win, but this is a good chance for an upset, as well, so perhaps it'll end up a draw.

england-paraguay

First boring match of the tournament, not worth getting up early for unless, like me, you watch 'em all. It was my first chance to listen to the ABC English-language announcers, and while for the most part they don't screw up, the team today (Dave O'Brien and Marcelo Balboa) were the definition of "stating the obvious." Balboa in particular was almost unbearable. Virtually every replay went like this:

[Visual] Event X happens
[Balboa] "There you see, event X happens."

"You see" is Celo's favorite phrase ... he seems not to understand that yes, we can indeed see.

shaka shaka shaka

Soccer fans like to tell non-soccer fans that a 0-0 match can be exciting. Usually they're fulla shit, but for an example of what they mean, take today's Trinidad and Tobago-Sweden match.

The first half was poor. Sweden has some of the best players in the world ... T&T is the smallest nation ever to send a team to the World Cup finals. This was their first-ever WC Final match. Just before matchtime, T&T had to replace their #1 goalkeeper with 37-year-old Shaka Hislop. Neither team did much in that first half. The most important thing for future reference was that T&T defender Avery John got a yellow card.

Right after the start of the second half, John got a second card, which left T&T down a man for the rest of the match. So now you've got a huge difference in player skill, and the better team has an extra man.

So what does T&T coach Leo Beenhakker do? He brings on another forward, making the Soca Warriors into more of an attacking team, rather than bringing on another defender and hoping for a draw.

The second half was thrilling, as Sweden poured their men into the attack, only to be thwarted time and again by the Trinidadians. At some point, we started to realize that something historic was about to happen, as long as T&T held out. And it was Shaka Hislop who kept stopping shots. Once in awhile, Trinidad would get the ball forward, actually threatening to score. But, as the final minutes ticked away, my heart was in my throat or whatever that saying is. And when the referee blew the whistle, ending the scoreless draw, the Trinidad players and their supporters in the stands celebrated as if they'd just won the World Cup.

A match that promised to be a snoozefest turned into the most exciting match thus far.

argentina-ivory coast

This was the best-played match of the day, but I'm not here to talk about that ... this is the Steven Rubio World Cup 2006 blog, so I'll explain how it looked to me. Which is that I'd have liked it a lot better if it was the first or second match of the day. Fans have to get up to speed, just like players, and I fear I was dragging a bit by the time my third match came along.

tomorrow's matches

First, a look at how my predictions went today. I made only safe choices, and was only right once, when England beat Paraguay. Trinidad & Tobago's miracle wasn't predicted by anyone, I'd guess, and I thought the Ivory Coast might have grabbed a draw (they played well enough to get one). My best prediction was noting that Riquelme, Saviola, Crespo, and Drogba would shine ... the latter three scored goals, Riquelme was perhaps the best player on the field.

Serbia & Montenegro-Netherlands, 6:00 Pacific Time

Part Two in the Group of Death saga. S&M (I had to say it at least once) play defense (including the "Famous Four"), which means they aren't always the most exciting team to watch. They will be without one of their best defenders, Nemanja Vidic. Holland once set the standard for beautiful play, and they are still capable of the same. They've got some memorable veterans in their lineup along with a lot of young players. Me, I've always thought the Dutch had the best names, and this year's batch is no exception: Khalid "The Cannibal" Boulahrouz, Giovanni van Bronkhorst (sounds like a linebacker, but he only weighs 165 pounds), and the immortal Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (yes, that's his name). Argentina and the Ivory Coast both looked very good today, making this a group of death indeed ... every match will count in this group. I'll take the Netherlands to win.

Mexico-Iran, 9:00 Pacific Time

I actually saw these two teams play each other at the Oakland Coliseum back in 2000. This will be an emotional match ... Mexican goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez flew home last week for his father's funeral, but he's back and says he's ready to play. He's a fine keeper, and my guess is his tragedy will serve as an inspiration to the team. Their most famous players are defender Rafa Marquez, who plays for Barcelona, and forward Jared Borgetti, currently playing the English Premier League and capable of heading just about any ball into the net. But I'd also note Ramon Morales, who plays his club soccer in Mexico with Chivas. The Iranians to watch are Ali Karimi and Ali Daei. I think Mexico wins this one.

