Scoring round 1

Time for the first annual "Nuwan's round by round awards (for the World Cup)". I should come up with a catchy name for it like all those other awards ceremonies, but then again mine lacks a few things that other ceremonies have. Just to name a few, there is no red carpet, there is no host (well, there's me), and none of the nominees are present. In fact, there are no nominees, just winners (and losers).

So, for an awards "ceremony" like no other, let's get it started.

The winners...
The Vuvuzela toting fans. Despite continued protests from various parties, including I'm sure, those earplug less fans standing in front of a Vuvuzela, the plastic fan favourites have received FIFA's blessing, and will remain an integral part of the soundtrack to the 2010 World Cup. Viva Vuvuzela!

The officiating. Not often you see so many well officiated games, particularly if you're used to watching Premier League football and hearing managers whine about every missed foul, that cost them the game. Aside from Tim Cahill's very harsh sending off, I can't think of too many controversial decisions, apart from Raymond Domenech's substitutions, but I digress...

David James. Seems he got his starting job back after poor Rob Green added his name to the ever-growing list of England goalkeepers who have managed to find a way to help their opposition to score. Let's throw in Clint Dempsey as a winner, for "scoring" the easiest World Cup goal he'll ever score.

The Irish. No one is enjoying watching Domenech run France into the ground at this World Cup, as much as the Irish are. Since they're missing out for another 4 years, the next best thing for the natives of the Emerald Isle, is to see the French fail (yes I cheated a little bit and included France's loss to Mexico in the 2nd group game).

Germany. The most convincing first round winners courtesy of 4 different goalscorers. They looked dangerous, against an admittedly weak (and undermanned) Australian side.

Paraguay. Produced the first semi-shock of the tournament. It was only a semi-shock because they only managed a draw against Italy. They looked dangerous at times, but didn't look like they could last 90 minutes against good opposition.

New Zealand. The All Whites scored the tournament's first injury time goal, and got their first ever points in a World Cup.

North Korea. The mystery team to most, even though they qualified just like the other 31 countries, put up a real fight against Brazil. They will certainly have pundits scrambling to amend early predictions.

Switzerland. That's right, Switzerland were winners, against Spain! The defensively minded Swiss somehow held out against Spain's barrage, and stole a fortuitous goal. Some would say they got some help from Sara Carbonero, but that's as ludicrous as Switzerland winning this group...right?

The losers...

France. Yes, France's failure is baffling, until you see who's at their helm...still...somehow. Domenech's substitutions contributed to their poor draw against Uruguay. Taking off Gourcuff topped the list for me, as he looked most dangerous.

Rob Green, Faouzi Chaouchi and Justo Villar. 3 keepers, 3 gaffes. Green fortunately only cost his team a point, but Chaouchi lost the game against Slovenia, and Villar cost Paraguay a major upset against Italy...well, half of the upset

Big names England and Spain. The difference here is Spain looked good, despite losing to Switzerland. England didn't look at all like pre World Cup big dogs. Rooney looked out of form and absent from the game. Ledley King followed Rio Ferdinand onto the England injury list, and with uncertainty over who should start in goal, the vital relationship between the central defenders and the goalkeeper has been disrupted. John Terry is the only original player from that starting trio, and he's not one for good relationships anyway.

Round 2 of the awards coming at you in a week, time to get back to this USA game.