Day 25. What happened today in Brazil.
I'll take a day of rest and give you one from me and my ramblings and only say two things.
Luis Suarez's appetite for opponents' shoulders may end up being a good
thing for Liverpool as they go about spending the expected 70-80
million pounds they will get for him from Barcelona. After Lambert,
Lallana and Emre Can, now they look like they will get Lovren (Croatia),
Origi (Belgium) and Markovic (Serbia). And how many English players are
being bought by non-English teams? Makes you wonder....doesn't make you
proud...to play for England....(reference: 1982 England World Cup song B
side.....and don't go asking me what a B side is).
And as the
debate rages, between me and myself, about how Brazil, version 2014, are
nothing like Brazil version 1982 (who lost before the semis) this is
what Carlos Perreira said about Brazil 1994: (Perriera was the manager
in 1994, when Brazil beat Italy in the final, on penalties, and even
Brazilians were lamenting how un-Brazilian the team were. Perreira is
now the technical director with Big Phil) "The World Cup was a short
competition and we wanted to win it with the talents we had at hand. I
still hear we didn’t play beautiful football. But what is beauty? To me
it’s to be efficient. We were unbeaten champions and that will never
change.” Discuss and reflect as you think about Brazil's only player of
flair lying in a hospital bed somewhere while his team mates (Fred and
co.) try to make him a world champion.
Saturday, 2 August 2014
We're boring, but we win.
Day 24. What happened today in Brazil.
Today's exciting stories in the world:
Mark Cavendish fell and dislocated his shoulder in the first stage of the Tour de France.
Petra Kvitova won the ladies singles at Wimbledon.
Toronto Fc lost at home to DC United.
The three time defending hot dog eating champion of the contest held every year in Coney Island lost her title.
A car caught fire in Malta.
Costa Rica and Holland played a football match in Brazil.
And I really could stop there, other than to tell you, in case you have other things you are interested in right now, about the last minute of the 120 minutes. At 0-0 and it obviously going to penalties, Holland changed their goalkeeper. I only hope that it was planned and spoken about beforehand, because if I was the regular goalkeeper my confidence would have taken a real bashing if I thought my coach didn't think I was good enough. But there was the fairytale ending with the sub goalie saving 2 penalties, and Holland are in the semis.
Now, we all expect the quarter finals to be tight. Nobody wants to make a mistake, no team wants to risk giving away a cheap goal and be out after coming so far. But this really was ridiculous. Holland didn't have a shot on goal for 40 consecutive minutes. Costa Rica, the neutrals' favourite team, had a game plan. Defend for 90 minutes, then another 30, get to the penalties and hope to get lucky. Yes, the important thing is winning, entertainment is an occasional by product. Go ahead, call me a terrible heartless cynic but, unlike what I read all over the place, Costa Rica did not play a wonderful game. They could barely put three passes together. When Holland did shoot they hit the post three times, had a shot cleared off the line, and were a little tame in their finishing. To top it all off, Van Persie had the chance right at the end to put us out of our misery, but couldn't decide whether to stick his head or foot out and ended up crumpling into a heap of forlorn footballer. Holland were not much better than Costa Rica but they did try to win. They were centimetres away from scoring and that would have completely messed up Costa Rica's game plan. That the plan almost succeeded was mostly down to the Dutch missing, rather than the Costa Rican's bravery.
So why do we keep watching? Hidden deep under that mediocrity is the excitement of knowing that there is going to be an outcome. The battle will end, and one team will be out and the other on their way to the semi-finals. The event is exciting for the outcome. Pity about the process.
Of course with nothing much happening on the pitch my eyes wondered, with the help of the cameras, to Patrick Kluivert, the Dutch assistant manager. I've always been slightly amused by his presence on the Dutch bench. He looks like the kid brought along to the important meetings by his father. There's Louis Van Gaal, and the other men who look like they have a plan and system to put in place. And then there's Patrick, following along with scribbles in his notebook (probably writing down the questions he's going to ask later, or trying to figure out how the 30 minutes of extra time is broken into 2 halves. Important disclaimer: Patrick Kluivert is probably a very smart man, who was hired because he does a good job, and I know nothing about his personality and these are all good natured suppositions). Patrick was a pretty decent player, but he seemed to have a chip on his shoulder when he played that made Van Persie's strut look like a timid walk. Patrick strutted around with the look of "I'm better than everybody else around me and I will score when I want to". Today I think he was really baffled as to what his assistant managerial duties were, so in an effort to seem interested, he kept putting pen to notebook. The most entertaining was when he wrote something down just as soon as Van Gaal did. "I wonder what Louis wrote. I hope mine is as good. Maybe I can peak while he's watching the game". As the monotony on the pitch reached epic proportions, Patrick was hard at work on his notebook. The opinions as to what he was doing varied from doodling, to hangman, to tic tac toe (xoxo). Now I think he was probably writing down ideas for his next birthday (see below).
Holland-Costa Rica followed Argentina's 1-0 win over Belgium. Argentina weren't great, Belgium were pretty bad. The best thing about it was how great it is to see Messi playing like he is the best player in the world. He still had not reached the Maradona levels, but I have a sneaky suspicion he is timing his peak to happen in the next 2 matches. Just as he suddenly kicks into 5th gear with the ball at his feet in any match, I believe he is going to hit Formula 1, down the straightaway, speed at any moment. Today he was helped by Higuain actually looking interested. Higuain scored the only goal off a very lucky deflection that gave him the ball but he still needed a pretty good finish. It was sad for the purists that he didn't score when he ran at the Belgian defence, nutmegged Kompany and hit his shot off the crossbar. That would have made for a more satisfying win than the early goal and kill the game kind of win that happened.
