So now the tedious Group stages have come to an end and a few surprises were duly delivered. Here is a group by group review of the third round of matches in each group.
Group A: France went into the final game with more team action happening off the field than on it. Les Bleus lost their final game against hosts South Africa (who also head out). Now the French public are holding a public inquiry about the poor performance and the French PM Sarkozy is to hold a private one. Certainly the opposite can be said about the hosts who, considering their ranking of 83, did very well and DID NOT end up bottom of the pile. The French should just be glad that the guillotine has been outlawed.
Mexico, as predicted, go through along with final round opponents, Uruguay.
Group B: They say the line between genius and crazy is very fine and that is no more evident than in the man that is Diego Maradona. Shuffling the pack for the last game and still coming up with a win. Three wins from three, top of the group and looking good to go all the way.
South Korea are the other team go through after a 2-2 draw with Nigeria in the final game, who go home along with the Greeks.
Group C: England finally step up their game in what was a must win game but it was not enough to grab top spot. The top spot went to the American team after Landy Cakes scored in the 91st minute against Algeria.
Slovenia went home with Algeria as expected.
Group D: The Germans did enough against Ghana to bounce back from their soft loss to Serbia in the previous round. Ghana, despite their loss, go through in second place and were to be the only African nation to do so.
Australia finished off their campaign with a win and it was only due to their slow start against Germany in the competition, losing 4-0 which sent the Aussies home on goal difference only.
Group E: Holland were through before these round of games were played but that didn't stop them still continuing their tradition during this World Cup and come away with a win.
The other game in this group saw Denmark face Japan with both teams knowing a win for them would send them through. It was Japan that would step it up to the next level as they sent Denmark home with Cameroon with a final 3-1 win.
Group F: In what could be classed as the best 15 minutes of the World Cup Italy followed France out of the Competition and in the process became the highest FIFA ranked team to exit South Africa.
Meanwhile New Zealand remained undefeated in the tournament but still go home. The All Whites again will be proud of their performance as no one really expected them to get a point from this experience.
Group G: Brazil and Portugal make it through...big surprise. The real surprise is that Portugal only went through over Ivory Coast on goal difference after slamming seven past North Korea in the previous round. Brazil did what they needed to do to get through but I am still unsure about the Portuguese team and their progression.
Group H: Spain went into the final game with nerves as they wanted to stop becoming the third big European team to go home at the first hurdle. The Spanish need not have worried though as they would win and progress along with the team they just beat, Chile.
Switzerland knew that a win combined with a win for either team in the other game would see them go through. However, maybe still on a high from the Spain win in the opening game, they failed to score against a weak Honduras side.
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