We’re into the double digits now. There have been great matchups and moments every day so far. Today was no exception. We got some answers as to how legit some of these teams are.  And we also found out that some teams just aren’t good enough.  Here’s what I saw from today’s games:

Netherlands 5-1 Sweden

I think it’s safe to say two things: the Dutch have arrived and Brian Brobbey needs to start. What a performance from the Oranje. The Dutch were flying out of the gate and Brian Brobbey had a brace within the first 17 minutes. Sweden just couldn’t cope. They couldn’t get the ball forward as their strategy was to try to go long. With Van Dijk, Van Hecke and Van de Ven back there for the Netherlands, I’m not sure that was a good idea. Sweden did get back into the game in the latter part of the first half when they started to play through the midfield. But they still went into half 2-0 down. Cody Gakpo would then get a brace of his own within the first 9 minutes of the second half to fully put the game away. The Swedes got a goal through Anthony Elanga in the 59th, when he used his pace to torch the Dutch defense. But the Dutch would restore their 4 goal lead in the 89th via a Crysencio Summervile goal.

The big takeaway here is that the Dutch are just really good. I knew that coming in, but they feel like a complete team, especially with Brian Brobbey up top. When you’re a team who has the ability to create a lot of chances you need to have a physical poacher up top. Brobbey provides exactly that. For the Swedes, it’s clear they have some brilliant forwards. But that isn’t enough. They simply aren’t good enough in any other area of the field.

Germany 2-1 Ivory Coast

Both of these teams won their opening group game but in very different fashions. Germany destroyed Curaçao 7-1 to get their World Cup started while Ivory Coast needed a late goal to defeat Ecuador 1-0. I said at the time that Germany’s win didn’t really tell me a whole lot about their prospects in this competition and that their games against Ivory Coast and Ecuador would be more important. Coming out of this one, I have some thoughts.

Ivory Coast got the first goal here in the 30th minute and the game looked really competitive. They had chances to score a second throughout the rest of the game but weren’t able to get it done. For Germany, it took second half substitute Deniz Undav’s goals in the 68th and 90+4′ to get the three points and secure their qualification out of the group.

When looking at the big teams in this tournament, I want to see a strong comprehensive performance against a team that isn’t one of the minnows. I haven’t seen that yet from Germany. Had they won this game relatively comfortably, I would feel different. Ivory Coast are a solid team and for a while it looked like they were going to come away with the win. At this point, I have concerns about Germany getting past the round of 16. Maybe that’s enough for them but given their history, it shouldn’t be.

I feel a little bad for Ivory Coast coming out of this one. They played well enough to get something from this game. The good news for them is they get to play Curaçao next and should be able to get another three points. That will certainly be good enough for them to move on.

Ecuador 0-0 Curaçao

After a narrow defeat in their opener, Ecuador needed to take care of business here.  Curaçao were really just hoping to not get blown out again and maybe pull out an incredible result.  Well, well, well….

What an unbelievable result.  First, credit to Curaçao for defending resolutely.  Eloy Room had 15! saves.  Incredible stuff to get their first ever World Cup point. 

But what an embarrassment for Ecuador.  They blew so many chances to score and then late on resorted to diving to try to win a penalty.  Incredibly shameful.  I had such higher hopes for them.  They have some big names in defense and midfield but zero attack.  Enner Valencia is just too old.  Not much else to really say about it.  Just an awful game for Ecuador and their tournament is in serious danger of being over.

Japan 4-0 Tunisia

There was some intrigue coming into this one.  At least for me.  Japan looked really good in their opening draw against the Netherlands.  Meanwhile, Tunisia looked horrible against Sweden in a 5-1 loss but fired their manager and brought in Herve Renard.  Surely they couldn’t look as bad as they did in their first game.

Well, Japan got the scoring started early with a Daichi Kamada goal in the 4th minute.  It was a good ball across the box from Keito Nakamura that Kamada was able to get on the end of.  Not sure he knew a ton about the finish but still, credit to him for being in the right place.  Someone who did know about finishing was Ayase Ueda.  He fired a shot low and to the far corner in the 31st that gave Japan a 2-0 lead they’d take into halftime.  They would add two more goals in the second half through Junya Ito and a second for Ueda to secure the 4-0 victory.

So about Tunisia…..they did in fact look pretty much just as bad as they did against Sweden.  Very disappointing from them.  But the bigger story here was Japan easily taking care of business.  They looked fantastic and have now set themselves up with a chance to go through as group winners.

Group Updates

In Group E, Germany have guaranteed top spot after their win today and the Ecuador draw against Curaçao.  Ivory Coast are in an outstanding position to finish second.  The only scenarios where they don’t finish second are ones where they lose to Curaçao.  Who, despite their draw against Ecuador, are heavy underdogs against Ivory Coast.  For Ecuador, they have to beat Germany for a chance at moving on.  And while Germany will have nothing to play for, it’s still a tough ask.  Curaçao are still alive but need to beat Ivory Coast.  So needless to say, there’s a lot up for grabs for the three teams not named Germany heading into the final day.

In Group F, the Netherlands and Japan are virtually tied for the top spot.  Because they drew one another, they’re even on head to head.  And due to both winning today by 4 goals, their goal difference is also the same.  So it goes to goals scored where the Netherlands have a one goal advantage.  For the final group game, the Dutch get to play a Tunisia side that have been eliminated from the tournament while Japan play Sweden.  You’d have to expect the Netherlands to beat Tunisia by a good margin, which would secure them first in the group.  That would leave Japan and Sweden likely fighting for second, with Sweden needing a win to get there.  In the end though, those top 3 spots are still up for grabs heading into the final group game which is what you like to see.

Stray Thoughts

• Ok, I have to call out these “match breaks” again.  First of all, they’ve started to interchange the terms “match breaks” and “hydration breaks”.  Which one is it?  But more importantly, these breaks materially change games.  In the first game of the day, the Netherlands were all over Sweden.  But the match break allowed Sweden to regroup and they were much better after it.  That shouldn’t happen.  The purpose of these is supposed to be player health, not giving teams an advantage to do extra tactical instructions.  It’s a joke
• What is up with these game times?  Again.  I complained about it yesterday and it was arguably worse today.  Why were there two hours between games 2-3 and 3-4?  Makes no sense to me at all.  I’m sure the answer would have something to do with timezones but honestly I don’t even want to hear it. 

So that’ll be all for Matchday 10.  We got to see 13 goals today from 3 games, with a 0-0 draw sprinkled in.  Pretty good stuff if you ask me.  For Matchday 11 we get to see groups G and H, where every team is on point.  There’s a lot to play for and the results should set up some interesting scenarios for the final group games.  Can’t wait to see how it plays out.  See you there!