Match 37: SLOVENIA v ENGLAND  [ Group C Finale ]

Date: WED 23Jun10

Venue: Port Elizabeth NELSON MANDELA BAY STADIUM

PANDO! or GORDO? PANDO!

+ FINALLY! MUCH LIKE THE US MATCH > IT ONLY TAKES ONE GOAL TO LIGHT A NATION! ALL IS WELL IN THE LAND OF HOPE & GLORY!

JERMAINE DEFOE got his just due today > Long-thought he would lead the ENG line since scoring in 10-straight matches for Bournemouth years ago .. .. And, he was the last ENG cut in 2006 for the farcical inclusion of Theo Walcott .. ..

Lively all match long, his great run in the 23^rd minute down the middle caught JAME MILNER’s eye and he send a perfect ball from the R/Flank that DEFOE re-directed into the roof to relief of a nation .. ..

ENG could have scored a few more goals and had the match well in hand throughout .. ..

SVN did have a few real good chances but never came close to finishing any of them .. ..  

+ KNOCKOUT ROUND OUTLOOK: ENG may gather itself, but still looks disjointed .. .. Talent can’t be ignored, so deep run can’t be any surprise > Neither would be an exit v. GER > PK’s maybe?? =))))

SVN MoM: none

ENG MoM: JAMES MILNER

Aston Villa teammate of BRAD FRIEDEL & BRAD GUZAN; After being under the weather early on in the month, he had a great match tonight out on the R/Flank .. .. His great cross > DEFOE was all Inglaterra needed and created havoc all match long for the SVN left-back .. .. Tricky, good on the ball and should finally find his feet now that he feels better .. ..

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Match 38: UNITED STATES v ALGERIA  [ Group C Finale ]

Date: WED 23Jun10

Venue: Pretoria LOFTUS VERSFELD STADIUM

PANDO! or GORDO? PANDO!

+ .. .. sigh .. .. sniff .. .. sigh .. .. more oxygen, please .. .. pant .. .. pant.. ..

KARMA! It comes down to karma = Sure the 3^rd goal should have counted v. Slovenia, but we got ALG to draw with ENG! Sure that first goal today should have counted, but ALG should have scored the first goal when RAFIK DJEBBOUR hit the crossbar, so let’s just say our luck is a DRAW! And, in extra time we were finally called to the Cashier’s Cage > After all the deposits (2006, Charlie Davies, USA v. SLV) we finally got our due when that beautiful ball sat up for our LANDON and off we are into nirvana .. ..

.. .. sigh .. .. sniff .. .. sigh .. .. more oxygen, please .. .. pant .. .. pant.. ..

USA came out positively and was buzzing all about the zone (11 shots; 8 crosses; 4 set-pieces) and should have scored (again) with a loose ball in front of the net but JOZY ALTIDORE skied it badly over the bar .. .. oh my .. .. But, we’ve come out trying to dictate the match, so no complaints in the first half .. .. ALG really didn’t have a quality chance on goal after the DJEBBOUR bomb early on .. .. Everything was tamed from them and were really no threat, but they did expose our weaknesses down the middle .. ..

+ KNOCKOUT ROUND OUTLOOK: USA needs to tighten up in the back and if we can do that, our attack can get us into the semi’s with a bit of more luck .. ..

USA MoM: LANDON DONOVAN & CARLOS BOCANEGRA

Landon was super early on but just kinda drifted out of the match in the second half until he put himself in a golden position for the winner .. .. I’ll say it again > This country will NEVER produce a better football player than LD > There may be others as good, but none will ever better > If he was 6-foot-2, he’d be CRISTIANO RONALDO!

And, CARLOS was awesome in the back, nullifying the ALG attack and cleaning out the middle > Right now he and DEMERIT are the best pairing as OGUCHI’s rust is showing in how he’s reading the game .. ..

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Match 39: GHANA v GERMANY   [ Group D Finale ]

Date: WED 23Jun10

Venue: Johannesburg SOCCER CITY

PANDO! or GORDO? GORDO?

+ It’s a match like this that makes you wonder how either of these sides got this far .. ..

GERMANY probed and held possession most of the first 45, but were horrible exposed at times and you wonder how GHANA didn’t score .. ..

Then MESUT OEZIL takes a great []-ball from THOMAS MUELLER and hits a sweet L/Footer > U/Left that left the GK zero chance .. .. OEZIL may be the next German superstar, but one should be cautioned because there is a perception that he is a ‘cruiser’ .. .. And, that is because OEZIL is built to be a fluid, elegant mover with one gear and people who watch him say that sometimes he doesn’t give 100% .. .. It just looks like that .. ..

After the goal, it almost seems that someone turned off the switch and there went the match > Not too much happened after that .. ..

+ KNOCKOUT ROUND OUTLOOK: GER is talented but vulnerable .. .. They have big problems with athletic players that can get behind the Deutsch backline but luckily the lack of discipline helped them out today > They may not have that luxury v. ENG .. ..

GHA is the typical African side > Tremendous physically with questionable discipline .. .. They have no problem getting forward but after the first few crosses, it’s shoot from anywhere! And, on defence, if you are patient GHA will gamble, make a mistake and get burned .. ..

GHA MoM: none

GER MoM: PHILIPP LAHM

Nimble flank defender had a terrific WC2006 and had a standout effort today in defence .. .. In the first half, he cleared a ASAMOAH GYAN shot off the post and deflected a wide-open ANDRE AYEW blast from the penalty spot with a desperation dive .. .. Cultured and calm in the back .. ..

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Match 40: AUSTRALIA v SERBIA  [ Group D Finale ]

Date: WED 23Jun10

Venue: Nelspruit MBOMBELA STADIUM

PANDO! or GORDO? PANDO!

+ TIM CAHILL for Serbia President? Me thinks not .. ..

One would think that SERBIA’s superior ability would have imposed itself here, but when you let someone hang around, they will usually spoil the party and that’s what happened here .. .. Fulham’s ageless wonder MARK SCHWARZER kept AUSTRALIA in the match with splendid point-blank saves to keep the match level at the half > SRB pumped in 13 first-half crosses .. ..

Basically, AUS scored against the general run of play when TIM CAHILL (the best caucasian leaper ever), jumped out of the stadium to head in a ball > L/Left .. .. BRETT HOLMAN (Instant Aussie Offense) scored again to make the score an incredulous 2-0 when he fired a perfectly-placed 25y skimmer from the top R/Box that settled > L/Left .. ..

MARKO PANTELIC turned in an easy rebound after heavy Serbian pressure when he camped out in M/Box and tapped in a rebound R/Footed .. .. And, as SRB mounted the pressure they sent in a ball that was cleared only after the ball found TIM CAHILL’s hand > Now, it was a clear handball in the box, but the ball definitely played him and the ball wouldn’t have come down in front of any SRB player > PKs are normally given if seen, but it was right NOT to call it, and also would have been RIGHT if a PK was called! An amazing match for the fact it was a GORDO? in the first half, but it became fast-break ball after the first goal with chances coming non-stop .. ..

+ KNOCKOUT ROUND OUTLOOK: Sorry – All Serbia had to do was draw .. ..

AUS MoM: MARK SCHWARZER

Terrific performance by Clint Dempsey’s club teammate at Craven Cottage; Kept the match scoreless with two terrific saves in the first half .. .. Perfect catch-punches and stopped a difficult flick-header just in front of him .. .. Should have done better with the shot/rebound that led to the goal, but a great performance nonetheless .. .. And, he had a great game v. GHA too .. ..