DAY SEVEN ACTION

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT'S ONLY DAY 7?

Maybe it's the fact that I've watched and written about most of the games but I can't get over the fact that today was only the seventh day of the tournament. Feels like it's been a whole month of action already. May it last forever and ever. On to today's games.

ECUADOR LEAVE NO DOUBT

ECUADOR 3 COSTA RICA 0

The Lowdown: Prior to this match the Costa Ricans made a couple of bold statements. The first was that Germany's defense was horrible. The second was that they looked forward to exploiting Ecuador's defense. Well amigos, you get credit for putting two past the Germans, but today Ecuador proved the old adage about people in glass houses.

Match Rating: 3 out of 5. A dominating performance with Ecuador doing their best Brazil impression, playing keep-away with great fluidity and applying the deadly final touch in front of goal three times.

Man of the Match: Luis Valencia, who plays for a Spanish club not named Valencia, Villarreal, was very impressive on the wing. And he's only 22.

Disappointment of the Match: Let's see, that would have to be the whole Costa Rican team. I actually picked them to get out of this group. Silly me. They couldn't put anything worthwhile together in attack and at several points were openly bickering with each other.

The Fallout: Costa Rica are out with a whimper and their game against fellow-eliminees Poland is meaningless. Here's an interesting fact. Germany has to win against Ecuador to top the group and avoid a second-round clash with England. A tie will gift the Group to Ecuador on goal differential. Yep, that's five goals for Ecuador, none against.

Extra: I now realize my pre-tournament enthusiasm for Costa Rica was nothing more than regional naivete. Concacaf, CR's North and Central American zone, is weak. Conmebol, the South American region, is much more competitive and any team coming out of there is undoubtedly battle-tested.

ROONEY'S BACK AND SVEN GETS A CLUE

ENGLAND 2 PARAGUAY 0

The Lowdown: I know the final score looks convincing but believe me, for long stretches of this match England supporters were sweating bullets, and I don't even get that metaphor but what I mean to say is they were worried, real worried. For the second consecutive game they looked wholly uncreative in attack, lacking in pace and skill(Joe Cole exluded), and downright boring. They were completely dominating possession but unable to capitalise, and Trinidad nearly scored the goal heard round the World Cup on a couple of occasions. Around the 60th minute coach Sven did something he's rarely done in the past, put on players who can make a difference. On came saviour Rooney and Neil Lennon,neither of whom scored but they both brought pace and creativity when it was sorely needed. Not long after Crouch finally put his head on a Beckham cross to make it 1-0 before Gerrard scored a cracker to seal the deal.

Match Rating: 3 out of 5. Before the invigorating Rooney and Lennon came on this was a 1.

Man of the Match: Has to be John Terry. Trinidad didn't have the ball a whole lot but the few dangerous attacks they did muster were snuffed by Chelsea's captain, including one ball that was just about to go over the line.

Disappointment of the Match: England until they scored. Also, the Soca Warriors coming so close to a historic result that would match if not surpass England's most embarrassing game ever, a 1-0 to the USA in 1950.

The Fallout: England are through and will top the group barring a loss to Sweden. Actually, Sweden would have to beat them by two goals if I'm not mistaken. Trinidad are out but they should hold their heads high for tying Sweden and scaring the beejesus out of England.

Extra: Saw this game at 11th Street Bar and there was a real comic air. The room lit up with laughter on several occasions, ranging from reaction to the ESPN commentary to Dwight Yorke holding his balls on worldwide television to the highlights of an Ecuador player donning a wrestling mask after scoring against Costa Rica, to which somebody yelled out "Nacho Libre." Felt more like a comedy club than matchday. Not the funniest World Cup watching moment ever though. That would be England's final group game against Nigeria in 2002. My friend and I were watching in a Japanese bar full of tense England fans and at one point the satellite feed was cut off at a crucial moment and replaced by a Japanese TV show featuring a dancing gorilla and ridiculous. My friend and I were the only ones in the entire place who found it funny but boy did we find it funny.

FREDDIE TO THE RESCUE

SWEDEN 1 PARAGUAY 0

The Lowdown: If you know anything about Parguay and Sweden's respective football styles you knew this game had tie written all over it, and nil-nil at that. Well, this Sweden team really does look more offensive than prior squads and their frantic efforts finally paid off courtesy of a Freddie Ljungberg header in the 89th minute that all but booked a place in the knockout stages and send Paraguay home.

Match Rating: 4 out of 5. A riveting matchup between two very good teams, with every ball fiercely contested, some great passing, and genuine drama at the end. One point deduction for Paraguay's negative tactics toward the end, for which they were rightly punished with a goal.

Man of the Match: Henrik Larrson worked his ass off but couldn't net the winner. Has to be Arsenal's Ljungberg for his constant involvement and beautifully executed header. A couple of Paraguay's players really impressed me at this World Cup, mainly defender Jorge Nunez and forward Nelson Valdez, who is the energizer bunny personified. I suppose the energizer bunny is somewhat already personified in a way though. I mean he is a bunny with an advertising contract who knowing looks at the screen and he plays drums.

Disappointment of the Match: Although Sweden mostly had the upper hand, Paraguay were very capable and frustrated their opponents for long stretches. Toward the end, however, they went into a defensive shell, probably liking their chances of beating Trinidad to advance, and England to beat Sweden. Well, it backfired. Sweden's siege on their goal finally paid off late. Honorable mention to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Sweden's star man was benched at halftime for Marcus Allback.

The Fallout: Paraguay are out. Trinidad need a win over Paraguay and an English drubbing of Sweden to advance. Not gonna happen. It looks like England will take top place with Sweden second. Now that Ecuador-Germany match is huge, determining who plays who. For once the English will be praying for a German victory, though they'd better be wary of Ecuador.

Extra: It hardly needs to be said but the line between euphoria and disgrace in soccer is very thin. One minute Sweden were goalless in the World Cup and entering a final match against England needing a win, while Paraguay looked to be in the driver's seat with a match against Trinidad. Then the goal went in. Paraguay, despite not having scored a goal, are a quality team who were unfortunate to be drawn with Sweden and England.