La Copa Mundial: Day 2

Well the second day was just as good, if not better, than the first day at the World Cup in Germany. I woke up at 6:30 a.m. MST to see England and Paraguay kick off.

--England's defense looked really good against Paraguay. They were organized and strong in defense, and that made Paraguay really struggle down the stretch. But their attack was hurting, they didn't really seem together in Paraguay's defensive third, which is something they will have to work on in the next few matches. Joe Cole was brilliant for the English, dribbling through defenders several times and creating a few chances. Stewart Downing also did well off the bench. I liked Peter Crouch in the first 60 minutes or so, he had some good touches and was very aggressive. But he needs to learn to challenge for headers with his arms down, or he will be a lot less effective.

--Trinidad & Tobago shocked the world with a 0-0 draw with Sweden. The Swedish had countless opportunities, but the Trinis just held them off. I still think Sweden will be OK. I think they will beat Paraguay, a team that just doesn't have any spark to it. The Trinis will be run over by England, and their few days in the spotlight will end. But they did play well with 10 men for a half, and it was good game to watch.

--Ivory Coast was kind of disappointing, but Argentina looked great for several key parts of the match. They controlled the pace, tempo and possession of the match, and never seemed in doubt of winning. The Ivory Coast was unorganized and absent in the midfield, and that has to change if they want to even challenge Holland to stay in contention.

--The Ivory Coast-Argentina game was the worst broadcasting of any sport I've heard since Joe Buck and Tim McCarver last October. I don't need some roughneck dude from Brooklyn slurring his words and Americanizing the game for me. American soccer fans aren't stupid. We don't need everything to be compared to Shaq and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The NFL has nothing to do with soccer, and I'd prefer to keep it that way. No more analogies please, and get these guys a pronunciation guide.

Tomorrow is another early day here in the Centennial State (Colorado, people, c'mon). First, we'll see Holland play Serbia & Montenegro. Holland is one of the most fluid attacking teams in the world, and Serbia & Montenegro is one of the best defensive teams around -- heck, they only allowed one goal in their 10-game qualifying stretch. Then Mexico will demolish Iran and Portugal will demolish Angola. It's worth getting up to see the first match, which will kick off at 9 a.m. EST. Great chess match. Enjoy!