World Cup Friendlies Sunday Rewind

Crunch time is here and some teams have to be happier with their performance in today’s friendlies than others. The Dutch have some injury worries thanks to the Aussies. Ghana and Ivory Coast have newfound confidence thanks to some weak opponents. Japan has some questions thanks to their inability to score. I’ll have some pleasant dreams thanks to the pictures of the Brazil fans dancing in the stands. Here’s a recap of today’s action.

Australia 1 - Netherlands 1
A very physical affair between both sides ended in a draw. Australia brought their kicking game with them for this one, kicking every Dutch player in sight. As a result, three Dutch players limped off and the Aussies were forced to play the last 30 minutes a man down. Ruud van Nistelrooy and Tim Cahill are your goal scorers.

Japan 1 Malta 0
Sometimes I think that the sole reason Malta exists is to serve as a football opponent for teams warming up for tournaments. The Maltese did their job today holding Japan to a lone goal by Keiji Tamada in the 2nd minute. I remain unconvinced that Japan has the offensive weapons to advance in the tournament.

Ghana 3 South Korea 1
Lock away the women and children, the Black Stars of Ghana are on fire. Asamoah Gyan, Sulley Muntari and Michael Essien all scored as Ghana has put together back-to-back impressive exhibition performances after a slow World Cup training start. Ghana might just be the spoiler team people are overlooking.

Ivory Coast 3 Slovenia 0
The Elephants finally put together a winning performance thanks to a pair of goals by Didier Drogba and a goal from Kanga Akale. Ivory Coast had played well during their friendlies up to this point but soft goals had been their nemesis. This is a nice win as they move forward towards group of death play in less than a week’s time.

Brazil 4 New Zealand 0
Both teams got what they wanted out of this game. Brazil walks away with a solid performance and a victory that didn’t come with any injuries. New Zealand didn’t give up 13 goals and could have put a few on the board if not for a few dodgy finishing attempts. The stadium in Geneva where the game was played looks great. Also some props to the cameramen for showing us some bikini-clad samba action in the stands.

As always, check out the various team blogs for opinions and to chime in with your thoughts.

Five more days to go!