I didn’t see much of the daytime action, save for the second half of Netherlands-Denmark, which showed how the Dutch were capable if not dazzling; not until the introduction of Eljero Elia did they have pace and guile to really take a hold, although equally the Danes started to tire. Saw nothing of Japan-Cameroon and I’m glad I didn’t - by all accounts, it was dire.
I’ve just finished watching Italy-Paraguay, and it was another shocker. A poor over-defensive game, with both goals coming from mistakes. Hardly World Champion quality. It’s saying something about a World Cup when the Germans are the most exciting team to watch. Most damningly of all, so far we’ve played eleven games, with just eighteen goals. In only three of them have both sides scored - all of them 1-1 draws.
In comparison, we had had 27 goals in the first eleven games of the 2006 World Cup. Even Italia 90, widely recalled as the last poor tournament, had 25 goals in its first ten games and average 2.21 over the entire tournament - the lowest ever in World Cup history. This World Cup is heading to be even worse at this rate.
I know it’s early, but there have been no real standout games, and the quality of shooting and passing has been generally quite poor. You can blame the ball, but then not all teams have been so useless with it - generally those that pass along the ground like Germany, it has to be said. The ball’s aerodynamics and tendency to hang in the air benefits defenders and frustrates any team using lofted balls or passes.
There may be other factors. The high altitude may be sapping players, the cold weather adversely affecting non-European teams, it may be that some teams are keeping their powder dry early on. Maybe it’s just that standards are getting better, smaller teams are now no longer rolling over as easily, and that tactics are less conducive to big scorelines, especially with the pressing, harrying, closing game many teams favour - you can frustrate your way to at least damage control.
As the players get used to the conditions and the ball, we may be in for a better tournament as it progressed. And indeed there weren’t many standout games in the group stage of the 2006 World Cup either - it only got really good in the knockout stages. We live in hope - this tournament needs some memorable games.
