Indeed, it is the ideal time to go through each World Cup group, team by team, and analyse their progress as they head towards South Africa.
Group A
South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
South Africa 1 Namibia 1 in Durban The World Cup hosts again failed to convince in front of around 50,000 fans who packed into Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium only to witness a disappointing 1-1 draw against Namibia, ranked 111th in the world.
South Africa boss Carlos Alberto Parreira did experiment and only called up local-based players, so we shouldn’t read too much into the game but still the old problems reared their head with errant shooting a problem. Parreira commented, “I was satisfied with our first half performance half. We created chances but it was our last pass, penetration and shooting that was not correct.”
Mexico 2 New Zealand 0 in Pasadena El Tri’s young guns powered them to victory over the All-Whites in California with second-half goals from Javier Hernandez and Arsenal’s Carlos Vela.
The Kiwis parked the bus somewhat, but Mexico dominated possession throughout and after a frustrating first-half, broke through with two quickfire goals in the second stanza. Vela’s brilliant solo goal was a highlight but he didn’t the finish due to injury which is a worry.
Switzerland 1 Uruguay 3 in St Gallen Uruguay enjoyed a 3-1 triumph over an injury-hit Swiss side, with Diego Forlan leading the way with a lovely volley for the opener before Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani added more.
La Celeste boss Oscar Tabarez would have been pleased with Forlan’s leadership in a good Uruguayan performance away from home.
France 0 Spain 2 in Paris Les Bleus were given a football lesson by European champions Spain after a 2-0 loss at the Stade de France. And the loss didn’t go down well with the Parisian public who jeered and whistled their struggling team.
Franck Ribery was France’s most dangerous player, while debutant Michael Ciani was okay, but Thierry Henry struggled. After the game Les Bleus manager Raymond Domenech said: “To beat that team (we) must be exceptional. We have not been, although we progressed throughout the game.”
Group B
Germany 0 Argentina 1 in Munich Diego Maradona’s Argentina warmed up for this year’s World Cup with an impressive 1-0 win in Munich courtesy of Gonzalo Higuain’s goal on the stroke of half-time. The skilful Angel Di Maria was outstanding too.
The under-pressure Maradona commented: “The Argentine public can rest assured that we have the players for the World Cup, we just need time to work together. We’re alive, we know what we’re doing on the pitch.”s
Nigeria 5 DR Congo 2 in Abuja New Nigeria boss Lars Lagerback watched from the stands as a mostly locally-based squad ripped apart the Democratic Republic of Congo 5-2. Osas Idehen grabbed a brace, while European-based pair Victor Obinna and Peter Utaka chipped in with goals.
Lagerback said afterwards: “It was a good game. I saw some good players that could go to South Africa at the summer. My job has started. I will continue to shop around and see how a formidable team can emerge before the World Cup.”
Cote d’Ivoire 0 Korea Republic 2 in London Korea produced an excellent display in their dress rehearsal for their World Cup match with Nigeria, defeating African side Cote d’Ivoire 2-0 in London. Returning national team member Lee Dong-Gook was the big story after producing a fine early volleyed goal.
Korea boss Huh Jung-Moo said: “We played very well and it is a good win for us but there is a lot of work still to do before the World Cup. We are not meeting again until May now but I will give the players homework to do on our opponents.”
Greece 0 Senegal 2 in Volos Euro 2004 winners Greece were stunned 2-0 in their homeland by African upstarts Senegal. The Greeks’ display was disjointed and their World Cup plans have been setback by the loss which occurred after Senegal netted twice in the last 20 minutes.
Greece boss Otto Rehhagel admitted: “We have a lot to do. I just found out that the Korea Republic defeated Ivory Coast 2-0 and that goes to show how, if we are going to survive our World Cup group, we will have to work harder.”
Group C
England 3 Egypt 1 in London England fought back after a slow start, trailing at half-time, to defeat African champions Egypt 3-1 at Wembley Stadium with former skipper John Terry making his first national team appearance since his affair was made public. But Peter Crouch stole the show with two crucial second-half goals.
Crouch’s goals pressed his case for a spot in England’s first eleven and after the game team manager Fabio Capello said: “Peter Crouch is in one good moment of form. He played very well but it was not only he who played very well. All the team played a good game.”
Netherlands 2 USA 1 in Amsterdam USA were defeated 2-1 by the Dutch in a performance which wouldn’t have done much to inspire American fans hoping to see their side go far in South Africa. A late Carlos Bocanegra goal did make the scoreline look okay, but the US were hurt by some individual errors.
US midfielder Landon Donovan said: “We had some moments in the first half that were OK, but I don’t think we put enough pressure on them. It took us too long in the second half before we made some real plays.”
