In the comfort of a living room, the writer was treated to a day of soccer delight. Surrounded by five ladies, who had a serious deficiency in their understanding of soccer and cheered every replayed goal as if it was an actual goal, the action on the second day of the 2010 FIFA World cup was truly captivating.
Perhaps, the most exciting feat came from the group C opening match between England and USA. A fourth minute goal by Steven Gerard set the stage for a truly magnificent match. The England captain took advantage of a sleeping US defence, to launch an offence against an Emile Heskey and slid ball past goal keeper, Tim Howard.
But a dreadful blunder by England goalkeeper, Robert Green, gifted
the USA an all important equaliser in the 40th minute. A seemingly
harmless 25 yard shot by Clint Dempsey, somehow slipped through Green’s hands
and into the net. It was yet another unforgettable moment in what has already
been an exciting World Cup. But Green was not the first English man to commit
such an atrocity, his immediate predecessors: David Seaman, Paul Robinson and Scot
Carson have all been guilty of the same.
Comments by the English fans revealed their frustration. Former player, Terry Paine, described the performance as, “pathetic and poor.” The England Football Team wall on Face Book was besieged with angry comments most of which had strong language that cannot be quoted on this site: “Awful,” wrote Dean Finnie, “get rid of Green,” suggested Matthew Samms, “we have no goalkeeper, no central defence... overpaid, overrated, underachievers,” lamented Mark Garnett. In the end it was a status update by Moses Bizek which summed up the matter: “£1-1$”
The other matches in group B were also entertaining. Arguably, the Argentina versus Nigeria match was more interesting. Led by Barcelona star striker, Lionel Messi, Argentina was the favourite team and did not disappoint by winning 1-0, although most people would have expected them to have won by more goals.
With star attackers such as Messi, Carlos Tevez, Higuain, De Maria and Diego Milito, it was a surprise for the lone goal to have been scored by Gabriel Heizne. The former Manchester United left back scored a header from a corner after only five minutes. Nigeria did threaten at times and had some great chances but never really looked capable of equalizing.
Messi, who is expected by most analysts to be the star player of the tournament, did have an outstanding game. He troubled the Nigerian defence throughout the match but was kept from the score sheet by goalkeeper, Vincent Enyema, who was also in a class of his own. The same old story continued for African supporters; “always close but never there.”
South Korea did triumph over Greece, 2-0, in the other Group B match. Greece, known for its organised and solid defending, was clearly out classed by the fast and skilful Korean side. Goals from Lee Jung-Soo and Park Ji-Sung gave the Koreans the deserved victory.
The end result is bad news for African supporters, as our status qou puts Nigeria in a tight spot where they must win their two remaining matches to be sure of qualification. Their brave performance against Argentina will however give the fans courage as the games against Korea and Greece should be much easier.
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