WFC World Cup Diary: Matchday 9, 19 June 2010

I woke up this morning feeling a bit flat, low on energy. I couldn’t put my finger on the cause. It may have been the poor standard of refereeing costing Germany and the USA valuable World Cup points, or England’s laboured draw against Algeria. It could have been the fact that the night before I ended up at some kind of strange street rave outside a disused snack kiosk. I’m not sure. The only I thing I was sure about was what I needed to pick me up: a day of entertaining football.

Looking at the fixture list prior to the games, I wasn’t sure I would be in luck. Thankfully I was wrong, although the day’s play took some time to warm up.

The first day’s game, between the Netherlands and Japan in Group E, was the least entertaining of the day. It did contain certain points of interest however, outside of the play itself. The first was the stunning Moses Mabhida Stadium, made even more brilliant by the sunshine and the hordes of Dutch fans decked in Orange, a brilliant sight in any stadium.

Brilliant orange

Secondly, I noticed that there seems to be an unofficial fashion contest taking place between the Dutch and the German backroom team. Bert van Maarwijk  and Frank de Boer entered the action in cool matching grey suits, possibly in an attempt to outdo Jogi Loew and Hansi Flick, who have made matching knitwear their trademark at this tournament.

Moving onto the football, the 1^st half resembled a ‘keep ball’ training exercise. The Dutch had 71% of the ball in the 1^st half but didn’t do a great deal with it. With van der Vaart, Sneijder and Kuyt playing off van Persie upfront there was a distinct lack of natural width in the Dutch side. This played into the hands of the well-organised, defensive Japanese outfit and they grew more and more anonymous as the half wore on.

Holland rarely threatened, and when they did it was perhaps unsurprising that the two full-backs, Gio van Bronckhorst and Gregory van der Wiel, were involved. In the 2^nd half, it was a van Bronckhorst cross that led to the 1^st and only goal of the game in the 53^rd minute, with van Persie laying it off for Sneijder to unleash a powerful shot, which Japanese goalkeeper Kawashima got a hand to but could only parry disappointingly into the corner. Has the quality of goalkeeping ever been so low at a World Cup?

Holland celebrate their triumph

For the next 20 minutes or so Japan got a foothold in the game in search of an equaliser and began to take the game more to the Dutch. The Japanese are technically very strong and Yoshito Okubo in particular looked the biggest threat with his powerful runs through midfield, but they were unable to create any clear cut chances. The match swung back in the Dutch favour in the last 20 minutes with the introductions of Elljero Elia and Ibrahim Afellay who injected some much needed pace and width into Holland’s attack. Afellay missed 2 good chances to put the Dutch 2-0 up in the last 5 minutes, unable to beat Kawashima in two one on ones.

In the end it didn’t matter, despite one last chance for Japan, blasted over by Okazaki, the Dutch held firm and will be celebrating the victory and passage into the knockout round. Bert van Maarwijk will have plenty to ponder however, and may look to make changes to the attacking midfield trio in future.

The 2^nd game of the day took us to the Royal Bafokeng stadium in Rustenberg, all decked out in Green and Gold. Yes, the Aussies were in town to take on Ghana, and lay memories of their German nightmare to rest. For the first 10 minutes they seemed to have a good chance of doing so, as they dominated the early proceedings and deservedly took the lead thanks to yet another goalkeeping error. Before the game I worried for Richard Kingson, as he appeared to fall asleep during Ghana’s national anthem. My worries appeared to be well founded as he spilled Mark Bresciano’s 30 yard free-kick directly into the path of Brett Holman who stabbed it home easily.

From then on Ghana began to work their way back into the game with some neat possession football and it wasn’t long before they were back on level terms. Asamoah Gyan picked up a loose ball and turned Craig Moore on his way into the area before unleashing a shot that was deflected behind. From the resulting corner the impressive Andre Ayew easily beat Luke Wilkshire and Brett Emerton and cut it back for Johnathan Mensah whose shot smashed the arm of Harry Kewell on the goal line. The result? Penalty to Ghana and red card for Kewell. It was harsh on Kewell, it wasn’t intentional but he had to go. Gyan stepped up to ram home his 2^nd penalty of the tournament.

