Day 2

Okay I am a bit behind, but it’s not my fault. I was out late last night having s’mores. Have you ever had a s’more? They’re fantastic! How did I live my life before them?

South Korea – Greece

Ref: Michael Hester (New Zealand)

Anyway, I was semi-conscious for the South Korea – Greece game this morning. In all of my pools I picked for them to draw, so of course S. Korea won 2 – 0.

Question: How were the Greeks once the European champions? Seriously.

Anyway, Park was, as always, a delight to watch, despite the fact that I didn’t recognize him in my half-conscious state.

Here are the game stats:

Final: South Korea 2 – 0 Greece

Attendance: 31,500

South Korea

Coach: Huh Jung-Moo

Sung-Ryong Jung

Young-Pyo Lee

Jung-Soo Lee

Yong-Hyung Cho

Du-Ri Cha

Ji-Sung Park

Jung-Woo Kim

Sung-Yueng Ki [Sub: Nam-Il Kim]

Chung-Yong Lee [Sub: Jae-Sung Kim]

Ki-Hun Yeom

Chu-Young Park [Sub: Seung-Yeoul Lee]

 VERSUS

Greece

Coach: Otto Rehhagel

Alexandros Tzorvas

Giourkas Seitaridis

Loukas Vyntra

Avraam Papadopoulos

Vasilios Torosidis

Georgios Samaras [Dimitrios Salpingidis]

Alexandros Tziolis

Konstantinos Katsouranis

Georgios Karagounis [Christos Patsatzoglou]

Theofanis Gekas

Angelos Charisteas [Pantelis Kapetanos]

Goals:

 @ 7' J. Lee [1 - 0]     
@ 52' J. Park [2 - 0]  

Game Stats: [South Korea – Greece]

 Shots on target: 6 - 2 

 Shots off target: 5 - 3

 Possession (%): 51 - 49         

 Corner kicks: 6 - 11   

 Offsides: 1 - 4           

 Fouls: 14 - 12

 Yellow cards: 0 - 1    

 Red cards: 0 – 0

Sonja’s Pool Stats: 0 for 3.

Argentina – Nigeria

Ref: Wolfgang Stark (Germany)

It’s HT in this game, and I got to say, I am very impressed with Nigeria. I think Argentina is completely overrated. Yes, players are good, but as an overall team? Meh. Remember, they almost didn’t make it to SA… but I suppose, Nigeria is in the same boat.

Anyway, here’s the match up for the game:

Argentina

Coach: Diego Maradona  

Sergio Romero

Jonas Gutiérrez

Walter Samuel

Martin Demichelis

Gabriel Heinze  

Juan Veron

Javier Mascherano

Angel Di Maria

Lionel Messi

Carlos Tevez

Gonzalo Higuain

           

VERSUS

Nigeria

Coach: Lars Lagerbäck

Vincent Enyeama

Chidi Odiah

Joseph Yobo

Danny Shittu

Taye Taiwo

Lukman Haruna

Dickson Etuhu

Sani Kaita

Chinedu Obasi

Victor Obinna

Aiyegbeni Yakubu

Prediction: A good game. At the half, it’s been pretty close, Messi can’t seem to finish anything and I am not sure if Argentina has a defense, but both teams are playing strong. Though, I have to say, Argentina is boring to watch; too much holding of the ball, passing back etc. Also, I am not sure if it’s the ball, or the altitude or the players, but, the ball travels fast and bounces hard.  Whatevs, Vincent Enyeama has been fantastic as the Nigerian keeper and deserves Man of the Match.

Predicted Score: 1 -1 (It’s 1 – 0 at the half).

England – USofA

Ref: Carlos Simon (Brazil)

This is the game that I am looking most forward to. I decided to support England (really, the lesser of two evils), but I am excited to watch Landy Cakes play. I have a soft spot for him.

Anyway here’s the matchup:

England
Coach: Fabio Capello

David James

Glen Johnson

Ledley King

John Terry

Ashley Cole

Aaron Lennon

Frank Lampard

Steven Gerrard

Joe Cole

Wayne Rooney

Emile Heskey

VERSUS

USofA

Coach: Bob Bradley

Tim Howard

Jonathan Spector

Oguchi Onyewu

Carlos Bocanegra

Steve Cherundolo

DaMarcus Beasley

Michael Bradley

Clint Dempsey

Stuart Holden

Landon Donovan

Edson Buddle

Prediction: Do not discount the Americans, this is not MLS. This will not be a walk in the park for the English, the Americans play hard and they don’t really play with a distinct style, which makes it harder to judge them. Remember, they came in second for the Confed Cup; they are getting use to playing against the big boys. Also, keep in mind the injuries that England has been having, they really had to scramble to get their team set for this match. Also, I am not convinced of Stevie G.’s abilities to captain his team. Regardless, I do think the English will prosper, but it won’t be easy.

Predicted Score: 3 – 2

We will see how everything thing works out today. Until tomorrow, and the second half of Group C,

Hopp,

scm.