Four more very exciting games. This has been one heck of a tournament so far. No draws in eight games, tons of goals pouring in, some great skill on display, upsets, great goals, and what is almost certainly the worst corner kick in the history of the World Cup. It’s been a lot of fun.
Colombia 3 – 0 Greece
They won by three goals but didn’t really look all that impressive. They got their early goal and held on for the rest of the match reasonably well. But they gave up a lot more good opportunities to Greece than I think they would have liked. A better passing team would have had a lot of luck slicing through their backline. As for Greece, I was pleasantly not irritated by them. Maybe it’s because they went behind so early and had to chase the game, but they actually tried to play football – rather than hunkering down in a concrete shelter. I can honestly see any of the teams in this group winning against any of the others. But obviously Colombia and Ivory Coast have a huge advantage at this point so are clear favorites to go through.
Uruguay 1 – 3 Costa Rica
What a game! I was really not too impressed with Costa Rica the couple of times I watched them in qualifying, but the team that played today was great. They clearly didn’t have as much skill on the ball as Uruguay, but more than made up for it with clever runs, general intensity, and aggressiveness in the attack. Joel Campbell had a great game and was a major handful. Uruguay, meanwhile, looked pretty poor without Suarez. They played a toothless 4-4-2 and seemed at a loss to open up space in front of the goal. 3-1 is possibly a tiny bit flattering to Costa Rica, but I think they clearly deserved the three points. While I still would bet on Italy-England advancing from this group, getting three points in the bank is a HUGE advantage. If they can play this well again, they will have a great shot of advancing from a group where I thought they’d get 0 points.
England 1 – 2 Italy
Meet the new England, same as the old England. For about 40 minutes they seemed to be something genuinely new. They were full of pace and Italy seemed totally unable to handle their lightning attacks down the right side. Sterling, Welbeck, and Sturridge were all linking up wonderfully with Glen Johnson bombing forward. Basically EVERY attack was down that channel, and even though it was obvious what they were doing, Italy didn’t seem to have an answer. Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney was wandering around in circles on the other side, doing nothing of any use. Of course, their goal came from the other side, thanks to a delicious cross from Rooney. It suggested that they could exploit both sides and really stretch the Italian defense. I thought they had every chance to win the game at that point.
But instead of building on their goal, they basically set up shop to close out the half and the team who emerged in the second half was totally zombified. Instead of looking exciting as they attacked down the wings, they looked lost. Once Italy scored their second, they basically stopped trying to play and just defended deep for the entire rest of the game. And England had absolutely nothing to say about it. I honestly can’t think of a single promising attack that came through the center of the pitch. All they could do was pass to the wing, run toward the touchline and then a) try to dribble past a mass of defenders and concede possession or b) tap a weak cross into the middle that was easily cleared. It was wretched. And was precisely the sort of clueless, tactically inept, boring stuff that you’d expect from a classic England team. It’s like they had never considered the possibility that Italy might defend deep and were utterly bewildered by the idea.
I said this in my preview and I’ll say it again: Rooney is a problem. I really think he needs to be dropped. He still has flashes of brilliance but they’re getting more and more rare – and are totally non-existent in a rather large set of World Cup matches at this point. And he doesn’t work in their best system. At all. Apart from that one cross, he did nothing today. Well, apart from taking the single worst corner kick in history.
Oh, and I have a serious crush on Andrea Pirlo. Check out the slice he put on that free kick that hit the bar. Insane. And that dummy to set up the first goal. Wonderful. He’s so dreamy.
Ivory Coast 2 – 1 Japan
I thought Japan looked pretty good while they were leading. Despite an obvious disadvantage in physicality, they managed to keep control of the midfield reasonably well, and were a lot more creative than Ivory Coast. As soon as they conceded the two rapid-fire goals, they seemed to deflate and offered absolutely nothing. I saw enough quality there that I really could imagine them winning their two other games. But I saw enough flaws that I could also see them losing both. I really hope they get three points next time out against Greece. This is an interesting group and I hope that there’s tension in it going into the final set of matches.
Favorite goals so far? It’s hard to argue with Van Persie’s header, but that Robben goal was also sublime. And Costa Rica’s third today (the incredible through ball and incredible one-touch placement by Ureña) is right up there for me.
Predictions for tomorrow:
- Switzerland 1 – 1 Ecuador
- France 2 – 0 Honduras
- Argentina 2 – 1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
I’m going to bet on a 1-1 draw, because I’ve tried that four times already and been wrong every time. I’m going to be against a CONCACAF team, because I’ve been wrong about both of them so far. And I’m going to bet on Argentina because I think they are very very good at football.