World Cup Day 3: Matches/Observations

Wow.  ESPN has really gotten it right this time.  Bringing on Juergen Klinsmann as an analyst was a brilliant stroke.  The former captain/coach of the German NT, who now lives in California, has been spot-on with his analysis and works well with Alexi Lalas.

Klinsmann in his playing days for Die Mannschaft

CHARLIE BROWN HAS FIGURED OUT FOOTY AFTERALL!
Slovenia, the smallest country in the WC is now sitting atop the Group C standings after beating Algeria with a goal much like the Americans benefitted from last night.  Robert Koren blasted in a ball that saw Algerian keeper Fawzi Chaouchi misjudge and let trickle into the goal.  The 79' goal came just six minutes after the Desert Foxes went down a man when Abdelkader Ghezzal was shown his second yellow (red) for handling in the area.  He looked like he was trying to be a wide-receiver for the Broncos.
The Slovenians have an interesting kit, which reminded me of Charlie Brown from the Peanuts series.

Goalscorer Robert Koren (l) looks vaguely familiar...hmmmmm

Let's hope this is the Slovenians on Friday against the US...

...which causes them to have therapy on Saturday...

 TIM HOWARD FOR PRESIDENT!!!  I saw this several times on facebook from US fans and I agree.  Tim is truly a nice guy and deserves all the plaudits he is receiving.  Although he plays for Everton (in Liverpool), he still lives in Bramhall (Manchester) from when he played for United.  My friend lives in Manchester and tells me he is a great guy who isn't full of himself at all and stops to talk to everyone on the streets.  Let's hope his brilliant keeping continues despite the unfair gut-wrencher he received from the hack Emile Heskey.  As my Mancunian friend said today, "Emile Heskey was our best player on the pitch?"
Alexi Lalas of ESPN agreed with her analysis.  He had predicted a 2-1 US win and wasn't surprised by England's lack of resolve or inability to crack the Yanks' midfield.  "They are the ones who pumped themselves up as being a contender, and quite frankly they have delusions of grandeur, " said Lalas.  "They're not on the same par as Spain or Brazil."
I think they're a good side, I just think they believed all the British press when they said the US game would be a cakewalk.  What lunacy.  Most of the US team are either EPL, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, or la Liga players.
Anyway...it's water under the bridge now.  Both teams need to win their next matches (England v Algeria, USA v Slovenia) to secure their movement to the next round.

Howard makes one of his fantastic saves after being skewered by Emile Heskey

Germany and Australia are up next...I will blog about them later.

Auf Wiedersehen...G'Day