Alright, let's get it out the way! Cristiano you are the greatest! You are the most perfect thing not only to grace a football pitch, but to grace this earth! It was such a smart tactic getting injured (wink, wink!) during the Euro 2016 final which turned out to be the key factor in your country upsetting the French. And, those who question your ego need only see your selfless display on the touch throughout the second half and during extra time in which you were just giving your experienced manager (who naturally had nothing to do with Portugal's success...), pointers on how to lead a team, right? Right, with the ass kissing out the way and my future BBC job secured, he are my thoughts on day 2!
The first surprise of the day came when the BEEB's three man pundit team of Jermaine Jenas, Phil Neville and Matthew Upson for the opening match of the day proved actually quite solid. The great mystery to Neville is how such a decent pundit is so dreary when on commentary? Let's hope the broadcasting resist the urge of placing the great bore behind the mic for our opening on Monday. Special bonus points go to Neville and Jenas for having a spat about the central midfield battle being lost during the first half. Admittedly, this was hardly biting stuff, but by the normal lifeless standards of these guys it was a nice distraction. Jenas is one of those guys who is just too nice put down too much, but like a friend of mine once pointed out is too nice to be a good pundit also. Upson mirrors his playing days as a broadcaster, nothing special, but a nice steady presence, with decent knowledge. As fun as it is to knock Lineker as host, he remains one of the best at keeping the show ticking, with fun quips, and sharp engagement with his panel.
The opening match of the day felt like a familiar World Cup group stage game. Uruguay fancied to go far in the tournament struggled to get going, with their big talent having off days. Luis Suarez especially having a stinker. Edinson Cavani even on an off day made a difference to the game. The other reason Uruguay struggled to perform on the day was because their street fighting skills went missing. It was Egypt more up for the fight in a patchy first half. The underdogs showed good work rate and their impressive high pressing game led to sloppy mistakes from Uruguay. Egypt's call to rest top striker Mohamed Salah was probably wise with more winnable games against the hosts and Saudi Arabia to come. The manager Hector Cuper came close to pulling off a masterstroke with the unlikely draw just moments away before the late winner. The Uruguay fans did bring colour and passion to day two - their national anthem (the longest of any), a great moment. The moment of tournament up to that point came in the 23rd minute, with the Suarez, goal-disallowed goal-terrible miss summing up football's appeal as a game about random, surreal moments that happen in such a flash that it leads the viewer question just what has happened?... What turned out to be a poor miss was a start of a theme for Suarez and his country on the day. The contrast between the two afternoon games and the main event in the evening, was that the unsung heroes were the highlights in the earlier games. Captain Diego Godin and his centre back partner Jose Maria Gimenez (scorer of the 89th minute winning header), were probably Uruguay's outstanding performers (the nerdy half-time debate over if Godin or Spain's Ramos is the best centre back in world football was a gem from the pundits). Meanwhile, Egypt's in-experienced keeper Mohamed El-Shennawy, a surprise selection ahead of 45-year old Essam El-Hadary almost stole the day on his International debut, with impressive saves, first point break from Suarez, then at the striker's feet (for which Suarez overplayed the ball). The man nicked named Trezeguet showed little flashes for Egypt, but without Salah there was almost no goal threat from them. Still, I thought they were unlucky not to nick a point. The game finally bust into life in the final ten minutes, with Cavani's late free kick thundering off the post, with the resulting rebound not favouring Uruguay suggesting that this would not be their day, before Gimenez showed the attackers how its done.
Iran's last grasp winner over Morocco in the late afternoon slot provided a bit more goal mouth action, but as a match was not much better. Before Spain and Portugal bucked the early tournament trend in a back and forth six goal thriller will probably end up being one of the top five matches of the whole tournament. The early Ronaldo penalty set the pace (unlike his later free kick award, I felt the ref got this one right). If not for that early goal the game may have drifted into the expected mediocre fare that meetings between two of the big guns normally do this early on. Spain on the night were especially impressive, with their topsy turvy week proving to be a non-factor in their performance. Questions again will be asked about whether they have peaked as a great nation? On this night they played with great spirit, coming back twice from going behind and then to be leading late into the game should give them great heart. For a good majority of the game they played with the style of peak-era Spain (Portugal stuck in the game with an impressive counter attack game). Most impressive was how they mixed up their style on the night, with two nicely worked route one goals getting the best of Costa (I'm claiming two assists from Busquets for my dream team!), who still doesn't quite feel at home playing for Spain. In midfielder Isco there is proof that the rich depth of the Spanish and their future of being half decent may not be such danger. The main issue maybe the defence which at times looked all at sea. Not withstanding how brilliant Ronaldo's late free kick was, i'm pretty sure that if Spain had defended better on the night they would have seen the match out. de Gea's unexpected blunder for Portugal's second shared with Suarez for WTF moment of the day. A mind blowing match that exceeded expectations, but the question is whereas Uruguay are working their way into the tournament have Portugal and Spain peaked too soon?
Star of the Day: Mohamed El-Shennawy (the debuting Egyptian keeper could do with a bit of spotlight)
Dork of the Day: Luis Suarez (when he's not playing his best the striker can be a bit of a bore).
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