Watch it. Then watch it again. Then watch it one more time. Simply brilliant. As Gerry Armstrong said in the post match show in ESPN-Star, that is perfection for you.

Argentina scored 6 (should have been 7) against a shocked Serbia and Montenegro - the same Serbia and Montenegro which conceded just 1 goal in 10 games of qualifying in a group which had Spain. Amazing?

The goal which had in all 24 passes was another amazing aspect of this game - one of the greatest goals ever. You can watch that goal a 1,000 times and still it will not cease to amaze you.

Argentina were early favourites among many fans ages back for this world cup. They have an easy passage once they top the group of death till the semis. It can be argued that topping such a tough group should give the team topping it some advantage.

Brazil took centre stage after the early Argentina favourites tag though. They have a team full of talent and as more and more people saw that, Brazil became the team with the favourites tag for the world cup. I am banking on them to win it. Being a huge Brazilian fan since 1994, I have never been more confident. This is a dream team. They have tough matches early on in round 2 and it can prove the end if Brazil slip up.

I don’t see any one else challenging Brazil and Argentina. They are great teams and are destined to meet in the finals. At least I hope that they do meet in the final. Who are the dark horses? Not England. Please. It is almost laughable as far as I am concerned that many people think that England are serious contenders to reach the finals, let alone win the world cup. They look hyped to me. I would rate quite a few teams above them but let’s not go into that.

Coming back to the question, who are the dark horses? Czech Republic and Holland for me. These two teams can defeat any team on their day with a little bit of luck.

A staggering stat:

Edvin van der Sar has not conceded a goal in 976 minutes of competitive international football (before the Holland-Ivory Coast game). The last player to score off him in a non-friendly intenational was Finland’s Teemu Tainio in a World Cup qualifier in October 2004. [Via BBC]

Stats mean little when it comes down to the business on a given day. However, you cannot ignore 976 minutes, or 24 passes, or that Brazil will win it’s 6th world cup, as a matter of fact. ;)

Now isn’t that sweeet!!

Spain vs Ukraine 4-0

Shevchenko played. Still, perennial under performers Spain proved too good for Ukraine. Ukraine did have possession but lacked in imagination and creating chances - inventive football. Spain on the other hand, made the best out of opportunities they got. Ukraine is still easily placed with S.Arabia and Tunisia drawing their game. They will need to score some goals though!

Saudi Arabia vs Tunisia 2-2

A very exciting match with a thriller of a finish. Both teams were closely matched up - which again reiterates the growing resonance - the gap between teams keeps getting smaller. The match saw adrenaline enthused performances from both sides - charecterised by the two late goals. Saudi Arabians would be disappointed with the result, not only because Tunisia managed to equalise. Can one of these teams up the level against the bigger teams in the group, Spain and Ukraine? We will see.

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South Korea vs Togo 2-1

Till Abolo was sent off in the 53rd minute, Togo competed well versus South Korea. They had even scored one courtesy Mohammed Kader in the first half. It looked like Togo might sneak a famous victory. Then, there was the red card. Moments later, South Korea equalled via Chun-Soo Lee. From there, South Korea dominated. Togo looked tired and slow in the second half regardless of the 10 men factor. The South Koreans weren’t impressive in the match though. There were many shots way off target and the team could very well struggle against Switzerland.

Switzerland vs France 0-0

The goal jinx for France continues. They had several chances but failed to score. Even Switzerland had chances and they could have easily won with a little luck. For France, the big question is - are they missing Cisse? I failed to understand why Giully should not be in the French squad having seen him closely over the last two years. France shouldn’t have problems qualifying for round 2 but you never know!

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A few people asked me why I had not reviewed day 3 to my surprise. So, despite time contraints, I will try to review as many days of the World Cup as I can from now on even though the posts might be a bit delayed.

Australia vs Japan 3-1

With Croatia and Brazil the other two teams in the group, the team which lost this match could say the world cup good bye. So when Japan scored that goal, which most Aussie supporters won’t even call a goal (as it wasn’t), Australians were enraged. It has taken many years for the Socceroos to qualify and it would have been a shame if they went out this way. So, I felt delighted when Australia pulled back the game with three quick goals in eight minutes. The game saw short passes and plenty of opportunities for both teams. It was quite hot but I wasn’t impressed be either team to be honest. The Australian date with destiny in the match versus Croatia is set though.

Czech Republic vs USA 3-0

When asked who will win the world cup, most people would say Brazil including me. Some would opt for Argentina, Holland, France or even Italy. How many people will give Czech Republic a chance? Despite the FIFA rankings being a joke (proven by the thrashing USA got), you have to stand up at take notice of the Czech Republic. They have a solid mid field and excellent attacking options. Apart from Nedved, they now have the young star - Rosicky!

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The Quiz - The Sports Quiz features once every two weeks. Results will be announced in 10 days, next Friday.Please e-mail me the answers at pratyushkhaitan@gmail.com Comments are disabled in the quiz posts to avoid some one leaving the answers here.

Don’t get discouraged to send in the answers if you aren’t based in India or do not know most answers as the real joy is in the quizzing itself!

This edition sees a football special with some real toughies. Let’s see if any one gets even 5 answers right!

1) How long was Alan Shearer’s longest stint in international football without a goal (in terms of matches)?

2) Connect Scunthorpe United and the English cricket team.

3) What is common to Jimmy Baxter, George Best and David Ginola?

4)

What is common to the player seen above in the picture and Jose Antonio Reyes?

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With Jens Lehmann goal keeping for Germany, Kahn is getting fat sitting on the bench. You can see why.

England vs Paraguay 1-0

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.

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I don’t usually like the style in which the Germans play their football. Add to that - (a) they were playing against a weak Costa Rica team and (b) the poor ESPN-Star preview for the World Cup, I was deflated soon after I switched on the TV set. Harsha Bhogle is a good cricket presentor but why bring him to football. The commentator for the opening game was also pretty drab - the player looks up in the blue sky as he scores.

There was gloom given the history of low scoring dull matches we have seen for inaugral matches for the world cup historically - only 9 goals in the previous 10 matches. The six goals in the opening match then, exceeded my expectations. Germany were playing more attacking football than they usually do, Wanchope provided excitement for Costa Rica. I did not like the game as much despite the many goals. However, given my early deflated spirit, I was more than happy with match 1. The big pointer from game 1 was this though - Germany let weak Costa Rica score twice. The German defense was shown up in this match and it is a big worry for them for the tougher matches in the second round.

The second match for the day proved brilliant. It is, in all likelihood, the most crucial encounter for the group with the winner, in all possibility, advancing as the second team along with Germany. The opening 20 minutes or so saw Poland dominate attack. However, Ecuador kept pushing and thwarting the Polish attacks physically if there was even an hint of the Polish coming near the Ecuador box. Then, Ecuador scored. The match changed significantly from then on with Ecuador playing one touch football and being the team which kept attacking. They could have scored 2 more goals during a short period had the strikes materialised. The first half, thus, can be split into two.

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