Best player of the group:
Group A:
RGaucho-Diego Forlan, Uruguay. Captain Forlan put in two goals and showed good hold up play to help the Uruguayans explode out of the back on counter attacks.
cornezinho-Diego Lugano, Uruguay. A solid performance in the center of defense, Lugano was the first to disrupt the opposing team's offense and the last man to get beat, which rarely happened. Was also a threat on set pieces.
Group B:
RGaucho-Lionel Messi, Argentina. Still without a goal, Messi's mazy runs and pinpoint passing has left defenses in shambles and goalkeepers trembling.
cornezinho-Messi. Higuain may have three goals, but Argentina has been Messi's team and he is just waiting to hit the net and open the floodgates.
Group C:
RGaucho-Landon Donovan, USA. Our talismanic captain has been top class, and it was epitomized in the last-gap, game-clenching, group-winning, heart-stopping, I-think-I-just-pooped-myself-in-excitement goal against Algeria that is shown every five minutes on SportsCenter.
cornezinho-Michael Bradley, USA. Bradley has been the definition of a box-to-box midfielder. He has marshaled the center of the pitch with great expertise for a 22-year-old, doing it nearly entirely on his own against Algeria when Maurice Edu was subbed out. And he scored the equalizer against Slovenia. If he keeps it up, his club Borussia Monchengladbach are certainly going to receive offers for him.
Group D:
RGaucho-Mesut Ozil, Germany. A classic no. 10, Ozil is Germany's creative force, dribbling at defenders and delivering incisive passes. And that sick goal against Ghana.
cornezinho-Bastian Schweinsteiger, Germany. I put him in my first round XI and he is not being left out now. A thigh injury might rule him out against England which is a tragedy, since he will be needed for the battle with Lampard and Barry.
Group E:
RGaucho-Keisuke Honda, Japan. Honda was an inspiration on offense and an ever-present danger in a surprising Blue Samurai squad.
cornezinho-Honda. The winning goal against Cameroon and his dominance against Denmark leaves him a rising star and a purchase by a top European club seems eminent. His first free kick was brilliant and the feint and pass for the defining goal was a masterclass move.
Group F:
RGaucho-Robert Vittek, Slovakia. Scored all of Slovakia's goals (3) until the third goal against Italy. What more can you ask from a striker.
cornezinho-Ryan Nelsen/New Zealand. Nelsen was the captain of the All White's stifling defense but no one player deserves the accolade. The Kiwis were expected to leave with zero points and no dignity, but shocked everyone and left South Africa undefeated (three draws) and ahead of cup defenders Italy.
Group G:
RGaucho-Maicon, Brasil. The marauding right fullback scored an excellent goal against Commie Korea and was a force on both offense and defense.
cornezinho-Ricardo Carvalho, Portugal. A big reason why Portugal gave up zero goals in the group, was able to shut down Chelsea teammate Didier Drogba and Brasil's Luis Fabiano without any of his dreaded two-footed tackles.
Group H:
cornezinho-Andres Iniesta, Spain. The Barcelona play maker came in fresh of injury but still showed off his innate dribbling abilities and fantastic vision. He was a bright star in La Roja's loss to the Swiss and was rewarded with a clinical goal for his fantastic display against Chile.
Now the list you don't want to be on, the worst performers of the group:
Group A:
RGaucho-Patrice Evra, France. The Captain, didn't really do his job of organizing and unify the squad.
cornezinho- France as a whole, with the exception of keeper Hugo Lloris. What an embarrassment.
Group B:
RGaucho-Sani Kaita, Nigeria. Received an extremely dumb red card against Greece for an "attempted" kick. Yeah, the Greece scum play-acted the encounter, but you just can't be doing that. Especially to the dirty, mischievous Greeks.
cornezinho-Martin Demichelis, Argentina. The centerback is good for one good screw up a game and is a real liability. It cost them a goal against South Korea in a comfortable win, but as the tournament goes on it could be a fatal mistake.
Group C:
RGaucho-Wayne Rooney, England. Rooney was supposed to be the savior of England, but all that he has mustered up is a shot off the post against Slovenia.
cornezinho-Rooney, or England as a whole. Its a combination of severe under performing and over hyping by the British media, but England has been dismal and most likely will be put out of their misery by their old foes, the Germans.
Group D:
RGaucho-Nikola Zigic, Serbia. The 6'8" couldn't head for crap and managed as many shots on goal as goals (zero). He even managed to block a teammate's goal bound shot against Ghana.
cornezinho-Serbia's defense. Anchored by Nemanja Vidic and Branislav Ivanovic, they only gave up three goals but gifted two penalties by deciding to use their arms instead of their heads on crosses, which is frowned upon in football. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot (which also frowned upon).
Group E:
RGaucho-Jon Dahl Tomasson, Denmark. Veteran and captain (when he plays), JDT looked nervous and out of sync. He whiffed a chance against Japan, then missed his PK before shanking the follow up which was lucky to go in. Not very becoming of the Dane's leading scorer.
cornezinho-Cameroon. For a team with a bunch of good players, the Indomitable Lions were very much domitable, finishing with zero points. They only ever looked like they would draw with Denmark, but poor finishing and even poorer defending undid that.
Group F:
RGaucho-Everybody on Italy except Quagliarella. Age factory aside, the Azzuri lacked quality, continuity, and even their usually dependable defense was as holey as the Shroud of Turin. They only showed a sense of urgency with 15 minutes left against Slovakia when elimination was impending. The increased effort was 255 minutes too late.
cornezinho-Fabio Cannavaro, Italy. Their captain really played like a 38-year-old. It didn't help that Italy was poor overall, but Cannavaro gave Paraguay their goal by not even jumping for the header off the set piece and displayed reactions like a geriatric cat for New Zealand's goal when the ball fell into his lap.
Group G:
RGaucho-Kim Jong-Il, Commie Korea. Their Dear Leader was providing tactical and substitution suggestions via a secret, invisible communication link with coach Kim Jong-Hun. He did a great job, helping his team to a 1-2 loss to Brasil, 0-7 to Portugal, and 0-3 to the Ivory Coast, for zero points and a goal differential of negative eleven.
cornezinho-Emmanuel Eboue, Ivory Coast. Arsenal's Kanye West look-alike was part of Elephant's dismal midfield, and his biggest impact I remember was delaying the Portugal game after going down from a tackle.
Group H:
RGaucho-Fernando Torres, Spain. Put plain and simple, El Nino was awful, epitomized by a chance against Honduras from about 12 yards out that is currently still in orbit somewhere above Johannesburg.
cornezinho-Torres. You could see on his face how disappointed in himself he was. 'Nando was rustier than a hillbilly lawn ornament.
More in next post...
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