The World Cup began today, with both of my predicted "over-performers" seeing action. Neither lost, but neither was overly impressive. Still, we can rationalize.
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Mexico 1 - South Africa 1
South Africa is here only because they are the host country, but host countries historically play over their head. National pride and all that. Mexico did everything well in the first half, except score any goals. Thus it was disconcerting when, early in the second half, South Africa scored the first goal. But Mexico tied it late in the game. All in all, a missed opportunity for Mexico, and a confidence-booster for South Africa.
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Uruguay 0 - France 0
Just the opposite here - France did everything better, except score a goal. To boot, Uruguay had to play the last dozen minutes or so a man down, thanks to one of their players getting red-carded and sent off. Still, France is the higher-rated team, so a draw is entirely acceptable for Uruguay. It looks like they play defense first, and only look to score via counter-attacks.
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Tomorrow is USA-England. The two teams haven't met in the World Cup for sixty years, and everyone is still calling this a Grudge Match. Should be fun to watch.
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