Ghana equalise against the Socceroos

There didn’t seem to be much hope for the Socceroos in the 2^nd half, with a man down against a Ghana side with the bit between their teeth. The Black Stars came out as they had finished the 1^st half, dominating possession with some delightful one touch passing, the powerful Boateng again at the heart of it. Again however, they were just unable to create any real chances, resorting to long range shots against the organised Aussies, who had adapted well to Kewell’s red card.

Perhaps sensing Ghana’s inability to finish them off, Australia came out of their defensive shell and went on the lookout for a winner of their own. Their best chance came in the 72^nd minute. Sub Scott Chipperfield played a fine through ball that found Luke Wilkshire in the box but Kingson did well to parry his shot. Josh Kennedy couldn’t create enough space for himself to bury the rebound.

In the end neither side could tip the balance in their favour, and it will be Australia more satisfied with a point that still keeps them in with a slim chance of qualifying for the knockout round.  They may be lacking ability, but they showed today that they give everything for the cause and shouldn’t be dismissed.

The most thrilling match of the day was saved until last. It was evident that both Cameroon and Denmark needed to get their first points on the board. Both sides pushed forward from the off in the search of goals. Organised defending was definitely not a priority in this end to end affair. Most chances stemmed from defensive errors, and so it was with the first goal. Christian Poulsen played a dreadful backpass on the edge of his own area to Webo, who fed Eto’o inside the box to gratefully smash the ball past Soerensen.

Before the match there were reports that Cameroon’s senior players, along with the Cameroon Football Federation and Sports Minister, confronted coach Paul le Guen and persuaded him to change his tactics, reinstating Achille Emana, Alex Song and Geremi and moving Eto’o back to his favoured central position. They seemed to be vindicated. Emana in particular was a constant threat to Denmark with his surging runs through the centre of midfield. The team looked motivated and full of intent, a far cry from their opening game against Japan.

Cameroon didn’t have it all their own way however.  In throwing so many midfielders forward to support Eto’o and Webo, they left their defence short on cover, especially on the right hand side where Dennis Rommedahl posed a constant threat to left-back Assou-Ekotto. Unsurprisingly it was Rommedahl who created the Danes’ equaliser on 33 minutes. Simon Kjaer found him with a magnificent long, diagonal pass. He raced clear and sent in a precise cross, leaving Niklas Bendtner with the formality of prodding it home.

Rommedahl - matchwinner

The 2^nd half followed a similar pattern, with Emana again proving a handful for the Danes. The Indomitable Lions created the majority of the chances. Unfortunately none of them fell to Eto’o. Webo, Makoun and substitutes Idrissou and Aboubakar all wasted good opportunities. In the 63^rd minute Webo scuffed a shot in the area from short range which was picked up by Soerensen. The ball found its way to Bendtner, who sent a delightful pass into the path of that man Rommedahl. The ex-Charlton Athletic winger turned Makoun far too easily and sent a beautiful curling effort into the bottom corner. Game over. Cameroon threw everything at the Danes but they couldn’t get that elusive goal that would keep them in the competition.

It was a shame that the first team to be eliminated would book their flights home after such a stirring performance, and that one of the world’s greatest strikers will be denied the chance to exhibit his talents in the latter stages. In the end the Indomitable Lions paid for their limp performance against Japan. Will Le Guen pay for it with his job?

Previous World Cup Diary Entries

Match Day 1:  South Africa v Mexico, France v Uruguay

Match Day 2: South Korea v Greece, Argentina v Nigeria, England v USA

Match day 3: Slovenia v Algeria, Ghana v Serbia, Germany v Australia

Match Day 4:  Netherlands v Denmark, Japan v Cameroon, Italy v Paraguay

Match Day 5:  Slovakia v New Zealand, Portugal v Ivory Coast, Brazil v North Korea

Match Day 6:  Chile v Honduras, Spain v Switzerland, South Africa v Uruguay

Match Day 7:  Argentina v South Korea, Greece v Nigeria, France v Mexico

Match Day 8:  Germany v Serbia, USA v Slovenia, England v Algeria  written by Martin Palazzotto

Match Day 8: Germany v Serbia, USA v Slovenia, England v Algeria written by Matt Dalton