Angola-Portugal, 12:00 Pacific Time

Angola has no players I can say anything useful about. They're best hope is that they are inspired by the performances of Trinidad and the Ivory Coast and rise up from their underdog status. Four years ago, Portugal were given an outside chance to win it all, which lasted all the way through their first match, when they were shockingly beaten by none other than the USA. This time around they're expected to do well but not win it all ... perhaps they'll surprise. They have a lot of fine players, but the one you'll want to watch is Cristiano Ronaldo, who is very flashy (did I mention he was very flashy) and subject to erratic play (he's only 21). Portugal should win this easily.

This will be the first day when I've got other things on my schedule ... I have to do the face-to-face orientation for my summer class in Sacramento, so I'll only be able to watch the first match and maybe half the second match before I leave. The rest will have to wait for my return home ... I'll have to watch fast, Deadwood's on at 9:00.

arjen robben

Arjen Robben dominates this match, scoring the only goal in Holland's 1-0 win over Serbia & Montenegro. In the first half, the Dutch played beautifully, as is always possible when they are on the field. In the second half, not so beautiful, plus S/M stepped it up a notch. And now I'm off to Sacramento.

oswaldo's tears

The highlight of the day came as the whistle blew ending Mexico's 3-1 win over Iran. Oswaldo Sanchez, the Mexican keeper whose father died last week, fell to his knees and burst into tears. The entire Mexican squad gathered around Oswaldo and smothered him with emotion. Afterwards, Sanchez said "Estoy seguro que hoy mi padre me ayudó desde arriba" ... "I'm sure that today my father was helping me from above."

Iran didn't show much in their loss, while Mexico played some pretty soccer and took advantage of Iranian defensive mistakes. I thought of something while watching this match. Mexico is known as a nation that features pretty passing ... it's no accident that one of their fans' most common cheers is "Olé!", one for each time a player passes the ball to another. It's fun to do, and the result, in the stands and on the field, is harmless. All that pretty passing rarely amounts to anything useful.

The less said about Angola-Portugal the better. Basically it was England-Paraguay all over again ... the better team got an early goal, and a lack of inspiration made much of the rest of the match a snoozefest.

I picked all three winners today, but it wasn't v.hard, so I don't get any props for doing so. This was the first time I had to split my viewing ... I left the house at halftime of Mexico-Iran and didn't return home to watch the rest of the matches until 4:30. Which was OK, except there I was at 7:00 at night, watching that awful Angola-Portugal match.

tomorrow's matches

Australia-Japan, 6:00 Pacific Time

The Australian manager, Guus Hiddink, played one season for the San Jose Earthquakes in the old NASL. The Japanese manager, Zico, is Brazilian. Hiddink says the Japanese are trying to unfairly influence the referees ... Zico says the grass is too long in Germany. Should be a good match. The Australian player to watch for is Harry Kewell, for Japan it's Hidetoshi Nakata (although Soccernet says to keep an eye on Shunsuke Nakamura, which ain't a bad idea, either). I'll go for a draw in this match.

United States-Czech Republic, 9:00 Pacific Time

Well, here we go. The Czechs have injury problems, and my fave Czech player, Milan Baros, is unlikely to play. The battle thus looks to be giant Czech forward Jan Koller vs. almost-as-giant American defender Oguchi Onyewu. I've said before that Gooch is a key to the American's chances, and he'll have a chance to prove me right, for better or worse, tomorrow. The Americans are acting like they can beat any team in the world ... the truth is, they'd be happy with a draw in this match. My heart says victory, my head says defeat. I'll be optimistic and predict a draw.

Italy-Ghana, 12:00 Pacific Time

These are the other two teams in the USA group, so this match is of crucial importance to American fans. The Italians are one of the best teams in the tournament, with a ton of "players to watch" ... Mauro Camoranesi, Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta, Luca Toni, Francesco Totti. They are also under a cloud because of match-fixing accusations in the Italian Serie A league. Ghana has one truly famous name, Michael Essien. They are arguably the weakest link in this tough group. Italy and the Czechs are favored to advance, but anything can happen here ... none of these four nations are creampuffs. Italy should nonetheless win this match.

comments

I just realized I forgot to set up this blog to inform me when comments were posted, so if I didn't reply to your comments, my apologies. The problem has been fixed. I was delighted to see so many comments today, even a couple from people I don't know (although the guy who thought my soccer analysis was fulla shit because he thinks I'm anti-American was a bit odd). Guess someone is actually reading this. Thanks!

australia-japan

With ten minutes to go, I had already composed my blog post in my head. It looked something like this:

The late great Norberto Longo had a saying ... well, he had a lot of sayings, but one of them was "más ganas que fútbol," meaning a team that was playing with more heart than skill. That seemed like an accurate representation of what Australia was offering.

