Day 5 of the World Cup was a mixed bag of drama and surprise as proceedings got under way with Portugal taken apart by a confident Germany while Iran and Nigeria played out the first 0.0 draw of the tournament followed by late drama which saw the USA hitting back to beat a poor b
The Iran and Nigeria fixture was by far and away the least entertaining game of the tournament but I was more than happy to see the “Super Eagles” falter having heavily backed Bosnia to make it out of this group and this result played right into my favour. Super they were not as they failed to break down a stubborn Iranian side. Not much more to say except I was not surprised to see a poor Nigeria unit struggle against the well organised Iranian’s who under Carlos Quieroz will have been delighted to claim a point. Indeed I had tipped a tight draw in the blog yesterday and so it proved as both sides never looked like scoring in a drab encounter. It begs the question, as to what has happened to the African teams? Cameroon were awful against Mexico and Nigeria and Ghana both looked very ordinary indeed last night while Ivory Coast, despite beating Japan, no longer look like the threat of years gone by. Can Algeria prove to be their continents best representative? It would seem unlikely but they have a chance to get out of a group containing Belgium ,Russia and South Korea and at the very least they should be organised and play with a shape so lacking in the performance of Ghana. In the early game, Germany’s win over Portugal saw Thomas Mueller grab 3 goals and emerge as the new favourite for tournament top goal-scorer and his big game performances, especially at World Cup’s make him a big contender for that prize. Portugal however were never in the game and the behaviour of Pepe once again confirmed what a liability he truly is. A career littered with red-cards and bad behaviour has been the calling card of the Real Madrid centre back and quite why he is still trusted by both club and country remains a mystery. His tournament could well be over and frankly, it’s all he deserves. Finally, in the late game, we saw 2 late goals as the US somehow managed to respond to a late Ghanaian equaliser with a winner of their own. The joy on the face of the young American defender John Brooks who headed an 88th minute winner was genuine and beautiful and just what this World Cup should be about and in the end I was happy to see the US win (Even though it broke my double draw tip for the day) as they had showed far more courage and resolve than the Ghanaians who were unimpressive and frankly a big disappointment. Sully Muntari in particular was awful all night long and they played like a team who barely knew each other with little spark or inspiration in their play. The Ghanaian’s really angered me with their approach as time after time Muntari failed to beat the first man with his crosses while his shooting and passing was also verging on the diabolical summed up by has 93rd minute ballooner over the bar. Silly Sully will be sullen this morn. The US meanwhile are nothing more than a solid group of pro’s but with a team ethic and fighting spirit, they showed what can be done at this tournament and this was embodied in the performance of young Brookes who looked shaky when he entered the field of play at half time but within 45 minutes had written his name into US Footballing history with a header and subsequent celebration that he nor the people who witnessed it, will ever forget. Indeed now you would have to fancy this US side have enough about them to give Portugal and even the Germans some trouble in their subsequent matches and they have a great chance to qualify, especially if they take a point from Portugal in their next match. It was however a good day despite the dud draw between Iran and Nigeria and the performance of Germany has certainly brought their outstanding abilities to the general public conscience, with their pre-tournament price of 13/2 dropping to 9/2 and I believe they will take some stopping on their way to a potential semi-final with the hosts. On a side-note, the US team were to a man absolutely plastered in tattoo’s and one has to wonder about this modern day phenomenon. Too much money and time on their hands and the result is a team of grafittied/spray painted posers. I’m only 31 myself and I already feel like an old man looking at these idiots with their obsession for ink who seemingly cannot express themselves you know with words or personality. No, it seems that in today's 21st century you need to look like the inside of a Parisian railway tunnel in order to qualify as a real man with character. Anyways, my rant is done and I will post a preview of today’s action shortly and it should be a good night with hosts Brazil back in action. Comments are closed.
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