No Shame

All class:

Marco Materazzi's agent believes a reunion between the Italy defender and Zinedine Zidane would make a 'nice moment'. . . Claudio Vigorelli, Materazzi's agent, told BBC Radio Five Live: 'At the end of the day it is a thing between Zidane and Materazzi. My personal wish would be that one day they could meet again and maybe make a nice moment.'

Interesting to see what happens if Inter Milan plays a French team in the Champions League this season...

Actual, if belated, class looks something like this, however:

'I reacted badly and I would like to apologise for it,' Zidane told Canal Plus. 'I would like to apologise because a lot of children were watching the match. I do apologise but I don't regret my behaviour because regretting it would mean he was right to say what he said. . .'

'Then he said very harsh words to me and repeated them several times. I left but then I went back towards him and things went very fast. The words he said concerned my mother and sister.

'I heard them once, then twice, and the third time I couldn't control myself. I am a man and some words are harder to hear than actions. I would have rather been knocked down than hear that.'

'Afterwards I explained to the referee that I had been provoked, but my behaviour is not forgivable,' Zidane said.

I wasn't quite right when I said I couldn't think of anything similar - the obvious Eric Cantona kung fu incident is remarkably similar in terms of sheer WTF?-ness, though I think there is tiny difference in degree between a league game at Crytsal Palace and the World Cup Final. But that's just me.

In any event, that got me thinking about the certain symmetry involved - Zidane only became the fulcrum of the French national team after Cantona was suspended for 9 months following the above incident. Does the baton now pass to the mercurial Ribery?

With Apologies

...to Sebby (and yes, an Ultimate opponent went slightly Zidane on me before it was cool to Zidane...), and inspired by 'Pick's suggestion that blogging is really the deaf shouting at the deaf....

How do you sell a duck to a nearly deaf guy?

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"DO YOU WANNA BUY A DUCK?"

(try it in a crowded bar/restaraunt sometime - it's almost cartoon-like the way everything stops and silences...)

WC - Last One, Really.

I don't think my previous post really captured the essence of my feelings post L'affaire Zidane. While the 15-year old boy inside of me, taking a break from Double Dragon, agrees in part with those who say there was something sort of . . . totally awesome about it, I've felt Just Not Right since the incident.

Even now, more than 24 hours on, the incomprehensibility of the occurence is jarring in a tritonic, broken-guitar-string, fingernails on blackboards, baby on an airplane kind of way. I've probably absorbed the Big Game cliche a bit too much from American sports movies - so my dismay over the French loss is understandable. However, even had he (and France) lost, the glory was more in the journey - the killer goal vs. Spain, the roulette spin away from Gilberto Silva vs. Brazil. Is that gone now?

I can't adequately put into words the heaviness such a harsh and unromantic conclusion brings to me. Thankfully, others have not been so inhibited, and I urge you to peruse both Alex Hemon and especially Steve Teles:

ll I can say is that, watching this replayed over and over again on television, I felt sick. Part of this was moral revulsion at the foul, which was wholly beyond the pale. But also, something else. I felt a sense of aching sympathy for Zidane. I am sure that at the moment that he drew his head back from Materrazi’s chest, he realized what he had done, not only to his team, but to his own legend. Every beautiful shot on goal, every gorgeous pass, every elegant weaving down the pitch, was suddenly sullied. No one could remember these moments and simply smile, remembering that he had seen one of the greatest men ever to grace the world’s greatest game. Now, every time one thought of Zidane, that horrible, senseless attack would be the first thing that came to mind. Zidane had done to himself what no other man on the pitch could do to him—transform him from hero to villain. I’m sure that, as he walked, deflated down into the locker room, he realized what he had done. He was brought down not by something outside himself, but by a defect of character that lurked within.

Football is, in and of itself, meaningless, a remarkably silly thing for grown men and women to spend so much time occupying themselves with. What transforms it, what makes it something much more, is narrative interwoven with morality. We watch soccer not just for the beauty of the sport, although beauty there certainly is. We also watch it because of the moral drama that is played out among twenty-two men. Today, in Germany and across the world, we saw possibly the saddest such drama that any of us will have the bad fortune to witness. I do not envy Zizou’s effort to find sleep tonight, or in the nights to come.

I had trouble sleeping last night over incident, I can't imagine his struggles.

How does one recover from this? Especially one with no more games to play? When Beckham was disgraced following his kick to the calf of Diego Simeone in '98, he turned his shame and the his country's ire into 2+ seasons of dazzling, artistic, passionate play - he was able to redeem himself so completely that he is the most (or, at worst, 1A) recognizable athlete in the world today.

What happens now to Zidane? Famously shy, is there any way that he does not destroy himself with regrets? Aeschylus would be proud to have written such a tale.

Update: An explanation?:

BBC just had on an Italian lip-reader. Apparently Materazzi told Zidane that he wished “an ugly death for you and your family”. BBC also said that Zidane found out yesterday that his mother is seriously ill.

Vile, if true. (Assuming also that Materazzi knew about his mother - it may have just been a standard 'yo mama' line that had extra poignance under the circumstances. But this is all simply unvarnished speculation...)

Update II: Or maybe...:

After an exhaustive study of the match video, and with the help of an Italian translator, Rees claimed that Materazzi called Zidane “the son of a terrorist whore” before adding “so just f*** off” for good measure, supporting the natural assumption that the Frenchman must have been grievously insulted.

Hrm. See also the end of the article for a timeline of Zizous indiscretions - a choirboy he was not.

Zidane, Italy and the Rest (World Cup Wrap)

First of all, methinks Marco Materazzi doth protest too much:

It is absolutely not true, I did not call him a terrorist. I'm ignorant. I don't even know what the word means.

