ATWC : GROUP I

The group, the schedule, the stadiums, the squads, the games (please click on the pictures for a better view).

THE GAMES

DAY 1 :

As the World Cup top-team of all time, the first group stage game of Brazil was picked for the opening game of the FYT All-Time World Cup and it is against Senegal.

This game has its seperate article which is also about the Opening Ceremony.

OPENING GAME in NY/ NJ Stadium, East Rutherford, United States (capacity 82.500) :

BRAZIL - SENEGAL : 2 - 1 

Lucien Laurent scored the first World Cup goal ever and Sadio Mané is the scorer of the first goal in the FYT All-Time World Cup. Brazil win the opening game though, showing their superiority in spite of that one goal small margin. Senegal did not repeat the feat of 2002 (against the reigning champions of that time, France). Mission completed for Brazil. We expected a bit more from them but an opening game is always difficult, especially for the favorites.

GOALS (Mané, Pelé, Pelé) :

21' : long ball from the Koulibaly's feet... at the entry of the penalty area, Bocandé, with a reversed header worthy of an acrobat, finds Mané who had deserted his right flank of the first 15 minutes and scores at close range at the far post.

37' : after this air pocket, Brazil take control of the match and Pelé, perfectly served by Didi, scores the equalizer from the 16 yards, slightly on the right, with a perfect diagonal shot. Maybe Sylva could have done better, though.

68' : Pelé inherits the ball in the middle of a confused action, infiltrates the penalty area, and beats Mendy with a sharp shot.

Yellow cards : Gueye 48', P.B Diop 60'.

RATINGS :

Brazil :

Gilmar 5 - Cafu 7 - C. Alberto 6 - T. Silva 5,5 - R. Carlos 5 - Falcao 5 (Dunga 70') - Cerezo 7 - Pelé 7,5 - Didi 6 (Rivelino 70') - Garrincha 4,5 (Jairzinho 82') - Ronaldo 6. Tot. : 64,5.

Senegal :

Sylva 4 (E. Mendy HT, 5) - Coly 5 - R. Mendy 5,5 - Koulibaly 5,5 - Ba 5,5 - Sène 5,5 (S. Diao 72') - Gueye 4,5 - P.B. Diop 5 - Fadiga 5,5 (E-H. Diouf 79') - Mané 6 - Bocandé 6. Tot. : 58.

Gilmar (5) : he's been surprised by the Bocandé-Mané duet at the 20th minute. Otherwise, he had a rather good game... or average, perhaps.

Cafu (7) : without being really dangerous offensively, he greatly participated to the Brazilian territorial domination.

C. Alberto (6) : he imposed himself without forcing, which is the hallmark of a leader. His restarts from the back were noticeably good, especially in his understanding with Cafu. 

T. Silva (5,5) : he's been beaten by Bocandé in the air on goal number one in this ATWC, was surprised like his collegues in a couple of occasions but overall had a decent game.

R. Carlos (5) : without being bad, he left a rough impression.

Falcao (5) : like Didi, he played at a stately pace... but he was less prominent. Both were replaced at once. Dunga lost his first duel then got better and better until the final whistle.

Cerezo (7) : he's been impeccable in everything he had to do.

Didi (6) : he did not start his match the best way then progressivily started to shine and perfectly served Pelé for the equalizer. In the second half, he was in perfect control of his art - for 25 minutes more. He was replaced by Rivelino (70') who helped at continuing to control the game and was also a potential menace for Senegal with his shooting abilities.

Pelé (7,5) : we expected more from his relation with Garrincha and young fellow Ronaldo but he's been (once again) decisive and delivered a complete performance, also helping at midfield. * Man of the Match *.

Garrincha (4,5) : below the level we expect from him, his duel with Ibrahim Ba "Eusébio" was quite balanced. His crosses were all cleared by the two towers : Koulibaly and Roger Mendy. His replacement Jairzinho (82') did not have really the chance to show much of his talents. 

