rone | your daily recap (Reply)

Japan 0 - Croatia 0: This game started out pretty dull. Then the Croatians got a penalty kick, which the Japanese goalie promptly stuffed. The rest of the first half was very good. The second half went back to being dull with a few flashes here and there. Croatia didn't look nearly as good as they did against Brazil.

Brazil 2 - Australia 0: The Aussies played very well; the first Brazil goal came on one of their very few defensive breakdowns. The second came as the Aussies were pushing for the tying goal. They had enough chances; they badly missed many of them. Brazil was less than inspiring; i really hope they're not playing possum now to turn it on in the elimination round. Second place in this group is wide open.

France 1 - Korea 1: France got an early, well-shot goal on a purely accidental pass. Later in the first half, they knocked in a header which the goalie pushed out of the goal; however, the ref and linesman missed this. It looked in from every camera angle, but the French never complained, which i found rather odd. After that, France fell back to sit on the one-goal lead for the next sixty minutes. Korea tied late on a little chip that Barthez batted with one hand, but without enough strength. France should've had two goals, but they also deserved to not win because they lamely sat on a one-goal lead. "One is none," it's often said in soccer. Let's see what happens in Togo-Switzerland tomorrow.