The biggest event for the world's greatest spectator sport is finally here! Matches are aired rather late here in Australia with kick-offs at 2100, 0000 and 0300 hrs. But till now there's been no bother of waking up for office the next day. The very first match with Costa Rica taking on hosts Germany was a superb show of exactly why football is what it is! Barely 6 minutes into the game and Philipp Lahm gunned a long-ranger home in spectacular fashion for the first goal this World Cup!
As if that was not enough, another 6 minutes, another goal, this time from Costa Rica. And then Germany leaping ahead once again after barely another 5 minutes! No other sport could possibly hope to keep the audience absolutely on the edge as the pitch simply explodes in a hurricane of action! But yeah, I also thought 6 goals in a single match was a little too much :).
As if that was not enough, another 6 minutes, another goal, this time from Costa Rica. And then Germany leaping ahead once again after barely another 5 minutes! No other sport could possibly hope to keep the audience absolutely on the edge as the pitch simply explodes in a hurricane of action! But yeah, I also thought 6 goals in a single match was a little too much :).I missed the second match and found out that the South American team had upset Poland only when I tuned in for England's opener against Paraguay! Despite an even more explosive start thanks to the Bekham free-kick, the much hyped England team came up with a rather poor performance, I thought. At least they won the match, which is more than can be said for Sweden! Facing minnows Trinidad and Tobago, Sweden were held to a goalless draw!!
Old man Shaka Hislop (above) was of course by far the most valuable player for TnT making over half a dozen major saves. But the boys from the Caribbean simply frustrated the relentless Swedish attack by packing the defence with numbers and extremely consistent work at the back, especially since they were down to 10 men barely into the second half! Not a single goal, but what a match nonetheless!! Final word as far as that match goes: TnT totally rock!! :DAnd finally it was time for the match I had been waiting for, Argentina's opener! Frankly, I didn't expect Ivory Coast to have the faintest chance! But the way they played, especially Premier League player Drogba, things were getting pretty scary! It got worse when the CIV goalie fished a ball back from behind the line early in the game with the linesman denying Argentina a goal, but then Crespo struck!
I was a little disappointed to see both Lionel Messi and Pablo Aimar left out of the starting line-up, but Saviola soon put worries to rest with a second ball in the Ivory Coast net! If ony there hadn't been so many offsides, the scoreline would have looked much more spectacular! The way CIV, the least regarded team in the group, played only goes to show that Group C is indeed a group of death. If only Serbia and Montenegro and the Dutch were to conveniently draw their match tonight, thing's will get so much simpler for Pekerman's boys!
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Well, I'm hopefully into my last day in Perth. The last few days I've been content with walking around downtown, with the occasional foray into dreamier, quieter parts every now and then. Now it's time to pack up again. I'm planning to check out tomorrow before actually getting my visa. So I have my fingers firmly crossed :).Current Mood: mixed
Listening to: Pearl Jam - Rearviewmirror
Football pics from here and here.
Come on England Come on
ReplyDeleteArgentina are on their way richie!!!! :D
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