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of...the flicks and tricks have been replaced by Fred and Jo.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!
Saturday, 26 July 2014
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.
Sunday, 29 June 2014
Is the paint dry yet?
Day 18. What happened today in Brazil.
I said this before and I'll say it again...Costa bloody Rica happened today. But more of that later.
First up today was Holland-Mexico. Holland were looking to show that they could live up to their "serious contenders" tag, which only started after the first round. Before that, everybody in Holland seemed to think they were pretty bad and were definitely going out in the first round. Even the manager, Van Gaal, didn't have much hope for the future and had decided that getting criticized constantly in Manchester was better than abuse at home. To make matters worse when Holland qualified for the last 16 as the top scoring team, the Dutch critics complained that Van Gaal's team had abandoned the Dutch way of playing football. As far as I can remember when they reached the final in 2010, the Dutch looked as far from Total Football as Greece did. But Holland found a way. After going behind to a beautiful Mexican goal, the Dutch kept going and going and going, until finally equalizing 2 minutes from the end, and winning with a controversial (when are they not?) penalty in the 4th minute of injury time.
Of course we can all feel sorry for the Mexicans. They really were very, very close to the quarter finals. But they really needed a second goal. You can never sit on a one goal lead when you have a goalkeeper who is that good. You know, the kind who has the game of his life against Brazil and then does it again today, but part of his brilliance is down to his eccentricity. And at one point he will decide to come for a cross because in his head he is going to spectacularly punch it away, but in reality he realizes he is nowhere near able to do that, and he looks like a fool when the other team scores because the goalie is nowhere to be seen. The goalie in question, Ochoa, knew he was at fault. How was it obvious? Did he do what every goalkeeper does when they concede a goal, yell at their defenders? No. Silence. Mea culpa. Of course the gullible English clubs are lining up to sign him, based on a couple of inspired performances. Ajaccio, in the French second division, who released him at the end of this season must know better.
Mexico, and their captain Marquez, gave away the late, late penalty. Was it a foul? The debate in Mexico will go on forever. In Holland it ended once everybody Dutch heard a whistle and the referee's arm pointed to the penalty spot. Does Robben dive? Sure. Did his foot make contact with Marquez's foot? Yes. Should Marquez have stuck his foot out, knowing he had a known diver trying to get around him? No. Is it fair? Happens all the time, and if it wasn't given the debate would have raged the other way. In the end the men in the orange ties and blue jackets were jumping out of the Dutch dugout, and looking forward to how they could not screw up against either Costa Rica or Greece.
I imagine that many Europeans, apart from the Greeks I hope, might have gone to bed before the end of the Costa Rica-Greece match. So allow me to describe what happened. The teams came out, the national anthems were sung and that was it. Excitement over, until 120 minutes later. In between, Costa Rica ran with the ball, Greek defenders hoofed the ball as far away as possible, Samaras tried some skill but was offside. Karagounis fouled a Costa Rican and then threw his arms up in the air...What. me? Costa Rica ran with the ball, Greek defenders hoofed the ball as far away as possible, Samaras tried some skill but was offside. Costa Rica ran with the ball......the crowd did the Mexican wave......another Greek player was offside. Karagounis fouled a Costa Rican and then threw his arms up in the air...Ref, c'mon, I didn't touch him. But hold on, a chance...Greece must score...no...ball hits Costa Rica goalkeeper on hip and goes out. Half-time whistle. Second half.....Here we go, Costa Rica running, nothing doing, Greece lob a few passes up field, nothing happening. Then suddenly Bryan Ruiz hits a pass towards the goal.....and it is a goal! Best thing that could have happened, Greece had to attack now. They tried and tried but couldn't break down the defence of the team that has St Kitts and Nevis as it's regional competitors. And then Costa Rica had a player sent off for a second yellow card. And the crowd went wild (the Greeks) or booed (the Costa Ricans and Brazilians). Or did they? Most of them must still have been in line for the toilet or beer (see yesterday). Or they were so bored they just couldn't be bothered. And on we went. Greece brought on the mystery man, Kostas Mitroglu, the striker who couldn't stop scoring in Greece, was transferred to Fulham for a record fee, but was then injured or not fit enough for English football, and.....nothing happened. The Greeks seemed disinterested in scoring, which was rather concerning for any knowledgeable neutral watching. Greece always do this, yet in the end, the very end as it turned out today, they find a way. 90th minute and Sokratis Papastathopoulos bundles in a rebound and we all nodded (or shook?) our heads in complete acceptance of the inevitable. Extra time had a little drama, mostly centred around who looked more knackered form running around aimlessly for 120 minutes. At the end of the extra time, before penalties, Fernando Santos, the Greek coach managed to get himself sent off for arguing with the referee. The penalties were going pretty well for both sides until number 5 for Greece was saved and Costa Rica scored the next one to go where they have never gone before. And, thankfully, it was all over.
