2010 FIFA World Cup: South America Rules The Tournament So Far

Five South American countries are participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In the first two rounds they played 10 matches, scored 18 goals while conceding only four. All the South American teams are running unbeaten while already seizing 26 points. All five countries are topping their groups and two of them have already qualified.

Brazil

Matches played: 2

Points: 6

Goals scored: 5

Goals conceded: 2

Dunga, the former 1994 World Cup winner captain, was a tough opponent in his playing career. He has now built a well-orgaized team with excellent defence.

Dunga left a bunch of world-class players at home. No Ronaldinho, Pato or Adriano. Though, the team chemistry is outstanding, just like in 2002.

The ex-defender coach still relies heavily on the famous Brazilian flair. Against the unknown North Korea they needed Maicon's superb move to win the match.

The Brazilian side presented more quality against Ivory Coast, where Luis Fabiano was sparkling and scoring twice. But there is a warning sign. They conceded on both matches even against North Korea. Dunga emphasizes the importance of the defence but sometimes Brazilians tend to neglect their defending tasks, which could cause problems against stronger teams.

Paraguay

Matches played: 2

Points: 4

Goals scored: 3

Goals conceded: 1

Paraguay caused shock in their first match against Italy. They were leading but they had to settle with one point in the end.

In the second match against Slovakia they managed to avert the danger from counter-attacks and deservedly won the game.

Roque Santa Cruz the prolific striker recovered from his injury and helped his team to move in sight of the second phase.

He said: "Our strength is the spirit in the camp, the hard work we put into every game."

Chile

Matches played: 2

Points: 6

Goals scored: 2

Goals conceded: 0

Coach Marcelo Bielsa is called "El Loco" which means the Madman. The Argentinean coach began training in Venezuela a few years ago.

But he saw that the Venezuelans won't accept his strict rules, so he left for Chile. And Chile qualified from the South American group one point behind the leading Brazil side.

Now they have already qualified from Group H. Chile was convincing against Honduras. They even managed to score against Switzerland who has just set a World Cup Finals record for consecutive minutes without conceding a goal.

Virtually, they broke a ten-man Swiss defence. Since Spain won against Honduras, the last round will decide which team meets with the Brazilians in the First Round of the Knockout Stage.

The only problems is that they only scored one single goal against Honduras, and if the Swiss crush the Central American team and if Spain manages to beat Chile, then the South Americans will fail to qualify with six points gathered.

Argentina

Matches played: 2

Points: 6

Goals scored: 5

Goals conceded: 1

After struggling during the qualification matches, no one expected that Diego Maradona would be able to form a contender team for the World Cup.

Maradona has featured almost 100 footballers in the national team since taking over in 2008. Now his outstanding motivational abilities are praised by the Argentinean players.

He left out great players like Javier Zanetti or Esteban Cambiasso (both players won Champions League with Inter this season) from his side, but he included Diego Milito and Gonzalo Higuain before the deadline.

The fans not only like Argentina because of the wins but for their positive attacking game, whereas everyone else tries to concentrate on defence. The Argentineans are all out to attack, and surprise—they only conceded one goal yet.

The jury is still out though: are Argentina’s spectacular attackers able to match with other quality teams like Holland or Brazil?

One thing is certain; we can expect real football from Argentina in this World Cup.

Uruguay

Matches played: 2

Points: 4

Goals scored: 3

Goals conceded: 0

With such outstanding strikers like Diego Forlan, Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, we expected fancy attacking football from Uruguay.

In the second game against South Africa, they duly delivered. The whole team depends on the experienced Diego Forlan who won Europa League for his club Atletico Madrid in May and humbled the hosts South Africa in the second match.

Coach Oscar Tabarez said that he never calculates, and only concentrates on the next match. With this mentality, Uruguay can cause a big upset during the World Cup.