When you share your opinions for eveyone to read, sometimes you’re going to be wrong. As much as I hate to admit that I’m wrong, part of having a site such as the BBQ is admitting when you have made a mistake - and I have made a mistake. So I’m offering an apology to the U.S. soccer team right now. I was wrong to have criticised you the way I have leading up to the World Cup and during it. Although I still believe your world ranking is inflated and undeserved, you thoroughly outclassed Italy in your match today, and with a different referee you would have won the match convincingly.

Referee Jorge Larrionda reduced the Italians to 10 men after Daniele De Rossi was sent off for deliberate elbow to American striker Brian McBride’s face. The game went downhill from here. The referee, whose performance was absolutely awful and should not be allowed to officiate again this tournament, decided he would ‘make-up’ for sending the Italian off and dismissed two American players - Pablo Mastroeni, for a challenge that connected with an Italian player’s legs at the same time the ball was at the player’s feet (a clear yellow card) and Eddie Pope, after he picked up his second yellow card from a challenge that should have been a foul and nothing more. There are only two reasons I can think of that he would have sent these players off - #1 he was making up for the earlier WARRANTED dismisal of the Italian player, or #2 he just got out of the institution and forgot to take his medication.

The second of three red cards dealt out by the referee

Even down 10 players to 9, the US looked the better team and had some excellent opportunities to go up 2-1. They did find the back of the net, but unfortunately for the Americans, McBride obstructed the Italian goalie from an offside position, negating the goal.

Action from yesterday’s games included Argentina demolishing Serbia & Montenegro 6-0. The second goal was absolutely beautiful: 23 total passes and a quality finish. It wasn’t the most jaw dropping of goals, but the teamwork involved will make this goal hard to top. Argentina has the Netherlands next, and that game will be a good gauge of how well the Argentina team is playing, but currently, in my opinion, they are the team to beat.

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Joga Bonita

I don’t know what Jonah Freedman from SI.com is smoking, but it’s obvious to me that he didn’t even watch the match involving Australia and Japan before making these comments in his World Cup Power Rankings.

Horrible and lost for the first 83 minutes? It’s like this fool looked at when Cahill scored the first goal and decided that the Socceroos must have been asleep prior to that. Australia had the best opportunities for the entire match, but were unable to capitalise on them. Viduka had two great opportunities from close range, and Kewell had a nice effort from long range. The Japanese, on the other hand, had one legitimate shot on goal that was just wide of the post. Their goal was hardly a shot, more like a cross that wasn’t saved because of interference.

If SI.com is in search of someone who has actually watched ALL the games and can provide commentary, analysis, and power rankings, they can contact me through this website.

France still hasn’t scored a goal in World Cup competition since winning the 1998 Final 3-0 against Brazil. Yesterday they drew with Switzerland 0-0 and looked very ordinary in the process. They have Korea next, who looked (from my view at least) surprisingly strong in their 2-0 victory - fair enough it was against Togo, but they should still prove to be a good challenge for a struggling and aging French team.

Defending champions Brazil also had their first match yesterday and looked thoroughly unconvincing in a 1-0 victory over Croatia. Ronaldinho had his moments and was unlucky not to score on a header that was stopped by a fantastic save from the Croatian keeper. Ronaldo looks like a shadow of his former self, a much larger shadow at that. His play looked lathargic and uninspired. With that being said, he had one chance to score what would have been an incredible goal, but it just went over the crossbar. I don’t know whether Brazil’s performance should inspire the Australian team, who face them on Sunday, or strike fear into them. I have a feeling Brazil is going to come out with all guns blazing and really take it to the Socceroos, if they manage to scrape a draw out of the game it will be a fantastic result and should almost guarantee a passage through to the second round.

One U.S. commentator, former U.S. player Eric Wynalda , said that after Croatia’s performance against Brazil, he expects Croatia to make it through the Group stage in the second spot. Don’t read too much into that though - he’s the same guy that said Kasey Keller was the best goalie in the world.

