Italy v United States Report

Italy 1-1 United States

Deserved (and more).  Weak call.  Weaker .

But "mission accomplished".  We have a point from our first two games and need to beat Ghana to have a chance of advancing.  Which is just how we thought it would be when the draw was announced.

C'mon USA!  Forza Italia!

Dutch fans watch match in their underwear

Dutch fans watch match in their underwear

'I understand that FIFA has sponsors but you cannot tell people to strip off their lederhosen and force them to watch a game in their underpants. That is going too far.'

Fifth Column?

BBC SPORT | Football | World Cup 2006 | Germany v Poland

The hosts look set to start with two Polish-born forwards in Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski.

Klose, who admitted this week he still communicates with his German strike partner in Polish, insisted the Poles would be a far bigger threat than in their 2-0 defeat to Ecuador.

Winners and losers

The US did not come to play.  Period, end of story.  We were on our heels from the opening whistle, got caught out on our first attack and gave up a goal on the counter.  Never recovered.  The Czechs just sat back in banks for 4s and let the US come at them.  The US obliged and returned the favor by presenting them the ball time and time again.

And in the winners column, well, it looks like Arsenal have bought themselves a star.  And probably saved a few million pounds by getting the deal done before the Cup.

Klose and a cigar

So no Senegal or Cameroon this year.  The Ticos took their chances well, but Germany controlled the game and 4-2 is probably a fair score.  Talking points from the game will surely be Germany's offsides trap (crazy against a team with one player to mark, but who is faster than you are), and wonder strikes from Frings and Lahm.  Look for those highlights in our ESPN video player.

I will be interested to see what the PowerStats show, but I think Lahm was Germany's player of the match.  Great opening goal, solid work on the defensive end of the field, and he provided width all game which allowed Schweinsteiger the freedom to come infield and cause Costa Rica problems.

And though Germany didn't miss Ballack today, they'll be happy to have him back against a tougher Poland team.

So it all begins

Today is finally here.  Opening game in an hour and I can't focus on anything else.  Gonna be a long month!  Enjoy the tournament everyone.  See you back here in a few hours for impressions, thoughts, and other uninformed commentaries.

Friday's Team News Today

Does this mean more than Rooney's return?

Steven Gerrard gave England an injury scare ahead of their World Cup opener against Paraguay by declaring himself only "50-50" to feature in Frankfurt.

The midfielder missed Wednesday's session with a back problem and only took part in Thursday's warm-up ahead of England training in Baden-Baden.

He said afterwards: "I've got a good chance but, right now, it's 50-50."

In other news, Ballack is definitely out of Germany's opener v the Ticos, and Ronaldo has "a fever and is receiving medication" after recovering from the blisters that kept him out of training earlier in the week.

The smile's the thing

Soccernet is reporting that Wayne Rooney has been cleared to play for England.

Wayne Rooney boarded a return flight to Baden-Baden on Wednesday night, seemingly given the all-clear to join England's World Cup campaign. While there was no official confirmation from either the Football Association or Manchester United, Rooney's smiles as he left the building for Manchester Airport, suggesting he will play.

Seems like rather thin evidence, doesn't it?

In other injury news, Djibril Cisse broke his leg in a friendly today. Most likely Henry and Saha will lead the line for France. And Germany still waits on whether or not Michael Ballack will be fit for their opener v Costa Rica.

PowerStats featured on ActiveRadio

PowerStats creator Carl Hammond was the featured guest on Active Radio's The Sports You Do Show with Mike Reilly.  He took questions about PowerStats and how it can provide a reference and a history of soccer matches and players for diehard and casual fans alike. 

Click here to listen to an .mp3 archive of the show.

Your (U.S.) tax dollars at work

National Public Radio's coverage of the World Cup has included interviews with US forwards Eddie Johnson and Brian McBride, and Sean Wilsey, the editor of The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup.  They have extensively covered the US soccer's evolution, serious issues such as racism in soccer, as well as providing some humorous pieces about the Cup and it's fans.