2010 World Cup First Matches

The first round of matches has ended. My random observations and comments:

It was perfect that South Africa scored the first goal of this World Cup and what an amazing shot it was. You could feel the collective sense of relief for an entire nation that was literally on the edge of its seats. Siphiwe Tshabalala is now the answer to what will become a famous trivia question.

Why is the French team in such a bad mood? Much to the chagrin of France's Deputy Sports Minister, they are staying at a luxury resort with rooms starting at $600/night. Yet this group of players seemed almost irritated to be playing. If they are finding it such a burden to play in the World Cup, I'm sure the Irish would be happy to take their place.

While Maradona seems to keep making headlines, it took Lionel Messi perhaps five minutes to demonstrate why he is worthy of wearing the Argentine #10 jersey. If not for Nigeria's goalkeeper Messi could have had a hat trick. On another day, Higuain could have also had a hat trick. Yet despite the firepower, Nigeria almost equalized late in the match. Let's hope the on-field artistry of Argentina overwhelms the off-field chatter from Maradona.

South Korea looked lively and Park Ji Sung made an impressive run for his goal. But beware of Greeks playing soccer. That might have been the worst performance of the first matches.

Robert Green. A name that will go down in infamy. For his and England's sake, I really hope that gaffe is behind him.

Luckily for Algeria's goalkeeper, his name isn't as easy to remember as Robert Green. His mistake leaves Slovenia sitting pretty in Group C.

Germany sure knows how to start their World Cup campaigns. In addition to the impressive soccer, I found it interesting that Germany started two Polish-born strikers and substituted one of them with a Brazilian-born striker. Diverse composition of players, same result.

Ghana secures the first African victory during the first African World Cup without even having Michael Essien in the lineup. I do think they'll miss him as the tournament continues.

The Netherlands start their campaign off with a victory over the Danes but through an own goal and a follow-up move by Dirk Kuyt -- that was not matched by the Danish defender who was originally between Kuyt and the ball.

What a cool finish by Keisuke Honda on the only shot of the first half for Japan. I understand Australia's reasons for switching to the Asian qualifying zone. But it is ironic that both the other Asian qualifiers, South Korea and Japan, won their opening matches. Samuel Eto'o looked like he needed much more support to showcase his talents.

Even when Paraguay scored, I knew Italy would find a way to equalize. They must love to torment their fans. Apparently Italy's manager Marcello Lippi complained about Paraguay's tactics stating that they tried to choke the game after they led 1-0. Hmmm...I wonder who else plays like that?

I completely understand why Winston Reid took off his shirt to celebrate New Zealand's last minute equalizer. Who cares if he got a yellow card? This was history in the making!! I wonder if New Zealanders will look back at this goal as their debut onto the world stage of soccer.

Ivory Coast v. Portugal. What a letdown. Cristiano Ronaldo had an impressive shot hit the cross bar but what I recall most vividly was his deplorable dive. Why doesn't he just focus on the tremendous soccer he's capable of playing? I can't believe Didier Drogba is playing but I hope he starts in their next match against Brazil. For me, best striker in the world.

North Korea held their own against mighty Brazil for 55 minutes. Was Maicon actually crying tears of relief after he scored? Was that goal the result of keeper error? Or did Maicon fake him out into believing a cross was forthcoming? Robinho's pass to Elano was the best pass of the first set of matches. ESPN's commentators claimed that the North Korean fans were actually paid Chinese actors. You can't make up this kind of stuff.

Honduras didn't look totally outclassed by Chile but they never looked particularly threatening either. I bet most people forget that Chile qualified in second place during the South American qualifiers. With this victory and Spain's defeat, Chile is in a good position for moving through to the second round.

Spain. Wow. They were about 10-15 degrees off the entire match. Or in the case of Xavi Alonso's rocket shot, 10-15 inches off. Why didn't Iker Casillas use his hands to stop the original shot from the Swiss. He would have undoubtedly been clobbered by the Swiss striker but better that than an entire nation being clobbered by this shocking loss. ESPN reported that during the last three World Cups, only 8% of the teams that lost their first match made it through to the second round. That's disheartening indeed. But if anyone can do it, Spain can.