Once again, the result of Germany vs. Argentina has sided with modern history. I eluded briefly to the history behind this fixture in a preview to the quarter finals and like in 1990 and 2006 it’s the Germans who have emerged victorious. Germany continued their superb form through to the quarter final match and won 4-0 with goals from Muller, Klose (x2) and Friedrich. Germany seem to have the game one in every area of the pitch.
We now know from which eight countries the winner of the World Cup will come. There are four South American nations, three European nations and one African nation.There is the prospect that all four semi finalists could be South American with the draw shaping up like this:
Netherlands vs. Brazil
Uruguay vs. Ghana
Argentina vs. Germany
Paraguay vs. Spain
That weekend felt draining. I don’t think I’ve experienced so much footballing information in such a short space of time. Saturday started with the England hangover. Everyone has their own opinion as to why England continued their poor form with another failure. England fans weren’t the only ones feeling angry. The USA’s fans awoke to their own frustrations. They felt, quite rightly, that their side had been denied a 3-2 victory against Slovenia which would have capped an excellent turnaround having been two goals behind. Maurice Edu’s late goal was harshly ruled out by the referee.
Cameroon have become the first nation to be knocked out of the World Cup. Boasting a strong squad made up of a lot of European-based players more was expected of Paul Le Guen’s side. After a 1-0 loss to Japan they lost 2-1 to Denmark yesterday to sit rock bottom of Group E. They will play merely for pride in their final group match against the Netherlands later this week.
So with the World Cup kicking off later today I thought I would stick my neck out and make some predictions (which I should point out, usually turn out to be very very wrong!). Also, if you are interested in finding out when the World Cup is on the TV you can check out the following World Cup TV Listings Guide.
Having already seen key striker, Marco Streller withdraw from the World Cup, coach Ottmar Hitzfeld now has a new concern. Captain, Alexander Frei injured his ankle in training after a tackle from Steve von Bergen. He has been sent for a scan so the extent of the injury can be conduced.
Manchester United and Portugal winger Luis Nani has been ruled out of the World Cup due to a shoulder injury. Nani hurt his shoulder in Lisbon prior to the squad flying out to South Africa, however at first it seemed like a minor injury and the player would be able to compete in the opening fixture on June 15th against the Ivory Coast. The winger played in eleven qualifying games and was second top goalscorer with three goals. He joins team mate Rio Ferdinand as another major star to miss the World Cup through injury.
Slovenia captain Robert Koren has warned his Group C rivals they will not roll over for anyone and believes his team can upset the group favourites – England. Slovenia take on Algeria and the USA before facing England on 23 June in their final group game. Many have written Slovenia off and an early exit has been predicted, but ex-West Bromwich Albion midfielder Koren, who is now a free agent, believes they can challenge for a place in the knock-out stages.
The build up to this World Cup has been as much about who may not be there as to who will be there. Players have been ruling themselves out of matches or getting serious injury scares. It seems that a high proportion of these players, often influential players, are based in England and play in the Premier League.
French playmaker Yoann Gourcuff believes that France have some work to do prior to their opener against Uruguay on June 11th. Gourcuff, who has been compared to the legendary Zinedine Zidane, is expected to start in a three man midfield alongside Diarra and Toulalan after an impressive season Bordeaux last season. France have contested two of the previous three finals, however the mercurial Zidane was pivotal in both campaigns, something that Gourcuff will obviously try aspire to.
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