Laying it on a little thick, there, Marco. (See here for his 'greatest hits')

That said, Zidane's red card was obviously warranted, completely shocking and fully absurd, no matter what MM said. Zizou played on Italy for five years, for crissake, one would think he was familiar with what some call 'the dark arts of defending.'

I'm still a bit stunned by the whole thing, of course. I had bought in to the fairytale aspect as much as anyone and this was a cold, hard shot of reality. My sporting idealism trumped by the realpolitik for which the Italians are justly famous. (Not meant as disparagement.) My hope is that Zidane will be better remembered for his play in 1998 and 2000 and vs. Spain and especially Brazil in this tournament, but its tough to say - as far as I can tell, there is simply no precedent in sports for this denoument. The closest I can think of is Raffy Palmeiro slinking off in disgrace during the 2005 baseball season following his steroid suspension. And even that is orders of magnitude away.

As for the game, well played to Italy - they were the better team by a bit in the first half, deserving at least a one goal lead. France's penalty was soft, though others have pointed out that between Malouda's two tumbles in the box, he probably deserved to be awarded one spot-kick, so it balanced out. In the second half and extra time, Italy inexplicably returned to dour form, and though they defended with aplomb (Cannavaro and Zambrotta being typically excellent. Speaking of Cannavaro...good work again, FIFA. Is there anything they can't screw up?) the attacking gusto which characterized much of their play was gone.

And I still hate him for his dive vs. Australia, but Fabio Grosso deserves some recogniztion for exceptional clutchness. He didn't even come into the team until Zaccardo was banished for scoring in his own net vs. the US, and since that time, he and Zambrotta have bombed forward like Roberto Carlos and Cafu when they where simply footballers, rather than advertising billboards. Drawing a game winning penalty? check. Scoring a fantastic winner to break the hosts' hearts? check. World Cup winning penlaty? You betcha. Well done, sir.

Final thoughts on the cup? I think the play on the field was not always indicated on the scoreboard. Though few goals were scored, I think that has more to do with poor finishing than overly negative play - only Ukraine - Switzerland and Ukraine - Tunisia really come to mind as poor games (Well, England - Paraguay and England - Ecuador as well, I suppose...) Of the teams that made the knockout phase, there were only 3 or 4 strikers who really had notable cups - Klose and Podolski for Ze Germans, Torres for Spain (Sir Alex, if we have to sell Ronaldo, can we please, please acquire him?) and perhaps Henry. Indeed, some of the more impressive strikers did not make it out of group play: Adebayor and Kader from Togo; Drogba from Cote d'Ivoire; Chun Soo Lee from Korea; Prso of Croatia.

Obviously, too many cards and too much diving, which I think are related. For the American announcers, let's put it this way, during the final there was a crying baby in the bar. And she was both more pleasant on the ears and provided greater insight into the game than did LemonCello Balboa. She sold it well...

As for a positive, it was nice to see aggressive coaching rewarded and timidity punished - England and Brazil, too cowardly to change up a failing system? See ya. Germany and Italy, no longer dour and defensive, finish 1st and 3rd.

And now, back to my life...Update: Or not quite yet...

WC XI

Since it's that time of the tourney (and FIFA's is pretty good as well, aside from the inclusion of both Totti and Toni and the omission of Torres, Miguel, and perhaps Essien or Appiah. Good spot to name Ze Roberto as the pick of the ultimately disappointing Brazillians.)

Here's mine, going with the en vogue 4-5-1:

GK: Buffon. Splendid, all tourney. No real question. Lehman and Ricardo runners up.

LB: Phillip Lahm - From the first game, Germany's best player. Somewhat quieter in the semi, but he and Zambrotta largely cancelled each other out. (Runner up J.P. Sorin)

CB: Fabio Cannavaro, Rafael Marquez. Cannavaro has been transcendant, and will command a huge fee if Juventus is forced to sell him if they are relegated in the match-fixing scandal. Marquez was solid in defense, good on the ball, and very dangerous when moving into a more advanced position. (Backups: Rio Ferdinand, Lilian Thuram.)

RB: Close one here, but Gianlucca Zambrotta is my pick. Energetic, and skillful. For me, he was the best player on the field in the Australia game and hasn't really looked back. Went a long way to muting Lahm in the semi. Close second is Portugal's Miguel.

LM: Cristiano Ronaldo: Yes he's a diver, but was there a more terrifying player with the ball at his feet all tourney? Plus, was anyone cooler from the penalty spot? (Runner up: Joe Cole)

DM: Gattuso. Dead f'ing hard. I tend to like guys who are willing to both dish it out, and take it, and Reno is one. I hope this is a non-denial denial sort of thing.

CM: Zidane. Duh. Just, duh. #2 is Riquelme, the closest thing out there. (Midfield runners up: Hargreaves, Viera, either Essien or Appiah.)

RM: Maxi Rodriguez. Even aside from the goal of the tourney to beat Mexico, driving, physical, menacing force for the Argentines throughout. (Backup: Ribbery)

CF: Miroslav Klose. The model of the modern centerforward. Strong, fast, good in the air, good at holding the ball, good vision and passing, predatory finishing. Not a great tournament for centerforward play all around, but Torres and Henry were the pick of the rest.

PS: I agree with Al, the announcers, Balboa aside haven't been that bad. Tommy Smyth was even bordering on acceptable. And this is spot on:

Back to the Americans: I will not defend O'Brien's partner Marcelo Balboa, except tonsorially. He's a classic example of what Howard Cosell called the "jockocracy"—hired because he played the sport and can (occasionally) form complete sentences. Unless he wears his shin guards while calling the game, his experience as a player is worthless. John Harkes, though, has stood out. The former U.S. National Team stalwart has a discerning eye for the players, knows where they ply their club trade, and has been properly aggrieved at the relentless diving and thuggery on display. Harkes and JP Dellacamera, a veteran of ESPN soccercasts who knows the game and doesn't feel the need to talk for the sake of talking, probably should have been the lead team. The network's studio work has also been surprisingly strong. Eric Wynalda, who's never been afraid to voice strong opinions, is staging a breakout performance. If only there was somewhere for him to break to, post-Germany.

