As the clock slowly ticked its way to 18.00 hours (GMT) this past Thursday, the world witnessed one of the most enthralling evenings straight from Orlando Stadium at Johannesburg. “Waka waka” is what everyone chanted with the gorgeous Shakira. She had the audience going crazy and the vuvuzela going even crazier with the most popular number of this century - Hips Don't Lie. The tempo picked up when stars like K’naan, Khaled and Kuti added vivacious flavor around the entire ambience. The celebrations continued till late night. The very next day saw terrific sky activities and Mr. Jacob Zuma’s address to mark the beginning of the excitement and captivation.
By the time one could come back to normalcy after such eventful time, real field action set the pulses racing and swaying. Opening day was scheduled for two matches from group A and would you believe that! The vuvuzela roared and roared even more when Tshabalala opened the goal account for this world cup by capitalizing on a wonderful pass from Modise and gave the hosts a dream start. The hosts played beautifully throughout the match but a very poor defense at the late stage of the game cost them the win. The match ended as a draw but both the teams had reasons to smile especially when other match of the group finished the day with a dull 0-0 score. If France fails to up the ante in its next two games, I am afraid it may be a repeat of 2002 for them. Uruguay, fourth team in the group, as it is did not show much of a prospect.
Two games from group B and one from group C were completed in day two yesterday. The gear suddenly jumped several notches up when two main contenders of the competition took the field. Something roared too on this day but not the vuvuzelas. The real lions were roaring on the field led by artistic and magical Lionel Messi. Watch out for Messi – he is going to be a hero if Argentina at all manages to lift the cup. Though he found a super goalie in the form of Enyeama inside the Nigerian D-box, Heinze’s header sealed the match for Argentines. South Korea in other game of group B made a mockery of Greece and won comprehensively by 2-0. Argentina and South Korea are likely to make the cut easily from this group unless Nigeria produces something out of the world in their next tie.
I wish I could have watched third and last match of the day from group C (though I did not watch earlier matches too). The match was supposed to be one of the high voltage clashes between USA and UK. Playing without Ferdinand and Beckham, England is still a force to reckon with and it was evident from Gerrard’s right-footed shot within minutes of start of play to give England an early lead. England played an absorbing game of football and should have had USA trailing by many goals. But destiny of the game was decided by the blunder from English goalie Green. I wondered how he could let the ball go inside the net. It was absolutely dismaying for English fans. England took their points tally to only one after this draw, but they are here to stay for long. They seem to easily qualify for next round, as other two teams in the group Algeria and Slovenia lock the horns in today’s game. Group D teams will also be opening their tally later tonight.
The fun continues...
By the time one could come back to normalcy after such eventful time, real field action set the pulses racing and swaying. Opening day was scheduled for two matches from group A and would you believe that! The vuvuzela roared and roared even more when Tshabalala opened the goal account for this world cup by capitalizing on a wonderful pass from Modise and gave the hosts a dream start. The hosts played beautifully throughout the match but a very poor defense at the late stage of the game cost them the win. The match ended as a draw but both the teams had reasons to smile especially when other match of the group finished the day with a dull 0-0 score. If France fails to up the ante in its next two games, I am afraid it may be a repeat of 2002 for them. Uruguay, fourth team in the group, as it is did not show much of a prospect.
Two games from group B and one from group C were completed in day two yesterday. The gear suddenly jumped several notches up when two main contenders of the competition took the field. Something roared too on this day but not the vuvuzelas. The real lions were roaring on the field led by artistic and magical Lionel Messi. Watch out for Messi – he is going to be a hero if Argentina at all manages to lift the cup. Though he found a super goalie in the form of Enyeama inside the Nigerian D-box, Heinze’s header sealed the match for Argentines. South Korea in other game of group B made a mockery of Greece and won comprehensively by 2-0. Argentina and South Korea are likely to make the cut easily from this group unless Nigeria produces something out of the world in their next tie.
I wish I could have watched third and last match of the day from group C (though I did not watch earlier matches too). The match was supposed to be one of the high voltage clashes between USA and UK. Playing without Ferdinand and Beckham, England is still a force to reckon with and it was evident from Gerrard’s right-footed shot within minutes of start of play to give England an early lead. England played an absorbing game of football and should have had USA trailing by many goals. But destiny of the game was decided by the blunder from English goalie Green. I wondered how he could let the ball go inside the net. It was absolutely dismaying for English fans. England took their points tally to only one after this draw, but they are here to stay for long. They seem to easily qualify for next round, as other two teams in the group Algeria and Slovenia lock the horns in today’s game. Group D teams will also be opening their tally later tonight.
The fun continues...
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2 comments:
The fun continues indeed, although the vuvuzela is sure to ensure that everybody has ruptured ear drums !
Don't think South Korea will emerge from that group - Nigeria for me to join Argentina. Yes, Messi showed some superb magic ; he was on fire yesterday.
@ Ramesh - I thought Nigeria were poor in their defense. I did not see even the highlights of South Korea's match, but somehow my gut feel was that they would qualify :-)
Perhaps, the match between Nigeria and South Korea would turn out to a knock-out match.
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