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Tournament Observations: June 5th 2002

- Senegal's game plan against France was nothing short of brilliant. They never had any less than their entire squad behind the ball flooding the defensive zone when France had possession. El Hajji Dioff's frequent breakaways served their purpose: exhaust an already weak French central defense until they made a mistake -- and they did. Without Zidane, France had nobody to create chances for them: Petit and Vierra couldn't do it, and that Lemerre actually thought that Djorkaeff could was an exercise in brain fart. The half-backs for Senegal played beautifully, never giving Henry or anybody else the room to make things happen on the wings.

- Both Cameroon and Germany had no business losing three points to Ireland. But this is probably how Mick McCarthy plans on playing this tournament out: Keep it close and wait for the opposition defense to make a mistake late. It's worked so far.

- Denmark clearly had better skilled players against Uruguay, because Uruguay ran them all over the pitch. The difference? Just as I said in my preview: Gronkjaer and Rommedahl were able to stretch Uruguay out on the wings and open up space in the middle for Tomasson in front of goal.

- Germany is going to need that +8 goal differential they got against Saudi Arabia, who are going to lose all three games they play and finish in dead last. Stated simply, the Saudis can't do anything - they can't create, can't shoot, can't defend, can't mark, can't win the ball, can't push forward, can't control the midfield, can't get the ball, can't hold on to the ball, can't pass, can't take care of their own goal - they are just plain awful.

- Cesare Maldini has taken a Paraguayan side that once could play defense and totally screwed it up. They can score now but they can't defend. A mediocre South African side got two late goals and earned a point. That would have never happened as recently a eight months ago.

- What was England's problem against Sweden? You can blame Danny Mills all you want but it should never have even come to that. Michael Owen and Paul Scholes, the best thing about the team in France '98, were non-factors in this match. It finally dawned on me that the reason both were as effective as they were four years ago is because a player as good as Alan Shearer was on the pitch at the same time. As long as Shearer was there opposing teams concentrated on him and not Owen or Scholes. Now that both are the focal point of the English attack, nobody is afraid of either Heskey or Vassell - both of whom operated out on the wings instead of in front of the goal - to the exclusion of Owen or Scholes. I think Eriksson is going to have to put a better attacker up front with Owen, maybe Fowler.

- Spain beat Slovenia - so what? They still haven't shown me anything yet.

- I blew the call on Croatia. They are out of form and look really old. Mexico is young and fast and ran Croatia into the ground.

- Turkey actually looked pretty good against Brazil, who have clearly gotten out of their pre-tournament funk and look like the old beautiful players they once did. Great ball handling and creativity by Brazil, and they look like they can take people on. This was probably the best Turkey could do against them, so the result is no surprise. Basturk was able to find enough space to create scoring chances even against this good a team, so Turkey should still qualify out of this group against a weak China... ...And Costa Rica, who should have beaten China easily. China at least showed some athleticism; they should have because that's all they have, Bora or no Bora.

- Vieri scored two quick goals for Italy against Ecuador and then the Azzurri coast the rest of the way. Totti was his usual creative self, and Nesta and Cannavaro clogged up the back. But what bothers me at this juncture is if Italy can create scoring opportunities when Totti and Vieri get closed down. It is a question Trappatoni is going to have to answer soon.

- Japan is better than given credit for. They showed a lot of stamina, speed and athleticism against a Belgian side that was getting run off the pitch. They shouldn't kid themselves: Belgium was lucky to salvage the point. After sixty minutes that infamous Japanese humidity was beginning to wear them down - just like we said it would.

- That South Korea got their first-ever World Cup win should not really be surprising. Poland is mediocre at best, and the Koreans were motivated by being at home. Lets see them pull this off on the European continent or the Americas.

- What Bruce Arena did last night was nothing short of brilliant. He basically did what Senegal did to France: put tons of speed up front to take advantage of the lack of pace in the heart of the Portuguese defense, then flooded the defensive end with quick man-markers who stayed home. That it worked as well as it did I think even surprised Arena. The Portuguese defense was confused all game long, thanks in no small part to keeper Vitor Baia, who confused his team so much that he has thus far given the worst performance by a goalkeeper in the tournament.

- Tunisia actually outplayed Russia, but Tunisia had a lack of skill in the middle and up front, and it mattered in the end. When it came time to showed some good tactics and skill, Russia did just enough to put a two-spot on Tunisia.