PATRICK LEDUC, MIDFIELDER, QUEBEC, 32
Even though it’s always fun to watch the games being played at the World Cup I find that the 2010 edition is starting off a bit slow. People who are minimally interested in soccer or who only pay attention to it when the world cup comes around every four years, have little to cheer for at the moment. Essentially, what stands out for most people at this stage in the tournament are the lack of goals, the high number of games ending in a tie and the sound from the vuvuzelas.
For the moment teams seem to be afraid of having a bad game and not making the cut to the second round, I believe that is why they assume a more defensive style of play. Many teams choose to place eight or nine players in a more defensive position, which, in turn makes life harder for attackers and cuts down on scoring chances.
At this point in the tournament we haven’t seen coaches taking many risks. As an eternal optimist I am confident that the second games in the group rounds will be more exciting. As some teams will find themselves up against the wall, they will have no other choice than to play a riskier type of soccer. This will surely create more scoring opportunities in front of the net. Take Uruguay for example who played with an extra attacker in their game on Wednesday and ended up scoring three goals.
At the moment the best surprise of the tournament is undoubtedly the Chilean team whose play has been very offensive. They create lots of movement on the field. It was really great to watch!
I am confident that the rest of the tournament will be even more entertaining. Have a good World Cup!
MATT JORDAN, GOALIE, UNITED STATES, 34
We are presently witnessing a very interesting World Cup. Many teams who were given little chance of winning, have risen up to take their place in this tournament and this can only mean that there are more surprises to come. With the majority of the games being decided by a one-point margin and the many draws we have seen so far, it is safe to say that no game will be won without a fight.
For example, very few would have predicted Switzerland winning over Spain on Wednesday afternoon. With Spain being one of the teams favored to win the tournament it came as a huge surprise to see them lose their opening game.
I really enjoy watching Brazil play; I am convinced that they will turn in good performances throughout the rest of the tournament.
Being from the United States, I have to admit I am picking for the American team in this tournament. Even though they didn’t score the prettiest goal of the first round, I believe they played a strong game and think they truly deserved the draw. I hope they will continue on this stretch and go further into the rounds. This might seem far-fetched but I would really like to see the Americans and the Germans meet up in the finals.
Even though we have not seen teams take too many chances during the first week of the tournament, I believe that they are only getting accustomed to the rhythm of World Cup soccer. Great match ups are certainly coming up in the remaining rounds of the tournament.
PHILIPPE BILLY, MIDFIELDER, FRANCE, 28
My thoughts on the World Cup so far: The first halves have all finished by a score of 0-0 and I find the sound of the vuvuzelas very irritating. Nonetheless the matches are still very enjoyable to watch.
I am of course disappointed about the way things have turned out for the French team, I was expecting more from them, it really came as a surprise to me to see them lose. Switzerland on the other hand amazed me by beating Spain who was favored to win. This is only the start of what should be a tournament full of surprises.
Established stars like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Maicon are always fun to watch; however, I am convinced that this tournament will allow us to discover other talented players such as Tshabalala from South Africa who played an amazing first game.
