hungryOn the eliminated teams,the Stars and Stripes simply ran out of miracles mainly because Richard Kingson was that good guarding Ghana's net.The fact that both 2006 finalists went three-and-out in the group stage is a sure eye-popper:Not so much the behind-the-scenes drama that tarnished le Tricouleur,but rather how gli Azzurri was neutralized in what turned out to be a 'Group of Death':aside from being held to a pair of 1-1 ties in their first 2 games;while the defending champs were shocked in a must-win against the Slovakians despite offensive signs of life.Speaking of 'Groups of Death,'being placed in one that included France,Uruguay,and Mexico contributed to South Africa becoming the first host country to go three-and-out though they did beat France.On the lighter side,at least the still-alive Portuguese had the guts to 'nuke North Korea' in one sense;while nobody thought the Slovenians would make things interesting for the English or the Americans...
Back to the Blue Samurai,they've already advanced further than a pair of teams that made them bottom feeders in a 2006 Group of Death:not only did Croatia fail to qualify for this year's edition,but the Suckeroos were doomed early when they had their star get red-carded on top of getting throttled by the Germans in their cup opener...
Happy birthday to Sumiko Shirakawa(who turns 75),Makoto Ataka(who turns 53),Yuuko Minaguchi(who turns 44),Kaori Asou(who turns 43),Isshin Chiba(who turns 42),and Chiro Kanzaki(who turns 31)...