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Neither the globe’s
most expensive soccer player, nor one of its most prolific marksmen
were able on Tuesday to remedy a worrying shortage of goals at Africa’s
first World Cup.

Both 80 million
pounds striker Cristiano Ronaldo, and goal machine Didier Drogba drew
blanks when Portugal and Ivory Coast played out a goalless Group G
encounter to add to the paucity of goals in South Africa so far. After
13 matches the net has bulged just 20 times, an average of 1.54 per
game, way below the 2.30 average for the whole of Germany 2006 and
higher figures in previous years. Portugal’s Ronaldo came closest when
he hit the post in Port Elizabeth with a thundering long range shot,
and Drogba came on as a second half substitute for the Ivory Coast
despite a fractured arm.

The day’s earlier
match produced only two goals when Slovakia and New Zealand drew 1-1 in
a Group F game. That clash of the outsiders in Rustenburg gave each
their first points in a World Cup as cold temperatures and pouring rain
hit the only winter edition of the tournament since 1978, even
extending to the tropical port of Durban.

Exceptional Germans

Only the German
side has shown real World Cup class so far with a 4-0 drubbing of
Australia on Sunday that will have surely struck fear into their big
name rivals. While South Africans continue to exude pride and
excitement at hosting the tournament, there was tragic news from
elsewhere on the continent. Residents of anarchic Somalia said Islamic
militants had killed two people and arrested 35 for breaking their
strict ban on watching the tournament on television.

Fairly Peaceful

While this
tournament has largely been problem free and filled with joy despite
the lack of goals, about 2,000 stadium stewards in Durban who clashed
with riot police in a protest over wages early on Monday were paid off
on Tuesday. Police said they were taking over security at Durban,
Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth stadiums because of the
dispute.

Dispute hasn’t been
restricted to labour issues, however, and controversy is growing among
players and coaches over the World Cup’s new ball, called the Jabulani.
Crosses, free-kicks and long-range shots have been skying over their
targets in the thin air. Another issue is the incessant whine of the
vuvuzelas with teams now experimenting with sign language, especially
when goalkeepers are trying to organise a defensive wall.

But the plastic trumpet clearly has some fans. An iPhone application
that copies the drone that has been compared to a swarm of giant bees
has been downloaded more than a million times. Even though the
application was designed in the Netherlands, this is unlikely to please
Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk, the tournament’s chief curmudgeon and
most vociferous critic of the South African instrument.

When the Super Eagles step onto the
pitch later today, for their match against Greece, they will be firing
on all cylinders, aware of the fact that only a win will give them a
realistic chance of advancing to the knockout rounds of the World Cup.

Not even a draw will do, so they must
go for a win; something they have not been able to achieve since their
1-0 defeat of Bulgaria back in 1998.

“The match against Greece is so
important now because we simply have to pick up three points. We’re
still in with a good chance,” said Wolfsburg forward, Obafemi Martins,
who was used as a second-half substitute in the 1-0 loss to Argentina.

The loss to Argentina extended
Nigeria’s winless streak in the World Cup to six games, but the former
African champions side still have a realistic chance of qualifying for
the round of 16.

“Even though we lost the game to
Argentina, I believe the boys can bounce back with the next two games,”
said former Nigeria international, Sam Okpodu.

“We played very conservatively against
Argentina and waited for opportunities to counter attack. Either way,
Argentina should have won by a bigger margin,” he added.

Final chance

Indeed, the Argentines ought to have
won by a much more comfortable score line but the Super Eagles also had
opportunities to punish the South Americans, but wasted these chances.

They are now confronted with their last
chance to show they are not in South Africa to make up the numbers, and
will need to show a better attitude and confidence than they displayed
in their loss to Argentina, if they must get the three points from
today’s encounter.

“We created a few chances against
Argentina, but we could have created more,” said England-based coach,
Chukwuma Akuneto. “The Argentine defenders were clearly lacking in
pace, but (Obafemi ) Martins and (Osaze) Odemwingie were only brought
in after the break.

