With the World Cup in full swing, it's easy to forget that, as soon as it's over, we'll be thrust back into the cold, uncaring world of club football. Okay, okay, maybe it's not that bad for most of you, but I'm a Liverpool fan, so, yeah, it's that bad. Probably worse. My favorite soccer site in the world is Oh You Beauty, written by a man who goes by the Brazilian-esque singular name of nate. Normally Liverpool-focused, he also has some of the clearest, most insightful World Cup game recaps on the interwebs, so I highly suggest checking him out now and in the future. As the Cup semi finals loom, and with some exciting(ish) developments in the Liverpool world, I thought now would be a good time to conduct our first-ever Pandagoal interview. Hit the jump to read what nate has to say about the World Cup, England's shortcomings and more in part 1 of our interview. Part 2 runs Thursday, so stay tuned!

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Felipe Melo: Looking happy for possibly the last time in his life. Having picked the Netherlands to win this game in our predictions thread, it'd be nice to be able to gloat on this one. But those of us who picked the Dutch were lucky, not right; Brazil lost this game thanks to a mental meltdown no one could've predicted. Brazil dominated the first half. Robinho's opening goal was simplistic excellence -- he split the central defenders, took a pass right on his feet and stroked it home. Holland was on its heels the rest of the first 45, unable to build any attack or keep hold of the ball. Brazil could've easily had a 2 or 3 goal lead by halftime, particularly if Kaka's impression of the Luis Suarez winner for Uruguay last round hadn't been tipped away by the sparkling van Stekelenburg in net. Then the gods took a dump in the brigadeiros. Most days, Felipe Melo doesn't knock in an own-goal past the helpless Julio Cesar. In fact, Brazil had never given up an own-goal in the entire history of the World Cup. So that was unusual. Most days, Wesley Sneijder doesn't head in a corner for a goal. In fact, after the game, the diminutive Sneijder said it was the first time in his life he'd scored a header, that "it just went off his bald head" and in. So that was unusual. Most days, Felipe Melo doesn't stomp the leg of one of the game's great dramatic actors, Arjen Robben. I can't say Melo never gets hit with red, but had he not been saddled with the guilt of an own-goal, this wouldn't have occurred, either. That, friends, is a one-in-one-thousand recipe for an upset. There are other ways the Dutch could've come out ahead, but this particular brew was especially rare. Brazilian coach Dunga has been a target of scorn since being handed the reins, and now that one of his choices, Felipe Melo, was the goat of the entire tournament thus far, expect him to be handed his walking papers. Brazil's next coach will probably be someone with a cartoonish love of the attacking game to wash the defensive mentality from the mouths of the squad. I still think they had the right idea with this team, tightening up the back and letting explosive players like Robinho and Kaka loose on the break. But I suppose when your team gives up one mistake goal and then suddenly can't find anyone but Dutch players with their passes, starts fouling obviously and petulantly, and ultimately winds up at 10 men with over 20 minutes left in the game, the coach bears plenty of responsibility for that collapse. How could Brazil lose themselves so completely? And poor Felipe Melo. Will he ever be able to set foot in Brazil again? If anyone's grateful that Dunga will be the fall guy, maybe it's Melo; how else could he escape the full wrath of a Brazil fan base that still obsesses over a loss from 60 years ago? We haven't talked much about the Netherlands, but that reflects the nature of this game -- the first half was all about Brazil dictating terms, the second was all about them falling to pieces. Around them, the Dutch played up and down. They were lost, then buoyed by the fluke, then playing up a storm on all the obnoxious fouls by Brazil. Sneijder and Kuyt were good, Robben failed to impress, and van Stekelenburg kept his team in the game early on. But when Brazil had its head on straight, they were dominant, and I think they win this game 7 of 10 times or more. But not this game, not this day. And now the Netherlands finds themselves favorites to advance to the finals.