It would be nice if international soccer was to become more accesible to the American fan. Fox Sports World Soccer Channel is still something of a backwater, lacking in any consistent analysis aside from the excellent Bobby McMahon and the amusing Fox Football Friday. Maybe someday we'll see the equivalent of NFL primetime with a fun studio host and a suitably English/Scottish analyst. A guy can dream right?

Belated QF, FS Thoughts

Sorry for the absence. Not dead, or sick, or anything just, tired. I need a vacation from my vacation. Anyway, in no particular order.

1. Zinedine Zidane. What more can be said? Though he wasn't nearly as good against Portugal as he was against Spain or especially Brazil, the word used to describe his performances that I like best is 'magesterial'. He seems to be presiding over these games, rather than simply playing in them. My favorite things about him are the subtle ones. During the final watch him when he receives a pass - he almost never, ever comes to a complete stop. There is always a small, almost imperceptible change in foot positioning or the direction the ball is rolling, but that small change creates passing angles and dribbling lanes not available to the more literal player.

2. The Italians. Good on them, I suppose. I still hate them and their floppy haired, diving, prima donna BS. That said, it's hard to say that they haven't been the better team in every one of their knockout games. Despite the egregious dive, they probably shaded the Aussies (and Materazzi's red card was ludicrous anyway). Even though 3-0 was a ridiculous scoreline given the long periods of Ukranian (WEAK!) dominance in the second half, hard to say the win was undeserved. And, having watched the game for a third time, despite the bias encouraged by the crowd noise, they slightly outplayed the Germans. This squad manages to encapsulate what is both maddening and magical about Italian soccer: corruption and theatricality balanced against unflappably elegant defending and skillful, economical bursts of attacking verve.

3. Ze Germans. Far exceeded expectations. For me, Klose was one of the revelations of the tournament - he was one of my least favorite players of the 2002 WC (the classic teutonic 'head-in-goals vs. crappy teams' strike), but his total game has been elevated several levels. His set up play for Podolski's second goal vs. Sweden was awesome. And on a team wide level, the Germans played like the English think they should - power, pace and passion. If Beckham, Gerard and Lampard did as much running as Frings, Kehl and Schneider, England would probably have beaten Portugal. Just saying.

4. Portugal. Screw the lot of you. Except you Cristiano. Old Trafford surely welcomes you back. Right? Please?

5. The Announcers. JP Dellacamera and John Harkes have actually done pretty well - Dellacamera is experienced at doing soccer, and has a much better voice than does "Baseball" Dave O'Brien (who can't help himself from throwing the Uecker into some of the latin sounding names FABio CannaVARo. I look up at the TV and expect to see El CaBALlo rounding third after parking one...) Harkes has been concise and, when needed, opinionated. Contrast that to LemonCello:

Balboa is unbelieveable. He'll criticize someone for diving and, in the next breath, complement someone the same conduct as a "smart play." Next time, they should give [me] a six pack and let [me] start rambling. It would undoubtedly be more coherent.

Must. Learn. Better. Spanish. by 2010.

6. England. Typical of course. What is it about the English that produces players with the bizarre combination of world class talent and absolutely psychotic temperment, be it Gazza, Beckham or young Roonaldo? (And for a further query, why do the two seem inversely related within those players? As Becks has matured, his game has suffered. From 1998 - 2000 when he was still in "F You" mode he was the best midfielder in the world. Then he became captain and all responsible, and he became the soccer equivalent of Steve Kerr, a 3 point set piece specialist and not much more...) That said, I have some sympathy for Rooney, as two Portuguese wankers defenders (including the immensely provacative Carvalho, tough break for a nice kid that you gave away the penalty vs. France) had been continuously fouling him for about 4 seconds prior to the 'incident'. England may have stumbled on their best lineup going forward, almost by accident when Beckham was injured. The back four of Cole, Terry, Ferdinand (fantastic all tourney) and Neville looked very solid at all times, and a midfield of Joe Cole, Gerrard, Hargreaves (2nd best individual performance of the tourney was his vs. Portugal) and Aaron Lennon, with Crouch up front and Rooney given a free, Henry-like role.

7. As for the final, which Italy shows up? My money is on a reversion to dour, cynical form. Zidane will be kicked mercilessly. However, Thuram and Gallas will crush Toni and Totti like worms, and France will have too much of the game, and win 1-0 on a Viera goal, perhaps 2-0 with a late Henry breakaway.

TIVO Bubble Unpopped

So, was able to see, ostensibly live:

1. The Nutcracker Suite by Wayne Rooney
   
2. Zinedine Zidane partying like it was 1998
3. More jammy BS from the aptly named Italian left-back. Grosso indeed. If Portugal wins tommorow, I'm rooting for lightning, or perhaps a plague of frogs, for the final.

More tommorow when I'm feeling slightly more human.

Cup Quarter Finals Thoughts

This, as they say, is the sharp end. A fine mix of teams, I might add, with only the Ukranians looking out of their depth. (And perhaps the English - though they certainly can play better than they have. Worth noting that they looked their best against the one team, Sweden, that showed any ambition of their own.)

So, 8 games left. Interestingly, there is also one team from each group left, as the two group winners who lost, lost to the corresponding second place teams.

