The greatest show on earth is living up to it’s billing. It has more twists than a Hitchcock movie, more drama than a Bollywood tearjerker, more thrills than a John Woo action flick. Triumph, despair, joy, sorrow, tears, applause on a scale which no Hollywood or Bollywood can even conjure up. Yes the FIFA World Cup 2006 is turning out to be one of the best shows. Only 2 rounds of preliminary matches are over, and already we have some stunning memories:
· Australia coming back to score a 3-1 win over Japan
· Argentina putting up the finest display in its tennis score demolition of Serbia
· Ghana shocking Czech, and Ecuador giving a shock to fancied Poland
As of now only 8 teams are a certainty for the Round of 16 , Germany, Ecuador, England, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Holland . Lets see what the situation is now in every group. Mind you this is not the final update, and this post will keep on being updated frequently till end of World Cup, so keep watching this often. You can give your comments too, and the more the better.
Group A - Germany, Ecuador are comfortably through. The only thing to be seen is who will top the group. Germany would want to win the group to avoid meeting old rivals England in the Round of 16. Ecuador has played an attractive brand of soccer.
Group B - England is through, Sweden is almost certain to qualify. But if Trinidad beats Paraguay, and Sweden loses to England, we could see the Goal difference come into picture, and that could be unexpected result. Sweden need to either win or draw against England to be comfortably through. But this has been the dullest group so far with dour, defensive play. Can be called as “Group of sleep”
Group C -Argentina and Holland are comfortably through. This was supposed to be a tight group, but has belied expectations. Serbia and Ivory Coast play for pride.
Group D - This group has every chance of going to the wire. Only Portugal is a certain qualifier. Mexico needs to either win or draw against Portugal to secure its place in the last 16. If Mexico loses and Angola beats Iran, one could see Angola going through on goal difference. Mexico facing a do and die battle here.
Group E - All 4 teams in this group have a chance of making it to the Round of 16. This has to be the Group of Death. Ghana beat Czech, and US drew with Italy, turning this whole group topsy turvy. See the scenarios here. Italy and Czech face off in a crucial match, and the loser can kiss the World Cup goodbye. A draw between Italy and Czech could see a situation on Goal difference only if Ghana loses or draws with US. If Ghana wins its clash against US, it could make it to Round of 16, and conversely if Ghana loses against US, it could pack its bags home. This is the most unpredictable group of all now. Again the runner up in this Group might have to face Brazil in the Round of 16 not a very appealing prospect.
Group F Brazil is through to Round of 16, but Australia, Japan and Croatia are locked in a tight battle. Australia either has to beat Croatia or draw, and Croatia has to beat Australia, because it doesn’t have a very good goal average in event of a tie. Japan faces a stiff battle against Brazil, and if it loses, it could find itself out of tournament.
Group G - With 2 straight defeats Togo is out of the tournament, but France is facing an uphill battle. It has to win its match against Togo, and then hope that either Swiss or Korea win their match. Because if France beats Togo, and Swiss –Korea match ends in a stalemate, it could see a tie on goal difference, and in such a scenario, France can get ready to leave. France has to win against Togo, no other option, both Korea and Swiss need to either win or draw their match, a loss could see them going home, if France wins against Togo.
Group H - Spain is through, and Ukraine highly impressive after their 4-0 demolition of S.Arabia, seem to be the favorites to make it. Ukraine has to win or draw against Tunisia, a loss could see Tunisia sneaking into the Round of 16. S. Arabia has a very remote chance of making it, if it scores a 5-0 victory over Spain, but doesn’t seem too likely.
So here we are with the tournament poised on a razor edge, and except Group A, B and C, none of the other groups look clear. Watch this space guys, its going to be updated regularly.
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