Ronaldinho replicates the second goal from Japan's Endo. To this point in the World Cup, there had been plenty of free kicks, but few that led directly to goals or even scoring chances (unless, y'know, you count that 3rd USA goal against Slovenia). But the Japanese took it upon themselves to pick up the slack today as Honda and Endo stuck free-kick knives into the kidney of Denmark's dreams. Huge chunks of play occurred in Japan's half of the field, with the Danes holding the ball 2/3rds of the time. But you never got the sense that they believed in themselves, that they knew who to feed or how they wanted to finish. At times, it seemed like their players were all looking to the next guy to fight for the ball in the air or call for the pass. Hesitancy will kill you in the box. Japan played the opposite game. Though they handed over possession, they were a regular threat on the counter attack, and their free kick strikes were perfectly placed and gave Japan an insurmountable 2-0 lead. Denmark's GK Sorensen could be faulted for both, but I prefer to credit the kickers for putting the ball right where he wasn't. Denmark struck back when Daniel Agger took a hard fall from a soft shove to "earn" a penalty. It was an Italian move, no doubt, but I'm probably being harsh sticking quotes around that. Twitter consensus seems that it was a horrible call, but I saw a dumb defensive moment that Agger accentuated. It's one thing to shove around when there's a scrum on a corner and the ref has a million bodies to look at, but to do it out in space, when the official has his eyes right on you, is asking for trouble. That said, I don't fault anyone who blames Agger. Anyway, Tomassen couldn't hit the penalty but got his own rebound and slotted it home to cut it to 2-1. The game still felt over, though, as the Danes would need two more. Honda decided to put even that glimmer of hope to bed as he ran into the box, sent the ball around a defender, drew Sorensen, and passed to Okazaki for an open goal finish. With their ability to pick their spots and capitalize on them, Japan will be a tricky underdog for the favorites to handle. In the other game, the Netherlands and Cameroon had a friendly knockabout that the Dutch won 2-1. Van Persie got on the board, Eto'o made a penalty, and Huntelaar finished off a rebound. I feel badly for Cameroon; it would have been nice to knock off Holland even in a meaningless game. Instead, they finish behind only the French and Italians in terms of tournament disappointment. Holland will face off against Slovakia next, another game they may be able to win despite barely tapping on the gas, and Japan will play Paraguay in what should be a wide-open and exciting affair.

Eto'o, ponderous. The World Cup is cruel. Cameroon has been eliminated after playing the most wide open and entertaining match of the tournament. But their failure to finish from corners and crosses and cutbacks and fast breaks and rebounds and headers doomed them to the dust bin. This was not what we assumed would happen after Eto'o opened the scoring. Danish defender Simon Kjaer was pick-pocketed to the left of the box, the ball was centered to Eto'o, and he could've texted his intentions to the keeper with all the time he had to finish. His emotional, howling celebration was inspiring; the hope of a nation is a tough burden to bear. 20 minutes later, Denmark was level after a gorgeous upfield bomb from Kjaer set Rommedahl loose. He bested Assou-Ekotto and sent a low ball across goal that Bendtner slid into for a harder-than-it-looked finish. We couldn't have gone more than 3 minutes without a chance coming for one side or the other after that. Geremi for Cameroon and the afore-mentioned Rommedahl for Denmark embarrassed defenders and created chances for their forwards. None could capitalize, so at about the 60 minute mark, Rommedahl took matters into his own hands. Video-game style, he took the ball on the wing, cut into the middle, and curled a ball around keeper Souleymanou Hamidou. 2-1 Denmark, and while that's how it finished, the scoreline does no justice to the sheer number of chances in this game. 23 shots for Cameroon, 13 for Denmark, and both teams easily could have put 4 or 5 of those in the net. Cameroon's biggest goats were probably Webo and Idrissou. The latter missed multiple headers, including one unmarked off a corner that felt like a sure thing as the ball came down and he went up. The former shot the ball everywhere but into the goal. Cameroon missed every way you could, and I'm a believer that the pressure had more to do with it than the ball. Cameroon wasn't alone, though; the Danes squandered a few jaw-dropping chances, too. At one point, Denmark has both Tomasson and Rommedahl loose with only the goalie in front of them, but Tomasson could only find the keeper. Speaking of, for a game with so many exciting moments, we ought to doff our caps to the goalies on both ends. In particular, I felt Sorensen showed he belongs at a more elite club than Stoke City; perhaps Arsenal will take heed. He showed excellent instincts on dives and collecting balls from the air, and his porous back line probably owes him a six-pack for saving their asses time and again. All of this means the Netherlands has won the group and can rest their first team in the final match. Should be a nice advantage heading into final 16. Cameroon is out, and the Danes must beat Japan to advance. Because Japan only lost to the Dutch by 1 while Denmark lost be 2, a tie will send Japan to the next round. Cameroon played highly entertaining football, and folks here know I'm a fan of Samuel Eto'o. It's sad to see them out of the World Cup.

We learned that it's a lot easier to make mistakes than great plays. Denmark coughed up a brutal own goal thanks to the unluckily placed heads and backs of their defenders. Paraguay blew the chance to cripple Italy's dreams of a repeat when their keeper threw a drunkard's punch and allowed the ball to fall right into De Rossi's lap. We learned that Cameroon has one game plan when down a goal in the last twenty minutes: hoof the ball from midfield into the box over and over, no matter how many times your players fail to come down with the Jabulani. We learned that Italy's age is in fact a hindrance, and they'll make average squads look downright explosive, especially once play's taken out wide. We also learned that the nation of Italy has in fact produced a goalie besides Buffon but that said keeper plays with the confidence of a Steve Carell character. We learned that Japan can win on the road. We learned that you can dress like Atletico Madrid and still play quality football. We learned that Wesley Sneijder is still the best playmaking midfielder in the world, and that Dirk Kuyt is still an unimpressive player who somehow manages to put himself in the right place for easy goals too often for it to be coincidence. What else did we learn?