Spotflick Blog

England can win on Penalties!

Posted by adminNo CommentsJun 27, 2010

So the day of reckoning has arrived! England v Germany kicks off in a couple of hours in the second round of the World Cup in South Africa. It is a re-match of the 1990 World Cup Semi-final, which in case you didn’t know ended in Penalty Shoot Out heartbreak for England.

I just thought that I would post a video that will hopefully give English fans a bit of hope should the game today go to penalties. England might not have the best record from the penalty spot in the World Cup, but English players can in fact take penalties. Remember the Euro 96 quarter final against Spain….

Great Penalty Kick Tekkers from Psycho there. A hero. So don’t give up on England just yet. But let’s hope it doesn’t go to penalties just so we don’t have to take the chance of history repeating itself.

But even if England do lose on penalties there is a way that you can show the world that even if my team can’t take them, their fans can! Download Spotflick – the Penalty Shoout Out game for the iPhone – from the App Store and win the Spotflick Cup with your home nation and get them to the top of the Spotflick Cup Table. The whole world will then be able to see which country has the best penalty kick tekkers!

World Cup Day 15 – Spotflick Round Up

Posted by adminNo CommentsJun 26, 2010

Day 15 was the last set of games in the group stages of South Africa 2010, with some business still to be settled in Groups G and H .

Brazil were taking on Portugal in the clash of the day. Brazil had already qualified for the second round and Portugal, save for a remarkable result in the Ivory Coast v North Korea game, would be joining them in the last 16. Spain took on the impressive Chile knowing that anything but a win could mean that there World Cup could be over. The Swiss would be doing everything they could to eliminate the Spaniards as they took on lowly Honduras who were already eliminated.

Brazil and Portugal had only met once before at a World Cup, in 1996 , when Portugal beat Brazil 3-1 in the group stages. And this Portugal team would be difficult to beat, having gone unbeaten in 17 games since their last defeat, which funnily enough was to Brazil, when they lost 6-2 in November 2008. Brazil were looking to extend their impressive record of having only lost one group game since 1966.

But what promised to be one of the best games of the tournament in actual fact turned out to be one of the worst. My hat’s off to the BBC editing crew again here who somehow managed to squeeze a staggering 2 minutes and 55 seconds out of this game. They even resorted to showing bookings during the highlights, that how bad it was. The yellow cards were in fact the highlights for me with both Duda and Tiago both getting booked for cheating. About time. It finished 0-0. Portugal knew that a draw was enough to see them through and defeat could allow Ivory Coast to squeeze through if the were able to give the little North Koreans six of the best trousers down. So the game was pretty negative throughout a bit of a kick in the cornflakes for the viewing public.

The other game in Group G was dlightly more entertaining. This was the first time that Ivory Coast and North Korea had met in their country’s history, both looking to put some gloss on a disappointing World Cup campaign. North Korea, having performed heroically against Brazil, were demolished unceremoniously by Portugal and were hoping to avoid the whitewash that Ivory Coast needed to inflict upon them in order for the African team to progress. But Portugal needn’t have worried as Ivory Coast couldn’t quite dish out the vicious spanking that was required, and despite hitting the back of the net 5 times, the Ivory Coast ended up winning 3-0. Goals from Yaya Toure, Romaric and Kalou were not enough to ever really challenge for qualification but as least the Ivory Coast end their World Cup with a win and the North Koreans go home with some pride having at least escaped another mauling.

So Brazil and Portugal qualify for the next round and hopefully now that we were entering the knock out stages of the World Cup we would see these two great teams finally live up to their potential and start delivering the type of performances that we had hoped to see before the tournament began.

The late kick offs saw the final two matches of the group stages of this World Cup with Group H coming to a head. I elected to watch Chile v Spain, not relishing watching Switzerland’s toothless attack attempt to defeat lowly Honduras. It turns out I made the right decision. Chile, who had won 10 of their last 12 matches, fancied their chances of ending their poor record against Spain, who have beaten them in seven of the eight meetings. But Spain were looking for a win that would see them top their group despite their defeat in the opening game.

