Day Five

The red card. Is there any worse punishment in sports?

It's possible to ejected in other sports, but the team retains its full complement of players (albeit without the offending player in question). Hockey has its power play concept where one team is "short handed" but it is a temporary measure, which ends when the team on the power play scores a goal or the penalty period ends (apparently, the Montreal Canadiens during the "Rocket" Richard era prompted the NHL to institute the goal ending the power play because they would put away teams with multiple goals during a power play). In soccer, the red card means you are gone and your team can't even put someone else into your position (the exception is the goalie in which case one of your unfortunate teammates has to leave). And the other team can keep scoring as many as goals as they can muster. The red card represents continuous insult to injury.

Assuming that the team with the advantage actually takes advantage of its position. Trinidad and Tobago actually stiffened its resolve, holding the Swedes at bay for nearly an entire half. Seeing a team manage this is inspiring. It provides evidence that it's worth battling on in the face of adversity. Of course, the far more typical case presented itself in the Togo v. South Korea match.

Togo looked the better side until the 53rd minute. Their goal was a fantastic strike, and they clearly frustrated the Koreans in the first half. With the red card (or was a second yellow card that resulted in a red card?), everything changed. With Lee's superb free kick, Korea was instantly back in the game. Togo, however, still looked threatening and held its ground. But, with the stadium roof closed to prevent distracting shadows, and the heat and humidity rising, they inevitably tired. Ahn's goal was an excellent shot, but one wonders what would happened if the Koreans didn't hold the manpower advantage for nearly forty minutes. Advocaat's decision to bring Ahn onto the team and into the game paid dividends. Once again, a Dutch manager makes a prescient substitution. It's becoming a trend.

An unfortunate trend for France is the goose egg. Before Les Bleus won the Cup in 1998, they were among the best teams to never win The World Cup. Hungary in 1950s, the Dutch in 1970s and 1990s and the French in the 1980s. Platini led France to European Cup glory in 1984 with nine goals in five games, but The World Cup eluded them. Zinedine Zidane healed this wound in 1998. In the eight years since 1998, Thierry Henry has become a force to be reckoned with. As an Arsenal fan, I welcome this development. In the eight years since 1998, other players on France's team have simply gotten eight years older. There a few younger players on the team, but they didn't make much of an impression. The rest of the team, including Henry, seemed out of sync, out of energy, out of place. After scoring three goals in the 1998 final, France has gone four complete games without a goal.

There was something about the Swiss that reminded me of (not surprisingly) clock-like precision. It appears very hard to score on them, yet I didn't see much creativity in their attacks. The referee caught a handball by one of the Swiss players at the end of the match, but he didn't catch the one in the box earlier (which should have resulted in a penalty). In this game, that missed call could have been the difference. Referees should never become part of the story--and neither should the shadows or sun glare. Was Barthez just hamming it up on that save, or was he really blinded by the sun? If the latter, weren't the stadium designers thinking about this issue?

I honestly think the French and Swiss will have problems with both Togo and South Korea.

Everyone has been waiting for Brazil to take the field. Well, maybe not Ronaldo. What happened out there? One of the ESPN commentators said "he has disappeared from the game..." In order to disappear, one has to appear in the first place. Except for his thunderous shot (which reminded everyone of how he can strike at any time), he was a ghost. Is he really out of shape? Is he sick? Is he hurt? Is he bored? For someone three goals from breaking the all-time scoring record at The World Cup, he looked completely uninterested. He barely made it in time onto the field as the second half started. If he's hurt or sick or bored, why would Parreira start him? Maybe because if he didn't start him, there would be an uproar in Brazil. Perhaps Parreira started him knowing that Ronaldo would underwhelm, thereby "freeing" Parreira to replace him with a much livlier, creative Robinho. There were boos as Ronaldo left the field. If Parreira sits Ronaldo down at this point, he might even get away with it. I sincerely hope that this isn't the last we've seen of Ronaldo who, despite all the criticism, is one of the most gifted strikers the game has seen. Having said this, it wouldn't be so bad if Gerd Müller, Just Fontaine and Pele (and Ronaldo) remain in the top three spots on the all-time scoring list. I just hope Ronaldo, assuming he's fit, shows some effort to move further up the list.

Kaka's goal was magnificient. It left the Croatian keeper, Pletikosa, no chance whatsoever. But the rest of Brazil's play was mediocre (at least for Brazil). Perhaps they are pacing themselves, perhaps they need some more time to find their rhythm, but they didn't look like the best team so far. Perhaps it's just another case of high expectations for Brazil, a team that just won its eight straight game in The World Cup.

Croatia certainly showed that they can play, and that they'll create problems for both Japan and Australia. This is still Brazil's group to lose, but Croatia has a very good chance to making it to the knockout stage, especially if their fans continue to hypnotize opponents with those checkered red and white shirts in the stands.