Algeria 0 Serbia 3 in Algiers A 3-0 scoreline won’t make Algeria feel too good, but their performance wasn’t as poor as that suggests against a clinical Serbian side. Algeria probably were the opposite, too wasteful in front of goal.
Algeria boss Rabah Saabane did give a debut to new Racing Santander recruit Mehdi Lacen in a match which offered with an entertaining first-half in a festive atmosphere, before both teams opted to make numerous substitutions.
Slovenia 4 Qatar 1 in Celje Russia’s conquerors Slovenia produced a commanding performance to oust Middle East nation Qatar 4-1 with FC Koln stalwart Milivoje Novakovic encouragingly amongst the scorers, while West Brom’s Robert Koren missed a penalty which might have made the win all the more mighty.
Novakovic said afterwards: “We should have scored more goals but it is clear that a team plays differently in friendly matches than in the more important ones. For the World Cup I just hope all players will be healthy.”
Group D
Germany 0 Argentina 1 in Munich Joachim Loew’s Germany suffered their first loss in 12 months after an ordinary 1-0 loss to Argentina. But the big story was goalkeeper Rene Adler]’s performance which suggests he isn’t ready to be Germany’s number one.
Loew, who employed a 4-2-3-1 formation, also tried both Miroslav Klose and Mario Gomez up front but neither provided the spark. The German boss said: “I’m not happy with the performance of our squad. We were unable to put Argentine under pressure, and failed to produce goal-scoring chances. We showed, all in all, a lack of self confidence.”
Australia 1 Indonesia 0 in Brisbane An under-strength Australian side confirmed their qualification for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup after a comfortable 1-0 victory over neighbours Indonesia. Japan-based Mark Milligan, one of only 3 foreign-based players in the Socceroos squad, scored the winner while teenage debutant Tommy Oar was the star.
Australia boss Pim Verbeek said: “We should have scored a few more goals to make everybody happy,” before adding, “No disrespect to Indonesia, but I have an idea Germany will be a lot more difficult.”
Algeria 0 Serbia 3 in Algiers VfB Stuttgart midfielder Zdravko Kuzmanovic inspired Serbia to a clinical 3-0 win in Algeria, with a goal and an assist.
Marko Pantelic scored the opener after a goalkeeping error, while youngster Zoran Tosic scored the third with goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic keeping Algeria at bay.
Bosnia-Herzegovina 2 Ghana 1 in Sarajevo African Cup of Nations runners-up Ghana were beaten 2-1 in Bosnia after an awful goalkeeping error by stand-in stopper Daniel Adjei. The Black Stars had led after Sulley Muntari’s left-foot opener before the Bosnians fought back.
This wasn’t Ghana’s first-choice team although Muntari, Matthew Amoah and Kwadwo Asamoah were all present but failed to really fire in a reasonable hit-out for the Black Stars.
Group E
Netherlands 2 USA 1 in Amsterdam The third-ranked Dutch continued their World Cup preparations with a 2-1 win over the USA thanks to goals from Dirk Kuyt and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder was the man of the match with a brilliant, controlling display which will please Netherlands boss Bert van Marwijk just days after earning a two-year contract extension.
Austria 2 Denmark 1 in Vienna Denmark suffered a shock 2-1 loss in the Austrian capital in an ordinary performance which saw the Danes concede twice from set-pieces.
Danish boss Morten Olsen used his preferred 4-3-3 system with Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner scoring for Denmark, but defending set-pieces proved too tricky for the Danes who were without skipper Jon Dahl Tomasson.
Japan 2 Bahrain 0 in Saitama Keisuke Honda underlined his value to the Japanese national team with a great performance on a good night for the Blue Samurai who put a few smiles back on the fans’ faces. Goals in both halves from Shinji Okazaki and Keisuke Honda guided Japan to victory.
Under-pressure Japan boss Takeshi Okada was delighted with the triumph which finishes their Asian Cup qualification process and he said: “There was no room for excuses today. We simply had to win and we did, so I want to thank the players for their effort. But we had plenty of chances that we missed even before our second goal and it’s something we need to think about.”
Italy 0 Cameroon 0 in Monaco Paul Le Guen’s Cameroon grabbed an encouraging nil-all draw with 2006 World Cup winners Italy in the neutral territory of Monaco. The actual performance wasn’t great from a youthful Indomitable Lions side, but Le Guen was happy enough.
The Frenchman said: “We had to deal with a very strong team, this evening, that is experienced and the reigning World champions. We wanted reassurance from the team after a disappointing African Cup of Nations. Given that I threw in some young players, I am satisfied with the performance of the team and the result.”
