Gads! I don't believe it! An Italian team incapable of defending a one-goal lead. Honestly, I thought it was over and done with, with five minutes left on the clock. Who the heck would have known that an Italian defender would not realise that this would be the ideal time to hoof the ball out instead of trying to control it (or some impression of bringing the ball under control).

And Paolo Maldini... goodness sakes, I know you're a left-back, but I'm sure you know as well as I do that the best place to challenge a striker for a ball in the air would be to be alongside him, preferably goal-side, not three feet behind him.

Hrmph. :(

 
So, almost two-thirds of the way in the group games, and the tournament is beginning to take shape. It is proving to be a gritty final game for most teams as only two teams have qualified for the final sixteen and only four teams who are sure of booking an early flight home.

I meant to write this after the first round, but didn't find the time to do so. I watched most matches, but missed the Croatia-Mexico, China-Costa Rica, Russia-Tunisia and most of the Denmark-Senegal game.

First Round
Game of the Round: Brazil vs Turkey, I think - a game that had everything. The US win over Portugal comes second, but the Brazil game had me on the edge of the seat (or bed, rather) throughout the 90 minutes.

Surprise of the Round: USA 3 - Portugal 2

Players of the Round: Papa Boupa Diop for giving the World Cup such a brilliant start and Junichi Inamoto for his livewire display against Belgium. So what if he's an Arsenal player!

Goal of the Round: Dario Rodriguez's sweet volley into the top-left corner for Uruguay against Denmark.

Play of the Round: When three Brazillians linked up to give Juninho a shot at goal (which he skied) in the game against Turkey.

Disappointment of the Round: England trying to play possession football by passing the ball 40 yards back to the keeper.

 
U-turn puts Brazil on the attack

So, after Brazil's more successful second half against Malaysia, it's good to see Juninho in the starting lineup. It seems that Brazil are lining up a 3-3-3-1 formation (although I have to wrap my head around that one).

Brazil vs Turkey is on at 5 o'clock in the evening on a working day, so I think subtrefuge is the order of the day...

 
Hargreaves wins starting place
With Beckham fit, it looks like the England starting eleven against Sweden is now settled: Seaman, Mills, Keown, Ferdinand and A Cole at the back; Becks, Scholes, Heskey and Hargreaves in the middle; and Vassell and Owen up front.

I'd much prefer to play Butt in the middle to complete the United triumverate, but if Svennie says that Hargreaves can produce the goods, so be it...

 
The 'joy' of celibacy

Finally: an article discussing whether or not sex is good for players!

 
Ljungberg the jewel in the crown
This article says that the key to beating Sweden is to shackle Ljunberg.

I reckon they need a creative attacking midfielder to make best use of him, and I don't know if Larsson can play that role.

The article also suggests that England should play a counter-attacking game. But what if Sweden don't come forward, or play a sweeper instead of 4-4-2?

Their guess at a starting lineup is: Magnus Hedman; Olof Mellberg, Johan Mjallby, Patrick Andersson, Teddy Lucic; Magnus Svensson, Anders Svensson, Tobias Linderoth, Ljungberg; Larsson and Allback.

 
Zlatan is Sweden's Gascoigne
Keep an eye out for this guy - that's what I've been saying for the last few months!

 
Can you believe it? I'm going to miss the opening game. I have to go to a wedding which I thought was on the Thursday! :(

I'll catch the morning repeat the next day, then.

 
So, the England-Sweden game looms nearer and nearer, and Beckham and Butt race to get fit in time.

So who will play in Sunday? The defence looks obvious enough: Seaman, A Cole, Keown, Ferdinand and Mills. Midfield is a little trickier: Heskey, Scholes, Butt, Beckham (or Hargreaves, if the left foot is still out). Maybe. Which means that Owen and Vassell will be up front.

But I don't think Vassell should play up front with Owen (all this despite being a Villa fan). I think Fowler would make a far better partner.

Tactically speaking, the idea will be to try and counter-attack. If Sweden don't give much space at the back, Fowler will have to drop back a bit to help out in developing the play.

 
Vassell now an automatic pick after five caps
Vassell for the first 11? This article seems to prefer a Heskey-Owen-Vassell lineup against Sweeden.

 
Irish players rule out Keane return
Well, I guess this does it if it's true. If the players themselves don't want Roy Keane to come back, then they don't want him, and Mick McCarthy can't be blamed too much for not taking him back.

If.

 
Mills ready for Sweden test
Ah... a yellow card now and then doesn't really matter now, does it?

 
Camacho reveals tactical HQ
I wouldn't mind the job of taking care of this set-up!

 
FA act over Scholes problem
Who would've thought?

 
It's SNAFU in the Spanish camp
An inside look into the hijinks (real or imagined) in the Spanish squad.

Really, I'm sure England would swap their current problems for the perceived ones the Spanish have.

 
Keep me on the left, says Sinclair

This article seems to indicate that England will start on Sunday with Heskey on the left and Hargreaves in the middle.

It also suggests against using Danny Mills in right midfield and to use Joe Cole instead (that is, if Becks is still out).

I think Mills would be OK on right midfield, and he can help try to chain Ljunberg down as well when in that position.

 
Zidane ruled out for two games
France aren't the same team without Zizou. The game against Senegal should still be a walkover, but he would have been a valuable presence against Uruguay.

 
World Cup refs plan to topple fall guys

I think they should enforce compulsory five minute rests for peolpe who the ref think has dived. Just so they can recover, you know.

