By continent, here are the results:
South America: 5 wins, 0 losses, 2 draws. All five South American teams look like they want to advance. You'd expect good performances from Argentina and Brazil, but Paraguay drew with Italy, Chile is just plain fun to watch with their attacking style and Uruguay pummeled the host nation with a very impressive display.
Europe: 5-5-4. Italy's unexpected draw pales in comparison to Spain's loss to Switzerland. Spain is considered the Cup favorite and hadn't lost to Switzerland in the last 18 games! Spain is rarely held goalless, but Switzerland's nothing-like-Swiss-cheese defense shut them out. The Swiss have gone 490 World Cup minutes -- more than five games -- without conceding a goal. Good job back there.
Germany and the Netherlands looked impressive as expected, but how about Greece getting its first WC win ever? Too bad it won't fix the Greek economy. France, a team that's been in the semifinals in four of the last five World Cups, has been awful. They haven't scored in two games and have almost zero chance of advancing this time.
Africa: 1-5-2. How disappointing that the host continent is doing so poorly. South Africa is most likely done. No host nation has ever been eliminated in the group phase of the tournament. Nigeria is probably out as well. They were beaten by Greece after going down a man because of a needless, stupid red card. Ghana, Cameroon and the Ivory Coast are the teams with a realistic chance to advance, but that's very much still up in the air. Africa could be shut out of the Round of 16 on its home soil.
North America: 0-1-2. If the US can keep up the good work it started against England, they have a real chance to win the group, and that's important. Finishing 2nd likely means a Round of 16 game with Germany. Ouch. But if the US wins the group, it would probably play Ghana or Australia. A rematch with Ghana -- who eliminated the US in the last World Cup -- would be tasty! Mexico looks dangerous, too.
Asia and elsewhere: 2-3-1. South Korea has a decent chance of advancing, even after getting drubbed by Argentina. A 2nd win by Japan would probably send them through, too. Australia needs to rebound after losing their captain to a red card and giving up 4 goals to Germany. New Zealand is up against it with Italy and Paraguay, but scoring the game-tying goal with 30 seconds left in their first game should give the Kiwis a glimmer of hope.
Players to watch: If you're watching the games live or Tivoing, here a few players to look for, as they've stood out so far:
Diego Forlan, Uruguay: If soccer is anything, it is a team sport, and Forlan is a great team player. He'll score two goals in a match, as he did against South Africa, but he also makes superb, deft passes. Even without the ball, he's an intelligent player. He'll use himself as a decoy to draw defenders away from his teammates. That's good stuff.
Lionel Messi/Gonzalo Higuain, Argentina: Messi deserves his own category as he is considered the world's best player, but he was outdone by Higuain against South Korea. Higuain scored the Cup's first hat trick (3 goals) since 2002, with some help from Messi, of course. These guys could very well take Argentina all the way.
Maicon, Brazil: Really, I was just impressed with his goal against North Korea. He was almost to the back line, with absolutely no angle on goal, and somehow he crushed the ball through a tiny crack between the goalkeeper and the post. Wow.
Lucas Podolski, Germany: Just watch for number 10 when he gets the ball outside the penalty area. He has one of the best boots in soccer. Podolski struck the ball so well against Australia, the goalkeeper got a solid hand on it, and the ball still almost ripped open the back of the net. Nice.
If you're following the games closely, maybe you have some of your own thoughts to share. If you haven't been keeping up so far, I encourage you to give it a look. There isn't a lot of scoring in soccer, and I know that turns some people off. But there's so much drama at the World Cup. One thoughtless error can cost a team and a country their chance at glory. One timely pass can mean a tiny nation gets its first World Cup win ever.
Soccer is all about anticipation -- players anticipating where the ball will go next, where their teammates will be, anticipating when it's time to attack and when it's time to defend. And for the fans, it's about the hope, that anticipation of sheer joy when their team finally breaks through and scores a GOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!
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