“I expect both of them to start this
time around because the Greeks also lack pace in their defence. This is
something we need to exploit, but we can’t afford to be wasteful this
time around because chances may be few against the Greek,” he said.

The introduction of Martins and
Odemwingie added more bite to the Eagles’ attack as they were able to
carve open the Argentine defence on a few occasions; Diego Maradona was
forced to pull out Angel Di Maria, a forward, and replaced him with
Nicolas Burdisso, a defender.

Greek coach, Otto Rehhagel, is renowned
for his defensive tactics and it won’t come as a surprise to many if
the German decides to play as many as five in the defence, even though
his side needs a win.

But the Greeks have never scored or won a game at the World Cup, and
they will be against a country that defeated them back at the 1994
World Cup. That was the year the Super Eagles made it to the round of
16, which they repeated four years later in France. But they failed to
reach the knockout rounds in 2002 and nothing less than a spot in the
next round will satisfy their fans.

The Super Eagles
head into today’s game against Greece, aware that defeat in
Bloemfontein will almost certainly spell the end of their World Cup
dreams after their damaging opening defeat at the hands of Argentina.

The Super Eagles
went down 1-0 to the Argentines last Saturday in Johannesburg, the same
day the Greeks fell 2-0 to South Korea, which also leaves the Greeks in
a desperate need of points to keep their tournament hope alive.

Super Eagles’
striker, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, believes the solution to overcoming their
opponents lies in an offensive approach to the game.

“We have to attack with panache and at the same time, defend with resolution. There will be no mercy,” he said.

The Everton forward put in a hardworking display against the Argentines and speaking to Fifa.com, said:

“We didn’t play
many warm-up games before we got here, but we got better in each one
and our rhythm has gotten better and better. If we keep the same spirit
and mentality, we can go through to the next round at least.”

Possible changes

Coach Lars
Lagerback hinted at possible changes from the team that started against
Argentina at Ellis Park, but he kept all firmly to his chest as he
addressed the post-training press conference on Wednesday. But Osaze
Odemwingie may likely take the place of Chinedu Obasi, while Obafemi
Martins may take the place of Obinna Nsofor, after coming on as a
substitute against Argentina.

The Greeks, under
Otto Rehhagel, are a pragmatic side and have been known to play as many
as five defenders if necessary in a game. But the German-born coach may
likely start with a 4-3-3 formation today and is expected to recall
centre-back, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, to the starting line-up after he left
the Liverpool defender out of the game against the Koreans.

Italy goalkeeper,
Gianluigi Buffon, could miss the rest of the World Cup with a back
problem after doctors said his recovery time was impossible to estimate
following further tests on Wednesday.

The 2006 World Cup
winner, still widely regarded as one of the best keepers in the world,
has a small herniated disc after suffering a sciatic nerve problem
before Monday’s 1-1 draw with Paraguay in Italy’s Group F opener. The
32-year-old is definitely out of Sunday’s game against New Zealand,
will almost certainly not play in the final group match with Slovakia
on June 24 and could miss much more.

“Certainly on Sunday he can’t be on the field,” Italy team doctor Enrico Castellacci told reporters.

“We have decided he
will stay with us and we will try everything for him to recover. When
talking about a herniated disc, even small, we can’t say how long it
will take.”

Filling the shoes

Injury-prone
Buffon, who has suffered a similar problem in the past, was substituted
at halftime on Monday having first indicated his discomfort in the
pre-match warm-up. Inexperienced keeper, Federico Marchetti, who
replaced Buffon on Monday, is now poised to start on Sunday in
Nelspruit for only his seventh cap. Marchetti was playing in Italy’s
second division just two years ago. Castellacci said Italy had already
asked FIFA for permission to give Buffon special medication to treat
the problem which although small can cause intense pain. Italy centre
back Giorgio Chiellini bemoaned the loss of Juventus team mate Buffon,
but was confident Marchetti was ready.

