We started off with Ghana vs Serbia. Not the most exciting of matches, but one which was closely fought and hinged on two major turning points. With Ghana dominating possession, Aleksander Lukovic's sending off made things that bit more difficult for the Serbs - two deserved bookings it has to be said. But his madness was nothing compared to that of Zdravko Kuzmanovic, who deliberately handled a cross and conceded an 85th minute penalty, which the impressively mobile Asamoah Gyan slotted home for the win. To prove that they hadn't learned their lesson, Nemanja Vidic did exactly the same thing against Germany. However, Lukas Podolski betrayed his non-German roots and fluffed the spot kick. More on the idiot referee in that game later.
Then there came the Germany vs Australia game. Vibrant young German attacking talent vs Craig Moore and Lucas Neill at centre-back spelt mismatch from the word go. When you add in the bizarre dismissal of Tim Cahill on 55 minutes for a mistimed but pretty innocuous challenge on Bastian Schweinsteiger and it turned into a rout. The German movement both on and off the ball was outstanding, as was the pinpoint accuracy of their passing. I lost count of the number of times they got in behind the Aussie defence, such was their lack of pace. Mark Schwarzer was particularly disappointing, given his pedigree, for he totally failed to dominate his area and command his troops in front of him. Their first goal remains my second favourite of the tournament (my favourite being the USA vs England one but for totally different reasons). Here is how that goal was created:
Black arrows show ball movement, blue shows Germans off the ball, red sho
ws Aussies off the ball. Schweinsteiger, sitting deep as he does in the twilight of his career, pings out an accurate pass out right towards playmaker Mesut Ozil, who shows instant control. He then shows defender Jason Culina the inside before cutting back out past him. In the meantime young Thomas Mueller has made a run out wide, but has kept it diagonal so as to beat the offside trap, something the Germans managed many times during the match. Chipperfield wide on the right plays him on as Ozil slots a pass straight to his feet. At this point, Wilkshire, who should have been covering Mueller, moves into the box, anticipating a ball to the feet of goalpoacher extraordinaire Miroslav Klose. None of the Australians have picked up the deep run of Podolski. Mueller spots him and pulls in back instead of across, leaving the striker to lash the ball home past Schwarzer. The diagram shows the move in sketchy detail (we need to invest in chalkboard technology), with the main protagonists labelled. You should get the idea anyway - the movement off the ball was not picked up by the clunky Aussie defenders and they paid the price dearly.To be fair to the Aussies, they came back well in their next game against Ghana, particularly as they lost Harry Kewell in the 24th minute to yet another contraversial red card. This time, the referee got it spot on. I'm pretty sure the handball on the line was not deliberate from Kewell, but it prevented a clear scoring opportunity, so it had to be red and a penalty, which Gyan again scored. And celebrated with another dance, which I'm getting rather sick of truth be told. Yes, it was funny when pensioner Roger Milla did it, and indeed when the hosts opened their account against Mexico but does everyone have to do it? Fair enough if it's African culture like the vuvuzela but why do Slovenia do it? Anyway, this penalty levelled the game after Brett Holman gave the Socceroos the lead after yet another African goalkeeping howler from Richard Kingson (only the Cote d'Ivoire keeper remians unblemished - Brazil to come tonight!), who spilt a comfortable free kick right into Holman's path. It took a lot of spirit from a group of players lacking real quality to hold on for 3/4 of the match with 10 men, but they did and still created chances. There is still hope against Serbia... but not a lot.
OK, so Germany vs Serbia. You'd be forgiven for thinking the Aussie game was a flash in the pan for team Joachim Low after this. But the match was ruined by a fussy Spanish referee, who showed two yellow cards to Klose which certainly wouldn't be given by many others. Klose was simply doing a good job tracking back and, sure, tripped a couple of players, but that is no reason to be sent for an early bath. Serbia scored soon after through Anfield-bound Milan Jovanovic and after Podolski's scuffed penalty, there was no way back for the Germans. All of which means it's more likely we'll have an England vs Germany second round match, which I'm sure we'll all enjoy in the office!
The final group games are on Wednesday. Literally anything can still happen in the Group of Death
RM
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