First word that comes to mind when I think about this first 8
days of this tournament is “Fantastic”. The level of play
by most of the teams have made these matches fun to watch. The fans from around
the world have been fun to watch and you can feel the energy they bring to the
game with their chants. After this full week and a day, I’m already familiar with how some of the chants are sung. There have been so many
excellent games its hard to say which ones were the best so far but I’ve
tried to make my own Top 5
5. Brazil vs Croatia: The opening match of the tournament showed the excitement of the Brazil (team and
fans) to be hosting this event. The Brazilian XI fell behind early off of an
own goal but recovered from the embarrassment. The Brazilians played beautiful
soccer and defeated Croatia 3-1
4. Brazil vs Mexico: Brazil again? Yes because they've played
their second match of their Group against Mexico but they're not the reason I
picked this match. I picked this match for the Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo
Ochoa for an outstanding game. There were many fantastic shots from Brazil that
Ochoa magically saved including one headed shot from Neymar that everyone
thought scored. However the goal was annulled using goal line technology as the
ball did not fully pass over the line. Ochoa made a diving save from inside
the goal that he managed to block the shot while avoiding hitting the post.
3. USA vs Ghana: Yes, USA made the list. Not trying to be biased
but the game was really good and deserved making the list. USA faced Ghana in
the last two world cups and faced them again this year with USA in the opening
of group play. Clint Dempsey scored the first goal of the match in 32 seconds
which was the 5th fastest goal in World Cup history. The USA lost star striker
and fan favorite Jozy Altidore with a hamstring injury and the USA dug in
defensively. Ghana scored late in the second half and the US made a stand to at
least get a point due to being in the Group of Death to stand a chance to make
it to the semifinals. On a free kick, USA substitute John Brooks headed in a
goal at the 86th minute to lift the USA to victory in thrilling fashion
2. Germany vs Portugal: This match made it sole because of the
shock of how poorly Portugal played. Germany kept Ronaldo in check not allowing
him excellent shots that made him Ronaldo, and tortured the defense with an
onslaught Germany mounted. Portugal looked shattered as a soccer powerhouse and
Germany played beautiful soccer.
1. Spain vs the Netherlands: This is my #1 on the list because it
had a massive high and a low in the same game. I will admit it: I at the
beginning of the match, I picked Spain to win. I spent the 2nd half of the
match wondering “Im glad i didn't put money on this.”
I could not believe how the Dutchmen absolutely abused Spain’s
defense. The highlight goal of the game belonged to Arjen Robben scored a
spectacular diving header to make it 2-1. After that goal, the Spaniards looked
terrible and uninterested and gave up three more goals before the game ended.
This week is do or die for a lot of countries. We’ll
talk about those that were sent packing early in our week 2 review.
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