Day 3 was definitely the quieter of the world cup days as on display were seemingly minnow teams like Slovenia, Algeria, Ghana and Serbia.
The day began with the African contingent from Algeria taking on Slovenia in the Group C fixtures. The Slovenians had come into the finals with tremendous reputation after eliminating a Russian side with stars like Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrei Arshavin, during the qualifications. But, Algeria's recent performance at the African Cup of Nations earlier this year meant the two sides matched each other in most of the departments.
The game began slowly and had nothing major in the first half except for a couple of great saves made at either ends by the goalies when Nadir Belhadj tested Samir Handanovic and Valter Birsa tested Faouzi Chaouchi at the other end.
Chaouchi was having a good game until the 85th minute when Slovenia's captain, Robert Koren found space in front of Algeria's penalty box and took a shot on goal. Chaouchi misjudged the bounce and let the ball go through.
The day began with the African contingent from Algeria taking on Slovenia in the Group C fixtures. The Slovenians had come into the finals with tremendous reputation after eliminating a Russian side with stars like Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrei Arshavin, during the qualifications. But, Algeria's recent performance at the African Cup of Nations earlier this year meant the two sides matched each other in most of the departments.
The game began slowly and had nothing major in the first half except for a couple of great saves made at either ends by the goalies when Nadir Belhadj tested Samir Handanovic and Valter Birsa tested Faouzi Chaouchi at the other end.
Chaouchi was having a good game until the 85th minute when Slovenia's captain, Robert Koren found space in front of Algeria's penalty box and took a shot on goal. Chaouchi misjudged the bounce and let the ball go through.
Slovenia players celebrate the goal against Algeria.
Algeria was previously reduced to 10 men after Abdelkader Ghezzal was sent off just after 15 minutes after the second half had resumed. News also came in during the break that the Algerian coach, seemingly disappointed with his team's attitude, had declared that he'd quit his job at the end of the World Cup. Now, that's some boost to the team. The coach had also made many controversial decisions including dropping the Captain of the team from the 23 man squad which made it to the Finals.
Slovenia clinched it 1-0 and made it to the top of Group C, ahead of USA and England who drew Saturday night.
The second game was between Serbia and Ghana and the Serbs, widely tipped as the potential surprise package of 2010, again failed to live up to the expectations. Group D, may very well be the best contested group after Group G, given that all the teams in Group D had topped their qualification groups.
Ghana took the lead late into the second half after Serbia gave away a penalty and Asamoah Gyan made no mistake from the spot. Ghana 1 - 0 Serbia is how it ended.
But the match of the tournament so far was yet to come. As we moved into the last game of the day, it was the turn of the Germans to show their prowess, and sure they did. With goals from Lukas Podolski, Miroslav Klose (taking his tally to 11 WC goals, 3 behind the legendary Gerd Muller), Tomas Muller (Gerd Muller's son) and Brazilian born Cacau, the sons of Deutchland demolished the Soceroos 4-0 and posed as potential title contenders.
Germany looked least to be missing their injured captain Micheal Ballack as Schweinsteiger, Oezil and Khedira seemed perfectly comfortable in their midfield duties. Phillip Lahm, captain, looked more than happy to lead the team of youngsters who played a game with more maturity and composure than players at their age normally do.
With a strong back two in Mertesacker and Freidrich and young Badstuber from Bayern controlling matters at the Left Back position, Germany did not seem to be missing their injured first choice goalkeepers either.
Germany top Group D followed by Ghana.
As day 3 drew to a close, Day 4 came about with promises of some thrillers.
First up, the Dutchmen take guard against Denmark. Denmark would be more than confident after having beaten the Dutch 5 times already so far, something which many nations haven't. But, Netherlands look a strong unit too with players who fill in the role of Total Footballing, a concept almost synonymous with Netherlands.
After years of under performing at the highest level of football, the Dutch are hell bent on converting their talent into telling results and it will only be a matter of time before everyone started loving the Dutch team's game play too. They will be missing the services of Arjen Robben, but would be expecting to get the better of Denmark.
Elsewhere, Japan take on Cameroon in the second fixture of the day. The Asians are high on confidence after a good qualification campaign and would be hoping for a performance as good as their Asian counterparts, South Korea two days ago. Cameroon, on the other hand, would be depending on Samuel Eto'o , the three time UEFA Champions League winner.
In the last game of the day, defending champions Italy take on Paraguay in the Group F encounter. The Azzuris would be fancying their chances against the South Americans, but with injuries to key players, including play maker Andrea Pirlo, we might just be in for a surprise.
Day 4 promises to be thrilling with Italy and Netherlands being the big nations opening their world cup campaigns. Lets hope it turns out to be more than what we expect.
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