Ah yes, the World Cup, when the entire globe spends hours of its time watching Algeria play Slovenia, or New Zealand face up to mighty Slovakia (well, mightier, anyway). Or for that matter, watching two former world cup holders go at it (France and Uruguay) or two nations that once were European champions (Denmark and Holland). How has the planet been rewarded so far? Let’s recap.
South Africa 1 – 1 Mexico   Yay!
France 0 – 0 Uruguay   Merde!
South Korea 2 – 0 Greece   Confident!
Argentina 1 – 0 Nigeria   Shaky!
England 1 – 1 United States   Haha!
Slovenia 1 – 0 Algeria   Boring!
Ghana 1 – 0 Serbia   Handball!
Germany 4 – 0 Australia   Crikey!
Netherlands 2 – 0 Denmark   Meh!
Japan 1 – 0 Cameroon   Slow!
Italy 1 – 1 Paraguay   Tight!
Slovakia 1 – 1 New Zealand   Kiwis!
Ivory Coast 0 – 0 Portugal   Dull!
Brazil 2 – 1 North Korea   Fun!
It’s a good thing there haven’t been more games because I was starting to run out of synonyms for “boring.” There’s been a distinct lack of class in this World Cup. South Korea, Ghana, Germany and Brazil have been the most promising sides, the South Koreans taking apart a dull Greek team who are a shadow of their tactically great, technically solid Euro 2004 winners. The Germans were also quite good, but I find it hard to believe that Mesut Özil will be allowed the same kind of freedom to operate by the powerful, intelligent Ghanaians (or any other team, really, now that he’s shown what he can do). The best game of the tournament was Brazil against North Korea, which speaks volumes about the quality. Also saying it all, that a 2-1 game is the second highest number of goals in a match. Let’s hope things start picking up.
Photo by Bob the Lomond