World Cup Parity

In what appears to be a comforting trend for the Black Stars, in the first half of the first round, parity has reigned between traditional powers and the little guys. Certainly this was exemplified by the Soca Warriors surprising showing versus notorious slow starter Sweden, but the trend was also in evidence in Ecuador’s surprising victory versus Poland and Paraguay’s strong performance versus England. Even Cote D’Ivoire, the erstwhile African standard bearer, showed a little bit of spunk in the second stanza versus Argentina (following what could only be called and uninspiring beginning.

While superior skill likely will out over the course of time, the meaning of this all is evident- the minnows of the World are catching up to the sharks, and catching up fast. And Ghana, minnows of its group at least, will doubtless continue this trend past overconfident Italy.