Random Rants: World Cup Blog

Some of soccer's magicians have been on display in Germany.

By Chris Courtney
SoccerTimes

COLOGNE, Germany (Tuesday, June 13, 2006) -- Watching the Czech Republic take the United States behind the woodshed Monday night was not pleasant for American fans, but did mark the arrival of the game's magicians to group play.

After watching a few sloppy goal-fests punctuated by defensive standoffs, the Czechs announced clearly that the virtuosos have arrived. Later that night, AC Milan's midfield maestro Andrea Pirlo had a sublime performance and his 20-yard blast through traffic, sparking Italy's 2-0 decision over Ghana, showed why he has one of the best sets of eyes at this year's tourney. After a series of sub-par performances for AC Milan and Italy this past spring, Pirlo regained his form just in the nick of time.

Now that Czech midfielders Tomas Rosicky and Pavel Nedved, and Pirlo have created their magic, Brazilians Ronaldihno and Kaka, and France's Zinedine Zidane, and Thierry Henry finally had a chance to do the same today.

Instead, determined performances from Switzerland and Croatia prevented too much magic from happening as the first set of group matches draws to a close. The Swiss had faced (and even drew) France in European qualifying play and had learned exactly how to play it, by aggressively attacking, but always checking back to help out on defense.

If anything, France was lucky to come away with a point from the 0-0 draw as the Swiss had several dangerous chances, most by striker Marco Streller, who plays his club ball here at 1. FC Cologne. Thierry Henry was stranded outside of the penalty area too many times without enough support, while Zinedine Zidane's passes seldom amounted to anything truly creative.

Kaka did manage to provide something special with his cracking goal just as the first half expired. His strike gave Brazil a 1-0 win in a match which Croatia could have tied on a number of occasions. The inspired play of forwards Dado Prso, Marko Babic and Jerko Leko kept the Brazilian back-line under pressure. Ronaldihno and Emerson had decent performances for Brazil, but seemed to do just enough to get by. In the end, Brazil did collect all three points for its eighth consecutive World Cup match victory, a tournament record.

Speaking of magic, how about those Socceroos? Australia's courageous come-from-behind 3-1 victory over Japan showed the kind of tenacity that could carry it into the second round. Manager Guus Hiddink's brilliant insertion of Everton's Tim Cahill in the second half proved to be a winner when the 26-year-old Sydney native became the first Australian to score in World Cup history with two late tallies. There is no doubt that Socceroo's first-ever World Cup victory will not be their last.

Tomorrow, we'll get a look at one of this year's dark-horse teams -- Ukraine, which is led by a striker no one enjoys marking, Chelsea's new signing Andriy Shevchenko. After seeing its strong 90-minute performance in its recent friendly 0-0 draw with Italy (without Shevchenko), I think Ukraine will give Spain all it can handle, and perhaps more. A key match-up here will be between Shevchenko and Spanish central defender Carlos Puyol. Theirs is a personal rematch of their 2006 Champion's League semifinal meeting when Shevchenko came close to finding the net for AC Milan while Barcelona's Puyol tried his best not to lose the tricky Ukrainian, though he did a few times. Expect Spain and Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas to be tested more than a few times.

Spain is not without its own weapons, with its hopes increasingly riding on the shoulders of Arsenal's 19 year-old midfielder Cesc Fabregas, as well as Real Madrid's Raul. Raul was Spain's great young hope, one who has helped bring home the silverware at the club level, but not yet for his country.

Fabregas has now taken on the mantle of the young, creative spark in a high-quality Spanish side. His lack of international experience leaves many question marks, but his form in Champion's League play was promising. Nonetheless, Raul, Fabregas and the other Spaniards won't find tickling the back of the net so easy given that Ukraine's keeper Aleksandr Shovkovski posted six shutouts in qualifying.

All in all, the match between Spain and Ukraine could shape up to be an entertaining one.

The 6-foot-7 striker, who had given manager Karel Bruckner's side an early lead with a trademark thumping header, was carried off on a stretcher from the pitch in apparent distress after crumpling to the turf, clutching his hamstring, following an innocuous-looking collision with defender Oguchi Onyewu in the 44th minute.

Initially, all the signs pointed to Koller's World Cup having come to a premature end, with Bruckner saying afterwards: "Unfortunately his injury is very serious. It is the only negative thing from today's match."

Fortunately, in the following hours, it transpired that the veteran Czech coach spoke a little too soon, with his gloomy assessment having subsequently been proved overly pessimistic by scans carried out at a nearby hospital.

"I can confirm that after tests at the hospital, there is no deformity in the hamstring," a team spokesperson said. "We will see (how he reacts) tomorrow. We thought at first it was a serious injury. We don't think that any more."

Koller himself had hinted as much after the match and, though he is almost certain to miss the Czech Republic's clash with Ghana Saturday, hopes are high that he could be back in time to face Italy in the June 22 Group E finale. That certainly is the 33-year-old's target.

"I will have four days rest now and I am confident I will be back for our third group game," he said. "This game was a good start, but now we have to focus and keep up the pressure on our group rivals."

Koller, who will join AS Monaco next season, has only recently recovered from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, and everyone connected with the Czech team is thrilled at the news that their all-time leading scorer will yet play a part in its fledgling Germany 2006 campaign.

Chris Courtney is SoccerTimes European correspondent and lives in Brussels. He is in Germany covering the World Cup.