Watching the World Cup in a foreign country is a very new experience to me and I really did not know what to expect. I spent the majority of yesterday at a friend’s house, where we had a barbecue and drinks, to watch both the South Korea-Greece and Argentina-Nigeria matches. I expected very little from the early kick off, if I am honest; Greece have a reputation for boring football and South Korea, despite their work ethic, have done little to inspire me in the past.

It was South Korea, however, that provided the inspiration on a fairly dull day of World Cup football. Their drive and determination were a joy to behold in a game where the 2004 European Champions, Greece, looked to be all at sea. They failed to deal with pretty much everything that the South Koreans threw at them and, in return, offered very little offensively.

Despite a comfortable 2-0 win, there were many wasted chances from the Koreans and they could well have scored three or four yesterday. The two that were scored came seven minutes into each half. Lee Jung-Soo scored the first after a poorly defended free kick was deflected into his path by Katsouranis, leaving him a simple tap in at the far post.

The second goal came through a combination of a poor first touch from the Greek defender, Vyntra, and a flash of genius from Park Ji-Sung. After snatching the ball out of the grasp of the Greek, he took on two defenders on his charge into the penalty area before calmly slotting the ball past the advancing keeper with his left foot from 10 yards. The goal, that killed off any hopes the Greeks may have had of a draw, typified everything good about the Koreans, energy, desire and technique.

The Greeks, who hold the record of never having scored at a World Cup, were distinctly unimaginative. Their performance lacked the energy and desire that their Korean counterparts displayed. They can count themselves very lucky to have only conceded two goals but must surely be worried about the games against Nigeria and Argentina; a performance like the one yesterday could well result in them becoming the whipping boys of the tournament.

Argentina’s first game of the tournament, against Nigeria, was a game that didn’t really live up to expectations. A lot has been made of Maradona’s management style and they are, strangely, tipped as one of the major underperformers of the tournament despite possessing the likes of Messi, Aguero, Higuain and Tevez. Despite all the talent, they have appeared in recent times to lack the cohesion that a World Cup winning side must possess.

The performance against the Nigerians typified all of the thoughts about the dangers the Argentines face. There were flashes of brilliance from Messi and he could have found the net on two or three occasions. At the other end, they leaked several chances to a pretty average Nigeria side. If those chances fall to the likes of Villa, Torres, Fabiano or Rooney then you would fancy them to bury them time and time again.

Despite all of the attacking talent within the Argentinean ranks, their only goal of the game came from their centre back, Gabriel Heinze, from a 6^th minute corner. Strangely, he was left completely unmarked as he made his way into the penalty area and he superbly hammered home a diving header from 12 yards out to hand the Argentines an early lead. Despite the early success from the corner, the majority of the corners to follow were played to feet just outside of the penalty area, a tactic that yielded absolutely nothing time and time again, leaving me wondering why they were persisting with such an approach after proving such a threat from their earlier attempt.

Messi was undoubtedly the focal point of the game and threatened time and time again. Several times he ran at the defence, scaring the life out of them in the process I am sure, and he could have finished the game with two goals, if not for the top class performance from Vincent Enyeama in the Nigerian goal. Enyeama is a name that the masses have probably not heard before, but he really is a class act; if it were not for him, the score could well have been three or four nil.

In the evening kick off, England lined up against the United States to open up proceedings in Group C. Many people had England down for a comfortable win, possibly underestimating the Americans. They may not be the best technical footballers, but their industry and physicality makes them a match for most teams.

The English, despite taking an early lead through a fantastic Steven Gerrard finish, were not the dominant force that they were hoped to be. Instead, they looked a little lacklustre and there was a blatant void of the kind of imagination you would expect from a team tipped to go far in the competition. Despite being in the bracket of world-class defenders, John Terry rarely plays the ball to another player’s feet, instead launching the ball up the pitch with no apparent target. It is little wonder that Rooney gets so frustrated when the ball is so carelessly given back to the opposition rather than worked up the pitch to the Manchester United striker.

A terrible error from Rob Green just before half time resulted in an American equaliser that would never have been a goal in 99 out of 100 attempts. Clint Dempsey, with little else on, struck a hopeful shot from 25 yards out, pretty much straight at the keeper. However, Green failed to get his body behind the ball and he spilled the shot into his net.

England failed to regain the lead and, on the balance of things, probably did not deserve a victory anyway. Rooney was subdued for much of the game, Lampard was uncharacteristically quiet and little was offered from either of the wings. In fact, Milner was so poor that he was replaced after just 30 minutes, appearing to still be suffering from the illness that struck him down in midweek.

Man of the match, England captain, Steven Gerrard, was one of the few positives in a low key England performance.  For his club he has been very average this season but he appeared to have left all his worries behind in Merseyside as he put forward the type of committed performance we have come to expect. The other positive, despite the heavy criticism, was Emile Heskey. I know he can’t score to save his life but his assist for the Gerrard goal showed exactly why he has a place in the squad.

Previous entries in WFC’s World Cup Diary

Match Day 1:  South Korea v Greece, France v Uruguay

Written by Matt DaltoncloseAuthor: Matt Dalton Name: Matt Dalton
Email: lfcdalton@aim.com
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This entry was posted on Sunday, June 13th, 2010 and is filed under World Cup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.