Tuesday, June 22, 2010

World cup group last round prediction


Already finished:
Group A: Uruguay & Mexico (France's out!)
Group B: Argentina (Yes!) & Korea

Next two days:
Group C: Slovenia & England (USA & England)
England will beat Slovenia (yes) & USA will tie Algeria (nope)
England has to be hanging there to play Argentina

Group D: Germany & Serbia (Germany and Ghana)
Germany will beat Ghana (yes); Serbia will beat Australia (nope)
German always sticks to the end

Group E: Netherlands & Denmark (Netherlands & Japan)
Denmark beats Japan (nope); Netherlands ties Cameroon (nope)
Japan and Denmark is almost 50%-50%, but Japan traditionally loses to more physical teams

Group F: Paraguay & Italy (Paraguay & Slovakia)
Italy beats Slovakia (nope but ha!); Paraguay beats New Zealand (tie)
If Slovakia could beat Italy, it won't be at the bottom of this weak group

Group G: Brazil & Portugal
Portugal ties Brazil; Cote d'Ivoire beats Korea
Even Portugal loses to Brazil, it will still advance unless... but Ronaldo?

Group H: Spain & Chile
Spain beats Chile; Switzerland beats Honduras (tie)
Who would thought that this is a tough group? Now there's a real possibility that a team with two wins wouldn't advance, unless Spain ties Chile. In that case, I wouldn't be heart broken, but it would be a real pity to not see Spain play more.

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Saturday, June 17, 2006

World cup: USA vs. Italy

The USA put up a good fight with the Italians,
but it was a very bloody game.

The worst part of the game is ABC's commentator, who wanes too much about the red card the Americans got and the goal nullified because of an off side player. I can't believe ABC will have some idiot like this for national TV.

May be he had worked in the NHL group too long?

Yes, De Rossi disgraced himself with that ugly elbow. But one should had seen this coming after seeing the first 20 minutes' play by team USA. If the referee Jorge Larrionda from Uruguay had acted more strict earlier, this might be better controlled. Although the two other red cards are more or less correct according to the rules, well, the game went down hill from there.

One more thing on the nullified goal by DaMarcus Beasley. Yes, although McBride didn't touch the ball, he was clearly not only off side but also blocked the view of the keeper and even made the move to confused him. To me, there's no doubt that McBride gained advantage from his off side position on this play.

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