Its a long way to the top !!

Well, it has finally begun!! The World cup has made the indolent author move his ass around for a change. Anyway as our amateur correspondent put it, it was quite an entertaining start to the World Cup with Germany winning in a high scoring encounter against the Costa Ricans, but one would be surprised if they do score more than once against a higher caliber team like Brazil or Argentina (You would want me to put England here, dont you ??). The absence of Germany's inspirational captain Ballack can be called as a reason for the lack of real spark in the game. Just a reason!

Anyway, the English didnt differ much from the Germans. Pathetic would be an understatement!! I did miss the first half of the game, but the second half was just horrible. The game plan clearly showed the lack of a second forward for Sven after Crouch and Owen, and he absolutely has no confidence to bring on Walcott in place of Owen. Downing showed complete lack of creativity on the left flank in the few minutes he had on the pitch, which he used well to run down blind alleys. How Ashley must be missing Arsenal now!!

One guy who must not be missing Arsenal is Van Persie. He has been performing admirably on the right side of the Dutch attack, which has been spearheaded by Van Nistelrooy. It goes without saying that Robben has been collosal among the trio. He had an absolute ball on the left side and completed a beautiful move. This dutch side has been quite different from the sides before. The difference being the efficiency of the back four or five. Van Bronckhorst or Heitinga are by no means rampaging full backs and this has been the key to the midfield trio of Sneijder, Cocu and Van Bommel. They have been constantly keeping shape in the middle. Full credit to the Serbs, who fought till the end. However some questions need to be answered from their set-piece tactics and for not using the height of Zigic well. Otherwise it was a good effort from the Serbs.

The game between the Argentines and Ivory Coast lived upto its reputation. Fast and furious!! The Africans showed steel and purpose in the middle of the park. Zakora, Kone, both the Toure's and Kalou to some extent played wonderfully. Drogba as expected spent more time twitching on the field. And how could i forget the Argentines. Their football is a delight to watch. Despite the physical strength of the Africans, Cambiasso and Maschereno held fort quite admirably. Saviola was lively throughout and that pretty much makes the case as to why Tevez is absent in the starting eleven (Did anyone miss Messi??) . Not much needs to be said about Riquelme. He is probably one of the most complete attacking midfielder currently. He holds the ball brilliantly, almost never gives it away and worst case he gets the team a free kick. I vividly remember him holding the ball with Gilberto, Cesc (and I think Henry) breathing down his neck. This makes one question the Barcelona team policy, with both these South Americans shipped out to other La Liga clubs. Quite tragic!


Anyways teams and players I am looking forward to in the group stages:
-->France vs Swiss Army: Want to see if Senderos is good enough for Henry.
-->Togo: Apparently one Emmanuel Adeboyar is their key player, so have to watch the comic spectacle.
-->Holland vs Argentina: Duh!!
-->Brazil vs Australia: Think this is going to be a cracker!
-->England vs Sweden

What we have learnt so far:
-->Germans are impotent in attack and will struggle against good teams.
-->The English team is a joke. It is an even bigger one that they are supposed World Cup hopefuls. Hopefully Rooney will return to boost their game and morale.
-->Argentina have proved why they are to be feared.
-->Iranians are not as puny as the Saudis!!
-->Ivory coast have proved to be the most feared African nation, they need some more luck. They were making the right noises in the game.
-->Holland's quiet World Cup campaign is on track.