World Cup Day Six: Hosts Held

Well well, I'm still here and still boring you all to death. I've heard Arsenal get the chance to thrash Crystal Palace in the opening match of next season but, as I listen to some pretty horrific Dutch singing, I've got to concentrate on this World Cup in Brazil and that fixture list.

Let's start with Group H and the highly anticipated Russia v South Korea match. Just kidding. It was like drawing blood from a stone. South Korea looked like the better side initially and did seem the more likely to score first. However, they needed some luck, and poor goalkeeping, to squeeze in the opener. After that, Russia were in the ascendency and they were rewarded six minutes later with an equaliser. By that point, Russia had found another gear and the South Korean keeper was called into action a couple more times before the final whistle to hold on for a pretty standard draw. When you consider the other two teams in this group, it could be any combination of teams that goes through.

Belgium are one of those teams and many, including yours truly, have touted them as dark horses this summer. That vision of them was slowly and painfully picked apart by an Algerian side intent on causing as much pain as possible. Sure, Belgium eventually won the game and we should applaud the mindset of those players that came back from a goal down to win, but it showed that they were vulnerable. When you consider the other European heavyweights, like the Netherlands and Germany, in the tournament it becomes quite clear that a 2-1 victory over Algeria is not going to stand them in good stead if the were to come up against one of them. Like I said, I cannot call who is going through. It will be an interesting group to watch though.

Finally onto the hosts. Brazil played Mexico and two teams more full of gentlemen you will not see at this World Cup. For two teams from an area of the world where sportsmanship is not second nature, or even third nature, there was a surprising amount of it on display at Castelão. Yes, it was one of those most tedious of scorelines, nil nil, but it was an exciting match to watch. Proper end to end football. Precisely the kind of match a football fan wants to watch, except without the goals. Brazil will qualify, but who will join them? They don't look invincible like Superman, more like Boris from Goldeneye.

Happy? No? See you tomorrow anyway.