 
Mick McCarthy: 'No dignity and precious little respect'
Roy Keane: 'I feel that I have been stabbed in the back'

So who's right? I guess it would take a lot for a manager to want to sideline his biggest player, and I can't believe that anyone would put personal acrimony ahead of the World Cup. I believe that Mick McCarthy felt that Keane is a bad influence on and a poor captain for the Irish squad and that if this bad blood carried on, it would affect Irish performances on the pitch.

I also believe that Keane was doing what he felt was best for his country, and that he let his mood and ego put himself in a bad position.

If you believe that manager and captain should get along well together, and if Keane did abuse his manager in front of the other players, then Keane should have at least been ripped of his captaincy. And if you believe that this would have made the player even more disruptive, then it was the right decision to send him home.

 
Quinn: Keane can be frightening
'I can remember the dressing room after that game, everybody was jumping around, shouting and roaring.

'But Roy is there with a serious expression on his face telling one player that he should have passed at some stage during the game instead of dribbling it'.

Scary, indeed.

 
Samba boys lack rhythm in warm-up match
Oooo... watched Brazil play Malaysia last night. It was an enjoyable evening, even if the local boys lost 0-4 by the end of it.

It was good the way Brazil started the game with their first team; Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Roberto were all in the starting team. Brazil were playing 3-5-1-1 with Ronaldo playing alone up front and Rivaldo playing off him.

It really looked like a case of how many would Malaysia let in, and the first indications seemed to show that it would be significant. Malaysia played 4-4-2 with a very defensive midfield and the strikers were happy to try to hold the ball up.

However Brazil were unable to force in the first goal despite having many, many chances. It didn't look as if they were playing at full pace, not fully commiting themselves to challenges, trying to minimise the risk of injury. Ronaldo had quite a few chances on goal, but good defending and keeping kept the ball out time after time. The crowd were getting more and more excited at the thought

Rivaldo was a bit of a disappointment, not imposing his presence they way we know he's capable of and Ronaldinho looked ordinary. Roberto Carlos was involved in a lot of the actioin, and his runs down the left were always threatening.

Malaysia did try to give as good as they got, but on strikers had no answer for the speed and physical presence of the South American defenders.

The half finished scoreless, and I'm sure there was a bit of shouting during half time in the Brazilian changing room.

During the second half, the Brazilian first team were gradually substituted with the reserve team. Juninho and Denilson came on and made an impact. Suddenly, a one-two across the face of the Malaysian defence resulted in a looping ball straight to the feet of Ronaldo near the penalty spot for the simplest of finishes.

After that, it was a bit of a of a scramble to try and stop a goalrush. Brazil started becoming much quicker with the passes and Denilson (I think) was being a real pain on the left wing. A second, a third and then a fourth goal went in, sealing a clear Brazilian win.

So,how does this all auger for Turkey? Well, I think it's clear that Brazil's strength is in attack, especially if the key men all start to link with each other. It is possible to frustrate Brazil by limiting space for the quick give-and-go's, and to try to keep possession away from them as long as possible to interrupt their rhythm. If possible, try to limit the space that Roberto Carlos can exploit down the left-hand side and not to worry too much about dealing with high crosses - Brazil seem to favour it being played along the ground. If you can limit Brazil to high balls down the middle, you stand a chance to shut them out. I think Brazil are succeptable to the counter-attack, but the midfielders have to get up very quickly to join the attack if it's going to have any impact.

 
Long ball is just one route for Sven

I am happy to defend "route one" footbal as a viable tactic. It makes a lot of sense if you lack creative midfielders, but have those that have bite.

Anyway, Svennie's right: mixing up the long and short is always better.

 
ESPNsoccernet.com World Cup 2002: Batistuta grabs hat-trick

"Argentina showed their formidable strength in depth when a virtual reserve side overwhelmed their hosts in the second half after eight changes at the interval."

Two words for England: "Oh bugger"

 
Spain given tough work-out

Does this point to yet another lacklustre tournament from them? I hope not!

 
Senegal boosted by narrow victory

And you know who I'll be rooting for in the Senegal-France game... ;)

 
Ljungberg in training fight with Mellberg

Ljunberg says "'Things like that happen, it's nothing to worry about. Such things happen when you play."

Good or bad? I think that any dissent between players can't be good for the team on the whole, but that this won't really affect their chances in the World Cup.

 
Sven tells England: Get organised

Sven says that the England team don't do well when switching tactics in mid-game.

Does that mean that the team will stick with whatever formation they start with against Sweden? Which is it: 4-4-2 or 4-3-3?

I think that if he can have a healthy defensive midfielder, he might go 4-3-3. That could mean Beckham or Butt in central midfield with (surprise, surprise) Danny Mills as right midfield and Wes Brown as right-back. Ideally Dyer would be in left midfield but I think Wayne Bridge could play the role too. The tactic would be to have Beckham spraying balls left and right into space with the option to use Scholes or Sheringham as the link man to Heskey and Owen.

If Murphy, Beckham and Butt are all still out, that it would have to be 4-4-2. Hargreaves would be called in, probably, with Scholes playing deeper. The tactic would be to try to advance up the wings playing one-twos with central midfield, with the occasional harassing foray by Heskey through the middle and the usual Scholsey forward runs.

 
Republic send Keane home

Really, really, really bad news for Ireland. Ireland without Roy Keane loses a lot of its edge and inspirational power, not to mention their influence in the midfield.

I suppose Matt Holland will have to try to play that role now.