the 'ties' haven't been all that 'surprising' either unless you figure into the equation 'bad play' and 'luck'.
I'm developing a theory, RamUK... the World Cup is like boiling a pot of water.... things start slowly, (generally speaking), and build to a boil.
Now correct me here.... no doubt I'll need correcting... but I think one of the difficult things for us USA'ns to grasp is that soccer is a 'low scoring' game... as a rule. Therefore... a team can be dominant yet win by a mere a goal or two. We, (USA'ns), tend to think the score must be lopsided to prove dominance and I'm not sure that's the case with Soccer. Extrapolating... in soccer there is less room for error. Am I on to something.... or like usual is my head firmly embedded in my posterior? - JamesJM