Mexicans show tequila instinct

It took a week of largely uninspiring games, and the near elimination of our hosts, but the World Cup finally got into gear on Thursday with 10 goals, a red card, penalty, own goal and more goalkeeping/Jabulani controversy. Game 1 saw the much lampooned Diego Maradona take his talented but defensively naive Argentina team to face their footballing opposites, a pragmatic and formulaic South Korean side devoid of any world stars. Maradona taking charge of the Argentina team is a bit like George Best taking charge of Northern Ireland, or Paul Gascoigne becoming England manager, he is loved at home for his on-field genius and off-field antics but respect as a coach has been less than forthcoming.

Despite Maradona's perceived lack of tactical nous, or perhaps because of it; Argentina romped to a convincing 4-1 win with Lionel Messi predictably taking centre stage. The regimented South Koreans did well to keep the majority of the Argentina team quiet, but had no answer for the best player in the world and it was Messi's free-kick that was deflected past the despairing Jung Sung-Ryong for the opening goal. Although Messi was the difference his team-mate and beneficiary Gonzalo Higuain will take the headlines with a hat-trick after being in the right place at the right time to execute simple but effective finishes. South Korea threatened sporadically but were unwilling to commit players to attack and created very little, they did manage a goal in first half injury time - a chance gifted when Demichelis was caught in possession by Lee Chung-Yong and the Bolton winger who finished with aplomb. An improved performance from Argentina and particularly the decision to replace Juan Veron with Maxi Rodriguez offered the team a better balance, but Maradona's defence will face sterner tests in the coming weeks and the jury is still out for me. Lovely stuff though.

Game 2 looked like being a rather drab affair with an out-of-sorts, underachieving Nigeria taking on the uninspiring Greek side. A turgid opening but the game came alive when a soft Ulche free-kick was crossed into the penalty area and beat everyone including goalkeeper Tvorzas. A cheap early goal which gave Nigeria confidence and they looked likely to get a 2nd but what followed was a first ever World Cup win for Greece. The Greeks owe a huge debt..... to Nigerian midfielder Sani Kaita whose petulant kick at Torosidis meant that his side would play for an hour with just 10 men. Advantage Greece levelled 10 minutes later when a hopeful Salpingidis shot took a deflection and looped over a wrong-footed Enyeama. The 2nd half was a fast-paced frenetic affair with wave upon wave of counter attack and counter-counter attack, Obasi particularly profligate for Nigeria missing an open goal when the ball rebounded to him quickly. Greeks winner came courtesy of a Tziolis header spilled by the otherwise excellent Enyeama allowing Torosidis to net from range. More misery for Nigeria, one of the best supported sides at this tournament and a welcome boon for Greece but with qualification out of their hands it's unlikely we'll see much more of (or miss) this pair, 

Finally the evening kick-off (or Game 3 for the pedants) was France against Mexico, 'Les Bleus' versus an 'El Tri' side aptly clad in Gaelic green. Having qualified unconvincingly and controversially the French look set to go home early with their tails between their legs, Raymond Domenech's men seem almost embarrassed to be there and were taken apart expertly by an improved 2nd half Mexican performance. Demotivated, disorganised and public discontent in the camp, this French side falls behind the sum of its parts and were inferior to a settled Mexico in all areas. The Mexicans were set up with 2 wide strikers in Vela and dos Santos, with deep lying centre-forward operating between defence and midifeld causing confusion in the French defence with their direct running and drop off play and numbers behind the ball allowing possession only to defenders Gallas and Abidal.  Impressive stuff - particularly from gung-ho left-back Salceido, but it wasn't until the introduction of 37-year old Blanco for Franco and new Manchester United signing Hernandez for Juarez that Mexico capitalised. Captain Marquez spring the high French defensive line for the on rushing Hernandez, with time and space he showed composure to round goalkeeper Lloris and score. A reaction from the French was expected, they had improved from the dire performance against Uruguay so there was hope, and with Henry and Gourcoff on the bench there were class reinforcements available. Reinforcement arrived in the guise of tiny Mathieu Valbuena for his first competitive cap. If the French hadn't given up they certainly weren't showing it, and their misery was compounded when Blanco's late penalty put the game beyond any doubt. France are not out of the tournament yet, but with one game to play in Group A a tactical draw between Mexico and Uruguay on Tuesday will see both sides qualify for the last 16.

Tonight sees England's 2nd group game when they take on Algeria in Cape Town. With the British media continuing their condescending and patronising coverage of the plucky South Africans showing cheery enthusiasm and optimism in the face of adversity you have to wonder why the same fuss isn't made of the England fans.