Storm in a B cup

Argentina are on fire. As a team going forward Argentina are second to none (except the Germans but they played Oz so it doesn't count yet). If ever a team had an embarassment of riches up front the Argies are the team. Milito, Kun Aguero, the irrepressible Tevez, and hat-trick Higuain backed up by Messi and Di Maria. It's unusual to see anyone this top heavy and on a football pitch. They play beautiful attacking football, Messi creates all kinds of problems both with and without the ball. Di Maria is still yet to convince for me, but he does enough. tevez doesn't ever give up, ever. he may make the wrong decision but he never stops, like a footballing nympho. Higuain, missed some great opportunities against nigeria but had to be in the right place to score them and a against Korea he wasn't just in the right place, he found the net like a drunk finds his way home; pure instinct.

There was a moment where it looked like Korea were going to give Argentina a game, at 2-1 the breakaway looked a certainty, the build-up was good, the decisions were good, the passing was great, the finish was weak, not just weak, down right poor. Instead of taking a pop with his left foot across goal he went with the outside of his right and wide. it turns out that was that for Korea and Argentina ran away with it. Even when Diego himself took of Higuain he still replaced him with an attacking layer in Kun, his son-in-law. Korea by no means let themselves down but were met with an Argentina team that had on occasion against Nigeria threatened goals, but here found the rain. I really hope Korea progress and have seen nothing about Greece that would have me think otherwise.

Against Nigeria, Greece only seemed to come alive after the sending off. They still look slow at the back, ponderous in midfield and the coach seems hell bent on hanging onto the remnants of his 2004 Euro success. Ninis is supposed to be the future of Greek football but with so short a time on the pitch how would we know. Pace is short throughout the Greek side so any excuse to introduce it would seem plausible, even a Greek SWP would make sense. Still at least they scored a couple of goals, which may be more than the les Bleus. I still can't see them progressing, the industry and movement of Koreans will, I think, be too much. Their pace and recently acquired guile will leave the Greeks looking for their EasyJet flight home at an airport far from the city.

A happy day for Argentina and, whilst probably short lived, the Greeks. a result likely expected from Korea though maybe not the extent, Nigeria are officially going home, the first team to take that honour. I hav read, and certainly heard (on the ever excellent 'World Cup Daily' with James Richardson) that whilst this is Africa's World Cup it's the Asian teams that seem to have made the progress a lot of people expected the African countries to make. That in fact the Asian teams will far outnumber the African teams in the knockout phase, maybe we're seeing the start of the ris and rise of footballs new 3rd continent. Whilst Africa have, to a degree, stood still, Asia, like their economies, march on.