June 12...Day 13
I suppose it had to happen sometime. I woke up at 6.30 and decided to roll
over for another ten minutes. Zonk! Next thing I know it is 7.50 and I
might have missed the first 20 minutes of a NIGERIA V ENGLAND thriller. In
the few moments it took for me to leap out of my cot and get the telly on,
all sorts of possibilities crossed my mind.
A sparkling start from Sven's men, England 1-0 or 2-0 up? Or an accident
prone opening phase, with the Nigerians ripping up the script and getting an
early goal? Relax big fella, 0-0, nothing happening. Phew!
The first thing to strike me about this game was that Nigeria showed no
inclination to go out with a bang. They were quite happy with the blank
scoresheet and, knowing a draw would guarantee their place in the second
round, England were no more intent on stepping up the pace. Only a long
range drive from Paul Scholes forced goalkeeper Enyeama (pronounced Enema?)
to earn his dosh and the keeper did just that by turning the shot against
the post. But by half-time this game had 0-0 written all over it and,
unlike the tournament's other goalless draw (France v Uruguay), this was as
dire a 0-0 as you're ever likely to see.
England were a bit more positive in the second half, especially when Ashley
Cole did some promising overlapping on the left, but Heskey and Owen were
anonymous up front and only with the introduction of Teddy Sheringham for
Heskey did they begin to pose a threat. One shot over the top and a neat
chip which curled wide were his immediate contribution and the English also
won a series of free-kicks around the box but David Beckham had obviously
left his shooting boots back at the team's hotel.
The final five minutes were played out like a training session. Nigeria
strolled around, playing amongst themselves, while England backed off and
let them get on with it. All very sensible, I know, but I can't help
thinking that, if two other nations had been fannying around at England's
expense, there would have been loud calls for a FIFA inquiry. Definitely
not cricket and all that crap. The BBC's commentary team of John Motson and
Trevor Brooking summed it up perfectly. 'What's your assessment, Trevor?,'
asks Motty. 'Well,' Trev muses.'England are through.' Aye, Mr Brooking is
a man of few words.
Of course, by this time ARGENTINA's perilous plight has the Beeb pair
struggling to contain their giggles. After losing to England, the highly
fancied Argentinians had to beat SWEDEN to stay in contention and they
certainly started as if they were going to dish out a major doing. Twice
Sorin came close with headers, Lopez fired a shot into the side-netting,
then knocked one over the top. It was one-way traffic, with goalkeeper
Magnus Hedman being the busiest man on the park, and it looked like the
Swedes would suffer an Argie backlash.
Clearly Claudio Caniggia was far from happy with the first half action,
although what he thought he might change by having a pop at somebody from
the bench is a mystery. But you know what to expect now. 'Indisciplined
Ranger In World Cup Storm' will be splashed over all the back pages and no
doubt Gerry McKnee will call upon the Minted One to take action against Oor
Argie who, he will tell us, is a disgrace to Scottish football. Of course,
if he hadn't been the victim of a savage Cup Final assault, Claudio might
have had a more active part to play in the World Cup but that, as always, is
another story.
Back on the pitch, you knew a goal just had to come and after an hour it
finally did...at the other end! Having come close with a free-kick a few
minutes earlier, Anders Svensson won another some 25 yards from goal and
curled a superb right foot shot over the wall and into the net. And now as
the grim reality of their position dawned on the Argentinians, Sweden got
several opportunities to tie things up on the break. Surprise surprise, the
unsteady one was booked for diving, then Alexandersson crashed one of the
woodwork as the Swedes went for the kill.
Argentina still looked dangerous, even more so with Crespo on for Batistuta,
but there were just two minutes left when Ortega was brought down by Jonsson
for a penalty kick. Even then they contrived to make heavy weather of it as
Ortega's kick was saved and it took the ever-alert Crespo to score from the
rebound. In a grandstand finish, the Argentinians dominated four minutes of
injury time but they could not find an escape route and, like France, they
are now homeward bound.
This has been a weird group to call. England are being acclaimed as capable
of 'going all the way' but, in truth, other than a good performance against
a very ordinary Argentina, they have not impressed me. Sweden too have
blown hot and cold, grim in the first half against England, good in the
second, and more than a shade lucky against Nigeria and Argentina.
