I realize that I missed a day and I know it breaks my promise to blog every single day for a month. For most of that day I was without any form of computer and it seemed like the whole world was against me. I spilled water onto my laptop which I thought fried the damn thing as it wouldn't start up and when it did it would do some very funny things, like shut down and flicker. I ended up letting it sit out and dry off, or something, and later in the evening it was back in working order. I also got cookies baked for me! So it wasn't as bad as all that. Also went to find LEGO Minifig blind boxes in stores, but there were none to be found.
The final matches of the group round started today and there were some real nailbiters. In this round both group matches are played at the same time to prevent any ill doings. So in Group A it was South Africa vs France and Uruguay vs Mexico.
Let's talk about the hilarious breakdown of France. There is so much discord and confusion in the French squad at the moment that to any outside observer it's a whole hell of a lot of fun. When you watch a big dog crumble under the pressure it's awesome. From the coach sending their star striker home to the team refusing to train and everything in between it's been great. In this final match South Africa and France were playing for a slim chance to go to the next round. It ended up 2-1 in favor of the South Africa hosts in what must be the biggest win in their nations soccer history. The French team completed a legendary collapse and lost in fine fashion, their coach running off afterwords and refusing to shake the opposition coach's hand. Pure scum that French team.
The result of that match didn't matter, however, as the result of Uruguay and Mexico meant that they both went through. Uruguay won the match to take first place in the group. Mexico lost by only a goal which meant they were level on points with South Africa but had a better goal differential. So Uruguay and Mexico move on to the next round. Tough luck for the hosts to be sure, but they managed to put on a great effort for such a lowly ranked team.
The next two matches were the final Group B matches of Argentina vs Greece and South Korea vs Nigeria. Argentina were all but through already and the real deciding factor was which other country would come through with them. It was a close contest with each of the other three teams at points during the day being in a position to go on. Argentina were able to slice Greece apart in Lionel Messi's first outing as national captain. 2-o was enough to end the Greek dream of marching on in 2010.
The next match was a much tighter affair. Nigeria and South Korea were both extremely determined and wouldn't stop fighting from first to last. The final score was 2-2 but that really doesn't represent how impressive a match this was. The lead kept changing and each team looked amazingly strong in their attacks. Near the end Nigeria were ahead 2-1 which would have been enough to move on despite losing their first two matches. However South Korea managed to put a great goal in the net and evened it up at 2-2. The next 10 minutes were so fiery and passionate that it was hard to believe there were no more goals. Nigeria tried but failed in the end. The draw was all that South Korea needed to make it to the round of sixteen. Awesome match.
Argentina finished top of Group B and South Korea were runners up. So the first two matches of the round of sixteen are set up. It's Uruguay vs South Korea, which is a good situation for South Korea as they feel they must be able to get a win. Argentina vs Mexico is the other game and it's a rematch from a 2006 round of sixteen game. Mexico will hope to get revenge for their loss that day while Argentina will try and prove their supposed dominance. Both will be exciting games.
Tomorrow is the critical day for America against Algeria. MUST FUCKING WIN.
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