Sadly, no.
On a day that promised so much, it produced so little.
2 more draws and a narrow win for a team that were expected to annihilate their opponents.
We started the day with one of the less glamourous fixtures:
New Zealand 1-1 Slovakia
The only thing that made me want to watch this game was to see Marek Hamsik, the Napoli midfielder who had previously linked with a few big English clubs, including Manchester United and Liverpool.
In fairness to him, he was one player that stood out in another terribly boring affair.
The first half was a very tight affair, with Slovakia maybe just shading it. It will not be remembered for anything!
The second half started a bit livelier and within 5 minutes we got the first goal. Vittek with a textbook header after a good cross from Sestak.
Oh, before i go any further i just have to say if I see a goalkeeper that is worse than Mark Paston at this World Cup I will be really surprised. The Kiwi's stand-in keeper was terrible.
The following 40 minutes were much similar to the first half. More negative football that was painful to watch.
New Zealand grabbed an equaliser in the 3rd minute of stoppage time thanks to a Winston Reid header. "Winston who?" you say? He'll be a hero in New Zealand either way!
Ivory Coast 0-0 Portugal
This Gervinho looks like a good player! In the absence of Drogba he shined bright. He would have been better off if the Chelsea man hadn't made it to South Africa as the focus would be more on him. He's the first player of this tournament i've seen that will be heading for a big transfer in the near future.
First of all, Portugal looked poor. I picked them to finish runners-up in Group G but i am now seriously re-thinking it. They are another team with all the talent in the world but just can't gel. Ronaldo started the game with the intentions of scaring the African outfit, and even hit the post with a 30 yard thunderbolt before he was put back into his shell by the roughnecked Ivorians.
Sven Goran Eriksson set his team up to play unglamorous tough football that would frustrate the quick Portuguese. It worked well, but it resulted in the game dying as a spectacle. Not even a cameo from Didier Drogba towards the end could save the game.
For me, this result will suit the Ivory Coast better than Portugal as their next game will pit them against Brazil and if worse comes to worse they know what they will have to do against the North Koreans who, we thought, would be walkovers.
North Korea 1 -2 Brazil
Now THIS was surprising.
Before the game started i had predicted the Samba boys to claim a 4-0 win at least. I thought it could even be more.
How wrong i was!
The Koreans defended like they were a Jose Mourinho side. One player stood out from before the game started to the very end. This was Jong Tae-Se.
During the National Anthem of North Korea we seen Jong break down in tears with the enormity of the occasion (or maybe he cried because he thought no one would be watching at home- rumor has it is the game would not be broadcast in North Korea) This lad played out of his skin tonight, although he tried too hard sometimes, a cooler head would have made some better decisions. Hats off to him for a great display.
Brazil were frustrated in the first half by a dogged Korean back-line and their chances were severely limited to half chances and corners (Elano's corner deliveries were especially poor)
It has to be said that Robinho looked back to his tricky best tonight. It will be interesting to see if he will be playing in the Premiership next season.
Brazil did improve in the second half, but the Koreans were still standing firm.
It was just before the hour when Brazil took the lead. The goal was scored by Inter Milan full-back Maicon, and it is one of those goals that will ask the question: "did he mean it?"
In my eyes, the shot was supposed to be a cross but swerved into the net. Maybe another indication that this World Cup ball is causing problems.
The Second goal however was very well worked. Robinho cut the ball through the defence with a beautiful pass and Elano was at the end of it to give Brazil a 2-0 lead.
The game turned into a practice match after that. Brazil were knocking the ball around with comfort just running down the clock, until........
a goal out of nothing as Jong Tae-Se got the ball through to Ji Yum Nam in the 89th minute to give a proud consolation to the North Koreans.
Brazil have work to do if the are to win the tournament, but I suspect they will improve with every game they play.
Gameday 7:
The Spanish are up tomorrow and we're all expecting GOALS! I'm expecting another cagey start for a favourite tomorrow, but they'll do enough.
Chile are my favourites to join Spain in the round of 16 and they will get a win against a plucky Honduras side tomorrow.
Tomorrow night we are into the second round of group games with the host nation South Africa taking on Uruguay. This is going to be a tight game, but just for the sake of romance i'm gonna go with a 2-1 win for Bafana Bafana.
Spain 2-0 Switzerland
Chile 3- 1 Honduras
South Africa 2-1 Uruguay
Lets hope i'm correct for once!
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