Group of Death » World Cup Results

Group E and F decided

Administrator — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 15:30:24 +0000

In what turned out to be the Group of Death after all, nothing at all had been decided going into the final day in Group E, and all four teams still had a valid chance of advancing, win and you were in, for the most part. Group F already had Brazil advancing, with two other teams with a chance.

Group E
The US was up against Ghana, the team everyone figured they could get a point off of. If the US were to win, and Italy were to beat Czech Republic, as both were expected, the US would advance. Due to some unispired play, mistakes and help of a phantom foul call in the box, the US just couldn’t over come their mistakes. In a 2 – 1 defeat, the US was booted from the World Cup, and unable to recreate their run in 2002.

Italy started their match, knowing for the most part, they would advance with a win or a tie, and rested Luca Toni and Del Piero for the entire match. Fortunately, the Czech Republic, outside of Pavel Nedved frovided no resistance at all, and Italy advanced easily with a 2 – 0 win, knocking out the 3rd ranked team in the world, that played uninspired soccer after the US match.

Group F
Brazil was given a gift when the draw was announced, being matched up Croatia, Japan and Australia. They cruised through their group stage, playing substitutes much of the time. Japan needed a win against Brazil to advance, but I am pretty sure even the Japanese knew that wasn’t going to happen. When Japan went up 1 – 0, it just angered the Brazilians, who put in 4 goals just like that. You just got the feeling the could have scored 10 more if they had wanted to.

Australia, the surprise team of the tournament with a come from behind win over Japan in their first match, needed a win to advance to the group of 16. They only needed a win or a tie to advance, assuming Brazil took care of Japan as expected. In one of the better matches of the tournament, Australia came back from behind twice in the match to tie it, and had several chances to win in the final minutes, but were happy with the tie and a ticket to the second round.

Second Round
Brazil will start it’s march to the finals with a matchup against surprising Ghana on June 27th in Dortmund. Brazil is yet to play a top rated team, with only Japan in the top 25, though Japan doesn’t belong there. With a win against Ghana, they will match up with either Spain or France, and we will get a better idea where Brazil stands as a team. The lucky Australians get Italy in the weakest quad of the finals. With a win, they get either Switzerland or Ukraine, not exactly world powers. It looks like Italy gets a near free pass to the Semi-Finals, as there really isn’t a strong team in their group at all.

Mexico – 0 – Angola 0

Administrator — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 05:59:11 +0000

Mexico had a chance to punch a ticket to the second round with a win over overmatched Angola. Mexico outshot, outplayed and outran Angola from start to finish. You could see as the match went along, Angola gained confidence that they had a chance to win the match. Mexico had by far the best chances, but just couldn’t connect in the final third, and their finishing was suspect. 90 minutes later, both goalkeepers walked off the feild with a clean sheet. What looked like a free pass for Mexico into the second round, they will not have to struggle with Portugal in order to advance. Mexico now has 4 points through 2 matches, but Angola with a win against Iran could also have 4 points. Mexico will need either a tie or win against Portugal to secure their spot in the second round. With a loss and a win by Angola it will come down to goal differential, which could be negative for Mexico.

Netherlands 2 – Cote D’Ivoire 1

Administrator — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 05:48:18 +0000

In what was expected to be one of the best matches so far in the 2006 World Cup, was just that, a great Match. Cote D’Ivoire needed a win to keep alive in the tournament, and played like a desparate team. The match was played at a high rate, very competetive and very exciting. The Netherlands jumped out ahead on a fantastic free kick by Van Persie (he’s only 22 ladies), and a goal by Van Nistelrooij when one of the defenders fell asleep and kept him onside inside the 18 yard box. CIV faught back with a goal by Kone near the end of the first half, but really couldn’t do much else beyond that.

VAN PERSIE Robin (23′)
VAN NISTELROOIJ Ruud (27′)
KONE Bakary (38′)

Really a bad turn of luck for CIV, as they most likely could have qualified to the second round through just about any other group, but having to play both Argentina and Netherlands during the first week, sealed their fate. They played well in both matches, and looked the more dangerous team for long stretches of each match, but just couldn’t finish when needed. Netherlands are off to the second round, following a match with Argentina for first place in the group.