Argentina - Germany

If we're lucky, this could be one of Those Games like Argentina-Holland or Brazil-Denmark in '98. I foresee Saviola, Rodriguez and especially Riquelme giving Metzelder fits in the center of Germany's defense, and am not sure that Mertesacker is mobile enough to track Crespo. At the same time, Ballack and Lahm will surely cause problems (especially Lahm, as right back seems a problem for the Argentines as Scaloni and Coloccini). And as good as Ayala and Heinze are, Klose and Podolski are just phenomenal right now.

I have literally no idea what happens here, whether the Argies suffer any lingering fatigue from playing 98 hard minutes (and 22 at a stroll after Rodriguez reduced the Mexicans to a limp) on Saturday; whether Germany rises or wilts under to national expectations against the toughest team they've encountered by far.

All I do know is that I'll have just arrived at an airport, and my first move will not be to claim luggage or to secure my rental car, but to find a bar showing this game (hoping against hope it's the Beeb feed and not LemonCello.

Feet to the fire, 3-2 Argentina, perhaps 4-2 with a late clincher on a Messi/Tevez breakaway.

Italy - Ukraine

ZZZZZZZ...oh, penalty, 1-0 to the Italy. I think Cannavaro knows Schevchenko too well for the latter to get much joy unless Kalichenko plays like he did against Saudi Arabia (and it was frickin Saudi Arabia, not exactly mid-70's Holland by any stretch.) Though who will play alongside if Nesta can't go and Materazzi suspended is a cuase for concern. If Italy wanted to, they could probably win this game about 3-1, but coming out and using their technical dominance isn't their style.

England - Portugal

What does Sven do here? Neville obviously comes back in at right back (whether he should is another question, but if we know anything about Erickson, it's that, when fit, his 'name' players will always play. The 5 man midfield with Cole and Beckham on the wings worries me, as Joe Cole likes to wander inside, and leaving Ashley Cole to cope with Figo and Miguel (as good at right back as Lahm has been at left for Germany) is Bad Idea Jeans. Similarly, Nuno Valente could repeatedly torch Beckham for sheer pace, leaving Neville to deal with him and either Ronaldo or Simao (pending C.R.'s health.) Of course if Gerard comes to play and Lampard starts hitting what he shoots at, all that won't matter much as I don't think that Portugal's central midfield can cope with Deco and Costinha out. Tough to say what I'd do, but would be strongly tempted to bring on Lennon, move Beckham infield and have Lampard play on the left, where he might be slightly more attentive to defense than Joe Cole. Of course, Cole has been their best midfielder by a piece over the 4 games...ugh.

Having said all that, in the end, I don't think Portugal have enough creativity without Deco and possibly Ronaldo. Pauleta will get nothing from Terry and Rio, Rooney scores a pair and England win 2-0.

France - Brazil

Another fantastic matchup, with revitalised France against pedestrian (by comparison to expectations, at least) Brazil. If Domenech goes 4-4-2 and brings Trezeguet in for Malouda, France wins. Otherwise, they play well, but never have enough men forward to make Brazil defend, and get overrun by Ze Roberto, Roberto Carlos and Cafu (and perhaps Juan and Lucio...and, given that it's Brazil, Dida as well.) Also key will be the Zidane-Ze Roberto and Viera-Ronaldinho matchups. $5 says Emerson (or Gilberto Silva, if he plays) almost literally kicks the crap out of Ribery for the first 10 minutes.

The ride has been fun, but I think even ZiZou suspects that the clincher against Spain was his encore. Hopefully he'll go out playing well in this defeat. Brazil 3-1.

Absurdity, FIFA Style

In case anyone was wondering what I was talking about when I said FIFA is all screwed up, how bout this for an absurd, though telling, example:

The long arm of [FIFA President Sepp] Blatter even reached into the stands. A thousand Dutch fans showed up for a game against Ivory Coast in bright-orange dungarees that were adorned with lion's tails (the lion is the national symbol of Holland) and the logo of a Dutch brewery. (Picture Bert Lahr's cowardly lion going hunting.) FIFA, which is receiving millions from Anheuser-Busch to make Budweiser the official beer of the World Cup, told the fans that if they wanted to enter the stadium, their trousers would be confiscated.

This story is, in a nutshell, illustrative of 2 of the 3 major complaints people have with FIFA. There's the obvious money grubbing (read up on former president Joao Havelange and you'll see graft to rival anything perpetrated by a tin-pot strongman, K Street politician or IOC flunky) as well as the iron-heeled dictatorialism.

The 3rd complaint, that the brain wizards have no feel for football itself has been well and truly demonstrated by the refereeing in this otherwise spectacular Cup. Other instances were requiring mid-day start times in the '94 Cup. In Dallas. In July. Of course this ties in with the power of the almighty Swiss Franc, but soccer is a fall, winter and spring game throughout the rest of the world for a good reason - you can't play 90 minutes straight at high tempo when it's hot. But screw the players, and the fans, their are sponsors to be appeased, money to be made and bureaucratic fiefdoms to defend and expand.

As to the original subject of this post, at least there was a happy ending:

"I watched the game in my [under]pants," one supporter said. "Fortunately I had quite a long T-shirt."

Not Bad

6 of 8, and I'll give myself half credit for calling 0-0 and Penalties in the Swiss-Ukraine napgame. Plus, Oz wuz robbed vs. the I-T's. (Though I missed the enormous obviousness of it given that Hiddink was the Australian coach, and he rather did the same thing to Italy in 2002 - though they are still a diving bunch o' .....NM.

