Shocks continue apace at World Cup
IN a tournament that has provided so many shocks so far, yesterday proved to be no different. The reigning champions Italy were unceremoniously dumped out of the competition by minnows Slovakia.
In what was considered one of the weaker groups of the tournament, the Italians finished bottom and the concerns expressed prior to the tournament by many football pundits, namely that this was an ageing team who were past their best, proved well-founded.
Modern-day football is now more about athleticism and speed — two qualities that were sadly lacking from the current Italian squad.
New Zealand, more renowned for their rugby successes, exited the tournament without having lost a single match as they drew all three of their group matches including yesterday’s game against Paraguay – a remarkable achievement given their lowly world ranking.
Paraguay have proven to be one of the best South American teams at the moment and will face Japan next Tuesday.
Japan beat Denmark 2-1 to emerge from Group F in second place behind the Netherlands. Japan, like South Korea, are a very disciplined and mobile side who are well organised and given their progress in the tournament so far, it didn’t come as a shock to many that they managed to progress to the next round.
It has been a great World Cup for the Asian sides so far and proof that if you have the right attitude and a good work ethic, you can go long way in the tournament irrespective of the number of “world class” players in your squad.
On the other hand, the African teams — with the notable exception of Ghana — mirror the Caribbean teams in that they do not lack strength or skill, but lack the levels of organisation required to be successful — an attribute the Asian sides have in abundance.
Having said that, while anything can happen in the knock-out stages, we are now reaching the “business end” of the tournament and those teams who can combine all these attributes – skill, flair, organisation, strength and speed – should progress to the quarter finals and so I expect the Netherlands to beat Slovakia and Paraguay to beat Japan when they meet next week.