This really was a terrible match. Bbc pulled out the "turgid affair" description again but really turgid does not do it justice. This was the match that you hoped anybody wanting to watch football for the first time was not watching. I was thinking of all the Americans who had heard about how great this Fifa World Cup thing is and wanted to get in on the action on a Sunday afternoon and saw this. They must have really wondered how this could be any more exciting than watching cars going round an oval track for hours, or sitting in a half empty baseball stadium hoping somebody would hit a ball so they don't have to keep checking facebook, twitter and instagram on their phone, in the hope that somebody's updated a status, because there's nothing happening out on the field. Yes, it was that bad. There have been some exciting 1-1 draws over the years (France-Brazil 1986 was one of the best ever), and others where you could at least appreciate the tactical battle. This had nothing. It's only saving grace, that saved me looking for re-runs of question time in the Canadian parliament, was that it was the last 16 of the World Cup. Hopefully never again in the next 2 weeks.
Tomorrow, we should have a couple of crackers. Maybe. France and Nigeria might battle end to end, or France might just be too good. And Algeria are out for revenge against Germany. The head says Germany will be too good, but I'm sure many heads said that in 1982. For 90 minutes, or 120, can we ignore oppressive regimes and...one, two, three! Viva L'Algerie!
I said this before and I'll say it again...Costa bloody Rica happened today. But more of that later.
First up today was Holland-Mexico. Holland were looking to show that they could live up to their "serious contenders" tag, which only started after the first round. Before that, everybody in Holland seemed to think they were pretty bad and were definitely going out in the first round. Even the manager, Van Gaal, didn't have much hope for the future and had decided that getting criticized constantly in Manchester was better than abuse at home. To make matters worse when Holland qualified for the last 16 as the top scoring team, the Dutch critics complained that Van Gaal's team had abandoned the Dutch way of playing football. As far as I can remember when they reached the final in 2010, the Dutch looked as far from Total Football as Greece did. But Holland found a way. After going behind to a beautiful Mexican goal, the Dutch kept going and going and going, until finally equalizing 2 minutes from the end, and winning with a controversial (when are they not?) penalty in the 4th minute of injury time.
Of course we can all feel sorry for the Mexicans. They really were very, very close to the quarter finals. But they really needed a second goal. You can never sit on a one goal lead when you have a goalkeeper who is that good. You know, the kind who has the game of his life against Brazil and then does it again today, but part of his brilliance is down to his eccentricity. And at one point he will decide to come for a cross because in his head he is going to spectacularly punch it away, but in reality he realizes he is nowhere near able to do that, and he looks like a fool when the other team scores because the goalie is nowhere to be seen. The goalie in question, Ochoa, knew he was at fault. How was it obvious? Did he do what every goalkeeper does when they concede a goal, yell at their defenders? No. Silence. Mea culpa. Of course the gullible English clubs are lining up to sign him, based on a couple of inspired performances. Ajaccio, in the French second division, who released him at the end of this season must know better.
Mexico, and their captain Marquez, gave away the late, late penalty. Was it a foul? The debate in Mexico will go on forever. In Holland it ended once everybody Dutch heard a whistle and the referee's arm pointed to the penalty spot. Does Robben dive? Sure. Did his foot make contact with Marquez's foot? Yes. Should Marquez have stuck his foot out, knowing he had a known diver trying to get around him? No. Is it fair? Happens all the time, and if it wasn't given the debate would have raged the other way. In the end the men in the orange ties and blue jackets were jumping out of the Dutch dugout, and looking forward to how they could not screw up against either Costa Rica or Greece.