As for Spain - France: 2nd best game of the round, rather obviously. The five minutes after France equalised and before halftime belong in a time capsule. France finally played up to their abilities - Ribery was fantastic all night. He has a little of the street-fighter in him to go along with his speed and skill. Plus he looks about as badass as a Frenchman can look (the scars are apparently from a car accident when he was an infant.) Spain did not play badly at all, but they lacked a certain edge after they gave up a goal. Rather predictably, I might add as the nerves were palpable from everyone over 21 (Fabregas and especially Sergio Ramos are absolutely fantastic; Real Madrid needs to get some central defenders so he can play full back.)

Despite the expected bitching from Spain about the free kick which lead to the second goal (yellow card was perhaps harsh, but Puyol clearly used his arms to hold Henry back. Completely unnecessarily, I might add, as Pernia had the play covered,) the referee was fantastic as well. It's not rocket science folks. Make the calls quickly and decisively, and have a rapport with the players. To paraphrase Churchill, jaw-jaw is better than card-card.

(P.S. I forgive you. Sorta. Ok, not at all...)

World Cup Lush

It's 7:40 in the morning here...and I'm tanked. I've decided to see if my brand new Marcello Balboa Drinking Game makes his commentary any more bearable. Drink every time he says someone "does/did a good job here/there". Drink a shot every time he says it about something that really shouldn't be lauded - case in point his adulation of Grosso's hook-the-foot-swan-dive to 'beat' Australia.

And the answer? No. No it doesn't. Though he is doing his subtle part to blunt the 'English as a national language' movement - I don't think I'm the only one desperately wishing to understand Spanish due to his...stylings.

Adriano was miles offsides. Twice. First when the ball was played to Cafu, and then when it was crossed too him. That's awful, again. I can't imagine how the linesman missed it, other than sheer suckage. Occam's razor! Ghana deserves 1-1 at half time (typically, "Lemon" 'Cello (very tasty before 8, I must admit) was in raputres of the "good job" by Dida in making a save that he knew literally nothing about....)

Update: No I was not actually drinking at 7:40 am. And, no, my absence for the rest of the day was not...induced by bevvies. Let's just say that the IT guys are not my friends right now.

BTW, 3-0 Brazil is criminal on Ghana, but Balboa claimed in about the 77th minute that A) Ghana was the better side and B) that Ronaldinho isn't one of the best players in the world. Had I been drinking, that would have require killing the bottle.

Typical

Italy beaten and battered all day, and come out with a 1-0 victory on a penalty decision that I can only describe as dubious, disgraceful, dire, fortuitous, soft, phantom...or just jammy. I'm not sure that's even a word, but that call was jammy. It's pretty clear on the replay, Neil slides a good foot from Grosso, who's largely stationary. The ball rolls off to one side. Grosso looks down at Neil, who looks back. They both look at the ref. Then Grosso 'savvily' hooks his toe under Neil's prostrate form, and hurtles over. The only thing that convinced me it wasn't a well done cartoon was the lack of Grosso holding up a sign saying "Yipes!" in Italian before he started to fall. Great conversion by Totti, as well.

As for the rest of the game, Oz looked livelier, but there was always a sense that their defenders where absolutely terrified any time Italy got 3 or 4 guys forward. Even down to 10 men, Italy seemed more menacing. Or rather, Australia seemed more menaced than vice versa - score one for unfussy Italian defending, they never looked panicked. Cannavaro and in partiuclar Zambrotta went a ways towards blunting any possible Aussie attacks. The absence of Kewell and Emerton really showed as Stejovski never looked like causing any danger.

So a crap Italian squad goes through to play the ubercrap Ukranians who beat the ultimately super crappy Swiss in the Worst Game Ever. I imagine that if the Swiss continued taking penalties until the start of the Italy-Ukraine game, they might bury one or two, but I wouldn't put money on it.

My World Cup (rather swiftly) Begin to Runneth Empty. (Though I'm not quite here. Yet.)

The Less Said

About either England - Ecuador or Portugal - Netherlands, the better. The superior team won on both occassions, but that's not saying much.

In fairness, England played pretty well, actually, for the last 30 minutes after Beckham scored, and Ashley Cole had, as they say, a blinder. Hargreaves looked capable at right back. Opinion on Carrick was mixed - some loved him:

And suddenly England have an excess of holding midfielders. After the energy of Hargreaves against the Swedes, the composure of Carrick, using his superior distribution, was a feature of the Ecuador match.

Each could argue that this was a game that demonstrated his value to the cause. The Tottenham man's [Pooh: that would be Carrick] passing suggested England, finally, had observed the lessons about the importance of keeping possession.

Others? Not so much - in the Michael Davies scale of 'pantsness':

Pants ... billowy, stiff, scratchy, multi-pleated Dockers

Michael Carrick

This just didn't work at all. He looked uncomfortable on the ball, rarely moved forward, barely made a tackle all game and had absolutely no presence. Don't think we'll see him in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday -- I think we'll be going back to 4-4-2.

How do you really feel?

As for Portugal - Netherlands (aka Mighty Russian Referee[/Boris Badunov accent] destroying weak football game) was something of a chicken-egg thing - where there tons of cards because the match was violent and bad-tempered, or did the match became violent and bad-tempered because of all the cards and whistles frustrated the players? Whatever. Crap game, but as Al points out, compelling in a multi-car pileup sort of way. Good goal to win it - Maniche does have a habit of getting his money's worth from those he scores.

Al also does well to pick out Miguel as the best player on the field, absolutely dominating Robben all game, as he did in Euro 2004. As for Holland - they need to find some midfielder's. Cocu is ancient, Sneijder did nothing in 4 games and Van Bommel is just dire. He looks awful playing for Barca and not much better for his country.

And now England and Portugal meet - though Portugal are certainly without Deco and Costinha, and possibly without Ronaldo. Figo can consider himself very lucky to participate. That game is going to penalties...

Lessons (Argentina - Mexico, etc.)

