Every time I see the French coach I feel like I'm looking at Jack McCoy from 'Law & Order.' But like one of the greatest shows ever, France's trip to the 2010 World Cup stands a very good chance of getting canceled.
The 2-0 loss to Mexico combined with Uruguay's 3-0 win over South Africa a day earlier left France in third in Group A with one match left. Unfortunately for the French, its fate is out of its hands as Uruguay and Mexico meet on the final day of Group A matches. A tie sends both through and eliminates France. I doubt Uruguay and Mexico will play for a tie, but that doesn't mean it won't end up that way. Winning Group A means playing a runner-up in the knockout round. It would be great to see the two teams realize eliminating France is what is really important, but I'm not convinced France will be able to handle a fired-up, pride-on-the-line South Africa, which will be the first host country to not advance past the group stage. That means all South Africa has to play for is pride and winning one game in the World Cup on home soil is all it can accomplish now. Beating a World Champion would take some of the sting out of the tournament.
As for the Group B games Thursday, Argentina looked very impressive in a 4-1 win over a good South Korean team and Greece took advantage of a red card to beat Nigeria, 2-1. Argentina, which got a hat trick from Gonzalo Higuain, advances with a tie against Greece. South Korea faces Nigeria.
We're less than 5 hours from the U.S.-Slovenia matchup. Slovenia got its moment in the sun Thursday night when Sasha Vujacic hit two late free throws to lead the Lakers to the NBA title. Hopefully, they celebrated late into the night and will come out tired today. Early reports are coach Bob Bradley sticking with Robbie Findley up front instead of Edson Buddle, which is not what I hoped for, but Findley did play well against England.