It was yet another excellent day for the beautiful game, with all six sides going for it in the right way, and the Czechs will surely get the nod as the most impressive team in these opening days of the tournament. Obviously, as Brazil have yet to enter the fray, that doesn't count for a lot at this stage but I liked the way they maintained the tempo of their game even after the three points were in the bag, unlike the other early winners who appeared to be in too big a hurry to take the foot off the gas.
Mind you, the day hardly got off to the best of starts. Some phrases just seem to rattle off the keyboard with the minimum of effort and, with the headline 'Sellick Star In Dodgy Goal Controversy' staring back at me, I could feel myself moving on to automatic pilot. How Knackeredthingmebobby's goal was allowed to stand mystified me. In these days of goalkeepers being protected by what amounts to an exclusion zone, Mark Schwarzer was clearly bumped when going for the knackered guy's cross, yet the ref saw nothing wrong as the ball curled into the net. Maybe the whistler had done his homework and, knowing where that particular Nip plied his trade, didn't fancy spending his World Cup pay packet on new windows.
Prior to kick-off, Clive Tyldesley informed viewers that, despite interest from Seville, Nakamura is committed to staying on at Breezeblock Boulevard. I wonder if he was swayed by the news that the crock some of the Scum Of acclaimed as 'ra Sellick's best ever signing' had decided to clear out his locker - less than six months and just 13 games after picking up a hefty signing-on fee, a fat wage packet and enjoying a bumper testimonial match. Aye, it sure is a grand old team to play for, but obviously not grand enough to stick around for too long. Feckin priceless!
With Craig Moore in the Australian side, I wondered how he would cope with the no-physical-contact rule being applied and it was no surprise to see him pick up a yellow card. Viduka was putting himself about up front and causing the Japs a lot of bother but it looked like being one of those days for the Aussies. Both he and second half sub John Aloisi had free kicks well saved by goalkeeper Kawaguchi and, the longer it stayed at 1-0, Japan looked more capable of killing the game on the break.
But Guus Hiddink wasn't afraid to shake things up, the introduction of Aloisi and Tim Cahill gave his team fresh legs at a crucial stage in the game and his boldness was rewarded in the closing stages. Cahill stabbed in the equaliser in the 84th minute, moments later he was lucky to escape when the ref atoned for his earlier mistake by closing his eyes to a bad challenge in the box, then the Everton man fired Australia into the lead with just two minutes left. And with Japan forced to go gung-ho for an equaliser, Aloisi was able to run through unchallenged to wrap things up in injury time.
Having got off to a winning start, the Aussies will fancy themselves to qualify for the knock-out stages. They will expect Brazil to take care of Croatia tomorrow so, regardless of events in the second round of matches, they will be involved in a straight head-to-head with Big Dado's lot with qualification up for grabs. That could be a bit of a game.
Any team with genuine hopes of being involved in the serious stages of the competition will have noted the impressive play of the Czech Republic against an American side skippered by ex-Ranger Claudio Reyna. I liked him when he was at Ibrox but he dropped down the popularity rankings when he left for Sunderland and declared that his new employers were a bigger club than Rangers. Or did our 'friends' in the media put words into his mouth?
Jan Koller's fifth minute header to open the scoring was a real belter and the Czechs really looked like they meant business. Pavel Nedved and new Arsenal signing Tomas Rosicky were also outstanding, although they had a lucky escape when Reyna rattled a 20-yarder off the post, and it was Rosicky who put the game to bed with a superb long range effort and a brilliant burst from midfield on either side of the half-time break.
The big worry for coach Karel Brueckner will be the hamstring injury sustained by beanpole striker Koller. The big fella has just come through an injury-prone season with Borussia Dortmund and it would be a great pity if his World Cup was to end so early. He is a proper handful and, with Nedved and Rosicky quickly up in support of him, the Czech attack certainly looked the part.
After the third goal had made the points safe, I'd hoped we might get a glimpse of Libor Sionko but coach Brueckner clearly didn't want to meddle too much with a winning formula. However, I feel sure we'll see the new Ranger soon, if only because he has been handed the number seven shirt in the squad. If he was only making up the number after Vladimir Smicer dropped out, I suspect he would be well down the pecking order, with a number somewhere around the late teens. The Czech Republic will certainly be around for a while so the odds on him getting his chance are good.
Also in Group E, Italy and Ghana served up an entertaining encounter in Hannover. As always, the Italians are an enigmatic lot, patently capable of giving so much more, and for much of the first half their African opponents, with Chelsea's Michael Essien prominent, looked capable of pulling off a shock. However, Ghana's keeper Richard Kingston was showing a curious inclination to go walkabout at corners and I felt that might be Italy's main route to victory.
It was Andrea Pirlo who broke the deadlock with an angled 22-yarder just before half-time but it was a goal which seemed to land the team with a problem. Would they close the game down, settle for the 1-0, or set out to kill the game after the break? As it happens, they didn't do one thing or the other. They seemed to lose their way for a while and I felt they might be made to pay if Essien got lucky with one of several long range efforts.
Much to Italian relief, it didn't happen and a late goal from Vincenzo Iaquinta secured the points to set up a fascinating battle for supremacy in the group. Both Italy and the Czech Republic will be fancied to beat the USA and Ghana in their next game so, when the pair meet in Hamburg on June 22, they will both have qualified for the knock-out rounds - but, as the group winner will steer clear of Brazil in the first knock-out round, that promises to be a real meaty match.
The need to avoid Brazil will become clear tomorrow night when the favourites meet Croatia. It will be very interesting to see how Brazil approach the match. Will they, like so many others, set out to win with the minimum of effort or will they seek to fire out a warning shot by turning on the style? It might depend on how hard Croatia push them and, if the rest of the Croatian team show the same work ethic as Dado Prso, it might not be the cakewalk some expect it to be.
I fancy the Brazilians...but it would be good to see Big Dado ruffle them up and add to the magic of what has been an excellent tournament so far.
LITTLE BOY BLUE