Of course, the last ten minutes changed everything. But I have to be honest, I still think it describes Australia. Their heart just finally won out.

And finally, a team with a 1-0 lead got punished for sitting on it.

This match effectively eliminates Japan, as they aren't going to get any points from Brazil, so the most they can hope for is an unlikely three points from Croatia.

halftime

Hey guys, I asked you not to stink.

worst nightmare

Did anyone on the U.S. team play well?

italy-ghana

An entertaining match, with both teams actually trying to score. Result was a fair one ... too bad for the U.S. as a draw would have given them hope if they could turn it around after today's abysmal performance. Ghanaian keeper had a good match ... this team can beat the Americans, at least the ones we saw today.

I only got one prediction right, the easy one (Italy over Ghana). I picked draws in the other matches, not realizing that 1) Australia would stage one of the great comebacks, and 2) the USA would suck.

tomorrow's matches

South Korea-Togo, 6:00 Pacific Time

Big news here is the Togo coach. Who that person will be seems to be anyone's guess. Otto Pfister was the man until he quit last week over a dispute about the pay for the players. Today he says he'll coach after all, but other rumors have also surfaced. No word yet on whether or not the players will have their pay demands met, although they will play no matter what. An American shouldn't say this after today's performance, but Togo might be the worst team in the tournament. South Korea did very well at the last World Cup, where they played their matches at home. Their most well-known player is Park Ji-Sung, who plays regularly for Manchester United. They will battle Switzerland for second place in this group, and will beat Togo.

France-Switzerland, 9:00 Pacific Time

It's popular these days to dismiss France, but I think they have a path that could lead them very far. They have many players you might have heard of ... this is in fact one of their problems, you've heard of them because they've been around a long time. Still, this is the nation that won in 1998, and any team with the likes of Claude Makelele and Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane (no matter how old) and the marvelous Thierry Henry (one of the handful of best players in the world) have the potential to do well. Switzerland, on the other hand, is a very young team that could surprise in either direction ... they could advance farther than most expect, or they could crash out in the first round. Their big scorer is Alexander Frei, who has 25 goals in his international career. France will win this one.

Brazil-Croatia, 12:00 Pacific Time

If you have any interest at all in the World Cup, you'll want to watch every match that includes Brazil. You figure that Brazilians would call Brazil their favorite national team (duh), and fans of arch-rivals Argentina would likely put Brazil at the bottom of their list. For the rest of the world, I'd say Brazil is everyone's second favorite team. Everyone likes to watch them play. If they win this tournament, they will be mentioned with the great Brazilian teams of all time, which is to say the greatest teams of all time, period. Happily for fans, this team is built around offense. There's no need to list all the names ... you'll be familiar with them soon enough. But no post about Brazil is complete without at least one mention of Ronaldinho, the best player in the world. Croatia is a solid team that should finish second in their group, although they will lose this match to Brazil. Their new young star is Niko Kranjcar.

morning matches

Togo reminded me of some other African teams in past cups. Lots of talent, occasionally displayed in thrilling fashion, but with a tendency to rough play that subverts the beautiful game. Here, Togo led 1-0 until they went a man down, and that was the match. I underestimated them, in any event.

France-Switzerland was a terrible disappointment. France still hasn't scored since they won it all in '98. Right now I wouldn't pick any of these teams to advance ... I wish the U.S. had gotten into this group.

Now it's up to Brazil and Croatia to save this day.

brazil-croatia

Not the transcendental match we were hoping for. One problem with being Brazil (boo hoo, I know) is that they can't just win, they have to win playing jogo bonito. Today was not bonito, so it seemed like a failure, even though they got the three points. The most important event of the match may have been when Robinho came in for Ronaldo. Ronaldo's name was barely mentioned while he was on the field, while Robinho was active from the moment he entered the match. Yes, Ronaldo is a legend, but right now, he's a legend who should sit on the bench for Robinho.

Meanwhile, Croatia looked good and should easily grab the second spot in this group.

