The World Cup, the greatest sporting event in the world, is upon us. The soccer celebration taking place in South Africa will be viewed by over a billion people when all is said and done.
As much as we’d like to be able to watch every single match, for many of us, it just won’t be possible. I thought I’d give you my take on three can’t-miss first round matches.
The first round has an interesting dynamic. With every team’s introductory matches they start on even footing, the motivations for all teams are the same—get off to the best possible start.
As we get deeper into the first round, the motivations and situations for teams can change. Teams may have little motivation in the third game after winning their first two, while others may already be knocked out after two games.
It’s very difficult to pin down three matches. You must find time on Friday morning to tune into the opener between host South Africa and Mexico. That being said, here are three can’t-miss introductory matches.
Argentina vs. Nigeria - Saturday, June 12
With Lionel Messi, who has a chance to cement his status as one of soccer’s greatest players ever, and a host of players playing in the most prestigious leagues in the word, Argentina could win it all. But their biggest weakness is their coach Diego Maradona.
Maradona himself is considered one of the greatest players of all time but his antics and poor coaching nearly cost Argentina their place in South Africa.
Still with Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, and Inter Milan’s Champions League hero Diego Milito, Argentina can seemingly score at will. Central defenders Martin Demichelis and Walter Samuel have plenty of big game experience to go with tough, no-nonsense play.
Nigeria has been one of Africa’s strongest teams for nearly two decades. Their strike partnership of Obafemi Martins and Aiyegbeni Yakubu is world class. Martins has the speed and Yakubu has the power. Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel has unfortunately been ruled out of the tournament due to inadequate time to recover from knee surgery. That will be a huge loss for Nigeria and as a result, Argentina should dominate the middle of the park.
As much as we’d like to be able to watch every single match, for many of us, it just won’t be possible. I thought I’d give you my take on three can’t-miss first round matches.
The first round has an interesting dynamic. With every team’s introductory matches they start on even footing, the motivations for all teams are the same—get off to the best possible start.
As we get deeper into the first round, the motivations and situations for teams can change. Teams may have little motivation in the third game after winning their first two, while others may already be knocked out after two games.
It’s very difficult to pin down three matches. You must find time on Friday morning to tune into the opener between host South Africa and Mexico. That being said, here are three can’t-miss introductory matches.
Argentina vs. Nigeria - Saturday, June 12
With Lionel Messi, who has a chance to cement his status as one of soccer’s greatest players ever, and a host of players playing in the most prestigious leagues in the word, Argentina could win it all. But their biggest weakness is their coach Diego Maradona.
Maradona himself is considered one of the greatest players of all time but his antics and poor coaching nearly cost Argentina their place in South Africa.
Still with Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, and Inter Milan’s Champions League hero Diego Milito, Argentina can seemingly score at will. Central defenders Martin Demichelis and Walter Samuel have plenty of big game experience to go with tough, no-nonsense play.
Nigeria has been one of Africa’s strongest teams for nearly two decades. Their strike partnership of Obafemi Martins and Aiyegbeni Yakubu is world class. Martins has the speed and Yakubu has the power. Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel has unfortunately been ruled out of the tournament due to inadequate time to recover from knee surgery. That will be a huge loss for Nigeria and as a result, Argentina should dominate the middle of the park.
