World Cup Day 2: Matches

SOUTH KOREA vs GREECE
I am a lover of Greece, Santorini in particular, but have never really gotten into Greek footy.  When I visited I was always struck by the buses being decorated inside by the driver's footy affiliation...Panathinaikos, Olympiakos, etc...
The Greeks have done well in international competitions, winning the 2004 Euro in Portugal against a feisty Portuguese side in the final (and a very young Cristiano Ronaldo).
But today the Greeks showed how lucky they are to be in the tournament.
South Korea outplayed them from the first whistle and were just unlucky to only win by 2 goals.
In the 7th minute, Lee Jung-Soo tapped home a dinker from a freekick/corner after a ridiculously unnecessary foul by the Greeks.  Park Ji-Sung of Manchester United had the goal of the tournament so far, when he took the ball outside the 18yd box and dribbled through two defenders, then drew out the keeper and fired home in the corner...BRILLIANT goal.

ARGENTINA vs NIGERIA
This game was the debut of Lionel Messi, who has failed to impress for his country despite being the World Player of the Year.  All eyes were on number 10 and he was impressive.  If not for the brilliant guardian skills of the Nigerian keeper Vincent Enyeama the score could have been 8-0.  Messi alone could have had a hat-trick.
The only goal of the game was provided by former Manchester United player Gabriel Heinze, who now plays club ball for Olympique Marseilles, the Ligue 1 champions.  Heinze, who is known as El Gringo by the Argentinians (German father, Italian mother), headed home a clinical shot from a corner in the 6th minute.
The game after that was back and forth, with both sides having many chances to score.

USA vs ENGLAND
The two sides hadn't met in a World Cup since 1950.  The buildup to this match was huge, with England having everything to lose after being touted by the press as contenders for the Cup.  The United States on the other hand had nothing to lose.  The Americans have always been footy outsiders; a poser on the world stage.  But after today's match, the Yanks showed everyone they can play.
Steven Gerrard (England's captain after Rio Ferdinand injured his knee) opened the scoring after a defensive miscue by the USA.  In the 4th minute he took a ball at the top of the box and wriggled through some on-the-heels defenders and hit past keeper Tim Howard.  Was this going to be a long day?
The Americans got their wits about them and responded defensively and offensively.  With several shots on goal, they looked for the equalizer, which came just before the half when Clint Dempsey fired from just outside the box on keeper Robert Green...who fumbled the ball and watched as it rolled into the goal!!!  1-1.  That's where the scoring ended, with both teams playing some uncharacteristic and boring long ball.  Each team had several more chances to score, but it was not to be.
MOTM in my opinion was Tim Howard and the USA back four.  Howard was hit in the chest, studs up, by Emile Heskey (who was given no warning or card...scandal!!) and continued to play despite the pain.  He had several brilliant saves, and the US defense helped out with even more.  They truly were the stars of the match.
I had the honor of watching the match with friends, Jo, Saul, Oliver, Alex Alejandro (yes Alexander to the second power), and Chris (from afar).  Alex noted that keeper Tim Howard showed great prowess and inventiveness with his keeping skills.  He utilized the "armadillo" method of covering up the ball, and the "Wonder Woman" parry technique. 
Both teams walked away with one point and will have to wait until after tomorrow's other Group C matchup between Algeria and Slovenia to see where they fall in the standings.

Michael Bradley flips over Steven Gerrard

USA team thanks their supporters.  All of them thanked the worldwide support on twitter