As the second round of the group matches are now well-under way, its better to get straight down to business:
Much was said and written about Argentina's profligacy in their opening encounter against Nigeria, but such is their attacking pedigree that it was only a matter of time before an unlucky team came up against their forward line firing on all cylinders. Korea Republic was that team on Thursday, as Messi ran riot and Higuain became the first Argentine to score a hattrick in a World Cup since Gabriel Batistuta in 1998. Though the South Koreans got a goal back just before half-time, it was academic as Argentina flexed its muscles and sent a strong message of intent. It remains to be seen whether they let this resounding win go to their heads or will Maradona and his coaching staff anchor their gifted charges. As for South Korea, this loss may not be very damaging, but the Greeks winning against the Nigerians in the other group match, they will now need to win their last match against the Super Eagles.
With both sides having started on the wrong foot, a win in this match was absolutely necessary to entertain any realistic hopes of progressing to the last 16. And when Nigeria opened the scoring, it looked like the end of the road for Greece. But, not for the first time, a player lost his marbles (Sani Kaita aiming a stupid kick at a Greek defender when the ball was out of play) and with 10 men, Nigeria lost the plot and the match. Though it is mathematically possible for them to qualify for the next round (they need to win against Korea very, very convincingly and also need Argentina to positively thrash Greece in their last group match), Nigeria do look a bit undone at the moment.
Domenech made one significant personnel change for this match: replacing Gourcuff who ran himself aground in the opening match against Uruguay with the pacy Chelsea winger, Malouda. The move hardly paid dividends, with Mexico looking poised with a 5-man defensive formation and captain Rafael Marquez bossing the midfield with panache. Indeed, it was Marquez' through-ball that split a flatfooted French defence for the opening goal, scored by Manchester United-bound Javier Hernandez, who happens to be a third-generation World Cup representative for Mexico. His father, Javier senior, and his grandfather have also represented Mexico in past tournaments. The icing on the cake for them tonight was a late penalty converted by that ageless soldier, Cuauhtemoc Blanco. With this win, Uruguay and Mexico look to be odds-on favorites to progress from the group and their clash on 22 June will decide who tops the group. As things stand, Uruguay top on better goal difference. On the other side, the French looked a very pale shadow of the 1998-winning side and with cracks being slowly obvious, a radical change seems to be the only way for them to get back to the glory days, when they were a feared outfit.
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