first impressions

BRAZIL v CROATIA: Croatia hit the ground running, all cleats and business, thankfully less brutal than they were in 2006, and a lesser team might have been cowed by the rough determination. Brazil, however, rose lazily from the pitch and moved at an easy canter, sometimes downshifting to an amble, but punctuating it with moments of accelerated agility. The consensus seems to be that they under-shone, but I was struck hard by the sheer confidence they exuded, oozing it from every pore. Even at Croatia's toughest, fastest moment, even though Dani Alves was severely off his game up the flank, there was a palpable air of to-the-manor-born privilege, as if the gods had spoken, the die was cast, and the boys in green and yellow knew for an absolute fact that there was no way they were going down.

GREECE v COLOMBIA: I'm ecstatic to see that Pekerman's Colombian side is still world-class even without Falcao, an ambitious, fast, hard-attacking team. Greece, no surprise, is playing a tough catenaccio, but Colombia slipped one in early, and it was smooth sailing from there. The thing about a team like Greece is that although you know they won't get far, they can do some damage to your guys along the way, and in so doing, change history.

AUSTRALIA v CHILE: And here's another one, another enthusiastically attacking South American side. That first goal was a lovely one, hard-fought, a team goal, but Alexis Sanchez's, too. If Spain keep choking (they won't), Chile will deservedly go through. But here's the thing about Australia: every World Cup they come in as underdogs, certain they won't progress beyond Knockouts, probably not that far. And every World Cup they win me over with their sheer doggedness. These guys WILL NOT FOLD. It doesn't matter how outclassed they seem, or how intimidating the other team is, these guys just never fold. You can't relax, as Chile started to do later on, allowing Tim Cahill one of his smashing headers in, because they will give every ounce to the game. And they have that guy, Leckie, who's one of those Rooney/Ronaldo kind of freight-train attackers: big as a house, strong like an ox, but faster than most little guys. This is one of my favorite matches so far. The best ones are always between two sides you sort of like but for whom you have no passionate feelings, and both sides play well. In those matches you take pleasure in the triumphs but don't suffer the agonies you do when, say, Spain plays Holland.

SPAIN v HOLLAND: Listen to me. This Spanish side has won three major tournaments in a row. Euro 2008, World Cup 2010, Euro 2012. These are good, life-loving guys. There's just no way they can retain the hunger to win a fourth. Plus, it was a very tough year in Spanish football, not just for Barca, who got battered and bruised down to both bone and soul, but for Atletico Madrid, who busted their asses to have the champion season they did, and for Real as well. Saint Iker has played hardly at all the last two seasons in Madrid, and his first World Cup match is against the ravening, mad-dog Dutch? I'm not surprised. But it's not over. I still think Spain will squeak through over Chile... only to face Brazil in the Knockouts. Note to Del Bosque: I don't think Diego Costa is the right fit up front. You need to explore some other options there.

A Word About the New Technology: Yeah, they keep waving the Goal-Line Technology in our faces, showing us all manner of goals that were obvious (but skipping some that were not). It's good we have it, but I'll tell you my favorite new tool: the can of shaving cream the ref carries in his belt. Why didn't anyone think of it before? Year after year, wall after wall inching forward, hoping to catch the ref out, all that's done with, boyo. A single sprayed line which will disintegrate after trampled on with boots. Voila. Argument over.

URUGUAY v COSTA RICA: Wow. You talk about Spain in an upset? At least Holland we all expect to get through to the finals. Costa Rica? Yeah! How about that Joel Campbell, huh? Who doesn't love an underdog story like THIS? Here's Uruguay, a team which has the mighty Three Lions a-flutter in their little boots, a team of huge, muscular men in extraordinarily tight shirts who look like they're going to trounce all over everyone in their path, and Costa Rica creates a magical three-minute golden period just following the half in which they take a beautiful, well-earned, incredible and unshakable lead. With Luis Suarez out injured, and Cavani struggling to connect in a meaningful way with the ball, and Forlan and Lugano possibly too long in the tooth to make the necessary difference, the way may be cleared for Italy and England to shoulder through to the Round of Sixteen together. (Although, to be fair, Forlan had that beautiful, dropping strike from distance in the 45th minute, and a lesser keeper than Navas would have been beaten by it.)

ENGLAND v ITALY: ...because they both played well, didn't they? I only got to watch the first half, but I was proud of both sides. England played more as a unit than I've ever seen them do before. The young kids were fast and brash and convincing, the elder statesmen filled in the holes, took their jobs seriously and didn't grandstand. The announcer (Macca) kept saying how Wayne Rooney was having to drop back and play defensively, which my eye wasn't trained to see, but it explains why we didn't see much of him up front. He did create that lovely goal for Sturridge, though, just at the right moment, in counterattack after the first Italian goal... which was very cleverly created by Pirlo with a feinting walkover. I used to hate Italy (or part of it. Luca Toni, Marco Materazzi, Fabio Grosso. I still don't trust De Rossi), but this is the trickster part of Italy that I love. They also have that lovely trickster way of changing pace quite suddenly: trying to hypnotize with a slow passing game then suddenly accelerating into action. And Buffon's understudy is no slouch, either. What's his name? Sirigu? Having the PSG keeper sitting on your bench gives you a pretty cush operation.

If England is to go through, I think it's up to the Liverpool contingent: Gerrard, Johnson, Sturridge, Henderson. These guys are the ones who will not be cowed by Suarez, if he shows up, which I assume he will. As West Ham is the team that led the '66 Brits to victory, I look to the north to lead these Lions, if not to the Cup itself, at least into the Knockouts, and, if the gods smile upon them, to the Quarters.

IVORY COAST v JAPAN: Again, a team of huge, muscular guys in tight shirts who seem like they ought to be playing more effectively than they are. Yaya Toure is at the top of his game in the Premiership these days, but in the first half here he didn't seem to connect. Then, like magic, in the second half, the totemic figure emerges: Didier Drogba has only to gallop onto the pitch, a roar goes up, and his team pull together and get the two necessary goals. Funny the power one beloved player can have.