Watching Argentina is more entertaining for their fans who take over every stadium they play in and seem to have staked a claim to ownership of Copocabana beach. Their singing adds an atmosphere element that only the Brazilians seem able to match (as seen on TV). The chants back and forth have started even before a possible meeting in the final. Argentinians taunt the Brazilians with something on the lines of, "Brazil, how does it feel to be bossed around in your own back yard", to which the Brazilians in their stadium reply; "five times champions". How can we have a Holland-Germany final when the whole World Cup has seemed like a build up to Messi scoring a last minute winner against Brazil in the final.
I have enjoyed this World Cup immensley. There's been great football, especially in the first round, the big players have shone, not frozen, lots of excitement and passion and Brazil seems to be living up to it's name as the cradle of football civilization. So I will take a few tedious 0-0s. After all, in a week it will all be over for 4 years. But at least I'll have 4 years to plan how to get to Russia.
Patrick Kluivert, celebrating his 38th birthday with Van Persie.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nfQSCNfbzQ
Today's exciting stories in the world:
Mark Cavendish fell and dislocated his shoulder in the first stage of the Tour de France.
Petra Kvitova won the ladies singles at Wimbledon.
Toronto Fc lost at home to DC United.
The three time defending hot dog eating champion of the contest held every year in Coney Island lost her title.
A car caught fire in Malta.
Costa Rica and Holland played a football match in Brazil.
And I really could stop there, other than to tell you, in case you have other things you are interested in right now, about the last minute of the 120 minutes. At 0-0 and it obviously going to penalties, Holland changed their goalkeeper. I only hope that it was planned and spoken about beforehand, because if I was the regular goalkeeper my confidence would have taken a real bashing if I thought my coach didn't think I was good enough. But there was the fairytale ending with the sub goalie saving 2 penalties, and Holland are in the semis.
Now, we all expect the quarter finals to be tight. Nobody wants to make a mistake, no team wants to risk giving away a cheap goal and be out after coming so far. But this really was ridiculous. Holland didn't have a shot on goal for 40 consecutive minutes. Costa Rica, the neutrals' favourite team, had a game plan. Defend for 90 minutes, then another 30, get to the penalties and hope to get lucky. Yes, the important thing is winning, entertainment is an occasional by product. Go ahead, call me a terrible heartless cynic but, unlike what I read all over the place, Costa Rica did not play a wonderful game. They could barely put three passes together. When Holland did shoot they hit the post three times, had a shot cleared off the line, and were a little tame in their finishing. To top it all off, Van Persie had the chance right at the end to put us out of our misery, but couldn't decide whether to stick his head or foot out and ended up crumpling into a heap of forlorn footballer. Holland were not much better than Costa Rica but they did try to win. They were centimetres away from scoring and that would have completely messed up Costa Rica's game plan. That the plan almost succeeded was mostly down to the Dutch missing, rather than the Costa Rican's bravery.
So why do we keep watching? Hidden deep under that mediocrity is the excitement of knowing that there is going to be an outcome. The battle will end, and one team will be out and the other on their way to the semi-finals. The event is exciting for the outcome. Pity about the process.
Of course with nothing much happening on the pitch my eyes wondered, with the help of the cameras, to Patrick Kluivert, the Dutch assistant manager. I've always been slightly amused by his presence on the Dutch bench. He looks like the kid brought along to the important meetings by his father. There's Louis Van Gaal, and the other men who look like they have a plan and system to put in place. And then there's Patrick, following along with scribbles in his notebook (probably writing down the questions he's going to ask later, or trying to figure out how the 30 minutes of extra time is broken into 2 halves. Important disclaimer: Patrick Kluivert is probably a very smart man, who was hired because he does a good job, and I know nothing about his personality and these are all good natured suppositions). Patrick was a pretty decent player, but he seemed to have a chip on his shoulder when he played that made Van Persie's strut look like a timid walk. Patrick strutted around with the look of "I'm better than everybody else around me and I will score when I want to". Today I think he was really baffled as to what his assistant managerial duties were, so in an effort to seem interested, he kept putting pen to notebook. The most entertaining was when he wrote something down just as soon as Van Gaal did. "I wonder what Louis wrote. I hope mine is as good. Maybe I can peak while he's watching the game". As the monotony on the pitch reached epic proportions, Patrick was hard at work on his notebook. The opinions as to what he was doing varied from doodling, to hangman, to tic tac toe (xoxo). Now I think he was probably writing down ideas for his next birthday (see below).
Holland-Costa Rica followed Argentina's 1-0 win over Belgium. Argentina weren't great, Belgium were pretty bad. The best thing about it was how great it is to see Messi playing like he is the best player in the world. He still had not reached the Maradona levels, but I have a sneaky suspicion he is timing his peak to happen in the next 2 matches. Just as he suddenly kicks into 5th gear with the ball at his feet in any match, I believe he is going to hit Formula 1, down the straightaway, speed at any moment. Today he was helped by Higuain actually looking interested. Higuain scored the only goal off a very lucky deflection that gave him the ball but he still needed a pretty good finish. It was sad for the purists that he didn't score when he ran at the Belgian defence, nutmegged Kompany and hit his shot off the crossbar. That would have made for a more satisfying win than the early goal and kill the game kind of win that happened.
Watching Argentina is more entertaining for their fans who take over every stadium they play in and seem to have staked a claim to ownership of Copocabana beach. Their singing adds an atmosphere element that only the Brazilians seem able to match (as seen on TV). The chants back and forth have started even before a possible meeting in the final. Argentinians taunt the Brazilians with something on the lines of, "Brazil, how does it feel to be bossed around in your own back yard", to which the Brazilians in their stadium reply; "five times champions". How can we have a Holland-Germany final when the whole World Cup has seemed like a build up to Messi scoring a last minute winner against Brazil in the final.
I have enjoyed this World Cup immensley. There's been great football, especially in the first round, the big players have shone, not frozen, lots of excitement and passion and Brazil seems to be living up to it's name as the cradle of football civilization. So I will take a few tedious 0-0s. After all, in a week it will all be over for 4 years. But at least I'll have 4 years to plan how to get to Russia.
