Azzuris at Top of the World

7/9/06: Italy 1 (5) – France 1 (3)
Headers and Head Butts

Late in the first 15 minute overtime, Zinedine Zidane sprang two French players loose on the right wing with a nifty pass, then drifted into the middle of the penalty box hoping to get a return cross. That cross found him wide open in front of Buffon. His hard header was going straight into the goal but Buffon, who had drifted slightly to his left, was able to get his right hand on it just enough to deflect it over the bar. It was a spectacular save and one that would alter the course of this game dramatically. France would continue to push forward while Italy would continue to defend either out of inability to penetrate the French defense, exhaustion, or cynical tactics which had them betting they could win the penalty lottery.

In the second 15 minute overtime, Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi got involved in a tussle in front of goal after one of many failed French attacks into the Italian zone. They jawed back and forth, probably talking the kind of trash that would make Michael Jordan proud, when inexplicably Zizou took a step back and headbutted Materazzi (who seemed not to be looking now) violently in the chest, knocking him down. The referee, Hector Elizondo, of Argentina had not seen the play initially and relied on other officials to view a replay on a monitor to tell him what happened. When he was told, Zidane was expelled from the game with a red card.

Those two plays changed France’s chances for good. It was in essence a one goal and one player turnaround. Italy would not go on to score (again either they couldn’t or didn’t try) but France would miss Zidane sorely in the penalty shootout. Already missing Vieira to injury and Henry to exhaustion, France had no leadership going into the crucial penalty kick phase, a part of the game that I think is more mentally excruciating than in almost any other sport.

In the days since the match, many have attacked and many have defended Zidane for his actions. He has been victimized in the press around the world and strangely enough apparently rewarded by FIFA at some level with the golden boot award. I will only say that whatever may have prompted his actions, he must have immediately regretted his actions because he knew at that instant that he has hurt his team. We will know more about what kind of trash Materazzi may have spewed that got under Zidane’s skin later. Whatever it was, it was apparently a tactic that has been used against Zidane before as he had been suspended for a headbutting incident in the Champions League and had also been suspended for stamping on a Saudi player in the 1998 World Cup. Materazzi’s actions were a result of serious study I’m afraid and Zidane’s temper got the best of him.

Italy would go on to win the penalty kick shootout by kicking 5 perfect shots, none of which Barthez, a keeper not known for his penalty kick stopping prowess, could have stopped even if he was somewhat adept at that part of the game. France’s David Trezeguet missed his, and the penalty lottery was over.

Zidane and Materazzi had been leading men in this play all day. Materazzi committed the early infraction in the box on a fast breaking Malouda, which led to Zidane’s conversion of the ensuing penalty kick. Materazzi himself equalized with a powerful header off of a cross. The Italians would try that play curling outswinging cross twice again in the first half with success: once Luca Toni rattled the cross bar and another header went just high.

My theory is that obliged to chase the equalizing goal, the Italians pressed forward until they got it. Since they got it fairly early in the game, the pressure was off and I didn’t see them really pushing the attack that much more after about the 60 minute mark. Once the game got into extra time, the Italians retreated even further back into their catenaccio defensive shell. Coaches are often criticized for their cynical tactics, for playing for the PKs, and I think that’s exactly what Lippi did. When Zidane imploded, this tactic must have seemed like pure genius.

I was at the 1994 World Cup Final and saw Italy’s Roberto Baggio sky his last penalty which gave Brazil the victory. That elegant Italian side (with Maldini, Dino Baggio, Franco Baresi, and a host of other very talented Italian players) showed glimpses of offensive genius in the overtime, and in one play Baggio almost scored the winning goal off of a wall pass. The Italians back then also played the infamous catenaccio, as have Italians for generations, but they differed from this team in that they showed a willingness to win the game in regulation.

What’s strange about that is that the Italian gamble was a high stake one. They had lost numerous World Cup games on penalties. In 1990 they were eliminated by Argentina and in aforementioned 1994 World Cup Final by Brazil in the Final. Yet they still bet they could win one. This time they got it right.

Real and Imagined Penalties

7/5/06: France 1 – Portugal 0

What is about this French team that I find so uninspiring Is it that the French defense whoses praises I have already sung continues to, well, shut down other teams with the effectiveness of an Italian like catenaccio ? Is it that Zidane’s moves are so subtly spectacular and nothing really stands out except his masterfully way of controlling a game. Maybe it’s me, but I just don’t see how it is that he continues to be such an influence, yet he is or otherwise this French team would have gone packing long ago.

The qualities of the French team are definitely not skin deep, and one must probe very far to find what is it that makes this team click. In their semifinal against Portugal they shut down another team, albeit a team with a potent attack that just couldn’t seem to score more than 1 goal in the second round phase. That ended up being the Portuguese’s undoing, but they definitely had their chances.

What made the difference in this game was Henry’s decision to play like he does at Arsenal. He attacked players using his patented shiftiness, his incredible dribbling ability in tight spaces, and his willingness to look for that far post. He was vintage Henry in moments of the game, none more important than when he won a penalty kick after faking out Carvalho out of his shorts near the top of the penalty box. The ever so cool Zidane took one of the shortest runups of a PK I’ve ever seen and barely, and I mean just barely, put it past Ricardo, the penalty kick stopmeister. Aside from that it just didn’t appear that France did much more. Is it just me or are the only players that look like they are exerting themselves are Malouda and Ribery, the latter looked exhausted when he was taken out. RIghly so because he did literally tons of running. Maybe it’s the din of watching so many games, but I just couldn’t see that France even tried anything more. It’s almost like once they got the goal, they just concentrated full efforts on stopping Portugal.

Portugal for their part, attacked mostly through Cristiano Ronaldo. This young player, one of the best in the world right now, continued his penetrating runs all over the field. His problem was that he literally tried to do it all himself and literally would outrun his teammates and find himself sandwiched around 2 to 3 French defenders. When he couldn’t run through them, he simply threw himself in the air in the hope of gaining a PK which never came.

Portugal’s best chance came late in the game off of a Ronaldo free kick. The dipping ball handcuffed Barthez and the rebound was right there for Figo to equalize. Maybe it was that he had to fight off his own man, maybe it was fatigue, but Figo head just above the post. Had he converted this chance, I sincerely believe Portugal would have won this game since they completely owned the initiative in the second half.

But it wasn’t to be. France go on to the Final game, somehow winning but demonstrating very little.

Long Live Catenaccio

7/4/06: Italy 2 – Germany 0

Long live the Catenaccio. Forza Azzurri. Whatever slogan you prefer, Italy continues to own Germany in the World Cup. Employing its traditional philosophy that defense wins championships (isn’t that what is is said about all sports), Italy throttled the German offense for 120 minutes. Italy itself had few chances to score in the first 90 minutes, but came out in full force at the start of the extra time looking for the winning goal. That the Italians, most noted for their defensive prowess, changed their tactic so early after the 90th minute I think surprised Germany completely. After playing it tactical, they went for broke.

The Italians hit the post not only once but twice in the opening 5 minutes of the extra time. First it was Gilardino with a cheeky little turn and shot that surprised Lehman, dribbled under his arm and hit the left post. There was nothing subtle about Zambrotta’s blast that clanged off of the crossbar. The Germans, like that vibrating crossbar, were punch drunk from the Italian 1-2 and never fully recovered until Podolski, in the 106th minute, found himself wide open in front of goal and headed a cross from Odonkor but way wide of target.

Late in the extra time Pirlo simply took over. First there was a wicked shot which forced Lehman to make an excellent save. Undaunted, Pirlo took the deflection and rather than shooting it right away, he dribbled it parallel to the penalty box drawing one and then 2 defenders with him (and surely Lehman who was tracking the ball in the direction of Pirlo’s dribble), before laying off a pass to Fabio Grosso, who in one motion fired a left footed curling shot, which barely beat Lehman to that post that he had just moved slightly away from. The knockout punch came two minutes later when delPiero received a lovely little pass against the grain from Gilardino and beat Lehman with a shot to the upper right hand corner.

Pirlo in the offensive side of midfield and Gatusso in the defensive half were magnificent all game long. They neutralized Ballack extremely effectively. Germany missed Fringgs very much as he is the kind of battler that himself could have neutralized some of the those Italian midfielders. There were two other keys to the game as I saw it. The effect of Buffon and Odonkor. Buffon made two world class saves, one he deflected above the bar and another he almost seemed to intimidate Schneider into shooting high with his crouch. Regarding Odonkor, he was key in wins against Poland and Argentina, terrorizing both teams with his incisive runs down the right hand side and his good crosses. He wasn't able to do that against Italy because the Italians matched up better with him than those other teams (Italy's defenders are so effectove at stopping crosses they seemed to block all German crosses from the flanks).

No play symbolized Italy’s dedication to the catenaccio more than Materazzi, who put his head in the direction of a long blast. Knocked out briefly, the Italian rose up, wooly eyed, shaking his head like a boxer who has just gotten up from an 8 count. Materazzi continued on and it was Germany who were knocked out instead.

The Ronaldo Rooney affair

7/1/2006: England 0 – Portugal 0 (Portugal iwins on penalties 3-1)

It seems that the controversy over Cristiano Ronaldo’s role in the sending off of Wayne Rooney is a classic case of what is more important, country or club. Many English players are claiming that Ronaldo’s actions were unsportsmanlike, that they would never do that to a teammate, that they are dishonored to have him as a teammate, and so on and so forth. In this sense, teammate of course refers to one’s club teammate since Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo both play for Manchester United (or at least both do so now but who knows if that will be so in the near future). What are they saying about Rooney’s actions ? Did Rooney deserve to be red carded or should he just have been awarded a yellow ?

