Day 2 of the FIFA World Cup 2010 in S.Africa, saw three crucial games,S.Korea vs Greece and Argentina vs Nigeria in Group B, England vs US in Group C.

Koreans down the Greeks.

S.Korea started off in style with a convincing 2-0 win over 2004 Euro Champions Greece. I don't understand why some pundits are claiming this as an upset, for starters Greece has never been a great team like Spain or Holland, nor has it been a powerhouse like Germany or Italy in Europe. And there is no Greek equivalent of Beckenbauer, Zidane or Rossi among them. The S.Koreans have been consistently making it to every World Cup final since 1986, but barring the semi final spot in 2002, their other World Cup outings have nothing much to boast about. The S.Koreans put in a superb game yesterday, raiding and attacking the Greek defense regularly, while their own defense was absolutely tight. The Greeks found it hard to break through for most of the time, except for a couple of minutes. S.Korea had the bulk of the scoring chances and made good use of them. Their first goal was a beauty from Lee Jung-Soo, with some superb passing and ball control. And in the 52nd minute, Park Ji-Sung, slotted in an another excellent goal to give the Koreans a convincing victory. Greece never really looked to be in the game.

Force M from Argentina does not really blow over

It was billed to be a one sided match, where Force M from Argentina( Messi and Maradonna) would simply blow away the Nigerian Super Eagles. And Lionel Messi would be the star of the World Cup. Well Argentina did beat Nigeria 1-0, but the Super Eagles were not exactly blown away. Nor would Maradonna really enjoy this victory. When Gabriel Henze scored in the 3rd minute of a header, it surely looked like a massacre for Nigeria. However Argentina messed up countless chances, in spite of a leaky Nigerian defense. Messi himself fluffed up couple of easy chances. The Super Eagles should thank their goal keeper Vincent Enyeama fror some brilliant saves. And full credit also to Nigerians for the way they refused to roll over and drop dead. They attacked the Argentinian defense, which proved to be as leaky as the Nigerians, and it was only lack of proper finishing that prevented an upset. The Albio Celestes need to look at their finishing and defense, both of them really poor.

Comedy of Errors helps the Yanks to equalize

England took the lead early on against the Yanks when Stephen Gerrard scored, and it looked to be a comfortable victory for them. However a horrible piece of goal keeping from Robert Green, when he had the ball in his hands, and still let it slip through, allowed the Yanks to equalize. Green's mistake was embarassing, it was the sort of thing you see on games played at your local maidan, not in an international tournament. The Yanks were galvanized with this gift of a goal, and they made repeated attacks on the English defense, which proved to be equally pathetic too. And their finishing was bad. England need to pull up their socks fast, else they could be catching an early flight home. Somehow I always felt the English soccer team, is like our Indian cricket team. High on hype, heavily paid players, but never really performing at the major tournaments.