Without question, Argentina-Mexico was the game of the tournament. Physical, intense, high-velocity and capped by the proverbial "goal fit to win any game" by Maxi Rodriguez. It made Joe Cole look like something of a piker for letting the ball bounce before launching into the opposite corner. Great credit for the spectacle must go to the performance of marvelously-named referee Massimo Bussacca of Switzerland.

In a game this fast and furious, he could possibly have blown his whistle every 15 seconds and handed out cards aplenty. Instead, he excercised common sense, allowed the teams to match each other tackle for tackle, and the players adjusted. Despite some criticism, that is how the game should be reffed. (Heize getting only a yellow was debatable, but I'd prefer lenience to the Survivor-like quality of Netherlands-Portugal, where it seems a player is required to be voted off the island every fifteen minutes. Argentina also had a winner in stoppage time wrongly ruled offsides, but A) the call was tight, B) also made difficult by the long distance between Messi and the Mexican defender who may have played him onside; and C) the Argentines didn't think it was good at the time either.

As to the match itself, tough to say who 'deserved' to win prior to Rodriguez's goal. Guardado, getting his first World Cup action as a 19-year old in this game was absolutely nerveless. Marquez, in addition to his goal, was phenomenal all night, and Borgetti showed that a team can in fact play with one forward and still be dangerous. Much has been made of the Mexicans pressure on Riquelme, but I didn't see it that way - he still managed to move the ball quite effectively, even if he had less time to indulge himself then he had in previous matches.

After the goal, Mexico never once looked threatening - their spirit had been crushed, as one might expect.

If I'm A FIFA Brain Wizard...

and my answer to the question "How can we make the game better" involves less than 22 players on the field, can I really be described as either a brain or possessing of wizardy? Watching Ze Germans beat the snot out of Sweden...and the game is now over 35 minutes in because Mr. Simon has a yellow card quota to reach and Lucic happened to have fouled people at the appropriate time. Well done sir.

And of course FIFA thought Mr. Larrionda did a fab job, so he's still here, fussily overseeing the rather important France-Togo matchup (Marcelo thinks "he's just not good enough. He's just not. I'm sorry, at this level youhave to be better and he's just not good enough." Which is why they pay him the big bucks. Note to self - become fluent in Spanish prior to South Africa 2010.)

And as if to prove that no mistake is too egregious to make worse, FIFA decided that Mastroeni's challenge was worth an extra two games...because the one way to ensure people don't complain about the original bad call is to make them forget it in favor of the new clanger.

Is it me, or is the refereeing in every sport just crap right now? NBA playoffs? Check. Super Bowl? Ask Seattle fans. MLB? A.J. Pierzinski stole first...

Update: Charming penalty decision. Actually, Charmin', as in soft. If Larsson was going to signal his intention of falling dramatically any earlier, the program would read "The roll of Swan Diver normally played by Razak Pimpong will be played by Henrik Larsson this evening.")

Round 2 Matchups and Early Thoughts

"What is past is prologue"
-Shakespeare

Now it starts to get a little tasty... or we get to see a lot of 1-0 games and penalty shootouts. As good as the group stages have been (only 3 or 4 real stinkers of games out of 48) what will be remembered is what happens over the next 15 (not counting the 3rd place game...which remains the stupidest thing ever.) So on to the Sweet 16, as it were.

Germany vs. Sweden

I love the way Germany is playing right now, but Sweden is both more athletic and more composed than any team they've played thus far (understrength Ecuador was really a shadow of the team which played so stylishly in the first two games). However, without Ibrahimovic at full strength, I have a hard time seeing Sweden getting a whole lot of good chances. Ballack has yet to really impose himself on a game, and this seems like a good a place to start as any - the center of the Swedish midfield is probably their weakness. Potentially fascinating matchup on the Swedish right between Lahm and Ljunberg. Also, if the game remains close, Klinsman has the better attacking options to bring off the bench wit Neuville, and especially Odonkor seeming likely to terrify a tiring defense. In the end, just too much of Ze Germans: 2-0.

Argentina vs. Mexico

The Mexicans faded badly after their fine second half vs. Iran. Unable to score on Angola, they were played off the field by the Portuguese before the latter took their foot off the gas 30 minutes in. Meanwhile, after looking electric the first two rounds, the Argentinines were clearly in control vs. Holland without really extending themselves. It's possible that Mexico takes the lead on a counterattack early, but aside from that, I see them getting pounded, 3-1 Argentina.

England vs. Ecuador

Will the real England please stand up? And what does Ecuador really have? So much of this game depends on Erickson's boldness in his lineup choices - if he somehow finds the fortitude to move Beckham to Right Back (or perhaps even Left Out...) and starts Aaron Lennon, then we might yet see a convincing, high energy display. Of course, no way in hell SGE is so bold. 2-1 England on another Gerrard belter and a janky tap-in by Terry.

Portugal vs. Netherlands

With France-Spain, the most apetizing matchup of the round. In the end, I think that the Deco/Figo/Ronaldo trinity has too much for the ancient Cocu and other Dutchmen to really handle. Holland's best hope is that Robben goes absolutely out of his skin and wins the game on his own. Goodness knows he'll probably try and do just that. 2-1 Portugal.

Italy vs. Australia

The Aussies are streatwise enough to deal with the Italians. I'm not sure the Italians have enough fortitude to deal with the bustle of the Aussies, especially if Nesta can't play. Australia will almost certainly beat the piss out of Pirlo, Camorenese and anyone else in the Italian midfield not named Gattuso (who will get into a spat with Neil at least 4 times over the course of the game. Not that that's a bad thing, Gattuso has long been my favorite Italian - he seems to have absorbed a certain husky quality during his time playing for Rangers in Scotland.) 1-0 Oz.