I believe that Rooney deserved his punishment, lobbying from Cristiano Ronaldo notwithstanding. He committed a grave fould with bad intentions right in front of the referee and then went about pretending that what he had done would not be punished. If Ronaldo pushed excessively for his punishment, that is no different than what most English players would have done in the same situation. Isn’t that what protecting ones teammates is all about.

The English players are naïve if they think that loyalty to a club is more important than loyalty to one’s country. In the World Cup, as in geopolitics, nationalism is one of the strongest forces which help define and determine the outcome of a struggle. In this sense, it is obvious Ronaldo’s was thinking that country is more important than club. He would take this action now and prepare for whatever consequences it would carry later.

But forget the political force of nationalism and let us get back to the game of football. If any of the English players had hit their penalties with the conviction of Ronaldo, there wouldn’t be this controversy to begin with. Have you ever seen a more coolly struck PK in the World Cup stage ? The fact is, despie being a man down, England played admirably a man down for what appeared to be an eternity and stil had a chance to win. What more do the English players with the gripes expect ?

Let us not forget the incidents of 4 years ago, when South Korea’s Ahn scored to eliminate Italy in a Round of 16 game. Ahn, who played in Italy, immediately found his contract voided by the Italian manager of the team who simply stated his reason as: “I couldn’t justify continuing to employ the player who knocked Italy out of the World Cup.”

Ronaldo will probably never play in England again, destined to suffer the same fate as the South Korean 4 years ago. That will probably be just fine with Rooney and Ronaldo’s other English teammates. While the English go home, Ronaldo and Portugal now have a date with France in the semifinals.

Germany wins on PKs

6/30/2006: Germany 1 – Argentina 1 (Germany 4-2 on PKs)

I hate it when World Cup games go into penalties. It is cruel and unusual punishment for fans and players alike. While it certainly takes a certain kind of skill to vanquish the immense pressure required to shoot them, I believe it is more luck than anything and any team basically can win.

Argentina was leading this game 1-0 until late in the game, when the German’s perseverance paid with the German's best three players involved in the same play (Ballack cross to Podolski whoc flicked it to Klose who finished it with a header). A marvelously executed goal in which the reserve goalkeeper, in for the injured Abbondansieri, could do nothing. Late in the game, I thought Maxi Rodriguez, he of the goal of the Cup, was going to be Argentina’s hero again. While dribbling into the German’s penalty box, he was brought down in such an obvious manner as to warrant a penalty kick. How the referee, in his infinite wisdom, decided to award Maxi a yellow for his effort, is totally beyond me.

But so be it. This game was destined for extra time after Lehman’s great diving save of a Tevez header. In the extra time, it sincerely looked as if both teams tried hard to get the equalizer, but sometime in the last 15 minutes, the game reverted to its early tense form as both coaches decided to subject their players to the PK extravaganza. Why Pekerman decided to put in Cambiasso for Riqueleme or Julio Cruz in for Crespo was puzzling. Why didn’t Leonel Messi, Argentina’s young magician and Maradona heir apparent, figure into the coach’s plan was even more befuddling.

If history was Pekerman’s guide, it may have been a double edged sword. On two previous occasions, Argentina had won penalty kick shootouts on June 30 (in 1998, they ousted England and in 1990 they beat Yugoslavia). But hey, streaks are made to be broken, and this was the day that Argentina’s good fortune with penalty kicks would end. When Cambiasso’s penalty was stopped by Lehmann, the German’s had their victory. But that’s just when the extracurricular activity would start. The end was not taken gracefully by the Argentinians as a melee ensued, with players hurling insults and punches alike in an ugly ugly finish.

The End of Samba and the Rise of Les Bleus

7/1/2006: France 1 – Brazil 0

What is about France owning Brazil ? Brazil hadn’t lost a World Cup Games dating back to the 1998 Final when France dismantled them 3-0. That’s eleven World Cup games, including the Brazilians successful 2002 campaign that saw them win their record 5th championship. Back then, everyone blamed the loss on the bizarre circumstances before the game involving Ronaldo’s fainting, how that had thrown the team off balance, how they looked like they had lost their footballing compass, etc, etc. But what will the excuse be this year ?

I for one think that France and their system just happens to match up very well against the Brazilians. The French just seem to have Brazil’s number. Their tactical formation simply neutralizes vaunted Brazilian attack. They do just enough on offense to win. Thierre Henry, one of the classiest players in the world, scored a brilliant goal off a free kick. Of course, it helped him that he was left completely unmarked, but he still had to finish (Lampard are you listening).

The French have made an incredible turnaround in the space of 200 minutes of football. After playing like crap in their first two games of Group play and languishing for 70 minutes or so against Togo, it looked like certain curtains for Les Bleus. But somehow, miraculously enough, they finally broke through with two goals to ensure their passage to the next round, and from then on, things have changed dramatically in their favor.

First came the game against Spain, when after falling behind by a goal, Ribery made a great run off of a pass to Vieira, got the ball back on the return of the 1-2, and caught Spain flat-footed trying to play the offside trap. He made a fantastic move to get past Casillas, and since that point forward France have never looked back. For the rest of that game and for the entire Brazil game, France’s defense, led by Gallas, Makelele, Sagnol, and Vieira have simply shut the opposition down cold. You can say all you want about Zidane’s wonderful performance, and it has been great to see the old maestro back to his old tricks, but for me, the French defense has proved to be the real Maginot line.

Against Brazil, France turned the tables completely and didn’t allow Brazil a shot on goal until very late in the game. Yes that Brazil. Simply an incredible performance from Les Bleus. It is more amazing given that Barthez is about as inconsistent and shaky a goalkeeper as you can find at this level and at this stage. They shut down Ronaldinho and kept him confined to making his patented passes way out on the wings where he couldn’t harm them. When Ronaldinho had a chance to score on a free kick late in the game, he hit it just high.

Of the teams left in the tournament, France just feels like the only team that can possibly beat Germany. I don’t think Italy can, even though they’ve had the easiest path to the semis. I think Portugal will be dead after their game against England, even though they get some key players in Deco and Costinha back for the semifinal.

France looks to be on a roll. Their tournament run could very well wind up with them winning the whole thing.

Furia Freefall (Again)

6/27/2006: France 3 – Spain 1

This was the year I thought that Spain could really do it. They had won 3 games in the first round, totally dismantling a team that had already made it into the quarterfinals, Ukraine 4-0. But I guess their first game was their highest point as they went from better to worse as the tournament progressed.

Against France, they totally fell apart and failed to contiue to put pressure on what I think is a good but aging French team. I guess the French were well organized at the back especially with Claude Makelele, the world’s best defensive midfielder, again showing his incredible skill in that position. But Spain lacked imagination in the attack and, despite their youth (or maybe because of it), couldn’t get past the well organized French.

Spain had gone ahead 1-0 on a very well taken David Villa penalty kick. France’s Ribery, who had been added to the team after Cisse’s broken leg put him out of the World Cup, scored the tying goal very close to halftime when he and Vieira worked a beautiful 1-2 passing combination which put Ribery on a breakaway against Casillas. It appeared on the play that Spain’s Carlos Puyol tried to play the offside trap, a move that had worked quite well against Thierre Henry (who must have been called for a record 10 or some times for offside but who on this play played the passive position to perfection) but failed on this play.

The score stayed tied 1-1 until the 83rd minute, when the ageless and very slow Zinedine Zidane took a free kick. It was played backwards by a Spanish defender onto Patrick Vieira at the far post. Vieria headed hard towards the goal and Spain’s Sergio Ramos deflected the ball into his own goal, possibly obstructing Casillas from making a save.

Zidane scored a garbage time goal after the 90th minute when Spain pushed everyone forward. He made a nice cutback at the end of his run to beat Puyol (again) and Casillas.

Everybody who thinks France is a legitimate contender is in for a big surprise. France now plays Brazil, who must want to avenger their 3-0 nil defeat in the 1998 World Cup Final. If Zidane looked old and slow in the Spain game, his lack of pace will be further exposed against the Brazilians. Even though Brazil hasn’t played great, they have enough to best the French.

For Spain, it’s the same thing again. I’ll continue rooting for them out of loyalty more than anything, but it is getting harder every year.

The UnJogo bonito

6/27/2006: Brazil 3 – Ghana 0

I have never seen Brazil play so bad, or even booed so much at a match, and yet still manage to win so convincingly. The Brazilians got an early goal in the 5th minute on a breakaway by Ronaldo, shedding the keeper on a beautiful stepover move before poking it into the net and then are badly outplayed for the next 40 minutes by a Ghanaian team that looks simply awesome, using the same beautiful football it displayed in dismantling the Check Republic.

But Ghana can’t convert its 7 to 8 clear chances to score. Brazil then score a goal totally agains the run of play and at the stroke of halftime to boot on a play in which eventual goalscorer Adriano is offside twice on the same play. Near the Brazilian’s right side of midfield the play develops with a pass in which Adriano is a passive offside position. He runs back towards his own goal temporarily before circling back to join the attack. As the Brazilians push the ball up the wing, Adriano continues his run into the box holding his hand up for the ball. When the ball is crossed into him, he’s in a clear offside position. The ball deflects off of Essien into Adriano’s foot and into the goal.

