World Cup Log - Day 4

Today saw the start of the Dutch campaign, a side who I fancy strongly to win out this year and have backed accordingly. Their first foray was against a resolute Danish side which included the sparky Bendtner up front. A dull first half saw each side cancel each other out before the Dutch sparked in to life somewhat in the second. It took a scrappy og from Agger to get the Dutch ahead on the scoreboard but it had the effect of jolting them in to life. They added a second from Kuyt after an impressive cameo from sub Elia. It wasn't the type of performance that I expected or one to light the tournament alight, as Germany had done 24 hours earlier.
Japan & Cameroon played out another insipid encounter (there's a theme emerging here!)in the afternoon. Japan won the encounter with a first half goal from Honda. Cameroon were very disappointing and will struggle to emerge from this Group.
The reigning champions Italy played the late game against the South American dark horses Paraguay. An aging Italian side are seen by many to be too leg weary to challenge for honors this time round. It's a cliche to say the Italians are solid defensively but it's been the base of so much of their success. The game was played out in heavy rain which didn't lend to attacking football and indeed this was a largely stale and dour encounter. Paraguay took the lead through Alcaraz before a second half equalizer from De Rossi saw the teams share the spoils. On this evidence and what we saw of Italy in Ireland's qualifying group a quarter final may even be a stretch for them this time round.
Onwards to Day 5...

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World Cup Log - Day 3

Thank god for the Germans. Many a European has echoed those words in these times of unprecedented crisis off the pitch. On the pitch the Germans treated us to a celebration of attacking football, knocking in four goals in all. We have to qualify this performance by saying Australia looked badly out of their depth, most worryingly for them in defense. Germany's youthful side committed to attack from the outset and goals from Podolski, Klose, Mueller & Cacau secured a comprehensive and impressive victory. A footnote to this victory was the overly harsh dismissal of Tim Cahill, a victim of fussy refereeing in what has otherwise been an exemplary performance by the officials. The Germans was the most impressive performance in the World Cup to date.
The earlier games featured Ghana, Serbia, Algeria & Slovenia. Algeria are arguably the weakest of all the African teams along with South Africa. Their game against Slovenia was a contender for dullest so far, a Koren strike late on giving the Slovenians victory.
Serbia vs Ghana wasn't much to get warm about either. A deserved winner for Ghana came late on when Serbia's Kuzmanovic stupidly handled the ball in the area. Gyan dispatched the penalty and Africa celebrated.

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World Cup Log - Day 2

Day 2 saw the hype machine oil it's cogs, for it was the day England kicked off their campaign. They played the USA in the evening game but before that there were two early kick offs. Argentina played Nigeria in a lackluster affair. The Argies started brightly and took an early lead with a header from Heinze. They looked fallible at the back however and Nigeria threatened on a number of occasions. They didn't capitalise and Argentina held on for a 1-0 victory, although in truth it could have been 3 or 4 were it not for the brilliance of Enyeama in goal.
In the early game South Korea showed plenty of endeavor and deservedly won 2-0 against Greece, one of the goals coming from Man Utd's Ji Sung Park. South Korea will almost certainly battle it out with Nigeria for second spot. Greece looked very poor.
And so to the main event and England looked like a team so paralyzed by fear that the hype looks to have been well wide of the mark. Their position amongst the favourites has more to do with weight of money than actual ability, although it has to be said they are better than they showed last night. They never looked to get the ball down and play, a tactic that surely would have benefitted them against a workmanlike USA side. Instead they opted for the long ball with Heskey the prime target. Heskey indeed was involved in the opener, threading a neat pass for Gerrard to finish with aplomb.
England have suffered their share of goalkeeping misfortune in recent years and last night it was the turn of Robert Green to suffer the calamity tag. An innocuous effort from Clint Dempsey was somehow spilt in to the back of the English net. Heads dropped and USA worked through the rest of the game to secure a scarcely expected draw. England will need to pick it up from here and that starts with their next game against Algeria on Friday. This is a game they should win comprehensively.
Onwards to Day 3..

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World Cup Log - Day 1

Today saw the start of the greatest football festival on the planet, World Cup 2010 was born. This is the first time the tournament has been hosted on the continent of Africa. The vibrancy, noise and colour of the continent should provide the perfect backdrop.
Two matches were held on Day 1, the first involving the hosts South Africa playing Mexico. The exuberance of the home support was plain to see and lifted those on the pitch to an effort greater than the sum of their parts. A largely average game saw the hosts take the lead with an emphatic strike from Tshabalala, only to be pegged back late on with a strike from Marquez. Having backed the 1-1 draw I was satisfied to kick things off with a profit.
The evening game saw Ireland's nemesis France take on Uruguay. Another average game was played out in a 0-0 draw. I fancied Uruguay as a dark horse in this tournament but they didn't show a lot in this opener. They should improve from this game and have enough to dispose of South Africa and Mexico. There was a certain schadenfreude seeing Henry appeal a handball late in the game.
The biggest talking point on Day 1 surrounded the vuvuzela. These plastic horn like instruments are a tradition amongst South African supporters. Truth be told they are nothing short of an annoyance for the tv viewer. Their droning consistency makes it hard to appreciate anything of the atmosphere at the games. I don't think it's as easy as a case of getting used to them either. Blatter should have shown the conviction to ban them.
Onwards to Day 2.

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Synecdoche, New York

Watched Synecdoche, New York last night on TV. It's an interesting movie, a good movie but not the great movie that some critics were creaming themselves over.
Ironically a film about a man being overcome with his ambition to stage a great piece of theater should also lead to the Director of this film tripping himself up in the same way. I think he was trying to do too much and whilst a lot of it worked I don't think he pieced it together well enough. You could see some of the same touches that he had in Eternal Sunshine coming through in this movie but crucially he wasn't directing that movie.
It's a movie that would need second and even further viewing and everyone will take something from it.

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