The Elephants March Out of Germany with a 3-2 Victory
Serbia & Montenegro jumped out to an early lead as Ivory Coast’s defense looked very distracted and leaky. In the 10th min. as a result of The Blues early pressure, Zigic slotted in the net as he was allowed in by a communication error between the keeper and defender. Ilic added to the lead in the 20th min. for Serbia & Montenegro, and the Elephants looked as if everything had turned sour.

The Blues then returned the kindness with a hand ball in the penalty box in 37th min. Dindane converted the spot kick to give Ivory Coast a life-line. Dindane added to his tally in the 67th min. with a towering header, breaking the hearts of Serbia & Montenegro supporters who leave Germany 2006 with nothing to show for it. The Blues fate turned comically worse in the 86th min. when another hand ball in the penalty area resulted in spot kick goal for Kalou.

No Goals between Argentina and Holland
With both Argentina and the Netherlands already through to the Round of Sixteen, both Pekerman and Van Basten preferred a reshuffle to their lineups. Don’t let the score line foul you on this one though. Argentina pushed forward and forward against a resolute Dutch side that kept up a strong defensive shape. It definitely wasn’t the total football approach of old from Van Basten, but one will argue that it was surely effective as only goal difference separated the sides at the end of the day. Argentina still looked sharp in attack with Tevez and Messi doing everything possible to rattle the Dutch defense. Van der Sar was extremely busy in goal in this one as the Dutch defense withstood the Argentine flood of goals.

Angola—Even-Honors with Iran on the Day
Angola’s hopes of a long-shot haul into the next round were shattered as Iran clawed itself back to 1-1 draw with the African new-comers. A very tight affair throughout, the match really came alive late into the 2nd half as Flavio headed Angola into the lead off a cross from the right flank in the 60th min. Angola’s fleeting moment was then erased as Iran equalized through Bakhtiarizadeh in the 76th to rule out any chance of Angola advancing.

Portugal Out-Dance Mexico
Portugal remained undefeated in the group stage as it defeated Mexico 2-1 in convincing style. Scolari’s inclusion of Simao at the expense of Christiano Rinaldo proved a nice touch as Simao ran relentlessly, from out of the gate on the outside left, at the Mexican defense, producing what Rinaldo is supposed to be providing on the right. In the 6th min. Maniche and Simao combined brilliantly as Maniche ended up firing in a goal from close range. Simao then converted a spot kick in the 24th min. to increase Portugal’s lead.

Mexico replied against the run of play in the 29th min. with a goal from Fonseca and had its own chance to pull even through a penalty kick; however, Bravo missed from the spot. Despite the loss, Mexico still continues their dance into the Round of Sixteen.
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Argentina will face Mexico with an interesting south of the border contest in the Round of Sixteen. Without Borgetti, Mexico will find it hard to pressure Argentina’s defense. If that’s the case, then we could see Mexico defending for their lives against in-form Argentina.

Portugal will face Holland in an interesting Euro-tie that pits two similar teams in that each side looks to both youth and veteran to run the team. Holland may have the slight edge, but the real issue is—which set will steal the show?

Kasey Keller will be known to us as the Kaiser (The King in German). Kasey Keller is the US player in soccer. Who is second to him on the US team? Unfortunately, it is another goalkeeper—Tim Howard. These guys are great players, showing that the US creates phenomenal keepers. Now that I think about it, Brad Friedel, who is not even on the team, retired from international play, is actually our 2nd best player, making Tim actually our 3rd most valuable player.

What does this all mean? Well the Kaiser is our mental captain and what he says goes! He is in charge of keeping us in Germany and making sure the mission is accomplished. He may have had a shelling in the first game against the Czechs, but that was down more to his defense, as the Americans left him high-and-dry on the back line. Against the Italians, however, Keller bounced back and made a string of saves in the 2nd half to keep American hopes alive.

What is our mission? Well from the looks of it, the plan is to make it out of the group stage with a victory over Ghana with help from Italy’s defeat over the striker-void Czech Republic. Making it to the Round of Sixteen is the Kaiser’s mission.

Do not think that the mission is not perilous. It might be the hardest thing the US has ever done in soccer, and listen to me, this will be the hardest thing this squad of men will ever do in the game.

