Sunday, April 19, 2009

Day 4 Recap

Since there were so many games on Day 4, there won't be much of a recap.

Men- Ukraine vs. Serbia- 3-0 Ukraine. Ukraine dominated the game, but couldn't put many goals away.

Women- Germany vs. Canada- 8-0 Germany.

Men- Chile vs. Botswana- 2-2 tie. This could be considered a minor upset, as many people are tagging Chile to get out of the group. But if they can't beat Botswana, they stand little chance of beating Saudi Arabia or Nigeria to get second.

Women- Ukraine vs. France- 3-0 Ukraine.

Men- Poland vs. Portugal- 3-3 tie. Germany, Scotland and Norway are expected mainly to be the ones fighting to get out of this pool, but they should be looking over their shoulder at these two teams. Poland and Portugal might not make it out, but they certainly have the talent to make life very difficult for the rest of the group.

Men- Germany vs. Italy- 8-2 Germany.

Youth- World vs. Germany- 4-1 World.

Men- Canada vs. Northern Ireland- 2-2 tie. This group will be an interesting battle for second. Northern Ireland's chances took a real blow with the tie, and will need a lot of help to make it through now.

Women- Chile vs. Scotland- Chile 5-3. Chile had been winning 3-1 in the closing half, only to concede 2 goals in a very short time period. They picked it up though, putting the pressure on Scotland and scoring 2 goals to win it.

Men- France vs. Austria- 3-2 France. Best game of the tournament so far. France came in expecting to win by a large margin, but they got far more than they bargained more. France dominated the first half, getting shot after shot, but not being able to capitalize on anything. Finally, with about 30 seconds left in the first half, they scored to go up 1-0. It seemed like maybe France would really start to hammer Austria now. But the game shifted somewhat, and Austria started getting some chances of their own. The game actually evened out, and Austria was able to catch France's keeper off-guard with a dribbler into the bottom corner. Tied 1-1, the action really started to heat up. Back and forth, back and forth, then finally...Austria scores again! Austria wasn't getting many chances, but they had capitalized on the ones they were getting. France was really on its heels now, and Austria was getting more chances, almost going up 3-1. France finally realized what was about to happen and started to put the pressure on. A fortunate free kick caught Austria off-guard and France tied it at 2-2. At this point, Austria went into a defensive shell for the closing minutes, hoping to hold off an angry France team. It seemed to be working, until a miraculous rocket shot from under half grazed the underside of the crossbar, sealing the win for France.

Men- El Salvador vs. Colombia- El Salvador 4-0. Colombia played better than they did against France, but El Salvador was too much.

5 comments:

Al Ligator said...

Ha, I told you Chile sucked. That France game was crazy.

Tonight will good, France vs. Ukraine and then Ireland vs. Greece

Cheezy said...

Both France and Ukraine didn't put the show on as I was expecting. Overall the pace of the game was far slower than some others I've seen. I have to say after seeing everyone play, Laos should walk right to the finals and away with the trophy. Props to Nigeria for putting on a good show in their defeat to Laos. Fore sure fastest paced game of the tournament so far.

The Greece, ROI game was interesting to say the least. Greece should have been able to hold off ROI for at least a tie. However, their goalie let in two goals in the second half that should not have gone in. They both came from free kicks that were passed (not shot) into the net, on the ground, around the wall. Where was the keeper? These weren't even good shots. The keeper was hiding behind the wall, WTF? Can’t wait for the ROI Jamaica game.

Proper Irish said...

I love all the doubters!
Anyway, it isn't over until it's over.

Clock Cleaner I may not agree with everything said on here but I did appreciate your daily recaps of the games. I know you most likely have a busy schedule but don't think your efforts are in vain or go unnoticed. I look forward to your synopsis of the games and am interested to hear what you view in given matches. If you please, post on and if you have write ups for the days missing please post them as well.

THANK YOU!

Flambard said...

Proper Irish has the right of it here. I do not agree with all that clock cleaner says and often disagree... but I find myself coming here daily looking for his update. Please man... keep up the good work... because for good or ill... you have people who really are interested in what you have to say.

Clock Cleaner said...

Don't worry, I've just been busy. I'll get it up to date.