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After 48 (yes, it’s that many!) Group games of varying quality, the 32 countries that started the World Cup full of hopes and dreams have been whittled down to 16. Along the way there has been skill, drama, controversy … and tired eyes for those of us who have been following the 72 hours of football on show.
It hasn’t been a classic World Cup so far, but there’s been enough to make it a memorable one. The opening game, historically a dull affair, proved precisely the opposite this time around and set the tone for the group stage, especially in terms of spectacular goals: Lahm’s opener and Frings’ icing on a 4-2 cake for Germany over Costa Rica.
There were 117 goals in all – a healthy average of 2.4 a game. It would take pages to describe all the brilliant goals scored, but two in particular stick in the mind: England’s first goal against Sweden (2-2) was snatched by winger Joe Cole, chesting down a clearance and volleying in from outside the area, past the despairing fingertips of Isaakson in the Swedish goal. If that was a prime example of an individual creating something from nothing, Argentina’s second in their 6-0 hammering of Serbia & Montenegro was a textbook team effort: 25 passes before Crespo provided a cheeky back-heel for Cambiasso to crash the ball home.
That demolition of Serbia & Montenegro, who must have wished they’d stayed in bed that morning, was a magnificent team performance and had some pundits comparing this Argentina with the Brazil of 1970. They had already beaten a battling Ivory Coast 2-1, but their final group game was a disappointing 0-0 draw with Holland, both of the teams having already clinched qualification. The strength in depth of a team that can afford to have the fantastic Tevez and Messi on the bench is unquestionable, however.
Other team performances of note were the breath-taking 0-0 draw (yes, 0-0 draws can be breath-taking) squeezed out by ten-man Trinidad & Tobago against Sweden; Australia’s turnaround of a 0-1 deficit against Japan, with three goals in the last five minutes; Ghana’s 2-0 steamrollering of the Czech Republic; and Spain’s 4-0 dismantling of Ukraine. In terms of quality of the football played, the USA versus Italy was way down the list, but for drama, it was arguably top: the USA were reduced to nine men, Italy to ten, and both sides went at it as if giving credence to American player Eddie Johnson’s pre-match cry of “We’re here for a war!” It finished a draw, 1-1.
Most of the teams that went through to the last 16 were as expected (see our ‘favourites’ series), but there were some surprises: Poland lost out to un-fancied Ecuador in Group A; the Czech Republic, with Köller and Baros injured, fell at the first fence in Group E, Croatia were disappointing in Group F; and a pale France left it until the last game in Group G (2-0 against Togo) to confirm their presence in the next phase.
Also disappointing, but qualifying all the same, were Italy (after an outstanding display against Ghana in the first game [2-0], they wilted), Brazil (everyone expects magic from them, and they didn’t really deliver) and England.
Some players that the world was expecting the world from failed to come up with the goods: France’s Zinedane Zidane did not impress in his two games, and saw two yellow cards that meant he missed the last group game and might have bowed out from international football in ignominy; he didn’t because France scraped through, and he lives to fight another day in the next phase. And for Brazil, neither Ronaldinho, marked out of all three games, nor Ronaldo, apparently overweight and struggling – although he got two in the 4-1 win over Japan – set the world alight.
Other players simply had extremely bad luck. In Paraguay’s first game, against England (0-1), goalkeeper Villar suffered an own goal from his central defender Gamarra on two minutes and was injured and stretchered off after five; he took no more part in the World Cup. And in England’s final group game (2-2, Sweden), star forward Michael Owen twisted his knee, an injury that meant he would be out of football for around five months.
And yet other players were either revelations or confirmations: Ecuador’s Espinoza, Trinidad & Tobago’s Sancho and Mexico’s Omar Bravo were excellent, while Argentina’s Messi (when he came on), Germany’s Klose (four goals), and Ghana’s Essien merely confirmed their quality.
But the World Cup is a team competition, so let’s return to just that: the teams. The countries that fell by the wayside will surely rise up again and challenge for the next World Cup in 2010 (South Africa). Those that remain in the competition are there on merit; 16 left - may the best team win!
If you would like to practise your English, try the following activites:
Putting sentences in numerical order (easy)
Deciding if statements are true or false (medium)
Matching verbs and expressions (harder)
What did you think of the group stage? Let us know.
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