1 week into the World Cup and already there had been some surprises for us. Cameroon is out, France is almost certainly out, Spain was beaten by Switzerland etc.
Top Teams thus Far
Argentina- A lot of people thought they would be challengers for the World Cup but I’ll admit; I wasn’t one of them. The team’s form was bad, there was no defence, and coach Diego Maradona don’t seem to know what he was doing; however they do have 3 good strikers in Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain. Thus far, that had been enough.
New Zealand- The All-Whites were supposed to be nothing but fillers in this World Cup. The lowest and arguably the weakest team in this World Cup, they were supposed to just enjoy the fact they were even in the World Cup. However a gutsy 1-1 draw with Slovakia meant that they will leave the World Cup with at least a point, and that’s something to cheer about.
Surprise Team thus Far
England- The always over-rated English had been expected to challenge for the World Cup but thus far, they had not been impressive. However what has been surprising to me has been how listless the team had been in the 2 game they had played. Coach Fabio Capello said that the team is scared and I have to agree. Star striker Wayne Rooney seems jaded and the midfield had been void of creativity. They need to vastly improve to have a chance to win the World Cup.
Disappointing Teams thus Far
South Africa- Host of the World Cup had always managed to get to the second round of the competition. This streak will be broken this time unless something truly amazing happen for South Africa. It may be sad for the host, but not unexpected as South Africa was always up against it.
France- Blessed with good players, the disunity in the team was the downfall in this World Cup. Coach Raymond Domenech had been unable to get the team to play together and the firestorm has led striker Nicolas Anelka to be sent home after he insulted the coach in front of the team and then refusing to apologize for it. They had been a total failure in this World Cup.
2 comments:
The scandal with the French team was terrible. Anelka got kicked out and the couch didn´t want to put Henry on the main team since his sign was not the right one. That was disappointing! And Argentina disappointed me pretty bad on Saturday. They are lucky that they have a beautiful country, because soccer is no longer the sport they are best at. I remember last year I was looking to rent apartments buenos aires and I saw the best stores and shopping malls in South America. At least fashion is something they have sense for.
Brooke
The French scandal was terrible but I'm not so sure how much the coach should be blamed for that. In the Anelka case, he didn't do anything wrong. When a player cursed a coach, he got to go. And he gave Anelka a chance to just say sorry and everyone can forget about the matter. Anelka refused, so he must go. The reaction of the French team after that was just plain stupid.
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