As is so often seen, a goal scored right before halftime gives a team a huge boost. Because of its dominance but inability to score, that play not only broke Ghana’s back, it also cost them their coach, who was not allowed to return to the field of play in the seconf half for correctly arguing the call with the referees in the tunnel. Brazil didn’t play any better in the second half, but Ghana didn’t have much left either. Ze Roberto scores a garbage time goal in the 85th minute to seal the final scoreline.

I don’t know what to make of this Brazilian team. Early in the competition, the talk was all about how unfit Ronaldo was, yet in this game he scores his 15th World Cup goal on a beautiful move breaking the record of Germany’s Gerd Muller. He is then in great position to score a second when Adriano tries to make the same move as he did on a 2 on 0 breakaway against the goalie before Adriano is stripped of the ball and falls over the sprawled defender (hmmm, this was called a PK in the Italy – Australia game). So I think Ronaldo is just fine. The player that seems tired and out of synch to me is Ronaldinho. He looks a lot better in those great Samba and Jogo bonito commercials than he does on the actual pitch. He has just not looked convincing. And Kaka looks like he’s running about half speed as well.

Brazil better notch it up a gear if they are to defend the title because if Ghana would have netted an early goal, I think they would have had a real knockout puncher’s chance to take Brazil out.

Maniche’s Strike

6/25/2006: Portugal 1 – Holland 0

What is they say about hockey, especially the brand of it played in North America ? Something about a hockey game breaking out in the middle of a fight ? This soccer game resembled a hockey game from the beginning with its very physical style, harsh fouls, head butts, slapping and pushing, and oh yes, a World Cup record 16 yellow and 4 red cards. When it was over, each team was reduced to nine men, and Portugal had made a 23rd minute strike by Maniche stand up for the victory.

Despite the ugly characteristics of this game, it was that badness that made this game the highly entertaining and dramatic spectacle that it became. Say what you must about the poor performance of referee Valentin Ivanov (FIFA itself thinks he should given himself a yellow card), but I think he had a rough job from the beginning because these two teams do not appear to like each other. While that did not give him license to make himself a major actor in this drama and also influence the future of the winner (for example by giving Deco a yellow card for a silly infraction rather than issuing a warning, a card that now takes Deco out of Portugal’s next game), the players also have to be accountable for their own actions. This game may have been better controlled by a better personality but I’m not sure that is a certainty either.

Maybe the bad blood between the two squads started when Portugal defeated Holland in the 2004 European Championships on a goal by Nuno Maniche. In my opinion, Maniche’s has the strongest shot in modern professional football. In that 2004 game, he showcased his cannon with a brilliant goal that traveled the entire area before beating Van Der Sar at the second post. Unlike Maxi Rodriguez’s magical looping shot against Mexico yesterday, that shot back then was on a rope.

In the 23rd minute, Portugal’s Maniche struck against the Dutch again. Deco sent in a cross from the right side targeted for Pauletta, who passed it to Maniche inside the box. Maniche eluded a defender with a quick dribble, and beat Van Der Sar with an equally quick and powerful shot to the upper right hand corner. This goal was all Portugal would need to win this game.

The shot of Deco and Gio, the two Barcelona teammates watching the dying minutes from the steps leading up to the grandstand, was antithetical to what transpired on the pitch, but it was the closest thing to an image of the “time to make friends” motto that was envisioned for this tournament. The fact is that these two teams have now established a fierce rivalry, one which many fans, including this one, will look forward to with great anticipation in future competitions.

Germany's Power

6/24/2006: Germany 2 – Sweden 1

I usually don’t like using military analogies but how else to describe the German onslaught on the Swedish goal in the first game of the second round ? So let us just say that the German attack was relentless in both quantity and quality; a more vulgar way of putting that is that the Germans kicked Sweden’s ass. Had it not been for the stellar play of Swedish goalkeeper Isaksson, this would have easiy been a 5-0 rout. As it was, this game was as unbalanced as any in this tournament and the Germans were never in any trouble of continuing their World Cup run.

What impressed me the most was how Germany employed the entire field and used various formations in approaching the opposing goal. As organized as the German attack would become later in this game, the first goal was a result of Miroslav Klose creating chaos in the Dutch defense. A blocked shot fell to Podolski, who kicked into a wide open net to open the scoring barely 5 minutes into the game. The second goal also was created by more of Klose’s endeavors running at Swedish defenders. On this play, Klose dribbled to his left in close quarters, taking 3 defenders with him in the process before slipping the ball back to against the grain. Podolski then struck the pass with the inside of his foot and placed the ball perfectly into the corner past a diving Isaksson.

While Klose and Podolski are the two target men up front, Germany’s captain Michael Ballack also had what appeared to be at least 10 shots, many of them dangerous blasts right at goal which required saves by Isaksson. Also having free range were Fringgs, Schweinsteiger, and Schneider, who hit the post late in the game.

In the second half, with Sweden’s attack geared mostly for their two targetmen Larssen and Ibrahimovic. As effective as this has been for the Swedes, the attack appeared primitive compared to the complex German game. Nevertheless, the German’s brought Larssen down in the 55th minute on the Swede’s best approach play in the game. Larssen, just like Mexico’s Omar Bravo in their game against Portugal, tried to rip a hole in the net and hit the ball way too hard, sending it into the stands instead.

The Swedes hadn’t beaten Germany in a major competition since 1958 and that streak was never in doubt in this game. So dominant were the Germans that not even had Sweden pulled a goal back would it have mattered.

Germany will now face Argentina in what should be an epic quarterfinal game that is more worthy of a final. It will be interesting to see how Argentina recover from their hard fought and emotional win against Mexico because I can assure you the Germans will be very fresh, fresh from their shellacking of the Swede’s that is.

Argentinian Magic

6/24/2006: Argentina 2 – Mexico 1

In 2002, Mexico suffered one of it’s worst second round World Cup defeats (and there have been many such agonizing losses in Mexico’s history) at the hands of the U.S. Because of the historical relationship with its northern neighbor, the defeat to the Americans, in what used to be the only thing that Mexico could routinely beat the US at, was particularly hard to take.

The story this year round is much different. The defeat at the hands of Argentina 2-1 in extra time is a much more noble one. Not only is Argentina a historic soccer power having won two World Cups, it is also a Latin American country, a country of brothers and sisters if you will. Losing to them cannot be worse than losing to your traditional historical enemy. Also, the manner in which Mexico lost was essential. Mexico played a more talented team evenly throughout the game and lost only because Argentina socred one of the best goals in recent World Cup history.

Argentina came into this game as one of the big favorites to win the World Cup. Buttressed by their exceptional first round performance in what many called the Group of Death, they were the obvious choice in this game.. Having outlasted a very talented Ivory Coast team 2-1, Argentina pummeled Serbia 6-0 before essentially resting their starters in a nil-nil tie against Holland.

Mexico, on the other hand staggered through the first round, only looking convincing in their first game against Iran, a 3-1 win. They then tied Angola 0-0 and lost to Portugal 2-1. They made it through but it was a very anxious last game as Angola held the lead against Iran before that game ended in a draw, ensuring Mexico’s passage.

But once the game started, Mexico proved that was not afraid of Argentina. They scored an early goal when Rafa Marquez slid on to a flicked header off of a corner and beat the Argentinian keeper Abbondanzieri in the 5th minute. Just 5 minutes later though, Borgetti scored an own-goal on a header while trying to defend against a corner kick. For most of the first half, Mexico’s defensive formation frustrated the vaunted Argentinian attack. Its own offense created a fair number of chances to put the pressure on Argentina like they hadn’t seen in this tournament before.

The second half was also very evenly played. Both teams created chances to score and it took exceptional play from both goalies to keep the scoreline at 1-1. But from minute 80 on, you could sense that Argentina began to gain the upper hand, largely because Riquelme started to gain control of midfield and was able to have more of an impact. Argentina also put in their dynamic duo of Tevez and Messi with hopes of gaining a spark. In the 92nd minute, with the game surely headed for extra time, Tevez and Messi combined to score a goal. On the play Messi was ruled to be offside but replays clearly showed he was not.

No matter, this by now already classic game went into extra time where it took a piece of absolute magic from Argentina’s Maxi Rodriguez to make the difference. Receiving a long pass from the left side 25 meters from goal, Maxi chested the ball, and in one seamless motion, kicked it a high dipping shot that flew across the entire area and just eluded Oswaldo’s Sanchez at the far post. Because of the circumstances of the second round, this was easily the tournament’s finest goal to date. Argentina was then able to survive the next 25 minutes as a muted Mexican attack tried to equalize but just could not score.

Moral victories are always hard to swallow, but when you lose to a team the way Mexico did to Argentina today, I don’t know how you could not be proud to be Mexican.

World Cup - Day 14

6/22/2006: Ghana 2 – USA 1 (Group E)

When the World Cup draw occurred back in December of 2005, the US looked at its group (called the Group of Death by many experts back then) and saw this game against Ghana as their sure 3 points. If they could somehow get a draw against Italy and/or the Check Republic the thinking went, then things would play out okay and the US would advance into the second round for the second consecutive
World Cup. When I saw the draw and looked at some of the Ghanaian players I saw huge matchup problems for the US and didn’t think the US would even win this game. Of course, I also didn’t think the US would play so miserably against the other teams and that they would not have generated a goal of their own to date.

