Weekend Update

A couple of crackling games on the afternoons, and a couple of relative duds each morning:

Saturday:

Germany looked very strong, very comfortable, in taking out Sweden, 2-0. But it's hard to tell, really, how good they are; they scored twice in the first 12 minutes, and then effectively killed the game; the Swedes never really challenged, especially going a man down with 10 minutes to go in the first half.

Argentina, on the other hand, looked vulnerable for the first time in the tournament, leaving it late before pulling out a 2-1 overtime thriller over Mexico – on the best goal of the fortnight, Maxi Rodriguez's perfect volley from the corner of the box, into the opposite top corner of the goal: a 40-yard pass, chest, to foot, to goal. Bang. Mexico, you're dead.

So it's Argentina-Germany on Friday in Berlin. Still looking like the two best teams in the world, but how good are they?

Sunday:

England advanced over Ecuador, as expected, behind a gorgeous David Beckham free kick in the 60th minute. This did not, however, look like a confident team – or a good one, for that matter. Especially not a fit one. Becks was throwing up on the field for most of the second half, and the entire team looked absolutely gassed by the finish. Fortunately for them, Ecuador seemed inexplicably content to settle for the 1-0 loss, so England move on. Unfortunately for them, their next game, against Portugal on Saturday, is another afternoon game. If they somehow manage to push it into overtime, I seriously worry for the lads. Someone's going to die out there.

Portugal ousted Holland in the late game, and if Argentina-Mexico was the best-played game of the weekend, this was the most competitive. Russian referee Valentin Ivanov handed out an astounding 20 cards, including four reds (two to each team), but his meltdown somehow didn't hurt the game any; these were two top-quality squads, battling 90 minutes. Great stuff.