I imagine that many Europeans, apart from the Greeks I hope, might have gone to bed before the end of the Costa Rica-Greece match. So allow me to describe what happened. The teams came out, the national anthems were sung and that was it. Excitement over, until 120 minutes later. In between, Costa Rica ran with the ball, Greek defenders hoofed the ball as far away as possible, Samaras tried some skill but was offside. Karagounis fouled a Costa Rican and then threw his arms up in the air...What. me? Costa Rica ran with the ball, Greek defenders hoofed the ball as far away as possible, Samaras tried some skill but was offside. Costa Rica ran with the ball......the crowd did the Mexican wave......another Greek player was offside. Karagounis fouled a Costa Rican and then threw his arms up in the air...Ref, c'mon, I didn't touch him. But hold on, a chance...Greece must score...no...ball hits Costa Rica goalkeeper on hip and goes out. Half-time whistle. Second half.....Here we go, Costa Rica running, nothing doing, Greece lob a few passes up field, nothing happening. Then suddenly Bryan Ruiz hits a pass towards the goal.....and it is a goal! Best thing that could have happened, Greece had to attack now. They tried and tried but couldn't break down the defence of the team that has St Kitts and Nevis as it's regional competitors. And then Costa Rica had a player sent off for a second yellow card. And the crowd went wild (the Greeks) or booed (the Costa Ricans and Brazilians). Or did they? Most of them must still have been in line for the toilet or beer (see yesterday). Or they were so bored they just couldn't be bothered. And on we went. Greece brought on the mystery man, Kostas Mitroglu, the striker who couldn't stop scoring in Greece, was transferred to Fulham for a record fee, but was then injured or not fit enough for English football, and.....nothing happened. The Greeks seemed disinterested in scoring, which was rather concerning for any knowledgeable neutral watching. Greece always do this, yet in the end, the very end as it turned out today, they find a way. 90th minute and Sokratis Papastathopoulos bundles in a rebound and we all nodded (or shook?) our heads in complete acceptance of the inevitable. Extra time had a little drama, mostly centred around who looked more knackered form running around aimlessly for 120 minutes. At the end of the extra time, before penalties, Fernando Santos, the Greek coach managed to get himself sent off for arguing with the referee. The penalties were going pretty well for both sides until number 5 for Greece was saved and Costa Rica scored the next one to go where they have never gone before. And, thankfully, it was all over.
This really was a terrible match. Bbc pulled out the "turgid affair" description again but really turgid does not do it justice. This was the match that you hoped anybody wanting to watch football for the first time was not watching. I was thinking of all the Americans who had heard about how great this Fifa World Cup thing is and wanted to get in on the action on a Sunday afternoon and saw this. They must have really wondered how this could be any more exciting than watching cars going round an oval track for hours, or sitting in a half empty baseball stadium hoping somebody would hit a ball so they don't have to keep checking facebook, twitter and instagram on their phone, in the hope that somebody's updated a status, because there's nothing happening out on the field. Yes, it was that bad. There have been some exciting 1-1 draws over the years (France-Brazil 1986 was one of the best ever), and others where you could at least appreciate the tactical battle. This had nothing. It's only saving grace, that saved me looking for re-runs of question time in the Canadian parliament, was that it was the last 16 of the World Cup. Hopefully never again in the next 2 weeks.
Tomorrow, we should have a couple of crackers. Maybe. France and Nigeria might battle end to end, or France might just be too good. And Algeria are out for revenge against Germany. The head says Germany will be too good, but I'm sure many heads said that in 1982. For 90 minutes, or 120, can we ignore oppressive regimes and...one, two, three! Viva L'Algerie!
Fred and Jo....and Neymar.
Day 17. What happened today in Brazil.
Brazil are just not very good, are they? Colombia are probably one of the best teams of this World Cup. What will happen when they meet on Friday in the quarter final?
