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Sorry, I just fell asleep on my keyboard while watching the French.
Thursday 17 June 2010
Wednesday 16 June 2010
Fortune may favour the brave...or so we hope
This afternoon saw the first round of group games in World Cup 2010 draw to a close with Switzerland upsetting many people's favourites Spain. Hopefully this is the result that spurs underdogs to give it a go, and favourites to play more like favourites.
Opening day saw South Africa lose their inhibitions as the game wore on and take a point from their tie with Mexico, despite seeing little of the ball for long periods. As I write this, they take on a disappointing Uruguay, whose goal must surely be to let Diego Forlan see as much of the ball as possible-aside from him, they had little to offer against France in their scoreless draw. Looking at France, it isn't hard to see why Ireland ran them so close. There aren't many countries that can field so many talented players yet produce such insipid performances. Of course, team and squad selection plays a large part-Florent Malouda (who was arguably the most in-form French international over the past 6-12 months) started on the bench, and Karim Benzema (who despite a disappointing season in Spain must be capable of offering more in attack than the cumbersome Gignac) not included in the 23.
Getting out of the group could be the hard part for France-assuming they do (as group winners), and they could end up facing the Koreans, who took full advantage of Greeks bearing gifts last Saturday lunchtime. You would still bet on the French to make the quarter-finals assuming such a scenario comes to pass. Elsewhere in Korea's group, Argentina won (as expected), but weren't wholly convincing against Nigeria. A team that can close the Argentines down in midfield and deny Lionel Messi possession will fancy their chances against Maradona's men. Granted the Nigerian goalkeeper Enyeama was in inspired form, but Argentina are not set up to protect 1-0 leads.
England's group was dominated by 2 goalkeeping errors-each as bad as the next as Robert Green gifted the USA a point and Faouzi Chaouchi went one better and handed Slovenia their first World Cup win. Green's blunder was not the only story of the night of course-Ledley King hobbled off at half-time to be replaced by Jamie Carragher-who struggled to contain Jozy Altidore, and we saw Emile Heskey go clean through only to shoot straight at Tim Howard's chest. Both of these players were debatable squad selections-King's tournament may be over, and Heskey looks no closer to scoring his first international goal in over a year. Capello's insistence on not naming his keeper publicly until 2 hours before kick-off is hardly likely to have helped Green's state of mind-I don't really understand Capello's caginess-England don't have that many alternates that would force teams to change their plans at the last minute-so why not name your team and give your starting XI the chance to focus on the game?
England will likely be desperate to win their group and avoid Germany, who I will admit surprised me somewhat in thrashing Australia 4-0. To be fair, Australia were nearly as awful as Germany were good, and losing Tim Cahill to a ridiculous red card decision didn't help their cause. Germany were neat and in Mesut Ozil, have a nice 'No. 10' type player that will prove useful when they need to unlock more watertight defences later on in the tournament. Still, I won't back off my assessment of quarter finals at best for the Germans-their centre backs don't convince me, and despite the goals, their first choice front pairing exhibited the kind of form that saw them score a total of 9 goals between them for their clubs this season (Klose was particularly wasteful). Still, they were as good as we have seen thus far.
The Italians got away with it against Paraguay-a goalkeeping gaffe giving them a just about deserved point on Monday night. They perked up after the goal, but it will surely take the return of Andrea Pirlo to provide some more craft to fashion the sort of opportunities that were in short supply against Paraguay. None of this is liekly to bother the Italian at this point-their progress to the 2nd round is virtually certain after New Zealand's late equaliser against Slovakia, and no-one knows better than the Italians that tournaments are not won in the 1st week.
Holland were comfortable winners against Denmark, but didn't impress. Elsewhere, Portugal and the Ivory Coast settled for a share of the points, although the Sven Goran Eriksson's willingness to risk Didier Drogba for 20 minutes would suggest that he wanted to try and win it. Brazil scored 2 wonderful goals (well wonderful by the standards of what we have seen so far and wonderful if you assume Maicon's goal from an improbable angle was the result of skill rather than chance). My suspicions about Luis Fabiano were confirmed-if he can't do the business against North Korea, I would question whether he can do it against better opposition at this level. Still, Brazil have plenty of options from other positions for there goals so it may not be an issue. They didn't set the world alight last night, but I would suspect that they are in no hurry to do so.
