So the first hurdle has been cleared, metaphorically speaking - the first cliff face has been left behind, either on top of it or far below.
Unfortunately, Portugal and Brazil decided in their match today that there's no need to show that they are number 3 respectively 1 of the world. Pity, and yet another big disappointment.
Well anyway. Have you noticed that two teams didn't score any points? North Korea and Cameroun, perfectly just and fair in the first case while not indicating at all the qualities of the second one. I think it is beyond doubt that North Korea has performed one or two categories behind all the other teams - the only thing which is unclear is whether it is actually one or two.
After that however it becomes very subjective. To me Greece is second best on the worst team scale - not because of their qualities (they've got actually some good players, and they could have performed much better), but because of their tactics (which was, never risk a thing except in case you outnumber the opponent by at least one player). And third place on this scale the French team - even though there are many stars playing in their team: but if the team isn't a team in the proper sense then it's only to be expected that they couldn't get anywhere.
After that, it'd be a choice of Algeria, Honduras, Cameroun, and possibly some more. Of those teams which could be expected to go through I'm especially disappointed about Serbia (even in their game against Germany they didn't play good at all), and of course Italy, needless to say. Positive surprises? That Argentina, after some problems in the beginning, indeed seem to be in the mood to go to the finals, and possibly even win there. Period - that's about it really. Sure, there were some surprises, like the US qualifying, or New Zealand not losing a single match, but those teams just played okay but not great.
My tip for finals: Argentina (sending England home) against the Netherlands (knocking out Brazil), and if it'll come to that I wouldn't really care who of them would win, I would be happy for both.
