A rousing first day of the 2010 FIFA World Cup which featured a spirited and surprising draw between South Africa and Mexico and scoreless match between Uruguay and France that was more intriguing than the scoreline suggests. All of it has left me wanting more. Luckily, it'll be three games a day for the next week and a half. Here are my thoughts, though, on today's action.
- There were a multitude of passes gone too long, shots that flailed wildly above the crossbar, and free kicks that didn't seem to to reach their targets. I initially chalked it up to nerves, but it seems as if the infamous Jabulani ball is playing a factor early in the tournament. Those things just soar. There were several occasions where South Africa GK Itumeleng Khune (who earned Man of the Match honors in my eyes) cleared balls all the way to his counterpart Oscar Perez. The teams have been training with these balls, but as well all know, training is no replacement for match speed.
- Speaking of Perez, you have to wonder whether we'll see him on Thursday for El Tri's match against France. He looked tentative in goal and came too far out of the box on several occasions. The guy who has been the regular in goal for Mexico, Memo Ochoa, has been recently sidelined by Javier Aguirre, but one goalkeeping error can cost you your place in the tournament, as David Seaman can attest.
- Uruguay seemed pretty content to sit back and not allow France inside the box at all. Most of their scoring opportunities (if you can even call them that) came off the counterattack. Kudos to Las Charruas for limiting France to only a few legitimate chances. Yoann Gourcoff's beautiful free kick early in the 1st half was the closest Les Bleus came to filling the score sheet.
- It seemed pretty clear that ESPN commentator Efan Ekoku had no idea of how the offsides rule works. His outrage that Carlos Vela's 41st minute "goal" was disallowed was without reason, considering that he was clearly offside. FIFA's law 11 states that an offensive player receiving a pass must be behind the next to last opponent not the next to last defender. The offsides rule can be confusing for some, but for one of ESPN's lead commentators to not know one of the basic tenets of the rule is embarassing.
- Speaking of embarrassing ESPN commentators, Ruud Gullit adds next to nothing to the table. I honestly believe that all of the contributors to Ambitous Effort could provide more cogent analysis than the man who was a disaster managing at Los Angeles Galaxy. Stay in Holland, Ruud.
- That being said, ESPN's coverage has been excellent so far, both in television and on the web. Not having the distracting BottomLine on during the game, full pregame and postgame shows, and having the whole shebang lead by the underrated Chris Fowler are all signs that the American media really is starting to take soccer seriously. We have come a long way from the days where many viewers (myself included) flocked to Univision for World Cup Coverage.
Three matches are on tap for tomorrow. Greece and South Korea should continue the theme of defense that we saw from France and Uruguay, with a 0-0 or 1-0 score being the likely result. Things should open up a bit more for the Argentina-Nigeria game in what will likely be the Argentines toughest test of the group stage. And of course, the game that we have been waiting for for more than six months. Jozy Altidore is fit to start and I would imagine that Edson Buddle will join him up top.
An exciting first day of the tournament for sure. It is going to be a glorious month.
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