Germany 2006 Day 10

This post was written on Sunday, but I was unable to post it until today. Time and date on post are correct for when it was written.

June 20th 10:41PM

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Ooooookay..

So maybe the Brazil thing didn't work out. I get it. The better team will only be upset by the underdog when I predict they'll easily win..

Brazil 2-0 Australia

Now, Australia didn't make it easy on Brazil, so it's way too early to count them out yet.

Japan 0-0 Croatia

Not a lot that can be said about this. Brilliant save against a penalty for Japan, though.

France 1-1 Korea

France took the lead early, Korea pulled an equaliser late. Hmm.. somebody's obviously translated the English playbook into French.

Tomorrow brings Togo vs Switzerland, Saudia Arabia vs Ukraine, and Spain vs Tunisia.

I'm calling Spain, Ukraine and Switzerland.

BTW, check this out. A guest column by former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. This guy's a former world leader - and he's writing a column about football!!. This game really does extend to all peoples and all levels.

Just one group to check out today:

Group F

Brazil are first (naturally) with 6 points and +3 GD

Australia are second with 3 points and +/- 0 GD

Croatia are third with 1 point and -1 GD

Japan are fourth with 1 point and -2 GD

Brazil plays Japan, Croatia plays Australia, with only Brazil guaranteed to go through no matter what.

So...

In order to qualify, Australia must beat Croatia. A draw against Croatia will only help if either Brazil beats Japan or Brazil and Japan draw or Japan beats Brazil by 2 goals or less.

Croatia, in return, must beat Australia, and have Brazil beat Japan, or Brazil and Japan draw, or Japan beat Brazil with a combined GD of less than +1 in Japan's favour.

Japan needs to beat Brazil and have Croatia beat Australia, or, if Australia and Croatia tie, must beat Brazil by more than 3 goals.