World Cup 2010: Day 4 - Players to watch & more

Who's going to shine on the World Cup stage?

14 Jun 2010 13:32:00

By Ewan Macdonald

More On :  Cameroon, Denmark, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Paraguay, L. Barrios, Stéphane M'Bia, Robin van Persie, Giorgio Chiellini, Keisuke Honda, Netherlands vs Denmark, Italy vs Paraguay, Japan vs Cameroon
With so many matches already over, it feels like the World Cup's been going for weeks. In fact this is just day four, believe it or not. Exhausting? Sure - but exciting, too, and the best is yet to come.

Today we see the attacking force of the Netherlands come face to face with a Denmark side with their own part to play in proceedings. Japan will hope to emulate near-neighbours South Korea in starting out with a win against Paul Le Guen's Cameroon, and then there's the defending champions of Italy facing Paraguay.
Don't Miss

It's all here...

Today's Schedule

Netherlands - Denmark Monday, June 14, 2010 - 13:30 local time
  • Preview: The Dutch are overwhelming favourites in the bookies' eyes
  • The free-scoring Dutch had a 100% record in qualification
  • Denmark have won all three of their World Cup openers in history
Japan - Cameroon Monday, June 14, 2010 - 16:00 local time
  • Preview: A huge crowd is expected in Bloemfontein for this one
  • Japan have played - and beaten - African opposition once, namely Tunisia in 2002
  • Cameroon haven't had a winning start since 1990
Italy - Paraguay Monday, June 14, 2010 - 20:30 local time
  • Preview: The World Champions against CONMEBOL's third force!
  • Italy have failed to impress in friendlies and are wracked by injury
  • Paraguay beat European opposition in the form of Greece on June 4.
Five Players To Watch Today

Keep an eye out for these ones...

Robin VAN PERSIE

Netherlands		 The Arsenal striker is perhaps the most on-form striker around heading into today's game. Four goals in three friendlies prior to the tournament tells its own story.
Keisuke HONDA

Japan		 For Japan, Keisuke Honda is fast becoming the most recognisable player around. And with good reason: the new CSKA Moscow acquisition is one of the most gifted offensive midfielders in the entire World Cup.
Stephane MBIA

Cameroon		 Mbia is widely unknown outside of France, where he has spent his entire professional career. That's the rest of the world's loss: a versatile performer, he is worth watching both in midfield and in defence, and is considered a Cameroonian rock.
Giorgio CHIELLINI

Italy		 Italy's success in 2006 was built off the back of a strong defence. Fabio Cannavaro ruled the roost back then: now it's Giorgio Chiellini's turn to grab the headlines. Expect to see him involved at both ends of the pitch.
Lucas BARRIOS

Paraguay		 And the man whom Chiellini may well fear the most is Lucas Barrios. Having only taken Paraguayan citizenship this year, Barrios has wasted no time in winning over local fans, scoring a goal in all three of his friendly appearances thus far.

Did You Know...?

Fun Fact: Ghana's Lee Addy, brought on as a substitute for the final two minutes of stoppage time, was the only player from either Ghana or Serbia to play in their respective country's local league. The full-back plays for Bechem Chelsea in the Ghanaian Premier League.

11 The number of yellow cards dishes out by the three referees. Two of these, of course, were "seconds" that resulted in reds.
70,000 The attendance at Durban's magnificent Moses Mabhida Stadium for Germany-Australia on Sunday night.

What We Saw Yesterday...
Algeria 0-1 Slovenia
For the second successive game the World Cup witnessed a goalkeeping howler, Fawzi Chaouchi contriving to let Robert Koren's shot into the net 11 minutes from time. The Polokwane crowd had earlier been roused by substitute Abdelkader Ghezzal's sending off; in the end the Europeans prevailed without complication.
Serbia 0-1 Ghana

An intensely disappointing Serbia performance, and some dynamic attacking from Ghana, saw the Black Stars run out 1-0 winners thanks to a late penalty in Tshwane/Pretoria. The 10-man White Eagles seldom threatened, and squandered those few chances that they enjoyed; meanwhile Ghana, steeled by excellent performances from the likes of Asamoah Gyan, Prince Tagoe and Andre Ayew, looked impressive. A Gyan penalty five minutes from time settled matters in the capital: Raddy Antic and his boys now have some thinking to do.

Germany 4-0 Australia
Germany became the first side to really let loose in front of goal in the tournament so far as they put the Socceroos to the sword in Durban. An early Lukas Podolski strike was added to by Miroslav Klose before a questionable Tim Cahill red card effectively ended the game. Thomas Mueller and Cacau added further goals to give the European side in a great position to qualify.

MORE
 
Our  provides the best breaking news online and our  football fan community is unmatched worldwide. Never miss a thing again!

Follow Goal.com on Twitter

Follow Goal.com on Facebook
 
play pause open close
Live!
England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 4-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.

Hosted by Joe Doyle
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.

"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.

"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."

"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."

Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
19:32 BST
We're getting plenty of people saying it was boring. PLENTY. But Spain scored seven goals in eight games at the World Cup and I didn't hear too many of their fans complaining. Or as Fran Stinchcombe points out on Twitter: "If we had lost but played free flowing attacking football would these people still have moaned?"
Inside Goal.Com
  1. Welbeck convinces Hodgson he is the man to lead the line Welbeck convinces Hodgson he is the man to lead the line

    England beat Norway 1-0 at Wembley, with the Manchester United man hitting an impressive winner to stake his claim for a starting spot at Euro 2012

  2. The five players Rodgers could sign to kick-start revolution The five players Rodgers could sign to kick-start revolution

    The new Reds boss was unveiled to the press on Friday and must immediately begin work on revitalising a thin squad with some additions in the transfer market

  3. Managerial merry-go-round keeps spinning as Lambert takes Villa job Managerial merry-go-round keeps spinning as Lambert takes Villa job

    The Scot officially left Norwich City on Saturday to become the second new boss in June, following the appointment of Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool on Friday

  4. Rodgers ushers in new Anfield era on his own terms Rodgers ushers in new Anfield era on his own terms

    The Northern Irishman inevitably expressed his delight at landing the Reds job but evidenced plenty of the steely resolve which could see him become a success at Anfield

  5. The definitive timeline of FSG's hunt for new manager The definitive timeline of FSG's hunt for new manager

    Kenny Dalglish's sacking at the end of the season sparked a massive hunt for the next Anfield boss, and the former Swansea man has been chosen after several turned the job down