Mexico v. South Africa - The Kickoff Game: Quick Hits

So Mexico and South Africa have started things off with a 1-1 tie. Here's a couple of quick thoughts on the opening game:

1. Man those vuvuzelas are annoying. I don't know who invented them, but the person should be tortured along with the person that invented the "boom sticks." They should be sentenced to a small room where their inventions are either smacked together or blown loudly until the person goes insane. They are so annoying. Just listen to the video. It's amazing that the noise is constant throughout the game. At any given point during the game there are at least a dozen 10 year old boys just blowing their lungs out on those things. I much prefer the singing.

2. Somewhat inexplicably, Mexico subbed in this guy: Cuauhtémoc Blanco. I say somewhat because he is clearly skilled. When he got the ball, he made some pretty precise passes. However, he didn't get the ball that much because they guy is 37 years old and at least 20 pounds overweight. It was actually really entertaining watching him play. He looked like every old man playing pick up soccer in your local park. Every time he ran or attempted to run, he looked like he was laboring quite a bit with a bad hip and or two bad knees. Apparently he's a legend for the Mexican soccer team. He played in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. I'm glad Mexico is honoring their elders, but at some point the guy becomes a liability because he's so slow and out of shape.

3. South Africa has some legit forwards. They are fast. South Africa didn't have many chances, but they played the long ball well and had some great fastbreaks. And they took advantage of one of them. What a great first goal to the cup. Just a beauty.

4. I know a tie is boring, but in this group, it's great. If Mexico had won they would likely go through as they could probably tie or beat France and Uruguay. But with a tie, it just adds to the unpredictability of this group. I guess we'll know more once France plays. Who knows what team will show up there. They could be brilliant or dismal. So with a tie in this game and bi-polar France, it sets up for a lot of fun drama. Which is always great.

Here is the goal, and the vuvuzelas:

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FIFA World Cup 2010: Group A - South Africa

The 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa starts June 11. For those who don't know, there are eight groups of four teams at the start of the World Cup Finals. In the group stage, the teams in the group play every other team once. The two teams with the most points advance to the knock out rounds where if you lose you go home.

Since it will probably take 6 months to preview all eight groups, I'm starting today with the host nation and Group A.

Group A

South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay
France

What a boring group! If I had my way, all four of these teams would be sent home after the first round. On to South Africa.

South Africa's nickname is Bafana Bafana ("The Boys" in South African). They automatically qualified because they are the host nation. They played well in the Confederations Cup and have a chance to advance with their homefield advantage, however they are a very young football nation and lack the organization and experience to succeed in this competition.

Best Player: Steven Pienaar
Player most likely to end up as part of the Sesame Street game where you try to guess which one of these things is not like the others: Matthew Booth (a fan favorite of the Rainbow Nation).



Final Outcome: Eliminated in group stages. The vuvuzela will provide no advantage and the South Africans will place third in their group, just missing the cut.

Check out more on South Africa on "Football is Coming Home."

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World Cup Draw Reveals Some Interesting Matchups

The draw for the group stages of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was completed this morning, giving us some fascinating matchups to look forward to. Remember that after the round robin group stage (one game each with the other group members) the top two teams from each group advance to the knockout round.

Here are the group draws:

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France.
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece.
Group C: England, United States, Algeria, Slovenia.
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana.
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon.
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia.
Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal.
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile.

My initial reaction is that, despite what other commentators may say, there isn't really a "group of death" in this draw, by which I mean that there's no group containing three teams that clearly would be knockout rounders if they didn't have to play each other. Some are calling group G the toughest, based on FIFA rankings (Brazil, Portugal, and Ivory Coast are all in the top 16), but Portugal's form of late hasn't been what it once was, and Brazil should be able to defeat both opponents relatively easily. Group E could be just as close (where Netherlands should make it through, but Denmark, Japan, and Cameroon will likely have to slug it out). Group A is also interesting, as on paper France and Mexico should go through, but Uruguay can be a tough opponent and it's hard to count the hosts out in any Cup. Group D could also be tough, although Germany should win the group, as the contest between Ghana, Serbia, and Australia for second place will be fun to watch.

It looks like Spain and Italy lucked out with the two easiest groups in the Cup. I still believe that Italy's 2006 Cup victory was just as much the result of an easy knockout round draw as it was the result of good play. This time, assuming they win the group, they'll likely face one of the tougher initial knockout round games, as anyone coming out of Group E can make a game of it against them. Spain could also have their hands full with whomever comes out of Group G in second place.

My last observation is that this is a great draw for the USMNT to make the knockout round. England will be tough, but the U.S. should be able to beat Algeria and Slovenia to make it through (where they would likely face a tough opponent in Germany if we don't win the group). The England-U.S. tie could be one of the most interesting matchups of the group stage--a rematch of the 1950 upset victory by the Americans (highlights commentary in German, sorry!) the only other time the two teams have met in the World Cup.

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