Brazil huffed and puffed, and chased, and rode their luck and ended up with a penalty shoot out win against Chile. As negative as the prognosis on Brazil may be, at the same time they didn't concede more than one bad-mistake goal against what was supposedly one of the best attacking teams out there. In the final minute of extra time Pinilla, for Chile, hit an amazing shot against the crossbar. It would have been game and World Cup over for Brazil. But it didn't go in, did it, and nobody has ever won anything by going close. Brazil scored first through David Luiz's first goal ever for Brazil, although there is debate over whether he got the final touch. The Brazilians then looked like they were going to saunter through the rest of the match, maybe score a couple more goals, and that would be that. However, Hulk showed he had the touch of a uncoordinated, muscle oaf out of a fantasy comic book and let Chile in to score. To his credit, Hulk became a man possessed in the second half, a man possessed by the fear of being the reason for Brazil having no more interest in their World Cup. He repeatedly attacked the Chilean defence on his own, and he kind of had to since Neymar was having a no-shoot day. Even his change from gold boots to his regular ones at half-time didn't seem to make a difference. Of course no Brazil match would be complete without an ode to those 2 wonderful Brazilians, Fred and Jo. Fred's expected goal rush, after he scored his first goal against Cameroon, never looked like it was going to happen. He was back to the lovable Fred who you would love if you were the opposing team's defence. So, poor old Big Phil had to do what he himself must loathe to admit that he has to do. He brought on Jo, to replace Fred. Not sure if Big Phil hates more that he has to take off Fred, who he has high hopes for, or that the only other striker he can replace him with is Jo. Maybe that's why Neymar kept refusing to shoot today: he said to Big Phil if you are really going to keep lumping me with Fred and Hulk let's see what happens when I leave the goal scoring to them. And Big Phil, not one to mess with, thought, fine, you little so and so, you don't like Hulk and Fred, here's some real punishment...deal with Jo. Jo reminds me of that guy at school, who was told that he was good, or got lucky playing with boys much younger than him, but now that he's playing with the big boys is completely out of place. But he can't admit to it. Every time, he completely fluffs a good chance, he has that look; the look of, "what, how didn't that go in", which quickly changes to "hey, everybody that wasn't my fault, look, that blade of grass was out of place" which then becomes a look of "ok, stand tall, eyes wide open, if I look good and imposing nobody will notice I can't play this game".
At the beginning of the second half (and when I say beginning, I mean well past the 60 minute mark), the main stand across from the cameras had way more empty seats than in the first half. Again, my belief is that all those people are stuck in a queue for the toilet or beer. The real fans, in the upper tiers, just give up and go back to their seats. The number of fans constantly walking back and forth in that stand reminded me of watching football in Toronto, in Major League Soccer. It's amazing how many people just constantly walk around. Not in a football stadium to watch the football, obviously.
Colombia beat the Suarez-less Uruguayans pretty easily. It's was, as we say, a comfortable 2-0. With all the fuss about Suarez nobody seems to mention how his strike partner Edison Cavani is supposedly a highly rated player himself. But just not good enough. Like the rest of the team. Their era, if there was one, is definitely over. This was a victory for quick attacking football over let's-kill-the-game-and-win-of
Tomorrow the Dutch and the Mexicans do battle before Costa Rica and Greece fight it out for the title of the most unlikely team in the quarter finals.
Brazil are just not very good, are they? Colombia are probably one of the best teams of this World Cup. What will happen when they meet on Friday in the quarter final?
Brazil huffed and puffed, and chased, and rode their luck and ended up with a penalty shoot out win against Chile. As negative as the prognosis on Brazil may be, at the same time they didn't concede more than one bad-mistake goal against what was supposedly one of the best attacking teams out there. In the final minute of extra time Pinilla, for Chile, hit an amazing shot against the crossbar. It would have been game and World Cup over for Brazil. But it didn't go in, did it, and nobody has ever won anything by going close. Brazil scored first through David Luiz's first goal ever for Brazil, although there is debate over whether he got the final touch. The Brazilians then looked like they were going to saunter through the rest of the match, maybe score a couple more goals, and that would be that. However, Hulk showed he had the touch of a uncoordinated, muscle oaf out of a fantasy comic book and let Chile in to score. To his credit, Hulk became a man possessed in the second half, a man possessed by the fear of being the reason for Brazil having no more interest in their World Cup. He repeatedly attacked the Chilean defence on his own, and he kind of had to since Neymar was having a no-shoot day. Even his change from gold boots to his regular ones at half-time didn't seem to make a difference. Of course no Brazil match would be complete without an ode to those 2 wonderful Brazilians, Fred and Jo. Fred's expected goal rush, after he scored his first goal against Cameroon, never looked like it was going to happen. He was back to the lovable Fred who you would love if you were the opposing team's defence. So, poor old Big Phil had to do what he himself must loathe to admit that he has to do. He brought on Jo, to replace Fred. Not sure if Big Phil hates more that he has to take off Fred, who he has high hopes for, or that the only other striker he can replace him with is Jo. Maybe that's why Neymar kept refusing to shoot today: he said to Big Phil if you are really going to keep lumping me with Fred and Hulk let's see what happens when I leave the goal scoring to them. And Big Phil, not one to mess with, thought, fine, you little so and so, you don't like Hulk and Fred, here's some real punishment...deal with Jo. Jo reminds me of that guy at school, who was told that he was good, or got lucky playing with boys much younger than him, but now that he's playing with the big boys is completely out of place. But he can't admit to it. Every time, he completely fluffs a good chance, he has that look; the look of, "what, how didn't that go in", which quickly changes to "hey, everybody that wasn't my fault, look, that blade of grass was out of place" which then becomes a look of "ok, stand tall, eyes wide open, if I look good and imposing nobody will notice I can't play this game".
