Second Matchday: Groups A & B Plus Friday's Games

Well, the first two groups have pretty much locked up 3 out of their 4 qualifies are day 2 for the respected teams. Goals were sure to find a way onto the stat sheet and sure enough they have. Argentina' s 4-1 thrashing of South Korea, Greece ACTUALLY scores,2 goals, albeit against ten men under fortunate circumstances, Uruguay and Mexico waits til the second have to finish off France. Argentina stepped up to the plate and quelled any doubts about their struggles. I think tomorrow's games, however, will be the best of round two with three really appeasing games to get people ready for the weekend.

To be honest, France's display has been... well abysmal. Domenech is trash. Everyone got that yet? The guy stood clueless down 1-0 on the sideline. He plays Abidal, a left back HIS ENTIRE CAREER, at center, Ribery on the left flank with Malouda in the middle, and SIDNEY GOVOU STILL UP FRONT. Abidal was lost all game, caused a penalty and "kept" Hernandez "onside" for the first goal. Flip Malouda/Ribery and get good ole Sidney the hell out of there. Henry sat on the bench the entire game. Hey, Raymond. Henry played on the bench this year because he wasn't good enough for the squad up front. AT BARCELONA. CLOWN. That team had 5 strikers better than him, and younger. However, on the French team, there is nobody better than him up front. You can't wait until the 70th minute for the guy to create magic. It's gonna be sad come Wednesday morning when Raymond is sent packing. Or it's going to be one a magical day for France when their back on a plane headed for Paris.

Uruguay and Mexico have solidified their roles as the best teams on the group on the pitch, not paper. South Africa's adrenaline was sure to drop and it's not a surprise the position that they are in now. A draw in the Mex/Uru match means both move on, however, Uruguay gets the better seed due to goal differential (3-2) and less likely to play Argentina, a deadly draw. A win by either team opens up the door for France/SA. They would need a win and a big win. Two teams would sit at 4 points, and goal differential would be the reason for advancing. With France 4 back in GD and SA 5, this would be a tough task.

Friday brings out Germany/Serbia, Slovenia/US, and England/Algeria. Group C could be shaken all together with wins by US and England, or a Slovenia win/England Draw gets them in first with through.

I'll grab the England/Algeria game for a live blog for further analysis about the US game. Check it back later