Cornish Steve

Yes, it is. Algeria does not really play like an African team - much more European in their approach. Belgium don't seem very creative at all and pass sideways and back more often than forward. Not impressed with them at all so far - although it is only the first half.

My sons will be pleased, but, honestly, I didn't think the US deserved to win. Ghana are a good team and deserved at least a draw. But, with Portugal struggling, maybe the stars are aligning for the US team.

He won't be russian into anything.

Peter H scored the most points for the Ghana-USA game, but verreauxi is 7 points ahead with two games left to play in the first round.

The lad did well.

Brazil (2)3 Mexico (0)0 Cameroon (0)0 Croatia (1)2 Australia (0)0 Netherlands (4)7 Spain (2)4 Chile (0)1 Colombia (1)2 Cote d'Ivoire (0)1 Japan (0)0 Greece (0)1 Uruguay (1)2 England (0)1 Italy (1)2 Costa Rica (0)2 Switzerland (0)1 France (1)1 Honduras (0)0 Ecuador (1)2 Argentina (2)3 Iran (0)0 Nigeria (0)0 Bosnia Hercegovina (1)1 Germany (2)4 Ghana (0)1 USA (1)1 Portugal (1)2 Belgium (1)2 Russia (0)0 South Korea (1)2 Algeria (1)1

By the way, put your reputation on the line and make your predictions for the second round.

Ten percent off for a pair? His brother will be assistant.

Yup. Would be pleased to be proved wrong.

Well, another game has been played and verreauxi has achieved another perfect score - putting him way ahead of the pack. Could you please choose my lottery numbers?

Italy and England were dreadful compared with the other teams. Again, they will struggle to reach the next round. I just fail to see how anyone can praise these two teams after their awful performances. Even France were better, despite falling down every 60 seconds.

Well, you did score the joint highest score for the Germany game. Well done to you and to Peter H. Maybe I have jinxed verreauxi, because he scored zero for this game - although he does retain a comfortable lead with only four games left in the first round.

Personally, I'd like to see all the younger players in the next match, because they are more creative, have nothing to lose, and have more stamina. It won't happen, but it would be more fun to watch.

Reaction of Spanish commentators to Rooney's corner near the end: mocking laughter. Reaction of English commentators to Rooney's corner: "haven't seen anything like that in ten years." It was embarrassing. Hodgson can't drop Rooney, though, because the CEO of Nike would be on the phone.

Second round scores Here's the next 16 games to predict, with first round results providing a little bit of a guide to form. Since scores for the round will be reset, anyone can play - not just those participating in the first round. All your predictions must be posted here before Brazil kicks off against Mexico. (Note that, to make it easier for me to enter scores, you should quote your half-time score in parentheses before you quote your full-time score - not after as we did the last time.) Brazil (x)x Mexico (x)x Cameroon (x)x Croatia (x)x Australia (x)x Netherlands (x)x Spain (x)x Chile (x)x Colombia (x)x Cote d'Ivoire (x)x Japan (x)x Greece (x)x Uruguay (x)x England (x)x Italy (x)x Costa Rica (x)x Switzerland (x)x France (x)x Honduras (x)x Ecuador (x)x Argentina (x)x Iran (x)x Nigeria (x)x Bosnia Hercegovina (x)x Germany (x)x Ghana (x)x USA (x)x Portugal (x)x Belgium (x)x Russia (x)x South Korea (x)x Algeria (x)x

Something strange is going on here, because verreauxi achieved yet another perfect score. At this point, his lead is becoming unassailable.

Matt achieves a perfect score and has caught MikeO in second place overall. verreauxi retains the lead for now.

Ultimately, sports succeed in the US when they are broadcast daily by the major TV channels. It's no accident that the four principal sports - American football, baseball, basketball, and ice hockey - all consist of a few minutes of action followed by a few minutes for commercials. Real football cannot be played like that, so the advertisers will stay away, so they will never be the mainstay of broadcast sports. Unless this changes (and I don't see this happening any time soon), the US will never make it as a major footballing power. More and more talented players will join the European leagues, which is a positive for the long-term, but that doesn't change the underlying problem. Once again, it's all about money.

I'd like to see Man City away. The richest teams are most vulnerable at the very start of the season. Arsenal away would also be a good one.

One things this World Cup is doing is reveal the players with stamina and/or the ability to pace themselves. Too many seem to have hit their limit after an hour. This was one reason why the England-Italy game was so poor. After an hour, it seemed that several players were walking with the ball and not running.

The winners for the latest game are Nikica and NyarkosLeftToe, both of whom predicted the correct final score (if not the result at half-time). For the round as a whole, verreauxi and MikeO are the two to catch.

But it would be zero fun if we all had to wait that long to know how we're doing! It's not such a big deal. I created the spreadsheet with all the required formulas in advance, and I also entered everyone's predictions, which is what takes all the time. All I have to do after each game is enter the score, do a little editing so the format is more readable, save as PDF, convert to JPG, upload to photobucket, copy the link, and it's done. It sounds like several steps, but it takes less than 10 minutes.

The Costa Rica players I was trying to remember (other than Campbell, of course) are Oscar Duarte and Giancarlo Gonzalez. As others have mentioned, Kaylor Navas did well in goal.

Yes, that's who I was thinking of. Played consistently well, so I'm surprised to learn he's a bench player.

He faded by half-time, though, and Kagawa was rather anonymous throughout. Japan's style of play is very different. They give the ball away a lot, but they win it back a surprising number of times through sheer work-rate. Also, they allow a lot of balls into the box but seem rather good at making the crucial last-minute tackles. Their goalie was none too good, though, and really should have saved the header that resulted in CIV's second goal. CIV got into the game more and more as time went by. As I mentioned elsewhere, the difference was Drogba. Within five minutes of him being on the field, CIV scored twice.