It was a lively game with both sides creating chances and playing the sort of incisive passing football that we have some to expect of Spain, but Chile were more than holding their own. But neither side could find a finish, with Torres continuing his wretched form since his return from injury. But ill-discipline cost Chile dearly in this game. Both Gary Medel and Waldo Ponce (who once again lived up to his name) receiving bookings for nasty challenges which would rule them out of the next game should they make it through.

It was Spain who took the lead after some pretty inexplicable goalkeeping and a calm finish by David Villa. As Torres ran after a through ball that was heading down towards the corner flag, the Chilean keeper ran out of the box and kicked the ball upfield but only as far as David Villa who then, without even breaking stride, calmly slotted the ball into the net from all of 40 yards. Great finish. But their won’t be many people saying Bravo to the Chilean keeper for that faux pas.

Spain doubled their lead in the 37th minute with Iniesta finishing off a typically slick Spanish move by passing the pass into the corner of the net past Bravo. Not much he could have done about this one though. But the goal was marred by the antics of Fernando Torres, who to all intents and purposes tripped over the Chilean player Estrada’s legs, but then went down like he had just taken an elephant gun to the face, and then lay on the ground motionless like he had been taken out by a rogue elephant gun wielding sniper in the crowd. The referee who did not see the incident reacted as only any Spanish fan would and sent off Estrada (still awaiting confirmation that he is not related to 80’s icon Erik, which would be some consolation for the player). Not great form from El Nino, but it seems that this sort of behaviour is the norm at this World Cup, so when in Rome, or Gauteng as the case may be.

So it was 2-0 at half time and it didn’t look good for Chile, down to 10 men and needing to score, as if Switzerland scored against Honduras they were out. Honduras were looking for their first ever World Cup win, while Switzerland knew that a 2 goal win would guarantee their progress to the next round. But Chile needn’t have worried as Switzerland and Honduras played out a pretty dismal 0-0 draw in the Free State Stadium, the Swiss not able to get the goals necessary to take them through and Honduras not able to get a goal full stop. So both sides crash out of the tournament, and it is a bitterly disappointing end for the Swiss after such a promising opening game. Chile did manage to get a goal back against Spain despite being a man down, a deflected shot by Rodrigo Millar made it 2-1 to the Spanish, but both sides looked pretty happy with this scoreline and the rest of this match fizzled out and I was pretty happy to hear the final whistle.

So Chile and Spain qualified for the next round. Probably a fair result in the end as Chile had played the better football, but Chile will struggle against Brazil in the next round simply because they will have so many of their first choice players suspended because of their ill discipline. Which is a shame as at full strength I would fancy them to give Brazil a run for their considerable amounts of money.

No change at the top of the Spotflick Cup table, with England still maintaining their comfortbale lead over the rest of the chasing pack.

Get your nation involved in the Spotflick Cup and make sure they top the table at the end of the World Cup and prove they are the best penalty flickers in the world. All you need is a copy of Spotflick – The Penalty Shoot Out game for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Check back tomorrow for the Spotflick Review of Day 16 of the World Cup when the Knock Out Stages of the World Cup starts and the penalty shoot outs begin!!

Get ready for Penalties!

Posted by adminNo CommentsJun 25, 2010

Spotflick – the Penalty Shoot Out game for the iPhone – has created a series of exclusive beer mats that will hopefully help inspire England to victory over the Germans on Sunday. The beer mats are currently available in Waxy O’Connor’s pubs in London, Glasgow and Manchester, as well as selected pubs in Edinburgh and Belfast. They are the must have accessory for the discerning England supporter who doesn’t want their team to lose on bloody penalties again!

