Group G Finales

France found its scoring touch today. In addition to their two goals, they had several missed opportunities. Was it the presence of Trezeguet up front with Henry or was it perhaps, dare I say it, the absence of Zidane? Sacre bleu!! Without Zidane, it seemed that Les Bleus found other ways to move the ball through the midfield. Viera certainly stepped up, and Togo found it difficult to deal with both Trezeguet and Henry. I would imagine the Spaniards would as well. It may be sacreligious to suggest that Zidane's absence actually helped the French, but they may be asking too much of him. Don't get me wrong. I am very pleased that Zidane gets to play again, but it was illuminating to see France play without him. Just something for France's manager Domenech to think about :-) Two other pieces of unsoliciated advice for the French. Ribery worked very hard, and made some great passes, but he should drink some decaf before he shoots at goal. And Barthez needs to stop trying to make extraordinary saves out of ordinary ones. Barthez will get France in trouble if he persists in not grabbing the ball.

Let's hope Togo resolves the situation with its soccer federation. If Togo qualifies in 2010, it would be great to see them play soccer without a constant cloud of controversy hanging over their heads.

For South Korea, they went to the well one time too many. A team that has rightly earned a reputation for miraculous comebacks, it eventually caught up with them. Their high-spirited play led to several chances but with no margin for error, especially given France's result, they find themselves heading home. The "no, wait, it isn't really offside" incident was bizarre, and unfair to the Koreans. It effectively ended the game but the Koreans would be wise to learn how to score first and hold onto a lead, rather than keep playing catch-up. In each of their games in Group G, the opposition scored first. At this level, it's too much of a mountain to climb every game.

Perhaps the biggest concern for Switzerland at this point is the health of Senderos. Switzerland is the only team to keep a clean sheet through the first round, but they haven't faced tremendous firepower. Senderos is a key figure in their defense, which will eventually face stiffer challenges.

On a programming note, I'm very glad to hear Adrian Healey refer to "crystal clear high definition" (instead of "glorious high definition"). Maybe he's reading this blog :-)