Saturday, June 12, 2010

Revelations after day two

Best ever opening goal?

Immediately following the opening game, talk sparked about whether or not the 2010 tournament’s spectacular opening goal by South African striker Siphiwe Tshabalala was the best ever opening goal at a World Cup. While we can’t really make that kind of a claim, it definitely set the bar extremely high for the rest of the teams.

Argentina lacking spark

In today’s match against Nigeria, Argentina were uninspiring and lacked that spark everybody had anticipated. People feared that they possess too many stars that would be unable to play together in a unified fashion, and they showed to be the case today. Lionel Messi was unimpressive, definitely not the start everybody expected from him. Argentina will need more than Messi’s magic to get them through to the final.

Nigerian keeper Vincent Enyeama

He showed his grit and determination today, keeping the Argentines at bay for the majority of the match. His performance was particularity impressive, as Argentina were expected to score many more than just one goal. He kept his team alive, a team that showed they have heart as well as skill. I feel we definitely have not seen the last of Nigeria in this tournament.

England stunned by USA

England were definitely not expecting the USA squad that showed up to face them today. They proved determined to get a point from the game, and it showed in their defensive performance against a fairly lackluster England attack. In order for England to remain strong, Rooney will need to get more into the game, along with Lamps, who didn’t really do much at all on the pitch today and their defense will definitely need to be sharper.

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