If you want to get your hands on some of these beer mats for when you are cheering on England on Sunday, all you have to do is follow me on Twitter (@spotflick) and tweet me something (whatever springs to mind, I don’t offend easily!) and I will pick one new follower to receive a set of exclusive Spotflicker beer mats.

If you want to find out more about Spotflick – the Penalty Shouut Out Game for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad – go to www.spotflick.com. Good luck and C’mon Ingerland!!!

World Cup Day 14 – Spotflick Round Up

Posted by adminNo CommentsJun 25, 2010

Day 14 of the World Cup saw the conclusion of Groups E & F. In Group F, New Zealand wanted to build on their fantastic World Cup performance to date with a victory over Paraguay that would guarantee their qualification the knockout stages for the first time in their country’s history. Holders, Italy took on Slovenia hoping to keep alive their dream of becoming the first team to retain the World Cup crown since Brazil in 1962.

The Group F games kicked off at 3pm and one of the games delivered a real shock. Unfortunately for the All Whites of New Zealand it wasn’t them. Their game with Paraguay finished 0-0. Probably the most interesting thing I could say about the game was that the All Whites were playing in All Black. Other than that it was a pretty dreary affair, drearier than a dreary afternoon in Dunedin as a matter of fact. The Kiwi’s could not capitalise on this excellent opportunity to make World Cup history and failed to even trouble the Paraguay keeper with a single decent shot on target. Paraguay were not much better and failed to really test Mark Paston. But the All Whites can go home with their heads held high after a World Cup campaign that was a million times better than their last sojourn in 1982.

So Paraguay qualified for the next round, but who would join them? Italy or Slovakia? Italy’s World Cup had been pretty awful to date, a 0-0 draw with New Zealand and 1-1 draw with Paraguay the sum total of their endeavours so far. But a win here would put them through to the next stage and all would be forgiven. Wouldn’t it?

What a game! Probably the best game of the World Cup to date, England v Slovenia had plenty of edge of the seat drama, but this game had even more drama but good football also thrown in to the mix. Really gripping stuff. The Italians looked a pale imitation of the team that lifted the trophy 4 years ago. Their defence had more gaps in it than Shane Macgowan’s teeth and the Slovaks were able to create plenty of chances and should really have taken the lead on 6 minutes when Marek Hamsik found himself unmarked in the box, but he fluffed his volley wide. But Slovakia soon had the lead when a sloppy De Rossi pass gifted them possession outside the box and Vittek fired home from the edge of the area past Marchetti, who despite his shortcomings as a keeper does wear a cracking hairband.

And further misery was heaped on Italy when in the 73rd minute Vittek pounced again and poked the ball into the Italian net. Italy were on the brink. Lippi rang the changes and brought on Quagliarella and Pirlo, and the Italians played with four men up front. This really opened the game up and the Italians created a number of great chances. Then with 9 minutes to go Antonio Di Natale pulled it back to 2-1 after some neat build up play involving Quagliarella. If the Italians could score again they would get the point they needed to qualify for the next round. And when Quagliarella scored minutes later it looked like they had done just that, only for the linesman to flag it for offside. Mamma Mia!

It looked like Slovakia had finished off the Italians the 89th minute when some more uncharacteristically sloppy defending allowed Kamil Kopunek to run onto a throw in and slam the ball home past the flailing hair-banded Marchetti. But this match still had a few twists and turns to go. In the second minute of stoppage time Quagliarella scored with a beautifully flighted long range effort to bring it back to 3-2. And then with almost the final kick of the game Pepe had a brilliant chance to level things but he scuffed his volley and sent the World Champions crashing out of the tournament for the first time since 1974. 3-2 it ended and the Italians looked about as pleased as the Pope on a state visit to Drumcree. David Pleat summed it up best on 5 Live – ‘Italy can say Au Revoir’ (Thanks to Charlie Duxbury for spotting this gem!) What more is there to say after that!

