Day 2

11:30 AM

Well, the first "yawner" of a game is over. England gets the early goal (with the help of Gamarra) and holds on for the next 88 minutes to get the 3 points. I guess that's all that matters, but jeesh, England, try to be a little more exciting!!! you've got the best midfield in the tournament...dribble...take people on...look like you're trying to score. Michael Owen looked terrible, and it looks like Peter Crouch will be getting called for a foul any time he's involved in a challenge. I think he had 7 or 8 called against him today. If they're going to do that against the bigger guys, I fear for Onyewu on Monday. Paraguay seemed to gain confidence as the game progressed. They knocked the ball around, and with the exception of 1 or 2 players who did the patented "flop, dive, and act like I've been shot" routine, they weren't too bad. Never had a REAL chance to tie, but as easily as they could have fallen apart after giving up the early goal and the loss of their starting goalkeeper, they showed a lot of courage to make a game of it. They'll give Sweden a tussle in the 2nd match.

Time for the noon match...

Wow! Talk about a shock! I had Sweden winning this one 4-1, but forgot to take into account the courage of the T&T squad. They're routinely overlooked, even in CONCACAF, but when you look at their recent history, they've done okay against the U.S. and Mexico, getting the occasional point in qualifying. So, under the right tuteledge, why wouldn't they be up for this game? They were dominated in large stretches by the Swedes, and when Avery John was sent off for a stupid 2-footed tackle when he already had a yellow, I thought it was game over. In fact, I can think of at least 4 occasions where I said "here's where Sweden scores," only to be wrong every time. Shaka Hislop is probably the first "hero" of the tourney w/ an amazing performance in a game where he wasn't named the starter until the first-stringer was injured during warmups. I still expect Sweden to right the ship and move on out of the group stage, but for at least 1 moment, T&T is beginning what could be a great story. Time for the next game...

Argentina-Ivory Coast - That was a fun one to watch. A lack of composure for roughly 20 minutes from IC was the difference in this one. I liked the pace of the match, although I thought IC would eventually fade. Turns out it was Argentina that struggled mightily for the last half-hour. Getting that goal to make it 2-1 was big, as the tiebreaker could go to goal differential after 3 games. Still, REALLY stupid yellow card for Drogba at the end. We saw a couple of those today, didn't we? Yellows for dissent, unsportsmanlike, etc. Those are what's going to kill you, because if you pick up another in the next game, or the one after, you sit. Simple as that. Drogba IS IC's chance to move forward out of this group, so w/out him, no way. Enough about that. I was impressed w/ the way Argentina moved the ball. Very efficient and lethal when they needed to be. Both goals came directly as a result of an IC chance at the other end. Riquelme was masterful at finding the open targets, and although they only brought 4 players back from their 2002 squad, the newcomers stepped up and showed they're to be reckoned with.

Overall, 2 good games and 1 below expectations, but not a bad day. The only real surprise was obviously T&T, and it'll be interesting to see how Sweden reacts when they play Paraguay in the game that will most likely decide who moves and who goes home in Group B.

I'm off to Richmond. See you tomorrow!