World Cup Roundup Day 4

The Dutch looked convincing in their 2-0 win. They did get the benefit of an own goal on the part of Denmark. They did get a beautiful goal from Dirk Kuyt which is classical of their flowing style of offense. Denmark is not completely out of the tournament since Cameroon, which was thought to be the other power in this group, suffered a loss to Japan. This is only Japan's fourth World Cup and they looked like a squad that has finally materialized into a significant competitor. This just shows how much soccer has globalized at a top level of play. The afternoon game between Italy and Paraguay was a rather boring affair that ended in a tie. Paraguay should have won this game after scoring late in the first half. The Italians seemed to be lackluster and ineffective. They will not win the World Cup if they continue to play like this.
Tomorrow starts play in the "group of death". The marque matchup is Cote d'Ivoire- Portugal which should be electrifying with the play of Ronaldo and Drogba. The key question is whether Didier Drogba, who broke his arm in a warm up match, will start or even play. Slovakia-New Zealand will be a very good quality match. Brazil-North Korea could be a beat down for the Koreans similar to the Germany-Australia match on Sunday. The Brazilian samba speed footwork should overpower North Korea.