I got 2 predictions right out of 3 today, but it wasn't as impressive as it sounds. The only one I was really right about was Brazil-Croatia. I also got South Korea-Togo, but was far too dismissive of the Africans, and thought France would actually score a goal. My bad.

tomorrow's matches

Spain-Ukraine, 6:00 Pacific Time

Spain is my second team. Like the USA, they never win. Unlike the USA, they are often one of the favorites. Underachievers, in other words, just like me ... maybe it's genetic. The Soccernet description of Spain sounds a lot like a description of me:

How many times do you have to underachieve before you become, simply, a failure? It is a question needing to be asked when considering Spain's chances this summer. Call them dark horses, call them unlucky; one thing they cannot be labelled is a World Cup success story.

It is a familiar tale. A nation that boasts the best domestic league in the world and individual talents that decorate Europe's finest teams simply can't cut it at international football's top table.

They always qualify - Germany 2006 will be their 8th finals appearance in a row - they always promise much, they always disappoint.

Such are the riches of Spain that coach Luis Aragones apparently hasn't yet decided on a starting lineup ... or is it that the players aren't good enough to make for easy decisions? Raul is the aging legend, Fernando "El Niño" Torres the pheenom, Iker Casillas the top-notch goalkeeper.

As for Ukraine, Andrei Shevchenko is a true superstar, whose fitness is a question for the opening match. I'll go with Spain to win the match, Ukraine to eventually qualify for the next round.

Tunisia-Saudi Arabia, 9:00 Pacific Time

Tunisia is the one African nation in this year's finals to have appeared before ... in fact, this is their third straight trip. Their players are little-known, at least to me. Much the same could be said of the Saudis ... players not known outside their own country, assumed to be fodder for Spain and Ukraine. Which doesn't mean you shouldn't watch ... at USA '94, the finest goal of the tournament was scored by the Saudis' Saed Owairan. I'll call this a draw.

Germany-Poland, 12:00 Pacific Time

The first match of the second round in group play. The Poles hardly need any added motivation to want to beat the Germans, but after losing to Ecuador, if they lose this match, their chances of advancing to the next round are slim indeed. Unfortunately, they have never beaten Germany at soccer. More unfortunately, Germany's best player, Michael Ballack, is expected to play. I'll pick Germany.

viva españa

The World Cup does this to people. You walk around for four years identifying yourself as an American, and if pressed, you admit that yes, you're actually Spanish-American. Then one team craps out and the other team kicks ass, and suddenly you're saying "hey, look at my olive skin, amigo!" Longtime fans of Spain know better than to take one match as evidence of ultimate success, but this was a nice start, to be sure.

tunisia-saudi arabia

Two unfancied side with everything to gain after Ukraine's trouncing. A thrilling finish ... rest of the match was good and bad in equal parts. Second place is up for grabs.

i hate the fucking germans

Before the cup started, Robin asked me why I hated the Germans. In the general sense, she asks me every time I say something bad about Germany, and since my only reply is a stereotypical "they're all Nazis," I clearly have nothing but prejudice behind my feelings. But, I told her, it's even worse when it comes to soccer. Because Germany always breaks your hearts. They keep at you and keep at you and keep at you, and finally they score a goal and you lose 1-0. Four years ago, I quoted Michael Lewis after Germany had beaten the USA 1-0:

And how does the U.S. team know it's arrived at the top table? The Americans just got their hearts broken by the Germans after outplaying them. Welcome to the glorious world of international football, America.

Poland didn't outplay the Germans today, but they were so much better than in their opener, and the match was a good one, lots of to-and-fro, a scoreline that would have been much higher if the strikers were on their marks, terrific crowd atmosphere, players that didn't like each other. The only people in the world rooting for Germany in those amazing final minutes were Germans. The rest of us were hoping that maybe this time, hearts wouldn't be broken. Welcome to the glorious world of international football.

tomorrow's matches

But first, how did I do with my predictions? Got two right, underestimated Tunisia. I'm pretty bad at this ... the ones I get right are the easy ones.

Ecuador-Costa Rica, 6:00 Pacific Time

If Ecuador wins, Costa Rica and Poland are out. A draw also eliminates Poland. Ecuador has never made it to the second round. This has the makings of an entertaining match. If the Polish fans manage to get into the stadium, they'll be rooting all out for Costa Rica, and they proved today they are a raucous bunch. I'll pick Costa Rica, making for an interesting batch of final matches.

