mindless ramblings

Group C has been billed as the “Group of Death” for this World Cup and rightly so. With Argentina, Netherlands, Serbia & Montenegro and Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), this is not an easy group to qualify from. Having said that, after the first round of matches, Argentina and Netherlands have come out on top.

Despite Diego Maradona’s ecstatic celebrations, Argentina had to endure a tense last 8 minutes as the Ivorians went searching for an equalizer. They will be disappointed to leave with no points, especially in such a tight group like this.

Thanks to Arjen Robben, the Netherlands came out on tops in a close fought game with Serbia & Montenegro. He scored the only goal, tortured the opposition defence and generally caused mayhem all over the pitch. If he can keep this form up against the Ivorians I’d take the Dutch to qualify easily.

The teams now have until Friday to regroup and prepare for their next games. The Netherlands are next for the Ivorians, and another close loss like this means they may as well book their tickets home. Same goes for Serbia & Montenegro, which I think face the more difficult challenge of Argentina. With 2 teams in must-win situations, the next matches in Group C promise to be very exciting!