La Copa Mundial: Day 1

Paul Gardner once said about soccer, "To asthete it is an art form, an athletic ballet. To the spiritually inclined, it is a religion.

Well, Opening Day at the World Cup in Germany truly is the soccer sabbath day. The first day of a month-long competition that rocks the world with grace, unity and pride. What a day for sports. What a day for the world. What a day for me.

Selfishly speaking, the first day was great. I got to see a high-scoring match and an upset. What could be better? Perhaps a day when England, Argentina, Sweden and the Ivory Coast all play. And yes, I mean tomorrow. Unlike March Madness or the NBA Playoffs when the excitement dies down after the first few rounds, the World Cup gets better with each passing day.

--Germany's attacking style looked good. But, as you heard Marcelo Balboa say 37 times during the course of the match, the offside trap doesn't work against quick strikers. Wanchope is good and quick, and Ecuador has some quick guys up front as well. Trouble might be brewing for the Germans against a solid defense that shuts them down, and a quick offense that gets behind their defenders.

Costa Rica played poorly, despite scoring twice. They are usually a free-flowing, fun team to watch (as is every Latin American team, really). Today, they just didn't have it. Germany was bigger, tougher and really played like a home team behind their fans.

With Ballack, Germany won't be that much better on the attack than they were today (today's performance was as good as it gets attacking), but they will have a bit more of an anchored midfield. The leadership and strength Ballack brings to his team might make them a little stronger on defense. Manager Jurgen Klinsmann will work with his defense on avoiding that offside trap in the next two games, so don't expect the Germans to concede two goals again in the group stage.

--Boy, can that ball knuckle or what? The ball was just flying everywhere. I can't wait to see more long tries like the ones from Lahm and Frings today.

--Anyway, Poland just looked unorganized and a little out of it. They didn't seem to really care about losing. Ecuador played with some pizzazz and theirs resembled the Opening Day performance of Senegal just four years ago.

--Tomorrow, England and Paraguay kick off at 7 a.m. I will be up and ready. The English should win. Watch Frank Lampard work in the midfield and Peter Crouch in his first big game up front. Then we'll see Trinidad & Tobago get handled by Sweden, and then Argentina will play the Ivory Coast. My upset alert is for the Argentina-Ivory Coast game. The Coast looks good, and Argentina doesn't have a great defense.

See you tomorrow.