World Cup Notes

I was going to put in a post at the weekend about how predictable the results have been in this world cup but then the Czech Republic lost to the Ivory Coast and Italy drew with 9-man USA so that ended that one.

Watching much of the second set of group fixtures I learned some interesting points:

1. Argentina have an 'off-switch' - Even when they were 2-up and cruising against the Ivory Coast they were still diving all over the place which led me to think that they were so used to cheating that they didn't know how not to. I caught the second half of the Serbia thrashing and was amazed to see that the Argies were actually playing fair. They were probably too embarrassed by the scoreline to want to dive.

2. South Korea are bigger cheats than Argentina - I didn't think anyone could hold a candle to Argentina when it came to bringing the game into disrepute but hats off to South Korea. Throughout the France game they would foul the opposition and then fall over to win a free kick. If any of them ever suffer a career-ending injury then they need not fret as they have a secure future in the war-movies-extras business.

3. Japan might not produce the best footballers but if the England vs. T&T game was anything to go by they have some fantastic referees. I don't think refs get enough credit when they do a good job so I have to say that he was fantastic, his decision making was consistant and he actually talked to the players... and they listened, brilliant... To be fair Crouch's goal shouldn't have counted but I'm certainly not complaining.

4. Brazil are overrated... actually I knew this before the tournament had even started but I figured three observations wasn't enough.