Quick Thoughts After One Match Apiece

So, if I've learned anything so far, it's that I didn't pay enough attention to CONMEBOL. The two teams that exceeded my expectations the most in that first set of matches were probably Paraguay and Chile. Uruguay, too, for that matter.

Germany has given the best evidence of a soccer power in its rightful place, followed by Holland and probably Argentina, who were one phenomenal goalkeeper away from absolutely routing Nigeria.

Brazil won by the same margin as Argentina, but did not dominate like their South American counterparts. Plus, they conceded a goal to North Korea. For Brazil, that's struggling.

At least they still won, though. Major soccer powers underperforming was the theme through the first matches, with England, Italy and France all managing just one point from a draw, while Spain decided maybe they wouldn't wait until the later stages to choke this time around.

A handful of teams with draws in tough first match -- the U.S., Paraguay, Uruguay, Mexico, etc. -- need to build on those results, but are probably in good positions to do so. South Korea and Japan both did well out of the gate, but they had to, seeing as how they face Argentina and the Netherlands next, respectively. They could crash back to earth rather quickly.

At the bottom of the slide, Australia, Greece and Honduras all struggled, and neither Slovenia nor Algeria looked particularly good. Nobody else really stood out, but I haven't been keeping a super-close eye on every match, so I may have missed some things.