World Cup 2010

[Jim R]

Elia helped to liven up the match for the Netherlands. Denmark looked uninspired, even after falling behind via the own goal. Disappointing, as they are usually a high-energy team.

Too many dives from Italy in the first 10 to 20 minutes. Paraguay looked disorganized and sloppy, but made the most of one of their few opportunities. Time to watch the second half...

[Van Basten II]

Fun game, fair result at the end.

[Jim R]

I think Paraguay wasted a great opportunity to steal a win. They were too casual, giving the ball away in midfield repeatedly, and failing to create more shots when they got forward. Their keeper made a mess of the play where Italy scored. But I agree, a fair result, thanks to Italy's persistence.

[brownie]

Italy seems to have trouble getting in gear for the World Cup. They had trouble with the Paraguay team which obviously was looking for a draw.

Sad to see Buffon leave the field. Hope he will be back for the Squadra's next match!

[Van Basten II]

Cruel result for Slovakia who with this draw may have to kiss goodbye their chances to qualify for the next round, give credit to both teams for the spirit they played but it was more of a MLS level game than a World Class game. Then again what can you expect from a game with a team that fields unemployed players ?

[kenny weir]

Kiwis!

Then again what can you expect from a game with a team that fields unemployed players ?

Geez that's a bit harsh, ain't it?

I know - let's restrict the WC to soccer royalty, that should fix things up. Just Italy, Argentina, Spain, Brazil, etc etc. No underdogs, no upsets, no drama. Reminds me of when Australia had to play Uruguay to get there last time. When the South Americans missed out, some were miffed that previous WC winners were gone. That was what? Half a century ago?

Go the underdogs!

[J.A.W.]

Another dismal game. So far the level of this tournament is very disappointing.

[Van Basten II]

Kiwis!

Then again what can you expect from a game with a team that fields unemployed players ?

Geez that's a bit harsh, ain't it?

I know - let's restrict the WC to soccer royalty, that should fix things up. Just Italy, Argentina, Spain, Brazil, etc etc. No underdogs, no upsets, no drama. Reminds me of when Australia had to play Uruguay to get there last time. When the South Americans missed out, some were miffed that previous WC winners were gone. That was what? Half a century ago?

Go the underdogs!

They have to make a way for all the continents to be represented ,and up to a certain point I'm ok with that

, problem is regarding the Oceania representation is that Australia jumped ship towards Asia to improve their level of competition which makes the pool even thinnier. If they want to keep this slot available for Oceania , FIFA has to help these teams to play against better opposition so they can improve their level. So either annex them to Asia or create some kind of local competetion where the Oceanian teams could play more often against teams that are around the top 50 in FIFA rankings

I'm not against underdogs, I'm against poor level of play, what I want to see are the teams that have performed the best no matter where they all come from and no matter what is their past pedigree , the game we just witnessed has been worthy of a decisive game to qualify for the World Cup finals but not part of it.

Ideally they should not reserve spots for certain conferences, I would prefer having something like having 15 divisions involving teams from every place. But logistically it would be impossible so we're

stuck with this inperfect system.

[Van Basten II]

The two comments heard the most in the WC so far.

-That f....ing sound is annoying

-Let's hope the second half will be better

[Brad]

We should probably add in Hans' comment above. I can only think that teams are being cautious so as not to behind the eight ball for the second group match; better a tie than a loss may be the thought.

[B. Goren.]

The 2ed round starts tomorrow. I'm still optimistic.

[brownie]

The Portugal-Ivory Coast match was not that bad! Lively until the very last minute.

Both defenses were tight and left little chances for goals.

One more game that remained scoreless!

Will see how North Korea cope against Brazil later today.

There should be goals during that match!

[J.A.W.]

The Ivory Coast v. Portugal game was not bad. Ivory Coast were the better team and deserved to win, but a draw is OK. Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo's performance was far below par. He once again displayed his mannerisms, dives and egotripping, exactly why I dislike him so much

[Van Basten II]

The second half was good , still both teams seemed to bet on a result against Brazil rather than go for broke, agree with the other posters Cötr d'Ivoire was the better team.

The game featured for the first time some crowd emotion when Drogba appeared on the pitch.

[Jim R]

The Ivory Coast v. Portugal game was not bad. Ivory Coast were the better team and deserved to win, but a draw is OK. Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo's performance was far below par. He once again displayed his mannerisms, dives and egotripping, exactly why I dislike him so much

All true, except that I thought he played okay considering how little space he was given by Ivory Coast. His shot off the post was a "wow" moment, even though he didn't score. But I agree, I can't stand the diving and the attitude.

The North Koreans sure look like they belonged on the same field with Brazil in the first half. I have a feeling that might change in the second half.

[Pete C]

I just stopped by to say bom dia, Jim R...

[Jim R]

I just stopped by to say bom dia, Jim R...

Same to you, Pete! What a nice surprise. Are you watching the Cup?

[Victor Christensen]

I am in a minority among danish men, I am not a soccer fan and Denmark have a not very good team, My only sports vice is PRO bicycle road racing.

Vic

[.:.impossible]

This N Korea Brasil match has been very entertaining. Two beautiful and different goals from Brasil and an impressive defensive effort from N Korea, including a late goal! I'm no expert, but that was a nice game.

[brownie]

Not the best team from Brazil judging from yesterday's match. No panache.

The North Korea players were a good surprise. A no-nonsense team.

[Brad]

I only got to see abut of the first half and they weren't very impressive. The North Koreans could be a challenge for the other two sides.

[Van Basten II]

Enjoyed the Chile-Honduras game, they (Chile) could be a tough game for a lot of teams. Speed, technically and tactically sound with better finition they could be a dark horse.

What is the proper way to pronounce the name of the Chile's goal scorer Beausejour, I would be tempted to say it à la Française, but the british said it in other way more like Bose-jour instead of Bo-say-jour like I would do.

[J.A.W.]

Enjoyed the Chile-Honduras game, they (Chile) could be a tough game for a lot of teams. Speed, technically and tactically sound with better finition they could be a dark horse.

Chile were clearly the better team, but the finishing was indeed appalling, they should have scored at least two more goals.

[.:.impossible]

Not the best team from Brazil judging from yesterday's match. No panache.

The North Korea players were a good surprise. A no-nonsense team.

right! They were well hyped before and during the match. It seemed to

me that N Korea had the right game plan to contain Brasil. They seemed challenged! Not at all what I expected to see based on commentary.

[J.A.W.]

A major upset in the making: Spain 0, Switzerland 1, with only about 10 minutes to go. Spain are the better team, but their attacks are surprisingly ineffective. The Swiss got a few big scoring chances. Wow.