Switzerland vs. Ukraine

zzzzzzzzzz. 0-0. Swiss go through on penalties.

Brazil vs. Ghana

Entertaining, but without Essien, ultimately one-sided. Will Parreira stick with a good thing and start Robinho for Adriano again? Ronaldinho is bound to take over a few games, and without much heft in the center of the field, he and Kaka could have too much space. 4-2 Brazil.

Spain vs. France

The chokers vs. the underachievers...France finally found some spark today. The question is, how do they incorporate Zidane without losing any of that zest. My guess is that they drop Trezeguet, when it probably should be Malouda (who did very little wrong today, must be said, but Ribery has recovered from a very disappointing opening game to play quite well.) As for Spain, can they restore the passion with which the played vs. Ukraine? Does Raul start or come off the bench? Who plays in midfield between Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Marcos Senna and Fabregas? Or does the occassion get the best of everyone involved? Sadly, I think the latter, 0-0 France through on penalties.

Now, tell me how I'm wrong!

Final, Final Postmortem: Go East, Young Men

Good piece on Soccernet laying out the obvious, Landon Donovan must go back to Europe:

He has to decide his professional career and national team career are important enough to him to sacrifice the comfort he enjoys playing in MLS, a league that stopped being a challenge for him years ago. This isn't an attack on MLS. This is reality. For all the strides the young league has made, it still is not equipped to help the truly elite player grow.

Consider that the league's top players face no pressure for their starting job; they play in a playoff system that basically makes most regular-season matches devoid of true significance or intensity. Then there is the general lack of quality of talent as compared with the top leagues in Europe. There isn't an MLS defender Donovan can't destroy.

So where is the challenge supposed to come from for Donovan if he chooses to stay in MLS? The United States doesn't have a high-quality regional tournament to play in like the European Championships, and even World Cup qualifying offers only a handful of truly pressure-packed matches. So while the best players from other countries are honing their skills in the best possible scenarios, Donovan remains content to live the life of leisure.

It is certainly his life and his decision to make, but if he continues to insist on treating his career as something other than his highest priority, maybe it is time to look elsewhere for the U.S. team's next true star. As scary as it is to consider, maybe Donovan just isn't cut out for stardom. Maybe he's just not built to handle the pressure.

I'd say that argument holds true for any of the U.S. players, once they reach the point where they are legit 'stars' in the MLS. (If they go over too young and too early, they are liable to get buried in the reserves, stunting their growth. Not time for Freddy to go just yet.) Some of them will not make it - those that do, will improve. See Eddie Lewis, Bobby Convey and most especially Brian McBride for examples of player's who have improved markedly.

Donovan, is the cautionary tale of the stagnation which can occur from staying home and staying comfortable:

Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky and Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien played in the same Under-17 World Championships as Donovan just seven years ago. Donovan was the star of that tournament, but Rosicky and Essien are the players who left their countries afterward to hone their skills in Europe's top leagues and stayed there.

Neither player went running back to his home country when things got tough. Both stuck it out, and look at them now. Essien is one of the world's most highly rated players, and Rosicky just moved to English power Arsenal. At this World Cup, each has starred for his country and helped his nation win games.

While Donovan has done, well, f-all.

As I said before, I think Onyewu will be very well served by a move to the premiership - he's got talent, which he demonstrated in the last two games and the English game is the perfect place for him to learn how to use his physical power. Remember, Jaap Stam had a nightmare at the 1998 World Cup, yet was absolutely world class for the next 4 or 5 years, and I think that's a fair comparison on the basis of raw potential.

Update Just for you, Fletch, (via Bill):

"Is it just me, or is Landon Donovan the JJ Redick of US soccer? (i.e overrated douchebag)"

The Ball is Round Once Again

Brazil - Japan

Ok, so Ronaldo can still play a bit. He looked far, far livelier vs. Japan than at any time in the first two matches. His second goal in particular was very well done. Neat interpassing with Juan (the best Brazillian centerback in years, surely) followed by a free-kick like shot into the lower corner. Maybe he was just a little under the weather. Though he still lacks the rhino-like explosiveness of his top form. Japan were simply and totally outclassed by Brazil playing like, well, Brazil (as the opposing fans can now stop singing "are you Belgium in disguise?")

Unfortunately, ESPN screwed me on this match - instead of replaying this one on ESPN Classic as has been the practice over the first few days of 3rd round games, they replayed both games from USA's group. So the one game I'm missing from the old collection is Brazil in full Samba mode. Pigf****r. A minor bleg to anyone who has tape of the game, hook a blogger up, yo?

Italy - Czech Republic

Once again the Italians go ahead, from a set piece, against the run of play. Up to the point Materazzin scored (great headed goal, to be sure), Nedved was everywhere. And then Polak gets the red, presumably for having even worse hair than Wilhelmson of Sweden. And I have to half-heartedly cheer for f'in Inzaghi. Is there anyone who doesn't hate Pippo Inzaghi?

Croatia - Australia

Enthralling, tense, though ultimately sloppy game. Not Graham Poll's finest as a referee either. Cast iron penalty when Simunic tackled, in the NFL sense, Viduka. Not sure how he could have missed that one really. Good catch to spot the first handball, though he missed a fairly obvious one late on when Australia was going for the equaliser. And Kewell was clearly offsides for his 'winner.' On balance, Australia probably deserve to go through - Croatia's inability to score vs. Japan, and all that.

Ukraine - Tunisia

Possibly the worst game of the tournament. Another soft penalty, too many cards. Too little ambition from the Ukraine, and especially after the sending off, no real impetus from Tunisia. Ukraine awaits any of 3 teams (hopefully, not Switzerland as they could just line up for the shootout after 0-0 finish now.)

