New Zealand are the New Darlings of the Cup!
20/06/10 00:46
Never has a one all draw been celebrated like it was a victory!
Apologies for the lack of a report last night, the GLW and I were otherwise engaged in celebration of our friends Clare and Steve's wedding. So a bit of catching up to do...
After the aftermath and dissection of the England game, thank you to those who emailed me to vent their despair over Capellos decision making, we had to put it behind us knowing that next Wednesday is crunch day. Anyway Holland took on Japan which saw the Dutch through 1-0, top the group and through to Knockout Stages, it just wouldn't be the same if they hadn't qualified, maybe this year the trophy could be Tango'd! Lots of you predicted Holland would win but only three of you had it down for a one nil. They were Nick D'Avanzo (his first 3), Paul Wratten and also Paul Silk Sleafer with only his second red square since the very first game.
Later in the day saw the match up between Ghana and Australia. This ended honours even 1-1 although The Black Stars had the numerical advantage in players as Harry Kewell got sent off for the Aussies. Ghana top the group but still much to play for. This game sees us past the halfway point of the Group Stages and there were 3s a plenty. Notably Paul Firmston moves topside once again with a new player coming up on the inside rail, Dean Smith. Kevin picked up a welcome 3 and Paul's brother Keith Firmston did well along with Danny Searle, Peter "Must Beat Colin" Short, Adam "Where am I in the League?" Jones and Footcall's biggest Man City fan Aaron Sutcliffe. However high five must go to Olly Gale for getting off the mark with his first red box, nice OG, you've moved out of the bottom three!
The day ended with Cameroon v Denmark in a cracking end-to-end game which saw the Danes romp home 2-1 with a great goal from Nicholas Bendtner. A few threes here from Paul Barden, Chris Amos, Peter "Taxi!" Mulvey, Dazzer Alldritt and Matt Green on a charge! Martin Acott also had it right, as did John Dawson and finally, yes finally, David Ginger is off and running with a 3, hey David... you're only 31 places behind your mum!
Today started with a scintillating performance from Paraguay as they won 2-0 against Slovakia, I think they could be a dark horse in the competition. Up Ya Ballacks picked this score along with Barry "BA Baracus" Smith who's on fire today, but still aint gettin' in no plane fool! Andy Booth nailed it and little George Relf who thought he'd show his dad how to play Footcall, only to find Bryan also had it down for a two nil! Dawson goes back-to-back red and let's not forget the players at the other end of the table... Kate KJ Blake and Gemma "I have a new dog, Sophie" Evenden picked up some one pointers as they limber up for an unbelievable charge in the second half.
The afternoon game was something from the World Cup Story books. A more one sided affair you perhaps couldn't put on paper as New Zealand (ranked 78th) took on the reigning champions, Italy. Nobody gave the K1w1s a chance against the mighty Azzuri. Neither did anyone see NZ taking the lead and then hold off the Italians as they tried every trick in the book to gain the advantage. Finally the holders managed to draw level in the 29th with a dubious penalty decision. We then thought they'd run away with it but all credit to the boys from the All Whites as they hung on even Chris Wood almost snatching a winner that would have seen the Southern Hemisphere fans go even more nuts than they were. 1-1 it finished and they savoured every minute like they'd one the trophy. And so to the Footcall table, understandably nobody scored a point... hang on... look closer... one person, Ric "I don't really like pasta" Robinson managed to predict this result, I will need to consult the record books to see if this has ever happened before for someone to score three with all the rest zeroes! Ric rockets up to 20th.
Finally we saw a masterclass from the Brazilians as they dissected the Ivory Coast 3-1 even though one of their goals had been inspired by Thierry Henry as it not one but two hand balls in the build up. Kaka got sent off for wearing a yellow shirt, or something non-sensical, even the ref didn't see it, he was looking the other bl**dy direction! Lots of threes here in the Footcall table. Albion City Rovers take a 3 point lead over Dean Smith. Stephen Hills is coasting up the table (he's now got more points than his highest snooker break ;-) and even Sharon is off and up the table with her first red square. Mark Brown looking is solid in midfield, Leanne Rennie showing her dad where the top of the table is and Neil Jefferis has had a good day along with Garry Furze and Neil "YTee" White, special thanks go to him for keeping me up to date with the scores throughout Saturday. David Frost, Andrew Healy, Julia Virco and finally Paul "30 character limit" Wakefield has his first 3 pointer, whatever next?
Cheers for now.
Dj