Denmark vs Japan

24/6/10 Rustenburg

Japan 3-1 Denmark

Goal Scorers: Keisuke Honda, Shinji Okazaki, Yasuhito Endo and Jon Dahl Tomasson [D]

The Samurai Warriors have drawn their swords. Their footwork is superb too. A gorgeous goal from Honda, kicking it oh so lightly, and the ball obeying, sweeping sweetly into the goals. Certainly one of the best in the tournament. The goals from teammates Okazaki and Endo were also superbly earned. The Danes were out of their depth, a reasonable conclusion, seeing as beating Cameroon is not a very difficult task at all. 

So, this is the second Asian team to move to the next round, with only N. Korea left to join their group. The South Americans all have qualified, with Chile already on six points. Unfortunately, the Africans were left behind and the Europeans barely held on. The Japanese [their hair looks odd] will now face the Paraguayans in the next round, hoping to advance beyond that, something they have not done before. 

Netherlands vs Japan

19/6/10

Netherlands 1-0 Japan

Goal Scorer: Wesley Sneijder

So far, Netherlands have not played entertaining soccer, in fact, their two matches have been rather boring. The goals too, were not at all exemplary, this one hit the hands of the goalie. If only goalies made fewer mistakes, at least we would have more losses where they were deserved. They have won though, and with six straight points on board, they are going to the super 16. They do have one of the easiest groups, and I'm actually impressed that they won both matches, seeing how awfully the other teams have done.

Hup Holland Hup!