England-Trinidad & Tobago, 9:00 Pacific Time

I guess this is where I talk about club vs. country. Wayne Rooney is considered England's best hope for a cup victory. Wayne Rooney plays his club soccer for Manchester United, who pay him a lot of money. Man U thinks all of that money means they have a say in how Rooney is used. England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson thinks his job includes choosing the players who will take the field in each match. Rooney is coming off a serious injury. Eriksson will win the argument between club and country. If Rooney re-injures himself, Man U are gonna be pissed. If Rooney comes back in full form, fans will be happy because he's an exciting player. My guess is he comes back, but not at 100%, and makes a relatively small impact on things. England will still beat T&T. If they do, they will advance.

Sweden-Paraguay, 12:00 Pacific Time

If England and Sweden both win, Paraguay is out and Trinidad's chances of advancing will be slim. Neither of these teams scored in their first matches, and I anticipate a boring match, with Sweden managing to win 1-0.

group a

Ecuador proves it can win away from home, and takes away most of the third-match excitement. CONCACAF isn't looking v.good right now ... Costa Rica already eliminated, the U.S. stinking against the Czechs, Shaka Hislop inspiring but no one expects T&T to get any more points, leaving only Mexico. In three of their five matches, the teams have been held scoreless.

halftime

In 1992, lowly Wrexham, a Welsh club that plays in England, took on mighty Arsenal in the FA Cup. Arsenal were the reigning English champions ... Wrexham had finished literally in last place the year before among all the clubs in the Football League. Wrexham scored two goals in the last eight minutes to stun the Gunners, 2-1.

Trinidad and Tobago feature a player who plays his club soccer for Wrexham, Dennis Lawrence (Big Den is the black guy who matches up against fellow giant Peter Crouch on all the free kicks). Carlos Edwards, over on the right wing for T&T, is a former Wrexham player as well.

Just thought I'd mention this at halftime.

Oh, BTW ... I have a Wrexham banner hanging in my front window.

england-t&t

Well, I was right about the two late goals.

Hard to know what to make of England's chances in the next rounds. They have been mostly unimaginative thus far (I'm not a fan of "kick it to the tall guy"), and the players who made the goals (Beckham's cross, Crouch's header, Gerrard's blast) did not have good matches up until their moments of glory. Rooney could supply the needed inspiration, although there was no telling from today how fit he is ... Lennon had more impact. But perhaps this let Rooney get his feet wet, and he'll be fine for the next stage. England certainly hopes so.

sweden-paraguay

A dreary match, the second in a row for Paraguay, and they are thankfully eliminated.

My predictions were a mixed batch. Got England-T&T, which was a gimme. Missed Ecuador's win. Was dead-on with my Sweden-Paraguay prediction (would be boring, Sweden would win 1-0) ... might have been my best prediction so far.

Matches where nothing happens until the last few minutes are not good matches. They are poor matches with exciting finishes. There have been too many of these in this Cup.

the thinking fan

A lovely present arrived in the mail today, from Nikki and Sean. It's The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup, 32 writers on 32 nations. Have thought of grabbing it more than once, glad I didn't so now I have something good to look forward to. Thanks!

tomorrow's matches

Argentina-Serbia & Montenegro, 6:00 Pacific Time

Look for Argentina to win. Maybe Lionel Messi will make a late debut, as Rooney did for England. Riquelme is on his way to a great World Cup.

Netherlands-Ivory Coast, 9:00 Pacific Time

Arjen Robben, like Riquelme, had a great opening match. The favorites will probably win here, too, although it would be nice for one of the matches to end in a draw, so the much-anticipated Argentina-Holland match will have more at stake than who finishes first.

Mexico-Angola, 12:00 Pacific Time

Mexico is the only CONCACAF side to have won a match thus far. Borghetti's out for El Tri, but I've never been his biggest fan, anyway. What I'd like to see is Ramon Morales on the left wing, but so far I haven't gotten my wish. Mexico to win, easily.

argentina-serbia & montenegro

So far, Argentina is giving us what we'd hoped for from Brazil. Last week I was talking with a friend who didn't follow soccer. He was interested in how different countries play different styles. I described Argentina as the most frustrating of countries, since they were capable of the beautiful game at its most transcendent (witness the greatest of the great, Diego Armando Maradona ... hard to miss him in 2006, emoting wildly while surrounded by hot babes), but also capable of ugly, thuggish matches. Thankfully, the beautiful side is here this Cup.

