12-06-2018, 15:00
another trip down memory lane this time 2010
held in South Africa June 11th-July 11th,bidding to host this W/C was only open to African Nations
South Africa got the vote and the world wondered if they could host a w/c to be proud of
this w/c was excruciating to watch,not because of the football...the worldwide billions of t.v viewers(like myself)probably watched the games without sound.
this was down to the...(yes you guessed it) the bloody Vuvuzela a plastic like trumpet that i`m sure was handed out to every spectator at all the games, if you did watch with sound you were very brave either that or you you love bees.
living rooms around the world suddenly became bee hives........very annoying
anyway to the football
Group A-South Africa-Mexico-Uruguay-France
Group B-Argentina-South Korea-Greece-Nigeria
Group C-United States-England-Slovenia-Algeria
Group D-Germany-Ghana-Australia-Serbia
Group E-Netherlands-Japan-Denmark-Cameroon
Group F-Paraguay-New Zealand-Slovakia-Italy
Group G-Brazil-Portugal-North Korea-Ivory Coast
South Africa/Mexico opened up proceedings and after a dire first half the game came to life 10 minutes into the second half
Tshabalala runs onto a through ball and smashes the ball into the top corner...sending the entire country into meltdown
could they start with a win?......no...Marquez silenced every South African in the 79th minute games finishes 1-1
and after a 3-0 defeat to Uruguay and a 2-1 win over France the Hosts left the competition.
France were in turmoil rumours of player unrest refusing to train and wanting the removal of manager Domenech
they finished bottom of their group scoring a single goal in their 3 matches
Mexico and Uruguay advanced
Argentina romped away with Group B...a 1-0 win over Nigeria-a 4-1 victory over South Korea and a 2-0 win over Greece
they were joined by South Korea!!!(honestly)
in Group C we had the obligatory goalkeeping howler(step forward Rob Green)
it came in their opening game v the USA Gerrard had put England 1-0 up early on and everything was looking rosey
Clint Dempsey then hit a thunderbolt from the edge of the area(clocked at about 5mph) that mr Green could even keep out,the sight of Rob Green looking behind him as the ball rolled over the line...priceless.
and after a dull 0-0 draw with the mighty Algeria that led to England fans booing the side of at the end prompting Rooney to say a few choice words into the cameras....but after a 1-0 against Slovenia England were through(maybe they should have just gone home)
OTHER NOTES
you don`t say this that often but in Group D we had a real shock the mighty Germans actually LOST defeated 1-0 by Ghana
although both side progressed
Netherlands ran away with Group E and were joined by.....JAPAN?
Group F was the place to be:-the Italians were expected to walk this group but after a less than impressive 1-1 with Paraguay
and a humiliating 1-1 draw with New Zealand, who should have won this game(Chris Wood anyone?)saw them needing to beat Slovakia.....and after a very close and very entertaining game the Italians were heading home beaten 3-2.
Group G saw Brazil beat North Korea 2-1 The Ivory Coast 3-1 and a 0-0 draw with Portugal
Portugal scored 7 goals in the group all coming in one game against North Korea
along with Brazil they progressed
Group H saw Spain and Chile advance despite a shock Spanish defeat going down 1-0 to Switzerland
Second Round
before i get to the main event(we know what that is don`t we folks)
Uruguay beat South Korea 2-1
Ghana edged out the USA 2-1 after extra time
The Netherlands,Argentina and Brazil all won
Paraguay v Japan was one of those bore draws Paraguay winning 5-3 on penalties
Spain scraped by Portugal 1-0(it was about this time that i found out Spain were boring to watch...your views on this)
then we had the simple game between England and Germany
a game that had just about everything a shocking defensive display from England a goal that was a goal that wasnt a goal but everyone watching knew it was a goal
went like this
20" a simple goal kick from Neuer travels almost the length of the pitch land at the feet of Klose and after holding of the defender toe pokes it past David James
32" a move down the german right sees the entire english defence(what defence) ball watching again,Klose slips in Podolski who finds the net.
37" a free kick on the England right swung into the box and Matthew Upson beats Neuer to ball 2-1 game on? err no
seconds later Lampard finds space from a Defoe flick and launches another shot at goal(baring in mind this guy has had more shots for England at World Cups and scored ZERO)
its smacks the bar and lands about 6 miles behind the line....2-2? nope
the ref Jorge Larrionda...waves play on...the rest as we say is history
Germany score 2 more in the second half to secure a 4-1 win
**footnote**----Lampard also smacked the bar in the second half(that guy was never going to score was he)
and so to the Suarez swindle
Uruguay and Ghana 1-1 deep into added time Suarez handles a goalbound header that would have won the game for Ghana
red card Suarez....up steps Gyan to seal if the the Africans......hits the bar chance gone
Uruguay won the ensuing penalty shoot out 4-2
Germany demolished Argentina 4-0 classic game of counter attacking football
Spain narrowly beat Paraguay 1-0
and the Dutch put paid to Brazil winning 2-1
Semi Finals
The Netherland defeated Uruguay 3-2 to make it to their Third final(74,78 the others)
they would end playing Spain who saw off the Germans
Final
dull and only worth mentioning the record number of yellow cards issued during the game by ref Howard Webb a grand total of 14
and one red card to Heitinga for the Dutch
Spain eventually win the game in Extra time with a goal from Iniesta
all in all not a bad competition (feel free to add your own thoughts)
held in South Africa June 11th-July 11th,bidding to host this W/C was only open to African Nations
South Africa got the vote and the world wondered if they could host a w/c to be proud of
this w/c was excruciating to watch,not because of the football...the worldwide billions of t.v viewers(like myself)probably watched the games without sound.