Meanwhile, both the Africans and the South Americans have been a big
disappointment and deserved no more than what they got.
Not for the first time, there was a touch of inconsistency in the TV panel's
view of events. Having spent the past few days crawing about England as
likely group winners - a wonderful achievement bla-bla-bla - they now
suggest that it is no bad thing to be runners-up, facing Denmark on
Saturday, instead of Senegal on Sunday. While agreeing that the English are
suited to the knock-out format, methinks the pundits are guilty of vastly
underrating the Danes and I'm contemplating a wee flutter on Lovenkrands'
lot. I just hope Peter gets to stretch his legs.
SPAIN caught the eye with two excellent victories which booked their second
round passage before any other nation and, with Eire lying in wait on
Sunday, they completed the formality of clinching their group with a victory
over SOUTH AFRICA. Coach Camacho made no fewer than eight changes to his
team but they could not afford to be too laid-back as any slip-up would cost
them the top spot, leaving them to face the more intimidating prospect of
Germany rather than Ireland in the next round.
They could not have wished for a better start. After just four minutes
Mendieta pushed a pass through the middle, keeper Arendse was quickly off
his line to gather, only to inexplicably fumble the ball and leave Raul with
a simple tap-in. But the goal also served as a warning to the Africans.
Defeat, especially a gubbing, could rob them of second place and end their
interest in events in the Far East so it was no surprise to see them respond
with some spirit. Nomvethe forced a good save from Casillas, a Zuma shot
was touched wide, then on the half-hour mark Benni McCarthy grabbed the
equalizer when he turned a Nomvethe header into the net.
The Spanish, however, always looked a cut above their opponents and twice
before the interval they forced Arendse to produce excellent saves which
went some way towards making amends for his early howler but, right on the
half-time whistle, Mendieta restored Spain's lead with a well-placed
free-kick. But to their great credit, South Africa kept battling and seven
minutes into the second half Leeds United's Lucas Radebe got on to the end
of a Fortune corner and headed home his team's second equalizer, only for
Raul to make it 3-2 with a classic close-range header just three minutes
later. How costly that goal would be.
For what was, effectively, a meaningless match, this was very easy on the
eye and both teams looked capable of adding to the spectacle of the
tournament over the next few weeks. Spain look like they'll have too much
craft for the Irish, while South Africa, while sure to have been underdogs,
would certainly have caused problems for Germany, particularly if the
Germans had made the mistake of underestimating them.
But dramatically all the permutations were flushed down the toilet by events
in Seogwipo.
PARAGUAY's hopes of survival rested with Spain beating South Africa but, of
course, they also had to help themselves by seeing off SLOVENIA, yet they
strangely appeared to lack motivation. Paredes did his team's cause no good
at all when two yellow cards saw him make an early exit and Chilavert made a
major contribution to the comedy of errors just before half-time when he
allowed a low shot from Acimovic to squirm through his legs and into the
net. It looked like the game was up for the South Americans.
Perhaps somebody rattled their cage at half-time. Whatever happened,
Paraguay looked much more interested when they reappeared and they made
light of being a man short when substitute Cuevas levelled the scores, Jorge
Campos fired them into the lead with 17 minutes still to play, then
Chilavert hit the crossbar with a free-kick as the ten men clutched at
straws. When Slovenia were also reduced in numbers by the sending off of
Seh, Paraguay grabbed their lifeline and Cuevas got the vital third goal
seven minutes from the end.
So by virtue of scoring one more goal, it is Paraguay who will line up
against Germany on Saturday. It is hard not to feel sorry for South Africa.
The luck they enjoyed when coming back from 2-0 down to grab a draw in their
opening game abandoned them today and they, more than France, Argentina or
any of the other departing nations, can leave the Far East with their heads
held high, convinced they deserved better. And it will be of no consolation
to them that they might have proved trickier opponents to the Germans then
the erratic Paraguayans.
Yet another eventful day and, as the latter stages begin to take shape, I'm
convinced there will be many more to come as the competition unfolds.
Previously, the group games have all been about teams jockeying for position
but this tournament has been great and I expect even greater things from the
knock-out games. But still there four groups to sort themselves out and
there might be another shock or two before the weekend.