Patrick Kluivert, celebrating his 38th birthday with Van Persie.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nfQSCNfbzQ
All praise the round ball and those who kick it!
Day 23. What happened today in Brazil.
Somewhere in Brazil, maybe around the Maracana, there must be a sign that says, "Welcome to the Evangelical church of latter day Brazilian footballers. Come join us for praise and to give thanks on the morrow of every great Brazilian victory. Our Minister, Big Phil, will lead the joyous circle, while Preacher David Luiz offers the daily prayers" (and in small print) "our church was created to counter the negative influence on our youth left over from the fake positivity created by the over indulgence of those who believed they were above greatness, namely Socrates, Falcao, Zico, Cerezo and more".
Really, what is it with the Brazilian players and the constant, overly enthusiastic praise to the lord. Kaka used to reveal his I-love-Jesus shirt after he scored. Today we had Luiz and his two-hands-to-the-sky, on his knees, prayer after his goal and at the end. To each their own I say. If they believe, and that's their inspiration, good for them. But do we really believe that they believe? Many years ago David Bowie was part of the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in London. It was huge, and everybody was there. David Bowie came out on stage, and got down on one knee and asked the crowd to join him in reciting the lord's prayer, for Freddie, you know. The next day a journalist in an English newspaper wrote a wonderful article about the hypocrisy and fakeness of that moment. Who was to believe that Bowie, and the thousands and thousands of drunk and stoned fans, could really be genuine in asking the lord to take care of the very un-religious (through his behaviour) Freddie Mercury. The statement was not about the merits of religion, but the abuse, in a way, and convenience, of it's power. David Luiz....David Bowie.......
So Brazil are on their way to a semi final against Germany after beating Colombia 2-1. Again, it wasn't pretty, but there was a bit more drive about Brazil, which drove them to foul and foul and foul, in an attempt to stop Colombia showing them up for their own lack of creativity. And again, Hulk tried his hardest. He really did and with Neymar having an uninspiring day, it needed someone else to run at the Colombian defence. Fred was a again a mystery, so much so that I wonder what dirt he has on Big Phil, that has forced the coach to play him, or else all will be revealed. My favourite Fred moment today, on top of all the terrible touches, was when Maicon ran pretty much the length of the field down the wing, passed the ball to a teammate who quickly passed to Fred. Maicon had continued his run past Fred, but Fred decided to let the ball run through his legs, expecting Maicon to have stopped moving. The dummy tried the dummy and couldn't even get that right.
A sign of Brazil's reluctance, refusal even, to play good football was the second goal. Hulk was fouled by Rodriguez, not far from the Colombian penalty area. The ball rebounded to Fred just outside the penalty area and he had a clear run on, or shot at, goal. The referee stopped play for the foul rather than allowing a clear advantage for Fred. Not one Brazilian player complained. Why? Because, I bet they thought they had a better chance of scoring from a free kick than through Fred being one on one with the goalie. And so it was. David Luiz scored a beautiful goal from the free kick and Brazil looked home and dry, until a late Rodriguez penalty made for a nervy ending.
Of course, the terrible news for Brazil is that Neymar was kneed in the back, fractured a vertebra and is done, finished, no more World Cup. Thankfully, for him no surgery is required and the doctor says a few weeks of immobilization will see him recover. But for Brazil it is a disaster. Now the Brazilian team is going to have to form a circle around Neymar's bed and pray: Oh Great One! Now that we have lost the chosen one can you please help us by granting the chosen one's powers to another one who is only chosen by Big Phil because there is no other.
After all the players leave I can see Big Phil staying behind with Neymar.
Neymar: "It's ok, Big Phil, dont cry,"
Big Phil: "Oh Neymar what are we going to do? You were right, yes you were right. We cant do this with Uncle Fred and Cousin Jo and the Hulk"
Neymar: "but you heard the rest of the guys. The Great One will help us"
Big Phil "Neymar, even The Great One can't help us now. And I don't believe any of that anyway. It's only because of Fred, and, you know, how he found god....and the people....and....and......"
Neymar: "What Big phil, what is it?"
Big Phil: " Nothing, nothing...but he will play"
Neymar: "have faith"
Big Phil: "we are scewed, son, screwed.......
In the earlier game Germany beat France 1-0. I hate 1-0s, with a goal scored early on from set-piece, more than a 0-0. That's it? A header from a free- kick in the 12th minute and then shut up shop. At least with a 0-0, you know one team has to score at some point late in the game to win, or it will go to penalties. But this? Even France seemed to give up. I'm just surprised that the Bbc didn't call this game "turgid". It was close.
Somewhere in Brazil, maybe around the Maracana, there must be a sign that says, "Welcome to the Evangelical church of latter day Brazilian footballers. Come join us for praise and to give thanks on the morrow of every great Brazilian victory. Our Minister, Big Phil, will lead the joyous circle, while Preacher David Luiz offers the daily prayers" (and in small print) "our church was created to counter the negative influence on our youth left over from the fake positivity created by the over indulgence of those who believed they were above greatness, namely Socrates, Falcao, Zico, Cerezo and more".
Really, what is it with the Brazilian players and the constant, overly enthusiastic praise to the lord. Kaka used to reveal his I-love-Jesus shirt after he scored. Today we had Luiz and his two-hands-to-the-sky, on his knees, prayer after his goal and at the end. To each their own I say. If they believe, and that's their inspiration, good for them. But do we really believe that they believe? Many years ago David Bowie was part of the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in London. It was huge, and everybody was there. David Bowie came out on stage, and got down on one knee and asked the crowd to join him in reciting the lord's prayer, for Freddie, you know. The next day a journalist in an English newspaper wrote a wonderful article about the hypocrisy and fakeness of that moment. Who was to believe that Bowie, and the thousands and thousands of drunk and stoned fans, could really be genuine in asking the lord to take care of the very un-religious (through his behaviour) Freddie Mercury. The statement was not about the merits of religion, but the abuse, in a way, and convenience, of it's power. David Luiz....David Bowie.......
