The Tribune

By CAMERON HEPPLE

I SAID beforehand that Argentina is going to win the World Cup - I’m not convinced now. Although Lionel Messi scored a goal in their opening match last night I still think they were average and they will have to do a lot better.

I have no idea why they are playing with a sweeper until I realised how weak they were defensively, which took away from their attacking options. Bosnia were a tough side to play against: very organised and surprisingly great on the ball, unfortunate for the own goal but they will definitely be making it out the group and upsetting some big teams if they stay on form.

Shocker match of the weekend: Mexico v Cameroon – blame it on the referees, two disallowed goals. Come on refs, pick it up. It is the World Cup.

Best match: Spain v Netherlands – the champions were destroyed and two quality goals of the tournament so far by Van Persie and Robben.

Players of the

weekend

Pirlo, Italy’s #21 – He is 35 and still so smooth on the ball. Did you see that free kick? Sterling, England’s # 19 – The 19-year-old impressed me in his first World Cup match. I look forward to watching him play this week, he is our only hope.

Van Persie, Netherlands #9 - Scored two goals, one of them a class diving header against the reigning champions. What more to say - absolute quality.

Shockers of the weekend

Casillas – Not sure what happened to one of the best keepers in the world but I don’t think we will see him again.

Rooney – One of the English Premier League’s best forwards? What a disappointment.

The referees – Disallowed two blatant goals, doubting the goalline technology. It all seems a bit inconsistent. Hopefully it gets better.

Talking points

England’s physio - Carried off after their goal v Italy. No one knew what happened. I thought it was a player or Hodgson had a heart attack from the goal. But the physio jumped to celebrate the goal, landed on a bottle and sprained his ankle. I blame England’s loss to this one event.

Goalline technology – The first controversy of the tournament in France v Honduras: what was all the fuss about? The technology said it was a goal but the refs were a bit confused themselves whether to allow it or not. If the technology was not there I believe they would have taken the goal away. The French are loving the technology now, but it was definitely very close.

Match of the weekend – What a great match by two giants, Spain and Netherlands. Spain’s passing was mesmerising with combination plays by Xavi, Iniesta and Silva but their forwards Costa and Torres were just plain disappointing. I think Casillas’ lack of playing time this season is taking a toll on him. But lets be honest Netherlands just wanted it more, revenge is a dish best served cold. Will be interesting to see how Spain recovers from this.

Never give up – Coaching point of the weekend, the goal to win it for Switzerland against Ecuador is every coach’s dream. Your team is tied 1-1, your midfielder tackles the ball in his box, dribbles halfway up the pitch, gets tackled, rolls on the ground, gets up, keeps running then passes it wide to a winger who plays an amazing ball into the box to your forward making a near post run. 2-1 in the 93rd minute.

Never give up and, as a forward, always make the near post run.

World Cup fact: After an awkward celebration injury, team trainer Gary Lewin attracted twice more England search interest than goalscorer Daniel Sturridge. Source: Google Trends: World Cup (www.google.com/trends/worldcup)

Group of death

Today it’s the ‘Group of Death’. Are you ready for some upsets and two great matches in group G? Will the US finally beat Ghana? Can Portugal upset Germany? If you must watch a match make sure you catch one of these two.

USA: Clint Dempsey #8 – USA’s only chance for making it out the group, the captain and the best player the US has ever produced.

Ghana: Kevin Prince-Boateng #9 – My lookalike. Strong, skilful and full of passion: if he decides to play he will keep Ghana’s winning streak with the US.

Ghana to win.

Germany: Miroslav Klose # 11 – Top goalscorer in the 2006 World Cup, he will score today.

Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo # 7 – World Player of the year, probably the most famous footballer not because of his football. He will definitely impress.

Germany to win.

• Cameron Hepple is a Bahamian international, ex-professional footballer now forging a career in coaching. He will be providing expert insight daily for The Tribune on the World Cup.