Top 10 2010 World Cup Upsets So Far

It is just the end of the second week of the 2010 World Cup and we have already seen a handful of stunning upsets so far.

Obviously France’s demise has been well-documented here, and so far every match they have played has been a disappointment.

Italy is not fairing much better. The defending champs have yet to win a match, while playing against much weaker opponents in Paraguay and New Zealand (you read that right — New Zealand).

So let’s get down to the Top 10 2010 World Cup Upsets as of June 20, 2010.

10) North Korea scores a goal against Brazil. Ok so maybe this isn’t an upset, but don’t tell me you thought North Korea had a chance of even getting the ball past mid-field. To score a goal against Brazil should make that day a national holiday in North Korea. What the hell ever happened to those dudes that disappeared anyway?

9) Slovenia ties USA, 2-2. After starting off with a dominating 2-0 lead at halftime, 25th ranked Slovenia played the Yankees hard all the way to the finish. Even though the outcome has been disputed by many, including us, to gain a point had to feel good to the Slovenian team.

8) Mexico handles France with ease, 2-0. Everyone expects France to give a good effort in the World Cup every time around. It’s not happening this year.

7) Uruguay ties France, 0-0. Here we go, beating up on the Frenchies again, but Uruguay hasn’t been expected to compete with the world powers of soccer since the fifties.

6) Algeria tying England, 0-0. The Brits have turned in a disappointing performance thus far, much to the chagrin of booing fans, tying both the Americans and Algerians. Algeria is currently 30th in the world, but they are still hanging in there, hoping to advance to the next level.

5) Paraguay ties Italy, 1-1. As much as France has been sluggish, Italy has been an even bigger let-down. The 2006 World Cup champions have come in and tied a team in Paraguay that may be better than we are giving them credit for. They just smashed Slovakia, 2-0.

4) Ivory Coast ties Portugal, 0-0. This game is definitely the highlight for African teams this year.  That doesn’t sound like much, but Portugal is a great team and was not expected to break a sweat versus the Elephants.

3) Serbia beats Germany, 1-0. After Germany crushed Australia, it looked we like had a sincere powerhouse on our hands. Not to mention Serbia was fresh off a loss to Ghana. Spare me the 10-man argument, because Podolski missed a PK fair and square.

2) New Zealand tying Italy, 1-1. Soccer is far from an important sport in New Zealand. Rugby and Cricket dominate down there. They’ve only been to the World Cup one other time in the history of the event: 1982. In 1982, New Zealand lost all three games by scores of 5-2, 3-0 and 4-0. They are not what you’d call a perennial contender. Italy is ranked #5 in the world.

1) Switzerland beats Spain, 1-0. Spain completely dominated this game. If it were an NFL game the score would have been 56-3. However in soccer, the difference between victory and embarassment could be just one goal. Spain never did muster up the creativity to get one in — and it cost them dearly. Spain has been considered by many to be the favorites to win this year’s World Cup. They’d better wake up, or those expectations will dissolve right along with their dreams of winning.