At the beginning of the second half (and when I say beginning, I mean well past the 60 minute mark), the main stand across from the cameras had way more empty seats than in the first half. Again, my belief is that all those people are stuck in a queue for the toilet or beer. The real fans, in the upper tiers, just give up and go back to their seats. The number of fans constantly walking back and forth in that stand reminded me of watching football in Toronto, in Major League Soccer. It's amazing how many people just constantly walk around. Not in a football stadium to watch the football, obviously.
Colombia beat the Suarez-less Uruguayans pretty easily. It's was, as we say, a comfortable 2-0. With all the fuss about Suarez nobody seems to mention how his strike partner Edison Cavani is supposedly a highly rated player himself. But just not good enough. Like the rest of the team. Their era, if there was one, is definitely over. This was a victory for quick attacking football over let's-kill-the-game-and-win-of
Tomorrow the Dutch and the Mexicans do battle before Costa Rica and Greece fight it out for the title of the most unlikely team in the quarter finals.
And on the 16th day, they rested.
Day 16. What happened today in Brazil. Teams
went home, others trained, or didn't in the case of Nigeria. Following
Cameroon and Ghana's players' strike over unpaid bonuses, now it was the
Nigerian's turn. Whatever we may think about greedy,
overpaid footballers if they have contracts that promise these bonuses
they should get it. It seems like President Goodluck's intervention has
saved the day.
England have been home for a few days and a couple of their players are happily moving on and sorting out their futures, with a little bit more money to come their way. Defender Luke Shaw, who is 18, signed for Man United for a transfer fee of 27 million pounds. Yes, he's eighteen. Adam Lallana has had a medical at Liverpool in expectation of a 25 million pound move. More will follow, once the bigger teams start getting eliminated and the agents kick into high gear selling the new World Cup stars at terribly inflated prices to the gullible English teams.
Tomorrow, the action reaches a new level of excitement. Lose now, and it may take extra time and penalties, and losers there will be, and you're on your way home. No goal difference to the rescue now. It's South American day on Saturday. Brazil-Chile, followed by Colombia-Uruguay.
Chile have reached the last 16 three times and each time they have lost to, yes, Brazil. It wouldn't take that brave of a person to bet on the un-thinkable (to Brazilians) happening. Chile have looked mighty good and Brazil have been iffy. Only question about Chile is how Holland dealt with them pretty easily in the last group match.
Colombia-Uruguay, I imagine, is going to be ugly. Not ugly, in the turgid (thanks BBC) Italy-Uruguay way, but I suspect that especially if things aren't going Uruguay's way we are going to see some nastiness that the Colombians may get caught up in too. Uruguay are now in the us against the world mood, after Luis Suarez's suspension. Their coach, Oscar Tabarez, had quit his Fifa advising roles in disgust, the captain Lugano says Suarez did nothing wrong, Maradona has become an honorary Uruguayan to defend Suarez against the 'mafia' at Fifa, and the whole team refused to speak in English to English journalists because, in case you didn't know, Suarez only chewed at Chellini's shoulder because he is a victim of the English media's harassment and torture.
Colombia have only played a South American team once at the World Cup, and again you guessed it, it was Uruguay, who won 2-1 in 1962. Colombia won 3 games so far, which is the total number of wins in their previous 13 matches in World Cups. They have some wonderful players, and I hope we get to see them, and their fantastic goal celebration, again after tomorrow. Enjoy....this is going to get really good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLAIjbJvx7s
England have been home for a few days and a couple of their players are happily moving on and sorting out their futures, with a little bit more money to come their way. Defender Luke Shaw, who is 18, signed for Man United for a transfer fee of 27 million pounds. Yes, he's eighteen. Adam Lallana has had a medical at Liverpool in expectation of a 25 million pound move. More will follow, once the bigger teams start getting eliminated and the agents kick into high gear selling the new World Cup stars at terribly inflated prices to the gullible English teams.
Tomorrow, the action reaches a new level of excitement. Lose now, and it may take extra time and penalties, and losers there will be, and you're on your way home. No goal difference to the rescue now. It's South American day on Saturday. Brazil-Chile, followed by Colombia-Uruguay.
