Soccer Goals Safari

The last couple of days have seen some staggering upsets in the World Cup Soccer tournament. South Africa had a dismal night on Wednesday, suffering a crushing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Uruguay, combined with the sending off of their goalkeeper. This now puts the South Africans in a precarious position in their group, and could very easily see them become the first host team not to make it past the group stages. It was nice to see some goals though, and the less than impressed “Bafana Bafana” fans began a steady stream out of the stadium after the exit from the field of their keeper. Their last hope now rests on defeating France in the final group game, which most people might have considered a bit of a pipe dream. However, the last two days have seen some spectacularly unexpected results.

One of the tournament favorites, Spain, could not muster up a goal in their match against underdogs Switzerland, and were severely punished for this by a rather ugly-looking goal scooped into the net amidst a goal mouth scramble. But ugly or not, they all count. Although a bit of shocker, it is still fairly likely Spain will proceed to the second round, their remaining games against Chile and Honduras.

As for the French soccer team, the question has to be asked whether they can qualify for the second round having been comprehensively beaten in their second match by Mexico. This game was very entertaining, not only on the pitch itself, but also because it is the first match I have heard any of the fans chanting – the Mexicans! It was a very pleasant change to hear that instead of the vuvuzela chorus, loved and loathed in equal numbers by football fans and pundits. Nevertheless, France got beaten 2-0 and after a rather underwhelming first match draw, the French will now need to pull out a great escape against South Africa. That game (on June 22nd) should be a storming encounter with both teams playing for pride, South Africa hoping not to get into the record books as the first host team to get knocked out in the group stages; and France hoping to preserve some dignity, and not to be seen a spent force in world soccer.

In other news, Argentina predictably became the first team definitely to qualify for the second round with a merciless 4-1 victory over South Korea, and Greece pulled of a little shock of their own, coming back from a goal down to beat Nigeria 2-1.

As for England, they play their second game this evening, with a must win clash against Algeria. For the English side, the priority must be to top the group by the end of round 1, otherwise there is the unsavory threat of a second round grudge match against Germany, and those showdowns always get over-hyped and leads to unnecessary pressure….which of course always leads to penalty shootouts and England taking a plane trip!

So let’s wait and see what kind of show we get later today.