Day 4

Day 4. No, not in the Big Brother house! Thankfully the FIFA World Cup in South Africa is overshadowing the mindless drivel that is Chanel 4’s hit reality show, which is finally dying a painful death. Today it was the turn of two favourites, Italy and the Netherlands who had the difficult job of following Germany’s dismantling of Australia last night.

The Germans arrived with, not only typical German ruthlessness and efficiency but with flair, something not usually associated with a side that has never failed to reach the quarter final mark in their last 7 major tournaments. Their performance made the world sit up and take notice, and the next move belonged to the Dutch.

DOUBLE DUTCH

Holland began their World Cup finals campaign with an underwhelming and stuttering performance but more importantly they got the 3 points they desired, against a Denmark side that lacked ruthlessness and failed to take their chances resulting in a 2-0 win for Holland.

The first 45 minutes began with the Dutch unable to press home their superior quality despite having one or two half chances from Rafael Van Der Vaart. The Dutch’s lack of attacking urgency gave Denmark great belief and they soon started to cause the Dutch one or two problems, with Dennis Rommedahl in particular causing an aging Geovani Van Bronkhurt difficulty with his pace. Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner missed the best chance of the half, as he failed to direct a Rommedahl cross whilst unmarked in the Penalty area. In what was a mundane first half, one talking point was the over ambitious free kick taking from both sides. As Wesley Sniedjer struck an effort wide from around 35 yards, whilst Simon Kjaer tried his best to out do him, by striking a 40 yard effort into the wall.

The second half started in blistering fashion with a goal after just 50 seconds. A Robin Van Persie cross was headed towards his own goal by Simon Poulsen, only for the ball to deflect of Daniel Agger and past Tomas Sorenson. I had hoped this would galvanise the Danish into life, but with the withdrawal of Nicklas Bendtner, the Dutch made their superiority count. The introduction of Elerjo Elia added much needed pace to Holland’s front line and after he saw his shot tipped onto the post, Dirk Kuyt was in the right place to tap the ball home. It wasn’t a spectacular game by any means but the Dutch got the win they needed in Soccer City and can look forward to their next game.

JUBILANT JAPAN

Japan managed to overcome Cameroon by a goal to nil in Bloemfontein to secure their first ever World Cup win outside of their own country, but the game cannot be described as a classic, in fact it was the complete opposite as both teams failed to keep possession for long enough to create any meaningful chances.

The first five minutes set the tone for the game with sloppy errors evident all over the pitch, and as Mark Lawrenson took delight in frequently pointing out, it was possibly the poorest game of the tournament so far. It took until almost the end of the half for the first shot on goal, with Eyong Enoh forcing Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima into a save. However just a minute later the undeniably dull game was sparked into life as Honda managed to latch onto a cross that evaded all of Cameroon’s back four. Honda controlled calmly and drove the ball home.

Cameroon, who had chosen to play Captain Samuel Eto’o on the right flank, never looked like getting back into the game and only threatened to steal a point when M’bia struck the much criticised World Cup ball viciously against the cross bar. It was a shot that was not in keeping with the quality of the match and had it gone in, it would have been a contender for Goal of the Tournament. In truth a draw would not have been a fair result as the Japanese were livelier throughout and thoroughly deserved their win.

ITALY STIFLED BY DOGGED PARAGUAY

The reigning Champions Italy kicked off their campaign against a strong Paraguay outfit. As is so often the case in the opening group games in World Cup finals, the match was tentative with both sides sizing each other up. Paraguay were as usual well organised and disciplined and they weren’t afraid to get a foot in, with new Sunderland signing Christian Riveros letting Riccardo Montolivo know he was there with a strong challenge, that should have been met with, at the very least, a yellow card.

Both sides struggled to create chances and it looked like the game was going to be goalless as the half time whistle loomed. However with 5 minutes to go until the interval a delicious dead ball from Aureliano Torres was powerfully headed past Gianluigi Buffon by Antolin Alcaraz and into the Italian net. At half time, with the Paraguayans holding a 1-0 lead, it looked like the first upset of the 2010 World Cup was on the cards.

The Italians could only get better in the second half, and they did as there ball retention improved with Daniele De Rossi having a bigger influence on the game. Meanwhile Simone Pepe was causing problems for both Paraguay full backs by constantly swapping flanks. It was a Pepe-De Rossi combination that led to the Italian’s equaliser, although there was a large helping hand from Goalkeeper Villar who got caught in no man’s land allowing De Rossi to poke into an empty net.

The Italians were unable to create another clear cut chance as Paraguay defended vigilantly, meaning manager Marcelo Lippi was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw and the subsequent point, which in reality was just about right.

So as another day of World Cup football passes, it appears to be the Germans who are leading the way but the Dutch and the Italians have stated their claims.

Paul Seed