Host Nation's World Cup Armchair Diary: Day Three

The opening weekend of the 2010 World Cup concluded with another triple threat of games on a lazy Sunday afternoon(/evening). Half of our thirty-two sides have now made an account of themselves and, quite frankly, very few have been that dazzling.

However, the goals finally game for those netbuster fanatics in the evening's fixture and England's situation in Group C following a disappointing draw with the USA became a little clearer.



Much like in Group A on Friday, a draw between England and the United States left their group rivals Algeria and Slovenia with a golden opportunity to gain a two-point advantage in their unlikely quest for a spot in the second round. Much like France and Uruguay, neither side did much at all to make it happen in a tedious encounter - but unlike in Group A, one team did nonetheless find those three priceless points.

While I'm sure many England fans watching the game at home or in a bar somewhere hoped for a draw to minimise the impact of our own dropped points the previous evening, they will have surely been somewhat satisfied with just how little both teams showed in a tense stalemate kicked into life slightly towards the end.

Much like its dire Friday counterpart, a substitute made an impact for all the wrong reasons with two silly yellow cards and an extremely early shower. Abdelkader Ghezzal spent fourteen minutes on the pitch before seeing red, and six minutes later the Slovenians took full advantage with a decent effort by Robert Koren creeping in when it really should have been dealt with by Fawzi Chaouchi in goal.

With just three shots on target apiece and little in the way of positive, entertaining play to be found, Fabio Capello and company will surely receive a boost from Sir Trevor Brooking's live scout report once he returns to Camp England.

45 minutes later and Group D curtain-raisers Serbia and Ghana had shown more drive and enterprise in the opening stages than the Algerians and Slovenians had all game. It was also one of the biggest displays so far of how difficult many of the players are finding the much-discussed tournament ball - though still no excuses please, Mr. Green.

Serbia vs Ghana marked the beginning of the fourth of eight groups - and be honest, who expected it to take that long for a striker to find a World Cup goal?

The contest followed a similar template to Algeria/Slovenia albeit mercifully with far more of an attacking flow. Most of said endeavour came from the Black Stars, who were the deserved winners even if it took yet another second half red card claimed on this occasion by Aleksandar Lukovic and a late penalty courtesy of an insane handball by Zdravko Kuzmanovic.

The spot-kick was converted by Asamoah Gyan, scorer of Ghana's first ever World Cup goal four years ago who ironically missed from the spot later in that very game against the Czech Republic. This successful penalty was also, as mentioned earlier, the first goal converted by a forward in over 620 minutes of football here at South Africa.

The Serbs, despite looking sturdy enough to launch a sustained run in the tournament, now face an early exit should they lose on June 18 - oh, and their opponents are Germany.

Just to further emphasize the importance of a result in your first WC game for teams such as Serbia, their next obstacle began their own campaign in style that evening against an Austrailian side largely unchanged from their impressive foray on German soil in 2006.

And not only did Germany break the low-scoring trend of the tournament so far, but they also offered the rare sight of a few goals in the middle of a game as opposed to very early or late on.

Though the Austrailians came close in the early stages to taking a shock lead, their collective squad age and lack of fresh injection of talent since the last WC were soon clear for everyone to see when a well-worked move architected by Mesut Ozil was powered home by the man voted best young player in the 2006 tournament, Lukas Podolski.

Miroslav Klose, 2006's Golden Boot winner and co-holder of 2002's Silver Boot, will wonder how he didn't take the (infamously pecuilar) match ball home with a hat-trick in the game, but must surely be pleased with his solitary goal on 27 minutes with yet another trademark power header from Phillip Lahm's excellent cross.

It was ironic and quite sad that the Socceroos came out for the second half in much better shape and pro-actively chased a way back into the game for ten minutes until Tim Cahill saw red in slightly harsh fashion, presumably because his tackle was from behind, it would seem.

And from there the Germans killed the game off with another pair of fine goals - first Thomas Muller recovered from a slight stumble to finish a smooth passing play with a well-placed low drive, then just two minutes later substitute Cacau was put through for an easy finish by the excellent Ozil - though both of these belated German citizens will be a cause for concern in future fixtures with their ridiculous dives earning them a booking each.

I've already noticed the amount of praise the German performance has earned from viewers worldwide - it's mostly deserved. However, it should be noted that while the win was never in doubt, a four-goal drubbing was made possible by the questionable sending off, and I have to wonder whether they can pull off the same kind of result against a younger Serbia and a more lively Ghana.

Not only that, but Germany's more successful major tournament campaigns have famously seen them stumble out of the blocks only to outlast the field towards a final appearance and perhaps even silverware. Are they peaking too soon? Do they risk going the same way as Spain at the 06 WC and Holland in Euro 2008?

Either way, unless the Serbs and/or the Aussies can dig deep in their second game, we're looking at a group that could be all but wrapped up a matchday early - with the exception of course of the small matter of a Germany/Ghana play-off to decide first and second and more importantly, who awaits England barring total disaster.

It took three days but we finally have a goal feast, one sixth of the way through the group stage fixtures and at the halfway point of the 32 sides' opening gambits. It's had its highs and lows so far, but while the general concensus is that the volume of goals and 'beautiful' football is disappointing thus far, South Africa has certainly had its moments in the early going. Here's a reminder of the best of the first eight games:

THE GAMES SO FAR:

1. Germany v Austrailia, Group D, June 13 (4-0) - 8
2. South Africa v Mexico, Group A, June 11 (1-1) - 7.5
3. Argentina v Nigeria, Group B, June 12 (1-0) - 6.5
4. Ghana v Serbia, Group D, June 13 (1-0) - 6
5. England v United States, Group C, June 12 (1-1) - 6
6. South Korea v Greece, Group B, June 12 (2-0) - 6
7. France v Uruguay, Group A, June 11 (0-0) - 3
8. Algeria v Slovenia, Group C, June 13 (0-1) - 3

THE GOALS SO FAR:

1. Tshabalala (South Africa v Mexico, June 11) 9
2. Podolski (Germany v Australia, June 13) 8
3. Klose (Germany v Australia, June 13) 7.5
4. Ji-Sung Park (South Korea v Greece, June 12) 7.5
5. Muller (Germany v Australia, June 13) 7.5
6. Gerrard (England v United States, June 12) 7.5
7. Heinze (Argentina v Nigeria, June 12) 7
8. Cacau (Germany v Australia, June 13) 7
9. Jung-Soo Lee (South Korea v Greece, June 12) 6
10. Koren (Slovenia v Algeria, June 13) 6
11. Marquez (Mexico v South Africa, June 11) 5
12. Dempsey (United States v England, June 12) 5

NOTE: Penalties shall not be counted on the leaderboard, for obvious reasons. For what it's worth, Gyan did show good technique in despatching the spot-kick.

Head back tomorrow evening for a look back at Monday's World Cup action as groups E and F get off and running!