And it begins...
...But for now to Group A and South Africa, France, Mexico and Uruguay. An interesting group made up of stronger teams than the hosts would have liked and leaving them a difficult task to make it into the last 16.
South Africa then entered the competition without a recognised goal scorer after deciding that record holding striker Benni McCarthy was not deserving of a place. Their team also looked to lack strength in depth - with only a handful of players that ply their trade at the highest level.
Mexico looked like a dangerous attacking side that could put some excellent moves together that would tear through opposition defences. However, as seen in a warm up game against England they tended to lack in the finish and were very vulnerable at the back.
France were lucky to have qualified at all after a disputable goal against Ireland (I say disputable - it was downright cheating). However, now that Henry's handball had got them into the finals - they surely had the stars to rally and produce on the big stage.
Uruguay have some fire power in attack with Forlan and Suarez who have both been in great form this season. Though with few other star players their chances of going far seemed to be in doubt.
Well the first game was greeted by the expected raptures from home fans as they enjoyed seeing their team open the World Cup. Both teams seemed to struggle with expectations, but a wonder goal arrived from South Africa's Tshabalala. This looked like it had made the fans dreams come true until Mexico took advantage of poor defending and struck an equalizer through Rafael Marquez.Unfortunately hind sight has shown me that the second game was prophetic of the tournament as a whole. To give them their due Uruguay did a good job to stifle the attacking threat of France, but it is a shame that teams seem more scared to lose than they are willing to gamble on a win. For France's part, the emergence of stories about their rifts in the camp seemed to be taking its toll on team performances.
South Africa's win against France gave them an outside chance of reaching the last 16 despite their thrashing by Uruguay in the second game. Uruguay had seemed to open up and play more against a perceived weaker opposition and this allowed their two star strikers into the game to cause a lot of damage. Unfortunately for South Africa, Mexico's defence held up stronger that theirs against the Uruguay attack and despite a 1-0 defeat in the final game it was Mexico who progressed on goal difference.
Final Thought:
France - Disgraceful Attitude, South Africa - Unlucky to have a difficult group, Mexico - promising but suspect in defence, Uruguay - Classy in attack and well organised
Très intéressant stuff Mr. Bourne. On the subject of this group I think I largely agree with your conclusions but shall nonetheless offer some thoughts of my own.
ReplyDeleteFrance were simply awful. Absolutely horrendous. Worse than England. I can't believe they couldn't raise themselves for that final game against South Africa when they still had a good chance of going through despite two completely soulless performances. All the fuss over the strike and manager became irrelevant, it's the World Cup for goodness sake! They still had players like Malouda, Ribery and Gallas on the pitch, winners every one. And why didn't Domenech shake Parreira's hand? What did he have to complain about apart from being a moron who picks players based on starsign?
A great shame for South Africa who played better than everybody expected, including getting one of the goals of the tournament. Siphiwe Tshabalala take a bow (or do a funky dance). That it was the first goal of the tournament boded well, although subsequent events suggest that there is debate to be made.
Uruguay (or girl?) were one of the surprise teams of the entire tournament, let alone this group. Diego Forlan making Sir Alex look a fool almost made up for his Europa League semi final strike. They had a potent attack combined with a decent defence and generally lacked their traditional cynicism, apart from the appalling actions of Suarez in the quarters.
Mexico were fine, bit of pace and hard workers. I don't think this was a particularly tricky group, the surprises were in how bad France turned out to be and the sharpness of the Uruguayans. South Africa were on a par with Mexico and could have deservedly taken that second spot with a goal swing here and there.
Will certainly agree with you on the cheating evilness of Theirry Henry in carrying his team to the competition. This would no doubt have been a more exciting group if Ireland were in the mix, second place could've been a three way race. It's quite shocking the Herculean lack of effort the French put in to everything, even training. It was kind of funny to watch them implode so dramatically though, for petulance and rubbishness I take my hat off.
Have we mentioned just how bad France were?
BREAKING NEWS: Thierry has disappeared off to the US with his tail between his legs (and a fat cheque). Will he be playing for the New York Knicks?
Ha Ha He He -
ReplyDeleteMsr Henry is playing for New York Red Bull who play at the Red Bull stadium- will he be paid in energy drinks or just made to drink them before every game. In much the same way as coca-cola was preposterously consumed at all press conferences during the World Cup.
Jo - you are giving away the secrets of the later rounds here - Think of our loyal fans who have avoided watching the World Cup so that they can discover the happenings in this very place!
Seriously - This should have been the group of death - 4 seemingly equal teams taking into account France's troubles and South Africa's home advantage. But i am not sure that we have put across just how bad France were!
I feel we promised argument and yet there is nothing to argue - Oh well, onwards and upwards.
I think Group of Death implies four equally good teams Mr. Bourne. Here were two mediocre teams, one surprisingly good team and one footballing giant who turned out to be bobbins.
ReplyDeleteI'm talking about France there, in case you couldn't tell... Also nice to hear that Mr. Henry has 'retired' from international football, Monsieur Blanc must be jolly relieved.