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Americans (Dis)Allowed In, Tradition Triumps, Asian Influence, Disappointing Hosts, and Removing the Euro Trash

And Donovan Scores:

• Despite being robbed by the refs of a victory against Slovenia and a sure goal by Clint Dempsey against Algeria, Landon Donovan’s goal in stoppage time gave the United States the victory, claiming the Group C title and a very favorable path to make the deepest run in World Cup history for the Americans. Donovan stepped up and became the leader everybody had hoped he would become after his impressive showing in 2002. Now can they get past the quarterfinals?
• Ho hum. Brazil, the Netherlands, and Argentina cruised to the knockout stage. Germany, England, and Spain experienced hiccups in group play but still managed to advance. The Germany-England and Spain-Portugal matchups are easily the most intriguing Round of 16 matchups.
• How about the clutch performances of Japan and South Korea? Both needed points in their final games and came away with needed performances to put two Asian nations in the knockout stages for the first time in World Cup history.
• South Africa has been a good host for this year’s tournament. However, there teams have been disappointing and somewhat horrible. Of the six host nations, only Ghana advanced to the knockout stage. The Ivory Coast and South Africa had decent showings but couldn’t emerge out of their groups. However, Algeria, Nigeria, and Cameroon didn’t win a game and finished at the bottom of their groups. While none were expected to be major players for a title there should be disappointment that only one was able to move on.
• That 2006 World Cup Final seems like a distant memory. The two most disappointing teams of the World Cup are easily Italy and France. Both finished at the bottom of their groups. France was a giant mess with players quitting, not practicing, and probably an English style affair in there somewhere. For the Azzuri, they had the easiest draw of all of the top seeds. Or so they thought. The Italians could never get anything going offensively and frankly a weak penalty call allowed them to avoid one of the greatest upsets of all-time to New Zealand. Both are aging teams and will possess a completely different make up in 2014.

Group Play quick kicks:
Group A
* Uruguay (2-1-0, 7); Mexico (1-1-1, 4); South Africa (1-1-1, 4); France (0-1-2, 1)
* The group was opened up by the ineptness of the French. France could never get on the same page and all teams took advantage. Uruguay displayed dominant defense, not allowing a goal in the group. Bufana Bufana did a great job as a host nation and essentially was a goal post in the 89th minute from advancing. Neither Uruguay or Mexico strike me as teams that are serious threat to win it.

Group B
* Argentina (3-0-0, 9); South Korea (1-1-1, 4); Greece (1-0-2, 3); Nigeria (0-1-2, 1)
* Maybe Diego Maradona knows what he’s doing after all. Argentina was dominant as they breezed through group play with flair and offensive explosion even without Lionel Messi scoring a goal. South Korea downed Greece in the opening match which turned out to be difference in the group. Nigeria had a disappointing and lethargic showing.

Group C
* United States (1-2-0, 5); England (1-2-0, 5); Slovenia (1-1-1, 4); Algeria (0-1-2, 1)
* I’m trying to decide what’s more impressive? The USA actually winning a group in the World Cup or winning a group despite two disallowed goals? Landon Donovan’s rebound strike changed the complexion of the group. England advanced but does not look good at all. Wayne Rooney has been invisible and frankly the difference in the play of #10’s is the difference in the group. Slovenia and Algeria were game in each match and nearly shook up the group.

Group D
* Germany (2-0-1, 6); Ghana (1-1-1, 4); Australia (1-1-1, 4); Serbia (1-0-2, 3)
* Germany had a hiccup against Serbia but were able to defeat Ghana to take the group. Ghana will be the only host representative in the knockout stage thanks to penalty kicks to defeat Serbia and tie Australia. The Socceroos had a horrible start against Germany and it would up costing them in the goal differential. Serbia had their shining moment against a 10-man German team.

Group E
* Netherlands (3-0-0, 9); Japan (2-0-1, 6); Denmark (1-0-2, 3); Cameroon (0-0-3, 0)
* The only group without a draw. The Dutch were suppose to win this group and did rather easily. Japan used two brilliant free kicks to eliminate Denmark in the final matchup of the group. Cameroon was the first team eliminated in tournament.

Group F
* Paraguay (1-2-0, 5); Slovakia (1-1-1, 4); New Zealand (0-3-0, 3); Italy (0-2-1, 2)
* Italy had the easiest path to finish atop a group but finished on the opposite end of the spectrum. The story was the All Whites of New Zealand. They were able to tie all three matches after never scoring goal in previous World Cup appearances. Paraguay coasted rather easily to win the group and Slovakia took advantage of a pressing Italian team to claim a decisive 3 points.

Group G
* Brazil (2-1-0, 7); Portugal (1-2-0, 5); Ivory Coast (1-1-1, 4); North Korea (0-0-3, 0)
* This group came down to Portugal’s bludgeoning of North Korea. The 7-0 victory made it impossible for the Ivory Coast to make up the goal differential in the final match and it allowed Brazil and Portugal to sleep walk through a 0-0 tie. Brazil finished on top. Shocker.

Group H
* Spain (2-0-1, 6); Chile (2-0-1, 6); Switzerland (1-1-1, 4); Honduras (0-2-1, 4)
* The group was turned upside down when Switzerland defeated Spain in the opening match. Spain quickly regrouped and defeated both Honduras and Chile rather easily. Chile looked solid in two early victories and made an effort against Spain but came up short. The Swiss had to be a little disappointed with not advancing given the early upset victory.