Meanwhile, I guess Lionel Messi has taken the early lead over Wayne Rooney in the "next pheenom to take over the world" contest.

netherlands-ivory coast

Match of the tournament so far. Not perfect ... rough play from both sides, dodgy ref ... but the play was inspired, the goals terrific, the stakes high. Only real downside is that the much-anticipated Argentina-Holland matchup will now be mostly meaningless. But this match today was an excellent substitute. Too bad to see the Ivory Coast eliminated.

the networks

Got an email from Steve "F-Word" Hammond complaining about the English-language announcers, which made me realize I've seen and heard enough matches now to get a feel for the presentations on Univision and ABC/ESPN/ESPN2.

First, the high-def picture roolz. Perhaps the best example is the Dutch colors. Bright orange is v.hard to get right on a teevee picture ... you can turn down the color so that the orange is drab, or you can put the color where it belongs, and the orange takes on that glow. In HD, the orange looks gorgeous.

On to the announcers, first Univision.

Pablo Ramírez y Jesús Bracamontes. The #1 team on the network ... that's a job description, not a value judgment (I don't think they are the best). Ramírez, "La Torre de Jalisco," isn't bad, but neither is he Cantor, or Jorge Ramos for that matter. His goal call is incredibly annoying, except in a weird way, after you've heard it a million times, you start looking forward to it. The best goals, and he thinks most of them are the best goals, get his famous call of "GOLAZO! GOLAZO! GOLAZO! AZO AZO AZO!" He also has the tendency (shared by many, with Jorge Ramos the king) of talking too fast, resulting in a need for a breath, which he often prefaces with "Háblame, Jesús!" As for Bracamontes and all of the Univision color commentators, I probably shouldn't say much since the limits of my Spanish surely prevents me from picking up on the nuances.

Jorge Pérez-Navarro y José Luis Chilavert. Chila looks incredibly uncomfortable in his suit before the match, and he is v.stiff reading the lineups. But once the match begins, he's a fine color man, willing to say what he thinks, which should come as no surprise to anyone who followed his career as a player. Again, take my opinion with a grain of salt due to language difficulties, but he has a diamond-in-the-rough quality that is appealing. Pérez-Navarro is the dullest of the Univision play-by-play guys, and in the earliest matches he seemed starstruck by being next to the great Chilavert. He's toned that down a bit, but is otherwise nondescript.

Bruno Vain y Enrique Borja. Vain is the most idiosyncratic, to American ears, of any of these guys. First off, he's from Argentina, so his accent is different. Second, the Argentines in general have a different style of announcing. Third, his voice is amazingly grating, although I've come to like it. (One BigSoccer poster noted the same thing, that Vain's voice was unbearable at first but eventually you come around, then added that by "eventually" he meant a year or more.) Vain is from GOL TV ... I guess Univision borrowed him ... and at times it seems like his entire play-by-play consists of repeating the name of whoever has the ball. I watched countless Real Madrid matches where everytime Ronaldo touched the ball, Vain would chant "Ronnie ... Ronnie ... Ronnie." Thing is, he often throws in differing inflections, so one "Ronnie" doesn't quite mean the same thing as another. Today's Holland match had him at top form (or bottom form, depending on your tolerance for the guy) ... he apparently had decided he liked the first name of Dutch striker van Nistelrooy, and so when Ruud got a touch, Bruno was positively goofy. Words can not express the sound he was making ... I mean, it was "Ruud," and the middle U's were stretched out, but he also changed the pitch of his voice, so he sounded like a ... I don't know, a bellowing cow? I thought it was hilarious, but then, I like Bruno. Next to him, Borja goes unnoticed, at least by me who doesn't always understand the color commentary anyway.

For those who care, Univision does a better job than ABC/ESPN at showing the match preliminaries. I'm not usually watching, though.

On to the Disney folks:

Dave O'Brien and Marcelo Balboa. The #1 team for ABC/ESPN is also their worst. O"Brien's a competent play-by-play guy, but Balboa offers very little insight. And, as I noted awhile back, Celo has an annoying and useless habit of seeing replays and telling you what you are seeing, which isn't commentary unless you're sightless.

JP Dellacamera and John Harkes. JP is solid ... he's nothing special, but he knows the game, he's been doing this a long time, and if he's not as good as the best in the world, well, neither are the USian players. Harkes is someone I've never much liked, as a player at least, but he seems more insightful than, say, Balboa, which isn't saying much I know. But this is probably the best team of the four.