Group F
Italy 0 Cameroon 0 in Monaco The World champions may have produced a lacklustre performance against Cameroon, but Italy boss Marcello Lippi was satisfied with the game. Daniele De Rossi went closest when he had a goal disallowed, but a new-look and under-strength Italy side did okay according to Lippi.
“It was a useful match tonight, really useful as we saw good performances from the players I called up, and the team played well,” Lippi said after the match.
Paraguay Paraguay failed to play an official international friendly this week after matches against Nigeria and Ghana fell through. Instead the South Americans played Spanish La Liga club Athletic Bilbao, whom they defeated 3-1 with Oscar Cardozo scoring a brace.
Mexico 2 New Zealand 0 in Pasadena New Zealand got a taste of what the World Cup is all about after losing 2-0 to Mexico in California. Ricki Herbert’s All-Whites defended hard in the first-half and kept their opponents scoreless until the break, before the Mexicans woke up.
The All-Whites were without influential centre-back and captain Ryan Nelsen, who was out with a knee injury, which is encouraging considering they held Mexico for so long. But they failed to offer much in attack which will worry Herbert.
Slovakia 0 Norway 1 in Zilina Slovakia had their moments but failed at home against Scandanavian opponents Norway. The 2010 World Cup debutants were lively but unfortunately unable to capitalise on their chances and stunned on the counter-attack.
Worryingly, it was the second successive home defeat for the Slovaks, who lost 2-1 to Chile in November, although they were without key pair Martin Skrtel and Stanislav Sestak this time through injury.
Group G
Republic of Ireland 0 Brazil 2 in London Robinho returned to form to help Brazil claim a 2-0 win over Ireland in the English capital, although they did so with a bit of help from the officials as well as a Keith Andrews own goal. Despite the uninspiring performance, Brazil remain one of the favourites for this year’s World Cup.
Brazil coach Dunga responded: “To be favourites or not doesn’t mean anything, we have to play. For me it is a surprise that we are favourites because I have been reading that all the players in the Brazil team have been playing badly in Europe.’’ Dunga also hinted in-form AC Milan man Ronaldinho wasn’t in the frame for their 23-man squad.
Cote d’Ivoire 0 Korea Republic 2 in London African giants Cote d’Ivoire continued their poor recent run after their premature African Cup of Nations exit, with a 2-0 loss to Korea. Didier Drogba wasted several chances as Cote d’Ivoire were not clinical enough despite lots of possession.
Cote d’Ivoire were coached on the evening by caretaker Kouadio Georges, but the national FA have promised a new boss will be announced in the next week or so. On this evidence, they may need Guus Hiddink who has been heavily linked with the vacancy.
Korea DPR Korea DPR did not play midweek, although they recently competed in the AFC Challenge Cup which they won on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the final against Turkmenistan.
Portugal 2 China 0 in Coimbra Carlos Queiroz’s Portugal brushed aside the boo-boys with an okay 2-0 win over China on home turf. Portugal, though, showed a lack of cohesion and poor finishing during the contest, but eventually got the job done against weaker opponents.
Indeed, Portugal’s perennial problem of a heavy reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo in attack remains, despite Hugo Almeida and Liedson scoring here. The Portuguese fans know it too, with many voicing their disapproval late in the contest before Portugal scored a stoppage-time second.
Group H
France 0 Spain 2 in Paris World Cup favourites Spain continued their unbelievable run of 42 victories from their last 45 matches with a fine 2-0 win in the French capital. First-half goals from David Villa and Sergio Ramos got the job done.
Still Spanish boss Vicente Del Bosque said: “It’s been a nice victory, but there were good things and bad in the game. Maybe the result is better than the game, although we were not bad in possession. But the second half was lacklustre. We needed to be more aggressive in front of goal.”
Switzerland 1 Uruguay 3 in St Gallen Ottmar Hitzfeld’s Switzerland suffered their second loss in a row as their World Cup preparations hit a snag following a 3-1 home defeat to Uruguay. Gokhan Inler had put them ahead from the penalty spot before the South Americans came back emphatically.
Hitzfeld, who used the Uruguay game as practice for their group clash with Chile, said: “Chile are better than Uruguay so we can see what we’re up against in the World Cup if we can’t beat Uruguay.”
Turkey 2 Honduras 0 in Istanbul Honduras, who will compete in their first World Cup for 28 years, suffered a tough 2-0 loss in the Turkish capital. But the match is seen as important for Honduras who need high-profile matches in preparation for the World Cup.
Head of the Honduras national team committee, Rafael Ferrari, said: “(Turkey) gave us a good examination and we’d never faced rivals with the qualities of the Turks. I hope (coach Reinaldo) Rueda comes to some very good conclusions to fix our mistakes.”
Chile Chile v Costa Rica, cancelled after the earthquake in Chile.