The best 10 minutes in Australian soccer history resulted in Australia coming back from a 1-0 deficit in the 82nd minute to score 3 goals in 10 minutes, defeating Japan 3-1.

Thanks to Scott for this image that was efficiently sent after the completion of the game

Up until the the 82nd minute, it looked like Japan was going to steal one from the Aussies who were the much better team for the majority of the match. Japan’s only goal came from an absolutely disgraceful referree mistake in the 26th minute of the match. Japan’s Shunsuke Nakamura crossed the ball into the box, and while he was going up for the save, Australian goalie Mark Schwarzer was fouled by Japanese players and the ball went into the net. Unbelievably there was no foul called on the play, and the referee allowed the goal to stand. Earlier in the match, Mark Viduka had been called for a foul against the Japanese goalkeeper for a play that involved less contact than what Schwarzer received.

Then the match went back and forth again with the Aussies continuing to be the better team with better opportunities. It wasn’t looking like the Aussies would be able to pass the Japanese goalkeeper, who was making some pretty decent saves. After a John Aloisi free kick was deflected out, the resulting throw-in was directed into the penalty area, where the Japanese goalkeeper charged the ball and missed terribly. It was left to Tim Cahill to direct the ball through traffic into the empty net. After this goal was scored, I went nuts, so I can only imagine what the atmosphere in pubs and houses around Australia must have been like. I thought that a draw would have been a good result considering the Aussies trailed for most of the match, so when Tim Cahill scored his second and what is now my front-runner for best goal of the world cup, I was yelling at the top of my lungs. Cahill took an offload from Harry Kewell, balanced himself, and sent a sweeping shot towards goal. The ball curled away from the Japanese goal keeper, striking the upright and finally going in. John Aloisi’s goal was no sloucher either - a beautiful left foot strike that rocketed past the keeper to complete a wonderful comeback in a match that Australia HAD to win to have any shot of making it to the second round.

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In another of today’s matches, the U.S. were completely outclassed by the Czech Republic. I predicted that the U.S. would not win any matches in the World Cup, and so far that prediction is holding strong. Unfortunately, in the U.S. the same media that built the team up into a group of World beaters are now coming down on the team like they are a bunch of easybeats. Soccer suffers in the U.S. because the media puts undue pressure on the team to perform at a level it isn’t ready for. Soccer can only succeed in the U.S. once the media realises that the U.S. is not going to win the World Cup anytime soon. They need to come to terms with the fact that making it out of the group stage would be a great result for the team. The sport needs support - even in the tough times. It doesn’t need to be forgotten about after every bad result.

What a big weekend for sport! World Cup Soccer, French Open Finals, the British Formula One race, and the NBA Finals.

So far in the World Cup there have been a few exciting games, but there were far more games that were lacking excitement. The team that has really stood out so far for me is Argentina. Riquelme looked dangerous every time he touched the ball against the Ivory Coast, and I believe that without him in the lineup, the Ivory Coast probably would have won that game. What I haven’t liked so far is the form of the English team. I thought Beckham had a good game, but apart from him, the team looked very flat and they will need to turn things around if they want any chance of competing for the championship. Apart from the first ten minutes of their match, Portugal looked very average also.

So far, this is the goal of the tournament

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In the French Open Finals, Justine Henin-Hardenne won her third French Open title in straight sets, 6-4 6-4. Good thing she wasn’t trailing early in the second set, otherwise she may have gotten ’stomach cramps’ again. On the men’s side, Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in 4 sets, 1-6 6-1 6-4 7-6. Federer came out on fire in the first set, and things really looked good for him. I really can’t explain what happened in the second set, but he totally lost his game and confidence. The third and fourth sets could have gone either way; unfortunately for Federer they didn’t go his way, and he’ll have to wait another year for the elusive French Open title he desperately wants.

