Day 1

Well, I can only hope the next 29 days are as fun as this one. As I ran around doing my errands this morning before the game (i.e. getting lots of food and beer to store up as I stay in my "soccer bunker" for the month), I took a chance to listen to some sportstalk radio and hear my sport get slammed by the blue-collar, xenophobic mainstream sports media. Sure, there were some condescending comments, but to my surprise, most of the chat was positive. 1 of the guys said he's not a soccer fan, but always watches the World Cup because it's such a crazy event. They even opened up the phone lines to take some calls, which I haven't heard before. Gotta admit I felt a certain amount of pride in the fact that "our" sport is finally getting some much-deserved attention on the huge U.S. sports stage.

Anyway, the reason I brought this up was because one of the guys on the radio sarcastically said "I can't for all the 1-0 games." Well, he's 0-2 for Day 1, isn't he? a 4-2 Germany win over Costa Rica in the opener? Wow, the weight of the world is off Klinsmann's shoulders, isn't it? Even w/out Ballack, the Germans were precise, tactically sound in the midfield, and scored some amazing goals today. Torsten (America's Public Enemy #1) Frings, save for a spectacular bicycle kick by someone else, might have already scored the goal of the tournament w/ that 40 yard blast. Plus, Klose scored twice, which is good for me since he's on my fantasy team...Germany's back line seemed a step slow today, but they've got 2 games to get it right before the knockout round begins. I thought Costa Rica played well, despite giving up 4 goals. Wanchope showed he's still got it by scoring 2 goals and nearly getting a 3rd, but the CR midfield was overwhelmed today, did a poor job of keeping the ball, relied on their own shaky defense a little too much, and they paid for it.

Ecuador showed significantly more than I gave them credit for. They played a counterattacking game that worked perfectly against a bigger and stronger Polish team, who, for the 2nd tournament in a row, came out flat in their opening game. They've got a REAL challenge ahead of them in game 2, where they'll play a German squad looking to clinch a spot in the knockout round. I realize I picked CR to advance out of this group, but it now appears Ecuador is a better team, and if they pull out the win in game 2, the Ecuador/Germany game will simply decide 1st or 2nd in the group.

Looking forward to a "rise and shine" game w/ my pick to win this whole thing, England, as they play Paraguay at 9 tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow's update will be late in the evening, as I not only have 3 games to watch on tv like the rest of you, but I'll be traveling down south to catch the Richmond/Charlotte game as they battle for 1st place in USL2. Should be fun.

Feel free to add your comments, or if you want to mail them to me, please do so at soccertalk@hotmail.com. I'll be happy to post your thoughts on the tournament as well!