Chile have reached the last 16 three times and each time they have lost to, yes, Brazil. It wouldn't take that brave of a person to bet on the un-thinkable (to Brazilians) happening. Chile have looked mighty good and Brazil have been iffy. Only question about Chile is how Holland dealt with them pretty easily in the last group match.
Colombia-Uruguay, I imagine, is going to be ugly. Not ugly, in the turgid (thanks BBC) Italy-Uruguay way, but I suspect that especially if things aren't going Uruguay's way we are going to see some nastiness that the Colombians may get caught up in too. Uruguay are now in the us against the world mood, after Luis Suarez's suspension. Their coach, Oscar Tabarez, had quit his Fifa advising roles in disgust, the captain Lugano says Suarez did nothing wrong, Maradona has become an honorary Uruguayan to defend Suarez against the 'mafia' at Fifa, and the whole team refused to speak in English to English journalists because, in case you didn't know, Suarez only chewed at Chellini's shoulder because he is a victim of the English media's harassment and torture.
Colombia have only played a South American team once at the World Cup, and again you guessed it, it was Uruguay, who won 2-1 in 1962. Colombia won 3 games so far, which is the total number of wins in their previous 13 matches in World Cups. They have some wonderful players, and I hope we get to see them, and their fantastic goal celebration, again after tomorrow. Enjoy....this is going to get really good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLAIjbJvx7s
One, two, three...Viva L'Algerie....sshhhhh!
Day 15. What happened today in Brazil.
Watching, and supporting the idea of, the World Cup is a moral dilemma,
with all the well reported issues in Brazil that need money more than
brand new stadiums. So does wanting Algeria to win make one an even more ethically inept person?
Algeria, the country and the regime, survived the Arab Spring by using a tiny portion of it's vast oil wealth to keep the people happy for a while. While appearing to be a little more democratic than Tunisia and Libya, it is still a country run by a privileged inner circle, with backing from the very powerful military. Today Algeria made history of a completely different kind. They drew 1-1 with Russia to make it into the second round of the World Cup for the first time. If we really want to get into the existing political scenarios, it would be a tough choice to choose between Russia and Algeria for who would be a better choice to progress.
Hard as it is, and morally questionable, taking it just as a football event it was a momentous occasion, and especially so when you realize who Algeria play in the round of 16. Germany. Not the same West Germany but close enough to the team that is the reason why Fifa introduced the simultaneous match times for final group games after 1982. In that World Cup, after Algeria beat W Germany 2-1, the Germans and Austrians knew that a 1-0 win for Germany would see both teams qualify for the second round, as they knew the result of Algeria's final game, played earlier. And, that is what happened. One goal scored and an agreed non-aggression pact between the teams after that. And there was nothing that Algeria could do. Except for waiting 32 years to get revenge. I'm looking forward to this one.
Amongst the intensity of the Algerians, players and fans, and the desperation of the Russians I found time for a chuckle towards the end. As the ball went out of play in front of the Algerian bench, one of the subs kicked it, as commentators are wont to say, into row z, to the frustration of the Russians who didn't have a second to spare. Over trotted Mr officious referee, who found the offending sub, and brandished a yellow card in his face for time wasting. Now, if that was the only ball they had I would understand it because it would take a long time to find it and throw it down from the top tier. However, Fifa provides what seems like a constant supply of footballs and as soon as one goes out, another one appears. By the time the referee had come over, identified the player, shown him the yellow card and made note of his name, the Russians were probably waiting to take the throw in with a new ball. So it is the referee who should get a yellow card for wasting time.
At the same time as Algeria-Russia, Belgium were beating South Korea 1-0, despite playing all the second half with 10 players. This two-matches-at-the-same-time thing presents a dilemma. Which to watch? They both count. My decision was based on potential for excitement (Belgium had played 2 very boring matches, Algeria had looked like the version of Brazil that Brazil haven't found in their last match), potential for wild supporters celebrating historical moment (definitely Algeria) and potential for once almighty manager looking increasingly desperate as his team struggles against supposedly inferior opposition (only one candidate, Mr Cappello). The right choice was made.
In other happenings today, Germany beat USA 1-0 and thousands of Americans celebrated a defeat because Portugal hadn't beaten Ghana by enough goals. Apparently more Americans are now watching football than baseball. I'm sure many of them were baffled by the above reasons for celebrating but are doing it anyway, because it makes a nice change from celebrating a team's win which could be one of over a 100 games played in a season, many of which against the same opposition, and just as long as they finish somewhere towards the top of the league still have a chance of winning the whole thing in the post-season, even if they were the worst of all those teams. Confused now? Yes, goal difference seems a lot simpler, no?
