The tournament is off to a slow start. The games that I have seen have been ok and nothing dramatic has happened so far. There have been some surprises such as the tie between the US and England, the big German victory, and Japan's victory over Cameroon. But with each day, the pressure builds and the results really start to matter. The games become do or die situations. And the further we go into the tournament, teams start developing personalities and gain a momentum. So by the end of this week, it should be getting more interesting.
A few observations:
1) The new ball does seem funky. It has a strange bounce and I have seen many players and goalies completely misjudge the ball. It is scandalous that FIFA should introduce a new ball at this tournament. This was driven by economics because every other little boy or girl in the world right now is nagging their parents to buy them the new world cup ball. So Adidas is set to make a lot of money from marketing this new product.
2) The officiating has been good so far and the games have been fairly clean.
3) The African nations have disappointed. I am hoping that Ivory Coast wins their first game though. Drogba, their star player, is back healthy which only will help.
4) The goalies have been in unusually prominent roles early on in the tournament both as heroes and villians. We have seen some bizarre goalkeeping situations.
5) Messi is majestic and magnificent.
dont forget ghana! wonderful game!
ReplyDeletehave a blast!!!!