Keller is our leader though, who will be handling the yoke and flying American Soccer to victory, or defeat. How will they return—as heroes like in 94 and 02, or in infamy like in 98?

If you think our mission is to win the cup, then you’re probably new to the World Cup. Don’t worry the 2nd round and beyond always means respect. We don’t have the strength, or depth, though to make it past 4 games.

Maybe if we were in a different group we could go 5 games, but not this time. It has been 3 D-Days for the US in Group E, which has lived up to all the expectations of a group of death.

Each game a battle fought by our heroes, with nothing still assured. We could be sent packing from Germany, or escorted out on the shoulders of Uncle Sam’s Army—only the cup and time has the answer.

Poland Victorious in Consolation Match
Poland came from behind to defeat Costa Rica (2-1) in a match where only pride was at stake. Poland grabbed 3 pts. and sent Costa Rica packing with nothing to show for their Germany 2006 efforts. A brace by fringe-player Bosacki turned the match around for the Poles after they went behind from a Gomez goal off a direct free kick.

Germany Undefeated in the Homeland
Germany cruised to a 3-0 victory over Ecuador to take top honors in Group A with 9 pts. Ecuador had all to play for, but looked very flat without the efforts of key individual players for this match. Choosing to rest important players, Ecuador looked nothing like the hard, attacking side that jumped out to two early victories.

Germany began with a dream start scoring in the 4th min. from a Klose finish. Early pressure from a corner and failure from Ecuador to clear their lines, allowed for the defender Mertesacker to keep the play alive with a looping ball across the goal mouth that found Podolski, who to his right found strike partner Klose, who then finished clinicly with a strike to the back post.

Ecuador really never woke up from the early goal. Germany pushed forward in attack and were rewarded again in the 44th min. when Klose beat the keeper to Ballack’s through lob and finished into an open net. Podolski rounded off the scoring with a one-touch finish from off a cross by Schneider, who had been freed down the line by a great lead pass from Schweinsteiger.

Trinidad & Tobago Back to Reality
Trinidad went into their final match needing a multi-goal victory—and a Swedish defeat—to find themselves miraculously in the Round of Sixteen. Yet, with pride at stake, Paraguay earned the 3 pts. with a 2-0 victory over the Soca boys. Perhaps the similar styles and past encounters of the two sides played into Paraguay’s hands because they looked more at ease in this game and patiently picked their moments.

Still, what a great story for Trinidad & Tobago, so close to stunning the world in their first ever World Cup. Beenhakker showed his coaching pedigree as he amalgamated the youth and old-guard members of this squad to play coheisivly and competitively against the powerhouses of Europe. Veterens Yorke and Latapy—given a memorial send off by Beenhakker in the game against Paraguay—are passing the torch to a new generation that now have a taste of glory. It will be interesting to see how Trinidad & Tobago develop with their experience and success in Germany 2006.  

England: A Tale of Two Halves
Great teams have always had them…what a difference one man can make…with King Rooney, or Super-Roon on the field, England finally looked like a quality side determined to find glory—at least for the first half. Gone was the route 1 of old English tactics (darn Swede), with quick passing and attacking confidence galvanizing through the team. Even the forced introduction of Crouch, through a freak-injury to Owen (3rd min.), did not see the team revert back to the style that dominated the first two matches.

England found their rhythm and controlled the tempo of the game early. Rooney with his powerful and attacking runs created the space and opened the passing lanes to help his other teammates live up to their star-status reputations. England in the 25th min. showed their intentions with Rooney baring down on the goalkeeper pressing for goal—only a timely Sweden defensive challenge thwarting Rooney’s debut. Inspired by the energy, Joe Cole chest-volleyed in on his right boot from nearly 30 yards past the ever-stretching Swedish keeper, Isaksson.

In the second half, the Swedes stunned the English defense and coaching staff in the 51st min. with a near post header from Marcus Allback—off the corner kick from Lindroth, glanced in at the far post, beating Ashley Cole, as the English left-back tried to head the ball off the line. England then packed away their rhythm and passing game and reverted back to the conservative and predictable approach of direct football.

