2010 FIFA World Cup: 10 Stray Observations Regarding the World Cup So Far

Now that the opening matches for all the groups are in the books, here are 10 stray observations about the World Cup, the matches, and other miscellania:

1. Yes, the vuvuzelas are loud. Get over it. That droning BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ sound has been the bane of everyone's World Cup experience so far. The players have complained. The BBC is considering filtering out the sound of the vuvuzelas from their broadcasts . Some are even questioning just how traditional the vuvuzelas truly are. Regardless of what opinions exist, it's South Africa's right to run the tournament as they see fit. Trust me, when we get the chance to host the World Cup again, American stadiums will be filled with the irritating sounds of the ThunderStix . I think the vuvuzelas have created some fun, at least on the Internet. You could listen to the vuvuzelas without even watching a match. And, whaddya know, there's an app for the vuvuzelas as well.

2. Goal scoring is down. Way down. 25 goals in the first 16 matches (not counting Uruguay ringing up 3 against South Africa late today), in comparison to 34 scored during the first 16 matches in Germany '06. There's a multitude of reasons or scapegoats, ranging from the Jabulani ball created by Adidas, to the quality of the pitches (fields) themselves, to the diverse geography and altitude, to the long club seasons the majority of players are still recovering from, but I think it's the cautious nature of the offenses that's resulting in a multitude of draws and less goals being scored. Points come at a premium, so any points you can earn, even for a tie, boost your chances for advancing to the knockout stages. Even if it means goal scoring must be sacrificed.

which brings me to my next point...

3. Not all teams are playing cautiously. In fact, Germany, Argentina, and Chile are throwing caution into the wind. Yes, these three teams all employ fantastic striking forwards, but, as Germany with their 4-2-3-1 and Argentina employing a 4-3-3 formation, these formations reveal one giant truth regarding attacking football - games are won and lost in the midfield. By control possession and play in the midfield, midfield virtuosos like rising superstar Mesut Ozil of Germany have been able to exploit defenses more concerned with the likes of Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose.

4.Forget all this griping about the Jabulani. Goal scoring is down? Must be the ball's fault . Yep, with every World Cup comes a new ball from Adidas, one that players roundly criticize. Funny, that ball didn't seem to hinder the Germans from putting up 4 goals on Australia. Nor did it stop Uruguay from ringing up 3 against South Africa. Players will always gripe about the World Cup ball, but, in time, they'll get used to it, and the bitching will thankfully cease. Faulting a ball for the lack of scoring is like faulting a baseball bat for the lack of home runs: it's not the equipment, it's the player, silly.

5. The World Cup so far has been about the goalkeeping. Really bad goalkeeping. Robert Green's blunder aside (and more on his blunder in a bit), Justo Villar's brain-fart prevented Paraguay from pulling off an upset win against Italy. Algerian 'keeper Fawzi Chaouchi poorly misjudged Robert Koren's long-range shot, giving Slovenia a howler of a win against Algeria. Ri Myong-Guk's mental error on Maicon's dead-line shot prevented the gritty North Koreans from pulling off an upset against Brazil. With each game, there's more and more pressure mounting on the 'keepers to be at their best. Expect another mistake or two from goalkeepers as the pressure mounts.

Word also came that Italy's Gianluigi Buffon may be out of the World Cup with a herniated back. Buffon's proven to be perhaps the finest netminder in the game right now, so for Buffon to be out altogether robs us of the opportunity to see one of the best ever.

Still, not all the goalkeeping's been bad. In fact, some of it's been pretty spectacular, especially Nigerian 'keeper Victor Enyeama's miraculous saves against a relentless Argentina attack; his two saves on a pair of Lionel Messi point-blank strikes would have made Gordon Banks proud. And Tim Howard's performance against England also deserves praise; after absorbing an unintended cleat to the ribs from Emile Heskey, all seemed bad with Howard, but a painkiller shot and steely reserve were enough to keep that match at a draw. Howard was easily the best player of the US-England match.

6. Enough with Green's blunder already! Look, England, you didn't lose. Yes, you expected to win, of course you did, but Robert Green's brutal mishandling of Clint Dempsey's long-range shot was not the real reason you were deprived of 3 points. Wayne Rooney was virtually handcuffed all game, and what few scoring chances he was able to muster, his shot selection proved weak. Besides, in the annals of English goalkeeper, Green's gaffe doesn't even come close to Peter Bonetti's dismal display against West Germany at the 1970 World Cup, or David Seaman's brutal mishandling of a Ronaldinho free kick at the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals; both goalkeeper flops were the sole reason for England being drummed out of the tournament on each occasion. As for the match itself, for once the hype was justified; it wasn't a tactically flawless match, but the passion and the determination from both sides was clearly evident. There was some suggestion that Bob Bradley outcoached Fabio Capello, but I just didn't see it that way; Bradley once again showed a reluctance to make that go-for-the-throat substitution when it counts, meaning he should have subbed Robbie Findley for Hercules Gomez, and not Edson Buddle. But Bradley's the manager, not me.

For me personally, it was a thrill to catch this match at Courtyard Hooligans , a local soccer pub, where the members of the local chapter of the American Outlaws were there to provide a colorful, raunchy atmosphere.