So plenty of drama in the Group F games, what could Group E serve up. The evening kick offs saw the final games being played out with Holland facing Cameroon in a bit of a dead rubber. Holland had already qualified for the next round and at least a draw would see them top the group, but even a defeat could still see them go through as group winners. Cameroon were playing for pride and hoping to end their dismal World Cup on something of a high note. Denmark faced Japan to see who would join Holland in the next phase of the tournament, Japan only needing a draw to secure their qualification, but a win for Denmark would see them progress.

Japan proved that they are a force to be reckoned with in this World Cup as they defeated Denmark 3-1 in a thoroughly deserved win. 2 first half goals from superbly taken free-kicks was enough to effectively finish off the Danes, who never really looked like winning thanks in no small part to Jon Dahl Tomasson. The former Newcastle striker showed the sort of form that made him a terrace favourite at St James’s Park, missing several chances and even fluffing his penalty although he did score from the rebound, but even Heskey could have done that. Another player at this World Cup proving that he needs to get himself a copy of Spotflick – the penalty shoot out game for the iPhone. The Japanese finished off the Danes in the 87th minute when Okazaki tapped the ball home after some excellent skill from the impressive Honda (Keisuke, not the car manufacturer).

The Cameroon v Holland game was a much more closely contested affair, surprising given Cameroon’s form so far in the World Cup. Paul Le Guen’s side had been very disappointing to date and were already eliminated so I didn’t hold out much hope for them putting up too much resistance against a classy Dutch side. But the Dutch had to work hard for their 2-1 win.

The Dutch took the lead on 36 minutes through Robin Van Persie, after Cameroon had made all of the early running and looked hungry to end their World Cup campaign on a high. Cameroon levelled the score from the penalty spot after a free kick struck Van der Vaart on the arm. Samuel Eto’o displaying some excellent Penalty Kick Tekkers slammed the ball home proving he is also a fan of Spotflick. But the Dutch finished the game off in the 83rd minute when Huntelaar calmly slotted the ball into an empty net after a brilliant Robben shot had hit the post. So the Dutch progress to the last 16 of the World Cup with a 100% record and they are joined by the Japanese who will go on to play Paraguay. Another great day’s football and only one more day to go before the Knock Stage begins.

There was no change at the top of the Spotflick Cup Table today. England are still firmly in the driving seat.

Check back tomorrow for the Spotflick Review of Day 15 of the World Cup where Brazil, Spain and Portugal are all in action, so there should be plenty of great action to hear about!

Spotflick’s Classic Spotkicks – ENG v GER Italia 90

Posted by adminNo CommentsJun 24, 2010

Now that we are nearing the knock out stages of the World Cup I thought that I would relive some of the greatest world cup penalty shoot outs of the past, just to get you in the penalty taking mood for when you are playing Spotflick in order to help your team win the Spotflick Cup!

The first one is the shoot out that started it all. The shoot out that started England’s honourable tradition of crashing out of World Cup’s on penalties. It is of course England v Germany in the semi-final of Italia ‘90.

The game ended 1-1 after Gary Lineker levelled the score with a superb strike in the 80th minute, cancelling out Brehme’s 59th minute deflected goal (Thank you Paul Parker!)

So penalties it was, and little did the poor unsuspecting English public know what was about to transpire….

England had the advantage. They would take the first penalty and a nation held its breath….

Gary Lineker stepped up to get things underway. He had scored 2 penalties in the Quarter final win over Cameroon. He was a cert to score….

He did. 1-0

Germany’s goal scorer then stepped up, Andreas Brehme. Solid as a rock in defence and with a shot that could knock fillings out of your teeth. This didn’t look good for Shilts.

It wasn’t. 1-1

Next up for England was Peter Beardsley. Not the prettiest man at the World Cup but had been scoring penalties for Liverpool during the season so any port in a storm.

2-1. Get In!

Lothar Matthaus was up next. The German Kaiser. He had already scored a penalty in the competition.

2-2. Shite.

