After the First Three

After the first three matches of the world cup have taken place, much as gone as expected. Germany had their way with Costa Rica for the most part, Ecuador edged out Poland despite being outplayed most of the match, and England defeated Paraguay sans Rooney. The opening match saw the host team Germany take on underdogs Coasta Rica. Germany got off to an exciting start with left back Philipp Lahm cutting back at the corner of the 18 and driving a beautifuly bent ball into the upper 90 past a helpless Costa Rican defense. Costa Rica responded just minutes later as Paulo Wanchope netted the first of two goals beating the offsides trap of the German back and sliding one past a vulenrable Jens Lehmann. Then in the 17th minute Miroslav Klose netted his first of two goals deflecting a cross into the back of the net. Klose would then net another goal of a header in the 61st minute, and though Wanchope added another goal in the 76th minute, Germany would cruise to a 4-2 victory. The one main weakness that Germany had was not the absence of captain Michael Ballack in the midfield as many feared, but rather the shaky defense that seemed to try and trap way to deep in their own territory, and the speedy Costa Rican strikers seem to break it fairly regularly. In order for Germany to beat Poland and Ecuador, their defense must be stronger........

Match 2 Poland vs. Ecuador The second match of the WC saw a slightly favored Poland losing to a strong and speedy Ecuadorian squad. Poland seemed to dominate the match and had poseession 56% of the time to Ecuador's 44%. Ulises de la Cruz launched a throw in into the Polish box that was flicked on by Agustin Delgado and then headed past the keeper by Carlos Tenorio giving Ecuador a lead they would take with them into halftime. Much of the rest of play was back in forth as scoring oppurtunities seemed hard to come by for either team. Then in the 80th minute substitute Ivan Kaviedes slid a perfect pass to Delgado (who appeared to be offiside) who slid the ball into the empty Polish net. Fortune did not seem to be on the side of Poland who struck the iron twice in the second half but came away from the match without a point or goal. Ecuador surprised many with solid ictory over Poland, and they were able to take advantage of superior fitness and speed over the Poles.....

Match 3 England vs. Paraguay This much anticipated match saw England defeat Paraguay in a very sloppy and boring 1-0 result. In the third minute David Beckham struck a free kic from about 25 yards out that glanced off Paraguay captain Carlos Gammara's head for an own goal. Apart from this Beckham was basically nonexistent outside of freekicks for England proving again to be the most overrated player in the tournament. With Rooney out Owen played up top with the lanky 6'5 striker Peter Crouch. Owen made a few stong and dangerous runs, but he never really had it going with Crouch up top. Crouch's play also proved dissappointing, the only mark on his sheet was a 2nd half yellow card earned for whining and complaining to the official. No doubt the worst of the 11 for England today was the play of outside back Ashley Cole. Cole never seemed to be comfortable with the ball at his feet, giving the ball away mutiple times in the back and allowing Paraguay its only dangerous oppurtunities at pace. He lost his footing and fell with the ball at least three times throghout the match, and will need to step up his play considerably if England is to progress into later rounds. The men of the match would have to be Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, and John Terry. Joe Cole was able to maintain posession in the middle and distribute the ball well about the field. Lampard seemed to always be in a dangerous position to go to goal. John Terry lived up to his reputation as one of the best defenders and tacklers in the world. Having to cover for A. Cole on numerous occassions, Terry showed that he could play and win with sheer grit and determination. Overall both teams looked sloppy and will need to pick up their play against Sweden.