7. Maybe Diego Maradona actually knows what he's doing. The man has always thrived on unpredictability, but, so far, he's managed to impress (albeit mildly) with a strong, attacking 4-3-3 (or 3-4-3, depending on how you see it) that exploited Nigeria's defensive gaps and gave Lionel Messi the room to create and improvise. Most importantly, by shifting the attention away from the team and onto himself, El Diego is possibly enjoying something very few Argentine managers have ever enjoyed with the national team: a happy, team-first ethos. The Argentina we saw against Nigeria, a swashbuckling, intense, joyous, united team, was light years away from the clumsy, dispirited, shambolically disorganized bunch that fumbled their way into the World Cup. Yes, Jonas Gutierrez was often caught out of position in this attacking-oriented offense, but, for once, Diego seemed to know what he was doing. I would have liked to have seen him sub the ineffective Gonzalo Higuain sooner, rather than later. Diego's, ahem , tactically know-how will be put to the test against the speed and dangerous South Koreans, and we'll see how he fares. So far, so good.

8. Parity? You bet. And it's not so much that the teams are evenly matched. Far from it; what we saw during the Brazil-North Korea and Spain-Switzerland matches is that lesser teams won't be easily intimidated by the big dogs. Yes, Brazil was finally able to break down the spirited North Koreans, but we were left more impressed by the North Koreans' resolve than Brazil's eventual victory. Switzerland's stunning win over Spain was eerily reminscent of the US' victory over the same Spaniard The aforementioned gaffe by Paraguay's Justo Villar prevented Paraguay from defeating the world champion Italy. The Netherlands' display against Denmark was uneven and listless; a gruesome own goal from the Danes was all the Dutch really needed, and that's not good enough. Even Cameroon, perhaps the class of Africa, was frustrated by a gritty Japan, who stole a victory from Cameroon. The point being, the favorites are showing some glaring weaknesses. Brazil looks vulnerable, and Spain now has a mighty uphill battle ahead of them. And, to my surprise, the African teams, playing in their home continent, have failed to impress. Aside from a sterling, well-deserved victory from Ghana against the heralded Serbians, Algeria looked tactically inept, the Ivorians were content to play for a draw, Cameroon fizzled from the opening whistle, and, other than a stirring opening day draw against Mexico, South Africa was embarrassed today by Uruguay. So far for the African participants, 1 win, 4 losses, 1 draw.

9. For once, ESPN is getting their World Cup coverage right. From scoring a huge casting coup in the incomporable Martin Tyler calling the bulk of the matches, to setting up shop in front of Soccer City, to broadcasting every match on ESPN, ESPN 3, and ESPN Mobile, the network is finally dedicating the right resources in providing the best coverage for such an awesome event. Just 4 years ago, ESPN's coverage was abysmal, punctuated by Dave O'Brien's idiotically condescending play-by-play calling; O'Brien infamously brushed off criticism, saying the diehard and knowledgable football fans were not the audience ESPN was trying to attract. By dropping the layman's approach, ESPN's finally realized that there's no need to dumb down the game. As expected, Martin Tyler's been a breath of fresh air. Derek Rae is always spot-on and deeply insightful, Adrian Healey's done a solid job, and kudos to Ian Darke for making even the least tantalizing matches seem highly interesting.

The pre- and post-game shows have been the biggest revelation for me. Bob Ley has always been the defacto face of ESPN's football coverage, and he's done strong work anchoring a solid analysis crew. Yeah, Alexi Lalas does seem to be too in love with the sound of his voice, but his insights are often justified. It took a while, but I've grown to like Ruud Gullit's analysis, and he seems to grow more and more confident. For me, the revelation's been Roberto Martinez. It's easy to see why the Spaniard's so fancied as Wigan Athletic's manager. Plus, early reports indicate the ratings for ESPN's coverage are the best they've ever earned .

And, most importantly, thank you ESPN for keeping the insufferable Tommy Smyth away from the coverage!

10. The big stars, except for Lionel Messi, haven't shown up yet. Yet. Messi didn't score (despite taking 8 shots, 4 of them on goal), but his mesmerizing play that is part and parcel of the legend he's forging for himself at Barcelona was finally on display for Argentina. And there's nothing to suggest he won't be replicating the same. As for some of the other big name stars...Cristiano Ronaldo, despite a booming free kick that was mere inches from being the best goal of the tournament so far, instead resorted to what we dislike about Ronaldo: his penchant for diving and for endlessly whining. Wayne Rooney simply could never get unstuck from Jay DeMerit's fly-trap defending, and he was often seen complaining and throwing his hands in the air in frustration. Kaka was simply non-existent against North Korea. And despite his broken arm, Didier Drogba's bravery could not translate into efficient playmaking; aside from one daring run in the box, Drogba wasn't very effective in a drab, colorless match against Portugal. Surely they'll all put on better displays, but, for the sake of their squad's chances, they need to put on those better displays sooner, for later will be too late.

 We've got several good matches coming up. Argentina takes on South Korea, the US faces a very crucial group match against Slovenia, Brazil faces Ivory Coast, and, perhaps in an upset in the making, North Korea looks to stun Portugal.