A Brazil/Holland fan takes in the day's action. Arjen Robben vs Robinho. Wesley Sneijder vs Kaka. Luis Fabiano vs Robin van Persie. Pretty tantalizing for a quarterfinal, no? The Dutch sent Slovakia home in about the same fashion as they won their group stage games - casually. Perhaps there's a sense of urgency to this team, but if so, they hide it better than most athletes. Other than Dirk Kuyt, who doesn't know how to play any other way than running his ass off all game, Holland seemed perfectly content to relax. They created chances, enough that they should've put the game to bed much sooner than they did, but they never seemed that concerned about finishing. van Persie was pretty wasteful in particular, shooting right at the keeper and then wide with a couple of his juicy opportunities. Wesley Sneijder continues to stake his claim to the title of World's Greatest Playmaker, orchestrating most of those meaningful build-ups, playing the key ball to set up Robben's opening goal and then taking matters into his own hand to finish Slovakia in the waning minutes. Between those, Slovakia proved a handful on a few occasions, at one point forcing Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg into 2 big saves within a minute in the second half. But their goal didn't come until an irrelevant penalty kick in the 94th, after which they called the game. The Netherlands are indisputably more threatening when Robben runs opponents ragged on the right; how Brazil will match up with him if Felipe Melo is still hurt will be fascinating to watch. Speaking of Brazil, they won in much the same fashion as Holland. Despite some fairly even play to begin the game, once Maicon put a corner kick right on the head of Juan to open the scoring, they basically cruised the rest of the way. Luis Fabiano's confidence is approximately 1043% higher than it was to begin the tournament, and his dismantling of the Chilean keeper for his 3rd goal of the World Cup was proof. Robinho drove the final stake into the hearts of Chile, and the rout was on. Chile never seemed to get into rhythm today. Despite winning possession, Brazil's players constantly ran right at them and forced a harried approach that resulted in only 1 shot on target. Germany-Argentina and Holland-Brazil will both be barnburners in the quarters. Can't wait.

We've talked here before about the potential value and positivity of a 0-0 result, and I do still agree with those sentiments...but sometimes a scoreless draw is a damn shame. Now, Brazil and Portugal were moving on pretty much regardless of what happened in today's Group G matches. Brazil was assured, and Portugal was as close to assured as a team could be, what with those 7 goals they notched against North Korea earlier this week. So I can understand there being a lessened amount of fire on each side - no one wants to get injured now, or pick up a second yellow. But we're talking about two teams that are both quite talented, that are both capable of scoring goals with less-than-maximum effort, and beautiful ones at that. Yet each side today was playing far more casually than I would have expected, even with their spots in the next round secured. I've seen more ambition in meaningless friendlies, and whatever the table looks like, it's still the World Cup, and this is still Brazil and Portugal. Interestingly enough, somehow 7 yellow cards got racked up between the two sides in just the first half - they weren't attacking the goals but they were sure attacking each other. The shots that were made were mostly long-range efforts lacking in precision or closer attempts put wide for want of better timing. The second half calmed down, seeing no further cards given, but also seeing the pace weaken even further. Eventually, after a ridiculous five minutes of stoppage time, the game ended 0-0. I suppose we're just so accustomed to Brazil being Brazil that even with 19 shots, 60% possession, and a thus far second-best pass completion rate of 78.47%, we still always expect more - something impressive, something amazing. Let's hope they're saving that up for the later games... Ivory Coast beat North Korea 3-0, but with the aforementioned stomping of the Asian side by Portugal, it was not enough to change the table and the Elephants will be heading home. With zero points and a -11 goal differential, the North Koreans will finish last of all 32 countries.

The current table:

Brazil	6 pts	+3 goal difference
Portugal	4 pts	+7 goal difference
Ivory Coast	1 pt	-2 goal difference
North Korea	0 pt	-8 goal difference

The possibilities:

