World Cup Weekend Review

Friday June 16: Argentina dismantled Serbia and Montenegro by a score of 6-0 and ensured qualifying into the round of 16. Argentina had five different scorers led by Maxi Rodriguez’ two goals and injured striker Leonel Messi (image, in the dark blue uniform) even marked a goal. The “Albicelestes” took their win in stride, however, and will rest several key players for Wednesday’s last group match against the Netherlands.

Mexico played to a scoreless draw against Angola in Hanover. It seemed like “el Tri” sorely missed striker Jared Borguetti who missed the match due to injury even though Angolan goalie Joao Ricardo made several masterful saves to deny Mexico the victory. Mexico can go through to the round of 16 if they win or draw against Portugal on Wednesday.

Saturday June 17: No Latin American or Caribbean teams played on Saturday, though Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrondia was controversial in the surprising 1-1 tie between the U.S. and Italy. Larrionda showed 3 players the red card, including two from the U.S., and nullified a goal by “stars and stripes” forward DeMarcus Beasley much to the ire of coach Bruce Arena (image, along with players after the game). Nonetheless, all four teams in Group E have the chance to move out of the group stage with the U.S. having the smallest probability of going through.

Sunday June 18: Brazil did not play pretty, or with flair, and at times they had their backs against the wall. Nevertheless, the defending champions qualified into the round of 16 by winning against Australia 2-0 with second half goals from Adriano (image) and Fred. The victory was not pretty as Australia played strong defensively, especially in the first half, and had several good scoring opportunities throughout the game. Much like the first game, Ronaldo was generally ineffective and mistake-prone aside from his game winning assist. Still, a win is a win and Brazil will play their last group match on Thursday against Japan.

soccer, world cup, argentina, brazil, Mexico, united states, uruguay