David Platt was next up. England’s saviour in the game against Belgium with his injury time volley to beat the Belgians.

3-2. Hero.

Karl-Heinz Riedle was next up. Come on. This guy was named after a tin of beans.

3-3. Come on Shilts.

Stuart Pearce was next up for Ingerland. This guy couldn’t be any more English unless you stuck a bowler hat on him and shoved a bulldog under his arm. Regular penalty taker and scorer for Forest. Piece of piss.

3-3 Crap. Physco shot straight down the middle and Illgner saved it with his legs as he dived left. Illgner did move before the penalty was taken but I am not bitter or anything.

Next up for the Germans was Olaf Thon, not even a regular in the side and a mere child at only 24. Easy Shilts.

3-4. Balls.

England now needed to score to stay in the game and up stepped Chris Waddle. The man with one of the worst haircuts in an English side that included Peter Beardsley. Uh Oh! And what was wrong with him. His shoulders were all hunched and he looked like he had missed it already. Surely it was gamesmanship.

3-4. It wasn’t. Waddle fired the ball over the bar. Little did Chris know that this penalty kick would still be getting replayed 20 years later and that he would forever be remembered as that guy who fluffed the penalty and had that crap hairdo. Shame, as he was a brilliant footballer.

So England were eliminated from the World Cup and Germany marched on to the final where they beat Argentina with, you guessed it, a penalty! And England then embarked upon an impressive legacy of crashing out of a further 2 World Cups on penalties as well as a few Euro Championships as well just for good measure.

They even lost on Penalties to a Rest of the World side at Soccer Aid just before the World Cup! So not good signs for Fabio and his boys. But what is more promising is that England currently sit at the top of the Spotflick Cup table – proving that even if the English football team can’t take penalties at least their fans can!

Spotflick is the Penalty Shoot Out Game for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. It gives you the chance to hone your penalty taking skills against some of the best goalkeepers of all time, and make sure your team is ready for the knock out stages of the World Cup.

So when England take on Germany on Sunday 27th June make sure that you have got your copy of Spotflick and help England to glory in both the Spotflick Cup and the World Cup!

World Cup Day 13 – Spotflick Round Up

Posted by adminNo CommentsJun 23, 2010

Another day and another four crucial World Cup matches. Day 13. D-Day for England. And some other teams as well apparently.

Group C came to a conclusion with all four teams still in with a shout of making the knock out stages after a series of pretty poor games, save for the Slovenia v USA game which was a bit of a corker. England had to beat Slovenia to go through. It was that simple. And considering they came into the tournament as one of the favourite’s this should have been a given. But it wasn’t and the country was sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for kick off.

Fabio finally decided to drop Heskey which saw an entire nation breathe such a collective sigh of relief that it must have threatened to send a tsunami over the French coast. Defoe was set to partner Rooney up front in a combination that had never yielded England a single goal. Not ideal. But in Fabio we trust. The last time England failed to win both of their first 2 group games was in Italia 90, and we all know how that campaign ended. So once more into the breeches and all that…

The game turned out to be a real cracker. Not because of particularly brilliant football, but more because of the drama of it. Every time the ball went anywhere near the England box my heart was in my mouth, but David James was an absolute rock between the sticks, safely dealing with a couple of early speculative Slovenian strikes that had Rob Green been in nets, England would have been dead and buried after 10 minutes. Against all the odds England actually started to play some good football. Gerrard and Rooney combining well, Milner making amends for his shocker against Algeria and the defence dealing with anything the Slovenians could throw at it. Things were looking good for England, but I was still as nervous as an altar boy at choir camp.

Nerves were settled slightly on 22 minutes when Defoe fired home a Milner cross in imperious fashion. 1-0 and suddenly England were rampant. Unfortunately for England, Slovenia’s keeper Handanovic was playing out of his skin, and that much needed second goal just wouldn’t come. England had plenty of opportunities but couldn’t seal the deal. Rooney must have missed his usual striking partner as he was doing his best impression of Heskey, but he was unlucky not to break the similarities and score when he hit the post after a neat bit of control from a Lamaprd pass.