The English thought for a moment that this effective style had paid serious dividends as Liverpool substitute Gerrard found himself fee at the back post to head home a Joe Cole cross from inside the penalty area. Crouch’s height and effectiveness in drawing defenders and laying off for teammates probably justifying—or, only proving the law of averages—his inclusion by the coaching staff.

Victory for England was not to be though, as Sweden scrapped a draw as Larsson and Co. turned the ball into the English net, from a long throw-in in the 90th min. Despite the tie, England go out as group winners with 7 pts, and Sweden follow in second place with 5 pts. 
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Germany will face Sweden in another classic European match-up in the first knock out match in the Round of Sixteen. Germany is definitely growing in confidence, and if the giants in the back can help keep clean sheets, the Germans will fancy their chances against the Swedes, who are themselves having a hard time finding their playing rhythm.    

England achieves their goal and will face Ecuador in the Round of Sixteen. Hopefully, they come out as they did in the first half against Sweden, but facing the South American new-comers, I expect a lot of long driven balls up to the tall-tall target man. Ecuador had a hard time against Germany as their defensive caution and approach backfired horribly. Perhaps with the return of their 1st team strikers and defensive captain, Hurtado, Ecuador will force the issue and give us an open game.

For being one of the most feared strikers in the world, Thierry Henry surely needs to stay after hours on the training pitch to address his horrible heading technique.

Time-and-time again he looked like a fish out of water when it came to heading opportunities in France’s draw against South Korea. Domenech (Coach of France) should know better though and introduce Trezeguet if wants to continue with crosses into the box.

Also, when it came time to finish off the game, Henry—very un-Arsenal-like—failed to convert from close range as Zidane played him in free on the keeper.

To learn more about the all-important techniques of heading and finishing follow the link to 4skills.com.

Group F
Japan and Croatia played to a faceless 0-0 draw with both teams only having 1 point to show for two games. Japan benefits far more from this game as they had to bounce back from the devastating comeback defeat delivered by Australia in the opening game. While Croatia played well in their defeat to Brazil, this time they should have been able to pull out three points. They now have a lot to do if they are to advance to the Round of Sixteen with Brazil.

Brazil defeated Australia 2-0 again proving the maxim that a great team can still win regardless of their strange run of form. While the Brazilians are not jelling in typical fashion—Ronaldo’s lack of form—they still have two victories and time to find their team rhythm. A strike from Adriano—assisted by Ronaldo—and late goal by the substitute Fred will hopefully get the boys from Brazil flowing.

Brazil faces Japan in the last match of this group and an interesting match-up against former Brazilian great Zico (coach of Japan). Australia faces Croatia in the other match with Croatia in a must win situation if they are to advance.

Group G
France continued their poor run of form allowing South Korea to earn a point in the later stages of the game. Henry scored early, but France lacked the conviction and, dare I say, quality to find a 2nd goal. South Korea pushed forward in the 2nd half and were rewarded with a goal, as an excellent cross from the right resulted in a goal mouth scrambled that saw Barthez mishandle a header into his own net. To add insult to injury, Zidane must sit out the third-and-final match for accumulation of yellow cards.

Switzerland has taken a great step toward the 2nd round with a 2-0 win over Togo and looked poised to claim group leader in their showdown with South Korea in the final group match. Who can explain the horrible run of form of the French National Team? Les Bleus where are you? In their final match with Togo, Les Bleus will show if they’re true contenders, or just fancy pretenders.     
 

Group H
Ukraine defeated Saudi Arabia 4-0, making amends for their disastrous start against Spain. They have evened out their goal difference with this victory and more importantly Shevchenko is off the mark with his powerfully headed goal as well as an assist in the 2nd half to round off the victory.

If Spain showed their mastery in the first game, then they surely demonstrated their character in their come back win over Tunisia. Down a goal, Spain was saved by 2nd half goals from old-wily Raul and a brace by Torres to pull off a 3-1 victory, advancing to the Round of Sixteen.

Spain faces Saudi Arabia in a game that could provide another one-way-goal-fest. Holding the upper hand, Ukraine faces Tunisia and will feel confident that they can pull out the victory and advance with Spain.