England 1 – 0 Paraguay
Trinidad & Tobago 0 – 0 Sweden
Argentina 2 – 1 Ivory Coast
Paraguay have often been known for their solid defences in the past, and after some early jitters (an own goal from a Beckham free-kick after four minutes; a substitute goalkeeper four minutes later) they settled into a solid, unadventurous game plan. England certainly were disappointing, but it was nothing disastrous… I always had the feeling that if Paraguay did ever sneak a goal, England would hit back hard. It occurred to me that England’s failings were more a case of apathy than ineptness; Paraguay just weren’t dangerous enough to provide the motivation.
It was a shame to hear a small number of (presumably England) fans jeering Owen Hargreaves, but his few contributions didn’t help his case much.
Compared with Germany’s hopeless defence (see Day 1) and England’s half-hearted attacking, Sweden provided the biggest “how the mighty have fallen” shock of the day. The recent Swedish teams have always been solid and organised, but with an explosive attacking flair, especially from Henrik Larsson. Today, Larsson (at 34, playing in his 5th major international tournament) provided the only glimmers of hope for a team that looked old, jaded and seriously in need of new blood.
Trinidad & Tobago, reduced to ten men shortly after half-time, played with passion and dedication and deserved the point. Shaka Hislop… honorary Geordie, honorary Cockney and now probably the world’s favourite second-choice goalkeeper.
In the final match, Ivory Coast certainly had the technical ability to pull off a similar feat, but constantly underestimated an excellent Argentinian defence. A number of promising moves ended with players running into trouble by releasing the ball far too late, while Didier Drogba was as frustrating as he so often is with Chelsea. If he had applied himself from the start, rather than playing the sulky victim, the match could have been very different. As it was, he began producing flashes of brilliance (including a cleverly taken goal) in the last ten minutes, but it was too late.
Argentina never looked like they were coasting, but they clearly have bags of talent between them, along with a crisply organised solidity. It’s always good to see people succeeding in life despite terrible physical impairments, and Juan Sorin showed once again that his 1986 poodle haircut needn’t prevent him from enjoying life to the full. Has he not considered the aerodynamic implications?