Match 12: NEW ZEALAND v SLOVAKIA

Date: TUE 15Jun10

Venue: Rustenburg ROYAL BAFOKENG STADIUM

PANDO! or GORDO? GORDO?

+ The surprise of the morning was that NEW ZEALAND has kept a clean sheet in the first half and actually controlled play early on by simply not giving the ball away .. .. Former friend SIMON ELLIOTT, who had been training with the Galaxy to maintain his fitness, was running the show early on with his crosses, set pieces and slide-tackles .. ..

Eventually SLOVAKIA came into the match a bit more and had the better chances at goal as the half wound to an end, but by then the half turned into a battle of turnovers .. .. 

Both sides didn’t have quality chances until the second half when SVK drew blood first when ROBERT VITTEK snapped home his header but enigmatic WINSTON REID headed home the equalizer with seconds left in stoppage time .. ..

On a bitterly-cold afternoon, the quality of both sides was equally as frigid and the draw was more than fair for both sides .. .. Got a feeling that everyone else in their group are not shaking in fear for these two sides .. ..

NZL MoM: WINSTON REID

Former member of the Denmark U-21 side, his personality was thought to be too immature to be a major factor in the festival > Think Again!

SVK MoM: ROBERT VITTEK

Talisman for the National side had been battling injuries but finally broke through today!

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Match 13: IVORY COAST v PORTUGAL

Date: TUE 15Jun10

Venue: Port Elizabeth NELSON MANDELA BAY STADIUM

PANDO! or GORDO? GORDO?

+ The bad thing about the group openers is that no one wants to lose, although this match was cherry-ripe to be a spectacle, but it become a snore in the first half .. ..

Both sides probed but just watched what the other did and really didn’t threaten each other’s goal .. .. The only quality chance was a quite good one by RONALDO who shook off his marker cutting back to the middle and unleashed a diving bomb that shook the L/post .. .. Ronaldo has unrivaled technique when over the ball as he does just that > get over the ball with a downward spin, rather than upward .. ..

The second half proved a bit better but no quality chances for either side and both teams looked like they were happy with a draw .. .. The only real excitement in the half was the entrance of DIDIER DROGBA who was lively once he came on .. ..

Hard to separate the two at the final whistle although CIV clearly had the pace advantage and the POR backline was not able to keep up .. ..  

CIV MoM: RONALDO

Nothing new here - His bomb was pure class early on and was a marked man throughout .. .. Amazingly, he did not score a single goal in POR’s World Cup qualifying run .. ..

POR MoM: SIAKA TIENE

Skillful lefty defender is only 28YO but has been a fixture for his country for the last decade .. .. Now playing for Valenciennes-FRA, was zipping the ball from all over pitch – sending in crosses from the left and taking the set-pieces on the right .. .. Sent in hard, challenging balls all day .. .. 

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Match 14: BRAZIL v NORTH KOREA

Date: TUE 15Jun10

Venue: Johannesburg ELLIS PARK STADIUM

PANDO! or GORDO? PANDO!

+ 0-0 @ HALF!! STOP THE PRESSES!!

Oh wait, there are no presses in North Korea .. ..

Besides, they’ve won every WC played thus far, huh? Then why did they have to vulture the South Korean feed of the WC Opener last Friday and show the bootleg copy of it throughout the country? Another reason (this week) that the South is not very happy with them .. ..

And, if one is to believe everything they hear, ABCs Martin Tyler quipped that the North Korea fans are actually hand-picked Chinese actors who are being paid to be seen I the stands .. .. They may not be too far from the truth as they all were well-dressed and showing off their PDAs .. .. hmmm .. ..

BRAZIL just wasn’t able to connect despite 10+ crosses and 3 CKs in the first half .. .. They kept trying to thread the North defense will short, cute passes but they did not connect .. .. When the North had the ball, they tried to get forward with just one striker and they did have the first shot of the match in the 11^th minute by JONG TAE-SE .. .. 

The second half was much more of the same but eventually the BRA talent just overwhelmed PRK .. .. MAICON came raiding down the R/Flank and crushed home his cross/shot and it found the L/Left of the net .. .. ELANO put the match out of site when he took a killer through-ball from ROBINHO in the R/Box and he deftly slotted the ball home with his first-time touch .. ..

But, credit to North Korea, when defender JI YUN-NAM came forward, he took his chance for a few more meal tickets when he crushed home his L/Footer past CESAR to the joy of the Dear Leader and his 42 Norwegian concubines .. .. 

BRA MoM: ROBINHO

The Paris Hilton of world football – The high-maintenance live wire was running all over the left and creating a threat everywhere he went .. .. He sent ELANO through for the insurance goal wit his terrific pass unlocked the PRK defense .. .. A prolific partier, he was sent home from Manchester City this winter and told he didn’t have to come back!