your daily recap

[rone]

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.