One By One, They Start To Fall

So, the injury report, the first pieces of evidence as to why I was foolish to start picking World Cup results so far out.

* Wayne Rooney may not be at full strength, having suffered and then exacerbating a groin injury, which sounds infinitely worse to a male than it could possibly be, and that's saying a lot, because it is pretty bad, medically. Without him, England's attack will definitely lose a bit of its cutting edge.

* Charlie Davies did not recover in time, not to the satisfaction of the medical staff at Sochaux--his French professional team--and Bob Bradley, which leaves the US with a dilemma at striker. Who do you pair with Jozy Altidore? I have to say I like the idea of pushing Clint Dempsey up front; he tends to get too clever in the midfield and gives the ball away in dangerous spots, but he has a knack for finishing. This would let Bradley bring Brian Ching, Edson Buddle, or Herculez Gomez off the bench for attacking reinforcements. I like a midfield of Landon Donovan, Ricardo Clark, Michael Bradley, and maybe Benny Feilhaber, although he may be better coming off the bench, and that may not provide a second strong wing option other than Landon.

* Michael Ballack. This might be the most significant in terms of a loss for his team, and I'm not just saying that because his agent is talking about taking legal action against Kevin-Prince Boateng, the player who injured him in Chelsea's FA Cup Final against Portsmouth. Maybe the agent got confused because of Ballack's eerie resemblance to Matt Damon, and figured that Boateng--who plays for Ghana, one of Germany's group rivals, instead of Germany, the country of his birth--was part of a conspiracy against his client such as what Jason Bourne might deal with. One more reason to root against Germany, because that's just ridiculous.

DAY 13, JUNE 23RD, 2010

GROUP C

ENGLAND VERSUS SLOVENIA

I could see Slovenia pulling an upset here. But I don't. England wins 2-1 to secure the group.


UNITED STATES VERSUS ALGERIA

The United States might not win the whole thing, and we might not be among the very best in the world. Yet. But we have developed as a team enough to win this game to advance. 2-1.

GROUP D

GHANA VERSUS GERMANY

Look at that. You would think I planned that, wouldn't you? An added twist: Kevin Prince-Boateng could play against his brother Jerome who is in the German national team.

Remember that upset I didn't predict for Slovenia? Well, I'm picking it for Ghana. 2-1 in the final moments, Ghana scrambling in a dramatic winner.

AUSTRALIA VERSUS SERBIA

Australia is going to step up to make things interesting, forcing a 2-2 draw.

And now the final standings after the group games for groups C and D:

GROUP C

ENGLAND 3 WINS 0 LOSSES 0 DRAWS 9 POINTS

UNITED STATES 2 WINS 1 LOSS 0 DRAWS 6 POINTS

SLOVENIA 1 WIN 2 LOSSES 0 DRAWS 3 POINTS

ALGERIA 0 WINS 3 LOSSES 0 DRAWS 0 POINTS



GROUP D

GHANA 3 WINS 0 LOSSES 0 DRAWS 9 POINTS

GERMANY 1 WIN 1 LOSS 1 DRAW 4 POINTS

SERBIA 0 WINS 1 LOSS 2 DRAWS 2 POINTS

AUSTRALIA 0 WINS 2 LOSS 1 DRAW 1 POINTS