Argentina 6 – Serbia and Montenegro 0

Administrator — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 05:32:14 +0000

Just a stunning example of the quality and depth of a fantastic Argentine team. This game is proof that Argentina should be taken seriously as one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the world. Serbia and Montenegro allowed only 1 goal during their qualifying run to the World Cup finals, yet managed to give up 6 goals in one game. The goals were a combination of touch, brilliance, speed and power. They can come at you with so many different players in so many different ways, it will be tough for any team to slow them down.

RODRIGUEZ Maxi (6′)
CAMBIASSO Esteban (31′)
RODRIGUEZ Maxi (41′)
CRESPO Hernan (78′)
TEVEZ Carlos (84′)
MESSI Lionel (88′)

So much for the group of death. With two wins, Argentina are through to the second round, with one match left to play against Netherlands. Serbia and Monetenegro are out, with one match left against Cote D’Ivoire.

England 2 – Trinidad and Tobago 0

Administrator — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 18:31:49 +0000

In a stark contrast to England’s first game, Mr. Roboto was not taken out of his game by the center referee. Even though T&T came into the game on a high note after a tie with Sweden, and had more chances than England early in this game, Crouch came through in the end, going over the T&T defender for a crushing header into the back of the net. No robot dance followed, but a big strike by Steven Gerrard sealed the deal for a 2-0 win. It was really a crushing defeat for T&T who had a chance to be up several goals by the time Crouch scored, but just could not get the ball in the back of the net.

CROUCH Peter (83′)
GERRARD Steven (91+’)

England, which has stumbled through their first two matches, has secured a spot in the second round. It appears they may have to beat Sweden to take first place and avoid Germany in the group of 16, though the way Ecuador has been playing, neither matchup will be easy.

Ecuador 2 – Poland 0

Administrator — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 22:03:44 +0000

As a follow up to the Germany – Costa Rica match, Ecuador, which plays it’s home matches at over 9,000 feet above see level, and struggles away from home, winning only one point in the South American qualifying took on Poland, which only had to travel a few hundred miles, and had the home field advantage. The first 20 minutes of the match was slow, plodding soccer. I felt like Eric Cantona was going to run out on the field and judo kick someone. Either everyone was scared to death or disinterested. Once Ecuador struck in the 24th minute, the match was all but over. Poland looked slow and non-threatening at all. A team that was a near lock to make it out of the group now looks like they will have to beat Germany to advance. Ecuador was not Brazil in disguise by any means, but they attacked, and finished their chances. It now looks like Germany and Ecuador are the favorites to advance, as Ecuador has Costa Rica next, and should go into the Germany game with 6 points in hand, while Poland and Costa Rica could be playing for pride.

ECU – TENORIO Carlos (24′)
ECU – DELGADO Agustin (80′)

Germany 4, Costa Rica 2

Administrator — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 18:06:20 +0000

In the opening match of World Cup 2006, host team Germany dominated an outclassed Costa Rica. Germany thuroughly dominated the match, outshooting Costa Rica 21 to 4. With the exceptoin of a few breakaway chances by Wanchope, Costa Rica couldn’t keep any possession at all in the midfield, and any time they attempted to go forward, they were immediately shut down my multiple defenders.

GER LAHM Philipp (6′)
CRC WANCHOPE Paulo (12′)
GER KLOSE Miroslav (17′)
GER KLOSE Miroslav (61′)
CRC WANCHOPE Paulo (73′)
GER FRINGS Torsten (87′)

Overall, Germany looked pretty confident in their first match, and should advance out of their group easily. However, the German defence looks shaky, and most likely would have lost if they were matched up with a better team. The midfield and forwards played well, but unless the defence improves, they will most likely be knocked out once they exit the group stage. They may make it past Sweden, but a full strenght England team beats them easily.

Great start to the World Cup, can’t wait for the rest of the matches.