The hosts got off to a dream start as they adopted a shoot on sight mentality that hasn’t been used since the war. They beat Costa Rica 4-2 in a fixture that was not as one sided as the score makes it seem.

Poland suffered the first shock defeat of the tournament being comprehensively beaten by Ecuador who have the same goal difference as Germany winning the game 2-0.

England struggled to overcome Paraguay, the fastest ever own goal in World Cup history was all that separated the princes from the paupers. Group B is far from settled as Sweden were held to a 0-0 draw by plucky Trinidad and Tobago who had only 10 men for the majority of the second half. If England continue to play as they did against Paraguay they too may only get a draw from TnT which would blow the group wide open. Especially if Sweden win against Paraguay.

The Ivory Coast were unfortunate to be beaten by Argentina, they must not have watched Germany’s opening game, or they might have tried shooting from outside the box. Their connection with Arsenal was evident as they tried to walk the ball in to the goal, and spent most of the time playing down the wings. Chelsea had both of their strikers on show and both scored for their respective countries, however Drogba’s effort was not enough to inspire the comeback the africans needed. The other match in group C was decided by another player from the Abramovich All-Stars, Holland’s Arjen Robben scored the goal that separated them from Serbia & Montenegro.

In Group D the games went the way that the bookmakers expected with Mexico and Portugal, beating Iran and Angola 3-1 and 1-0 respectivley.