Opening day saw South Africa lose their inhibitions as the game wore on and take a point from their tie with Mexico, despite seeing little of the ball for long periods. As I write this, they take on a disappointing Uruguay, whose goal must surely be to let Diego Forlan see as much of the ball as possible-aside from him, they had little to offer against France in their scoreless draw. Looking at France, it isn't hard to see why Ireland ran them so close. There aren't many countries that can field so many talented players yet produce such insipid performances. Of course, team and squad selection plays a large part-Florent Malouda (who was arguably the most in-form French international over the past 6-12 months) started on the bench, and Karim Benzema (who despite a disappointing season in Spain must be capable of offering more in attack than the cumbersome Gignac) not included in the 23.
Getting out of the group could be the hard part for France-assuming they do (as group winners), and they could end up facing the Koreans, who took full advantage of Greeks bearing gifts last Saturday lunchtime. You would still bet on the French to make the quarter-finals assuming such a scenario comes to pass. Elsewhere in Korea's group, Argentina won (as expected), but weren't wholly convincing against Nigeria. A team that can close the Argentines down in midfield and deny Lionel Messi possession will fancy their chances against Maradona's men. Granted the Nigerian goalkeeper Enyeama was in inspired form, but Argentina are not set up to protect 1-0 leads.
England's group was dominated by 2 goalkeeping errors-each as bad as the next as Robert Green gifted the USA a point and Faouzi Chaouchi went one better and handed Slovenia their first World Cup win. Green's blunder was not the only story of the night of course-Ledley King hobbled off at half-time to be replaced by Jamie Carragher-who struggled to contain Jozy Altidore, and we saw Emile Heskey go clean through only to shoot straight at Tim Howard's chest. Both of these players were debatable squad selections-King's tournament may be over, and Heskey looks no closer to scoring his first international goal in over a year. Capello's insistence on not naming his keeper publicly until 2 hours before kick-off is hardly likely to have helped Green's state of mind-I don't really understand Capello's caginess-England don't have that many alternates that would force teams to change their plans at the last minute-so why not name your team and give your starting XI the chance to focus on the game?
England will likely be desperate to win their group and avoid Germany, who I will admit surprised me somewhat in thrashing Australia 4-0. To be fair, Australia were nearly as awful as Germany were good, and losing Tim Cahill to a ridiculous red card decision didn't help their cause. Germany were neat and in Mesut Ozil, have a nice 'No. 10' type player that will prove useful when they need to unlock more watertight defences later on in the tournament. Still, I won't back off my assessment of quarter finals at best for the Germans-their centre backs don't convince me, and despite the goals, their first choice front pairing exhibited the kind of form that saw them score a total of 9 goals between them for their clubs this season (Klose was particularly wasteful). Still, they were as good as we have seen thus far.
The Italians got away with it against Paraguay-a goalkeeping gaffe giving them a just about deserved point on Monday night. They perked up after the goal, but it will surely take the return of Andrea Pirlo to provide some more craft to fashion the sort of opportunities that were in short supply against Paraguay. None of this is liekly to bother the Italian at this point-their progress to the 2nd round is virtually certain after New Zealand's late equaliser against Slovakia, and no-one knows better than the Italians that tournaments are not won in the 1st week.
Holland were comfortable winners against Denmark, but didn't impress. Elsewhere, Portugal and the Ivory Coast settled for a share of the points, although the Sven Goran Eriksson's willingness to risk Didier Drogba for 20 minutes would suggest that he wanted to try and win it. Brazil scored 2 wonderful goals (well wonderful by the standards of what we have seen so far and wonderful if you assume Maicon's goal from an improbable angle was the result of skill rather than chance). My suspicions about Luis Fabiano were confirmed-if he can't do the business against North Korea, I would question whether he can do it against better opposition at this level. Still, Brazil have plenty of options from other positions for there goals so it may not be an issue. They didn't set the world alight last night, but I would suspect that they are in no hurry to do so.
