Apologies...

My apologies at not being able to keep up with the task I set out for myself (a pretty huge one at that). I didn't see assignments and tests coming. I mean I saw them coming, but thought I'll be able to handle them easily. History repeats itself you know, and I was proved wrong. Anyways, so I thought I'd just post about my inability to post (that's ironic na - {I know I can only use big words to defend myself, that's what I'm good at :P})...aaah lot of brackets...feeling claustrophobic now...hehe...

I will surely be back in a couple of days...to give ALL my FANS an overview of how it's been at Germany these past few weeks...

Cheer.
For England!

Day 2: Match - 3, 4, 5

Day 2 of the World Cup, and we had England taking on Paraguay, Sweden against minnows Trinidad and Tobago, and Argentina & Ivory Coast kicking off the Group of Death. Well, I woke up at 8.30 to watch the England-Paraguay match, and after 2 hours of not-so-impressive football, was wishing I hadn't! "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction", said Newton, and I proved the law by falling asleep in front of the TV during the Argentina-Ivory Coast match (which actually turned out to be the best match of the day!) At least it wasn't entirely MY fault...the commentary was in Italian, and those guys keep blabbering away non-stop, almost like Shankar Mahadevan's "Breathless"! Well anyways, I'm going to mostly talk about the England game, for obvious reasons, so here's my 'analysis':

Match 3: England vs Paraguay

Result: ENG 1-0 PAR

Goals:
C. Gamarra (OG)

MoM: Frank Lampard

Stats-a-Surprise: 13 Fouls committed by either team, but that's not the surprising bit. Peter Crouch alone was guilty of 6 fouls. The question is: Was he really guilty?

Comments: To be honest, England played way below potential, and came through because of an uninspired Paraguayan performance. The referee didn't help either, and awarded foul after foul against Crouch for leaning 'unfairly' over defenders. Everytime Crouch went up for a header, you could almost predict that the whistle was going to be blown. It was a frustrating match for the forward and even worse for Owen, who didn't get into the game at all. But people who bash Crouch have to understand that he is not supposed to be a prolific goalscorer. He is a Target Man, who sets up balls for out and out strikers like Owen. And for that to happen, the delivery from midfield has to be good. As my brother and I were discussing, the problem seemed to be a breakdown between midfield and attack. Beckham was being the playmaker, but he was on the right side of midfield! Lampard was adjudged MoM, but I don't think he really deserved it (Actually I don't know who 'deserved' it). Lampard is not a very creative player. He scores goals for Chelsea but its because of Makelele who sits back and feeds him good balls. Personally, I think Gerrard is way better and way more creative than Lampard. Read what my brother had to say here. I think Eriksson is wasting Gerrard in that defensive position (He did quite well there though, and his interceptive qualities were highlighted). Joe Cole played well. Most of the defenders had an easy day but it was, again, due to a listless Paraguay. I wonder how they'll fare against stronger attacks. I guess we have to wait till 20th June. Or maybe earlier??

Match 4, 5 coming up...

Day One: Games - 1, 2

So finally all the anticipation culminated in Friday's opening match between Germany and Costa Rica. There never really was a doubt about who would win, but the pressure was enough I'm sure to make some skeptics feel as if there would be an upset on the opening day itself. However, that did happen at the expense of Poland who lost to an impressive Ecuador. As for the Germans, they ended up emphatic winners over the Costa Ricans. Here's my analysis:

Match 1: Germany vs Costa Rica

Result: GER 4 - 2 CRC

Goals:
GER - P. Lahm, M. Klose (2), T. Frings
CRC - P. Wanchope (2)

MoM: Miroslav Klose

Stats-a-Surprise: Germany's 21 (10) shots against Costa Rica's 4 (2)!

Comments: Germany played like a solid team more or less. Though they totally dominated most parts of the game, their defence needs to be more aware, otherwise they'll pay a heavy price in the knockout stages. However that's taking nothing away from Costa Rica. They had 2 shots on target and both were converted by Wanchope. Lehmann, I thought, was lacking a bit in confidence. But I guess he has an excuse: the defenders, especially the two central defenders Metzelder and Mertesacker. However, the defence-midfield link, especially during counter attacks, was very good, especially on the left flank. One player who was probably forgotten in the aftermath of the Klose brace and Frings Ubergoal, is Schweinsteiger. He was moving around the pitch well, and like i said earlier, linked up very well with Lahm on the left side. Klose's first goal came off his assist. He's going to make an impression on the World Cup for sure. At least Germany hopes so...

Match Rating: 8 (Probably the best first-half I've seen in a long time!)

Match 2: Poland vs Ecuador

Result: POL 0 - 2 ECU

Goals: ECU - C. Tenorio, A. Delgado

MoM: Augustin Delgado

Stats-a-Surprise: 11 corners for Poland against Ecuador's 2!

Comments: I didn't see this match in it's entirety, but from what I saw, the Ecuadorians looked impressive enough to proceed to the next round. Poland were unlucky not to score, they kept counter-attacking, but couldn't get that vital goal (/s), something which is evident from the 11 corners they had. The Ecuador 'keeper wasn't that great, but their defence was solid, getting back, tackling well and clearing dangerous balls. But honestly, the better team won the game. Ecuador converted their chances, Poland didn't. And that's what counts. I wonder whether the Polish coach is regretting not calling up Jerzy Dudek...

Match Rating: N/A

That's all for Day One. Looking forward to Day Two, when England face a stern test against Paraguay, Sweden go up against Trinidad and Tobago, and Argentina lock horns with dark horses Ivory Coast. Cya all. Good night and/or Good Day!

Notes:
The comments consist entirely of my own opinion about any match, team or player and I doubt if they will ever be offensive enough to invite nasty comments/replies.
The bracketed figures in the Shot statistics indicate Shots on Target.
The Match Rating is my opinion/rating based on how exciting/interesting the match was.

Update: Forgot to add the photo which I took...

World Cup 2006

So the footie fans' biggest event is finally back after 4 long years. On my 'psychkick' blog I'd said that I'd "cover" (if I can humbly use that word) the World Cup games, but I didn't want to overload that blog with footie stuff. So the obvious choice was for a new blog! Yay! So here's where I'm going to write about Germany 2006. So let's see, where should we start...

Welcome to...

I welcome me to my new footie blog, which I doubt many people will get to read, and even if they do, will actually read. The disclaimer from my "psychkick" blog applies here too. So welcome to me, welcome to madness. And welcome to the sickness...