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

BY THE NUMBERS .. ..

As the Group round has finished, here is what the numbers show .. ..

Of the 37 Group matches that had a winner >

76 winning players played in the Premiership last year .. ..

Second was GER that had 64 play in the Bundesliga .. ..

Third was ESP that had 61play in La Liga .. ..

In those 37 winning Group matches > Winning players represented 34 different leagues - NONE of them being MLS .. .. 25 leagues showcased a WC scorer (MLS had 1 thanks to Deuce) .. ..

Match 45: TOGO v. FRANCE

Maybe it was an omen of things to come, but at the opening whistle, FRA gave away the very first pass after the opening tap .. .. And, the first half wasn’t much better .. ..

FRA created beaucoup chances only to have wide-open shots in the box go ‘Pando’ .. .. They had at least 10 unforced turnovers in the first half alone .. ..

FRA finally overwhelmed TOG in the second half with all the offensive pressure and had to have their holding midfielder, VIEIRA score their first goal .. .. VIEIRA also created their second goal as well .. ..

Full credit to the TOGO + KOLN fans tonight – Despite all of TOG’s problems in the Tournament, their fans started a ‘Togo/Conga’ Line as the match wore down and were quickly joined by fans wearing GER & FRA shirts in a dance line that stretched from sideline to sideline .. ..

FRA MoM: #4 PATRICK VIEIRA is uncharacteristic of the typical French player – Tough, Uncompromising and Fearless – Maybe that’s why he’s Captain for his unique qualities amongst le francais .. .. And, with the weight of France (and elimination) on his shoulders, he turned scorer and rammed home their most important goal of the tournament .. .. It was typical of the Senegal-born stalwart that as he headed-on the pass to HENRY for the second goal, he took a big shot to the head but didn’t roll on the ground and whine – he sprinted to hug HENRY .. ..

Match 46: SWITZERLAND v. SOUTH KOREA

SUI has looked pretty good these two weeks despite being a young side that he is building towards Euro 2008 .. .. And the late inclusion of veteran YAKIN has given them a cutting, attacking look .. ..

KOR gave up chances from the very beginning and only looked like scoring when there was a scramble in the box or a deep turnover .. .. But then, that’s what hard-running and heart will get you > chances! They were also a bit unlucky as they could have called at least two handballs v. SUI in the first half .. ..

SUI MoM: #4 PHILIPPE SENDEROS sent KOR home with the first goal .. .. Off a perfect right-sided FK from YAKIN, the rugged Arsenal defender made his run to the far post, cut inside his man, overpowered him and the pill to head it home .. .. Fascinating family history - Born in Geneva to a Spanish father and Serbian mother .. ..

Match 47: SAUDIA ARABIA v. SPAIN

ESP was firmly in control throughout despite resting regulars .. .. They were in no hurry today and it showed .. .. Even with that in mind, ESP created the better chances while KSA was unable to do much v. the ESP bench .. ..

ESP fired off 10+ shots from within the PK box for the match while KSA had just two .. ..

ESP MoM: #10 JOSE ANTONIO REYES dictated the Real Espana attack and created most of the dangerous chances before being subbed for midway through the second half .. .. His perfect FK to JUANITO who hit a warrior-header for the winner .. ..

Match 48: UKRAINE v. TUNISIA

Both sides had all to play for and UKR produced the better quality chances in the first half, but never did look like scoring .. .. TUN was scrappy and tried to rummage their chances where they could until they had JAZIRI sent off just before the half .. ..

The second half was not much better – TUN finally got their first shot in the box while UKR received what was probably a due PK which SHEVCHENKO converted .. ..