Today had a lot of action in the World Cup and the first elimination. Cameroon was eliminated when, after two straight losses, it became statistically impossible for their team to progress. Their match threw a kink into Japan's chances to qualify after they lost today. Denmark move up to 3 points and Japan has to win against the Scandinavian team to make it to the knockout stages.
The Cameroon-Denmark match was a real exciting affair. Cameroon top name Samuel Eto'o opened up the scoring with a scorcher past the Danish keeper. It was looking like the African team could possibly pull off the win they desperately needed until Arsenal's Nikolas Bendtner pulled the score back to 1-1. With a draw being enough to stay alive the Cameroonians were fighting with all their strength, winning a shit ton of shots at the goal and nearly going ahead numerous times. With 30 minutes left, however, it was the descendants of the Vikings that trounced African dreams and got another goal to go up 2-1. Fight they did but in the end Cameroon couldn't score again and lost to become statistically eliminated. Heartbreak for the continent I thought would do so well.
The other match in their group was Netherlands vs Japan. The Blue Samurai always have my backing but The Netherlands have historically fielded strong teams that always came up short so I was behind them as well. Oranje vs Blue. It, sadly, wasn't even a real contest. The Dutchmen were quick and outpaced the Japanese all over the field. That aside the Japanese defended well and brought the game into the half at 0-0. Less than 10 minutes after the restart the powerful Dutch forward Wesley Sneijder shot right at Kawashima who couldn't direct it away from the goal. This gave the Dutch a lead they defended to the final whistle. Shinji Okazaki had Japan's best chance near the end of the game though he couldn't get it on target. It wasn't the best showing for Japan who have to follow this match up with a big performance against Denmark. Any result in that match will see Japan move on, so it's all on the line. Commentary fact of the match, Japanese manager Takeshi Okada has stated his desire to quit the national team after the World Cup and become a farmer. Set me to laughing out loud, as the youths say.
The other match was a Group D affair between Australia and Ghana. Disappointing 1-1 result for Ghana who were looking to be the strongest team from Africa. Up against a wall as they head into their final match against Germany and this showing means they will have a huge wall to climb if they want to make the Round of 16. A little luck and a strong showing against a weakened and confused German side may mean they can still go on. Frustrated this entire match and worn down by the Australians we were a bit lucky that Ghana didn't give up another goal. Short write up for this match but there wasn't too much to talk about really. Just have to hope for the best for the young Ghanaian squad.
Alright now it's time for my link of the day. I haven't done this for a few posts simply because I've been so focused on the World Cup. Now that I've remembered it today's link is LiveScore. This site has up to the minute match reports from every major league in the world. Want to know the score in the latest Qatar Star League match, check this site. Want to know how J-League side Omiya Ardija did today, go here. Need to see the latest FA Cup result quickly, this is the place. Their current format is obviously World Cup heavy and features statistics for each game. The format is easy to follow and presents all the vital information up front.
No comments:
Post a Comment