So Brazil are on their way to a semi final against Germany after beating Colombia 2-1. Again, it wasn't pretty, but there was a bit more drive about Brazil, which drove them to foul and foul and foul, in an attempt to stop Colombia showing them up for their own lack of creativity. And again, Hulk tried his hardest. He really did and with Neymar having an uninspiring day, it needed someone else to run at the Colombian defence. Fred was a again a mystery, so much so that I wonder what dirt he has on Big Phil, that has forced the coach to play him, or else all will be revealed. My favourite Fred moment today, on top of all the terrible touches, was when Maicon ran pretty much the length of the field down the wing, passed the ball to a teammate who quickly passed to Fred. Maicon had continued his run past Fred, but Fred decided to let the ball run through his legs, expecting Maicon to have stopped moving. The dummy tried the dummy and couldn't even get that right.
A sign of Brazil's reluctance, refusal even, to play good football was the second goal. Hulk was fouled by Rodriguez, not far from the Colombian penalty area. The ball rebounded to Fred just outside the penalty area and he had a clear run on, or shot at, goal. The referee stopped play for the foul rather than allowing a clear advantage for Fred. Not one Brazilian player complained. Why? Because, I bet they thought they had a better chance of scoring from a free kick than through Fred being one on one with the goalie. And so it was. David Luiz scored a beautiful goal from the free kick and Brazil looked home and dry, until a late Rodriguez penalty made for a nervy ending.
Of course, the terrible news for Brazil is that Neymar was kneed in the back, fractured a vertebra and is done, finished, no more World Cup. Thankfully, for him no surgery is required and the doctor says a few weeks of immobilization will see him recover. But for Brazil it is a disaster. Now the Brazilian team is going to have to form a circle around Neymar's bed and pray: Oh Great One! Now that we have lost the chosen one can you please help us by granting the chosen one's powers to another one who is only chosen by Big Phil because there is no other.
After all the players leave I can see Big Phil staying behind with Neymar.
Neymar: "It's ok, Big Phil, dont cry,"
Big Phil: "Oh Neymar what are we going to do? You were right, yes you were right. We cant do this with Uncle Fred and Cousin Jo and the Hulk"
Neymar: "but you heard the rest of the guys. The Great One will help us"
Big Phil "Neymar, even The Great One can't help us now. And I don't believe any of that anyway. It's only because of Fred, and, you know, how he found god....and the people....and....and......"
Neymar: "What Big phil, what is it?"
Big Phil: " Nothing, nothing...but he will play"
Neymar: "have faith"
Big Phil: "we are scewed, son, screwed.......
In the earlier game Germany beat France 1-0. I hate 1-0s, with a goal scored early on from set-piece, more than a 0-0. That's it? A header from a free- kick in the 12th minute and then shut up shop. At least with a 0-0, you know one team has to score at some point late in the game to win, or it will go to penalties. But this? Even France seemed to give up. I'm just surprised that the Bbc didn't call this game "turgid". It was close.
There's always football somewhere....Gibraltar?
Day 22. What happened today in Brazil.
Can I call yesterday Day 21 and today Day 22 when there was no football? My dilemma, do we count non-playing days as days of the World Cup? Not really a big a dilemma as: 1. how to watch both quarter finals tomorrow while stuck at work, with work that needs to be done, and 2. what to do on July 9th, second semi-final starts 4pm, Toronto time, me and family's flight leaves at 5.45pm. I could possibly be flying all night and not know the result. How will I write update on time?
Today feels like the World Cup is starting all over again. Two days of no play and now tomorrow and Saturday we get into the real nitty gritty. The wannabes are gone home and now the serious contenders are ready to do battle. Even Costa Rica have to be in that bracket. All credit to them, it was no fluke. Italy, Uruguay and England, and then the probably the hardest team to beat, Greece.....and they came through. Costa Rica....quarter final...I have to keep saying that to myself. Poor Holland, the pressure, what happens if they lose to the Ticos?
All the experts are busy predicting results. Who really knows? What's the difference between France and Germany, Argentina and Belgium.....Colombia and Brazil. Excuse the cliches, but really, who is going to step and shine. Who's going to do a Maradona, or Rossi. This is the time....Maradona against England in '86 and Rossi against Brazil in '82.
Meanwhile in the other football world, every Premiership club in England is checking their bank balances to see which World Cup star they can spend way too much money on. But in another football world, the one you may think starts happening in October, the Champions League and Europa League have started. Before players in the World Cup finish playing in the World Cup, and then go on vacation and then start pre-season training, there are clubs, who will not be able to afford any of those World Cup players, trying to get through qualifying rounds to get to the Holy Grail of the groups stage. Yesterday, after the excitement of Belgium-USA, in the Victoria stadium in Gibraltar, Lincoln, the Champions of Gibraltar, the first team from Gibraltar to play in European competitions, drew 1-1 with HB Tórshavn of the Faroe Islands. I wonder what Alex dos Santos, the Brazilian playing for HB Torshavn, thinks of Neymar and Fred and Jo. Countrymen, but a world apart.
Can I call yesterday Day 21 and today Day 22 when there was no football? My dilemma, do we count non-playing days as days of the World Cup? Not really a big a dilemma as: 1. how to watch both quarter finals tomorrow while stuck at work, with work that needs to be done, and 2. what to do on July 9th, second semi-final starts 4pm, Toronto time, me and family's flight leaves at 5.45pm. I could possibly be flying all night and not know the result. How will I write update on time?