	North Korea win	North Korea/Ivory Coast draw	Ivory Coast win
Brazil win	Brazil 9 Portugal 4 North Korea 3 Ivory Coast 1	Brazil 9 Portugal 4 Ivory Coast 2 North Korea 1	Brazil 9 Portugal 4 +6 or worse Ivory Coast 4 -1 or better North Korea 0 The combined margin of victory must be 10 for Ivory Coast to pass Portugal. If it is 9, then total goals are used. If still level, a drawing of lots will decide who advances.
Brazil/Portugal draw	Brazil 7 Portugal 5 North Korea 3 Ivory Coast 1	Brazil 7 Portugal 5 Ivory Coast 2 North Korea 1	Brazil 7 Portugal 5 Ivory Coast 4 North Korea 0
Portugal win	Portugal 7 Brazil 6 North Korea 3 Ivory Coast 1	Portugal 7 Brazil 6 Ivory Coast 2 North Korea 1	Portugal 7 Brazil 6 Ivory Coast 4 North Korea 0

Welcome back, dudes. Was Luis Fabiano or Kaka the star of the day? We'll review the evidence, but either way, it's bad news for anyone with money on a team besides Brazil to win the Cup. Their two biggest questions going into group play were 1) whether Kaka was irreparably broken (either mentally or physically, depending who you ask) from his lackluster season at Real Madrid, and 2) whether Luis Fabiano, who hadn't hit the net since last fall for Brazil, was the weak link for an otherwise world-class squad. For the moment, questions answered. Kaka caught fire, regaining his vision and finding his finishers before being controversially tossed, and Fabiano created amazing chances and capitalized on them. Was one better than the other? Let's go to the tape. Er, text. THE RED CARD Well, it was actually two yellows, but Kaka was the victim of injustice on the pitch. He was being an ass to the Ivory Coast players, clapping in their faces, but he got thrown out because an opposing player threw himself at him, causing Kaka to shove him back with arm. The Ivorian collapsed in a heap, grabbing his face (which he may have bounced off Kaka's shoulder but only by his own volition) and roiling around like Kaka doused him in lava. Cue ejection, though Kaka will only miss the largely pointless game against Portugal. Again, Kaka was being rude, and he won't have any friends from the Ivory Coast in the future. But his sending off was unfair, and so I won't hold it against him in reviewing his performance. The entire final 20 minutes became a farcical cocktail of fake injuries and a few actually cynical tackles, and everyone on the field shares the blame. GOAL #1 Kaka sent a light, lovely through-ball between two defenders, releasing Fabiano to finish as hard as he could and end his drought. Kaka's pass was more impressive than Fabi's strike, but the only reason he could make the pass was because Fabiano set him up with a gorgeous backheel that started their give and go. Slight advantage: Luis Fabiano. GOAL #2 All Fabiano. He flipped the ball over one Ivorian, then another, before finishing his brace. Strikers who can create those kinds of chances on their own are rare; it felt like I was watching an attacking midfielder like Arshavin out there, tossing the ball around like he was using an Xbox controller. Fabiano's second goal proves he can hold his own in this star-studded Brazilian line-up. We do have to ding him slightly, however, for the use of the upper arm/shoulder to control that second flip of the ball that was probably a handball. Still, Advantage: Luis Fabiano. GOAL #3 An onrushing Elano gave Ivorian GK Boubacar Barry no chance to stop the third goal of the game, but it was Kaka again who set up the score, this time with a nifty move down the left, slicing inside, and sending a simmering ground ball across nearly the entire box. Twas a perfect play that announced the return of an on-form Kaka. Big advantage: Kaka. VERDICT Each made one goal happen practically on their own, each had a questionable decision (handball-ish control for Fabiano, taunting that made him a target for retaliation that led to a sending off for Kaka). But that first goal owes everything to Fabiano's clever start and whomping finish to the give-and-go, so he's the deserving man of the match. --- Brazil again conceded a late goal after the game was basically decided. I felt like it was Dani Alves who should've been tracking Drogba before he strolled unmarked under the ball and headed home a consolation prize, but I haven't seen all the replays yet. It was a huge gaffe to lose Drogba, whoever was at fault, and brainfarts like that could be a bit of a concern for Brazil. But given that their two biggest question marks turned into exclamation points today, I wouldn't overstate the problem.

