Now that the group stage is over and that I was able to be caught up watching all the games, I can say what my impressions are about each group:
Group A
Brazil and Mexico played better even if some hiccups and deserved to pass. Cameroon was not good without a good Eto'o and you could feel the tension between the players of the team.
Group B
Holland played really well in the first match against Spain, but it seems without a good Van Persie and a fast Robben things get a little shaky. Still they are one of the strongest contenders. I felt bad for Cahill's goal and Australia's game not get rewarded with at least a tie. They played very well. Chile was a good second place. Spain was lols.
Group C
I can't believe I was actually rooting for Greece in this group and they managed to go through. They are depending too much in the older double Ka's in the middlefield which won't last a lot longer. They are not a world class team with a lot of stars but they are organized. Colombia was tremendous with the great players they have, as long as they play as a team they will move on for sure.
Group D
Costa Rica was a nice surprise to me, they played very well with "top" teams like Italy and England. They also have a tremendous goalkeeper, for me one of the best in the tournament (Navas). Italy and England were disappointments, but England seemed to play a lot more technical and with faster transitions than usual, which is good to see, but still not enough to have good results. I wonder how Uruguay will do now without Suarez.
Group E
This was probably the most boring group of all. France played better than they used to recently and Switzerland did enough to pass.
Group F
It would be cool to see Iran tie against Argentina and go to the last match with a chance to pass, but Messi made a last minute save. I didn't see Nigeria play too well against either team to advance, but they won against Bosnia so they go through.
Group G
Germany is a clear contender, but they are not unbeatable. Their game against Portugal was won more due to portuguese making a lot of stupid mistakes than by clear dominance. Let's see how they do in the elimination stage. Portugal was a dissapointment, especially in the first game, they clearly weren't ready to face that level of competition and that's a shame. I don't think I've ever seen a team loose 7 players in a world cup before, 1 to a red card, 6 to injuries and 2 of them goalkeepers! To me the USA was the least worthy team to advance, I didn't see a lot of game against Ghana, scored in the opening minute of the game and then got lucky in the final run. They played well against Portugal, but what really got them through was not getting a lot of goals from a more relaxed Germany after they scored their first goal.
Group H
How boring was Korea and Russia? The two best teams gone through. Belgium and their afro styled players did very well and I will be surprised if they don't beat the USA in the next round. Courtois is very good too. Algeria played as a team and had exciting matches. Happy for Slimani to be able to show his game in such a big stage. Let's see how they do against Germany.
Random notes:
- The shaving cream-like spray is a nice idea.
- The refereeing has been noticably terrible with some exceptions. The criteria has been very different from match to match and there have been some absurd decisions specially regarding penalty kicks with direct influence in the final result which is unfortunate.
- Games at 1 in the afternoon? What? It's nice that I can see the games at convenient hours, but it must be terrible to play at that time under the sun with such high humidity.
I've seen some very nice matches, but I hope the quality of games increase as rounds go through.
Because I can't stand Christiano Ronaldo (despite his immense talent)
I am curious and it would be cool to know what you don't like about him. I really dislike how he makes more in a week than the rest of the world almost makes in a lifetime, but that's a common thing with a lot of top players, that is disgusting, but it happens in a lot of popular sports.
. Come on dutch
