Fred de Jong: Good, the bad and the beauty

Beauty, blood, guts and scandal. All the ingredients of a bestselling novel have been on display these last few days at the World Cup.

And having read that the prostitutes in Berlin are working double shifts to cope with demand I'm sure the other missing component is being well and truly covered.

Argentina's 6-0 decimation of Serbia and Montenegro has sent a shockwave through the tournament. With one sublime performance, Argentina have become the team to beat. The beauty of their play was a joy to watch.

Long after the game, the locals in the bar where I watched the match were still shaking their heads and wondering how Germany would cope if they came up against such a performance. I think all over the world, fans of the other finalists were thinking the same.

The crowning moment came in the 31st minute when the Argentinians put together a 24-pass movement that ended with a deft Crespo back-heel into the path of the charging Estiban Cambiasso who blasted past the exposed Dragoslav Jevric in the Serbia and Montenegro goal. Quite simply, one of the best World Cup goals.

There have been other individual examples of the Beautiful Game living up to its name. Arjen Robben for Holland, Michael Essien of Ghana and Spain's Fernando Torres have all shown the speed, power and artistry for which they are renowned.

Robben and Essien are interesting examples of players flourishing outside the confines of the club environment.

For much of last season the defensive duties imposed on them by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea stifled the attacking brilliance for which they are better known. Now on international duty, Marco van Basten and Ratomir Dujkovic need their stars to provide the cutting thrust. Both players are obviously relishing the freedom.

And then there was Daniele De Rossi. The flying elbow thrown by the Italian midfielder that split open Brian McBride's cheek has been the worst foul in a tournament, although bereft of serious misconduct.

Expect to see more cards and early showers as the competition moves into the knockout phase. The desperation to qualify for subsequent rounds tends to bring out rash qualities in some players.

Guts and football players are not often synonymous with one another.

As well as the three red cards, the Italy v US match provided a stirring example of a backs-to-the-wall performance by the American players which won them many admirers but unfortunately only one point.

Down to nine men, it would have been easy for the US to throw in the towel. Just the opposite happened. The players ran themselves to a standstill to protect the point that gives them a World Cup lifeline.

And as for scandal, it wouldn't be a World Cup without someone rorting the system. News that executive committee member Ismael Bhmjee was selling his allocation of tickets for inflated prices has again put Fifa in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

However, it will take a lot more than a couple of bad challenges and a Fifa mercenary to eclipse the impression that Saviola, Riqelme, Crespo and co have already imprinted on this World Cup.

* Former All White Fred de Jong is in Germany.