after last night’s draw with mexico, angola might have believed they were carrying the hopes of a nation and a continent on their backs, but that was pretty much dispelled by an impressive portugal tonight, who dispatched iran with relative ease, 2-0, sending the iranians out of the cup ignomiously.
angola now only have a slight chance to advance because they are -3 on goal difference to mexico. it will be tough enough for angola to beat iran, much less beat iran by enough goals combined with an equally dominant portugal win over mexico for the black antelopes to run through to the second round.
however, after taking no points from their first four games, the african teams have bounced back and now have taken 5 points from their next four–and the pointless game, ivory coast’s losing last night to holland to crash out of the cup, was an undeserved no-pointer.
iran were a major disappointment in this cup, having exited their group surprisingly meekly. it was thought by many that they were a legitimate threat to nick runnerup in this group because mexico and portugal are not always reliable on the international stage. instead, the iranians are out and unfancied angola are still hanging around. i can assure you that not many “experts” would have thunkit before the world cup started.
but the first real “upset” of the tournament just finished a few moments ago. just days after coming close to italy, the ghanians were not too fancied to win this match against the czechs–more especially because of the czechs’ dominant performance against the u.s. in their opener. however, nearly from start to finish–even before the czechs went down a man to a red card for tomas ujfalusi 25 minutes from time–the west africans reinstated pride to the forgotten continent with a fairly thorough thrashing. the 0-2 scoreline is actually flattering to czech republic because ghana missed a penalty and had czech goalkeeper petr cech make five nearly incredible saves in the last twenty minutes of the match to keep the score close. the czechs are very lucky not to be -2 or worse on goal difference.
this sets up an even more intriguing-than-before match between italy and the u.s. not long from now. if italy win, they’re through and the u.s. crash out. if the u.s. win, then all four teams will sit on three points each, with only goal difference to tell them apart–and setting up some fine, tense third matches next week. if italy and u.s. play out a draw, then the drama is still there, just not as thick, for both games three.
both italy and the yanks have to take heart from ghana’s thrashing of czech republic, but for different reasons. italy know a win will put them in the group driver’s seat and the u.s. now can be boosted by the knowledge that this group is as evenly matched as they initially thought it was. of course, italy will face a dangerous, wounded czech team in game three, while the u.s. will face a dangerous, confident ghana team in their game three.
just for the sheer drama of it, a u.s. victory over italy tonight would be fantastic. it’s always nice when the final group stage matches mean something for every team in a group.
enjoy the match and see you back here again soon…
15 Comments
ghana’s domination of czech was just amazing. now, italy can finish of czech, who will not be with a starter do to today’s redcard. and about those amazing saves by the czech goalkeeper in the last few minutes of the game, wow!!! i was also shocked to see the twenty year old miss the penalty kick, i recall the sports announcers blaming his age for the jitters.
im gonna go to sleep cause i gotta get up early tomorrow, so i wont be able to see the rest of the usa/italy game. so far, us is playing VERY well against italy, when i check the scores i wouldnt be surrpised to see us on top.
ok, i cant go to sleep, cause this game is crazy.. italy scored a goal off a heading in corner kick, and a few minutes later itlay has OWN GOAL!!! 29 minutes into the game and italy has a red card.. this is extremely good news for usa fans. i cant believe he blatantly elbowed the guy in the face.. all that blood.. you dont see a guys face covered in blood too often -_-
right before the half, usa gets a red card. in my opinion, thats barely a yellow card, america got completely screwed on that call. 1-1 at halftime, i need to go to sleep. sorry for so many posts i was excited
10 on 10 football !
Today has been one of the best days of ball so far. Group E is showing why it’s the group of death. Impressive show by Ghana. With a win over US they’ll be in; a tie will work if Italy beats or ties Czech.
And, the US grew some balls; amazing what that can do for your game. 8 on 9 ball was pretty cool (keepers don’t count). They’re still a little rusty on their passing game but a least they playe dwith more heart. Personally, I thought the game was a little poorly ref’d but the red cards and Beasley’s second yellow were not outrageous. Too bad for Mastroeni; he’s one of the better long range shooters. What was up with Italy’s offsides disease??
That was fun. Tomorrow should be better. Here’s hoping Korea beat France & Japan beat Croatia
The US game started off just as exciting as the Ghana match–three cheers for Africa! Unfortunately, the ref interjected himself a bit much. The first US red card was ridiculous, with that activity occurring throughout the match with very little notice. I agree with MrChips, though, that Beasley’s second yellow wasn’t outrageous, but probably should have been handled differently, especially after the previous red card.
In the end, the ref had enormous influence over the game, and ruined an otherwise well-matched, exciting game. I’m surprised the Italians couldn’t better push their advantage. It’s hard to cover a pitch with only eight guys. The fact that Italy couldn’t push the advantage goes to show the level of effort the US put into the game, especially in the second half.
Well, I’ll be. USA actually pulled a draw against Italy and managed to stay in the running for the group of 16 (way way far back in the running, but still…) I guess it’s all down to game 3 for team USA (as well as the Italy-Czech game).
The first red card examplify I do not like a certain aspect of soccer. Italian player gave a strong elbow to McBride and he bled.
Italians love this kind of stuff. Some Eastern Europeans do, too. If a soccer player does a dirty trick(like pulling on the shirt) and score a goal, these people love it. They love it more than a clean goal.
Something is wrong with these people. I have seen Italians doing dirty plays. Spain, Czech, Poland… What is wrong with these Europeans? England and Germans do few of these dirty plays as well as Africans, Americans and Asians. Italians frequently do it even when they are ahead. Something is wrong with these people.
The game needs clean up for sure. The player who intensionally throws elbows or hard tackle to injure other players should be banned from the soccer. And, the country who puts these goons on the field should automatically disqualify from playing further.
Italy should have been sent home.
On top of that, I think the refree behaved erratically. Maybe he got threatened by Italian mob. Maybe he got paid off. He had some strong reason to act against Americans.
I am reminded of Italy in the last World Cup games against Korea, when an Italian tried to head-butt one Korean player, missed and nailed his own team mate. I want to see more of that from the Italians.
eddie pope got the yellow…and a previous one in against the chechs not beasley
and yes the italians are a dirty bunch
they did the same 4 years ago
i would really like to see if mcbride touched beasleys shot to get the offsides call
overall the US played an awesome first half
but to many fouls in bad spots hurt them and italy scored
The dirty game reminded me of the game between the Russians and the North Koreans in 1966 World cup. The Russians played so physically that the North Korean players nearly threw a fist at the Russian players.
Soccer ain’t my thang but I managed to catch that one game. Ghana were world class, really fast, highly skilled. I’d love to see them win this cup. The US did alright too holding off Italy. Surprising.
Belay my last. Should be Pope that got two yellows cards, not Beasley. Beasley came on as substitute in 2nd half and played quite well. My mistake.