Soca Warrior’s Day
A 1-0 victory was good enough for England to get 3 points. However, the match left the English asking more questions about their team than being particularly happy. Paraguay isn’t the strongest of sides. England creeped to victory rather than having a convincing performance. Any thing can happen in football but I don’t see England causing a serious threat in the competition if they don’t improve on the pitch drastically.
Sweden vs Trinidad and Tobago 0-0
The Soca Warriors are celebrating. 10 men Trinidad and Tobago have held off Sweden. Sweden dominated possession. Sweden attacked a lot. However, they hit very few shots on target and nothing materialised into goals. There was the very good defending by T and T and the excellent keeping by Shaka Hislop. It is all about scoring goals though. Maybe Sweden should not have kept that extra man marking Stern John and had attacked more. The English will be very happy with this result. It makes qualifying for them a lot easier!
Argentina vs Côte d’Ivoire 2-1
The match was expected to, and produced, the best match of the tournament so far. The pace was faster than any thing we have seen in the tournament. There was controversy as well when the ball crossed the line (looked like that to me at least) but the referee did not give a goal to Argentina early on. That did not matter as Argentina scored two more. Drogba pulled one back to make things exciting in the last 10 minutes. Ivory Coast have a lot of talent and would have easily qualified in most other groups. It can still be possible as they can give Holland a run for their money.
However, as I said earlier on, I expected Argentina to make a satement and they did. My 3-1 prediction wasn’t far off from the 2-1 in the end. More importantly, Argentina showed solidity which is needed to go far in a world cup. A Brazil-Argentina final would be a dream. I strongly believe that we will witness that happening this time, which co-incidentally, my friend Matt also thinks.
Day 3 Predictions
For Day 2, I got 2 out of 3 right as far as results are concerned and the goal differences weren’t as far off either - much better than I expected actually.
Holland 2 Serbia and Montenegro 0
Serbia and Montenegro will excite. They are a very talented team. Holland seem serious to make a mark and will win on the more maturty of their players.
Mexico 1 Iran 1
This should end in a draw with both sides making their marks. Promises to be a good tussle.
Angola 0 Portugal 2
Don’t see an upset in the match.
Tags: Argentine Football, côte divoire football, English Football, FIFA World Cup 2006, Paraguay, Sweden Football, Trinidad and Tobago Football.
June 11th, 2006 at 2:53 am
Really pleased for T & T, England though…ah well the less said the better, at least they got three points…
June 11th, 2006 at 6:29 am
I have to say, I don’t even really like soccer/football all that much, but I was able to watch a good portion of the second half of the Argentina game, and I was really impressed. I only know the basics of the sport, but really entertaining stuff.
Good writeup Pratyush.
June 12th, 2006 at 9:45 am
I honestly don’t know what all the fuss about the England performance was. No, it wasn’t very good, but it still left them almost certain to qualify for the next stage, thanks to Trinidad and Tobago. Given the injury/fitness situation, that was always the priority.
June 12th, 2006 at 9:54 am
Arg-Côte d’Ivoire - what a match that was! Highly skillful, fast paced and clean. The Argentine defence was brilliant. The way they bring the ball out of defence was a real treat to watch - composed short passes unlike the Gary Neville - Silvestre style of trying to blast it out of the stadium. Many of the Ivory coast players were a real revelation - playing with beautiful control and amazingly fast breaks. The Argentine goals were well worked and inspirational moves, but probably a draw would have been a fairer result. Seeing the way Holland played yesterday, I would not be surprised if they don’t make it through this group.
June 12th, 2006 at 8:44 pm
@ Zainub - As you said, at least they got 3 points. Unimpressive all the way though.
@ Jon - Football is fascinating. There are so many different styles and strategies and in all that there is entertainment. The common American complain is that the game is too slow. Watching a few attacking games should change that perception for quite a few. :)
@ Geoff - It gives an opportunity for people with who like to critcise England do so. It was indeed a happy day for the side. However, it was a disappointing performance wise from the side imo.
@ Siddhartha - The big question would be - could Ivory Cost go past Van Der Sar? The I.C. team is very good, as any one who didn’t know yet must have realised. The game between the two should be rivetting.