World Cup Germany Update 3

The second round of matches started with a dull match between hosts Germany against a very dissapointing Poland - so far the only country who failed to live up to i's billing. Much was made of the fact that Germany's starting striker pair were both born in Poland - Miroslav Klose & Lukas Poloski came to Germany when quite young along with their families. They both failed to shine against their country of birth. Instead a late Oliver Neiuville goal in injury time gave three points to Germany. Surprising Ecudor beat Costa Rica 3-0. On then to Group B, England stuggled initially against tiny Trinidad & Tobago but won 2-0 in the end. A tense match in the night saw Sweden score a very late goal despite creating numerous chances and clinch 3 points against Paraguay with a Freddie Ljungberg goal.

Then came the performance of the World Cup so far - Argentina trashed Serbia & Montenegro 6-0 with Juan Riquelme playing a great game without actually scoring. The seem to have reached the required level of excellence for winning the World Cup and let the rest of the teams be aware of their intention. On this form, they will be tough to beat. Robin Van Persie was the star of Holland's 2-1 versus the Ivory Coast, scoring one goal and blocking what was a sure goal against his team with his chest. México & Angola had a 0-0 draw which failed to create any excitement for the fans. Portugal found their scoring touch and beat Iran 2-0.

Group E pulled out two surprise games - the Czech Republic lost to Ghana by two goals to nil. Ghana who are newcomers to the World stage beat a tried & true European contender! And then another surprise the USA managed to draw with Italy 1-1 which made the Italian media and public furious. Japan & Croatia drew 0-0 which preceded a tough match for Brazil. They managed to beat Australia 2 - 0, but were far from convincing and also saw perhaps Ronaldo's demise as a star for his country. What was once a proud and high scoring champ is now a dejected over-paid player.

A toothless France scored their first goal in 5 matches in the World Cup, leading from 1998 in drawing South Korea 1-1, while Togo lost to Switzerland 0-2 in Group G matches. And finally, the Ukraine played to their best ablities in beating Saudi Arabia 4-0, while an impressive Spain scored 3 goals to Tunisia's 1 and advanced to the round of 16.



Song for the day - "Back In The Village" - IRON MAIDEN