40 MATCHES DONE, 24 MATCHES TO GO

France 1-2 South Africa
Mexico 0-1 Uruguay
Nigeria 2-2 South Korea
Greece 0-2 Argentina
Slovenia 0-1 England
United States 1-0 Algeria
Ghana 0-1 Germany
Australia 2-1 Serbia

LAST 16
Uruguay VS. South Korea 6/26/10 3:00 PM BST
United States VS. Ghana 6/26/10 7:30 PM BST
Germany VS. England 6/27/10 3:00 PM BST
Argentina VS. Mexico 6/27/10 7:30 PM BST

Well, 4 of the 8 groups have concluded. Four more groups to end by this Friday. For the four groups, the most exciting matches to catch are the following 2 matches.
Portugal VS. Brazil
Chile VS. Spain

I went to watch the Mexico-Uruguay match and Ghana-Germany match. The major surprise early this morning was Australia's victory over Serbia. I guess this World Cup is filled with too many upsets that upsets are no longer surprising. I don't even bat an eyelid anymore when a much higher ranked country is dethroned. To be fair, Australia are not bad, I watched their previous match. They finished with the same points like Ghana but missed the last 16 because of the 4 goals conceded from the first match against Germany. Ghana were good but they did not pressure Germany much.

I expected France to lose their final match so there is nothing surprising about the defeat. I saw Thierry Henry at the end of the match as it ended later than the Uruguay-Mexico match. I couldn't help but thought that Henry must be thinking he should have not had that handball in the first place. They could suffer less humiliation if Ireland had gone through. Irish fans must be cursing back home looking at how France 'wasted' their World Cup opportunity like that.

England went through with a slim 1-0 victory thanks to Defoe. Our dear friend, Rooney, is still not scoring a single goal. They are facing Germany for the last 16, a very tricky match indeed. I doubt they can survive if they don't improve. They just barely went through to the last 16. Argentina's match against Mexico will be exciting too. Actually it is a joy watching the young Mexicans play. I believe with experience, they will become damn good. They were not pushing Uruguay hard enough during the match. They wasted tonnes of opportunities in front of goal. What a waste! Congratulations to South Korea for going into the last 16!

Japan have the chance too tonight if they play well against Denmark. Italy must beat Slovakia tonight and hope Paraguay kill New Zealand if they want to go to the next round. They are also in a very difficult situation like England. Spain too have the same fate like Italy. They have to beat Chile to ensure going through. Chile must avoid defeat to be sure of going through, a draw is sufficient. Switzerland will also have to beat Honduras as they have the same points as Spain in a very tricky situation. Portugal should go through with the superior goal scored advantage over Ivory Coast. Mathematically speaking, Ivory Coast still have the chance if they can beat North Korea with a bigger margin. Brazil just need a draw to make sure they stay as the group champions.