World Cup 21/06/06

Hand balls in the penalty area, by both sides, a missed penalty kick, and a sending off made for a very exciting and feisty match between the Portuguese B team and Mexico. The Portuguese showed finesse in finishing, and won their third match in the first round.

The Iran vs Angola match promised to be an interesting because if Angola could score a few goals and win, they could unseat Mexico from advancing to the second round. We did not get any goals scored until the last 30 minutes of the match, which ended in a draw, with both sides going home.

Coté D’Ivoire vs Serbia and Montenegro was another game of pride, since neither country could advance into the second round. Three goals in the first 45 minutes upped the level of excitement to start the second half. And we got S&M conceding two penalty kicks because of handball by the same player in both instances. This was so much more exciting than the Netherlands vs Argentina match.

I was hoping for a more lively match between the Netherlands and Argentina as they battled for first place in Group C. The Argentinians had the advantage of goal differential in the event of a draw, but anything could have happened. There was some early pressure from the Dutch, then some close shots from the Argentineans, and then the game fizzled somewhat. Van Der Sar had a little more work to do than his counterpart, but it ended in a 0-0 result. Oh, and the much touted Messi gets his first start.