Philip Lahm (6)
Paulo Wanchope (12)
Miroslav Klose (17)
Miroslav Klose (61)
Paulo Wanchope (73)
Torsten Frings (87)
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=191918&cc=4716
^Game report and stats...
My opinion: What a great way to kick off the world cup. Full of excitement, passion, and free-flowing football full of attacking and offensive strategies! My money is on Costa Rica to finish last in the group, from what I saw from the other games. German fans, I wouldnt be too delighted with the scorline. Alright, 4-2, great score, great goals, but its VERY deceiving to the football fan who refuses to look at deeper problems existing in the German camp. Despite the lack of fluidity in the passing, the defense is the bigger problem.
What happened to defending? The defensive side of the German team was in shambles, an absolute mess if you ask me. The relative ease with which the Costa Ricans scored the goals was very surprising. Jens Lehmann MUST have over 90 seizures due to his constant yelling at defenders. What happens when Germany face a team with a solid defense that wont allow them to score? If the Germans can't score in a certain game, and they are leaking goals in teh back, it is hard to conceive how they can proceed in the knock out stages. Defense always comes first. The positive thing about the German squad is their ability to attack and score special goals. And if they can fix up their defense (hard, hard task) they are going to challenge for the title.
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Allianz Arena Attendance: 64,950
24' 0 - 1 C Tenorio
80' 0 - 2 A Delgado
Refer down to A-Cube's analysis, I pretty much agree with what he said, especially about how it's obvious how two footballing mentalities come up against each other, and that's what the world cup is all about. It was easy to see the difference in style. Poland are tactically disciplined and have put more energy into creating tactical strength. However it was the flair, physical strength, and skills of the Ecuadorians that got the upper hand. One has to admit the pace and strength of the front two were a handful for the Polish defense, and were constantly causing them problems. That is how the two goals were scored, through a counter attack that was engineered by the pace of the two forwards. The second place spot is between the Poles and Ecuador in my opinion, it looks like Ecuador are the favorites to qualify due to the result and solid perforance against Poland.
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Final - Waldstadion Attendance: 48,000
Carlos Gamarra (og 3)
Many positives to notice during the game, however there are also a few negatives. One of the positives is the strength of the English defense, there is a great understanding and organization between the back four that have obviously worked together for a while now. Joe Cole was great, creating exciting darting runs from the wings, penetrating Paraguay's defense a number of times. Also, Peter Crouch was an absolute nuisance for Paraguay. He won countless headers, thus creating chances for his strike partner, Michael Owen. It was obvious how hard of a time the Paraguay defense had with him.
That leads to my other point. Many of you branded the match as boring. True so. Eriksson's tactic is to utilize Crouch to his full potential, thus creating chances for owen and the rest of the team with his flick ons and headers. Great tactic. Over-relied on though. That was what contributed to the boringness of the game, the constant long ball to Crouch. Despite the long ball, there were certain flashes of brilliance from the England players who at times passed the ball with such fluidity that you thought they were Brazilians. Yes, I just made that comparison, however note that I said AT TIMES
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Me being an English fan doesn;t make me biased though. I realised Eriksson's over-reliance on Crouch and how he resorted to frantically defending for the last 30 minutes, he obviously has not learnt his lesson from Euro 2004 against Portugal. England's problem is unlike Germany's, they need to score more goals! A game is never sealed before 1-0 and always needs a few more goals to really secure the victory.
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Signal Iduna Park 65,000
What an entertainer this game turned out to be! The way the Trindad & Tobago players were celebrating you would think they had actually WON the competition! However, if one comes to think of it, T&T can consider this, and with all due respect, the Swede's can actually consider this game a defeat. They failed to convert tons of chances, and the Trinidad and Tobagan team defended frantically for 90 minutes, with the Swedes dominating throughout the whole match. However, that is the joy of the world cup, seeing such an exciting match full of passion and excited fans. Sweden's draw can be regarded as good news for England, who so far, are sitting comfortably at the top. Could Trinidad and Tobago be the surprise team? You never know!
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AOl Arena 49,480
24' H Crespo 1 - 0
38' J Saviola 2 - 0
82' 2 - 1 D Drogba
One of the most entertaining games so far. Full of attacking flow and excitement. As Path;)s said, Argentina didn't really DESERVE to win it, however due ot their experience and technical ability they came out on top rather than the Ivorians. Whoever exits from Group C is going to suffer absolute heartbreak, because it would be a shame to see any two fo the four teams in Group C to exit, because they are all great footballing teams. Refer to Diobolix's review for some more analysis and detail.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=191922&cc=4716
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Zentralstadion Attendance: 37,216
Arjen Robben ( 18 )
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=191923&cc=4716
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Frankenstadion 41,000
28' O Bravo 1 - 0
36' 1 - 1 Y Golmohammadi
76' O Bravo 2 - 1
79' A Zinha 3 - 1
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=191924&cc=4716
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13' X. Alonso
17' David Villa
47' David Villa
80' Fernando Torres
What a world cup this is turning out to be! Apart from the Argentina match, the Spaniards are proving to be one of the most solid teams so far. All credit must go to the Luis Aragones for taking a huge risk and going against the wishes of a nation and start David Villa against the misfiring and out-of-form Raul. It was a tactical masterstroke, as Villa ended up scoring two goals. Fernando Torres was fantastic as usual, and his fourth goal was a masterpiece of a goal! Ukraine were not particularly convincing, maybe due to the fact that they could not get a hold of the ball because of the superior skill and passing technique of the Spaniards. However, 4-0 was not really a flattering score line for the Spaniards, they completely deserved it and could have even scored more if things went their way. However what I was particularly impressed by was Spain's coach's decision to bench Raul and go with strikers that are in-form and have proven that they are goal scorers week in and week out in the Spanish Liga or wherever they play. Schevschenko was no where to be seen, partly due to the fact of poor support from the midfield and the colossal presence of Carles Puyol.
