Matchday 2 - Green With Envy

South Korea 2 (Lee 7, Park 52) - Greece 0
Argentina 1 (Heinze 6) - Nigeria 0
England 1 (Gerrard 4) - USA 1 (Dempsey 40)

Matchday 2 will be forever remembered for one thing - the absolute howler of howlers by English goalkeeper Robert Green. With England leading 1 -0 thanks to an early Steven Gerrard goal, Green incomprehensibly failed to stop Clint Dempsey's long range strike. The shot was low to the ground and fairly weak but Green somehow fumbled the ball, allowing it to slip behind him and into the English goal. England never regained the momentum and despite creating a few chances in the second half they were kept out by US keeper Tim Howard. Indeed the Yanks nearly stole all three points with a late strike from Altidore being pushed (just!) onto the near post by Green. Still, the England attack seemed to lack the class and creativity of Argentina (see below) and their must be concerns about the ability of the English to go deep into the tournament on that performance. The US will be rapped with a point and should be favoured to advance to the second round with the English now.

In total contrast the performance of Argentina against Nigeria was stunning, with the Africans absolutely flattered by the 1-0 scoreline. Lionel Messi could have had a hattrick in the first half alone as he put in a mesmeric performance without finding the net. In fact, if it wasn't for man of the match, Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, Messi could have had 3 or 4 goals, and the Argentinians could have gone to close to double figures. In the end an early goal from full back Gabriel Heinze was enough to get the South Americans the three points. Their performance was easily the best seen in the tournament so far and suggests a run to the semi-finals is a definite possibility. Nigeria were outplayed, but were competitive, and might be able to pinch enough points against the other group opponents (South Korea had defeated Greece earlier in the night) to go through with the Argies.

Updated odds to advance - Group B - Argentina ($1.03), Nigeria ($2.50), Greece ($15), South Korea ($1.80). Group C - England ($1.12), USA ($1.60), Slovenia ($3.20)*, Algeria ($5)*

*Still to play

What We Learned - Argentina and Lionel Messi are the real deal. Messi could be in for the best tournament by a player since Maradona in Mexico City in 1986. If Argentina and Messi can keep that form for the next month it will take a mammoth effort to beat them.

The Falcon's Spud Of The Day - Robert Green (England) - No surprises the award goes to Mr Green, and he will be hard pressed to lose the award of spud of the tournament after one of the all time great World Cup f**k ups. Just quietly it blew my multi out of the water as well - Mr Green you can expect an IOU in the mail.

Tonight's Games - Algeria and Slovenia complete the first round of matches in Group C - I expect the Slovenes to just get over the line here. In Group D, Serbia's defence should prove too tight for Ghana while unfortunately I think the Germans will walk all over Australia in Durban.

Suggested Investment - We were home last night before Green's horror moment - surely we can't be far away from a collect. I would try for a Slovenia/Serbia double in the early games before smashing the Germans to win the late game against Australia.

Prices courtesy of Betfair.