June 14th in Review

Vuvuzelas are Hell’s Trumpet

After Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday the damned Vuvuzela is driving me nuts!

The defening 90 minutes of noise in South Africa are called by the blasted Vuvuzela, a simple horn that South African fans blow in a trance like disconcerting noise. This instrument is causing people all over the world in front of their TV sets to get nervous and uncomfortable, and might be the reason that the games so far have been rather low scoring... they might be hampering the player’s ability to concentrate and adding to the nervosity. If the tournament organizers wanted to do something interesting, they should have introduced Vuvuzelas with different chords to different supporters, instead it sounds like clouds of millions of mosquitos buzzing over each stadium.

Holland’s Engine takes 60 minutes to start then sputters past an organized Denmark

Holland looked the worst team during the first half, suffering from the absence of Robben, and alligned in a very defensive position. Van Persie had a day to forget missing several easy shots, and Sneijder looked tired.

Denmark on the other hand came out all guns firing, and looked the better team in the first half, with Ajax veteran Denis Rommedahl providing extensive action. The Danish wingplay was excellent and Bendtner should have scored a formidable cross he received. The Danish defenders Kjaer and Agger were superb, and the left back Simon Busk Poulsen managed to shut down the Dutch right side and contribute to his attack.

The Dutch pick up the pace after halftime and unfortunatelly for his otherwise great performance Simon Busk Poulsen headed of the back of Agger into his own net for the openning goal. That was the incentive the Dutch needed, and when Dutch coach van Marwijk introduced Elijro Elia the young attacker introduced a level of energy that caught both teams by surprise, dribbling and darting towards goal. His hard work was rewarded as he hit the post after a great run and Kuijt had a tap in for the second goal.

The Dutch have work to do if they are to advance in this World Cup. The Danish are far from out of it. Cameroon and Japan beware of the Herrings!

Japan Fail to Stun a Sleeping Cameroon even with a Goal

Paul Le Guen really had a bad day. He left many of Cameroon’s best and most experienced players on the bench in favour of young European born players like Matip, Choupo Moting and played two players out of position. He tried to convert Eto’o into a midfielder, something that has already not worked on multiple occassions, and played Webo in a central striking role, another tested recipe for failure while playing defensive midfielder M’Bia as a right back. In other words he took Japan for granted.

Needless to say this backfired, as a sleepy and uncreative Cameroon found themselves frequently attacked by an organized Japanese team who managed to score a goal from the rising star Keisuke Honda, who performed very well in the Champions League with CSKA Moscow this season. 

What this Japanese team had was the best organized, and rather tall defence that was ever fielded by a Japan. Until Emana came on in the second half, Cameroon never really looked to seriously threaten the Japanese penalty area.

Cameroon’s chances in this World Cup took a serious blow today, as both remaining group opponents are tougher. Japan will  be hoping after picking up their first win of the tournament.

Impressive Paraguay Force Azurri into a Draw

A clockwork Paraguayan defence held the World Champions to a 1-1 draw today, As usual Italy fans will be criticizing the underperfomance of their team. This is just conservative short sightedness. Italy played well, but Paraguay are a good team who had no trouble qualifying for the World Cup from South America. They have a long history of great defenders and this team is no different. Paraguay showed the potential to advance far. The Cape rain downpour didn’t help the game, but overall it was one of the better matches of the tournament so far.