THE GROUP OF DEATH.

Group C was supposed to be the Group of Death, but frankly I've contested that assertion
right from the time the draws were made; Group E, I believe, is as much a group of death as Group C.
Now after two rounds of matches, it's clear that Group E , and not Group C, is the true Group of Death, with all four teams still capable of qualifying for the second round. Indeed for the Ghanaians, a single goal or a mere stroke of luck in their last match could mean the difference between topping the group and finishing last. The Black Stars will surely finish last if they lose to the USA- unless the Czechs lose to Italy by more than two goals. On the other hand they could top the group with a lone goal victory over the USA - provided the other match ends in a draw.

Victory for the Americans will not be enough for their own qualification; they'll have to pray for an Italian victory in the battle of the Europeans. A draw will qualify both teams, while a Czech win will set the USA a 4-0 target against Ghana. It could all go down to the very last kick of the group!

• One of the marvels of the first round is Trinidad and Tobago keeping a clean sheet against two of Europe's strongest teams for some 3 hours of play. After holding the Swedes for over 90min, they again held England for over 80mins.
• Another marvel, from the same group, was that it took the Swedes almost 3hours to score in the tournament, playing against moderate opposition. With the likes of Henrik Larsson, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ljungberg, one would expect them to score a handful of goals against such opposition.