World Cup Days 4 & 5
[Tuesday 17th June 2014]
Well the World Cup has officially lost its dignity after 'The Fenham Eusebio' Shola Ameobi graced the world's biggest stage. A substitute for Nigeria, he made the tournament's first dour match memorable - even more so if he'd scored the winner. You see, as terrible at football as he is, Shola actually played well and went close on several occasions. Play like that against Bosnia and I hope my dream comes true - Shola and Messi shaking hands at the start of Argentina vs Nigeria. Believe!
Iran 0-0 Nigeria was the World Cup's first draw and it gives Bosnia an advantage in the race for 2nd place in Group F, after their encouraging display against Argentina. All the focus was on Messi and the Bosnians made him look very ordinary in the first half thanks to tight marking and forcing him to drop deep. Sabella started with a 5-3-2 rather than the 4-3-3 that worked for him and, after reverting back to the ordinary at half time, Argentina looked far better. Messi was wakened and scored a beautiful goal to get his quest for glory underway.
France beat Honduras 3-0 in a very eventful match. Technical issues meant that no national anthems were played. The Hondurans played a nasty, brutal style of football, which Paul Pogba snapped at. He Beckham'd Wilson Palacios and was lucky not to be sent off. Palacios received his second booking soon after, fouling Pogba and giving France a penalty - which Karim Benzema tucked away. The second goal was the result of a beautiful pass by Yohan Cabaye, as Benzema's shot was fumbled over the line by Valladares. It was the first legitimate use of goal-line technology but there was uncertainty in both the stadium and BBC's commentary booth.
It was quickly established that the shot did indeed cross the line, yet Jonathan Pearce couldn't fathom this simple conclusion. He would keep referring back to the 'controversy' and claiming that the equipment wasn't working, leading to a widespread viral mocking of his incompetence. And don't get me started on Martin Keown's Debuchy or Sagna comments! Swizerland became the latest team to win from behind, with a dramatic late win against Ecuador. In the final minute of injury time, Valon Behrami's sensational tackle stopped Ecuador from scoring - seconds later, Seferovic converted the winner. Football is all about margins!
An outcome that nobody saw coming was Germany dismantling Portugal 4-0, where the Portuguese got off lightly! A Muller penalty and Hummels' bullet header gave the Germans a 2-0 lead, before Pepe was sent off (surprised?) for headbutting Muller. However, the German's playacting caused Pepe's anger, something which saw the yoghurt man slaughtered in the media.
After a good luck message from Barack Obama, the USA somehow beat Ghana 2-1 in a frustrating match to watch. Ghana had absolutely no end-product at all and consistently wasted passes and shots. When they finally equalised through Ayew, they conceded a winner minutes later. Dempsey's opening goal came after just 31 seconds, making it the 5th fastest goal in World Cup history. Dozy Antiscore's hamstring gave way in the first half, likely ending his tournament. Oh dear, how will they recover?
Well the World Cup has officially lost its dignity after 'The Fenham Eusebio' Shola Ameobi graced the world's biggest stage. A substitute for Nigeria, he made the tournament's first dour match memorable - even more so if he'd scored the winner. You see, as terrible at football as he is, Shola actually played well and went close on several occasions. Play like that against Bosnia and I hope my dream comes true - Shola and Messi shaking hands at the start of Argentina vs Nigeria. Believe!
France beat Honduras 3-0 in a very eventful match. Technical issues meant that no national anthems were played. The Hondurans played a nasty, brutal style of football, which Paul Pogba snapped at. He Beckham'd Wilson Palacios and was lucky not to be sent off. Palacios received his second booking soon after, fouling Pogba and giving France a penalty - which Karim Benzema tucked away. The second goal was the result of a beautiful pass by Yohan Cabaye, as Benzema's shot was fumbled over the line by Valladares. It was the first legitimate use of goal-line technology but there was uncertainty in both the stadium and BBC's commentary booth.
It was quickly established that the shot did indeed cross the line, yet Jonathan Pearce couldn't fathom this simple conclusion. He would keep referring back to the 'controversy' and claiming that the equipment wasn't working, leading to a widespread viral mocking of his incompetence. And don't get me started on Martin Keown's Debuchy or Sagna comments! Swizerland became the latest team to win from behind, with a dramatic late win against Ecuador. In the final minute of injury time, Valon Behrami's sensational tackle stopped Ecuador from scoring - seconds later, Seferovic converted the winner. Football is all about margins!
An outcome that nobody saw coming was Germany dismantling Portugal 4-0, where the Portuguese got off lightly! A Muller penalty and Hummels' bullet header gave the Germans a 2-0 lead, before Pepe was sent off (surprised?) for headbutting Muller. However, the German's playacting caused Pepe's anger, something which saw the yoghurt man slaughtered in the media.
After a good luck message from Barack Obama, the USA somehow beat Ghana 2-1 in a frustrating match to watch. Ghana had absolutely no end-product at all and consistently wasted passes and shots. When they finally equalised through Ayew, they conceded a winner minutes later. Dempsey's opening goal came after just 31 seconds, making it the 5th fastest goal in World Cup history. Dozy Antiscore's hamstring gave way in the first half, likely ending his tournament. Oh dear, how will they recover?