“It’s obvious how
much he’s worth to the team, and playing with him all season I know how
important the World Cup is to him,” he told reporters. “Marchetti did a
good job when he came on. He’s got a lot of quality and he won’t have
any problem replacing Gigi. Goalkeepers live in their own world, so I
think the best person to help him out is Gigi. The only thing I can
provide is tranquillity. He doesn’t need my advice.”

Midfielder, Andrea Pirlo, who missed the opener with a calf problem,
and will skip the New Zealand game as well, is on course to possibly be
available for the Slovakia clash. The rest of the squad trained
normally in warmer conditions after Tuesday’s biting cold.

Still brimming with
confidence after their impressive showing against former European
champions Greece at the weekend, Group B leaders, South Korea, are
ready to upset two time World Cup Champions Argentina when both teams
clash later today at the Ellis Park stadium, Johannesburg.

Both teams got off
to a winning start with the Koreans more convincing in their 2-0 win
over Greece, while Argentina were lucky to win against Nigeria.

The winner of this tie will be guaranteed a place in the round of 16 following last Saturday’s results.

Argentina have emerged victorious from both of their previous meetings with Korea Republic.

However, Korea
Republic will be encouraged by the solid performance of their
neighbours North Korea, who held mighty Brazil to a goalless draw in
the first half of their match on Tuesday before succumbing to a 2-1
defeat.

Old foes meet

The two coaches are
no strangers to each other having featured in their teams’ meeting at
Mexico 1986, where La Albiceleste ran out 3-1 winners. South Korean
coach Hun Jung-Moo had the unenviable job of man-marking Diego Maradona
that day – a thankless task for anybody in a tournament where today’s
Argentina coach inspired his country to their second FIFA World Cup
triumph.

Twenty-four years
on, they cross swords again with Huh hoping for a different outcome as
he bids to become the first indigenous coach to lead Korea Republic
into the last 16.

Argentina are 41
places higher in the FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking but Korea Republic
have proved in the past they are more than capable of springing
surprises, a fact borne out when they beat Italy and Spain to storm
into the last four on home soil at the 2002 World Cup.

Their 2-0 victory
over Greece on Saturday should ensure confidence is high in the Korea
Republic camp although they do not have the same wealth of talent in
their fold like the Argentines who have the likes of Lionel Messi,
Diego Milito, Javier Mascherano and Juan Sebastian Veron amongst many
others.

France take on Mexico in a potentially decisive 2010 FIFA World Cup Group A match in Polokwane later today.

For the French
team, they will be trying to avoid a repeat of the 2002 World Cup
fiasco, which saw them being knocked out in the first round without
scoring a goal. The French were roundly criticised for their lacklustre
display in the 0-0 draw with Uruguay on Friday, and they know that they
need to step up the quality of their attacking play if they are to
trouble an equally good attacking side like Mexico.

Raymond Domenech
received criticism for not changing his tactics early enough in the
match against Uruguay, and he will want a result against Mexico so as
not to be go into the final group game against South Africa needing a
win. With Laurent Blanc waiting in the wings to take over after the
World Cup, Domenech is under pressure to deliver.

Head-to-head France
have by far the superior head-to-head record in the six previous
meetings between the teams, with five victories and a draw. The two
teams have played each other at the World Cup thrice with France having
the edge with two victories and a draw. The last meeting between the
two sides dates back to 27 May 2006; a friendly match France won by
1-0. Also, France have been unbeaten against CONCAF teams in four
previous matches at the World Cup, having amassed three wins and a draw.

Meanwhile, France reserve goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso has been ruled
out of the World Cup with a thigh injury. Carrasso pulled a left thigh
muscle in training on Monday and will miss the remainder of the
tournament, but a request to replace him was turned down. Mexico
manager, Javier Aguirre, has vowed to continue his attacking mentality
when his side take on the 1998 world champions. The Mexicans set out
with a 4-3-3 formation against South Africa, and are expected to keep
going with their three-pronged attack of Guillermo Franco, Carlos Vela
and Giovani Dos Santos.