Fernando Alonso won his third straight race at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. It’s looking like the championship is all but decided - especially considering he hasn’t finished any worse than second this year. It was another disappointing day for Australia’s Mark Webber, who didn’t even finish a lap after he was taken out by Ralf Schumacher, who lost control after Scott Speed nudged him while taking a corner. Speed called it a ‘racing incident’ and that he was in front of Schumacher going through the corner. I call BS on that. Speed was nowhere near in front of Schumacher going in to that corner and as a result of his ill-adviced move, he took 3 competitors out of the race.

Dallas has taken a surprising 2-0 lead over the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. What is even more surprising is the fact that Shaq has been a non-factor in the series. Shaq is normally bad from the free-throw line, but 2-16 is bad even by his standards. Add that to his 22 points COMBINED in both games and that spells trouble for Miami. It will be interesting to see if they can turn it around now that the series is moving to Miami for the next two games.

Australia’s first World Cup match in 32 years is 7 hours away. I’ll be up early and late to work so I can cheer the boys on - I hope all you other Aussies will be cheering too!

I can’t believe I’ve been hyping up that World Cup for the past couple of weeks and neglected to even mention who I think will progress from the group stage into the second round. Although I’m writing this post after the first two games have been played, with Germany defeating Costa Rica, and Ecuador defeating Poland, I will give the predictions that I thought prior to these games being played.

from the official World Cup site. I got rid of the crappy Budweiser advertising - none of that crap on this site!

In Group A, I liked Germany and Poland to advance to the second round. Unfortunately, I would have to say after Poland’s effort today they will most likely not be advancing.

From Group B, I have to take England (because I picked them to win the whole thing), and I think Sweden will make it through also.

I’ve seen a lot of ‘experts’ pick the Ivory Coast to advance from Group C, and one fool picked Serbia and Montenegro to make it to the second round. Two of the world’s top ten teams are in this group, and I don’t think there will be any surprises here. The Netherlands and Argentina will make it through.

Group D has the potential to produce an upset. Portugal is a lock to make it through, but I think if there is to be an upset it will be Angola advancing instead of Mexico. I’ll stay safe though and go with Mexico, but if Angola makes it through - remember where you read it!

In the U.S., Group E is being referred to as the ‘group of death.’ It isn’t - Group C is the group of death in this tournament. The U.S. are overrated and won’t make it through to the second round - I’m going to be bold and say they won’t even win a game. The media is predicting that the U.S. will make it through in place of the Czech Republic - that won’t happen. The Czechs have the best goalie in the world in Petr Cech ,and they’ll make it through to the second round, along with the Italians.

Now to the group that I’m most interested in - Group F. Brazil is guaranteed to make it through this stage, but the other three teams will provide very competitive matches. Who am I kidding? Australia makes it through and even holds Brazil to a draw!

Group G will have France finishing on top. I’m going to go with Switzerland to pick up the second spot - I just don’t think South Korea will repeat their effort from 2002, when they made the semi-finals.

Group H provides a really nice draw for Spain, who will advance. Tunisia will join them in the second round.

There you have it. It will be interesting to see how many I get correct. If you have any comments about my selections, please share them.

Since the BBQ will be dominated with World Cup content for the next month, I thought I would highlight some other events that are going on in the world of sport before all 4 of you get annoyed with my writings on soccer.

Congratulations to the person who successfully picked the NBA finals to be between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat - even though you also picked San Antonio to win the Championship before they were eliminated in the second round. Although common sense is telling me that Miami is going to win the series (and the Championship) because of Shaq and Dwayne Wade, it’s hard to ignore any team that beats the defending champions in a game 7 while playing on the champs’ home court. Dirk Nowitzki has been unstopable for the entire playoffs, and I think he’s going to lead Dallas to the Championship.

