occasional posts by risa aratyr
essays on World Cup 2010
Moments after Clint Dempsey’s effort was turned away, Kevin-Prince Boateng robbed Ricardo Clark of possession in the center circle, took off in an exhilarating run, and shot a low ball past Tim Howard for Ghana’s first 2010 WC goal from open play. Perhaps Team USA had been lulled into complacency by watching their opponents’ rather … Read more WC Fields [k.o.] — USA v Ghana
Off the post for the Korean Republic — so close! Heartbeats later, a way too deep ball had Forlán backtracking like crazy to collect it, then returning it with a perfectly placed cross, dead between the Korean back line and keeper. The keeper came out for it, but succeeded only in leaving the goal untended … Read more WC Fields [k.o.] — Uruguay v South Korea
The Swiss certainly had their share of set pieces, due to late tackles by the Hondurans. Too bad they couldn’t convert them. They needed 2 goals to go on in the competition. They had their chances to score, but didn’t. Honduras held on and held the Swiss back. The relatively ordinary, as-expected run of play … Read more WC Fields — Switzerland v Honduras
Though the other 2 teams in the group (Portugal and Brazil) seemed by far the more likely to progress, Cote d’Ivoire clearly wasn’t resigned to relegation. Their lively start produced 3 opportunities in the first 12 minutes of the game and culminated in Yaya Toure scoring a minute later. His spectacular goal was fuel to … Read more WC Fields — North Korea v Cote d’Ivoire
Portugal sat back for the 1st half, evidently content with their one win and massive goal differential. Though Brazil was sitting pretty at the top of the Group G table, they looked the more likely to score. The 2nd half started better, with Portugal creating several chances and Cesar with a brace of excellent saves … Read more WC Fields — Portugal v Brazil