Who is still on it? Who is leaving?
By Camilla Mancini
Today started the last round of matches for the first part of the World Cup, some of the teams already know if they are going to be part of the final eights or if they are going back home. Such as:
Germany and Ecuador: which met today in the field, both already know they will continue to the next step, after they eliminated Costa Rica and Poland. But Germany (9 points) ended up on the top of the group after biting Ecuador 3-0. The second place is for Ecuador with 6points, then Poland with 3 points and Costa Rica which left the tournament with 0 points.
England: Is at the top of the Group B with 6 points, and will also play today (at 21.00, local time) against Sweden which has 4 points. On the other hand, Sweden needs at least an equalize score in today’s game, to take away any chance from Trinidad & Tobago (1 point).
Argentina and Netherlands: these two teams kept a similar scoreboard with Group A. Keeping Côte d’Ivoire and Serbia & Montenegro with no points until now. Both are going to the next round and both have 6 points, but that will be until the coming Wednesday when they’ll play.
Portugal: Is also at the top of its group with 6 points. Following Portugal is Mexico with 4 points; then Japan and Croatia each with 1 point which could be dangerous for Mexico if it loses against Portugal on the 21st.
Italy, Czech Republic, Ghana and United States: the Group E is the only one with all its teams still safe. Italy goes first with 4 points, Czech Republic and Ghana counts with 3 points each, and at the bottom of the group but not less harmless is USA with 1 point. This means that all of them are in risk and all are going to fight for those last points on Thursday. Italy will play against Czech Republic and Ghana will go against United States.
Brazil: the all time favorite, as everyone expected, has already classified. Right now has 6 points, after having two solid games with Croatia and Australia. In second place is Australia (3 points), but if it wants to stay on the tournament, it will have to fight for the 3 points. Since Japan and Croatia have 1 point each one, they still have a slight opportunity to pass over Australia.
Switzerland, South Korea and France: These 3 teams have some tight scores. Switzerland and Korea have 4 points, but their next match is against each other, and that could put one of them in jeopardy. The real menace here is France which has 2 points and is going to the fields with Togo on Friday. For this match the favorite is France, and if it does get the 3 points, it may have the chance to stay and eliminate Switzerland or South Korea.
Spain: already classified to the next part of the tournament, after hammered the Ukrainians and Tunisians. On the contrary, Ukraine is in second place, with 3 points and it will play against Tunisia which has 1 non-harmless-point, this give to the African team a potential last chance of biting Ukraine. Saudi Arabia also has 1 point, but the expectations don’t support them very much, since Spain had been playing so well.
We are on the twelfth day of the FIFA World Cup 2006 and we have seen 34 games until now, but the real thing it’s just getting started.
