LET’s put the disappointing show of our African teams behind our minds and focus on the exciting, awe-inspiring actions which will be displayed by Super Sixteen teams in the second round of the 2010 World Cup. It’s true that African teams failed to meet our expectations only for Ghana to sneak through the second round but even big European teams struggled too and disappointed their fans. Africa also made history in Fifa books with Bafana Bafana being the first host nation that has failed to make it to the round of 16. Europe had the most entrants into the 2010 World Cup with 13 nations taking part. Seven of those nations failed to make it out of the group stage. It’s very disappointing too but the critics mainly from Europe opt not to talk about it. It was worse for Italy and France. The two nations that played in the final of the 2006 World Cup failed to win a single game in the group stage, and they both finished last in their respective groups. This marked the first time that both nations who played in the previous final and qualified for the next World Cup failed to make the round of 16. It’s only teams from North, South, and Central America that brought pride to their nations in the tournament. They also made the tournament exciting with fine strikes. The fact that the second round will be a thriller is because for the first time in World Cup history all five South American teams advance to the knockout round and stand favouriotes to win the title. The second round kicked off yesterday with Uruguay being the team to reach the quarterfinal after their 2-1 win over South Korea. One of the most anticipated second round matches will feature the Group D winners Germany against the Group C runner-up England. These two teams know each other well and have a long history on the pitch. They will both open up and play an attacking game. Focus and pressure will be on Argentina as they are facing Mexico again. Both sides had met in the qualifiers prior to this tournament. Though Mexico has no star on team just like Argentina is, but the Mexicans have a solid team and will put up a good fight. Ends