Glenn Davis and Shep Messing. These are the most excitable of the four, and that counts for something. The first time I heard them, Shep was spending too much time explaining the rules of the game, but he seems to have toned that down. This team isn't a bad one, either. (Trivia note: Shep Messing was the Oakland goalkeeper for the first soccer match I ever attended, an NASL match in 1978 between Oakland and Portland.)

Adrian Healey and Tommy Smyth. Smyth is the reason Steve H emailed me ... Tommy drives him crazy. He's not the only one. These guys are both from the U.K., and they let you know. Smyth has idiosyncrasies, including his catch phrase about goals ("he puts it in the old onion bag!"), and he's a bit McCarveresque in the way he'll beat a point into the ground. For my money, Healey doesn't bring much to the table beyond an accent.

Apparently there is one more ABC/ESPN team, Rob Stone and Robin Fraser, but I haven't caught them. Stoner is loved and hated in equal measure ... I think he's fine, I always enjoy his work, and think the Rob Stone/Eric Wynalda team is one of our best. Haven't heard Fraser, so can't speak to that.

I should also mention XM radio, which I don't have. They've got some of the best talent around, better than pretty much anyone I've mentioned above. The Spanish-language team is headed by Andres Cantor, about which 'nuff said. The rest of the team features an astounding array of soccer legends, although I can't tell from the website who does what. The English version includes Phil Schoen, a solid play-by-play man. Among the color guys is Christopher Sullivan, who is getting good reviews ... I can't stand the sound of his voice, so I don't listen to him if I can help it, but he knows the game.

halftime

Awhile back I touted Mexican left-side player Ramón Morales. He didn't play in their first match, and he didn't start in today's match. Mexico's dreary first-half performance tells me it's time for Ramón, and then we'll see if I was right about him.

mexico-angola

A poor match. When you have a scoreless draw and the man of the match is a goalkeeper, it's likely there weren't many thrills. Joao Ricardo was the best player out there ... and he doesn't even have a job with a club!

Things look dire for both Africa and CONCACAF. None of the Africans have won a match yet, while Mexico is the only CONCACAF team with a win (and they didn't exactly look like world-beaters today).

As for my predictions ... first, to get it out of the way, Ramón Morales finally made an appearance 15 minutes from time, and made little impact beyond a cross or two. Looking at the matches, I got the two easy ones (Argentina and Holland) but overestimated Mexico (maybe they actually missed Borghetti). Best prediction was that Messi would debut.

tomorrow's matches

Portugal-Iran, 6:00 Pacific Time

Cristiano Ronaldo is questionable, but Deco will return. Portugal will win and clinch a spot in the second round.

Czech Republic-Ghana, 9:00 Pacific Time

What does the U.S. hope for here? A Czech win will guarantee them one of the spots, but they are likely already out of reach of the Americans, so maybe a Ghana loss would be helpful. If Ghana wins or draws, though, the final matches might be chaotic. The Czech's should win, although absent Koller (and with Baros still out), perhaps they'll have trouble scoring. I'll predict a scoreless draw, why not.

Italy-United States, 12:00 Pacific Time

Well, here we go. What is to say? A Czech win and American loss sends us out. An American win, or a draw, will keep the team alive for one more match. Obviously the win is preferable, he said, stating the obvious. Is it possible? Well, anything's possible, but 1) certain players who will go unnamed need to step up, and 2) in my opinion, Clint Dempsey needs to start. My prediction? A boring 1-0 win for Italy.

morning matches

My "watch every match" attempt fell short today. We drove out to the airport to visit some friends from Brazil who were on stopover ... went to breakfast ... I was recording matches to watch when I got home. Halfway through breakfast, the guy I was talking to in Spanish said he'd talked to his son on the phone and Portugal was up 1-0 on a goal by Deco. Guess my Spanish wasn't good enough when I tried to say "don't tell me any results." :-)

By the time I got home, both early matches were over, and since I want to watch the U.S. in real time, I figured what the heck, and fast-forwarded my way to the highlights. Now I have a few minutes before USA-Italy to decide whether or not I think Ghana's win is good or bad for the Americans.

usa-italy

Well, that was interesting. And frightening. And exciting. What is wasn't was great soccer, but at this point, the U.S. has to take what it can get. Their performance was so much better today ... one can be an American fan without shame once again, which wasn't true after the Czech match. And now I understand why we wanted Ghana to win today. The third matches are going to be intense.