Thursday 10 June 2010
Olé, Olé, Olé...oh wait
That doesn't look like Ireland playing Uruguay tomorrow night! Of course its not, it's France with arch-cheat Thierry Henry warming the bench! Oh well, World Cup 2010 kicks off in Soccer City tomorrow afternoon regardless. I'll be watching of course, more in hope than expectation of a good tournament-recent experience would suggest that the standard has fallen and that negative play will win the day. Add to the fact that an ever growing list of stars look like they will miss some (Arjen Robben) or all (Michael Essien) of the tournament
Spain are favourites, and rightly so, but all but very recent history suggests that they will flatter to deceive. Barcelona's failure to break down 10 man Inter Milan at the Nou Camp provides hope for those who would seek to derail their quest. Injuries may also have a say in how Spain fare-Torres, Fabregas and Iniesta have all had extended periods out this season, and in the case of Torres especially, you wouldn't be confident that Spain will be able to field a first choice XI in all their games. Still, a favourable group should allow them safe passage to the 2nd round. Things could get tricky at that point.
Brazil are always in the discussion, and it's no different this year. However, this Brazilian side, under the guidance of former midfield stopper Dunga, are somewhat of a different propostion to sides that graced past tournments. Their success is just as likely to be based on solid defence as it is to rely on graceful attacking ability. They have a good goalkeeper, solid centre backs, and 2 holding midfielders. Expect to see the full backs operate very much as auxiliary wingers, but both can defend adequately when required to do so (maybe more so on the right side). Whether Kaka's miserable season at Madrid will affect his performance in South Africa will likely have a large say in Brazil's fortunes, and the same type question mark hangs over Robinho. It will also be interesting to see whether Luis Fabiano has the temprament and star power to make an impact and if the decision to omit AC Milan duo Robinho and Pato will backfire.
Argentina have the world's finest player in Lionel Messi, but a maverick manager in Maradona. Qualifiying was a slog, and there have been some odd omissions from the squad, as well as a few surprises (to me) included (Coloccini, Jonas Gutierrez, Veron...), but any team that boasts Messi and a striker as clinical as Diego Milito will be a threat. They have a fairly easy group, with Nigeria and Greece providing a familiar look to their 1st round group in 2004 (Maradona's last World Cup, which ended with a failed drug test), and I would see them going as far as the semi-finals.
England will of course fancy their chances-don't they always-but in fairness, their belief may not be short of foundation this time round. They were very solid in qualifiying and have a world class manager. The form of Wayne Rooney was outstanding this year, and they will lean heavuily on him for both goals and inspiration in South Africa. His recent issues in a meangingless warm-up game highlight where it could all go wrong-it will be intresting to see if any teams deliberately wave the red rag at him-the US have said they won't, but don't believe everything you read. I don't think England will win-outside of Rooney they lack real class at this level.
Italy haven't done much too impress since Berlin in 2006 (you could argue they weren't too impressive that night either!), but if they were good enough to win it in 2006, and only lost to Spain on penalties in Euro 2008, then I can see them sneaking through to at least the Semi-Finals this time round. Cynicism and experience tend to go a long way towards being sucessful.
Of the rest. I just can't see Germany maintaining the high levels of excellence they have shown in past tournaments-to me, they just don't have the players. As Ireland demonstrated, France are not great-they may have good players, but their coach appears to be the weak link. While Holland strolled through qualifiying, I'm not convinced they will have as easy a ride in South Africa, but like Germany and France, should make it as far as the Quarter Finals. Of the remaining European teams, Portugal face a tough opening group, but a win in their opening game against the Ivory Coast should see them advance. Serbia have the players, especially in defence, but have a poor record in major tournaments. Australia and the USA will fancy their chances at a 2nd round berth. Ghana may struggle without the services of Michael Essien, and the Ivory Coast will go as Didier Drogba goes (and that may not be until after they play Portugal).