The French Open Finals will be played over the weekend also, with the women’s competitors already decided: Svetlana Kuznetsova playing against defending champion, Justine Henin-Hardenne-Soreloser-I’m ’sick.’ I would really like Kuznetsova to win this match, but I don’t see it happening. Henin-Hardenne in straight sets. On the men’s side, it looks like we’re heading for another Federer vs Nadal final. Federer is, without a doubt, the best and most complete tennis player I have ever watched, but he always struggles against Nadal, who is the best clay courter around. I think that if they both make the final, Federer will erase his demons against Nadal by winning his first French Open title. If he manages this, I GUARANTEE that he will win the Grand Slam this year, becoming the first man since Australia’s Rod Laver to accomplish the feet.

In local BBQ news, the Portland Trail Blazers have been put up for sale. While I’m not a fan of Paul Allen in the slightest (the fact that the fifth richest man in the world can claim one of his business is bankrupt makes me sick), you can’t deny the fact that he did everything in his power to bring a Championship to Portland. He came close, too. If it wasn’t for the biggest choke in NBA history in game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals against the Lakers, Portland would have won the Championship that year. The city and the fans need a fresh start - they have become increasingly despondent with Allen, and the sale of the team is what they need in order to fall in love with the Blazers again. Anyone have a spare $300 million?

Thanks go to Jim, who provided me with a link to some interesting Rugby League stats. Included in the stats are a 0-0 draw between Canterbury and Newtown in 1982, and the elusive 1-0 between St. George and Netown in 1973.

How good was Canterbury’s form in 1935? Losing 91-6 to St. George one week, then backing it up the following week with an 87-7 loss to Easts!

Good to see that Sean Hampstead has been dropped as the referee of the second State of Origin game. What is also good is that he realises that his own performance on the field contributed to his demotion.

I wonder if Tappe Henning realises just how bad a referee he is. If not, I read this quote from an ex-South African player who described Henning’s performance in his final match with: “Tappe was awful. He ruined the game.”

Former Wallabies coach, Bob Dwyer, summed it up nicely with: “As it was his last game as a referee, we figured he had tears in his eyes and was suffering restricted vision.”

The article continues on by saying, “When a referee plays the central role in the outcome of a match, it’s never good news. Add on the fact that the side that scored the only two tries of the game lost and you have a clear illustration of the thoroughly unsatisfactory outcome.”

One team’s total points came through 10 penalty goals? Sounds thoroughly exciting. Thankfully, we will never have to sit through another match controlled by Tappe Henning. However, if anyone would like to share some memorable Tappe quotes in the comments section, it should be good for a laugh!

Farewell Tappe, you will not be missed.

Over the next month, there will most likely be a barrage of posts relating to soccer and, in particular, the World Cup. It was nice to see that Sports Illustrated did a section previewing the tournament. What I found to be of great interest was Grant Wahl’s bracket of how he thinks the tournament will unfold. The bracket can be seen by clicking here (I apologise for the poor quality, but you should be able to enlarge it for a better look). Wahl has Australia making the quarter finals (which is what I voted for in the previous sportsbbq poll) and beating the #2 ranked side in the world, the Czech Republic, along the way. I don’t know if I should feel excited about this or not - especially considering he has the Ivory Coast finishing ahead of Argentina in Group C.

Things keep looking better for the Socceroos. This past weekend they played the Netherlands (#3 in the world), and with 10 men they fought out a 1-1 draw.

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Australia’s weakness is definitely their defenders, and they will need to perform better in the next two weeks for Australia to make it through to the second round. A poor clearance is what led to Van-Nistelrooy’s goal, and Mark Schwarzer cannot be expected to save everything that is launched his way if his defenders are ineffective. Other than the one blemish, Schwarzer did a great job denying the Netherlands further goals in the game.

I’m looking forward to the 6am match against Japan next Monday morning. I won’t be going to work on time, and it would be nice if I could wear my Socceroos jersey in afterwards. I don’t think they would like that though. Now I just need to think up an excuse to leave at 11:30am to catch to catch the game against Croatia on June 22. I’m sure i’ll come up with something!