They're gone, I remain

Waaahhh!!! As my blogging colleagues are settling in in Germany, I remain stateside. They've by now landed and regrouped in Frankfurt (traveling from two different US locations), and are heading towards Kaiserslautern for their first game on Monday, Australia v Japan. So not only are they in Germany and heading for the WC, but I've got to go to work in the morning! So what are the odds I'm taking a long lunch?

Some random thoughts from the first weekend: England did not play as well as expected. Or should I say, as well as I expected. They did not look all that well organized in the middle and didn't have the firepower up front that they may need later on in the tournament. A number of articles noted the heat on the field and maybe that was a factor -- most of the English players are used to playing in cold weather and it apparently got hot quickly in Germany last week.

Germany looked good offensively, but their defense seems suspect. Costa Rica had one offensive weapon, Wanchope, and he beat the German trap twice. When Germany plays a team with a more balanced attack, they may find themselves in trouble. Ecuador played well; maybe Poland is not as good as I thought. Ecuador answered one question: yes, they can win at altitude below 9,000 feet. A TV commentator noted that the team's only road win came at La Paz, which is even higher than Quito. So winning in Germany at 300' was quite an achievement. (We were quite elated with the Ecuador win, with significant personal attachment to things Ecuadorian.) If Ecuador beats Costa Rica, which they certainly are capable of, they stand a great chance of moving on. (The photo above is from the Ecuador game.)

The one game over the weekend that I missed was Sweden-T&T. With apologies to my T&T godson JS and his great parents, I didn't think they stood much of a chance against the Swedes. So while I was hiking in a local national park and identifying late spring wildflowers with Ms. AR, Shaka Hislop was making point-blank saves and all-but single-handedly preserving the T&T victory. The BBC reports that Rooney may play against T&T when these teams meet later on this week. (Interesting factoid of which I was not aware: Rooney has not scored in some 600 minutes of WC qualifying! So is he England's answer?) I still seek England and Sweden moving out of this group, but neither team right now looks like they'll go much farther in the tournament. Sure hope this changes.

The Argentina-Ivory Coast game was quite entertaining. Both teams moved up and down, playing creatively and bravely. This may have been the most entertaining game of the weekend. Drogba didn't disappoint: he plays with tremendous heart and his late goal raised hopes here of at least a draw. The IVC keeper looks quite shakey and his play may keep the team from advancing. Robben's play for Holland was out of this world. He was all over the field and may have been the best individual out on the field this past weekend. The team also looked quite good, with great poise and possession. Serbia lost by a goal, but never seemed to mount a challenge; they never had the ball long enough (possession was 57-43, in favor of Holland).

Finally, the late Sunday games: Iran ran out of gas and a late mistake by the Iranian keeper and his defense led to the second Mexican goal. The final goal was on a great cross to the head of the smallest guy on the pitch, 5'4" Zinha, a Brazilian import to the Mexican side. Sanchez, the Mexican GK, made one brilliant diving save during a game that must have been hard for him emotionally. I think Mexican has team speed to win this group, even over Portugal, which opened successfully against Angola. The Portuguese opened the scoring early in the 4th minute, and had several great early chances. But nothing came of them and they kept Angola in the match throughout.