The knockout phase begins today, I would post, but my brother has provided an excellent preview of his own.

Apologies for the lack of daily updates, I’ve been a bit busy over the last few days, so here are my thoughts on what I have seen over the first two phases of the group stages.
Group A
The Germans late win against Poland was what they deserved, and with Michael Ballack fit they have a strong chance of winning the group today, Ecuador have impressed me throughout the tournament, much to my surprise, and if they avoid defeat to the Germans will win the group. Poland have looked as good as last world cup (i.e.: dreadful), and Costa Rica who played well against Germany should probably have done better against Ecuador.

Group B
England, although not appearing to play in top gear, have done enough to reach the second round, with 80 minutes of rubbish, and followed by one well taken, and one superb goal against Trinidad, the Swedes, who England play today have looked poor going forward, and were lucky to have taken all 3 points against Paraguay. That said, Paraguay have offered very little in attack, and they are, IMO, quite deservedly out of the tournament, and if Sweden avoid defeat against England, Trinidad will be following Paraguay. This is a pity really, although they have played ultra-defensively in their first two games, at times they have caused defences to sweat, and seeing players from Wrexham and Luton compete against some of the worlds most expensive players is always good to see.

Group C
This group has rightly lived up to its Group of Death naming, with the Netherlands and Argentina already through, despite Ivory Coast looking the best of all the African nations. Argentina have looked by far the best of all the teams so far, their 6-0 crushing of Serbia & Montenegro was the best performance of the tournament by any team, and their second goal, a series of 24 passes followed by a clinical finish by Cambiasso, could possibly be called the greatest team goal ever, eclipsing Brazils 4th goal in 1970. The Netherlands have looked competent in their two victories and could still go all the way, although some of their defending has been dodgy at times, while both pointless teams, Serbia & Montenegro and Ivory Coast have shown glimpses of why they qualified, although S&M also showed the typical dirty play traits of a typical Yugoslav team.

Group D
This group has lived up to my “ZZZZ” opinion of it with Portugal misfiring on their way to 6 points, and Mexico struggling too. Angola have put a good fight up in both games, deservedly earning a point against Mexico, and they could sneak into second spot with a win over Iran and Mexico losing to Portugal, whilst Iran haven’t really done much, all in all, a dull group.

Group E
This has the potential to be the best group of the tournament thanks to the Czechs losing miserably to Ghana, and Italy struggling against the USA, with a win for any side giving them the chance to progress (although it depends on results for the USA). I have to confess, I didn’t see the Czech Ghana match, but what I have heard is that Ghana should have scored plenty, and the Czechs were poor, I did see the USA vs Italy, and the Italians just couldn’t score to take all the points and secure their progression to the next round. The last matches, Czechs vs Italy and Ghana vs USA should have been simple with both the Czechs and Italy through, now both matches could be the most important ones ever for 3 of the teams, and a vital match for the Italians.

Group F
Brazil are another side not firing on all cylinders yet, but they are through so anything can happen now, the Australians have looked good in both their two games, whilst Japan and Croatia have looked decidedly poor, but both teams still have a chance to progress (although that’s unlikely for Japan as they have to play Brazil). The Croatia vs Australia match will be interesting, as 3 of the Croatian players were born in Australia, and 7 of the Australian players were born in Croatia, so their could be some fireworks there.

Group G
This is another exciting group, with the possibility that France will go home after the group stages again, although if they win by 2 clear goals they will progress, albeit in second place with a probable match against Spain. South Korea have looked pretty good, grabbing a somewhat deserved point against the French (France should have sealed the match earlier, but just looked like they couldn’t be bothered), while Togo are on their way home, which is a pity as they have at times looked good. The Swiss looked confident against Togo, and were unlucky against France, so they could beat Korea and go through as group winners, which would be very interesting.

Group H
After their 4-0 drubbing by Spain, the Ukraine inflicted the same scoreline on a very poor Saudi side, whilst Spain qualified for the next stages with a win against Tunisia, although they were 1-0 down until into the 2nd half. Ukraine have a chance to join them with a win against Tunisia, whilst the Saudis have to hope they can beat Spain to stand any chance of progressing. Overall, a good group with plenty of goals (4 in every game so far) with Spain looking very good going forward and they could go quite far in the tournament.

In summary, the best teams I have seen so far in the tournament are:

1. Argentina
2. Spain
3. The Netherlands
4. Italy
5. Brazil
6. Portugal
7. England

With all except Italy through so far there could be some very interesting knockout matches.

Day 6 sees the conclusion of the first round of group matches, and the start of the second round, with Germany playing Poland. Here are my thoughts on the days action.

Spain vs Ukraine (Match Report)
Spain thrashed Ukraine and they looked like one of the best sides to play so far, just behind the Czechs, any side which can afford to put Raul on the bench has to be good offensively. The Ukraine, although the score would suggest otherwise, were not too shabby, although I think the reliance on Shevchenko could prove their downfall. The second goal was the start of their bad luck, with the ball taking a wicked deflection off the wall and leaving keeper Shovkovsky no chance, and when Vaschuk was sent off for an apparent foul Torres in the area, which I am yet to work out the Ukraine were left the impossible task of overcoming a 3-0 deficit with 10 men. The best moment however was Spain’s 4th, with Puyol showing some fantastic skill to play Torres through, and a deadly finish from the Atletico gave Spain a slightly flattering 4-0 result.

Tunisia vs Saudi Arabia (Match Report)
With Ukraine losing to Spain, the winner of this fixture would have a great position to take 2nd place in the group, however poor defending by both teams led to a 2-2 stalemate. Tunisia started the brightest, dominating the first half, and deservedly taking the lead, however the second half was a completely different matter, with Saudi Arabia stealing a march on the Tunisians. Sami Al-Jabers goal, to make it 2-1 with less than 6 minutes to go looked to have sealed all 3 points for the Saudis, however in the 92nd minute Bolton’s Radhi Jaidi (who is a centre back) was pushed forward and he grabbed a vital equaliser for the Tunisians. Overall I think both sides showed they are unlikely to win the title, but a good result against the Ukraine and either side could sneak through into second place.

Germany vs Poland (Match Report)
Another poor showing from the Germans, but thanks to Oliver Neuville they take all 3 points, virtually guaranteeing them a spot in the second round, and pretty much dumping the Poles out in the group stages again. The Germans again looked poor up front, with Podolski wasting a great chance in the last minute of the first half, and Klose also coming close with a header, but he appeared to be put off by Boruc. Jens Lehmann was never troubled, with “magic” Zurawski looking anything but magic, and the Poles seemed to be hoping to sneak a draw and try and creep into the next round, a great disappointment for a team which had qualified so well for the tournament.

My brother has written some of his thoughts on the first round of games over on his site, so head on over to his blog now .