So, 14 of the 16 spots are determined, the remaining 2 to come from France, Switzerland, and Korea...my hope is for Korea and France as that would make for the best games. France - Spain in the second round game looks potentially very tasty....

On Second Thought, An Ode To Bruce Arena

At the TNR World Cup Blog, Brian Sinkoff has a decent rundown of the mistakes U.S. coach Bruce Arena made in this World Cup. High/Lowlights:

• Overly negative formation: With different players (all-action goal scoring central mid-fielders such as those of England, Ghana or the Czechs), 4-5-1 can be a useful attacking formation, but the way we played it, it was simply defensive, with way too much reliance on long balls aimed at McBride, and not enough players to support and pick up the second ball.
• Relatedly, an overly negative attitude: Oddly, the only time we got forward in numbers from the run of play was in the second half of the Italy game.
• Poor use of the squad: Three of our most dangerous forwards (Ching, Wolff, Johnson) played little or no part. Beasley played almost the whole tourney, with his only, and I mean only contribution of note being the pass to Dempsey for the goal.
• Poor squad selection: Why even bring John O'Brien if he can't play? Admittedly, he might well be our best player, but if you can't use him? (Sinkoff would have liked to see Taylor Twellman. Can't say that I disagree.)
• And worst of all, the team was not fired up - this is the World Freaking Cup! Get after it. And that kind of lapse is almost certainly attributable to the coaching.

All that said, I can't bring myself to kill Arena. Think of where we were when he took over. We finished last in 1998 (and, in reality, were even worse than that indicates, the scorelines in all 3 games probably should have been more lopsided.) And that was with an aging team that started a German (Thomas Dooley) and Frenchman (David Regis) and a Dutchman (Ernie Stewart). And even before that, though we made the second round in 1994, we were almost comically bad, with Tab Ramos being the one player who didn't totally blow. Further, we advanced by finishing third in our group (there were only 24 teams in the '94 cup, making it NHL playoffs easy to get to the knockout stages.) Aside from goalkeepers, I think there was one U.S. player having success in Europe at the time of the '98 cup.

Now, I'm not even sure I can name all those currently playing regulary off the top of my head. No, the increase in the overall talent level of the team is not solely due to Arena, but surely he deserves some credit.

Further, part of the reason why I feel bad about this early exit is I had actual expectations - call 2002 a fluke if you will, but we sucker punched Portugal, survived the Koreans (legitimately terrifying on home soil, just ask Italy) before absolutely mauling Mexico in the second round (a feat we duplicated in qualifying, I might add) and were desperately unlucky to lose to Ze Germans in the QF's. Thus the bar was raised, which is good. The only way we are going to get better is if we have expectations of reaching the next level.

So though it is probably time for the players to hear a new voice, and a man with new ideas (Eric Wynalda, anyone? Hell, you think we couldn't find the jing to make a run at Big Phil Scolari and that he wouldn't whip us into a scary side?) to take charge, let's pause for a moment and give some gratitude and credit were it is due to Mr. Arena.

WC: Worst of All Possible Worlds

Led me start off by saying that I don't think the U.S. deserved to advance. Even if we got the results we probably deserved in the last two matches, (win, draw) we finish third and the I.T.'s and Ghanians still advance. That said, I'm frustrated. The main reason is that not only did we not advance, we did so in such a fashion that might impede a good hard look at what we need to do to get better. We feel, justifiably, aggrieved by some of the breaks we got, from the ludicrously strong group (4 of the top 17 teams, I'd say. Any of the four teams would have probably advanced if they were in one of 5 or 6 of the other groups) to the Uruguayan twit to Pimpong's Penalty (overheard at the bar: girl to boyfriend "I'm never playing ping-pong again." "Baby, it's PiMpong. And yeah, me neither.") There was also some question about the first Ghana goal - I don't think it was a foul and I don't think it should be called. But in that situation (last man getting stripped), I'd say it gets called at least 4 out of 5 times.

That said, our largely legit grievances will probably be allowed to obscure that fact that, goalkeeping aside, we're just not good enough. Donovan might win the 2006 Nakata Award for overrated 'star.' Beasley seems just hopeless, and Eddie Johnson demonstrated why he has been on the bench for most of the cup: he's not very good. There are some positves to take - McBride is useful, though probably too old to be around for much longer. After a nightmare against the Czechs, Onyewu has looked quite good - I can't blame him for the penalty because the call was astoudingly bad - a 5'4" guy was going to leap backwards, through Gooch and power a header in from 20 yards? Shennanigans. If he does move to England, it will only help him learn how to use his strength without fouling against crafty, floppy types. Dempsey has been a revelation, he should be the first name on the teamsheet, our most dangerous player by a mile over the last two games, and a thumping finish for our one real goal of the tourney.

Arena has demonstrated that he is overmatched as well. It's simply criminal to start in a 4-5-1 in a game that you not only have to win, but possibly have to win by a lot. Coaches have a shelf life, and he's probably passed his sell-by date. There's a reason that national team coaches don't last long, and I don't think it's too much of a surprise that the only two teams with the same manager as 2002 (us and England) have visibily underperformed.

I think this Deadspin commenter captures it perfectly:

I am just so upset right now. I'm upset at the ref. I'm upset at Donovan. I'm upset at Beasley. I'm upset at Arena. I'm annoyed at the Ghana people rolling around on the field to waste time.

mostly, I'm frustrated that this means four more years of soccer haters making nyah-nyah noises at all of us for caring.

Indeed.

Oh, and after the Ghanians demonstrated that they've learned a few of the 'finer' points of football from the Italians, I fully endorse this as well:

I hope Brazil goes Spurrier on these guys in the 2nd round and win 11-0.