The group stage is coming to an end and I’m preparing to switch my attention from the group stage to the second round (tag). Before I leave the group stage behind, I’d like to visit some of the teams that I feel should have gone through to the second.
To start off my list is Ivory Coast. The African nation, along with the Netherlands, Argentina and Serbia and Montenegro, is in Group C. Ivory Coast played strongly and they did give the Oranje a hard time. In fact, they gave everybody a hard time. Though I’m glad that the Dutch managed a 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast, Ivory Coast deserves praises for the way they played and fought. Alas, there are only two slots and there are three strong teams within the group. Something has to give and with regrets, Ivory Coast has to go.
Second is the Czech Republic. As I’ve blogged earlier, I look highly upon the Czech. To see them packing for home so early in the tournament is saddening. Ghana was a wild card and I was certainly caught off-guard by the way Ghana performed. Within Group E, I’d have preferred to see the Czech Republic and Ghana winning the two top spots. The Czech had so much to offer but Italy beat them to it. How unfortunate.
From Group F, it’s Japan. I had expected Japan to tag along with Brazil into the second round. Never had I expected Australia to withstand the Japanese. So, I made the mistake of overestimating the Japanese strength.
Finally, in Group G, there is a possibility of France or South Korea being stuck in the first round. If either one failed, then the one that failed will join my list of “teams that I feel should have gone through to the second”. But from the way Team France is playing and with Zidane on suspension, the two teams that I’d bet on to get to the next round is Switzerland and South Korea. Teams of Group G are playing tonight. So, the question of who gets into my list will be answered soon enough.
p/s – by the National Academy of Sciences:
WASHINGTON – The Earth is running a slight fever from greenhouse gases, after enjoying relatively stable temperatures for 2,000 years. The
National Academy of Sciences, after reconstructing global average surface temperatures for the past two millennia, said Thursday the data are “additional supporting evidence … that human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming.”Other new research showed that global warming produced about half of the extra hurricane-fueled warmth in the North Atlantic in 2005, and natural cycles were a minor factor, according to Kevin Trenberth and Dennis Shea of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a research lab sponsored by the
National Science Foundation and universities.
Something that we already knew?
