Peerless Pirlo

 In the run up to the World Cup I wrote in this blog about the excitement that such a tournament brings to a 12 year old boy especially when his own country is competing in it. Well so far this tournament has brought that excitement to many neutrals who are much older and should know better.  This has been a tournament that reminds us why we all fell in love with the beautiful game in the first place. There has not been a draw yet, there has been an average of 3.5 goals, the highest since 1958 (early days I know) and there has been only one scoreless half of the 22 so far.  So all in all it is shaping up to be a tournament that will go down as one of the greatest in living memory. 

The weekend saw the entrance to the tournament of the much hyped Argentina, the flaky French and the soap opera that is the England team.  What sort of story line would  they produce this time?.  You got the feeling going into the game that it was going to be more along the lines of Emmerdale rather than Eastenders and that the expectations were being managed by both Hodgson and the FA. Talk of blooding youngsters and the next generation, is either a brave or political move by Hodgson, especially as he may not be around to see them flourish.   But first on to the action.  

Colombia V Greece 

The action on Saturday saw the Colombians beat the Greeks 3-0 and it could have been more.  Greece who won Euro 2004 with defensive tactics have not evolved from this strategy and for the neutral it is good to see one of the dark horses, Colombia dispatch them with ease.  It was like a home game for Colombia and it was the loudest atmosphere yet at the tournament.  The heat and conditions will not trouble Colombia and I expect them to go to the quarter finals at least as they are due to play the runners up in the Italian group.  An impressive performance that promises more.  

Costa Rica V Uruguay 

The second game of Saturday provided the biggest shock of the tournament so far.  Semi Finalists in 2010, Uruguay have kept faith in most of the squad from 2010 but were missing Suarez with a  knee injury going into this game.  Forlan and Cavani led the line for Uruguay and they took the lead through a penalty in the first half.  They had not played well but led at half time.  Costa Rick now with nothing to lose went at Uruguay in the same way they had in the second half against Ireland in a recent friendly.  Campbell who is on Arsenal's books took his chance from a cross with a half volley and smashed it into the back of the net.  Uruguay's reaction to conceding was dispirited and they looked leggy and jaded and were undone from a header from a well taken free.  Costa Rica had Uruguay on the back foot and made it 3 towards the end with a beautiful pass from Campbell, the games star performer, and a well taken finish by the striker.  Uruguay were  reduced to ten men late in the game, and will struggle to get out of the group at this stage. Costa Rica had the greatest day in World Cup history.  

England V Italy 

You know England are playing in a World Cup when RTE donate an hour to the pre-match build up and bring in the A team of Brady, Giles and Dunphy.  England games have produced some classic "RTE Panel" moments over the years from the Garth Crooks and Sven love bomb to the brilliant critique of Graham Taylor's England in Euro 92. This tournament  had started well in this regard as Dunphy has promised to wear a dress if England reach the quarter finals.  If the Irish public needed another reason to cheer against England, here was it.   

The game on Saturday night was a fantastic contrast of styles.  From the possession based Italians to the pacy counter attacking English,  the game always had you on the edge of your seat.  Even when the pace of the game dropped in the final quarter due to the humid conditions.  English players were out on their feet and several went down with cramp.  That is what  chasing a ball around for 90 minutes does for you. The Italian style of letting the ball do the work exemplified  by Pirlo, was perfect for these energy sapping conditions.  In an attacking sense this was a positive performance from England with Sterling and Sturridge bringing their Liverpool form into the game. However Stephen Gerrard and Wayne Rooney both had nights they would like to forget.  Both were out of position and neither were playing their natural game.  For Rooney there is hope, as he can be moved into his favoured position of behind the striker or even up top.  Gerrard does not have the legs to play his natural game and does not have the footballing brain to play the one he wants to play for club and country. If you want a stat that shows the gulf in class between Pirlo and Gerrard.  Pirlo completed 105 of his 108 passes to Gerrard's 62 out of 67 on the night. The game passed him by if you pardon the pun. The problem for England is they do not have a player to replace him, as Carrick and Barry were left at home and neither of them are international class, but would probably do a better job in that role.  

The night did belong to Pirlo and the attacking wing back Darmian.  One ran the show and the other caused all sorts of problems down England's left hand side.  In only his second cap Diame was one of the stand out performers and tactically Prandelli outsmarted Hodgson and pinned Rooney back throughout the game.  All three goals in the game were things of joy and beauty and England can take heart from the turn and pass played by Sterling to setup Rooney who provided a beautiful cross for Sturridge. To others it showed that Pirlo is flawed and he was turned by Sterling far too easily and it is a weakness that should be exploited by more teams.  

It all sets it up for a do or die game between England and Uruguay on Thursday night.   Will Suarez be back, will Rooney be dropped and can Gerrard control a game of football.  I can already answer the latter. 

Ivory Coast V Japan 

This was a game I did not see live as it began at 2am and poor old Tony O'Donoghue of RTE was given the night shift. Tony one of the nicest and most knowledgeable TV reporters out there is the anchor for RTE's afternoon highlights show but tonight he drew the short straw. Just looking at highlights and going on reports it seems like it was a decent game that sprung into action when Drogba came on for the Ivory Coast.  They were 1 nil down at the time and although he did not score, within minutes of him coming on Ivory Coast had equalised and taken the lead from two headers.  Finally the Ivory Coast have a group that they can get out of it. Twice they have been drawn in groups of death when  their golden generation players were  at their prime. Now when some of them seem a little past it they get a group that should see them join Colombia in the next round in my opinion.   How far they go after that is any one's guess but once it is knock out anything can happen.  

So another great day of football came to a close and the tournament gets better and better.