Ronaldo (6) : it would not be fair to judge him only based on "end product" statistics. In this match he quite often exiled himself on the left wing. He apparently gave cold sweat to Koulibaly and Sylva only two times but he was a constant menace. He also send one shoot or two at Mendy in the second half, which were perfectly blocked.

Sylva (4) : the legendary Senegalese goalkeeper knew tonight a cruel destiny. Even not half-faulty on the goal scored by Pelé, he was subbed out at half-time ! His coaching staff possibly thought that it was unforgivable at such a supreme level that is the All-Time World Cup and, with overzealousness, they decided to replace him with French-born Edouard Mendy. The latter shown good things on long-range shots but was also beaten once, by the same man (if he's a human). E. Mendy : 5.

Coly (5) : he did not take advantage of the spaces offered to him as he always feared about the ball distribution of Cerezo or Didi, about the moves of Ronaldo and about the climbs of Roberto Carlos. Had a serious game, but maybe a bit too serious.

R. Mendy and Koulibaly (5,5): they've been good but... Pelé.

Ba (5,5) : the father of "Ibou" Ba shown that his legendary status was not undeserved.

Gueye (4,5) : this very good element, at times, only looked like a sparring partner to Pelé. Gueye had there an opportunity to shine but The King did not miss his first rendez-vous with the All-Time World Cup.

P.B. Diop (5) : he was up there when it came to deal with Falcao but he also had to deal with the offensives of Cafu.

Sène and Fadiga (5,5) allowed Senegal to play in an hybrid formation between a 4-4-2 and a 4-3-3. They spared no effort. But they were facing Brazil.

Salif Diao and El-Hadji Diouf replaced them around the 75th minute. The scoreboard remained identical.

Bocandé 6 : his combination with Mané was sublime. Who turns around who ? We still don't know. But even though they stormed the Brazilian defenders in several occasions, they did not produced that much of clear chances for Gilmar to be really worried.

Mané 6 : he's been the best Mané, tonight. But Brazil won.

POLAND - AUSTRALIA at Lincoln Stadium, Philadelphia, United States (capacity 69.000) :

POLAND - AUSTRALIA : 1 - 0

Poland get by fine. The referee did not give as much cards as he could have (to both teams).

GOAL (Lewandowski) : 

74' :  finally, Lewandowski takes Marston by surprise. Boniek step into the breach between Emerton and Neill, sprints as far as possible then crosses the ball to Lewandowski who scores with his left when all his previous attempts with the right or the head had failed.

Yellow cards : Neill (40'), Piszczek (48'), Bresciano (60'), Maszczyk (80').

Man of the Match : Zbigniew Boniek. For the lack of a great Deyna, Boniek was the best animator of his team. By his sense of organization and by his accelerations.

RATINGS :

Poland :

Tomaszewski 6,5 - Piszczek 5 (Szymanowski 76') - Gorgon 5,5 - Zmuda 6 - Anczok 6 (Musial 83') - Kasperczak 6 - Maszczyk 6 (Krychowiak 88') - Deyna 4,5 - Lato 5,5 - Lewandowski 6 - Boniek 6,5. Tot. : 63,5.

Australia :

Schwarzer 5 - Neill 5 - Marston 5,5 - Wilson 5 - Emerton 4 (Davidson 76') - Cahill 4,5 (Warren 83') - Jedinak 5 - Bresciano 4,5 - Chipperfield 6 - Viduka 5 - Kewell 5 (Leckie 79'). Tot. : 54,5.

DAY 2

BRAZIL - POLAND at NY/ NJ Stadium, East Rutherford, United States (capacity 82.500)

BRAZIL - POLAND : 5 - 3 (Ronaldo, Deyna, Lato, Pelé / Garrincha, Rivelino, Lubanski, Romario)

This time Pelé played at the inside left position and Didi played at the right inside position, which was the only change in the Brazilian XI since their win against Senegal whilst Poland changed absolutely nothing since their win against Australia. Poland had to do the same change at the left full-back position again, though. Rivelino also replaced Didi earlier, this time (making Pelé to go back at inside right again). 