Despite the dire circumstances (1 loss, 1 tie, only 1 goal) the situation in order for the US to advance was stunningly simple: beat Ghana and hope to get some help from Italy and the US would still advance despite their poor showing to date. The Italians did their part in beating the Check’s 2-0, but the US just couldn’t pull itself out of its pathetic funk.

The American malaise continued early in the game in the 23rd minute on a fairly innocent back pass to Claudio Reyna. Claudio, an excellent ball handler who normally doesn’t turn the ball over made the costliest mistake of his World Cup career. When he tried to push the ball to his left, his cleats seemed to get stuck in the grass. The Ghanaian forward Draman picked his pocket, and raced in on a breakaway against Kasey Keller. He made a stutter move to his left, hesitated for a moment, then aiming the ball hard towards the far post and beat Keller to put Ghana up 1-0. It was a bad start again for the Americans, caused by a defensive lapse just like in the first game against the Czech Republic. To add insult to injury, Reina appeared badly hurt on the play and had to be carted off. Although he continued on, he was substituted shortly thereafter for Ben Olsen.

Despite the setback, the US began to push up effectively using their trademark short passing game. But what cost the Americans was their poor finishing. Landon Donovan, considered by many to be the US’s most electrifying player in terms of pace, control, and scoring ability, showed only his ability to run hard throughout the Cup. But even though he had not played inspired soccer, in the 35th minute, McBride chested a perfect pass to the right side right into Donovan's run. With only the keeper to beat, Donovan, perhaps epitomizing the entire badness of the team, skied the shot horribly in a manner more characteristic of an amateur player than the future hope of US soccer (more on this later).

DaMarcus Beasly, the other American hope, who along with Donovan had performed so well in the American’s surprisingly stunning run in 2002 when they badly outplayed Germany in the quarterfinals but lost 1-0, also did little in this game. But in the 43rd minute, he stole a bad defensive pass and put in a cross that Clint Dempsey hit with the outside of his foot that blazed past Ghana’s keeper Kingston. All of a sudden, the Americans were back in it. When the news that Italy had scored to lead the Czech Republic, anything seemed possible.

That all changed just a few minutes later, and for this unpriceless moment we should thank Markus Merk, one of the best referees in Europe if not the world. I routinely see this guy doing all of the top Champion League games so he must be doing something right. But when he called Onyewu for a foul against Ghana’s Pimpong on a 50-50 ball when Onyewu was just going to head the ball (why should he be victimized for being 6" taller than his opponent), this had to rank as one of the worst fouls I’ve ever witnessed. Because the foul was in the penalty area, Ghana was awarded a PK. Appiah converted the kick with a powerful high shot to Keller's right. In a flash, the American’s fortunes had reversed completely. Down 2-1 at half, the Americans now had to figure out how to generate two goals in 45 minutes when they only had managed 1 in the previous 135.

So in order to carry out such a momentous task, one would think that Bruce Arena would put in his two additional substitutes and throw caution to the wind, go for broke, go for the Cup as they say. Instead Arena did nothing. Just as he had sat passively on the bench during the Czech Republic game, Bruce made no immediate tactical changes. It wasn’t until the 60th minute (the 60th minute) that he brought Eddie Johnson in. He waited even longer to bring in Bobby Convey.

In the 55th minute, Keller was forced to make a good save on an Amoah long range kick off of a lightning fast Ghana fast break. From then on, the US attacked with a great deal of purpose but I suspect this was more due to Ghana’s reluctance to further push the ball and to contently sit back and wait for the counterattack. In the 66th minute, the US had their best chance when Eddie Lewis beat his defender and crossed to McBride who headed the low ball against the post. Others had their chances as well. Bocanegra’s shot deflected just high; Oneywu’s unchallenged header off a corner went just high.

But two plays symbolized Landon Donovan’s poor performance and his inability to make an impact. When Convey was fouled hard on the corner of the left hand side of the penalty box, a great chance for a set piece, Donovan’s free kick was kicked too hard and high. No US player even touched the ball. Simply not good enough for a World Cup player. Moments later, Donovan again showing his ability to chase a ball, go to a pass on the right hand side, made a nice move into the middle and settled for a pass to Olsen, who whiffed on the kick. The problem here was Donovan should have pushed the ball into the box, ran at the defender and tried to make something happen. As the US’s best dribbler, why didn’t he take this challenge on ? This lack of conviction was how he played in the entire Cup.

Going back to the referee’s blunder on the PK. Did it cost the US this game as Bruce Arena suggested in the post-game conference by saying that “he made us chace the game” ?I f the US had scored another goal to tie the game, I may have agreed with him. But the team’s inability to do that rendered his mistake a moot point in Arena's argument.

For the US, there are eery parallels to France 8 years ago: an anemic and unimaginative offense combined with a defense which made too many inopportune mistakes. Arena also seems to have been overmatched at the tactical level, at times appearing to be as lost on the sidelines as his players were on the field. The big difference between now and then were the expectations were much higher going to Germany. US players were supposed to be more professional, more mature, more ready. But the reality was that this team, to put it simply, was a huge disappointment.

Notes:

It was a night of continuation of some pitiful 0-fer statistics for the United States:

• 0-8-1 in World Cup on European soil
• 0-5-0 in 3rd game of group play
• 0-13-1 when trailing in a World Cup game

6/22/2006: Australia – Croatia (Group F)

Gus Hiddink, Australia’s coach, is one of the most respected coaches in the world. He led South Korea to an improbable 4th place finish 4 years ago. This year, he led Australia to its first World Cup appearance in 50 years. And in the first game against Japan, he looked like an absolute genius as his second half substitutes Cahill and Aloisi scored all goals in a brilliant ten minute stretch to liquidate the Japanese.

Why then, did Hiddink start reserve keeper Kalac (backup at AC Milan to Dida and backup to the Socceroos Schwarzer) in this all important game to decide which one of these teams would accompany Brazil into the knockout round ? Did sentimentality play into his thinking, considering Kalac’s Croatian background.

Kalac’s role on Croatia’s first goal on a rocket by Srna from a free kick is questionable. In the 40th minute, Kalac nearly mishandled a ball from a corner right into his own goal. Then in the 57th, Niko Kovac unleashed a powerful but manageable shot from the top of the box that Kalac couldn’t handle and it bounced innocently into the goal.

This game was the tournament’s most exciting to date, with each goal changing the outcome. Croatia scores, they’re in. Australia equalizes, they’re in. Croatia scores again, they’re in. End to end, in and out game.

The period from time 70 to 90 provide the best drama of the tournament. In the 71st minute, an incredible sequence starting with Kewell’s blast is punched out by the keeper. In the ensuing corner, Kewell taps it too soft into the defender at the post. In the next corner, the Croatian keeper makes a heroic save, clutching the ball just outside of the line as two Aussies kick at him. In the 75th, Tomas,who was whistled for a handball on a cross in the first half and which resulted in Australia’s tying goal, does it again but is not called for it. Australian persistence pays off when in the 79th minute, Kewell, clearly in an offside position, volleys it home for the equalizer. Australia is back in.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie !!! Oy Oy Oy !!!

But wait, in the 87th minute, Croatia’s Tudor find himself all alone in front of the keeper in the box but takes one touch too many and his shot is blocked and then cleared off the line by Moore. Incredible stuff. Incredibly exciting game. Pulsating end to end action.

In the 93rd minute, Australia’s scores a 3rd goal. The referee invalidates the goal, yellow cards Croatia’s defender Simunic a third time, and just stops the game. Bizarre ending.

At the end of 93 excruciating minutes, Australia gets a date with Italy. The way things are going, Italy better watch out because Hiddink’s South Korean team knocked the Italian’s out last time also.

World Cup - Day 13

6/21/2006: Portugal 2 – Mexico 1 (Group D)

Mexico lost their last Group D encounter against Portugal but classified anyways due to the tie between Iran and Angola. It looked pretty bad for a while as Mexico spotted Portugal an early 2-0 advantage. The first goal was a rocket in the 6th minute from Nuno Maniche, who probably has one of the strongest kicks of any player, off a cross from Simao. The placement of the shot was impecable and Sanchez could only watch it go into the upper right hand corner. In the 23rd minute, Rafa Marquez, the Barcelona defender, thought he could get away with a little hand poke to deflect the ball from the Portuguese player who was about to head the ball, but he got caught red-handed. Portugal were awarded a PK and Simao did not waste the opportunity.

Handed an early deficit plus the prospect that an Angolan win with enough goals to establish a better goal difference would leave them out, Mexico pushed forward and just 6 minutes later, Bravo's shot forces a Ricardo save off the post. In the resulting corner, Fonseca finally connects with a glancing header to pull one goal back for Mexico. At the verge of halftime, Mexico almost tie the game when Fonseca streaks into to try to connect with a Pavel Pardo cross but barely misses the ball and hits Ricardo instead.

In the second half, Mexico come out with the same momentum established in the last 15 minutes of the first half. In the 58th minute, they are awarded a penalty for a foul on Lucho Perez. Omar Bravo, Mexico's young striker, looks serious before he takes the kick. He opts for power over placement and skies the ball upwards. Two minutes later, it appears as if the Mexicans will be awarded a second PK, but the ref decides to punish Luis Perez for diving (it looked like a clear foul to me). Perez has to leave the game with his second yellow and Mexico are reduced to 10 men.

