mindless ramblings

Ah the poor Japanese. They visibly tired and started to lose concentration towards the end of the game and they suffered heavily for it. Tim Cahill’s equalizer found it’s way througha swarm of Japanese defenders before he got the go-ahead goal with a beautifully placed shot from the edge of the box. The Japanese will be bitterly disappointed to have lost the game like this; perhaps Hidetoshi Nakata was right in claiming that his team was “in shambles“.

The Australians will be delighted with the result. Being in a group with Brazil, the best you can hope for is usually to be the 2nd best when the group stage ends. Any point gained from your rivals is particularly valuable in these situations.

The Croatians had a multitude of chances to fight back from Kaká’s well-struck 44th minute opener but some poorly taken chances resulted in a loss in their opening game. The Croatians looked out of sorts in the first half, but improved markedly in the second half but to no avail. Ronaldo was largely a spectator for most of the game and he was rightly replaced by the more energetic Robinho. Not the best performance by either side, and both teams will have to improve in order to play like genuine title contenders.