Today feels like the World Cup is starting all over again. Two days of no play and now tomorrow and Saturday we get into the real nitty gritty. The wannabes are gone home and now the serious contenders are ready to do battle. Even Costa Rica have to be in that bracket. All credit to them, it was no fluke. Italy, Uruguay and England, and then the probably the hardest team to beat, Greece.....and they came through. Costa Rica....quarter final...I have to keep saying that to myself. Poor Holland, the pressure, what happens if they lose to the Ticos?
All the experts are busy predicting results. Who really knows? What's the difference between France and Germany, Argentina and Belgium.....Colombia and Brazil. Excuse the cliches, but really, who is going to step and shine. Who's going to do a Maradona, or Rossi. This is the time....Maradona against England in '86 and Rossi against Brazil in '82.
Meanwhile in the other football world, every Premiership club in England is checking their bank balances to see which World Cup star they can spend way too much money on. But in another football world, the one you may think starts happening in October, the Champions League and Europa League have started. Before players in the World Cup finish playing in the World Cup, and then go on vacation and then start pre-season training, there are clubs, who will not be able to afford any of those World Cup players, trying to get through qualifying rounds to get to the Holy Grail of the groups stage. Yesterday, after the excitement of Belgium-USA, in the Victoria stadium in Gibraltar, Lincoln, the Champions of Gibraltar, the first team from Gibraltar to play in European competitions, drew 1-1 with HB Tórshavn of the Faroe Islands. I wonder what Alex dos Santos, the Brazilian playing for HB Torshavn, thinks of Neymar and Fred and Jo. Countrymen, but a world apart.
The players rest...the fun never stops.
Day 21. What happened today in Brazil.
No play today but always action going on somewhere.
Tim Howard has become the hero in every American's eyes, for doing what he is supposed to do when standing between those 2 goalposts. So he made more saves than any goalkeeper in World Cup history (15) but that makes me, and other people who's comments I happily read online, think 2 things. One is, 15 shots? What was that defence, of who we've heard so much about how bravely they defended, doing? And I hope Belgium have some better finishing against Argentina.
Luis Suarez copied and pasted his apology from the last time he bit someone, the President of Barcelona thought it was a wonderful apology, Liverpool sighed a huge sigh of relief that somebody will pay ridiculous money to help them solve their moral issue, and today Barcelona and Liverpool started talking about a transfer.
Fifa are so impressed by the level of interest Americans are showing in football, that they think the US federation will make a bid for the 2026 world cup. Level of interest = huge market potential for Fifa.
Ottmar Hitzfield, coach of Switzerland, has gone one step further than some of the other coaches who resigned. He has quit football completely. Good for him. He's 65 and after everything he's won he deserves some peace and quiet. What does he plan to do in retirement? Work as a TV pundit. Very relaxing.
Fabio Capello, coach of Russia, has been called a thief by a couple of Russian politicians, for being paid 6 million pounds and achieving nothing. Bet he wishes he was back in England....or sitting alongside Hitzfield in a TV studio.
Fifa General Secretary Jerome Valcke said he is concerned by the high levels of drunkenness inside and outside stadiums in Brazil. This is the same man who was instrumental in getting the law in Brazil changed to allow beer to be sold in stadiums in Brazil.
Another rest day tomorrow....
No play today but always action going on somewhere.
Tim Howard has become the hero in every American's eyes, for doing what he is supposed to do when standing between those 2 goalposts. So he made more saves than any goalkeeper in World Cup history (15) but that makes me, and other people who's comments I happily read online, think 2 things. One is, 15 shots? What was that defence, of who we've heard so much about how bravely they defended, doing? And I hope Belgium have some better finishing against Argentina.
Luis Suarez copied and pasted his apology from the last time he bit someone, the President of Barcelona thought it was a wonderful apology, Liverpool sighed a huge sigh of relief that somebody will pay ridiculous money to help them solve their moral issue, and today Barcelona and Liverpool started talking about a transfer.
Fifa are so impressed by the level of interest Americans are showing in football, that they think the US federation will make a bid for the 2026 world cup. Level of interest = huge market potential for Fifa.
Ottmar Hitzfield, coach of Switzerland, has gone one step further than some of the other coaches who resigned. He has quit football completely. Good for him. He's 65 and after everything he's won he deserves some peace and quiet. What does he plan to do in retirement? Work as a TV pundit. Very relaxing.
Fabio Capello, coach of Russia, has been called a thief by a couple of Russian politicians, for being paid 6 million pounds and achieving nothing. Bet he wishes he was back in England....or sitting alongside Hitzfield in a TV studio.
Fifa General Secretary Jerome Valcke said he is concerned by the high levels of drunkenness inside and outside stadiums in Brazil. This is the same man who was instrumental in getting the law in Brazil changed to allow beer to be sold in stadiums in Brazil.
Another rest day tomorrow....
Saturday, 26 July 2014
Shall we just go straight to extra time?
Day 20. What happened in Brazil today.
Belgium and USA gave us quite the ending to the round of 16. Argentina and Switzerland reminded us why Americans don't watch football.
There is some consistency about Brazil and Argentina in this world cup. There is hope, by some, that they will meet in the all time classic final. Is it maybe a sense of destiny that they are both under performing but still winning? Brazil, as we have long established are never going to be the team we dream of...the flicks and tricks have been replaced by Fred and Jo. Argentina are looking like the anti-team to everything that has happened at this World Cup....boring, predictable and no flair. Today they were up against the Swiss who, thanks to their German coach, are more German than the Germans in their cliche-d efficient organization. The Swiss have a Nadal to Argentina's Messi. Since Wimbledon is competing with world cup for viewing a tennis reference is long overdue. Yes, the magician with his feet, Messi, was up against the Swiss Messi, but with a bit more aggression and toughness, Shakiri, Shakiri...... In the end the real Messi beat the Swiss almost Messi, but Shakiri gets bonus points for an award winning stare and swear at the referee for getting in his way.
