Argentina Dominates; Mexico Held
Argentina turned in the performance of the tournament to date, a 6-nil drubbing of Serbia & Montenegro. Netherlands will join them in the Round of 16, meanwhile Mexico was held to a scoreless draw with Angola.
Domination best describes Argentina's effort. Maxi Rodriguez opened up the scoring in the 6th minute, then Hernan Crespo provided a nice backheel pass to Esteban Cambiasso in the box for a goal. Rodriguez added a second before halftime and the game was essentially over. But Argentina managed to double their tally late in the match after Lionel Messi entered the game. Messi provided an assist to Crespo, then Carlos Tevez took his turn before Messi got a goal of his own. When the dust settled, Argentina had produced an awe inspiring onslaught and marched confidently to the Round of 16.
Later in the day, Group C's 'Group of Death' had two survivors. Netherlands rode a Robin Van Persie free kick strike to a first half lead. Ruud van Nistelrooy added a second goal for the Dutch, who then took its chances with a dangerous Ivory Coast attack. Bakary Kone pulled a goal back in the 38th minute with a tremendous blast from the edge of the box, but in the end Ivory Coast fell just short, 2-1.
The last game of the day was the most uneventful, but possibly the most surprising. Mexico failed to breach the Angolan defense for a score and had to settle for only a point in a 0-0 draw. Angola lost Andre to a red card in the 79th minute, but an excellent performance by keeper Joao Ricardo kept the 10-man side level. Omar Bravo had an excellent chance in the final moments and found post, not net. Mexico's position for round two is still good, but uncertain. They will take on Portugal next Wednesday.
Tomorrow's Matches:
Portugal - Iran
Czech Republic - Ghana
USA - Italy
Comments
Angola can be very proud of themselves. Mexico dominated the whole game but had no luck on goal. Maybe LaVopolve will sit Franco and bring in Fonseca. Mexico will make it to next round no doubt about it
Posted by: Nacho | June 16, 2006 06:03 PM
even though i dont like mexico too much, they still look pretty strong against the teams they have played. But the teams they have played aren't very good.(iran and angola)
Posted by: matt | June 16, 2006 07:43 PM
I think that mexico should have put Fonseca first then Franco.Franco is good, but he wasn,t doing much.When Fonseca came in mexico had more chances to score.Maybe he was starting they would of socred
Posted by: Luis | June 17, 2006 08:36 AM
I hate Mexico. However, I must say that they have done pretty well against the teams they've had to play. Mexico likes to hold on to the ball and make their opponents chase the ball. Once thei rival is tired , they take advantage of scoring opportunities. Angolas players are not the type that tire fast so they were able to hang on. I think Mexico plays well when the game is scoreless but I doubt their ability to perform well when losing. Mexico is a team that plays tricks on you and that rarely plays head to head football.
Posted by: David | June 18, 2006 02:16 AM
I LIKE BRASIL TO THE CAMPION
Posted by: AZZHURA | June 18, 2006 03:48 AM