As of noon today, the first go-round of round-robin play in the books. So here are the top five teams as I see them thus far.
I will attempt to take the quality of opposition into account, of course-- but it's difficult to say much about some of the teams we've seen so far. For example, are the Australians really that bad, or is Germany that good?
So, with that in mind, here are my TOP FIVE POWER RANKINGS at the one-third stage of Round One:
1. Germany
The ol' Mannschaft looks as tough as ever. When have they ever not looked deadly in the first round? We will know more after they play Serbia (in a sort of 1914 World War re-match).
2. Netherlands
Yeah, I know they're likely due for a flameout in the second or third round... but, for now, just like in Euro 2008, they look like a Clockwork Orange Machine.
3. Brazil
It's not so much that Brazil looked great-- but they did what they had to do to win.
4. South Korea
Yeah, this probably won't last... but they looked remarkably tough and resilient. And still they run and run. I would love to see them face their northern counterparts in a game. If only.
5. Switzerland
Say what you will, but knock off the pre-tourney favorites and refuse to concede a goal for the second World Cup in a row, and you get a top spot in my rankings. At least for now.
It totally figures that the team the US will most likely face if we make it out of group play in second place would be the Germans. *sigh*
Also impressing so far:
Chile
North Korea
Japan
Paraguay
Disappointing so far:
Italy
Argentina
Serbia
Ivory Coast
Portugal
On to the second go-round!
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