This one, almost unsurprisingly now, went to extra time. Swiss resistance was finally broken after a mistake at the half way line gifted Messi the ball, and just when you thought he was going to try waltzing through the Swiss defence, didn’t you, he set up the Angel off his right shoulder for a beautiful finish. As poor as Argentina were, Messi was at the centre of everything. He's not quite putting in the Maradona type of inspired performances yet, but he definitely looked up for a battle, constantly looking for the ball. But maybe he needs a Valdano and Burruchaga around him. There was a rumour today that Argentina had a centre forward called Higuain playing. Maybe I heard wrong.
Argentina and Brazil may meet in the final. Do, or don't, the fan rivalry is evident every time Argentina play. They have some of the strongest support, but the sea of light blue in the stadium is interspersed with a whole load of yellow Brazilian shirts. The locals must have a lot of fun supporting any team that comes to play against Argentina in their country. Again, the Argentinian support was rocking in the first 10 minutes, but by the second half the fans must have been as bored as us at home. Silence reigned.
Switzerland were terribly unlucky not to equalize right at the end when Dzemaili headed against the post and then his own rebound rebounded off him and out. One to replay in the poor man's head over and over again.
Argentina had tried to lift the gloom by bringing on the man with the most questionably ridiculous hair style, Rodrigo Palacio. Is it a braid, is it the world's skinniest ponytail sticking out of his shaved head. I do not know.
As is the norm, I resorted to the BBC for a second opinion on this match. And, as has become Bbc's standard with any match that isn't an and end to end barnstormer, described it by using their favourite word, turgid. One of my regular readers, has become so amused by the turgid-ness of Bbc's reporting, that he looked up the definition of turgid: swollen, congested or pompous and bombastic. The midfield was congested and there is always pompous-ness on show. So turgid it was.
Belgium and the Americans put on a show that our commentator described as lively. It was end to end, the Belgians showing flashes of what their individual stars should be able to do. And the Americans played as though they had to justify the decision by the millions back home to spend their afternoon watching soccer.
That it was 0-0 at the end of 90 minutes was mostly down to Tim Howard, American goalie, doing what he is supposed to do and the Belgians doing what they are not supposed to do when they have chance after chance to score: not let Howard do his job so comfortably. There were many saves, but, really, how many of them were more than would be expected?
In extra time Belgium brought on star striker Lukaku and within seconds he charged at the American defence, did his thing (caused panic) and De Bruyne scored. Who else thinks that Kevin De Bruyne is the grumpiest footballer out there. Even a goal couldn't take the scowl off his face. Maybe that's why Chelsea got rid of him: good player, but too damn grumpy.
When Lukaku scored a second, who would have thought that there was any way back for the Americans? But, hello, what's this? Young guy, just on, Green scored a beauty with his first touch at the beginning of the second extra half and this game, if it wasn't on before, was now definitely rocking. Courtois made an incredible save and the Americans kept coming. But to no avail, and again a near upset was averted.
Before Lukaku, Belgium also brought on Mirallas for Mertens, a switch of skillful industrial-ness for occasional flashiness. Mertens always looks outstanding for about 15 minutes but them seems to be a bit of a one trick wonder, who's trick is figured out pretty quickly by the other team. Mirallas, on the other hand, is the kind of guy I would like in my team. He gets stuff done.
The match was interrupted for a few minutes when a fan/person/joker ran onto the pitch. Of course, we must not mention pitch invaders lest we give them publicity. Our wonderful, Fifa trained commentator took this instruction to heart. As the arm waving, look at me prankster ran around the pitch, we were told that Jones seemed to be having a problem, and as Mr Fun started his second lap we were further informed that Jones still seems to be having an issue and that's why the game is stopped. When it became obvious that the Brazilian stewards are happy to give somebody like this their moment in the spotlight and were happy to let him do a few laps, and when it became impossible to keep him out of every camera shot, the commentator finally admitted that we don't need these kind of interruptions.
That's it until Friday. If you are new to World Cup and you thought the last 16 matches were tight and low on excitement, just wait for the quarter finals. All the big teams will now be looking to outsmart each other. Thank goodness for Costa Rica!
Belgium and USA gave us quite the ending to the round of 16. Argentina and Switzerland reminded us why Americans don't watch football.
There is some consistency about Brazil and Argentina in this world cup. There is hope, by some, that they will meet in the all time classic final. Is it maybe a sense of destiny that they are both under performing but still winning? Brazil, as we have long established are never going to be the team we dream of...the flicks and tricks have been replaced by Fred and Jo. Argentina are looking like the anti-team to everything that has happened at this World Cup....boring, predictable and no flair. Today they were up against the Swiss who, thanks to their German coach, are more German than the Germans in their cliche-d efficient organization. The Swiss have a Nadal to Argentina's Messi. Since Wimbledon is competing with world cup for viewing a tennis reference is long overdue. Yes, the magician with his feet, Messi, was up against the Swiss Messi, but with a bit more aggression and toughness, Shakiri, Shakiri...... In the end the real Messi beat the Swiss almost Messi, but Shakiri gets bonus points for an award winning stare and swear at the referee for getting in his way.
This one, almost unsurprisingly now, went to extra time. Swiss resistance was finally broken after a mistake at the half way line gifted Messi the ball, and just when you thought he was going to try waltzing through the Swiss defence, didn’t you, he set up the Angel off his right shoulder for a beautiful finish. As poor as Argentina were, Messi was at the centre of everything. He's not quite putting in the Maradona type of inspired performances yet, but he definitely looked up for a battle, constantly looking for the ball. But maybe he needs a Valdano and Burruchaga around him. There was a rumour today that Argentina had a centre forward called Higuain playing. Maybe I heard wrong.
Argentina and Brazil may meet in the final. Do, or don't, the fan rivalry is evident every time Argentina play. They have some of the strongest support, but the sea of light blue in the stadium is interspersed with a whole load of yellow Brazilian shirts. The locals must have a lot of fun supporting any team that comes to play against Argentina in their country. Again, the Argentinian support was rocking in the first 10 minutes, but by the second half the fans must have been as bored as us at home. Silence reigned.
