Can South Korea duplicate their 2002 World Cup success? - FIFA photo

The USA overcame adverse referee calls to advance to the Round of 16- FIFA photo

SPORTS NOTES MAX Part 1 - WORLD CUP SHOCKERS - FRANCE & ITALY EMBARRASSED - USA TOUGHS IT OUT

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

France and Italy lead the list of World Cup flopper teams with their miserable showing or in France's case none at all. Undefeated minnows New Zealand ranked 78 failed to go though but their stellar defense made many sit up and take notice. The USA overcame bad calls in two games by referees and won Group C besting England. Asian teams South Korea and Japan earn respect and move on to the Round of 16.

Saturday June 26, 2010

MORE FLIPS (towards respect) & MORE FLOPS

You can't say this World Cup is boring as there have been shockers galore. Italy is the first defending World Cup champion to be eliminated in the group stage with their 3-2 loss to Slovakia. It's the first time Italy has been eliminated in the first round since 1974.

France quit in defiance of their manager Raymond Domenech then returned to their homeland with apologies and their tails between their legs ashamed and embarrassed. Reports are that the team is suffering from an identity crisis stemmed from some players weren't born in France and are more about themselves and sponsorship endorsements than winning for the honor of their country. Ironically France is suffering from bad karma as it can be argued they shouldn't have been in the competition given the hand ball by Thierry Henry in their qualifying match against Ireland.

Italy showed up with a tired old team and played like it with bad ideas and a poor performance. Their two draw one loss non-showing was an embarrassment for the defending World Cup champions who are the first title holders to be eliminated in the group stage.

You would think that the USA national football team were responsible for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the way that referees are making bad calls against them after their goals scored are disallowed. The first travesty was against Slovenia when after a goal was scored by Clint Dempsey it was disallowed by referee Koman Coulibaly from Mali. TV replays clearly indicated the goal was good.

The seemingly anti American attitude occurred again in their final group match against Algeria in a must win to go through situation for both sides. Again the US' Clint Dempsey scored a goal that wasn't allowed. TV replays indicated the goal was good.

Karma was on their side as Landon Donovan scored on a rebound follow through goal in extra time (91st minute) for a 1-0 result that sent them to the top of their group and a deserving advancement to the Round of 16 along with England. The Americans previously reached the Round of 16 in 2002 and registered their second best in 1994 making it to the quarterfinals on their home soil. Their best was a third place finish in the inaugural World Cup in 1930. In the round of 16 the Americans will test their metal against Ghana who sent them home in 2006.

Donovan is the teams top scored with 45 goals while registering two thus far in South Africa. His total in 128 caps makes him the all-time US goal scorer. Kobe Jones 164 caps make him the all-time leader for the squad. Jones played from 1992-2004.

South Korea and Japan are showing the world that Asian teams can play football with pace being their strength. In the Round of 16 both teams will be playing against South American squads. All five South American teams qualified for the Round of 16. South Korea will take on Uruguay while Japan tackles Paraguay. Korea has the advantage over Japan to go through with their previous World Cup success in reaching the semifinals in 2002. Japan is in a grouping consisting of Argentina, England, Brazil, Portugal and Spain.

Led by Dutch coach Guus Hiddink and assistant coach Pim Verbeek, South Korea defeated Portugal, Italy and Spain and then lost 1-0 to Germany in the semifinals, and 3-2 to Turkey in the 3rd place match. They came in 4th place. The question is should they get past Uruguay can they duplicate that success with the competing bracket consisting of the United States, Netherlands, Ghana, Chile and Brazil. Stay tuned...

KIWI'S DID THEMSELVES PROUD

When you consider that New Zealand lost 4-3 to Thailand in the Four Nations International Soccer Tournament in June 1999 they have done themselves proud by progressing their program to qualify for this years World Cup although they were ranked 78th. The Kiwi's went UNDEFEATED in South Africa walking away with three draws 1-1 against Italy, 1-1 Slovakia and 0-0 against group F leaders Paraguay. Slovakia and Paraguay advanced.

Tie-breaking criteria

For those that didn't know why a team with the same record didn't advance to the round of 16 there is a reason. For the World Cup tournament, FIFA uses the following criteria to rank teams in the Group Stage.

1. Greatest number of points in all group matches;

2. Goal difference in all group matches;

3. Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches;

4. Greatest number of points in matches between tied teams;

5. Goal difference in matches between tied teams;

6. Greatest number of goals scored in matches between tied teams;

7. Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organizing Committee.

Part 2 - GHANA THE PRIDE OF AFRICA KO's USA - S. KOREA OUT JAPAN REMAINS FOR ASIA

MAX Part 3 - GERMANY CHEWS UP & SPITS OUT ENGLAND