Before The World Cup began, I had imagined that Ivory Coast might have been the sleeper or dark horse team. Being placed in the group of death has been hard on them (though, it seems, even harder on Serbia and Montenegro). Having watched Ecuador play twice, I have to say that I believe they are the most promising, surprise team so far. It was so refreshing to see their defenders neutralize Costa Rica's strikers by actually running with them, toward the goal. They didn't rely (exclusively) on the offside trap, having defenders run away from the goal with their hands up in the air. If they tie or beat Germany in the final game of the first round, they win the group.
As for who they might meet in the second round, England still continues to underwhelm. On one level, it was great to see Wayne Rooney in action. The World Cup features the best players in the world, and he certainly fits the bill. But on another level, why did England need his (and Lennon's) boost? Peter Crouch had to resort to hair pulling for the first goal. They just don't seem to be rising to the occasion, and it's worth nothing they haven't beaten Sweden since 1968. If England beats Sweden, and Trinidad and Tobago beats Paraguay, we have to look at tie breakers. As much as I've enjoyed seeing T&T's spirit, I don't see this happening. BTW, major respect to John Terry for that goal line clearance.
Argentina 6, Serbia and Montenegro 0. Argentina has managed this scoreline before in The World Cup in 1978 by beating Peru 6-0, which helped them advance on goal differential over Brazil. However, that match remains controversial to this day. Soccer being soccer, I can even recall articles at the time speculating that Argentina had threatened military action against, or even offered nuclear technology, to Peru (conspiracy theories cut both ways). On this occasion, there's no controversy--just admiration for Argentina's fantastic play. Let's hope both the Netherlands and Argentina continue playing great soccer when they meet in the final game of the first round.
In the "other confederation" arena, it seems that the African confederation is reasserting itself. Ivory Coast played well in a losing effort, Angola tied Mexico, and Ghana's strikers and keeper found their stride against the Czech Republic. From Asia, Iran lost to Portugal, but Japan managed a tie against Croatia, and South Korea came back to tie France. From the CONCACAF realm, there's the US-Italy game.
Let's hope that we witnessed the worst refereeing of the tournament. That ref was hopeless. It takes a lot of courage to hand out a red card to a soccer power like Italy. De Rossi deserved the red card, but many refs would have given him a yellow card and a stern warning. But he almost certainly used Mastroeni for a make-up call. I also don't think he realized that Eddie Pope already had a yellow card. In the end, the US has to be pleased with being alive, though beating Ghana is no easy task. Onyewu seemed to settle into his role, but Eddie Pope still looked lost. The image of him holding up his hand, standing still, during Italy's first goal was rather pathetic. Of course, I'm not sure who's going to play in the back line now that he's suspended.
Both the US-Italy and South Korea-France match left me wondering about European soccer entitlement. What do I mean? De Rossi was clearly upset that his teammate, Zaccardo, scored an own goal (and what a bizarre strike of the ball). Maybe he should have had his words with him. Instead, he decided to elbow Brian McBride. When South Korea scored its goal, William Gallas (who should attend the John Terry school for goal line clearing) was clearly upset. Shortly after the goal, he grabbed (an offside) South Korean player and threw him to the pitch. So, what I wonder about is whether certain Italian or French players would behave this way if they were playing each other (or another of the soccer "powers")? How much of their frustration arose from an expectation, even entitlement, that they were the better team and therefore "deserved" to win.
Regardless of whether I'm just idly (or even unfairly) speculating, it was a very sad sight to see Zidane leave the field, throwing something off to the side. Given his second yellow card, he won't play in France's next game. If teams in their group play better than France, then they decide to advance. But I have to confess that I hope this isn't the last image of Zidane from The World Cup.
As for Brazil, everyone seems to think they're still going at 50%. All I have to say is that Brazil can put anyone into the game, even a guy named Fred, and he will find a way to score :-)
Showing posts with label croatia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label croatia. Show all posts
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
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.
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.
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