USA Fight back to draw 2-2 with Slovenia

The USA are truly a team of determination and grit like none other, yet another fantastic come-back to earn an important point which just might be enough for them to pass on to the next stage with some luck.

Slovenia - USA


The first half was Slovenia's, they were able to grab two goals, the first in the 13th minute with Birsa who with a tentative strike from outside the area somehow gets it past Howard who was rooted to the spot. USA then pushed for the equalizer, with Torres trying from the free-kick, and Donovan just short of tapping the ball in from a great build-up. While there was bad defending on the first, the second was even worse with just plain bad marking from the USA defence as Slovenia put Ljubijankic on goal with a simple through ball, and the Slovenian coolly tucked away the second.

After halftime, Bob Bradley changes USA up a bit by taking off Torres and Findley for Edu and Feilhaber, and right away in the 48th minute, Landon Donovan grabs a goal. Slovenian defender misjudges the bounce as Donovan runs towards goal to smash it into the top of the goal. Then the USA really started pushing, and they eventually found the equalizer in the 82nd with Michael Bradley, coach Bob Bradley's son. Donovan plays a high ball for Altidore who flicks it on for an incoming Bradley who then volleys it over Handanovic for the equalizer.

Then the USA thought they got the winner with Maurice Edu tapping it in from a free kick, but the referee disallows the goal for an unseen reason to everyone else, so the match ends 2-2 with the USA players furious with the referee's decision.

Germany lose 1-0 to Serbia with Klose sent off

It's interesting to see the contrast between the Germany which lost 1-0 to Serbia, and the Germany which demolished Australia 4-0 . They're actually relatively similar except with the difference of Klose being sent off, and the other match of this group between Ghana and Australia will be played tomorrow.

Germany - Serbia


It's remarkable the upsets that a World Cup brings, first we almost saw Brazil unable to score against DPR Korea, then we see Spain lose to Switzerland, and today we saw Serbia scrape out a win with plenty of luck.It started just like the Australia game, Germany held possession as Serbia tried to defend fiercely and quickly counter-attack with the likes of speedy Krasic.

Germany found it difficult to pierce Serbia, and they played much more sloppily than they did against Australia with plenty of passes going just wide to be intercepted by a Serbian player. But little by little Germany got into their stride, as Ozil spread passes and created a couple of chances, but nothing too great.

Eventually the big moment came, Miroslav Klose nipped Stankovic from behind got a second yellow card, and therefore a red card. A harsh decision which saw Germany's main striker sent off in the 37th minute, and just a minute later Serbia scored with Jovanovic. Krasic's good cross reached Zigic who headed it down for Jovanovic to volley in at close range for the ultimate upset goal. Then at the end of the first half in a penalty area scrap, Sami Khedira rockets the ball at the crossbar as the goalie was way off of his line, Muller's bicycle kick to follow up and it was blocked off of the line from a Serbian defender.

After the half, Germany released itself on Serbia, putting everything into getting the two goals necessary for the win. Vidic gave away a penalty with an unnecessary handball,  a replica of the handball by Kuzmanovic against Ghana which lost them that game. Podolski stepped up to take the penalty but had it saved by Stojkovic, who celebrated with his teammates.

And although Germany pushed and pushed, Serbia came closest with Zigic scraping the top of the bar with a header. It just wasn't Germany's game as Serbia celebrate their chance of advancing to the next round with a fantastic upset.

France crash and burn with 2-0 loss to Mexico

Mexico have begun to realize their potential, while in my World Cup pools I've got Mexico first and Uruguay second, it seems like it might just happen that way.

Here's how Group A stands after Mexico's 2-0 win:

Uruguay        (4)
Mexico          (4)
France           (1)
South Africa  (1)

France - Mexico


The first half started right away with some action, Giovani Dos Santos hit the inside of the post, tantalizingly close to the opening goal, but the action was called off for offside. However France were also able to build some good chances, but they were nothing compared to what the outstanding left-back was able to do, two great chances for him. And an unfortunate injury for Mexico, Carlos Vela had to be replaced by Pablo Barrera


In the second half, France were able to create a few opportunities with Malouda lashing a shot which Oscar Perez did well to save, but France were still as clueless as ever in the second half. It was substitute Javier Hernandez with the opening goal, he put Mexico in front in the 64th minute after beating the offside trap to perfection. The young 22 year-old then coolly rounded Hugo Lloris before tapping it into the back of the net for the opening goal. 

Mexico doubled their lead in the 79th minute after Eric Abidal slide tackled Pablo Barrera, earning himself a yellow, and Hugo Lloris a penalty to deal with. It was Blanco, the oldest player in the tournament at 37 who took it, a very long run up (and I'm talking very long) led to him slipping the ball just past Lloris's fingers at the bottom left corner. 

The Mexican fans went wild as the entire team celebrated their iconic win, and it's interesting to note how badly France played. Now Mexico and Uruguay just need a draw to both advance out of the group stages, but be sure that that game will be full of action and fire.

Just going to finish with a quote from Raphael Honigstein about France, "It takes an absolute genius to make so many talented players play this badly together"

Argentina win 4-1 and Greece comeback against 10-man Nigeria

Two great matches, finally it seems like the World Cup is lighting up with some goals and attacking play. We'll have to wait and see if Mexico - France is also an attacking match, but these two results are great anyways.

Here's how Group B looks after these two results:

Argentina            (6)
Korea Republic   (3)
Greece                 (3)
Nigeria                (0)

Argentina - Korea Republic


A great match in which Argentina continued to do what they do best, light up the stage with a brilliant Messi supported by a powerful attacking force. Veron didn't start, but Argentina had few problems creating goals, they caused an own goal after just 15 minutes. Messi's free kick swung in, and Park Chu-Young thought that the defender in front of him would hit it out, instead the ball was missed and it bounced off Park Chu-Young's foot into the back of the net.

Higuain had the second goal, a center-forwards perfect goal, heading it past the keeper after Burdisso's flick gave Argentina a 2-0 lead. It was right before halftime when Korea Republic scored with Lee Chung-Yong stealing the ball from Demichelis who was just unaware of the player behind him.

In the second half, Argentina continued to push and found the third, Messi's run finished with him hitting the post and Higuain tapped the rebound in from the far post. The fourth came in the 80th minute with Higuain completing his hat-trick with a nice header to bury Korea Republic at 4-1.

Greece - Nigeria


A must-win match for both of these teams, Nigeria showed to be a bit more solid against Argentina, while Greece looked like they'd have trouble after the loss to South Africa. Nigeria started the scoring with Uche, swinging the free kick in for the cross, but it was left untouched as it bounced into the net, a complete goal-keepers error by Tzorvas.

Disaster struck for Nigeria in the 33rd minute for Nigeria, Kaita received a direct red card in the 33rd minute after getting into a bit of a scrap with Torosidis. The Nigerian had kicked the Greek on the thigh to receive the direct red and send his team spiraling into chaos.

Greece got the equalizer right before halftime thanks to a deflection off of Salpingidis's shot which looped over to the opposite side it was heading for before. After that Greece pushed for the winner and eventually found it with Torosidis, the man fouled by Kaita. The Greek scorer picked up a rebound from a fizzing shot and neatly tucked it away for an epic win.