2006 HWCI World Cup Pool "Clap! or Crap?" Newsletter (Sam Nishi)

Match 18: ECUADOR v. COSTA RICA

Another surprising match that morphed itself into becoming historic as ECU grabbed it’s chance to make history and qualify for the second round for the very first time – And, instead of wilting under the weight of history, ECU came out and pressured high early and created their own tempo .. ..

ECU’s defense looked very quick and came forward constantly, despite the midday heat .. .. Like their first match, they weren’t very pretty in the attacking third, but DELGADO has proved to be a deadly poacher and can get pretty decent service at times .. .. While most of their shots came in the box, almost all of CRC’s efforts came from long range .. .. They certainly look the kind of side that can give ENG a nightmare should they meet .. ..

CRC could not string anything together and still looks overmatched .. .. They could only piece together a couple of shots from inside the box while most of their efforts came from distance .. ..

ESP MoM: #21 CARLOS TENORIO made another deposit into his WC account by scoring the opening goal in the landmark ECU football match .. .. The most-fouled player for ECU at WC 2002, TENORIO headed home his second goal of the tournament when he cut inside his man towards the near post and nodded it into the lower-left .. ..

Match 19: ENGLAND v. TRINIDAD/TOBAGO

ENG again looked poor but created a bushel of chances which just could not be finished .. .. They did not allow TRI any dangerous chances but they will need to improve next week .. .. Perhaps they’re just pacing themselves to peak later – BRILLIANT or BLUNDER?

ENG MoM: #21 PETER CROUCH again got his share of balls and still shocks me how fast he is in the open pitch .. .. Finally got his late goal despite being draped by ENG’s expectations & SANCHO (in that order, by the way) when he took a pinpoint cross by future Galaxian BECKHAM and headed it home into the upper-left .. ..

TRI MoM: #19 DWIGHT YORKE again played like a warrior from his deep, holding MF role .. .. It’s amazing to just say that considering what a striker he was at Old Trafford .. .. His set-pieces created any chances that TRI had and calmly controlled the midfield when they had the ball .. .. Was still running at the end and made a sweet, slide-tackle on ROONEY .. ..

Match 20: SWEDEN v. PARAGUAY

You know it’s a bad match when the highlight was watching JOHN HARKES do his DAVID BECKHAM impersonation on-air .. .. It was pretty good, too .. ..

SWE again took quite a few shots but didn’t score until PAR broke down late into the second half .. .. They make a good opponent for ENG right now because ENG couldn’t probably beat ECU .. ..

PAR played hard but couldn’t string a decent attack .. .. Almost all their offense came from long-range no-hopers .. ..

SWE MoM: #20 MARCUS ALLBACK came in at the half and provided an immediate boost with his energy and running .. .. He was the guy who headed the ball back to LJUNGBERG for his game-winning nodder .. ..

PAR MoM: #22 ALDO BOBADILLA has made the most our of his time since he had to come on v. ENG in their first match .. .. Single-handedly kept PAR in the match with world class saves, diving in both directions .. .. Nothing he could do about LJUNGBERG’s header on the other side of the goal .. ..