Switzerland were terribly unlucky not to equalize right at the end when Dzemaili headed against the post and then his own rebound rebounded off him and out. One to replay in the poor man's head over and over again.
Argentina had tried to lift the gloom by bringing on the man with the most questionably ridiculous hair style, Rodrigo Palacio. Is it a braid, is it the world's skinniest ponytail sticking out of his shaved head. I do not know.
As is the norm, I resorted to the BBC for a second opinion on this match. And, as has become Bbc's standard with any match that isn't an and end to end barnstormer, described it by using their favourite word, turgid. One of my regular readers, has become so amused by the turgid-ness of Bbc's reporting, that he looked up the definition of turgid: swollen, congested or pompous and bombastic. The midfield was congested and there is always pompous-ness on show. So turgid it was.
Belgium and the Americans put on a show that our commentator described as lively. It was end to end, the Belgians showing flashes of what their individual stars should be able to do. And the Americans played as though they had to justify the decision by the millions back home to spend their afternoon watching soccer.
That it was 0-0 at the end of 90 minutes was mostly down to Tim Howard, American goalie, doing what he is supposed to do and the Belgians doing what they are not supposed to do when they have chance after chance to score: not let Howard do his job so comfortably. There were many saves, but, really, how many of them were more than would be expected?
In extra time Belgium brought on star striker Lukaku and within seconds he charged at the American defence, did his thing (caused panic) and De Bruyne scored. Who else thinks that Kevin De Bruyne is the grumpiest footballer out there. Even a goal couldn't take the scowl off his face. Maybe that's why Chelsea got rid of him: good player, but too damn grumpy.
When Lukaku scored a second, who would have thought that there was any way back for the Americans? But, hello, what's this? Young guy, just on, Green scored a beauty with his first touch at the beginning of the second extra half and this game, if it wasn't on before, was now definitely rocking. Courtois made an incredible save and the Americans kept coming. But to no avail, and again a near upset was averted.
Before Lukaku, Belgium also brought on Mirallas for Mertens, a switch of skillful industrial-ness for occasional flashiness. Mertens always looks outstanding for about 15 minutes but them seems to be a bit of a one trick wonder, who's trick is figured out pretty quickly by the other team. Mirallas, on the other hand, is the kind of guy I would like in my team. He gets stuff done.
The match was interrupted for a few minutes when a fan/person/joker ran onto the pitch. Of course, we must not mention pitch invaders lest we give them publicity. Our wonderful, Fifa trained commentator took this instruction to heart. As the arm waving, look at me prankster ran around the pitch, we were told that Jones seemed to be having a problem, and as Mr Fun started his second lap we were further informed that Jones still seems to be having an issue and that's why the game is stopped. When it became obvious that the Brazilian stewards are happy to give somebody like this their moment in the spotlight and were happy to let him do a few laps, and when it became impossible to keep him out of every camera shot, the commentator finally admitted that we don't need these kind of interruptions.
That's it until Friday. If you are new to World Cup and you thought the last 16 matches were tight and low on excitement, just wait for the quarter finals. All the big teams will now be looking to outsmart each other. Thank goodness for Costa Rica!
African Champions...2014?
Day 19. What happened today in Brazil. The Ochoa curse struck again.
Today was the day for the Africans to a make a statement against 2 big European teams. Nigeria came into their match against France as one of those teams who had qualified, but you wondered how much they deserved it. After a painful 0-0 draw against Iran, they beat Bosnia 1-0, partly due to Bosnia being denied a legitimate goal, and then lost to Argentina. It was a case of them being better than the really bad teams. Today they really seemed up for it and with a bit of better finishing might have scared the French a bit more. They also had Victor Moses, who plays for Liverpool and looked like he was on the team solely on reputation, which is further still probably only based on the fact that he is a rarely used sub for Liverpool. Surely there was somebody on that Nigerian bench more effective than him. France, on the other hand seemed a little confused. They went back to their experiment of star striker Benzema playing on the left wing, and Giroud up front. It worked in their friendly against Jamaica and for one match against Switzerland, but today Benzema looked pissed off that he had to share the spotlight. Once Giroud went off, Benzema came to life, and France looked like they would score a few. It took a while but they did get a goal, and it was a repeat of the Ochoa phenomenon, as happened yesterday.
The Nigerian goalkeeper, Enyeama, had been having another amazing match. Then, as happened with Ochoa, he got caught up in his own greatness, and eccentricity. He flapped at a cross and left Pogba with an easy header into an empty net. After that, Nigeria looked terribly disheartened. It is a normal tactic that when a team is in the lead with a few minutes left they try to hold onto the ball in the opposing team's half. Nigeria had so lost interest that they did if for France. Even when Nigeria got the ball they couldn't get it out of their half, and eventually gifted France a corner, which led to the gift of an own goal. 2-0 France and on they go. And all this without one of their biggest names, Ribery. Really, have they missed him?
On Saturday, the day of the 2 all South American matches, all 4 teams and their supporters belted out the national anthems like their lives depended on how well they sang them. When Brazil sang their's what was equally impressive were the ball boys and girls trying to sing louder than the players. But one ball girl today might have gone one better. I'm sure she was singing along to the French anthem. Maybe she was just mouthing what she thought were the words, maybe she was French or maybe she took it upon herself to learn the words. Whatever, it seems this national anthem thing is catching. Roy Hodgson would be proud.
Second match was the much talked about, by me, revenge match. Algeria went at Germany like their fathers had given the team talk before the match, not the coach. They wanted it. The Germans were getting attacked from all angles and were all over the place. Unfortunately, Algeria lacked the one important quality needed to win, the ability to turn all their opportunities into goals. Germany were defending so desperately that their goalkeeper, Neuer, came out of his area, more often than any goalkeeper I've ever seen do.
