Germany dominated nearly the whole game as Costa Rica relied on counter-attack using their star striker Wanchope. Twice, he slipped behind the German defense and collected well-weighted through balls, coolly finishing past German keeper Jens Lehmann. At least one of Wanchope's goals looked suspiciously offside, but there was so little in the way of protest that I assume the calls were correct. Much of the blame for allowing both those goals must go to the German defensive line who insisted on playing a very high line offside trap. Looking at future games, I think the Germans will yield a lot of goals unless they can completely change their defensive strategy. Michael Balllack did not play -- he's nursing a calf strain, but is expected to play in future games. His presence was missed in the German midfield which seemed a little unfocused and certainly less attack-minded than when Ballack has played.

All in all, not a very convincing win for the Germans; a very ominous start for Costa Rica.

An unexciting game most of the time. The favored Poles never really showed up to play, although statistically they dominated ball-possession heavily. Unfortunately, they were unable to do much with it. Ecuador was only slightly more convincing, showing some flair and hunger for the goal. Where Poland relied on steady build-up from the back, Ecuador tended to load up their defensive end and counter-attack. Mostly, neither of these strategies were particularly successful. The closer Poland got to the Ecuador goal, the more they played "east-west", seeming to forget where the goal was located. Ecuador made some interesting counter-attacks which mainly fell apart due to errant passes. Frankly, neither team looked like World Cup material. To be fair, Poland had some awful luck in the final 12 minutes, hitting the woodwork of the goal twice with thundering shots. Had they gone in, the game would have been tied -- and maybe it would have sparked Poland into actually winning.

I don't think Poland can beat Germany; maybe they can squeak past Costa Rica. Ecuador should give Germany a good game, and could possibly even win (long shot). Costa Rica is unlikely to make much of a showing against Ecuador.

A game that proved absolutely nothing. England scored on a free kick by Beckham less than three minutes into the match, although it was ultimately guided in by a defensive header. It was scored as an own-goal. After that, neither side showed much of anything. Paraguay never did mount an attack, and England were only slightly more persuasive. Forwards Owen and Crouch might as well have been Abbott and Costello for all the attacking they did. I'm not sure Crouch ever did get a head ball, and if that's true, why was he even there? Beckham showed moments of fine play, but mostly was invisible. Gerrard and Lampard, sharing the center midfield barely showed up at all. Frankly, there was not a single memorable player in the entire game, and that's sad -- especially for the fans.

Perhaps the return of Rooney will bring some life to the English side. I think Paraguay is going to have a sad World Cup experience. Both Sweden and Trinidad/Tobago look like they can beat Paraguay, and maybe England, too.

Easily the best match of the World Cup so far! Before the kick-off, Sweden were expected to win easily. In fact, the betting line had Sweden at 40-1 odds to win the cup; Trinidad/Tobago were quoted at 2001-1 odds. The match ended as a huge upset, even as a draw. Sweden had the best statistics (except the one that matters), with nearly 2/3 of the possession, almost all the corner kicks. They were smoother, more technical, more polished. But TNT had more heart, and often heart is what wins games. It certainly wins fans.

Within the first two minutes of the second half, TNT's Avery John, a pillar of the defense, was sent off on a second yellow card for a tackle that probably did not deserve a card. TNT had to play virtually the entire second half a man down. You really couldn't tell, though, thanks to world-class play from Dwight Yorke, Stern John, Laurence, and especially last-minute substitute keeper Shaka Hislop.

No one really expects TNT to go very far in this, their very first appearance in a World Cup. But if they can avoid injuries and red cards, and if they can catch a few breaks, their enormous collective heart just might carry them surprisingly far -- at least into the next round.

It's hard to go against Argentina, a team with a bench that's as good or better than many teams' first squad. Killer strikers Crespo and Saviola scored in the first half while the Ivory Coast Elephants looked like they were still working out their lineup. In the second half, the game was much more even, although Ivory Coast never really gelled as a team. Their offense depended almost entirely on trying to get long balls to superstar Drogba, who was swallowed up by the Argentine defense. In the 80th minute, Drogba finally put one in the back of the net, capping about 12 minutes of intense offensive effort by the Ivorians. Really, the final 15 or 20 minutes of the game were won by Ivory Coast. Too bad they came after the previous 70 minutes.

The other two teams in Group C are Holland and Serbia-Montenegro, both of them probably equal to Argentina and just about every other team. Truly a "Group of Death". We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see just how good they are. Should be fun!

Although others disagree, I thought this was an uninspired and uninspiring game. Both teams were technically excellent, but they mostly looked like they were out there to do a job. The word "workmanlike" keeps coming to mind. There were moments of brilliance: Arjen Robben was his usual supercharged self, scoring in the 18th on a lovely pass from Van Persie. Among the other expected stars -- Kezman for the Serbs, Van Nistelrooy for the Dutch -- were they even on the field? Both of them exited about halfway through the second half. It didn't change anything.

Both these teams play a similar style, although the Dutch probably do it a little better. From the start of the game, I had the feeling Serbia-Montenegro didn't quite believe they were equal to the task before them. Turned out they were right.

Well, the Emperor has no clothes. In other words, FIFA's rankings are exposed as the bull-poo we all knew they were. All of us, apparently, except Bruce Arena and the US team. Our boys strolled onto the field looking like they thought they had already won the game and only needed to punch the time clock. From the opening kick-off, they looked flat, bored, tired, and -- worst of all -- inept. The Czechs, on the other hand, looked like they're planning to take home the trophy on July 9th. It only took five minutes for the towering Jan Koller to slip three US defenders and apply his mighty forehead to the ball -- Czechs up by one. Half an hour later, Rosicky uncorked a 35-yard blast that dazzled US goalie Keller and everyone else. Again, in the 76th minute, Rosicky took the ball at midfield, sliced and diced his way through half a dozen US alleged defenders, and calmly flipped the ball past Keller to wrap things up.

So, what can we say about the US team? Nothing very nice. Captain Claudo Reyna barely touched the ball, and when he did, half his passes went astray. Beasely has forgotten how to play soccer. Donovan appeared lost or ill, producing nothing. Convey was a minus factor. Our "defense" needed to check which color shirts they were wearing. I dread the upcoming match with Italy. And now, having seen Ghana (likely the fastest team in the entire tournament), I think our US team will need some psych counselling to get over the drubbings that await them. Oh, woe is us.

I never used to be a fan of the Italian team, those Azzuri, but I can't help but like them in this World Cup. That doesn't mean I wasn't rooting for Ghana (I was), but unlike past Italian teams who put all eleven players inside their own goal box and defended, defended, defended, the new Azzuri are solid all over the field and attack with style, venom, and excitement. This game was played at breakneck speed right from the kickoff. Ghana are a very, very good team (watch out, USA) and deserved a better result than they got. But Italy were brutal in their finishing, relentless in their defending all over the pitch, and predictably mean and nasty in their tackling and fouls.

It took 40 minutes of frantic struggle before Pirlo scored on a tricky corner kick play that sent the ball out to the corner of the penalty area where he quickly gathered it up and fired a perfect shot into Ghana's net. The scoreline didn't change anything about the game (hooray!) as Italy kept attacking and Ghana kept attacking right back. Sadly, in the 82nd minute, recent-sub Iaquinto took the ball at about midfield and raced toward the Ghanaian goal. Ghana's defender stayed right with him, but as they crossed into the penalty area, Iaquinto gave a little fake, the defender went for it, and Iaquinto found himself with only the goalie to beat, which he did.