I remain mystified as to what various Dutchmen are bitching about re: Robben's performance. I watch for such things (being a Man. U fan in the Cristiano Ronaldo era, one gets a sense for when a winger lapses into semi-maturbatory feats of dribbling), and open orange shirts in and around the box were not evident. Shut up, (at least publicly, you prima donnas) run hard off the ball, and ten you two shall be in an Adidas commercial.) Anyway, on to more games
Iran vs. Mexico: Decent first half, perhaps the best atmosphere of any game so far. Iran looked skillful and quick with Karimi looking good. I don't watch a lot of German league soccer, but if he plays regularly for Bayern Munich, (especially if he isn't German) he can't be bad. Mexico looked just all around good, Rafa Marquez in particular. The announcers were correct in that you could definitely see the Mexican goal coming, as you can't give a team that many free kicks around your penalty area. The Iranian equaliser was a bit scuffly, but not wholly undeserved.
The second half was a different story, the game was simply dead until the Iranian goalie decided he was done playing, 2-1, delirious Mexican fans, drooping heads and all of a sudden, 3-1 (though the third goal was about as pretty as they come.) I'm with Al as to the slight irony of all of Mexico's goals involving naturalized (read: immigrant) players.
I'm trying to develop a theory as to why teams like Iran (and Ivory Coast as well) have such good players who lose World Cup games the same way every time, with goalkeeping blunders and indisciplined play around their own box - the simplest theory is that their player pools are smaller, so they have to put up with a bit more headcasedness than more established powers might...
MoM: Zinho or Oscar Bravo, but I'd give the nod to the former for making the game winner and being 5'4 and scoring with a header.
Portugal vs. Angola: I swear I've seen this game before...oh yeah, yesterday. And speaking of young C. Ronaldo, I guess Portugal will not be tolerating histrionics directed at teammates. If only Holland had the same policy they might have won one of these things by now.
MoM: Figo, I guess - default...
3 comments:
But Pooh, don't you think that Robben passed up a number of chances to get the ball to a man who WAS open? I can remember at least a couple. Moreover, Robben's crosses weren't all that great - there was a few times when he beat his man down the wing but the cross didn't get anywhere near an attacking player. So I'm slightly on Foer's side.
That being said, if the complainer is Ruud, then shut up. Ruud is a good scorer, but can also be a bit of a ball hog.
A little more surfing and I see it was van Persie who complained.
Yeah, I think they did go down the left side a but much, and, as I said above, Robben's crosses weren't all that great. Moreover, they actuall SCORED when van Persie got the ball on the right side! So I tend to agree with him a bit...
Robben is really getting a lot of praise on the back of that one goal of his. But in reality, the Dutch forward line isn't half as fearsome as they usually are. Also can someone name me anyone from the Dutch mid-field? Coco is the usual reliable mule on the left flank, but the right side was out of the game for long stretches at a time.
I have my hopes shattered by better Dutch teams, and I am not about to get pumped up by this slightly lesser team, and much less on a single performance.
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