Predictions fail
Here are the goal time statistics:
Earliest Goal – 4 minutes, Stephen Gerrard for England against USA
Latest Goal – 95 minutes, Pereira for Uruguay against South Africa
Latest first goal – 92 minutes, Donovan for USA against Algeria
Mean – 51.7 minutes, Median – 52 (UQ - 73, LQ – 29)
So most goals seem to be scored in the middle of the game, around the start of the second half.
A fantastic pair of games to start the day off, with England playing Slovenia and the USA taking on Algeria. Somehow, England beat Slovenia 1-0, holding them off for a long time and unfortunately not scoring again, but preventing Slovenia from getting themselves a goal back. That guaranteed England's entry into the final 16, but Slovenia's future was uncertain. At the end of the match, the USA were still in a 0-0 tie with Algeria, but a fantastic goal in the 92nd minute from Donovan got the USA through, and left the Slovenians out of their first World Cup. This confirmed my first two predictions from yesterday's post.
England qualified after scoring only two goals in the competition – one against the US, and one against Slovenia, and this makes them so far the lowest-scoring team to qualify. Incidentally, this is the first time in over 40 years that England have ended the first half 1-0 against a European side and gone on to win (previously they had draws with Sweden in 2006 and 2002, and Ireland in 1990, and a loss against West Germany in 1970).
Next, Germany took on Ghana while Serbia played Australia. I predicted that Germany and Serbia would go through. For the first time in a World Cup, two brothers played against each other – German Jermome BOATENG took on his brother Kevin-Prince Boateng – their father is Ghanese, mother German. Kevin-Prince even played for Germany in the youth teams before choosing to play for his father's country. There's even a second Boateng on the Ghanan side – Derek - but he doesn't seem to be a relation.
In the end, Germany came first to nobody's surprise. Second was Ghana, thanks to their goal difference. So my prediction was not entirely correct. Germany will go through to face England – a great rivalry fuelled originally by the World Wars, and latterly by England's World Cup victory in 1966. In the history of England-Germany matches, they have played 27 times, with England winning 12 matches, Germany winning 10 and taking the two penalty shoot-outs that resulted in competition. There have been three friendly draws. England will hope to win outright, as Germany are unbeaten at penalties. Ghana face the mighty USA, and are probably going to be the only African team to qualify. Even if Ivory Coast beat North Korea and Portugal lose to Brazil (very likely), they will have to get an incredible score (and Portugal will have to lose by a lot of goals).
Goals per game: Mean – 2.08, Median – 2, Mode – 2, Range – 7
Cards per game: Mean – 3.93, Median – 4, Mode – 2,5, Range - 9
Predictions for tomorrow: Netherlands (playing failed Cameroon) and Japan from group E, Paraguay and (hopefully) Italy from group F. Paraguay is the only team to have won a game in this group, and as the Cup holders, Italy have a great incentive to continue.
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
23/06/2010
19/06/2010
Day Nine: 19/6/2010
Cameroon lose again as Australia scrape a draw
First, some information on the ages of all the card receivers in World Cup matches:
There have been 103 cards given out so far in this World Cup. The oldest player to get a card is 34-year-old Australian Craig MOORE, who isn't signed up for any team - in fact he is one of only three players in this World Cup who has no national league team [Fifa.com]. He has got two yellow cards in two separate matches, so he misses Australia's final game against Ghana.
The youngest player is Nigeria's Lukman HARUNA, aged just 19. Haruna plays for Monaco, in France.
The median age for a card receiver is 25, with LQ 23, and UQ 29 (in case there are any statistics geeks out there). The mean age is 26 years.
More stats on cards tomorrow!
Now, there were three more football matches today. Japan played well against the Netherlands, but a goal for Wesley SNEIDJER (pronounced 'Snider') gave the Netherlands three points.
Next, Ghana played previous losers Australia, who are in only their third World Cup, having previously qualified in 2006 and 1974. In 2006, Australia qualified for the final 16, but can they do the same this time? They only have a single point, but Germany's bad game yesterday means they could still qualify - Ghana is top of the group with only four points. Ghana's GYAN scored his second goal of the World Cup, and again from a penalty, making him equal second in the adidas Golden Boot competition. However, getting his goals in two separate games gives him an edge over Uruguay's Forlan.
Finally, Cameroon played Denmark. They took the lead early on, but Denmark came back to win 2-1. This is the first time Denmark have ever made a comeback from losing to win a group stages game in the World Cup!
I'm so glad FIFA is around to compare statistics with. Otherwise I would be making terrible mistakes! Actually, some of the card averages for the past few days may have been wrong. However, here's the actual results:
Goals per game: Mean - 1.88, Median - 2, Mode - 1,2, Range - 5
Cards per game: Mean - 3.96, Median - 4, Mode - 3,5, Range - 8
Four birthdays tomorrow. I'll probably edit them in tomorrow when FIFA updates their website, because I lost all the birthday boy details.
First, some information on the ages of all the card receivers in World Cup matches:
There have been 103 cards given out so far in this World Cup. The oldest player to get a card is 34-year-old Australian Craig MOORE, who isn't signed up for any team - in fact he is one of only three players in this World Cup who has no national league team [Fifa.com]. He has got two yellow cards in two separate matches, so he misses Australia's final game against Ghana.
The youngest player is Nigeria's Lukman HARUNA, aged just 19. Haruna plays for Monaco, in France.
