The World Cup in South Africa began today with two games. Both exemplified the kind of cautious play that makes fans of US football bored. Mexico should have beaten South Africa: a perfectly good goal in the first half was called back in what I see as a referee error. The game ended in a tie. And then Uruguay and France played to a scoreless tie. Caution dominated.
Saturday's games will be better. Trust me on this.
Join me in South Africa.
There are three games scheduled for Saturday. All can be seen on US television (first 2 games on ESPN, third game on ABC).
Korea v. Greece at 7:30 am. I'm not excited about this game for two reasons. First, it's at 7:30 am ET, so it would have to be unbelievably special to get my attention. Second, and more important, I expect both Korea and Greece to be eliminated from Group B in short order. Why? Because only two teams can advance from group B, and those two teams will probably be Nigeria and Argentina. My advice: unless you have loyalties to Greece or Korea, sleep in. But don't miss the other two games today.
Argentina v. Nigeria at 9:30 am. This can be a surprisingly great game. It's not getting much hype in the US because the later game has the US team in it. Argentina, managed by eccentric and still overweight Diego Maradona, and featuring the world's greatest player, Lionel Messi, have a wonderful team. Strikers Tevez and Higuain are among the world's best, they have Messi to distribute the ball to them, and the rest of the team is powerful. But the team can be erratic. And moody. And in a trance. They could win the entire world cup but, well, they manage frequently to mess up. They barely qualified this year. Though lately they have played well. This game depends on which Argentina team shows up. Nigeria have played well to get this far, and their big forward, Obafemi Martins, is a bright star. That having been said, I think Argentina just has too much for Nigeria, but Nigeria should not be counted out. My guess: Argentina 2 - 1 Nigeria.
United States v. England at 1:30 pm. You've heard the hype. Sports Illustrated (no link, sorry) compared Landon Donovan two weeks ago to Mozart, Schubert, and Bobby Fisher. All in the same article. There's been talk about the last time the US beat England, 60 years ago. The US team, though, just isn't as great as the hype. The defense is weak. The midfield is porous. And slow. I could be wrong about this team, and I hope I am, but I don't think they can stay with England. England, on the other hand, has had a miserable overall record in World Cup. Yeah, they invented the game. But how come they don't win the World Cup more often? This time, coached by Fabio Capello, they might be quite powerful. Wayne Rooney is thought by some (not me) to be one of the best in the world and he's accompanied by 10 other players, all of whom play in the English Premier League, probably the most powerful league in the world. Famous players include Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Michael Carrick, Jamie Carragher, John Terry, all big stars with big clubs that have done very well. I think it's England 3 - 0 US.
The World Cup goes on until July 11. It's captivated most of the world. Most of the world is obsessed. The US, not so much. Maybe this diary will get you to tune. As Casey Stengel said, "You can observe a lot if you watch."