Japan were one of the teams celebrating today (Allsport)

By James Dart, Sportinglife.com

"No flair, an emphasis on defence, not enough goals...this World Cup is really boring."

Those were the damning words today of former Dundee United chairman and Daily Record columnist Jim McLean as the World Cup reaches its halfway stage.

My question in response?

Probably unprintable, but more likely to be along the lines of 'which World Cup have you been watching Jim?'

The past 15 days have seen the kind of thrills and spills that make this event such a phenomenal showpiece.

Surely there can be little doubt that this has been one of the most exciting finals in the event's history.

Just two 0-0 draws out of 48 qualifying round matches - France v Uruguay and England v Nigeria - but each of these had plenty of excitement in them.

A grand total of 130 goals have been scored in the games. By my maths that works out at 2.71 goals in every game.

Clearly not an emphasis on defence Mr McLean.

It has simply been a privilege to watch games like Brazil's 5-2 win over Costa Rica, Senegal's 3-3 draw with Uruguay and the USA' 3-2 success over Portugal.

The shock aspect of the tournament also helps, with a fair share of surprises making it such a dramatic spectacle.

And I for one don't begrudge the South Koreas, the Swedens or the Senegals taking their place in the knockout stages instead of Portugal, Argentina and France.

They have played with the kind of passion and attacking flair that has been missing from World Cup finals in the past.

You can always take the 'glass is half-empty' approach and argue that the defending in the finals has not been up to scratch.

But there have been towering defensive performances so far at these finals, as well as storming attacking displays.

Just look at Denmark's win over France, Sweden's draw with Argentina and England's victory against Marcelo Bielsa's side.

However, at the end of the day, it's good old pure entertainment that the world wants to see from its feature tournament, and that's just what it has provided in the group stages.

We can only hope that the games don't descend into nervy, defensive tussles with the arrival of the pressure-cooker knockout rounds.

Maybe then Jim McLean could have something to complain about.

***

Another day, another massive shock.

Portugal were the tearful losers on Friday as they crashed out of the tournament with a 1-0 defeat to co-hosts South Korea, ending the game with only nine men.

Joao Pinto and Beto both received their marching orders and team-mate Fernando Couto was lucky not to follow in their footsteps when he placed his hands on the head of the Argentine referee.

In the end, Park Ji-Sung's 70th-minute moment of magic sealed their fate, but they came ever so close to earning the point that would have taken them through, Sergio Conceicao striking a post in the dying moments.

Spurred on by their fervent home support, Guus Hiddink's side played with a real purpose after a somewhat tepid opening half, and come the final whistle, scenes of mass celebration was just starting around the joyous nation.

Both theirs and Japan's success so far in these finals has been an integral ingredient in the overall success of the tournament.

And although they face a tough task in having to meet Italy in the second round, you wouldn't bet against them keeping the party going for their fans.

***

The United States were the beneficiaries of Portugal's inability to score against South Korea, as they snuck into the last 16 despite a 3-1 beating at the hands of Poland.

It is a great achievement for the team, more impressive even than their run to round two in 1994, as that was done on their home turf.

More importantly, though, it is a testament to the excellent job being done by coach Bruce Arena.

He has a good squad at his disposal, with talents such as DaMarcus Beasley, Eddie Pope, Brian McBride and Landon Donovan.

But Arena will have been worried by the way his side struggled against the Poles and he'll need to get his charges on their mettle for what should be a sizzling encounter against Mexico in the next round.

For Poland, this has been a tournament to forget, and even though they return home with three points to show for their efforts, the over-riding sentiment in the squad will surely be one of massive disappointment.

***

At least the Japanese are in a better mood, as they rounded off a superb campaign in their qualifying group by beating Tunisia 2-0 to top Group H.

Goals from Hiroaki Morashima and Hidetoshi Nakata sealed their win, and the fact that Philippe Troussier's side never really got out of first gear yet still cruised to victory, is a measure of how far this squad has come.

Turkey await the co-hosts in Miyagi next Tuesday and should provide them with their sternest test yet, but the matchup still gives Japan a very realistic chance of making the quarter-finals.

***

Russia, sadly, have no chance of getting to the last eight, as they are now on their way home.

Coach Oleg Romantsev resigned after his team conceded two late goals to crash out of the finals, losing 3-2 to Belgium.

A tournament that started so brightly for the Russians with a 2-0 win over Tunisia quickly descended into disappointment as both Japan and Belgium beat them.

Even president Vladimir Putin telephoned the squad to wish them well before their final game, but it still failed to inspire the team.

For Belgium, reaching round two enables coach Robert Waseige to answer some of the critics who have really got stuck into him in the run-up to the finals.

Whether or not they can provide a true test for tournament favourites Brazil is very questionable.

One thing that is for sure is that it will be entertaining. Even Jim McLean won't want to miss it.

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