World Cup Final Group Games Review, A & B

Group A - Uruguay 1, Mexico 0 ans South Africa 2, France 1

The big story here is of course the continued French meltdown. The only thing that went right for 10-men France was the goal they got to at least go home better than 2002 when they failed to score a goal. Of course some people saw this coming see here where I said France would "collapse in a mass of infighting and egos behind their hated coach" back in early May.

For the South Africans, the win was huge despite becoming the first host to crash out at the group stage. They can hold their heads high after a nice draw against Mexico and a win against France. A good showing for a team that was clearly outmanned and outgunned, particularly defensively.

In Mexico, fans are excited despite the loss and I don't know why. Failure against Uruguay equals another second round match with Argentina, just like four years ago. The result will likely be the same and Mexico will crash out in round two again, just like in 2006, 2002, 1998, and 1994. At least they are consistent.

For Uruguay, the draw has opened, possibly all the way to the semifinals. They should defeat South Korea as heavy favorites and the US offense may stand as the most imposing possibility in the quarters. If you had told Uruguay when they qualified they would win their group, play South Korea in round 2 and then play a traditional minnow or an out of form England or Germany to reach to quarters, they would have probably called you crazy but that is what is likely.

Group B - Argentina 2, Greece 0 and South Korea 2, Nigeria 2

Argentina was clearly the class of this group as the nine points they have taken suggest. The scary thing is the bad luck of Messi having not scored. If he starts scoring, watch out because the Argentine offense might be good enough to win even if the defense collapses at some point.

Greece is thankfully out of this tournament. They are overly defensive and the only time they took any initiative to attack was when they had the man advantage against Nigeria. Other than that, it was a forgettable tourney for the Greeks and the games will be much more entertaining without them and their negative football. May we not see them in another international tournament until that style changes at least a little bit.

South Korea's offense looks good but the defense is truly terrible. The Koreans look to be among the best in the tournament on set pieces and have created numerous opportunities, but they would be going home except for the lapses Nigeria had in front of the net. The game against Uruguay in round 2 should be very entertaining if not a positive result of South Korea.

Nigeria just had tons of bad luck all the way through. Ugly finishing costing them games tey should have gotten results in. Check Losing warmup time before the tournament due to fan riot. Check. Playing from behind all group stage long because of drawing Argentina first. Check. Injury to best player before tournament. Check. Despite all of that, Nigeria was close to advancing out of this group. Maybe next time.