Germany vs Sweden

The score is still standing at 2:0. (88th minute) After Podolski scored twice, first in the 4th minute and the second in the 12th.

It's the first match of the World Cup I watched at length. Unlike Idol contests, World Cup is more interesting only from Round 2 onwards, the quarter-finals, semis and the final. 3rd and 4th placing is...well, less than side dish.

We were at galilee and friends watching the first half of the first Round 2 match.

The full time score (93rd minute) remained at 2:0.

I don't think the Germans played particularly well. The organisation was there (Germans leh, vorsprung durch technik) but lack some x-factor of a World Cup champion.

But the Swedes were horrendous, made the Germans look damn good.

Sweden had no midfield in existence. Not that it was bad. It was non-existent. When that happens, the defenders get alot of pressure. Which was obvious in the first half. German attacks rained on the Swedes. Poor goalkeeper from Sweden. You will notice that forwards will start move towards the midfield to try and bring the ball through for themselves cause they are not being fed any balls. A lousy midfield will also cause players to strike long balls deep into the opponent's third. Not effective when your forwards are tired from moving around too much.

And that is why the Brazilians, Spainiards and the Argentinians are going to go a long way. Their midfield department is formidable.

I'll see how my analysis compares to regular newspaper reports tomorrow.