Best Goal of the Cup Thus Far

Oliver Neuville's goal in added time in the Poland/Germany match has been the best goal of the competition so far. Not only was it spectacular, it was perfectly timed for dramatic maximization, and its impact was tremendous. The goal gave Germany a 1-0 win over Poland, and catapults the hosts into the Knockout Stages. It also ended any reasonable hope Poland had for advancing past the Group Stage.

The atmosphere for this game was more intense than the opener in Munich. Perhaps this was due to border-rivalry with Poland, or perhaps it was due to the typically raucous environment provided by Dortmund's stadium.

This was the 15th time Poland and Germany met on the pitch, and it was Germany's 11th win, to go along with 4 ties.

The Germans had multiple scoring opportunities and were off target on all of them until added time in the 2nd half. They hit the crossbar twice and had numerous near misses. The addition of Michael Ballack to their lineup appeared to strengthen the entire squad. The defense did not have such remarkable lapses as they did in the opener against Costa Rica.

Germany will play Ecuador in Berlin on the 20th. Poland will play Costa Rica in Hanover on the same day.

Just some cool pics from Deutschland:





This is my favorite one:


In other news, the United States was utterly embarrassed by the Czech Republic. The Czechs were the favorite, but I don't think anyone expected them to dominate the Americans as easily as they did. New Arsenal addition Tomas Rosicky hit the back of the net twice to earn Man of the Match honours in his country's 3-0 victory.

The US is now in dire straits. In order to win the Group, they must beat Ghana and Italy, and hope the Czechs do not win another match. This probably will not happen.

The US is not completely out of it, though. If we can beat Italy, then we have a good shot at advancement to the Knockout Stages.

Brazil won their first match 1-0 against Croatia. They're not the first heavily favored team to have a not so overwhelming victory in their first game. Also in their group, Australia beat Japan 3-1.

In Group G, France surprisingly played to a scoreless tie with the Swiss. Thierry Henry had a few good opportunities, but could not finish. South Korea came from behind at halftime to beat Togo 2-1.

Spain had the most dominating victory thus far in the Cup by beating the Ukraine 4-0. Also in Group H, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia tied 2-2. Saudi Arabia looked better than they did 4 years ago when they were the joke of the Cup.