Mexico's worries intensity when news that Angola has scored against Iran are known. More Angolan goals could mean a better goal difference for them and Mexico could be left out. Despite the man disadvantage, Mexico push forward and Omar Bravo with another chance to score shoots too early and skies another ball over the bar. In the 80th minute, Iran does a huge favor to Mexico and scores and assures that Mexico will go through even with the loss.

Mexico did not play well in this game from the outset. You can't spot a team like Portugal 2 goals and still expect to win. If they don't come out and play better against, ouch, Argentina, their next game will be their last.

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Mexico perdio su partido contra Portugal pero clasifico de todas maneras por el empate entre Angola e Iran. Portugal empezo este partido con gran claridad y jugando un futbol muy fluido. El primer gol de Portugal cayo apenas en el minuto 6, cuando Maniche convirtio un centro con un gol espectacular. El “Tri” continuo a jugar muy mal dejandole mucho espacio a los Portugueses, y en el minuto 23, “Rafa Marquez, su baluarte defensivo que habia jugado mal desde su puesto defensivo, cometio un error gravisimo al conceder un penalty cuado manoteo un centro templado peligroso. Portugal convirtio el penal para poner el 2-0.

Sabiendo que necesitaban goles, Mexico entonces encontro su ritmo y empezo a presionar el arco de Portugal. En el minuto 29 Bravo obligo a Ricardo a salvar contra el poste. Segundos despues Fonseca marco un gol de cabeza desde el corner para el descuento. A los 45 hubo otra oportunidad para Fonseca de centro de Pardo

En el Segundo tiempo los Aztecas salieron mejor parados con propuesta de empatar el partido. En el minuto 58 le hicieron falta a Lucho Perez en el area y el arbitro otorgo penal para el Tri. Pero Omar Bravo, que parecia demasiado nervioso antes de tomar el penal, volo el resultante tiro y Mexico se quedaba atras en el marcador. Minutos despues parecia ser otro penal a favor de Mexico, pero el arbitro decidio en vez de darle otro penal a Mexico (algo que casi nunca se ve en el futbol a este nivel) penalizar a Perez, el cual fue expulsado por acumulacion de tarjetas amarillas. Reducido a 10 hombres, Mexico siguio insistiendo y Bravo volo otra pelota for arriba cuando tenia mas tiempo para avanzar sobre el area antes de tirar.

Las angustias continuaron cuando Angola tomo una ventaja de 1-0 contra Iran. Si Angola mete mas goles la diferencia le va favoreciendo y es posible que los Aztecas se quedan fuera del Mundial. A pesar de no marcar mas y lograr el empate que los hubiera puesto en la segunda ronda sin preocupacion, Iran le hace un le hace un gran favor a Mexico al empatar ese partido al minuto 80.

A pesar de perder, Mexico avanzo y jugara contra Argentina. El Tri tendra que demostrar mejor futbol o si no su proximo partido sera su ultimo.

6/21/2006: Netherlands 0 – Argentina 0 (Group D)

Replay of classic 1978 World Cup Final. The Netherlands, led by Cruyff and Haskeens, hit the post twice in extra time before Argentina finally won it 2-1 on two goals from Mario Kempes. These two teams also met in the 1998 World Cup in France, with Netherlands winning 2-1. This game was far from a classic as the two teams were only playing for position agains their Group D opponents Portugal and Mexico. It showed in an uninspired game in which both teams rested many of their starters. Still, Argentina showed their incredible depth as both Tevez and Leonel Messi played fairly well despite the fact that they couldn't score.

World Cup - Day 12

6/20/2006: England 2 – Sweden 2 (Group B)

England paired Rooney and Owen for first time and sat Crouch and Gerrard. Unfortunately, the new striker duo, which when paired in qualifications scored many goals, didn't have time to show the world what they coulddo because Owen’s knee buckled on an unchallenged play in the 3rd minute, forcing Crouch to come in and become the World Cup’s fastest substitution ever.

England played the first half as if it were a true favorite, completely dominating the Swedes with one of my favorites players Lampard, celebrating his 28th birthday, shooting and unfortunately missing from just about everywhere. Rooney had one good attempt in the 25th minute, latching on to a perfectly placed 50 yard ball from Beckham, before producing a shot that was blocked. Joe Cole, likewise, terrorized the Swedish defense with his endless running and control on the left-side. In the 34th minute, Cole chest trapped a Swedish clearance and fired a dipping shot that surprised the Swedish keeper and ended up in the back of the net.

But this game was certainly a tale of two halfs. If England dominated the first, Sweden came out desperately trying to win the game with the knowledge that a tie would only net them a date with the Germans in the next round. Just 6 minutes into the second half Sweden's pressure paid off as they scored on a wonderful header from Allback off a swerving corner that just about took Ashley Cole’s head off at the far post. The Swedes continued mounting the pressure by winning numerous corner kicks and on another swerving corner kick, Robinson was barely able to deflect a header into the crossbar.

In the 72nd minute, a despondent Rooney was taken out in favor of Gerrard. This substitution turned out to be crucial for England for two reasons: a) Gerrard clears a ball off the line two minutes after coming in and b) he scores the go ahead goal in the 85th minute on a header from a nice cross from Cole.

With the win almost secure, England commit a horrible defensive lapse at the 90th minute when Terry, Campbell, and Robinson all failed to a bouncing ball that two Swedish players manage to tap into the net. The play was started on a bullet throw-in that came in with the velocity of a kick and completely befuddled the English defense.

As it turns out, England wins the group and avoids Germany in the next round (getting Ecuador instead). Sweden isn’t so lucky.

6/20/2006 Germany 3 – Ecuador 0 (Group A)

Great performance from the hosts, who dismantle Ecuador completely. Two more goals for Klose and one goal by Lucas Podolski on a sliding shot from a lightning fast breakaway. They win the group and no face Sweden in the knockout phase. Eduacor must play England (see above). Germany looks very very tough.

World Cup - Day 11

6/19/2006: Spain 3 - Tunisia 1 (Group H)

I learned the game of football when I lived in Spain
when I was twelve years old.  I lived in an apartment
house from where I could see the Vicente Calderon
stadium, where Atletico Madrid plays.  I also watched
Real Madrid a lot.  But I really became a Barcelona
fan because back then they had the best player in the
world Johann Cruyff working his magic.  After I left
Spain I also became a huge fan of their national team
and always root for them.

As any fan of Spain knows, this can be a painful
endeavor. Spain is probably most famous for being the
biggest underachiever in footballing history. They’ve
only one European Cup of all the tournaments they’ve
participated in despite consistently having one of the
best domestic leagues and an abundant supply of skilled
players.

This year’s placement in what seemed on paper at least
as the weakest group and their initial thrashing of
that group’s second best team, Ukraine, by a 4-0
scoreline gave their aficionados a lot to be hopeful
for.  Could this be Spain’s year ?  Could they finally
win it all ?

For 70 minutes against Tunisia, it didn’t seem this
newfound expectations would bear fruit.  Spain trailed
after Tunisia scored a very early goal.  The Spanish
keeper, Iker Casillas, who plays for Real Madrid, did
well to save the original shot from Tunisia's Mnari,
but the rebound came right back to the Tunisian player,
who very coolly hit the ball off the ground for it to
bounce high enough to barely elude Casillas left-hand.

The next 64 minutes belonged entirely to the Spanish
side, La Furia as they are commonly known by their
fans.   They completely controlled the midfield and
executed a dizzying array of shots against the
Tunisian goal.  There were corner kicks, free kicks,
through balls to players running into space for them
to shoot at, and players shooting from short to long
range.  But as is characteristic of soccer --  perhaps
the most frustrating sport because territorial
supremacy doesn’t necessarily translate into a
tangible advantage in the scoreboard --  Spain trailed
1-0 until the 72nd minute.  It was heavy-duty
suffrage, not only for me, but for all fans of Spain
worldwide.

It all changed in the 72nd minute when Raul, the old
veteran all of 28 years old (he has been playing
professionally for what many Madrileno fans of Real
Madrid dubbed Raul Madrid since he was 16 and is now
playing his 3rd World Cup), outfought the better
positioned Tunisian defender to yet another ball saved
by the Tunisian keeper and toe-poked it into the upper
right hand corner.  It was a classic Raul goal, who
before his injury was one of the world’s greatest
predatory strikers, so named because of his innate
ability to hang around the goal, to be in the right
place at the right time, and to score when presented
with the slimmest of advantages.

The goal was a huge sight of relief for an entire
nation.  It also opened the floodgates for the further
Spanish scores.  In soccer it is either famine or
feast, but once the first goal arrived, many other
followed, as they inevitably do.  Tunisia had played
admirably and their goalkeeper had made numerous
terrific saves to keep Spain at bay.  But in the 76th
minute, a through ball found a diagonally streaking
Fernando Torres.  Torres, known as “El Nino” (The
Boy), raced to his left to reach the ball, pushed it
further down the field and forced the keeper to come
off his line.  Sensing the Tunisian keeper coming, he
then kicked the ball with the outside of this foot to
make it go to his right, where it simply bounced into
the goal, the out of position keeper badly beaten.
Torres would add a third off a penalty kick.  He
didn’t kick it well, but hit it hard enough that it
went under the keeper’s arms.