Prediction time
Winners: Brazil
Runners-up: Italy
Semi-Finals: Argentina and England
Golden Ball: Messi
Golden Boot: Kaka
Dark Horse: Portugal to beat Spain and make Quarter Finals (it's best I can do!)
Spain are favourites, and rightly so, but all but very recent history suggests that they will flatter to deceive. Barcelona's failure to break down 10 man Inter Milan at the Nou Camp provides hope for those who would seek to derail their quest. Injuries may also have a say in how Spain fare-Torres, Fabregas and Iniesta have all had extended periods out this season, and in the case of Torres especially, you wouldn't be confident that Spain will be able to field a first choice XI in all their games. Still, a favourable group should allow them safe passage to the 2nd round. Things could get tricky at that point.
Brazil are always in the discussion, and it's no different this year. However, this Brazilian side, under the guidance of former midfield stopper Dunga, are somewhat of a different propostion to sides that graced past tournments. Their success is just as likely to be based on solid defence as it is to rely on graceful attacking ability. They have a good goalkeeper, solid centre backs, and 2 holding midfielders. Expect to see the full backs operate very much as auxiliary wingers, but both can defend adequately when required to do so (maybe more so on the right side). Whether Kaka's miserable season at Madrid will affect his performance in South Africa will likely have a large say in Brazil's fortunes, and the same type question mark hangs over Robinho. It will also be interesting to see whether Luis Fabiano has the temprament and star power to make an impact and if the decision to omit AC Milan duo Robinho and Pato will backfire.
Argentina have the world's finest player in Lionel Messi, but a maverick manager in Maradona. Qualifiying was a slog, and there have been some odd omissions from the squad, as well as a few surprises (to me) included (Coloccini, Jonas Gutierrez, Veron...), but any team that boasts Messi and a striker as clinical as Diego Milito will be a threat. They have a fairly easy group, with Nigeria and Greece providing a familiar look to their 1st round group in 2004 (Maradona's last World Cup, which ended with a failed drug test), and I would see them going as far as the semi-finals.
England will of course fancy their chances-don't they always-but in fairness, their belief may not be short of foundation this time round. They were very solid in qualifiying and have a world class manager. The form of Wayne Rooney was outstanding this year, and they will lean heavuily on him for both goals and inspiration in South Africa. His recent issues in a meangingless warm-up game highlight where it could all go wrong-it will be intresting to see if any teams deliberately wave the red rag at him-the US have said they won't, but don't believe everything you read. I don't think England will win-outside of Rooney they lack real class at this level.
Italy haven't done much too impress since Berlin in 2006 (you could argue they weren't too impressive that night either!), but if they were good enough to win it in 2006, and only lost to Spain on penalties in Euro 2008, then I can see them sneaking through to at least the Semi-Finals this time round. Cynicism and experience tend to go a long way towards being sucessful.
Of the rest. I just can't see Germany maintaining the high levels of excellence they have shown in past tournaments-to me, they just don't have the players. As Ireland demonstrated, France are not great-they may have good players, but their coach appears to be the weak link. While Holland strolled through qualifiying, I'm not convinced they will have as easy a ride in South Africa, but like Germany and France, should make it as far as the Quarter Finals. Of the remaining European teams, Portugal face a tough opening group, but a win in their opening game against the Ivory Coast should see them advance. Serbia have the players, especially in defence, but have a poor record in major tournaments. Australia and the USA will fancy their chances at a 2nd round berth. Ghana may struggle without the services of Michael Essien, and the Ivory Coast will go as Didier Drogba goes (and that may not be until after they play Portugal).
Prediction time
Winners: Brazil
Runners-up: Italy
Semi-Finals: Argentina and England
Golden Ball: Messi
Golden Boot: Kaka
Dark Horse: Portugal to beat Spain and make Quarter Finals (it's best I can do!)
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