World Cup Day Five

Who would have thought that the game of the day would turn out to be Korea-Togo? Yet that's how it turned out, at least in terms of actual drama. Togo, one of several African newcomers, looked the better team in the first half, but the Koreans hung on and scored two very nice goals, a free kick in the 54th and a score from Ahn Jung-Hwan in the 72nd.

I certainly didn't think it would, because I skimmed that game before settling in to watch my marquee match of the day, France/Switzerland. Could France recapture their form from the 1998 World Cup? Short answer... no. The Swiss defense was good, but France's near-total lack of attack (did the Americans secretly switch places with the French before the game?) was the real killer. Vikash Dhorasoo - the first player of Indian descent to play in a World Cup finals - looked like France's most potent offensive force, and he only got on in the 84th, just in time to get off one shot that almost went in and not much else. Henry was wasted for the most part. Like the U.S. on Monday, most of the French players seemed too busy waiting for the ball to find them instead of playing actively, a tactic that wasn't going to work against a Swiss back line that came to play. The Swiss offense nearly pushed one across on a few occasions too, though perhaps the best chance saw Alexander Frei attempt to pull a Maradona with his left hand (he received a yellow card for his efforts). All told, a pretty dull game, though I guess what can you expect from the two teams that came out of UEFA qualifying group 4? (France topped that group at 5-5-0, with Switzerland at 4-6-0 besting Israel on GD. The top four teams had just one loss between them - Ireland losing to France - but a total of 22 draws. France played to three separate 0-0 draws in qualifying alone.) This all means that France still has not scored a goal in the World Cup since their 3-0 win in the 1998 final. Way to go, France.

By the way, say what you will about Shep Messing - and I have - but he was spot on in his criticism of France during the game. No rhythm or creativity at all. Haven't they been watching those Nike commercials like everyone else has been forced to?

Brazil/Croatia was also surprisingly uneventful, mostly because Croatia actually played Brazil tough for the whole game. Kaká scored a goal just before halftime that was pretty much unstoppable, but in the second half the holders seemed to have minimal opportunity; Dida found himself touching the ball more often than Stipe Pleitkosa did. In the end it didn't matter much; Brazil found a way to get it done, even with Ronaldo slowly crumbling on the pitch and none of the offensive weapons looking terribly potent. But if you're Brazil, you know you'd better up your game; Australia has some decent offense. That's now my game of the group to watch, though Croatia/Australia should also prove interesting (and will probably be the battle for second place and advancement). I feel like Australia/Brazil will really deliver if you're a fan of the goals, though.