I'd have to say that anyone watching today's match without a rooting interest would have found it to be an ugly, thuggish match. But as a U.S. fan, I found it riveting.

tomorrow's matches

It was a v.weird day for me, Cup-wise, missing two of the matches and being so caught up in the third that it was impossible for me to analyze. I got several things right in my predictions, but only picked one winner, Portugal. I was right that the Czechs would have trouble scoring, but didn't call the Ghana victory. I was right that certain American players needed to step up and that Dempsey needed to start, but didn't predict the slugfest that actually occurred.

Japan-Croatia, 6:00 Pacific Time

Both teams need to win, so this match should offer some attacking play. Japan looked fine for 80 minutes against Australia, but then they looked awful, and they were only playing Australia. Croatia looked good in their loss, and they were playing Brazil, not Australia. The Croatians should win.

Brazil-Australia, 9:00 Pacific Time

Will the real Brazil show up this time? Australia has their not-so-secret weapon, Guus Hiddink, which probably won't be enough, setting up an interesting Croatia-Australia match later on. It's time for Ronaldinho to put his stamp on the Cup.

France-South Korea, 12:00 Pacific Time

Nothing against the Koreans, but this match rests on the shoulders of the French. If they can actually manage to score a goal and get that monkey off their backs, they are capable of turning this into a rout, and I hope that Thierry Henry, at least, shows what he's capable of. If the French continue to stink, though, they could blow what should be an easy group. I'm putting my pretend money on Henry.

it deserved a red

I just watched Mastroeni's foul a few more times. That was a red card offense. He came in and stuck his spikes in the Italian's ankle. I hate that kind of play in general, and while I wish it hadn't happened in this case, I can't fault the ref, or FIFA for that matter, for trying to protect players from injury.

Today's match was ugly. Some people like ugly ... Michael Davies over at ESPN.com seems to ... hell, he calls his blog post "America, the Beautiful," which is as far from describing the game today as possible. The referee lost control of the match early on, which led to the rough play, as it always does, and he was inconsistent. And Mastroeni's foul wasn't as brutal as what de Rossi did to McBride. But that doesn't change the fact that Pablo came in too hard and too sloppy, right in front of a ref who had already shown a tendency to card everything in sight. Mastroeni blew it.

japan-croatia

I was right that both teams would try to attack. I was wrong to think the result would be exciting. Whether from the heat or just ineptness, neither team ever really threatened, the penalty being the obvious exception. This result pretty much eliminates Japan, who have one point and a match with Brazil still to come.

second thoughts, even third

Had my first chance to listen to the Rob Stone/Robin Fraser announcing crew. Sean gave them a thumbs up in an earlier comment, and I have to echo his praise. I like Stoner (not everyone does), and he toned down the frat-boy playfulness just enough to reflect the importance of the situation. Fraser had interesting insights ... I always found him kinda blending into the background as a player, but he's got real potential in the booth.

As for the Mastroeni red card that continues to obsess us Americans, I should emphasize a couple of points that I did not mention in my earlier post. First, as an American fan, I was not happy at the time of the card, and if I'd been at the match, I would have been threatening the life of the ref's first-born child, as anyone knows who has attended matches with me. On review, I think the red card was warranted. Having said that, I understand the opposing view, and if Pablo had escaped with a yellow, I wouldn't have felt it a bad call. I guess what's bothering me is how many U.S. fans are acting like that call, and that ref, were the worst ever. We can wish Mastroeni had stayed on the field, we can curse our luck that this ref wasn't going to let that kind of tackle go without the ultimate punishment, but the ref's call wasn't outrageous, wasn't out of line. It was a brutal match, more like 1990 than 2002, and while the referee is partly to blame (just for starters, an early yellow to Gooch might have set a different tone for the match), also to blame are the players who often seemed more interested in rugby than soccer.

brazil-australia

Brazil once again wins without impressing. There was a bit more flair this time ... the Ronaldinho to Ronaldo to Adriano goal was pretty ... and once again Robinho showed that he needs to be starting in place of Ronaldo. Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira was the manager of the least-inspiring of Brazil's five WC champions, and so far, this team isn't anymore entertaining than 1994's. Hopefully that doesn't mean we're looking at another scoreless finale.

thierry henry

I am a big fan of Thierry Henry, and here's one reason. He scores the first French WC finals goal outside of France in 20 years, and he acts like he does it every day. Which he does, for Arsenal. He is so cool.