As things stood the Slovenians would go through in second place, but with the USA v Algeria game still 0-0 anything could happen. The USA still had high hopes of making the knock out stages, but they needed to beat Algeria, who as England found out were no push-overs. The USA dominated the encounter and were yet again on the end of some pretty awful refereeing when a Clint Dempsey goal was ruled out for offside. The replay showed that it was a pretty poor decision but the USA continued to press. Jozy Altidore, showing exactly why Hull City were not too keen to keep him hanging around at the KC Stadium, missed a number of good chances to put the Americans ahead so 0-0 it stayed into extra time.

England meanwhile, still had not been able to finish off the Slovenians. Gareth Barry gifting possession away to the Slovenians on a number of occasions which almost cost England dearly. But the England defence stood firm. John Terry, as much as it pains me to say it, was brilliant, and such was his devotion to the cause that he actually flung himself head first at one Slovenian shot on goal. You couldn’t script it.

But 1-0 it ended and England were through. And with the USA game in injury time it looked like Slovenia would go though in second place in the group. But, then in the 92 minute, Landon Donovan pounced on a loose ball in the Algerian box and stuck the ball in the old breadbasket to give the USA a 1-0 win and finish top of Group C with England in second place.Fair play to the Americans as they were thoroughly deserving of their win and have been the best team in the group. Who would their opponents in the last 16 be though?

The evening kick off saw Group D come to a head, again with all teams chasing a spot in the next round. Australia took on Serbia, while Germany played Ghana.

The Aussies were still in with a remote chance of qualifying, but would just be happy to finish a game with 11 men! They welcomed back Tim Cahill after suspension and they would need him if they were to make it through to the knock out stages. Germany after a fantastic start to the World Cup faltered against Serbia and now needed to beat Ghana in order to guarantee qualification. With the table so finely balanced it made for a fantastic evenings entertainment (only matched by the record breaking Wimbledon match taking place at the same time – John Isner and Nicolas Mahut playing for over 10 hours at SW19 with things tied at 59-59 in the 5th set at the close of play!)

At half time things were 0-0 in both games so at this stage it was Ghana going through as group winners and Germany as runners up, so England would play Ghana. But the Germany and Ghana game looked like it had goals in it with both teams playing some great football. It was end to end stuff, rivalling a basketball match at one stage as both teams pressed hard for the victory. It was Germany who got the breakthrough in the 60th minute, Mesut Ozil volleying home from outside of the box to put the Germans into pole position in the group.

But the night was far from over, as in the 69th minute Tim Cahill leapt like a salmon to nod home for Australia to give them a 1-0 lead over Serbia. If Ghana could grab an equaliser against Germany it would put Australia right back in the mix for the second round. And things got even better for the Aussies minutes later when Brett Holman grabbed his second goal of the tournament with a superb long range effort that gave the Socceroos a 2-0 lead and it was game on.

Ghana pressed for an equaliser and came close on a number of occasions, but unfortunately it was not to be for the Aussies. Germany held on for a 1-0 win and the Serbs clawed a goal back and their game finished 2-1. It was a much deserved victory for the Aussies who have had a pretty disastrous World Cup, not helped by some pretty poor refereeing decisions, one of the major features of the tournament besides the Vuvuzela’s and the Jabulani’s. Harry Kewell will watch the Germany highlights with his jaw on the deck watching Philipp Lahm performing the same goal line save that earned Kewell a red and the Ghanaians a penalty. But that’s football. Just ask England about controversial hand-balls.

So England will face Germany on Sunday night in a repeat of 1966, 1990 and too many other grudge matches to mention. Better get practicing those penalties with Spotflick as I feel a shoot out a coming. Click here to see how Fabio has been preparing his troops for any penalties shoot out action this summer.

