ATWC : GROUP K

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

THE GAMES

DAY 1 :

 

SWEDEN - COLOMBIA at Arena do Grêmio, Porto Alegre, Brazil (capacity 60.500)

SWEDEN - COLOMBIA : 1 - 1

Quite a slow-paced game with accelerations by intermittence. The Swedish changings in attack brang more dynamism but no goals. On the other hand, Colombia had less clear chances during the second half when they had more than their opponent in the first half.

If they're aiming high, both teams will have to show much more, one like the other. It was a pleasant match to watch however.

GOALS (Falcao, Liedholm)

21' : Valderrama looks for Falcao with one of his trademark passes that finds Nordqvist on its way... but the latter only could slightly slow down the course of the ball and slightly deflect it... Falcao is there in his back and beat Hellström with a perfect finish.

71' : Skoglund takes over his direct opponent and crosses the ball to Liedholm behind him, at the entry of the penalty area. Liedholm's precise shoot leaves no chance to Higuita as the ball caresses the post before finishing its course in the back of the nets.

Yellow Cards : Asprilla 15'.

Man of the Match : Ivan Cordoba dealt with Nordahl, Ibrahimovic and Skoglund in turns rather successuly. He won a big part of these 100% Milanese duels with aggressiveness but always within the limits. The 1,73 m. tall colombian defender impressed a lot against those Vikings, that is on the ground or in the air (Skoglund is a tad smaller than him but his main "clients", Nordahl and Ibrahimovic, are 1,85 and 1,94 m. tall).

RATINGS :

Sweden :

Hellström 6 - R. Nilsson 6 - Nordqvist 4 - Hysen 5,5 - E. Nilsson 5 - Gren 5,5 - B. Larsson 5,5 - Liedholm 6 - Hamrin 5 (H. Larsson 85') - Nordahl 4 (Skoglund 68') - Ibrahimovic 5. Tot. : 57,5.

Colombia :

Higuita 6 - Cuadrado 5 (Perea 75') - Cordoba 6,5 - Yepes 5,5 - Armero 5 - Rincon 6 - Alvarez 6 - Valderrama 5,5 - James 5 (Ortiz 80') - Falcao 5,5 - Asprilla 4,5 (Diaz 80'). Tot. : 60,5.

This super-heroes battle had no winner

AUSTRIA - GHANA at Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asuncio, Paraguay (capacity 40.800)

AUSTRIA - GHANA : 0 - 2

To our delight, our predicted lineup for Ghana was right and it was almost a one-way game. Austria never found the answer. At the end of this matchday one, it is thus Ghana who top this unpredictable group K.

GOALS (Yeboah, Yeboah)

Yeboah scored a brace, once served from the left by Polo (42'), then served from the right by Abedi Pelé (63'). Kofi was not decisive but intelligently looked for his wingers and was at the pre-assist on goal number two (precisely when it was apparent that he was a bit fading from the game since some time... Ocwirk did not suspect him anymore).

Yellow cards : Sesta 85'.

Man of the Match : the one who banged those two goals, Tony Yeboah. He also hit the post once, so he was not far of being the first to score a hat-trick in this FYT All-Time World Cup.

RATINGS :

Austria :

Hiden 4,5 - Happel 4,5 - Pezzey 4,5 - Alaba 4,5 - Hanappi 4,5 - Prohaska 4 - Ocwirk 4,5 - Herzog 5 (Sesta 80') - Sindelar 4 - Krankl 4,5 - Polster 4 (Schachner 72'). Tot. : 46,5.

Ghana :

R. Mensah 5 - Essien 5,5 - Kouffour 5,5 - J. Mensah 5 - Asamoah 5,5 - Appiah 5,5 - Muntari 5,5 - Kofi 6 (Sunday 75') - Ab. Pelé 6,5 - Yeboah 7 - Polo 6,5 (A. Ayew 81'). Tot. : 63,5.

Yeboah sees double and joins the five other players with a brace on matchday one, so far, before the games of Group L