Ghana ended with a defeat and without 2 of their players who were sent home before playing Portugal because of an argument with their coach and Ghanaian officials. I wonder if they met the specially chartered plane from Ghana carrying their bonuses, in cash, at the airport on their way out.
Tomorrow, they, and we, rest. Enough time to digest what has happened over the last 15 days, and to enjoy this moment one more time. Will revenge be sweet? Will revenge happen? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJD79UQihZw
Algeria, the country and the regime, survived the Arab Spring by using a tiny portion of it's vast oil wealth to keep the people happy for a while. While appearing to be a little more democratic than Tunisia and Libya, it is still a country run by a privileged inner circle, with backing from the very powerful military. Today Algeria made history of a completely different kind. They drew 1-1 with Russia to make it into the second round of the World Cup for the first time. If we really want to get into the existing political scenarios, it would be a tough choice to choose between Russia and Algeria for who would be a better choice to progress.
Hard as it is, and morally questionable, taking it just as a football event it was a momentous occasion, and especially so when you realize who Algeria play in the round of 16. Germany. Not the same West Germany but close enough to the team that is the reason why Fifa introduced the simultaneous match times for final group games after 1982. In that World Cup, after Algeria beat W Germany 2-1, the Germans and Austrians knew that a 1-0 win for Germany would see both teams qualify for the second round, as they knew the result of Algeria's final game, played earlier. And, that is what happened. One goal scored and an agreed non-aggression pact between the teams after that. And there was nothing that Algeria could do. Except for waiting 32 years to get revenge. I'm looking forward to this one.
Amongst the intensity of the Algerians, players and fans, and the desperation of the Russians I found time for a chuckle towards the end. As the ball went out of play in front of the Algerian bench, one of the subs kicked it, as commentators are wont to say, into row z, to the frustration of the Russians who didn't have a second to spare. Over trotted Mr officious referee, who found the offending sub, and brandished a yellow card in his face for time wasting. Now, if that was the only ball they had I would understand it because it would take a long time to find it and throw it down from the top tier. However, Fifa provides what seems like a constant supply of footballs and as soon as one goes out, another one appears. By the time the referee had come over, identified the player, shown him the yellow card and made note of his name, the Russians were probably waiting to take the throw in with a new ball. So it is the referee who should get a yellow card for wasting time.
At the same time as Algeria-Russia, Belgium were beating South Korea 1-0, despite playing all the second half with 10 players. This two-matches-at-the-same-time thing presents a dilemma. Which to watch? They both count. My decision was based on potential for excitement (Belgium had played 2 very boring matches, Algeria had looked like the version of Brazil that Brazil haven't found in their last match), potential for wild supporters celebrating historical moment (definitely Algeria) and potential for once almighty manager looking increasingly desperate as his team struggles against supposedly inferior opposition (only one candidate, Mr Cappello). The right choice was made.
In other happenings today, Germany beat USA 1-0 and thousands of Americans celebrated a defeat because Portugal hadn't beaten Ghana by enough goals. Apparently more Americans are now watching football than baseball. I'm sure many of them were baffled by the above reasons for celebrating but are doing it anyway, because it makes a nice change from celebrating a team's win which could be one of over a 100 games played in a season, many of which against the same opposition, and just as long as they finish somewhere towards the top of the league still have a chance of winning the whole thing in the post-season, even if they were the worst of all those teams. Confused now? Yes, goal difference seems a lot simpler, no?
Ghana ended with a defeat and without 2 of their players who were sent home before playing Portugal because of an argument with their coach and Ghanaian officials. I wonder if they met the specially chartered plane from Ghana carrying their bonuses, in cash, at the airport on their way out.
Tomorrow, they, and we, rest. Enough time to digest what has happened over the last 15 days, and to enjoy this moment one more time. Will revenge be sweet? Will revenge happen? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJD79UQihZw
Shaqiri...Shaqiri...Shaqiri...
