2-0

Spain get their World Cup campaign back on track with David Villa’s two goals.

After last week’s shock 1-0 defeat to Switzerland in their opening match, coach Vicente del Bosque fielded a more ambitious 4-4-2 formation at Ellis Park, with Fernando Torres joining strike partner Villa in a two-pronged attack.

Spain were dominant from the start, although an error-prone Honduran side helped their cause. Villa missed a second-half penalty and could have had a hat-trick in the match.

Emilio Izaguirre of Honduras appears to handball a kick from Fernando Torres of Spain during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group H match between Spain and Honduras at Ellis Park Stadium on June 21, 2010 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

1-1

A dream start put New Zealand in the lead in the seventh minute!

Shane Smeltz scored the opener for the Kiwis, they then soaked in all the mafia’s attacks.

Italy managed to score in the 29th minute through Vincenzo Iaquinta, from the penalty spot after Tommy Smith was judged to have pulled down Daniele de Rossi in the box. But failed to grab a winner. Now they have just two points from their opening two Group F matches. and face Slovakia in their final group match. The reigning World Cup Champions need a win to guarantee a place in the last 16.

Italian Captain- Fabio Cannavaro tackles Chris Killen.

2-1

1-1

1-0

0-0
England squander their chance to top Group C. The Englishmen were booed for the draw against Algeria.

England performed astonishlingly well in their qualifier matches, but haven’t been able to perform in the World Cup finals. They put up an even worse performance than USA match.

Foued Kadir of Algeria and Steven Gerrard of England compete during the 2010 FIFA World Cup Group C match between England and Algeria at Cape Town Stadium on June 18, 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa.

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  World Footballer of the Year- Lionel Messi, setup the match at the World Cup, against South Korea.The South Americans who faced a tough time in the qualification to the World Cup, showed no signs of that poor form. They sparkled in the midfield led by Messi, supported well by tevez and Angel Di Maria. Argentina scored 4 goals with Gonzalo Higuain scoring a hat-trick.
  

  Lionel Messi of Argentina controls the ball as he is closed down by Lee Chung-Yong of South Korea during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group B match between Argentina and South Korea at Soccer City Stadium on June 17, 2010 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

  Maradona’s future son-in-law, Sergio Aguero, came on for Carlos Tevez and had an immediate impact on the game. He played a part in the last two goals of the four scored, by Argentina.

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  France were faced with a surprising 2-0 defeat to Mexico in their second Group A game on Thursday.Substitute forward Javier Hernandez beat an offside trap, raced into the box unchallenged and twisted his way past France keeper Hugo Lloris to put Mexico ahead on 64 minutes.
  

  Patrice Evra of France is challenged by Efrain Juarez and Rafael Marquez of Mexico during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group A match between France and Mexico at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on June 17, 2010 in Polokwane, South Africa.

  Forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco doubled the advantage from the penalty spot on 79 minutes after Pablo Barrera was brought down by Eric Abidal.

  Uruguay and Mexico top the group with four points each and will both qualify if they draw next week, eliminating in the process France and South Africa, both on one point.

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  A moment of silliness by Nigeria’s Sani Kaita gave Greece a chance to score their first ever World Cup finals victory with a 2-1 win in Group B on Thursday.
  

  Sotirios Kyrgiakos of Greece tackles Lukman Haruna of Nigeria during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group B match between Greece and Nigeria at the Free State Stadium on June 17, 2010 in Mangaung/Bloemfontein, South Africa.

  Kaita was sent off in the 33rd minute with Nigeria already a goal ahead for shoving and kicking out at Vassilis Torosidis when the ball was out of play.

  Nigeria coach Lars Lagerback said after the match:

  “We started the game well, controlled the game, got the goal and then had a sending off. That caused us problems, especially in the first half. I couldn’t see what happened from my position, what I heard they said he kicked him with the underside of his shoe. I see the Greek player laying, holding his head, so I really don’t know. It looks very strange.”

  With Kaita off the pitch, coach Otto Rehhagel replaced defensive midfielder Socratis Papastathopoulos with striker Giorgos Samaras, who minutes later had a shot cleared off the line.

  Greece coach Otto Rehhagel said:

  “We are going to take on Argentina, a world class team. They will clearly be better than us and we have got to see how to cope with them. We all know the Argentine team is of extraordinary quality.”

Spain having one of the best teams in the on going World Cup in South Africa, lost to Switzerland 0-1.

This proves that the World Cup is all about team players and not big star players that make up a team.

Gelson Fernandes scored the scrappy winner in the 52nd minute.

Eren Derdiyok of Switzerland (C) jumps over Iker Casillas of Spain as he rushes out of his goal, which leads up Gelson Fernandes (L) to score during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group H match between Spain and Switzerland at Durban Stadium on June 16, 2010 in Durban, South Africa.

“We tried in an orthodox way and in an heroic way but we were not able to score. It wasn’t our day. We dominated almost all the match,” Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said.

“This defeat means that we have to win the other two (group) matches,” he added.

“It’s a great feeling to start the tournament with three points against one of the biggest contenders for the title,” said Switzerland’s coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.

“These were three unexpected points and beyond that I was very pleased to see a strong performance by my team. I’m very happy, I’m very satisfied by this excellent start.”

Goalkeeper Iker Casillas clashed with Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok and Gerard Pique was unable to stop the ball falling to Fernandes, who clipped it into an empty net.

“To be fair I’m not used to scoring goals so it was a surprise,” the Cape Verde Islands-born midfielder told reporters. “It was a bit of luck you know.”

Del Bosque, who had started the match with David Villa as a lone striker, brought forwards Fernando Torres, Jesus Navas and Pedro to try and rescue the game but a virtual siege of the Swiss penalty area failed to produce an equaliser.

Final scores for the matches played on 16th June, 2010.

0 : 1

0 : 3

0 : 1

Final scores for the matches played on 15th June, 2010.

2 : 1

0 : 0

1 : 1

Final scores for the matches played on 14th June, 2010.

1 : 1

1 : 0

2 : 0

Final scores for the matches played on 13th June, 2010.

4 : 0

0 : 1

0 : 1

Summary

V

Germany thrash Australia in their World Cup opener on Sunday.

Germany suffered quite a few setbacks leading up to the World Cup including the injury to captain  Michael Ballack right before the begining of the Cup. However, forwards Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose gave their side a 2-0 halftime lead.

Final scores for matches held on 12th June 2010

1 : 1
1 : 0
2 : 0

Summary

V

England goalkeeper, Robert Green, squandered an easy save to gift United States a goal and in turn a draw.