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2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa


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Teams through to the round of 16 are:

Uruguay

Mexico

Argentina

South Korea

Netherlands

Brazil

Teams mathematically eliminated are:

Cameroon

North Korea

France

South Africa

Nigeria

Greece

That leaves 20 teams fighting over the 10 remaining spots.

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Looking at the brackets, if Germany beats Ghana tomorrow and wins that group it looks to be key for the US to win the group. In that scenario they would play Ghana/Serbia in the Round of 16, and if they win they play Uruguay or South Korea in the quarters. The likely opponents in that case (Serbia and Uruguay) are ranked around the US, which means the States getting to the Semis isn't inconceivable. If the US finishes second and Germany wins that sets up a death march path needing big upsets to advance far.

Of course Germany could finish second and the US first and that 1st place path becomes harder. Still the US plays first so they need to go for the group win.

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The winner of a group will play the second place of the group after them. So for the first two groups its:

Winner A - Uruguay

Second B - South Korea

Winner B - Argentina

Second A - Mexico

And so on down the line for the first knockout round

It should also be note that the two group pairs are placed on the opposite side of the bracket. So you can't meet a team you played in the group stage until the Final.

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Well, here are my impressions of Groups A and B:

-South Africa may have missed the Knockout Round via goal differential, but the win today over France is monumental for Bafana Bafana. This win will give the fans a lasting memory of the tourny. Yes, South Africa has made dubious history today, but if you ask anyone that roots for Bafana Bafana, they'll tell you that today was the best day ever in South Africa's soccer history... Yes. It even trumps their win in the 1996 African Cup of Nations.

-On the flip side, France bombed out big time. But, it was expected in a way. In 2002, France laid an egg after winning it all on home soil in 1998. In 2006, they reached the Finals and lost via shootout, so hsitory just repeated itself for the French... Except for the gargantuan meltdown by the French players. Whatever Anelka said to their coach must of been nasty even for French people.

-Mexico and Uruguay move on, but Uruguay has the better chance of moving on. Why? Well, they weren't paired with Argentina. :)

-Greece finally broke through in terms of goals and a win in the World Cup. For a country that won Euro 2004, the kind of track record they had in the World Cup before this year would make you think 'Boy, they must not have a strong soccer team'. Maybe they can take this and use that to prepare to qualify for Euro 2012.

-Nigeria's elimination is an understatement for what I think is the biggest story of the tourny so far: The disappointing performances of the African teams in South Africa. All but Ghana are eliminated from the picture (I know Ivory Coast isn't out of it yet, but you really think they can make up a 9 goal difference? Yeah... and it's 32 degrees Farenheit at Death Valley). For a region that has waited for this event to come, the nations that represent it have been having hard times. It goes to show how much of a difference in how good South American and European teams are when compared to other regions of the world.

-South Korea moves on for only the 2nd time. Good for them... Maybe they use this to rub it in North Korea's face (as if North Korea needs more salt in the wound after the ass whipping Portugal gave them yesterday). Of course, it won't help with the political tension between the two countries, but it could lighten the mood a little.

-Argentina has been the one of the teams so far that has been perfect through all three games in Group play among the elite nations (The other being The Netherlands). Look at it: France has one goal in three games are are done. England has one goal in two games. Italy has two goals in two draws and were trailing freaking New Zealand! Brazil had problems with North Korea before putting them away. Portugal had a scoreless draw with the Ivory Coast before blasting North Korea to the stone age. What Maradonna is doing is great, and don't be shocked if they last until the finals and even win it all.

Now, it's question time...

Can the US get that phantom foul call out of their collective heads? Can Algeria pull a Desert Fox out of their hats and pull off a big time stunner? Does England have anything in the tank left? Can Slovenia's Green Dragons slay the mighty Three Lions? Who will survive in the showdown between Ghana and Germany? Can the Socceroos recapture their 2006 magic against Serbia?

 

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-Nigeria's elimination is an understatement for what I think is the biggest story of the tourny so far: The disappointing performances of the African teams in South Africa. All but Ghana are eliminated from the picture (I know Ivory Coast isn't out of it yet, but you really think they can make up a 9 goal difference? Yeah... and it's 32 degrees Farenheit at Death Valley). For a region that has waited for this event to come, the nations that represent it have been having hard times. It goes to show how much of a difference in how good South American and European teams are when compared to other regions of the world.

I think the most over played thing coming into the tournament and into the tournament was the expectations for the African teams and the failure to live up to those expectations. I know teams tend to perform better when the tournament is on the same continent, but this isn't like Europe where you have all the countries clustered together in a small (comparatively) geographical area. This isn't being played in the back yards of Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, and Algeria. While on the same continent those countries are still far from South Africa. Not only that but they are are in a different hemisphere as South Africa. They are northern hemisphere countries located within the tropics. South Africa is in the southern hemisphere mostly outside of the tropics. It is winter and because of the altitude the temperature are mostly what it is like in the Southern US in winter time. I would assume that wouldn't be advantageous to them. I don't think their is enough "home field" advantages for them to overcome that they are still developing soccer countries. Unfortunately, I don't find the results that unsurprising. Especially since the draws didn't work int their favor (specifically Ivory Coast).

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An early morning coming up for us. Setting the alarm for 4:30am.

Mathematically we can get through but we need to make up a five goal goal-difference (i think its 5, or its 4). A pretty big ask but possible.

Hopefully no one gets sent off tonight.

twitter.com/thebrainofMatt

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Slovenia v England line-ups

Slovenia: 1-Samir Handanovic; 2-Miso Brecko, 4-Marko Suler, 5-Bostjan Cesar, 13-Bojan Jokic; 10-Valter Birsa, 8-Robert Koren, 18-Aleksandar Radosavljevic, 17-Andraz Kirm; 9-Zlatan Ljubijankic, 11-Milivoje Novakovic.

England: 1-David James; 2-Glen Johnson, 15-Matthew Upson, 6-John Terry, 3-Ashley Cole; 16-James Milner, 4-Steven Gerrard, 8-Frank Lampard, 14-Gareth Barry; 19-Jermain Defoe, 10-Wayne Rooney.

Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Germany)

14:00 

USA v Algeria line-ups:

United States: 1-Tim Howard; 6-Steve Cherundolo, 15-Jay DeMerit, 12-Jonathan Bornstein, 3-Carlos Bocanegra; 10-Landon Donovan, 4-Michael Bradley, 19-Maurice Edu, 8-Clint Dempsey; 17-Jozy Altidore, 9-Hercules Gomez.

Algeria: 23-Rais Ouheb Mbouli; 2-Majid Bougherra, 5-Rafik Halliche, 4-Antar Yahia, 3-Nader Belhadj, 21-Fouad Kadir, 19-Hassan Yebda, 8-Medhi Lacen, 15-Karim Ziani, 11-Rafik Djebbour, 13-Karim Matmour.

Referee: Frank De Bleeckere

Onweyu out for bornstein. Feinhalber on the bench, edu in (he was shaky against Slovenia). Gomez in for findley.

Lol at a German ref for the England game, imagine the headlines of he screws over England!!!'

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We just got :censored:ed again. Fantastic. ^_^

Looks like it should've been a goal.

It was close, I'll say that. But I don't think many fans around the world will cry if the United States gets knocked out because of it.

LvZYtbZ.png

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