Chile 1 – Honduras 0
Chile hasn’t had a World Cup victory in almost five decades. They played today like they wanted to change that and so it’s no surprise they did. I’d watch out for the Chilean team and not totally underestimate them. Deserved win.
Spain 0 – Switzerland 1
Well, I suppose this is the big upset today. I remember reading the blogosphere yesterday and seeing a lot of semi-arrogant and unfounded claims that this will be an easy game. A complete yawner that may not even be worth watching. Or, as Tim Bray eloquently said:
The interesting game, since Group H is a complete yawner which will deliver Spain and some cannon fodder to the round of 16, is South Africa-Uruguay of course, since Group A is so wide-open.
There’s this notion in world football that only a handful of nations possess the skill to advance in this tournament. That’s the part I hate and disagree with. While historically that might have been true, it’s just not that accurate today. If you remember correctly, the tournament was expanded to include 32 teams back in 1998, allowing more teams from the regions of Africa, Asia, and North America to compete.
The game of football has changed dramatically and a lot of nations that have historically not been that strong are now pulling huge upsets. The audacity of the stereotypical superstars (Brazil, England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, etc) is just unfounded now. It doesn’t even make sense.
If you got anything from this game, it should be just how the playing field is now ever more level, fair, and balanced. Today, Switzerland pulled an upset with Spain, previously ranked the world’s number one team. The United States, back in the Confederations Cup, pulled a similar upset. Egypt defeated the defending World Cup winners in the Confederations Cup as well. And so far, in this tournament, these supposed superstars have largely been absent, with the exception so far of Germany.
Argentina barely pulled a win against Nigeria. Brazil beat the unknown and inexperienced North Korean squad by one measly goal. France, with all its might, couldn’t even score against a team from Uruguay playing with one man down.
So, don’t think of this game as a huge upset…because it’s been coming for a long time. This is to be expected. Teams that qualify for the World Cup, whether they are France, Brazil, Slovenia or Switzerland, are playing on the most level of playing fields. At this point, literally anyone can win this tournament.
Does Europe really deserve 13 spots of the 32 today? Especially given the fact that a continent like Africa only gets 5 spots? Would a capable African team (like Egypt) have deserved a spot more than some of these European teams? Historically, there might have been some reason or excuse to back this policy up. Today, that’s no longer the case…and we’re only going to see that more as the World Cup continues on.
Can’t wait for Day 7.
South Africa 0 – Uruguay 3
Wow.
The World Cup hasn’t had that many high-scoring games so far. This one was fun to watch. Uruguay won the FIFA World Cup twice decades ago…is there even a chance it could replicate that success? Who knows. All I can see is just how interesting that group is. The supposed favorite (France) is starting to look rather poor. Uruguay’s very much on top of that group, at least at the present time. If they keep playing like this, France might really face some trouble even getting to the Top 16.