Review: Group A teams in 2010 world cup

 Uruguay and Mexico reached second round from group A while France and South Africa exited from world cup. Uruguay topped group A and may avoid Argentina in last 16 while Mexico may need to face Argentina on June 27 at Soccer city stadium. Uruguay has potential to reach quarterfinals. Like all South American teams, Uruguay exceeded expectations and topped group A. South Africa captured the dubious record by becoming the first host to exit from the group stage of 2010 world cup. Click here to know about latest group standings. Best performer in group A: Uruguay Worst performer in the tournament: France  Analysis of group A teams:  1. Uruguay: It stood fifth in South American qualifiers and qualified to world cup by winning play-off with Costa Rica. But, it won in 2 games and drew with France. It is the only unbeaten team in the Group A. Uruguay is looking very strong in both attack and defence. No one expected this kind of performance after their disappointing performance against France in the first game. Best performers: Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez. Progress prediction: Quarterfinals/Semi-finals. Performance rating: 9/10  2. Mexico: They stood second in group A behind Uruguay. Their failure to convert chances has spoiled their chance to top the group. If not Javier Hernandez, Mexico might have been out of world cup. It edged South Africa basing on goal difference. Best performers: Rafael Marquez and Giovani Dos Santos. Progress prediction: Mexico will lose to Argentina in the second round. Performance rating: 7/10  3. South Africa: They performed well except those 15 mad minutes against Uruguay. Like all African teams, South Africa destroyed its chances by itself. These Africans are famous in earning red cards and thereby spoiling team chances. Steven Pienaar is the worst performer. Team had lot of hopes on him but he miserably failed to deliver. Best performers: Mphela Dubious record: First host to exit from group stage of 2010 world cup Performance rating: … [Read more...]

World cup first round goes to Asian teams

 Asians teams are the best performers in the first round of group stage in 2010 football world cup. From Asian qualifiers, Australia and Japan qualified from group 1 while South and North Koreas qualified from group 2. New Zealand qualified by beating Bahrain in Asia-Oceania play-off. They are the best performers when compared to their FIFA rankings. South Korea reached semi-finals in 2002 world cup while Japan (2002), Saudi Arabia (1994) reached second round in world cup but North Korea reached quarterfinals in 1966 world cup. But, Asian teams failed miserably in 2006 football world cup. But, they are surprise performers in the first round of group stage in South Africa.  Performance of Asian teams in 2010 FIFA World cup: TeamRankPerformance   1. South Korea 47 Defeated Greece (2-0) 2. Japan 45 Defeated Cameroon (2-0) 3. New Zealand 78 Drew with Slovakia (1-1) 4. North Korea 105 Lost to Brazil (1-2) 5. Australia 20 Lost to Germany (0-4)     Asian teams in 2010 world cup:  1. Australia (Group D): Best performer in Asian qualifying group struggled against Germany, best team in tournament. This group D team has best rank among Asian teams but worst performer among Asian teams. Tim Cahill succeeded in earning red card. Is it due to Germany’s brilliance or Australia’s poor performance? Note: 20th ranked team lost to 6th ranked team (Germany). 2. South Korea (Group B): Best performer among Asian teams and even topped group B ahead of Argentina on goal difference. Fast paced Koreans thrashed aged Greeks in a one-sided match. Park Ji Sung scored wonderful solo goal. They can even progress to quarterfinals as there are no strong teams in group A. Note: 47th ranked team defeated 13th ranked European team (Greece) by 2 goals. 3. Japan (Group E): Best chance to advance to second round as they have beaten strong-Cameroon squad. They have good chance even if they drew with … [Read more...]