BEST:
South Africa - France (2-1). The host nation didn't manage to make it through to the next round, but at least they can leave (stay) with their heads held high after managing a victory over an incompetent French side. If it wasn't for goal difference, South Africa would have actually made it through to face...Argentina. To make matters much worse, Domenech refused to shake hands with Parreira at the end of the game...talk about drawing attention to yourself.
USA - Algeria (1-0). For 90 minutes, it looked like 2006 all over again for the United States. But the heartbeat and leader of this team, Landon Donovan, came good in injury time, and scored the rebound goal to put the US not only in the Round of 16, but top of their group so they avoid facing Germany. The match could have gone either way in the first half, but Algeria eventually tired and US were missing golden opportunities in the second half. Another incorrectly disallowed goal seemed like it would deny the US another deserved win, but lady luck finally answered the call.
Denmark - Japan (1-3). I'm going to say it - Keisuke Honda has been the player of the tournament so far. His free kick was out of this world (meaning I have never seen such a well-struck free kick from so far out), his unselfishness allowed Endo to grab a second free kick goal soon after, and finally the icing on top of the cherry on top of the whipped cream on top of the cake. His maneuver inside the box to get past his defender and a simple slide pass to his teammate ensured Japan's passage to the next round. A thoroughly entertaining match and a star is on the rise.
WORST:
Brazil - Portugal (0-0). This was definitely the most anticipated match of the group stages once the draw was made in December. In the so called group of death, Brazil advanced comfortably while Portugal seemed satisfied to take second place (i hope they know who they are facing next....). Ronaldo took long shot after long shot from places where you would normally cross the ball. Brazil lacked the creative spark without Kaka and Robinho, both of whom will be back for the next match against Chile. Pretty much a very boring game.
Switzerland - Honduras (0-0). Switzerland needed two goals from this game in order to displace Chile in second place. Their showing was drastically different to their first game of the tournament, where they downed Spain 1-0. Their lack of goals cost them as they failed to score in their following two matches. They looked clueless for long stretches unable to open up a below-par Honduras team. And they paid for it.
Slovakia - Italy (3-2). This could have been put in the best section depending on whether you hate/love Italy. Personally, it was a tragedy. It should have been 3-3 as Quagliarella was onside for his goal (his second goal...bellissimo). But to be honest, Italy didn't deserve it and they had a horrible showing throughout the tournament. If only they could replicate their last 20 minute performance against Paraguay and New Zealand. But take nothing away from Slovakia. They deserved it. Vittek was clinical, while the coach, Vladimir Weiss, described this as the second best moment in his life (first being the birth of his son). I guess upsets are, in a sense, a beautiful thing.
2 comments: on "Best/Worst of Round 3"
FORZA,
You forget Italy's first disallowed goal, when Quagliarella's shot was saved by a Slovakian defender inside the goal line (link below).
But you are correct in one sense: despite the bad calls, Italy still did not deserve to go through. But it wasn't that they needed to replicate the last 20 minutes of their first 2 matches. Not at all. In fact, those minutes showed intensity but no finishing. No. Italy would have been better served had they played through the entire tournament like they did in the last 20 minutes of this Slovakia match, once they had a trequartista (Pirlo) on the pitch. Only God knows why Marcello Lippi chose not to select a 2nd playmaker in his 23. With Pirlo, Itlay looked threatening, but it wasn't enough to make up for the rest of their tournament, and Lippi's terrible choices.
Also, I hate to say it, but Italy's Marcello Lippi also refused to shake hands with Slovakia's coach after Italy's final fatal match. Then again, he's a consummate egotistical douche, who selected and started an outrageous squad, and failed in his primary duty as a coach, so it's no surprise that he's an unrepentant loser.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvBZcRUmiIg
(disregard the idiots who are saying that you can clearly see the ball bounce on the line after hitting the defender's knee. If only they had paid attention during high school physics, they might avoided their fates as morons.)
yeah...wow...even i thought that goal was fairly disallowed..no clue why...i can't blame the officials though...no way that any human can get that...that's something goal-line technology can only solve...
and zamundinho, i was also talking about Italy's last 20 minutes against Slovakia...not their last 20 minutes against Paraguay and NZ...if they had showed the same intensity with Slovakia that they had in their other two games, I COULD HAVE SEEN HOLLAND-ITALY LIVE...
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