Quick thoughts:

-- A huge percentage of free kicks and crosses are missing their marks. It cannot be that all the players are terrible. The Jabulani ball simply flies differently, and that's annoying, because it undermines skill.

-- Argentina's attack is wildly entertaining and Messi is definitely the best (and most exciting) player in the world, but man, the Argentine defense is iffy. La Albiceleste are wonderful to watch, just remember: in the Copa America in 2007, they looked brilliant all tournament and then got mugged 3-0 by Brazil in the final.

-- Four years on and the French still miss Zidane badly. We all do.

-- Blanco's penalty kick against Lloris was absolutely perfect. Blanco's a pain in the ass, but he's always been expert with the pelota.

-- Italy was criticized for the Paraguay draw, but actually the Italians were quite lively after Paraguay went up 1-0. Sometimes I suspect reporters don't even watch the Italian games, they just write the stereotypical "the Italians were boring" story.

-- Zonal Marking is an unbelievably fantastic site. It's what futbol commentary should be like. Tactical, technical, intelligent.

FF