USA Battle for one-all draw

This match has probably had the most anticipation than any other match in the group stages, while many were pointing to the USA's historic victory over England in 1950, I'm pointing at the 1-1 draw that the USA player's fought so hard for.

Steven Gerrard celebrating the opening goal

England - USA


Both teams went into this match with a straight 4-4-2, Capello decides to put Robert Green in net while Bob Bradley puts Clark in midfield next to Michael Bradley. The match started off with lots of energy, Gerrard gets behind Clark and Heskey plays Gerrard a pass which gives the England skipper the chance to score and put England in front. The USA didn't drop their heads after conceding though, they remained determined and resolute in their mission as they tried to work the ball up the field and earn corners and free-kicks where they were dangerous. Onyewu was a constant threat from set-pieces, and thanks to Donovan's good deliveries, England were often shaking as the big USA defender rose up to strike towards goal.

Aaron Lennon's pace was frustrating for Bocanegra, often getting the space for dangerous crosses and balls across the 18, and while Heskey was [only] good at holding the ball up for England, Rooney was invisible for the first half. The USA players were taking plenty of shots from long range, and eventually after losing his marker, Gerrard, with a clever trick of dribbling, Clint Dempsey's left foot shot went in the back of the net. But the shot was weak and right at Green, unfortunately for the West Ham keeper, he was unable to hold the ball as it slipped out of his hands and trickled into the goal. Green curled up in embarrassment with his head on the ground and eventually got up saying sorry to his teammates for the irreparable mistake. This error probably made the half-time team-talks much different as the players entered their changing rooms.

The ball slipping from Green's hands...

After the half we saw both teams coming out, one thinking about how to win it, and the other thinking about how not to lose it. Capello left Green in goal for the second half, and as the game went on we saw more and more chances for both teams go to waste. Heskey probably had the best chance when he was released 1 on 1 against Tim Howard, but the big striker could only pound it right at the USA goalkeeper. Jozy Altidore's pace troubled substitute Carragher as he was eventually able to get behind him and lash a shot from close range, luckily for Green, the keeper got a hand to it which caused it to skid off of his post and back into play. The match eventually ended 1-1, while the USA seemed happy with the result, England were thinking of what could've been if their keeper hadn't let the ball slip from his hands.

A great match, and tommorrow we'll see Algeria - Slovenia along with Germany - Australia, and Serbia - Ghana. Be sure to share your thoughts below by commenting!

South Korea, Argentina, and Messi Dominate

Two wins in the second day of the World Cup, while Korea Republic and Argentina might've dominated possession and the amount of chances created, they were unable to finish off many opportunities.

With these two results, Group B is poised like this:

Korea Republic   (3)
Argentina            (3)
Nigeria                (0)
Greece                (0)

Korea Republic is ahead of Argentina because they scored a goal more in their match, and Greece is below Nigeria because they suffered a goal more than the African country.

Argentina - Nigeria


It must be said that this Argentina team is beginning to look quite scary; with Tevez, Higuain, Di Maria, and Messi all starting, you can see that they're going out to score goals. They started right away in the 6th minute from a corner, Heinze completely unmarked was able to bullet his header into the top left corner. It's important to note that a Nigeria player was running towards Heinze to mark him, but Walter Samuel restrains him in the box, practically setting a pick so that his teammate can score. While the Messi show had already begun before the goal, it was about to get a lot better.

The small Argentinean (Messi) mesmerized the Nigerian defence, leaving them standing in their spots as he tried to curl it in, putting it just wide a couple of times. Nigeria's goalkeeper Enyeama was fantastic as he stopped anything that Messi tried to create or finish off. Argentina wasted plenty of tap-ins and 1 on 1 opportunities as Nigeria provided good spurts of pace on the counter-attack, often putting Argentina's disorganized and aging defence under pressure. As Maradona piled on forwards, Argentina racked up 7 shots on target with selfish play often stopping us from seeing the second goal.

While the match ended 1-0, it was definitely full of wasted opportunities by Argentina, and a couple by Nigeria. If you don't want Messi to always win the man of the match award, you'd have to pick Vincent Enyeama, the Nigeria goalkeeper, because he stopped the score-line from reaching embarrassing heights for Nigeria.

Korea Republic - Greece


An imperious showing to say the least, South Korea were extremely dominant, keeping posession and attacking with speed and organization. Greece seemed dumbfounded and shocked the first half as Jung-Soo Lee (completely unmarked) knocked in the first from a set piece about a meter in front of the Greece goal. Then in the 55th minute, Manchester United's Ji-Sung Park followed up stealing the ball from a Greek defender's bad first touch, and slotting it home with his left. South Korea had other good efforts on goal, but they were comfortable keeping possession.

It was about midway through the second half that Greece woke up, Salpingidis and Kapetanos were brought on for Charisteas and Samaras, providing inspiration for the attack. Greece began to press higher up the field, creating chances especially for Gekas as South Korea found themselves limited only to quick bursts of the counter-attack. Both defenses seemed to often mark their man at the very last second, leaving their goalkeepers to do plenty of work.

I knew South Korea/Korea Republic would be good, and that's why I put them as coming out of the group second behind Argentina in all my World Cup pools and competitions. The game ended 2-0 for Korea Republic, the first win in this 2010 World Cup.

There will be a full wrap up on the England - USA match coming up after the game!