In the second half, Germany, looked like they had overcome the shock and had enough chances to make the scoreline look like it should when one of the best teams in Europe, in the world, plays an average to good African team. But time and time again, Mbohli, in the Algerian goal pulled of some stunning saves. So out-of-this-world good that the Ochoa curse seemed to be about to happen any minute.
This was quite the match for the neutral, the underdogs having a go at the ever so consistent, always make it to at least the quarter finals Germans. But I can imagine what it was like if you are German, an absolute bloody nightmare. This was supposed to be an easy path to the next round. When have Algeria ever beaten anyone. Ok, there was that one time, but, really, it's Algeria and we have Mueller and Schweinstiger and baby faced Goetze. We're so good we don't even care that Mertesecker is in defence, because when he screws up again and again, Neuer will run out and clean up the mess. But again, for the neutral it was fantastic. Germany attacked but were denied over and over again, and Algeria ran at the Germans head on with no fear. There were oh's and oooh's and aaaah's aplenty.
Off to extra time we went and barely 90 seconds into it, Schurrle tried a training ground flick and in it went. Mbohli was beaten, and at that moment who really thought that Algeria could get back into it. They had given it their all, but now they had to summon all their very low energy reserves and come from behind to beat the Germans. As it turned out, they did score in the second minute of injury time. But, sadly, by then Germany had already scored their second goal. Another great effort, just like the Mexicans, had just fallen short. But at least the closeness to upset had entertained us.
Tomorrow, Messi takes on the Swiss and the Americans tackle the cool, look how good we are, guys from Belgium. Enjoy it, because then we have 2 days of no football. How could they.
Today was the day for the Africans to a make a statement against 2 big European teams. Nigeria came into their match against France as one of those teams who had qualified, but you wondered how much they deserved it. After a painful 0-0 draw against Iran, they beat Bosnia 1-0, partly due to Bosnia being denied a legitimate goal, and then lost to Argentina. It was a case of them being better than the really bad teams. Today they really seemed up for it and with a bit of better finishing might have scared the French a bit more. They also had Victor Moses, who plays for Liverpool and looked like he was on the team solely on reputation, which is further still probably only based on the fact that he is a rarely used sub for Liverpool. Surely there was somebody on that Nigerian bench more effective than him. France, on the other hand seemed a little confused. They went back to their experiment of star striker Benzema playing on the left wing, and Giroud up front. It worked in their friendly against Jamaica and for one match against Switzerland, but today Benzema looked pissed off that he had to share the spotlight. Once Giroud went off, Benzema came to life, and France looked like they would score a few. It took a while but they did get a goal, and it was a repeat of the Ochoa phenomenon, as happened yesterday.
The Nigerian goalkeeper, Enyeama, had been having another amazing match. Then, as happened with Ochoa, he got caught up in his own greatness, and eccentricity. He flapped at a cross and left Pogba with an easy header into an empty net. After that, Nigeria looked terribly disheartened. It is a normal tactic that when a team is in the lead with a few minutes left they try to hold onto the ball in the opposing team's half. Nigeria had so lost interest that they did if for France. Even when Nigeria got the ball they couldn't get it out of their half, and eventually gifted France a corner, which led to the gift of an own goal. 2-0 France and on they go. And all this without one of their biggest names, Ribery. Really, have they missed him?
On Saturday, the day of the 2 all South American matches, all 4 teams and their supporters belted out the national anthems like their lives depended on how well they sang them. When Brazil sang their's what was equally impressive were the ball boys and girls trying to sing louder than the players. But one ball girl today might have gone one better. I'm sure she was singing along to the French anthem. Maybe she was just mouthing what she thought were the words, maybe she was French or maybe she took it upon herself to learn the words. Whatever, it seems this national anthem thing is catching. Roy Hodgson would be proud.
Second match was the much talked about, by me, revenge match. Algeria went at Germany like their fathers had given the team talk before the match, not the coach. They wanted it. The Germans were getting attacked from all angles and were all over the place. Unfortunately, Algeria lacked the one important quality needed to win, the ability to turn all their opportunities into goals. Germany were defending so desperately that their goalkeeper, Neuer, came out of his area, more often than any goalkeeper I've ever seen do.
In the second half, Germany, looked like they had overcome the shock and had enough chances to make the scoreline look like it should when one of the best teams in Europe, in the world, plays an average to good African team. But time and time again, Mbohli, in the Algerian goal pulled of some stunning saves. So out-of-this-world good that the Ochoa curse seemed to be about to happen any minute.
This was quite the match for the neutral, the underdogs having a go at the ever so consistent, always make it to at least the quarter finals Germans. But I can imagine what it was like if you are German, an absolute bloody nightmare. This was supposed to be an easy path to the next round. When have Algeria ever beaten anyone. Ok, there was that one time, but, really, it's Algeria and we have Mueller and Schweinstiger and baby faced Goetze. We're so good we don't even care that Mertesecker is in defence, because when he screws up again and again, Neuer will run out and clean up the mess. But again, for the neutral it was fantastic. Germany attacked but were denied over and over again, and Algeria ran at the Germans head on with no fear. There were oh's and oooh's and aaaah's aplenty.
Off to extra time we went and barely 90 seconds into it, Schurrle tried a training ground flick and in it went. Mbohli was beaten, and at that moment who really thought that Algeria could get back into it. They had given it their all, but now they had to summon all their very low energy reserves and come from behind to beat the Germans. As it turned out, they did score in the second minute of injury time. But, sadly, by then Germany had already scored their second goal. Another great effort, just like the Mexicans, had just fallen short. But at least the closeness to upset had entertained us.
Tomorrow, Messi takes on the Swiss and the Americans tackle the cool, look how good we are, guys from Belgium. Enjoy it, because then we have 2 days of no football. How could they.
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