So a pretty good day for England all things considered. Made even better by the fact that England remain on course to lift the Spotflick Cup trophy at the end of the World Cup at the very least. They are still sitting pretty on top of the table with the USA their closest rivals some distance behind.

Get your nation involved in the Spotflick Cup and make see if you can knock England off their perch by the end of the World Cup. Get yourself a copy of Spotflick – The Penalty Shoot Out game for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad and get flicking!

Check back tomorrow for the Spotflick Review of Day 14 of the World Cup and get practicing those spot kicks as penalty shoot outs are not far away!

Spotflick on the Telly

Posted by adminNo CommentsJun 23, 2010

The Belfast Telegraph that is. I could see how that might have been misleading! Spotflick was in the Belfast Telegraph again recently and they even managed to get a mug shot of your truly into the article.

Can you tell that I was up to 3am that night? I look like I have been given a sound going over by every sailor between here and Singapore. But you know what they say, there is no such thing as bad publicity. Click on the image to read the full article or go to www.spotflick.com to find out more about Spotflick – the penalty kick game for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Football App a hit with Spectators

Posted by adminNo CommentsJun 23, 2010

You know you have made it when you make it into the local press and Spotflick has reached those dizzying heights by being featured in the County Down Spectator. Click on the image below to read the full article.

Spotflick – the penalty Kick game for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad is out now and available for download from the iTunes App Store. Go to www.spotflick.com to find out more!

World Cup Day 12 – Spotflick Round Up

Posted by admin4 CommentsJun 23, 2010

Day 12 saw the final group games for Groups A and B, and with plenty of teams still fighting for their World Cup survival, the day promised to deliver some top class entertainment.

Group A provided the first set of games with hosts South Africa taking on France, both teams needing a miracle to keep them in the World Cup, and Uruguay v Mexico, where a draw between these sides would see them both go through.

With both matches kicking off at 3pm, I opted to watch the South African game. I was keen to see the look on the Frenchies faces when they were eliminated, as they never really should have been in South Africa in the first place after the Hang of Gaul-gate scandal. Not that I am bitter or twisted or anything like that (insert lemon in a knot gag here). I figured that with a draw enough for Mexico and Uruguay to both qualify it mightn’t be the most entertaining of game. And while Mexico and Uruguay did play out an entertaining game with both teams going for the win (Argentina lie in wait for the second placed team after all!), the French game certainly didn’t disappoint.

With all of France’s off field antics making the headlines during thew week, like Anelka getting sent home and Evra getting into a scap with the team physio, I fully expected them to see off South Africa as they still have a team rammed full of world class players. But I could not have scripted this. South Africa stormed into a 2 goal lead inside 37 minutes and the French were reduced to 10 men, after Gourcuff was harshly sent off for elbowing. The streets of Dublin must have been electric. Who could have hoped for the French to end up in such deep merde. At this point Mexico and Uruguay were level at 0-0 so the miracle that South Africa needed to qualify for the second round was seeming more and more likely. The South Africans were all over the French and the Vuvuzela’s were blowing at fever pitch in what seemed like a ceaseless attempt to find the elusive brown note.

But the miracle was not to be for Bafana Bafana. France clawed a goal back and the game ended 2-1, and with Uruguay beating Mexico 1-0 it meant that both France and South Africa were eliminated from the World Cup. South Africa become the first host nation to fail to qualify for the second round, which is a shame as they have brought so much to this World C. But on the plus side it might mean that the number of Vuvuzela’s in the knockout stages decreases. It is the end of an era for France, with many of their big names bowing out of World Cup action with a whimper, and Raymond Domenech can expect to receive a welcome in Paris similar to that of Louis XVI.

In Group B, it was South Korea v Nigeria and Argentina v Greece with plenty still to play for. Argentina had all but won the group, but any of the other teams could still qualify given the right results. These matches kicked off simultaneously at 7:30pm and I selected to watch the Argentina game for obvious reasons – Messi, Rodriguez, Milito, Maradona and co are always entertaining to watch.

