Vivaldi strong in shock win over Germany

In a goalkeeping display that wasn't ostentatious but got the job done and more so, Vivaldi put in a solid performance getting the pinpoint basics sorted, even at this level, to help his side trump an otherwise dominant Germany in a surprise win. Without solid foundations, a goalkeeper cannot succeed at the highest levels, to work from, and yet in yesterday's game, the need for strong basics were on show. Vivaldi had little work to do, but showed the importance of concentration and mental alertness (mental agility as they're now calling it in goalkeepers; vis a vis Lloris timing his rushouts to close 1-on-1's spectacularly) as he helped his side to victory.

• Covered the shot to his post well: shows good awareness of angles and timing to cover his near post
• Made an otherwise embarrassing shot (which could have gone through him) into a simple block before recovering to kick the ball away to prevent anyone getting onto the rebound (a la England's goal against India after Sreejesh's outstanding stretching save); could have easily made a hash of it but simplified and corrected an otherwise tricky situation

Holland vs Argentina goals

Holland's home support will be an interesting factor in the finals of the World Cup, playing in front of screaming supporters, and they eased to a win over Argentina in their first game.

Holland's goals
There seem to have been a heck of a lot of goalpost hitting shots and in their first goal scoring opportunity, Vivaldi was saved by his woodwork. Holland's first goal came from a well worked routine; perhaps a change in positioning to allow his use of the right leg to push out to block, rather than clutching at air with the low rhp driven drive to try and get over to over, might have helped Vivaldi. The second goal showed a weakness to his 'blocker' side and he unfortunately flapped at the glove side goal on the fourth, with better expected of him there. An attacking approach would be useful. For the third goal, he was unlucky and couldn't get much on it. Drag flicks are key at this level, so he needs to be more aggressive.

Argentina's goal
Argentina scored at a penalty corner too, with another schoolboy error between Stockmann and postman. Stockmann has a tendency to go for low flicks with his feet via the splits, which has been a constant ever since he took over at Bloemendaal, and this showed on the goal too. With the postman going for the ball too, miscommunication was going to factor in. So a basic fix can make all the difference; one going for it confidently over the other option. Pushing out laterally is still going to do little for the save, so a 30 degree angle to attack would also have helped Stockmann cut the angle and push in to block. Other than that, the final save by Stockmann was pitch perfect if a little abstract, keeping the lead at distance.