The median age for a card receiver is 25, with LQ 23, and UQ 29 (in case there are any statistics geeks out there). The mean age is 26 years.
More stats on cards tomorrow!
Now, there were three more football matches today. Japan played well against the Netherlands, but a goal for Wesley SNEIDJER (pronounced 'Snider') gave the Netherlands three points.
Next, Ghana played previous losers Australia, who are in only their third World Cup, having previously qualified in 2006 and 1974. In 2006, Australia qualified for the final 16, but can they do the same this time? They only have a single point, but Germany's bad game yesterday means they could still qualify - Ghana is top of the group with only four points. Ghana's GYAN scored his second goal of the World Cup, and again from a penalty, making him equal second in the adidas Golden Boot competition. However, getting his goals in two separate games gives him an edge over Uruguay's Forlan.
Finally, Cameroon played Denmark. They took the lead early on, but Denmark came back to win 2-1. This is the first time Denmark have ever made a comeback from losing to win a group stages game in the World Cup!
I'm so glad FIFA is around to compare statistics with. Otherwise I would be making terrible mistakes! Actually, some of the card averages for the past few days may have been wrong. However, here's the actual results:
Goals per game: Mean - 1.88, Median - 2, Mode - 1,2, Range - 5
Cards per game: Mean - 3.96, Median - 4, Mode - 3,5, Range - 8
Four birthdays tomorrow. I'll probably edit them in tomorrow when FIFA updates their website, because I lost all the birthday boy details.
13/06/2010
Day Three: 13/6/2010
Germany liven things up
Finally, a team that lives up to expectations! Germany totally thrashed their weak Australian opponents. We also had our second sending-off of the tournament, with Algerian substitute Abdelkader GHEZZAL receiving two yellow cards.
In the first match, Slovenia scraped a 1-0 win against Algeria to go top of Group C thanks to the England-USA draw yesterday. Their goalscorer Robert KOREN deservedly got man-of-the match (I voted for him - you can vote for the man of the match if you watch the commentary at fifa's website). He's the team captain at 29 years of age, and plays for West Bromwich Albion – a good, solid West Midlands team. This is his fifth international goal.
The sent-off Algerian Ghezzal is younger, at 25 years old, and plays in Italy. He's had 20 international caps so far. He was actually born in France, like several other Algeria squad members. In total there were five yellow cards given out in the game.
The second match was Serbia against Ghana. The African side just scraped a win, with goalscorer Asamoah GYAN scoring from a penalty received after one of the Serbian players handballed in the penalty area. Surprisingly the first forward to score in the tournament, he has 20 international goals to his 24 years, and plays in France.
Serbian send-off Aleksandar LUKOVIC hasn't scored any international goals, which isn't surprising as he's a defender, and he's 27 years old. There were six yellows in the game, four of which were received by Serbia.
Finally, there was Germany's brilliant match against Australia that brought some life to the tournament. We also had our first straight red card of the tournament, going to Australia. All four of the German goals were scored by different players, including single-named substitute CACAU, who replaced goalscorer Miroslav KLOSE. Unfortunately, Cacau was also one of two Germans to receive a yellow card, so it was a mixed game for him – all 22 minutes he was on the pitch! (Australia got three yellow cards to go with Tim CAHILL's red)
Goals per game: Mean – 1.625, Median – 2, Mode – 1,2, Range - 4
Cards per game: Mean – 4.625, Median – 5.5, Mode – 6, Range - 6
A rough tournament with few goals so far. Let's hope it improves tomorrow!
Finally, a team that lives up to expectations! Germany totally thrashed their weak Australian opponents. We also had our second sending-off of the tournament, with Algerian substitute Abdelkader GHEZZAL receiving two yellow cards.
In the first match, Slovenia scraped a 1-0 win against Algeria to go top of Group C thanks to the England-USA draw yesterday. Their goalscorer Robert KOREN deservedly got man-of-the match (I voted for him - you can vote for the man of the match if you watch the commentary at fifa's website). He's the team captain at 29 years of age, and plays for West Bromwich Albion – a good, solid West Midlands team. This is his fifth international goal.
The sent-off Algerian Ghezzal is younger, at 25 years old, and plays in Italy. He's had 20 international caps so far. He was actually born in France, like several other Algeria squad members. In total there were five yellow cards given out in the game.
The second match was Serbia against Ghana. The African side just scraped a win, with goalscorer Asamoah GYAN scoring from a penalty received after one of the Serbian players handballed in the penalty area. Surprisingly the first forward to score in the tournament, he has 20 international goals to his 24 years, and plays in France.
Serbian send-off Aleksandar LUKOVIC hasn't scored any international goals, which isn't surprising as he's a defender, and he's 27 years old. There were six yellows in the game, four of which were received by Serbia.
Finally, there was Germany's brilliant match against Australia that brought some life to the tournament. We also had our first straight red card of the tournament, going to Australia. All four of the German goals were scored by different players, including single-named substitute CACAU, who replaced goalscorer Miroslav KLOSE. Unfortunately, Cacau was also one of two Germans to receive a yellow card, so it was a mixed game for him – all 22 minutes he was on the pitch! (Australia got three yellow cards to go with Tim CAHILL's red)
Goals per game: Mean – 1.625, Median – 2, Mode – 1,2, Range - 4
Cards per game: Mean – 4.625, Median – 5.5, Mode – 6, Range - 6
A rough tournament with few goals so far. Let's hope it improves tomorrow!
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