Spain have now assured their passage onto the knockout
round and all that is left is resting their key
players in the last game to avoid injury.  They likely
will face either either Switzerland, South Korea, or
possibly France if that country even makes it out of
group play.  Whoever they face, their fans can rest
assured that this year’s Spanish team is the real
deal, a true contender for the title.  As a lifelong
fan, I couldn't be happier.

World Cup - Day Ten

6/18/2006: Brazil 2 – Australia 0 (Group F)

I had a feeling Australia would give Brazil all they could handle in this game and for 70 minutes the Socceroos played Brasil to a nil-nil tie. Brazil finally broke their backs with not only a superb goal from Adriano from a nice pass by Ronaldo, but also superb keeping from Dida who denied Viduka on two occasions. Fred (Fred – what kind of a Brazilian name is that ?), scored off on easy tap in on a Robinho shot late to seal the deal. Brazil are thru but Australia still are in the drivers seat firmly in second place in this group and will advance with a win against Croatia.

6/18/2006: France 1 – S. Korea 0 (Group G)

France finally broke their scoring drought of 5 World Cup games as Thierre Henry latched on to a pass in the middle of the box early on and neatly slotted the ball home. France also looked more inspired in this game than they in their previous game against Switzerland. In the second half, In the 35th minute a header by Patrick Vieira was cleared from behind the line by the Korean keeper but it was not ruled a goal. Incredibly bad officiating as replays clearly showed the keeper inside the goal as he swats the ball back across. No matter, South Korea made a push to tie this game in the second half and tie it they did on a cross to the back post, a header to the middle and a little toe-poke by Ji Sun-Park just eluded Fabian Barthez and William Gallas in the 81st minute. The French, despite scoring, were now even and are in a must win situation while S. Korea are in command of the group but still have to play Switzerland.

World Cup - Day Nine

6/17/2006: Italy 1 – USA 1 (Group E)

A severely wounded US team was given a huge lifeline by Ghana’s shocking upset of the Czech Republic hours earlier. After looking lackadaisical against the Czechs, the US came out very aggressively in this game completely dominating the Italians in the first 20 minutes. Their new found attitude was not rewarded however when a bad tactical mistake cost them and allowed Italy to score the first goal in the 21st minute. Trying to play offside on a free kick, Italy’s Gilardino beat Eddie Pope to a beautifully placed ball and headed past Keller. It looked to be as if the US would continue its bad track record in World Cups played in Europe (they’ve never won) and after trailing (they’re 0-14-1 in games in which the opposing team struck first blood).

Then the Americans got their second lifeline of the day when Christiano Zaccardo’s horrific clearance attempt resulted in an Italian own goal in the 27th minute. The Americans fortune would continue only what appeared to be moments later as de Rossi committed the stupidest foul of the World Cup by elbowing Brian McBride in the face while fighting for a ball in the middle of the field. What de Rossi was trying to accomplish only he will know. The facts are that when McBride rose from the ground, his face bloodied, the Italians were reduced to 10 men and the Americans had a tactical advantage they could exploit for another 60 minutes.

If that weren’t strange enough, there was more drama to come. First, towards the end of the first half, Pablo Mastroeni got a direct red card for a vicious sliding tackle that most referees would have awarded a yellow for these days. Then shortly after the intermission, Pope was given a second yellow card now reducing the Americans to 9 men. This ref was crucified on ESPN for his decisions but I thought the only bad decision he made was on the Mastroeni tackle. Other than that he applied the rule of the law correctly.

So the Americans must have felt like a man, who stranded in water gets a lifeline, but just as he is swimming back to safety, that lifetline is yanked from him, forcing him to swim desperately again to save his life. If the metaphor seems a bit melodramatic and harsh, it is intended to be since World Cup soccer can sometimes seem like life and death, at least for some fans.

As in many of these games in which the underdog has survived, the keeper has saved his team. It was no different in this case as Kasey Keller, much maligned for his performance in Game 1, pulled off miracle after miracle to keep the Americans tied. No team reduced to 9 men has ever scored a goal in World Cup history. The Americans didn’t come close to breaking that record, but by drawing 1-1 with the Italians, they kept their World Cup hope alives in the true crazy and chaotic Group of Death.

6/17/2006: Ghana 2 – Czech Republic 0 (Group E)

Everyone thought that Ivory Coast was the best African team in the tournament, but the fact is that the “Black Stars” of Ghana provided the shock of the tournament and In the process netted Africa’s first win. (The African teams had played well getting better and better, and Ghana got the victory after Angola got a tie the night before).

But perhaps the best part of this game was the manner in which Ghana dismantled the Czech Republic. Ghana had looked very good against Italy but lacked the team cohesion necessary to crack the catenaccio Against the Czech’s, fresh off their inspirational beating of the Americans, Ghana put it all together, combining brilliant individual skill with equally brilliant team play. On numerous occasions, the “Black Stars” would triangulate beautifully finding the open man, and that man would make a great individual dribbling play to find yet another open man who would then take a shot at the what has easily has to be one of the world’s top 5 keepers.

The tonic that Ghana needed in this game was the early goal when Asamoah Gyan scored after beautifully trapping a pass of his chest and then beating Cech on a low kick to the far post. Ghana was not content to stay back and preserve its lead and created excellent chances in the 33rd and 40th minute, the shot created in the latter going just high. The Checks for their part had only a handful of really meaningful chance, the most notable one when Nedved had the ball on the left hand side and had his cross blocked by the defense.

The Checks appeared to a flying start in the second half as Nedved headed the ball into the net but he was judged offside.
Ten minutes later, a dangerous cross led to a shot on goal that the keeper Kingston had to deflect. Other than that it was all one way traffic and Cech was continuously called to save his team by making one great save after another. In the 55th minute, Appiah dribbled the ball against three Check defenders and forced Cech to deflect a ball headed for goal. In the 65th after another series of dizzying dribbles and passes, the Check defender Ujfalusi was ejected taking down Amoah, who had a point blank shot after deflecting a shot to himself. Ghana had a PK and also had their opponent reduced to 10 men. However, Gyan hit the post on the resulting PK. Gyan also picked up a yellow card for practicing the penalty kick (a shot that he did make) whle the referee pursued Ufalusi around the box to present him the red card (a silly infraction that will make him miss the next game). The Check Republic were alive, but just barely at that point.

Cech then make two incredible saves in succession in the 73rd and 75th minutes against Amoah and Montari respectively. In the 81st, Ghana’s finest combination play resulted in what I think is the best team goal of the World Cup. Using incredible dribbling skills and patience at the same time, Montari received the ball after some incredible dribbling from his teammate Appiah, and he made no mistake in roofing the ball into the net, the only place the giant Cech couldn’t reach.

Towards the end of the game Ganah’s goalkeeper Kingston made two incredible saves, one an acrobatic deflection of a ball headed for the back of the net. By virtue of this victory this save could prove to be crucial in preserving goal differential in what is now a wide and chaotic group.

6/17/2006: Portugal 2 – Iran 0 (Group D)

Iran tried to frustrate Portugal just like Angola had to Mexico the day before but Portugal broke through with a great strike from Deco in the 67th minute hitting the ball first time off a cross. In the 80th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo scores on a penalty kick. Nuno Maniche was the target man early and had 3 shots on goal after some great passing but then Portugal but started playing too much one on one with Ronaldo and Deco running at players while everybody stood around. The Iranian defenders were not impressed with Ronaldo’s mutltitude of step-over and fakes and pretty much contained him throughout the half. So while Portugal played that style by choice, Iranian sent lone attacker to try to beat 2-3 defenders out of necessity. Their counter-attacking style never had a chance to work however as they didn’t generate any real chances at goal.

World Cup - Day Eight

6/16/2006: Mexico 0 – Angola 0 (Group D)

This game looked difficult on paper for Mexico. Angola had played Portugal extremely even in the first game and had it not been for that early Portuguese goal, that game would have ended in a 0-0 draw. The first half saw plenty of chances for Mexico including Rafael Marquez’s low shot that bounced off the right post, but the game was an exciting back and forth with Angolan having chances of their own.

Mexico dominated Angola in the second half and kept the pressure on. This game was reminiscent of recent 0-0 games where the favored team finally scored after mounting relentless pressure on the opposing team (i.e. England and Germany most notably; Sweden and Paraguay was a pretty even game). The same story here with the exception that the Angolan keeper Joao Ricardo, a man without a club, played what I think was the best game of any keeper to date. He made numerous incredible saves (including one on the blast from Rafa Marquez in the 87th minute) on direct shots, fielded crosses impeccably, and his best two friends the posts helped out him out twice (although not in the same place like in the Poland game). Angola played a decent offensive first half but really played for the draw in the second half, knowing that that result would be most favorable for them since they now play the weakest team in the group. Mexico, on the other hand, has its hardest game in the next round against Portugal. If Portugal beats Iran, it is through and it will be between Angola and Mexico to fight it out for second place.

6/16/2006: Holland 2 - Ivory Cost 1 (Group C)

I have remarked how great the African teams have looked so far, but the fact is not one of them has won a game yet. Ivory Cost, probably the best of the African teams on paper, looked extremely good against Argentina in their first game, and with Argentina having drubbed Serbia 6-0 in the earlier game, the Elephants sensed that their chance to advance to the second round hinged critically on a positive result in this game. In the first 15 minutes they demonstrated superior team football to the Dutch, moving the ball all around the field, running their plays with aims of finding their superstar Drogba, and generally displaying their incredible speed and athleticism.