Day
14. What happened today in Brazil. What do you need on the day that
comes after the day that was yesterday? Bad defending, that's what. That
will lighten up the day and give us lots of goals. Argentina beat
Nigeria 3-2, with both teams moving on, but both coaches and supporters
will be hoping they don't keep up the "it doesn't matter how many we
concede, we'll just score more" strategy. Argentina's
winning goal is a classic in "oops, I didn't mean to that, but wait,
it's a goal...sure, planned it all along". As Rojo was coming down from
his leap and missed attempt at a header the ball hit his knee and in it
went. Nigeria still made it through after Iran's game plan fell
apart....lose to Argentina, draw with Nigeria, beat Bosnia and hope that
will be enough. Bosnia's determination to leave with a win overcame
Iran's confusion as to how to try to attack and win.
Switzerland and France were the other winners today. Switzerland beat Honduras 3-0 to finish second and France drew 0-0 with Ecuador to win the group. Xherdan Shaqiri scored a hat-trick for the Swiss, but take a look at the first goal. Yes, it was a beautiful curling shot, but on the many replays, from many angles, it looks like the goalkeeper is waving the ball in. Really. He seems incapable of jumping to the right and halfheartedly stretches out a hand, and just seems to say..."well, that one's gone".
France couldn't keep up their great scoring run. On the other side Ecuador got nothing from the man who I have nominated as the winner of the category "looked good for average side at World Cup, fooled middle of the pack teams in England willing to spend money to reach the holy grail of top 4, bought by one of them and was playing second division in Spain within a few months". Yes, the winner is Enner Valencia. He scored 3 goals, including 2 against the mighty Honduras and all of a sudden "three teams in England are showing interest". Remember Asomoah Gyan, winner of this category in 2010. Sunderland were the transfer record suckers, some team in the UAE were his employees after a few miserable months in wonderful North East England. I'm sure it's lovely.
Really, nothing very inspiring today apart from the quality of Shaqiri's hat-trick and Messi's two more goals. The more important update today is the number of coaches who have resigned, the ones who are smart enough to go before the inevitable firing. Unfortunately, just getting to the World Cup means nothing any more for some of the smaller countries. Even Honduras expect second round action. Costa Rica have spoiled all the fun for the minnows. Gone so far are:
Prandelli (Italy)
Lamouchi (Ivory Coast)
Zaccheroni (Japan)
Luis Suarez (no, not that one....this one was Honduras' coach)
Still there. Roy Hodgson.
Tomorrow is the day of justice for Algeria. Thirty two years after beating West Germany, but the falling foul of the agreement between the Germans and the Austrians, they have the opportunity to make it to the second round. Only Russia stand in their way. A draw could be enough, but let's hope Algeria go for it, if only to see the look on Capello's face when his team is knocked out by....Algeria.
Switzerland and France were the other winners today. Switzerland beat Honduras 3-0 to finish second and France drew 0-0 with Ecuador to win the group. Xherdan Shaqiri scored a hat-trick for the Swiss, but take a look at the first goal. Yes, it was a beautiful curling shot, but on the many replays, from many angles, it looks like the goalkeeper is waving the ball in. Really. He seems incapable of jumping to the right and halfheartedly stretches out a hand, and just seems to say..."well, that one's gone".
France couldn't keep up their great scoring run. On the other side Ecuador got nothing from the man who I have nominated as the winner of the category "looked good for average side at World Cup, fooled middle of the pack teams in England willing to spend money to reach the holy grail of top 4, bought by one of them and was playing second division in Spain within a few months". Yes, the winner is Enner Valencia. He scored 3 goals, including 2 against the mighty Honduras and all of a sudden "three teams in England are showing interest". Remember Asomoah Gyan, winner of this category in 2010. Sunderland were the transfer record suckers, some team in the UAE were his employees after a few miserable months in wonderful North East England. I'm sure it's lovely.
Really, nothing very inspiring today apart from the quality of Shaqiri's hat-trick and Messi's two more goals. The more important update today is the number of coaches who have resigned, the ones who are smart enough to go before the inevitable firing. Unfortunately, just getting to the World Cup means nothing any more for some of the smaller countries. Even Honduras expect second round action. Costa Rica have spoiled all the fun for the minnows. Gone so far are:
Prandelli (Italy)
Lamouchi (Ivory Coast)
Zaccheroni (Japan)
Luis Suarez (no, not that one....this one was Honduras' coach)
Still there. Roy Hodgson.
Tomorrow is the day of justice for Algeria. Thirty two years after beating West Germany, but the falling foul of the agreement between the Germans and the Austrians, they have the opportunity to make it to the second round. Only Russia stand in their way. A draw could be enough, but let's hope Algeria go for it, if only to see the look on Capello's face when his team is knocked out by....Algeria.
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