EN World World Cup blog

[Klaus]

Whew!

Brazil 2-0 Australia, with goals by Adriano (honoring his newborn son, also named Adriano) and his replacement, Fred (a very good player from Olympique de Lyon). Ronaldo showed some improvement, but he seemed to miss the beat more often than is acceptable for a professional player.

And Croatia and Japan ended tied at 0-0. If Croatia defeats Australia on Thursday, they move to the next round. Japan's only chance is to defeat Brazil and hope for a tie between Croatia and Australia.

Coming up next: France has not scored a goal in a World Cup since the final match of 1998. Can they beat the jinx?

 

[johnsemlak]

Whew!

Brazil 2-0 Australia, with goals by Adriano (honoring his newborn son, also named Adriano) and his replacement, Fred (a very good player from Olympique de Lyon). Ronaldo showed some improvement, but he seemed to miss the beat more often than is acceptable for a professional player.

Ronaldo created the first goal with some fantastic footwork though. Still below par though over the whole match.

And Croatia and Japan ended tied at 0-0. If Croatia defeats Australia on Thursday, they move to the next round. Japan's only chance is to defeat Brazil and hope for a tie between Croatia and Australia.

And Australia advance with only a draw. THey'll have a tremendous advantage in that match. Croatia will rue their missed opportunites in the Japan match.

 

[Turanil]

Okay, no knowledge of soccer, but with my precognition power I claim that Spain will win the world cup.

Will be back when all of this is over.

 

[STARP_Social_Officer]

I think Australia will qualify. I hate boosting the already-hyped inflated sense of worth concerning the Socceroos, but they were actually the better team against Brazil (I thought, anyway). Brazil were lucky rather than skilled, at least until the last few minutes when the aforementioned "Fred" came in. That's a brilliant name for a footballer, by the way. Anyway, I thought Brazil were off their game, which is why Australia was able to hold them to a 0-0 draw by the half-time mark. Australia will have to beat or tie with Croatia, and I think they'll be able to do that, given Croatia's performance against Japan. That means, of course, we'll play Italy in round two. Italy will, let's be clear, bitch-slap the Socceroos back to the Antipodes. But a second-round defeat is pretty good, considering the only other time we've been in it we finished dead last in our group and didn't score a goal.

 

[Jdvn1]

And Australia advance with only a draw. THey'll have a tremendous advantage in that match. Croatia will rue their missed opportunites in the Japan match.

Though, Australia can't get that into their heads. They have to play to win. If you play for a draw, you'll end up losing.

 

[johnsemlak]

Though, Australia can't get that into their heads. They have to play to win. If you play for a draw, you'll end up losing.

Oh, no doubt. You've got to have a winning mindset. But it still gives them a significant advantage.

I thought Croatia looked abysmal in their match with Japan, though I only saw the second half and I'm guessing the heat of the daytime match caused a great deal of fatigue late. Still, they haven't scored a goal in the WC yet, and now they must win against Australia. Will be very tough for Croatia.

 

[Ruavel]

Though, Australia can't get that into their heads. They have to play to win. If you play for a draw, you'll end up losing.

Guus Hiddink doesn't play for draws... and if we play as well as we did against Brasil, I think it could be a tough match Croatia.

That said last time the two teams met, Croatia pasted Australia 7-0 in a friendly...

 

[johnsemlak]

And tonight we'll be treated to 4 matches instread of three. I'm looking forward to Germany-Equador--both sides have been impressive so far. I won't dare to predict it.

I'm interested to see if T&T can do something against Paraguay. T&T certainly have looked capable of scoring in their matches; Paraguay might be deflated and flat after loosing the first two matches. If Trinidad can actually pull off a win, who knows what the final standings of that group will be.

 

[Ruavel]

I'm looking forward to Germany-Equador--both sides have been impressive so far. I won't dare to predict it.

If I had to, I'd put my money on Equador. The German defense can be a little leaky at the moment, but it's going to be an awesome match.

I'm interested to see if T&T can do something against Paraguay. T&T certainly have looked capable of scoring in their matches; Paraguay might be deflated and flat after loosing the first two matches. If Trinidad can actually pull off a win, who knows what the final standings of that group will be.

T&T played their two matches with such heart and commitment, I'd love to see them go through. Not convinced they'll make it though, but certainly hope so.

 

[Jdvn1]

If I had to, I'd put my money on Equador. The German defense can be a little leaky at the moment, but it's going to be an awesome match.

Funny, I'd put it on Germany.