It was the Dutch, however, who struck first blood in the 23rd when van Persie scored on a beautiful free kick. Ivory Coast make a mistake by putting their two shortest guys to guard the far post on the wall, and when Persie’s kick flew atop one of them, the keeper had no chance. In the 26th minute, Robben back-heeled to Ruud Van Nistelroy, who shot high left to score his first ever World Cup goal. Ivory Coast did not pack it in at this point though. After Zokora’s blast from 30 yards out hit the post, Kone scored a tremendous goal, running to his right, and shooting high to the far post beating Van der Saar.

Just before halftime, Drogba found himself leading a 2-1 breakaway from just beyond half-field after vanBommel was disposed, but his pass to an on-side teammate was intercepted by Giovanni van Bronckhorst. (In the second half, Drogba also made a poor pass on a play that could have resulted in a goal.) This just goes to show that Drogba, a true striker, had to resort to being more of a playmaker on the national team and he couldn’t deliver the pin-point passes when called upon.

What Drogba does well is score and had his teammate van Persie now chested out his header on the line, this game would have been tied. There were also two controversial plays, either of which could have resulted in a PK against the Dutch. One involved Drogba, who I thought was clearly grabbed in the area, and the other was the foul on Eboue as he dribbed in towards the Dutch goal, right before the aforementioned Drogba header.

In the end, the Dutch bent but did not break and now move on while the Elephants now only have one game against a Serbian team which has to be completely demoralized after their crushing defeat to Argentina. Holland and Argentina renew their classic rivalry with a game to decide who will head the group.

World Cup - Day Seven

6/15/2006: England – Trinidad & Tobago (Group B)

Trinidad & Tobago, a fomer England colony, with virtually no professional league, and whose best players have played at one time in England, frustrated England for 83 minutes. With a huge advantage in possession, England was unable to crack the Trinidad and Tobago despite numerous opportunities. In the first half England seemed to retreat to their own bad past habits of dump and chase as their only tactic seemed to be deep balls to Owen and Crouch into the corners. Things changed a bit in the second half, especially when Rooney and Lennon came in (Lennon had the bigger impact with threatening runs down the right flank constantly putting a very well organized Soca Warrior defense) as England attacked down the wings with thru balls on the ground rather than in the air.

But Trinidad and Tobago continued to stimy England’s hopes and as time ticked, even had some chances of their own on counter attacks. For a team with so much promise, England seemed to be on the verge of a result which would put them in a very precarious situation. England’s main culprits were Crouch and Lampard, both of whom had numerous chances to score but could simply not finish.

The breakthrough for England finally came through in the 83rd minute, when T&T just could not contain Crouch any longer. A cross from Beckham (who else) found Crouch at Hislop’s far post. Crouch rose above his defender and vigorously headed the ball home. Even then, my immediate thought was England now has 6 points but with the minimum scoreline in each match, not exactly the performance of a team with real aspirations of winning the World Cup.

Then in the 89th minute, my boy Steven Gerrard (Stevie Me as a fellow Barley Boy brother Jim has informed me he’s known back across the pond), took a pass just outside the penalty box, dribbled his man, and with his left foot scored a “cracker” of a goal. When the FA Cup was all said and done, I became a Steven Gerrard fan for life after his incredible performance saved Liverpool. My advice for Sven Goran Ericksson is to let Gerrard play offensive midfield and drop Lampard back. Playing up front, Lampard left a lot of goals on the field today (So did Crouch, but at least he converted the all important first goal). Gerrard, with only second chance, scored what for me is the 3rd best strike of the Cup.

6/15/2006: Ecuador 3 – Costa Rica 0 (Grupo A)

No pudo resolver un partido que debia ganar el equipo Tico para quedarse en el Mundial. Con desventaja de 2 goles por 0, el animo de Costa Rica de apago en dos jugadas en los ultimos diez minutos: una clara opcion a gol despues de Buena jugada elaborada que se estrello contra el poste. Varios minutos despues, Kaviedes convierte un centro con elegancia para liquidar el partido. Costa Rica se despide del Mundial mientras que Ecuador se pone frente a Alemania por mayor diferencia de gol. El ultimo partido entre Ecuatorianos y Alemanes entonces tiene importancia aunque los dos ya estan en la segunda ronda.

Notas:
Marcaron por Ecuador C. Tenorio (9) y Augustin Delgado (55)
Wanchope, el autor de 2 goles contra Alemania, se vio desgastado en este partido.

World Cup - Day Six

6/14/2006: Spain 4 – Ukraine 0 (Group H)

Spain, one of the big fish in soccer, has never won a major trophy outside of a European Cup and that was eons ago. Perennial underachievers at the highest level, Spain arrives at each and every World Cup with the highest of ambitions and expectations, only to crash out at some stage or another. So were the soccer gods somehow giving Spain a break when they slotted them in what has to be the weakest group ? Paired along with what is at best a second-rate European power Ukraine and third-rate countries such as Saudi Arabia and Tunisia (who always seem to be in the Cup but never do anything), Spain must have been salivating at what could be their best chance in years to actually make a final.

In their debut, Spain did not disappoint. They came out and played high energy, fast-flowing brand of football reminiscent of the Brazilian jogo bonito. They played with a conviction knowing that in order for this to be their time, they and they alone need to make it happen. Always known for its great players and great clubs, Spain finally got off to a great start (in 94 they tied then lowly S. Korea, in 1998 they lost to Nigeria 3-2) and routed Ukraine 4-0.

The goal fest started early with Xavi Alonso heading in from a corner in the 13th minute. Four minutes later, David Villa takes a free kick which deflects off the wall and past the keeper going the other way. Strikers David Villa, Fernando “El Nino” Torres, Xavi Alonso, Luis Garcia et al terrorize the Ukrainian defense. Schevchenko is nowhere to be found, lacking the quality service he’s accustomed to in Milan.

Shortly after the break, the first penalty of the Cup is called and it is a terrible call. The Ukrainian defender gets called for a slight tug of the shorts (at least that’s the only thing I saw) of a streaking David Villa. Red card, penalty kick, and Ukraine reduced to 10 men. David Villa nets the PK and this is game, set, and match. The “Spanish Furia” score a late goal in the 81st minute after a beautiful buildup sparked by one of the world’s greatest defenders, Barcelona’s Puyol. His header pass to “El Nino” is not wasted as Torres buries the shot in the back of the net. Late in the game, Schevchenko has a shot at the “goal of honor” and can’t convert. This is too bad because Ukraine had a good shot of advancing in this group, but now their fortunes are up in the air what with 0 points and a 4 goal against goal differential staring them in the face.

Spain play the best game so far with perhaps the Czech Republic’s trouncing of the US second and Germany’s win over Costa Rica third.


Espana, siempre mas notado por sus grandes futbolistas y clubes que por su equipo a nivel nacional, hace un debut impresionante al golear al equipo de Ucrania por 4-0.

La Furia jugo un futbol rapido, de buena precision y movimiento, y con mucha imaginacion. Terrorizaron a la defensa Ucranense Xavi, David Villa, Fernando “El Nino” Torres, y Luis Garcia mientras que Puyol anclaba una defensa impenetrable. Abrio el marcador Xavi Alonso con cabezaso del tiro de esquina en el minuto 13. Cuatro minutos despues, David Villa marca su primero con un tiro que desvia la pared y elude al arquero. Espana no se conforma con el 2-0 y sigue atacando. Escasos minutos despues del intermedio, David Villa consique un penal muy dudoso por jalon del pantalon. Sale expulsado por tarjeta roja el defensa y David Villa anota el penal para liquidar al partido. “El Nino” Torres marca un gol en jugada iniciado por Puyol desde media campo y donde el mismo asiste con un bonito pase de cabeza.

Desaparecido del partido entero, Schevchenko, que ha carecido de servicio al cual esta acostumbrado en el Milan, dribblea el area entera pero no puede marcar el gol del “honor” y en proceso disminuir una diferencia de gol horrenda que prejudica el paso a Ucrania para la segunda ronda.

Ahora yo he visto Espana golear a un equipo anteriormente (mas notable el Espana de Buitragueno con la goliza por 5 a Dinamarca en el Mundial del 86 in Mexico) asi que no se puede confiar mucho a esta etapa pero el equipo espanol se ve bien configurado para ganar este grupo flojito y avanzar con grandes posibilidades a la proxima ronda.

Arriba Espana !!!

6/14/2006: Germany 1 – Poland 0 (Group A)

Poland had never beaten Germany in the World Cup in 85 years. In this game, they play much better than their first game and hold the Germans to a draw for 91 minutes. The woodwork helps them out twice in the 90th minute. But Germany persistence pays off as their insistence with Odonkor on the right side produces a cross which Oliver Neuville slides in to score the winner. Hearbreaking for Poland. Simply shocking. History proves to be cruel for Poland again.

Played before a spectacularly divided stadium, this game features a lot of back and forth with both teams having plenty of chances. Especially for Germany, Miroslav Klose has what appears to be about 5 shots and is denied on every single one. Lucas Podolski also has his share and can’t score. In the 90th minute, a German cross finds the head of Neuville, who crashes it against the post. Ballack’s toe-poke on the rebound hits the post. Poland is bending and bending but not breaking, until the heart breaker by Neuville.

Germany is now streaking and has to believe it has a real chance. Poland just crashed out of the Cup.