this was down to the...(yes you guessed it) the bloody Vuvuzela a plastic like trumpet that i`m sure was handed out to every spectator at all the games, if you did watch with sound you were very brave either that or you you love bees.
living rooms around the world suddenly became bee hives........very annoying
anyway to the football
Group A-South Africa-Mexico-Uruguay-France
Group B-Argentina-South Korea-Greece-Nigeria
Group C-United States-England-Slovenia-Algeria
Group D-Germany-Ghana-Australia-Serbia
Group E-Netherlands-Japan-Denmark-Cameroon
Group F-Paraguay-New Zealand-Slovakia-Italy
Group G-Brazil-Portugal-North Korea-Ivory Coast
South Africa/Mexico opened up proceedings and after a dire first half the game came to life 10 minutes into the second half
Tshabalala runs onto a through ball and smashes the ball into the top corner...sending the entire country into meltdown
could they start with a win?......no...Marquez silenced every South African in the 79th minute games finishes 1-1
and after a 3-0 defeat to Uruguay and a 2-1 win over France the Hosts left the competition.
France were in turmoil rumours of player unrest refusing to train and wanting the removal of manager Domenech
they finished bottom of their group scoring a single goal in their 3 matches
Mexico and Uruguay advanced
Argentina romped away with Group B...a 1-0 win over Nigeria-a 4-1 victory over South Korea and a 2-0 win over Greece
they were joined by South Korea!!!(honestly)
in Group C we had the obligatory goalkeeping howler(step forward Rob Green)
it came in their opening game v the USA Gerrard had put England 1-0 up early on and everything was looking rosey
Clint Dempsey then hit a thunderbolt from the edge of the area(clocked at about 5mph) that mr Green could even keep out,the sight of Rob Green looking behind him as the ball rolled over the line...priceless.
and after a dull 0-0 draw with the mighty Algeria that led to England fans booing the side of at the end prompting Rooney to say a few choice words into the cameras....but after a 1-0 against Slovenia England were through(maybe they should have just gone home)
OTHER NOTES
you don`t say this that often but in Group D we had a real shock the mighty Germans actually LOST defeated 1-0 by Ghana
although both side progressed
Netherlands ran away with Group E and were joined by.....JAPAN?
Group F was the place to be:-the Italians were expected to walk this group but after a less than impressive 1-1 with Paraguay
and a humiliating 1-1 draw with New Zealand, who should have won this game(Chris Wood anyone?)saw them needing to beat Slovakia.....and after a very close and very entertaining game the Italians were heading home beaten 3-2.
Group G saw Brazil beat North Korea 2-1 The Ivory Coast 3-1 and a 0-0 draw with Portugal
Portugal scored 7 goals in the group all coming in one game against North Korea
along with Brazil they progressed
Group H saw Spain and Chile advance despite a shock Spanish defeat going down 1-0 to Switzerland
Second Round
before i get to the main event(we know what that is don`t we folks)
Uruguay beat South Korea 2-1
Ghana edged out the USA 2-1 after extra time
The Netherlands,Argentina and Brazil all won
Paraguay v Japan was one of those bore draws Paraguay winning 5-3 on penalties
Spain scraped by Portugal 1-0(it was about this time that i found out Spain were boring to watch...your views on this)
then we had the simple game between England and Germany
a game that had just about everything a shocking defensive display from England a goal that was a goal that wasnt a goal but everyone watching knew it was a goal
went like this
20" a simple goal kick from Neuer travels almost the length of the pitch land at the feet of Klose and after holding of the defender toe pokes it past David James
32" a move down the german right sees the entire english defence(what defence) ball watching again,Klose slips in Podolski who finds the net.
37" a free kick on the England right swung into the box and Matthew Upson beats Neuer to ball 2-1 game on? err no
seconds later Lampard finds space from a Defoe flick and launches another shot at goal(baring in mind this guy has had more shots for England at World Cups and scored ZERO)
its smacks the bar and lands about 6 miles behind the line....2-2? nope
the ref Jorge Larrionda...waves play on...the rest as we say is history
Germany score 2 more in the second half to secure a 4-1 win
**footnote**----Lampard also smacked the bar in the second half(that guy was never going to score was he)
and so to the Suarez swindle
Uruguay and Ghana 1-1 deep into added time Suarez handles a goalbound header that would have won the game for Ghana
red card Suarez....up steps Gyan to seal if the the Africans......hits the bar chance gone
Uruguay won the ensuing penalty shoot out 4-2
Germany demolished Argentina 4-0 classic game of counter attacking football
Spain narrowly beat Paraguay 1-0
and the Dutch put paid to Brazil winning 2-1
Semi Finals
The Netherland defeated Uruguay 3-2 to make it to their Third final(74,78 the others)
they would end playing Spain who saw off the Germans
Final
dull and only worth mentioning the record number of yellow cards issued during the game by ref Howard Webb a grand total of 14
and one red card to Heitinga for the Dutch
Spain eventually win the game in Extra time with a goal from Iniesta
all in all not a bad competition (feel free to add your own thoughts)
@Kristien 1965