I picked the wrong game! Greece, despite needing to win to qualify inexplicably played so negatively, that until the final 15 minutes, this game was equally as awful as England v Algeria. Oddly enough, the referee was the same poor sod who had to officiate over that match too! I’ll bet he is re-considering his career after these two games. The Nigeria v South Korea game was a much livelier affair with both sides going all out for a victory that would see them qualify for the next round. And it was Nigeria who looked like they would get the result. Uche scoring in the 12th minute and then rattling the post with a scorching shot shortly after. But the South Koreans are a very good side and they pulled a goal back through Lee Jung-Soo and then took the lead in the second half from a Park Chu-Young free kick. Yakubu then had a chance to level the score when he was passed the ball, four yards from goal with an open net beckoning….

…and he somehow spooned it wide. It was quite simply to worst miss I have ever seen. Makes you proud to be an Everton supporter. He went some way to making amends for this howler shortly after by calmly slotting home a penalty with some style, proving that he has at least bought Spotflick as he has got great penalty kick tekkers.

But over with me at the Argentina game it much a much more turgid affair. The Greeks were pretty awful, man-marking Messi out of the game, which is quite a feat, but isn’t good form for the watching world! Samaras cut a lone figure up front for the Greeks, and really should have given them the lead when the raced clear on goal, but then he remembered that he isn’t very good and dutifully made a complete balls of it and shot wide. Argentina were getting increasingly frustrated at not being able to make a breakthrough. I thought that it wasn’t out of the question that the gaffer would through himself into the mix.

But in the final 15 minutes Argentina finally broke the Greek resistance, and it came from the unlikeliest of sources. Demichelis, the brunette Garth Algar, firing home from close range to put the Argies one up. Then in the 89th minute the even more unlikely source of 36 year old Martin Palermo fired home another to double the advantage after some great work from Messi. Maradona had recalled ‘El Titan‘ into the Argentina side for this World Cup after 10 years in the international wilderness. Palermo was best remembered for missing three penalties in one game against Columbia in 1999. Definitely a man who needs a copy of Spotflick. With Greece 2-0 down it sparked something of a revival and they managed their first shot on goal in the 90th minute, followed shortly after by 2 more, but mercifully the final whistle went and Greece were soundly defeated by an Argentina side that must be considered real contenders to lift the trophy.

So Nigeria drew 2-2 with South Korea and Argentina won 2-0 against Greece. Both Argentina and South Korea progress to the next round and Greece and Nigeria return home. A fair return based on the performances in the group stages.

Tomorrow sees England’s crucial World Cup match against Slovenia, and the good news for Fabio is that England remain top of the Spotflick Cup table with 34% of the wins so far in the World Cup.

So if you want to get your nation involved in the Spotflick Cup and make sure they top the table at the end of the World Cup and prove they are the best penalty flickers in the world then you need to get yourself a copy of Spotflick – The Penalty Shoot Out game for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Check back tomorrow for the Spotflick Review of Day 13 of the World Cup and see whether England have managed to pull off another Great Escape!

Spotflick on Orange

Posted by admin1 CommentJun 22, 2010

And I don’t mean the half time variety. Spotflick – the Penalty Kick game for the iPhone , iPod Touch and iPad – was featured on the Orange news site. Click on the image below to read the article in full.

You might have read it before but I thought it was worth a post. Nothing wrong with blowing you own Vuvuzela once in a while!

Go to www.spotflick.com to find out more about the game and about how you can help your country to cup glory this summer even if they are eevn in South Africa!

England can win on Penalties!

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Get ready for Penalties!

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World Cup Day 13 – Spotflick Round Up

Spotflick on the Telly

Football App a hit with Spectators

World Cup Day 12 – Spotflick Round Up

Spotflick on Orange

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