World Cup - Day Five

6/13/2006: Brazil 1 – Croatia 0 (Group F)

Brazil ties a record with their 7th straight World Cup win but it isn’t easy as Croatia has plenty of scoring chances in an entertaining back and forth game. Most of the Brazilians play with their usual flair except for Ronaldo, who lacks pace and interest. He’s hardly into the game it seems, and aside from one good shot in the second half disappears from this game. Kaka scores on a beautiful left-footed shot to the upper left-hand corner right at the stroke of halftime.

Brazil get the 3 points but trails Australia in this group due to goal differential. However they have faced their toughest challenger in the group and will roll over the two other teams. I still like Croatia to come out of this group, and especially now more after seeing them create against the Brazilians. They will likely fight it out against Australia, a team with a heavy Croatian influence so that battle should be interesting.

6/13/2006: South Korea 2 – Togo 1 ( Group G)

Togo had immense off-field issues before this game: problems with how much the players would get paid, questions whether their coach would coach them, an outbreak of chickenpox. Despite this, the team came out and gave a very good effort, playing with lots of energy and intent on winning. They even had the lead until the second half before a foul cost them one player due to an ejection (and on the play the South Korean’s Lee Chun Soo scored on the free kick from the edge of the penalty box). Later on, second half substitute Jung Hwan’s mid-range shot proved to be the difference. For a team which hardly anyone knows, Togo put a scare into the 4th place finisher at the last World Cup,

For their part, South Korea, now coached by another Dutchman, Dick Advocaat, win a World Cup game for the first time outside of Asian soil. With France and Switzerland tying at 0-0, the Koreans find themselves in first place in this group. This group appears to have opened up quite nicely now.

World Cup Day 4

6/12/2006: Australia 3 – Japan 1 (Group E)

Australia gained a historic triumph by scoring their first, second, and third ever goals in a World Cup to stun Japan 3-1 in their first World Cup in an eternity. For the first 80 minutes I waited in vain to yell Aussie Aussie Aussie Oy Oy Oy as it appeared that Australia was not going to get any goals in this game. (Or for that matter the next since who could dream them scoring against powerhouse Brazil). But in an instant the fortunes of the Aussies changed forever. The Japanese goalkeeper, who up until the 84th minute, had been brilliant making at least two world-class saves on shots by Aloisi and Viduka in the second half, made a huge blunder. On a cross into the area, he forayed wildly out of his box chasing a ball that he couldn’t possibly get to. Leaving himself way out of position, Cahill was able to get the Aussies over the hump with a low powerful shot on a ball that fell at his feet in the ensuing chaos that only had to beat a sole defender left on the line.

Lightning then struck twice 5 minutes later as Cahill scored on a beautiful shot that went off the post and ricocheted all the way across the goal. In between the goals, there was a very controversial non-call on what clearly appeared to be a foul on Nakamura as he worked his way around the Aussie defense. (Maybe the non-call was a makeup for the controversial first-half goal, which unfortunately I didn’t see so I can’t really say.) If that wasn’t enough, Aloisi scored a third running against the defender before beating the Japanese keeper, who by the way, couldn’t be blamed for the last two goals as the Japanese defense broke down, but had he not allowed that first goal, things could have been vastly different for Japan in this group. As it is, Gus Hiddink’s men pull it off and make him look like a genius, just like the South Korean’s did four years ago.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie !!! Oy Oy Oy !!!

6/12/2006: US 0 – Czech Republic 3 (Group E)

The US lost in 1990 to Czechoslovakia 5-1 when the US were minnows in the world of soccer. Today it must have felt like déjà vu all other again as they were dumped 3-0 by the Czech Republic.

In the first half, it was a story of less is more. Without the football 15% less of the time, the Czech Republic used one header by Koller early and the second best goal of the World Cup by Rozicky to take a two goal advantage over the United States. Early on, the US tactic was to pound the giant Koller physically. But in the 6th minute, Nedved passed into a wide open right hand side and Grygera had all day to spot a streaking Koller who headed past a sprawling Keller after a very subtle push on Eddie Pope. The US tried to use its superior speed and possession and in a nice buildup up the middle, Reina latched on to a pass and fired past Cech but unfortunately was denied by the woodwork. Instead of a well deserved tie, the US soon found themselves down 2 – 0 after Rosicky picked up a poor defensive clearance into the middle of the field. With one move to free up space, he fired a bullet that always was swerving away from a diving Keller.

Just like that, the US was two down. The only positive for the US was a negative for the Czech Republic when their “pivot man” Koller went crashing out of this game (and likely the Cup) with a hamstring injury. There were still 45 minutes to go, and the US had tons of work ahead to do because teams down 2-0 at halftime are 73-0-4 in World Cup history.

Pathetic Apathy is how I would call the US’s performance against the Czech Republic in the second half. Down 2-0, this team was a reflection of the coach on the bench. Arena looked positively content with the result sitting on the bench with no apparent urgency of any kind. You would think he was winning by 2 instead of losing by the same number. Tactically there were two changes at halftime but they had no effect on the shape of the team as a whole. The US’s two best players, DaMarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan largely disappeared from this game. Rather than dropping further back to help facilitate the US attack, Donovan played too far up to have any impact. The US was content to cross the ball in from their left side and rarely put Cech under pressure. The best of the substitutions had to be Eddie Johnson, who had two decent shots and nearly latched on to a cross from Convey that would have cut the margin by one in the 70th minute.

Playing the counterattack to perfection, Thomas Rosicky (for me the Czech’s best player before the tournament started even though Nedved got the lion’s share of the attention), got his second gem on a breakaway goal where he went far post off against a far charging Keller. Onyewu was victimized on all three goals, out of position on the Keller, had the bad clearance that fell at Rosicky’s feet, and was flatly outrun by the chargin Rosicky on the third goal.

At that point, the game was obviously fait accompli. The US tried in vain to score the “goal of honor”, a goal that at least the American team that lost to the then Czechoslovakia in the 1990 World Cup by 5-1 was able to obtain. But this year’s team, with such high expectations, couldn’t even get that. The US is in for a rough ride now the rest of the way after this drubbing.

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Utilizando un juego oportuno, la Republica Checa marco dos goles impresionantes para imponerse en una victoria parcial port 2-0 a Estados Unidos. Jugando con mucho menos (una desventaja de 15% en posesion del balon), los Checos lograron mucho mas. Koller utilizo su altura superior para rematar un cabezaso a los 6 minutos. Y Rosicki aprovechando unos escasos momentos de superioridad en la posesion, concreto con un golazo de media distancia despues de un mal despeje de Onyewu. Para los Estados Unidos, Claudio Reyna fue negado por el poste despues de vencer a Cech, uno de los mejores porteros del mundo con un disparo razante al piso a los 28.

En el segundo tiempo, el equipo estadounidense, en vez de jugar con mas urgencia buscando el gol del descuento, jugo con un aparente desinteres. El equipo tanto como el entrenador se veian conformes con el deficit y no hubiera pensado uno al ver al rostro de Arena que su equipo perdia por dos goles. (Esto lo remarco varias veces el comentarista de Univision Chilavert.) Por lo tanto, en vez de darle a su equipo instrucciones tacticas, o a lo minimo darle animo, Arena no hizo nada. Espero hasta el minuto 76 para jugar su ultima carta mediante el cambio de Wolff por McBride. Espero un minuto de mas porque el minuto interior Rosicki marco su Segundo gol rebasando la zaga entera de los Americanos antes de vencer a Keller con un disparo lindisimo.

Mas bien que el nivel de EUA fue la falta de esfuerzo y animo A mi no me parecia que este equipo estaba bien configurado para competir en este grupo y no demostro hoy nada para disuadirme de ese prognostico. Al equipo Americano le va a costar mucho escaparse y llegar a la segunda ronda.

6/12/2006: Italia – Ghana (Group E)

For the third straight game, an African team lost despite looking like the faster, more agile and athletic team in the match. Like Code d’Ivoire and Angola before them, an African team has yet to have a breakthrough like Senegal did 4 years ago when that team got off the gate fast and upset France 1-0 in the opening game. This time has been much different. To be fair, each and every African opponent has been respectively two of the most storied teams in football (Argentina and Italy), and one of this year’s strongest team if legendary underachiever Portugal.

Italy scored via Pirlo in the 40th minute on a swerving shot from outside the box off of a corner kick. Downwind from the shot, an Italian ducked to let the ball through thus obstructing the Ghanan goalkeeper Kingston, who despite some early wild adventures in the box, played very solidly and kept Ghana in this game with some incredible saves. The post also saved Ghana in the first half when Luca Toni’s very well placed half volley struck the woodwork and bounced straight out.

On attack Ghana couldn’t finish their very good buildups almost as if they ran out of ideas of what to do with the ball as they approached Italy’s goal. This was not true in the 78th minute when Asamoah had a very good idea as he ran around and thru what appeared to be 5 Italians with some spectacular dribbling which ended up in an equally but ineffective spectacular dive whicih netted him absolutely nothing (but for which he should have been awarded a yellow card).

Italy sealed the deal in the 83rd minute as Iaquinta stole Kuffour’s lazy back pass and then rounded Kingston for the easy score. That was actually the second mistake on the play, as Ghana had given up possession with an equally lazy pass that led to the long thru ball for Iaquinta and Kuffour to battle for.

Additional Notes:
Italy’s second goal came on a play similar to the play in which Mexico scored their second goal; Iran made a double mistake, giving possession up twice. Good teams punish mistakes so you can’t hardly make one, less two.