Romario scored the last goal of this fantastic football match where all the Brazilian forwards scored a goal and where there's been eight different goal scorers.

GOALS (Ronaldo, Deyna, Lato, Pelé, Garrincha, Rivelino, Lubanski, Romario)

17' : Ronaldo is served with a lateral pass by Pelé, shoots, and scores !

25' : wonderful shot, Deyna !

32' : Lato. Incomprehension between T. Silva and R. Carlos. Poland takes the lead.

39' : cross Garrincha, goal Pelé.

/

55': Garrincha dribbles past Musial who tastes the same treatment as Anczok during the first half, then mystifies both Maszczyk and Zmuda while retracing his steps to ultimately send an unstoppable shoot !!! Goal of the tournament.

78': Rivelino benefits from a call for the ball by Ronaldo, advances and powerfully strikes the ball targetting the near post... it's in no sooner said than done. Ronaldo is still asking for the ball a few seconds after the goal is scored, before celebrating with his teammates.

82' : Lubanski, assisted by Lato.

88': Romario is found by Cerezo. He eliminates Gorgon to beat Tomaszewski for the fifth time.

Yellow cards : Musial 62', Falcao 79'.

Man of the Match : Garrincha showcased his full talent in this wonderful match.

Garrincha did everything to the Polish defense. And he scored this immortal solo goal that will be hard to beat as the goal of the tournament.

RATINGS

Brazil :

Gilmar 3,5 - Cafu 5 - C. Alberto 5 - T. Silva 4,5 - R. Carlos 4,5 - Falcao 5 - Cerezo 6 - Didi 4,5 (Rivelino 63') - Pelé 7 - Garrincha 9 - Ronaldo 6 (Romario 80'). Tot. : 60.

Poland :

Tomaszewski 3 - Piszczek 4 - Gorgon 4,5 - Zmuda 4,5 - Anczok 3 (Musial 46', 4,5) - Kasperczak 5 - Maszczyk 4 (Krychowiak 60') - Lato 7 - Deyna 7 - Boniek 5 - Lewandowski 4 (Lubanski 71'). Tot. : 55,5.

Rivelino x Kasperczak

SENEGAL - AUSTRALIA at Lincoln Stadium, Philadelphia, United States (capacity 69.000)

SENEGAL - AUSTRALIA : 1 - 1

A very tight match which logically ends with a draw. Australia were leading thanks to Cahill... and Senegal finally managed to score thanks to Mané from the penalty spot.

GOALS (Cahill, Mané pk)

70': Tim Cahill with an unreal shoot !!!

85': Mané shoots at the nearpost with few angle, Schwarzer has the right reflex to repel the ball... in the feet of Bocandé, who's countered by Marston, but the ball ends up in the feet of Kouyaté , who is fouled by Wilson. Penalty ! Mané takes it, and he scores ! 1-1.

Yellow cards : Cahill 76', Wilson 84'. 

Man of the Match : Tim Cahill impressed by his activity in midfield and in attack plus of course with his incredible long-range goal. On the Senegalese side, Mané also had quite a complete performance, started the action that brang the penalty, took his responsabilities at the time of taking it and avoided a second defeat for his country when it is them who had the most of the opportunities to open the score. 

RATINGS

Senegal :

E. Mendy 5,5 - Coly 5 - Koulibaly 5,5 - R. Mendy 5,5 - Ba 5 - Sène 4,5 (Kouyaté 63') - Gueye 5 - PB Diop 5 - E-H Diouf 5 (Sarr 73') - Bocandé 5,5 (H. Camara 88') - Mané 6. Tot. : 57,5.

Australia :

Schwarzer 5,5 - Neill 4,5 - Marston 5 - Wilson 4 - Emerton 5 - Cahill 7,5 - Jedinak 5,5 (Zelic 82') - Slater 5,5 - Chipperfield 5,5 (Bresciano 78') - Viduka 4,5 - Kewell 4,5 (Aloisi 69'). Tot. : 57.

Tim Cahill has scored a wonderful long-range goal