- Reuters
LEFT: Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates his goal against Serbia and Montenegro during their Group C World Cup match in Gelsenkirchen yesterday. Argentina won 6-0 and were the most impressive team in the competition after week one. RIGHT: Wilber Perez cries, in San Jose, Costa Rica, on Thursday, after Costa Rica lost to Ecuador at the World Cup. The loss eliminated Costa Rica from the tournament.
Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport
A WEEK has passed at the World Cup, but it seems much, much longer than that.
It's almost unfathomable to believe so much superb action and drama can be packed into a mere eight days, but it has as World Cup 2006 has got off to a blistering start in balmy Germany.
After the first 23 Group stage games only two have been goalless affairs as class strikers from all over the world are parading their skills aided and abetted by well structured game plans and canny managing.
The youthfully exuberant, but also meticulous Argentina, Spain and the Czech Republic have set the early pace with some scintillating performances while pacy Ecuador have surprised many by claiming the full points from two games and reaching the round of 16 with a game to spare.
England and Brazil, two of the pre-tournament fancies, have copped flak for their opening week performances, but the Englishmen are two from two in their games and are through to the next stanza, while Brazil are never particularly quick Cup starters, but do have three points from their only outing and they should pick up the pace in their second match tomorrow against Australia.
There's no need to peak too early because there's still three more weeks to go and the Cup pedigree teams like Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Germany, England and the Netherlands know this.
Of course, if you come out flat or too defensively minded you go home early - just ask Costa Rica, Paraguay, Serbia and Montenegro and the hugely disappointing Poland who have booked early flights after only two matches.
While some pundits say this tournament is a manager's World Cup, can any man sitting on the bench in a suit do anything to curb moments of individual brilliance on the pitch?
Methinks not.
Dutchman Arjen Robben single-handedly tore Serbia and Montenegro to shreds in their Cup opener while Brazil's Kaka, England's Steven Gerrard, Spain's Xabi Alonso and Germany's Thorsten Frings have struck classic goals from long-range. No system or formation can stifle magic.
While the temperatures have soared, tempers have not in what has been a clean Cup to date, which has ultimately allowed the best to show their best and that's just how it should be.
We still have three quarters of a month to go and "bad things" could happen but, after scintillating week one, we could be in for one of the greatest tournament's of all time - in any sport.
