SO FAR.

Germany had a great start, scoring the tournament's first goal within five minutes, but they looked vulnerable against one of the weakest teams in the competition. Still they are the highest scoring team so far, and they look capable of going farther than most people expect.

• Argentina and the Czech Republic have been the most impressive team so far, the Czechs fully justifying their 2nd spot on the FIFA rankings in the 3-0 demolition of the USA on Monday, though it must be said that the Americans weren't as bad as the scoreline suggested; they created several good chances and were only denied by luck and excellent goalkeeping by Petr Czech. Argentina also 'took care' of a very impressive Ivorien team, even without deploying their full arsenal.
• The Portuguese, it seems, are holding something back, so do the English and the Dutch. But the biggest surprise so far has been the Trinidadian draw with Sweden-or the failure of the Swedes to score against them inspite of playing with three of Europe's most prominent strikers.
• Three well-taken goals in the dying minutes turned what would have been a painful defeat for the Aussies into a comprehensive victory over Japan. Tim Cahill a class- act with his two Aaudacious strikes.
• Ghana's long-awaited world cup debut produced some great end-to-end stuff with the Azurris; the Africans playing some delightful football lost to inaccurate shooting and a general lack of exposure to top-class football.