Day 7: Group of Death picks

FRANKFURT, Germany

I’ve got a day off here today,

LUCA BRUNO/AP

Also feeling the love, so we gave Chris the day off.

Cathal Kelly flying solo in Nuremberg for England's game against Trinidad & Tobago, so I’ll put this in the blog and call it for the day unless something extraordinary happen. You're going elsewhere for up to the minute stuff, but I’ll try and update with some quick impressions to keep this fire going:

Thursday’s games (will be updated)
Ecuador 3, Costa Rica 0. So Ecuador and Germany are into the second round, and their final group game head to head (on Tuesday) will determine winner of the group, Ecuador ahead on goal differential (+5 to Germany’s +3) so if they draw the South Americans finish on top -- not bad for a team that was 3-to-1 odds to get out of the group. First time Ecuador has ever made the second round. This is turning into a good tournament for South America, with Argentina looking good, Brazil being Brazil and could Paraguay be in for an upset tonight?
England 2, Trinidad & Tobago 0. Rooney not in the starting lineup, Carragher in for Neville. English look utterly bereft of ideas for an hour and not even their vaunted deadball game does anything. Rooney goes in just before the hour and they gradually take charge, Ashley Cole pushing up on left side and sub Aaron Lennon showing some life down the right against a determined T&T side, who got a good game out of Birchall. Goals by Crouch and Gerrard in final seven minutes as Shaka Hislop’s clean sheet here ends. Not an impressive show for England, and Rooney didn’t do much, but they’ll no doubt prattle on about being unbeaten and going into knockout stage with their best yet to come – and they couldn’t be any worse than they were for the first half of this one.
Sweden 1, Paraguay 0. Late goal by Ljungberg ends drought for Swedes, but they still have a must-win against England if they want to win this group.

Friday’s menu

Argentina vs Serbia & Montenegro. Argentina looked real good in opener, S & M did not and they really take a hit here with Vidic out. I fear this is it for Serbia & Montenegro, but I figure they won’t go down without a fight. This is a must-see. Argentina 2, Serbia & Montenegro 1.
Netherlands vs Ivory Coast. I’ll be at this one in Stuttgart, and it should be another Group of Death cracker. Dutch defence face a much better attacking team than in their opener, and their defence will be put to the test. Netherlands 2, Ivory Coast 2.
Mexico vs Angola. Off the emotional high of their 1-0 loss to Portugal, it will be interesting to see how the hardworking Palancas Negras react – I’m thinking they’ll relax some and do okay. Mexico’s 3-1 scoreline in their opener was a little flattering, I thought, and they’re missing Borgetti now for at least their next two games. Calling an upset draw here. Mexico 1, Angola 1.

Comments

[Jlo]

I'm guessing with those last two predictions you are just bored with predictable results. I can't see either one happening. I would like to see TT take out England, but also not likely. Maybe though. Not sure why, but I like cheering against England. I could care less, really. Have you seen this site:

www.hireafan.com

I'm tempted to hire myself out but I don't have cable so it wouldn't be right. $10USD to watch a game though, not bad.

[cy]

Jlo, in this case, I do think both these games have a chance to be draws. I will bear that in mind, if I have the time tomorrow, when I go to the book shop and play the draw in the Dutch game. Ivory Coast played very well, esp. in the second half, against a really good Argentina team. As for other draw, it's a bit of a reach, but I do think Mexico was flattered in opener and Angola won't be as nervous.
And hey, early on, England look like rubbish. Again.

[Ken]

England really need to have more confidence in their ball-playing ability. Whenever they took the ball up the field, and looked for medium-range passes, they looked dangerous. But all too often a member of the midfield follows back to take a tiny pass off the central defender and then punt a long ball to the opposition full-back! Terry and Ferdinand are very good passers of the ball, and can be creative if allowed to play - so why not use them?

[Martin Rodriguez]

Chris, Nice prediction picking Argentina to finish third in the group. If you are going to cover soccer you should do your homework first. Watch soccer from around the globe and you will not fall into making euro-centric errors...

[cy]

Guilty as charged, Martin. I really missed on these guys. They're ragin'.