World Cup Round 1 Update
Well, the first batch of games for World Cup 2006 are almost over and there have been many surprises thus far making it already a tournament to remember.
Group A: Host Germany (FIFA Rank #19) started off strong with a 4-2 victory over Costa Rica (FIFA Rank #26). They looked especially effecient on offense but the 2 goals they gave up were results of poor and sloppy defensive lapses. Better teams will take advantage of this.
Group B: England (FIFA Rank #10) squeaked by Paraguay (FIFA Rank #33) 1-0, scoring on an own goal off of a David Beckham free kick. The English did not look good at all and will be hoping that striker Wayne Rooney will be available sooner rather than later to jumpstart their offense. In the other match, Trinidad and Tobago (FIFA Rank #47) in their first World Cup, surprised heavy favorite Sweden (FIFA Rank #16) by playing them to a scoreless tie.
Group C: Things went pretty much as planned here as Argentina (FIFA #9) defeated Ivory Coast (FIFA #32) 2-1 and the Dutch (FIFA #3) defeated Serbia (FIFA #44) 1-0.
Group D: Ditto Group D where Mexico (FIFA #4) defeated Iran (FIFA #23) 3-1 and Portugal (FIFA #7) beat Angola (FIFA #57) 1-0.
Group E: The US (FIFA #5) absolutely choked against the Czech Republic (FIFA #2) and lost 3-0 in a heavily lopsided match. It was like the US knew that it didn't deserve its high ranking and just laid down to the powerful Czechs. Coach Bruce Arena wasn't afraid to pass out blame after the match, stating that his star players Landon Donovan, Demarcus Beasley, and Kasey Kellar all made crucial mistakes. After Italy (FIFA #13) beat Ghana (FIFA #48) 2-0, the US has its work cut out to make the 2nd round.
Group F: After Japan (FIFA #18) led most of the match, Australia (FIFA #42) roared back, scoring 3 goals in the game's final 8 minutes to win 3-1. Incredible turnaround. Australia had never even scored a goal in its brief World Cup history and now they have their first win. Australia is coached by Gus Hiddink who also led the Korean squad in 2002 to great success (the Final Four). What a great coach this guy is. And now Brazil (FIFA #1) the heavy favorite has just ended its game with Croatia (FIFA #23), winning 1-0.
Group G: South Korea (FIFA #29) got off to a strong start, defeating Togo (FIFA #61) 2-1. Unfortunately, after my tiring Monday, I was unable to wake up at 3:00AM to watch the entire match. I got up at the 60 minute mark when it was tied 1-1. The first Korean goal was scored by loudmouth Lee Chun Soo off of a free kick, the first goal of that type this year so far.
Then Ahn Jung Hwan scored a beautiful goal to clinch the victory. Am I happy? Of course. Am I satisfied with the win? No. Togo is one of the weaker teams in the field and we should have had an easier time with them, especially after they were down to 10 men after losing a man to a red card. Yet even a man down, Togo had some scary oppportunities late in the game as Korea's defense looked a little ragged. Plus, Korea failed to attack after going up 2-1 and basically killed the clock. With goal differential being a tiebreaker to go the next round, I wanted to see them score another goal especially with Togo a man down. But....a win is a win and after the Swiss (FIFA #35) and France (FIFA #8) played to a scoreless tie, Korea leads this group with 3 points. Daehanmingook fighting!
Group A: Host Germany (FIFA Rank #19) started off strong with a 4-2 victory over Costa Rica (FIFA Rank #26). They looked especially effecient on offense but the 2 goals they gave up were results of poor and sloppy defensive lapses. Better teams will take advantage of this.
Group B: England (FIFA Rank #10) squeaked by Paraguay (FIFA Rank #33) 1-0, scoring on an own goal off of a David Beckham free kick. The English did not look good at all and will be hoping that striker Wayne Rooney will be available sooner rather than later to jumpstart their offense. In the other match, Trinidad and Tobago (FIFA Rank #47) in their first World Cup, surprised heavy favorite Sweden (FIFA Rank #16) by playing them to a scoreless tie.
Group C: Things went pretty much as planned here as Argentina (FIFA #9) defeated Ivory Coast (FIFA #32) 2-1 and the Dutch (FIFA #3) defeated Serbia (FIFA #44) 1-0.
Group D: Ditto Group D where Mexico (FIFA #4) defeated Iran (FIFA #23) 3-1 and Portugal (FIFA #7) beat Angola (FIFA #57) 1-0.
Group E: The US (FIFA #5) absolutely choked against the Czech Republic (FIFA #2) and lost 3-0 in a heavily lopsided match. It was like the US knew that it didn't deserve its high ranking and just laid down to the powerful Czechs. Coach Bruce Arena wasn't afraid to pass out blame after the match, stating that his star players Landon Donovan, Demarcus Beasley, and Kasey Kellar all made crucial mistakes. After Italy (FIFA #13) beat Ghana (FIFA #48) 2-0, the US has its work cut out to make the 2nd round.
Group F: After Japan (FIFA #18) led most of the match, Australia (FIFA #42) roared back, scoring 3 goals in the game's final 8 minutes to win 3-1. Incredible turnaround. Australia had never even scored a goal in its brief World Cup history and now they have their first win. Australia is coached by Gus Hiddink who also led the Korean squad in 2002 to great success (the Final Four). What a great coach this guy is. And now Brazil (FIFA #1) the heavy favorite has just ended its game with Croatia (FIFA #23), winning 1-0.
Group G: South Korea (FIFA #29) got off to a strong start, defeating Togo (FIFA #61) 2-1. Unfortunately, after my tiring Monday, I was unable to wake up at 3:00AM to watch the entire match. I got up at the 60 minute mark when it was tied 1-1. The first Korean goal was scored by loudmouth Lee Chun Soo off of a free kick, the first goal of that type this year so far.
Then Ahn Jung Hwan scored a beautiful goal to clinch the victory. Am I happy? Of course. Am I satisfied with the win? No. Togo is one of the weaker teams in the field and we should have had an easier time with them, especially after they were down to 10 men after losing a man to a red card. Yet even a man down, Togo had some scary oppportunities late in the game as Korea's defense looked a little ragged. Plus, Korea failed to attack after going up 2-1 and basically killed the clock. With goal differential being a tiebreaker to go the next round, I wanted to see them score another goal especially with Togo a man down. But....a win is a win and after the Swiss (FIFA #35) and France (FIFA #8) played to a scoreless tie, Korea leads this group with 3 points. Daehanmingook fighting!
posted by Myong Choi at 11:02 AM
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