Round 2 Summary

Confederation Status

Confed	Tm	2R	QF	P	W	D	L	Pts	G+	G-	GD	Win%	Pts%
CSF	5			10	8	2	0	26	18	4	14	90%	87%
UEFA	13			20	7	8	5	29	25	16	9	55%	48%
OFC	1			2	0	2	0	2	2	2	0	50%	33%
CONF	3			6	1	3	2	6	6	7	-1	42%	33%
AFC	4			8	2	1	5	7	6	19	-13	31%	29%
CAF	6			12	1	4	7	7	6	15	-9	25%	19%

Intra-confederation games (e.g. Spain-Switzerland, are excluded)

Looks like AFC was a flash in the pan. However, New Zealand managed to "improve" on the surprise draw with Slovakia by holding the current World cup holder to a 0:0: tie.

Observations

A two wins un-scored upon Chile is the odds on favorite to be eliminated. I can't recall a case in which a team with two wins from two games was likely to be eliminated. Chile has to face Spain which must win in order to ensure advancement. In the other game, Switzerland, which also must win to ensure advancement, is facing Honduras which is ye to score a goal. If Spain wins 1:0 and Switzerland wins 2:1 (both reasonable scores), then Chile drops to third place in the group.

On the other hand Nigeria with two losses, only need Argentina to beat Greece (expected result) in order to control their own destiny – any type of a win will see them through and face one of the easier round of 16 opponents.

Clearly CSF with 90% success rate is doing extremely well and people are talking about a Brazil – Argentina final. I don't think that the dream final will happen. Brazil could have to face the "best" Europe has to offer (Spain, Netherlands and England) in order to reach the finals. Argentina could face Mexico, Germany and Portugal/Paraguay.

On the other hand, England could reach the semifinals with wins over Slovenia, Ghana (without their star) and Greece. Paraguay could reach the semifinals with wins over New Zealand, Japan/Denmark and Switzerland. I'm not saying that either will happen, but the fact that both a real possibility after two rounds have been played is saying something.

Last night I went to the Spain – Honduras game in Ellis park. Arguably, this stadium held the most important sporting event (when sporting and non-sporting impact is included) of all time. That event was the 1995 Rugby World Cup, if you haven't seen the movie Invictus – go rent it.

I went to the game with a FlyerTalk friend from Sandton, we drove down to the game early and watched the Chile – Switzerland game at the Troyeville hotel which is a very short walk from Ellis park. Since we drove down early there was no traffic to deal with and the bar at the hotel still had chairs, less than ½ an hour later the place was full. The game itself was enjoyable, but I had to use ear plugs for the first time in almost 30 years to keep down the noise from the vuvuzelas.

The only down side on a great day was when we headed back home, the people we parked with, asked for the rest of the money when we got to the car. A firm "no" and a short discussion ensued, and we got across the point that no more money is coming their way. On the way back we used a back way – avoiding the highway and we got back to Santon without even seeing a traffic jam. The drive from Santon back to Pretoria was very smooth, I'm still getting used to driving on the right hand side, and I was back in the room before midnight.