After the excitement brought on by today's early match, I'm sure we all expected it to continue and increase with the other two games. Considering the countries involved - the #1 and #3 ranked teams, the #27-but-featuring-a-seriously-kick-ass-striker-who-stopped-a-Civil-War team, and a team ranked 105th hailing from a nuke-filled dictatorship run by a man not wholly distinguishable from a cartoon villain - it certainly seemed like headline material. The reality? Well, it's a bit of a puzzle. Both games were hard-fought and were interesting to a degree and lively at times - but both also induced some head-shaking and confusion. In the earlier of the two, Portugal and Ivory Coast played to a 0-0 draw. Now, as Marc has said and as I also believe, a draw, even a nil-nil, can be entertaining. I'm not sure if I'd use that word for this match, but I wouldn't go so far as Bobby McMahon did on the Fox Soccer Report tonight and call it "dreadful" either. I think we just really expected something different. There wasn't much attacking in the game - CIV's shot tally was 9(2) and Portugal's was only 7(1) - and there were only a few memorable goal possibilities. Cristiano Ronaldo slammed a shot off the post from about 30 yards out early on, and that was pretty much the only real chance in the whole first half. In the second half, CIV saw a couple of half-chances from Salomon Kalou and Kolo Toure, and then super-super-sub Didier Drogba (who started on the bench due to being mostly-but-not-totally recovered from his fractured elbow) had one bright moment in stoppage time inside the area, but missed the target. Both sides moved with speed through most of the game, and seemed fairly organized and determined to either push through the other or shut it down (both CIV and Portugal played each role for portions of the match), but nothing really came together. In a game with the likes of Ronaldo, Deco and Drogba (even for only 25 minutes), no goals is surprising enough, but so few chances even more so. Although it wasn't entirely off-kilter - we did get plenty of diving from Ronaldo, as well a bit of argy-bargy when the Ivorians decided they'd had enough of him, so that at least was comfortingly familiar. The late game of the day was always going to be interesting in a sense, with the top team in the world taking on a generally unknown and mysterious minnow from Asia. When talking about it beforehand, I joked that Brazil would steamroll North Korea to the tune of about 8-0. It was a joke, but to be honest I didn't think it would be far below that. Turns out I was a tad off. I also said, sans snark, that they might do to North Korea what they did to the US last summer - play casually and hang back in the first half, go to the locker room and have a laugh at halftime, then come out in the second and say "Oh yeah, by the way, we're Brazil" and make with the winning. That was a little more accurate. Brazil seemed content to play at about half the pace and skill they're capable of in the first half, and it seemed clear that they'd gone into the match with very little concern over their opponent, as had many of the viewers, I'm sure. They controlled possession easily (at full time they'd had 63%) and passed the ball around generally well, but were put back on their heels a bit when coming up against a strong and solid North Korean defense. Brazil could hardly break through, and when they did, their fancy footwork was often interrupted by two or more red jerseys. Robinho had a few chances throughout the first half, but saw his passes into the area knocked away and his own shots saved or gone wide. You started to see a bit of frustration creeping into the South Americans near the end of the first half, but they still showed little urgency with their attack and North Korea continued to put a lot of pressure on them, and to show some flashes of speed and skill when they had the chance. The numbers belie that a bit - Brazil's shots totaled 26(10) (to North Korea's 11(3)); I didn't keep specific track but I'd bet a fortune the majority of those came in the second half. This is when, as I'd imagined, they started to play closer to their abilities. The passing improved (with, for me, the notable exception of Kaka, who looked oddly flat for most of this match), the attack got more focused, and the goals finally came. Maicon put them on the board first in the 55th with an impossible shot from practically on the endline that curled just between the near post and the North Korean keeper. Elano added a second in the 72nd off a beautiful pass from Robinho. The score held at 2-0 until just before stoppage time, when Ji Yun-Nam broke through the yellow shirts and drove a hard strike past Julio Cesar to make the final score 2-1. North Korea walked away with no points, but even nabbing a goal must have seemed like an unlikely dream at the beginning. Both matches served as good examples of the saying that games aren't played on paper. A goalless end to a game between two strong sides, each with their own shining star of a striker? The best team in the world being tentative and lackadaisical, while a largely derided unknown piles on the pressure? Not what I expected on the day...but then for me, that's part of the fun. You really never know what you're going to see.