Waka Waka - FIFA World Cup 2010...lets drool......2

The first round of the Waka Waka Football World Cup 2010 is over & we are already witnessing the fall of giants......some real big names already out!!!!

While Messi has been mesmerising for Argentina & Fabiano is finding his fabulous touch for Brazil, Podolski is firing missiles for Germany & Ronanldo cantering for Portugal. Not far behind, Iniesta is quietly shaping the Spanish armada while Forlan is raising Uruguay's hope, & on the other side, Gyan is building Ghana's aspirations & Robben is scripting the Orange flavour of Dutch football.....its all so very fullfilling.

The first round has already witnessed exits of European giants, France & Italy, the last World Cup finalists. Honestly, both of them were listless & did not deserve to proceed. The players looked out of sorts & were clearly playing from memory. The other notable exits were the host South Africa, though they won their last game against France.

In pre quaterfinals now, there are a few potential big names, who will be booted out. Some very explosive games are on cards, with Germany facing England & Spain taking on Portugal. On paper & current form, Argentina, Brazil, Holland & Uruguay should make it to the quaterfinals easily. Matches between USA & Ghana, Paraguay & Japan would be interesting to see in terms of new teams coming up.
I would like to believe that Germany would defeat England easily on current form & confidence, while Spain vs Portugal could be a close match, with the team holding its nerves better would go through.

This world cup seems to be dominated by the Latin American countries, with Brazil & Argentina leading the way, & I wont be surprised, if three out of the four semifinalists are from that region. I think, its good for the game, as these teams display skills & ballplay thats a treat to watch, as opposed to the European style which is more power centric.

Looking forward to keeping wide awake over the next fortnight, & ogling at the best of the football...