Boris is a friend; we used to work together, and by work I mean discuss football on breaks. We took in a couple games with good conversation together this summer past. Here is his commentary on the World Cup event that just passed:
Time to perform the predictions' post- mortem! :-)
Group A
South Africa - Really impressed in the first match against Mexico. Very physical. However just not quite enough gas and experience. Hence - no surprise. Hopefully such tremendous experience as having Parreira as a coach has left its great mark on the future development.
Mexico - Loved Giovanni Dos Santos!
Uruguay - Loooooooved them! The best team after Spain this year!
France - Somehow the 80s' Les Bleus will most likely forever remain in my memory as the best team France has ever had. Yes, even better than the 1998 one.
Group B
Argentina - El Diego proved everybody wrong! Very happy for him! Of course the lack of experience let him down, as it always does in any field.
Nigeria - Surprised at their inability to come out of the group.
South Korea - That's what happens when you bring a coach like Guus Hiddink! 2002 WAS NOT an accident! It sowed some great seeds! All those national team hopefuls, find some money and bring someone like him!
Greece - Never had any problem with the way they won the Euro. Everyone plays the way the can. However, not surprised at their lack of ysuccess since then. The world has learned what to expect....
To be continued...
Boris is back! :-) WC post-mortem part 2
Group C
England - Why was there so much expected of this English squad in the first place? They topped their qualifying group. But with all due respect to all six teams, only two others could hope to challenge the English - Ukraine and Croatia. And of course it was a European group all around. When England got seeded in South Africa, naturally only one team was European - Slovenia. That very Slovenia that played extremely well against Russia (third place Euro finisher!) in the playoff home-and-away series. Add an always exciting, passionate U.S. team and always-difficult-to-play-against African squad - Algeria - and you have quite a challenging mix. We know what happened....
U.S. - It's a wonderful thing that the WC is no longer just about teams from Europe and South America picking points and victories off everybody else. Teams from the Korean peninsula have been major party spoilers for some favourites over the years. Now the U.S. as well as Australia are trying to catch up.
Algeria - Always mysterious, not well known and studied, African teams are tough to play against. It seems every WC fans begin guessing which one will be repeating the feats of Morocco in '86 and Cameroon in '90. This year it was Ghana and not Algeria, but we are already waiting for the next WC in Brazil!:-)
To be continued........
Slovenia - Who knows what happened to that Russian squad.... They were supposed to walk over Slovenia. Some allege they spent the night in some night club in Maribor on the eve of the deciding second game. That would explain their looking flat and dispirited. But that would be unfair to Slovenia. They deserve a lot of credit for showing they weren't just happy to be in South Africa. Losing (just 1:2) to the eventual finalist - Holland - in the round of 16 showed they had a lot of character.
http://www.fifa.sportsportal.org/wp-content/uploads/Slovenian-team.jpg
Boris said...
I still can't get enough of the WC! :-)
Group D
Germany - Dominant as usual! Even without Ballack... Some say he might not even be back. I don't know about that... The real question I have is why they have decided to have all those foreign-born players on the national team. Kaiser Franz is very enthusiastic about that. Who am I to argue with him? But I am just wondering what happened to the famous German school of football. Just wondering. Nothing else.
Australia - I'm all for having more "new" teams succeeding on this highest level. Not this year. And still think there was no penalty in the round of 16 against Italy four years ago. Was it with a minute to go then?
Serbia - Can't say I'm disappointed, because there was not a lot of reasons to expect much. They were just one point above France in qualification. We all saw how dismal France looked though. With all due respect to other teams in that group they weren't exactly superpowers. Hence the last place in the group among the best?
Ghana - Awesome! But no problem with Suarez whatsoever! Uruquay won fairly! Ghana could have finished them off. One day a team from Africa will be in the semifinal.
Group E
Holland - I have always liked the Dutch. The teams of the 80s, the 90s, even two years ago!
But this bunch... Maybe not as flashy as usual? Left me rather nonchalant. But how does one argue with the WC finalist? :-) Well done!
Denmark - Here is the team that has probably underachieved this year. In qualifying they finished higher than Portugal and Sweden. But again those were the Europeans. While they have managed to beat Cameroon, the Japanese must have been too good (see below)! And Holland is Holland. In short, tough group.
Recently discovered that the Japanese have had a long tradition of playing the ball game called Kemari - quite similar to football. Several players stand in a circle passing the ball around. Several hundred years in fact. No wonder they look so well, but unfortunately, not quite there yet! However they lost on penalty kicks... That again proves how good they are!
Cameroon - We can't forget 1990! They were so exciting! We keep hoping for a repeat! But maybe it was just a one-time thing? Don't want to believe so.
Almost done. :-)
Just a bit more....
Group F
Italy - Looked interesting in the first game against Paraguay. But then it was all downhill. Dispirited and frustrated.
Paraguay - Great run. And they did it without their best striker, who apparently got wounded in a shooting in a night club in Mexico.
New Zealand - Another "new" team. I really hope they'll be back. Hard work, passion. Haven't lost a single match, allowing just two goals! But exciting to watch!
Slovakia - Well done, Slovakia! Outscoring the World Champions in the decisive match 3:2! Well done!
Group G
Brazil - Somewhat dubious performance. Flashes of something exciting interchanging with something rather boring. Ronaldihno issue. His absence clearly unjustified. Elano's injury was a HUGE blow. Now there is somebody new on the horizon - Neymar. Check out the Brazil-USA friendly highlights. The way the first goal is set up is the future of Brazi!
North Korea - Very-very impressive side! Had their chances both against Brazil and Portugal. Never mind that 7:0 score. It was 1:0 till about the 60th minute. Tough, but very disciplined defence.
Ivory Coast - Here is the team which defensive tactics against Brazil was "stop them no matter what". See the Elano incident. Kudos to Drogba. He really tried, albeit with a broken wrist. The team could very likeable, if not for all their rudeness.
Portugal - the most overrated side! Ronaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldo.... Now Luis Figo, that was the player! Much ado about nothing. Honestly if you don't think you can play for the national team, if you don't like the coach and the style of play, then there is always an opportunity not to play, right?
The last push....
Group H
Spain - the best team in the tournament, combining the South American passion and the European system and order. Well-deserved winner.
Switzerland - Made a lot of noise defeating Spain (!) in the first match. Then lost to Chile by one goal and drew with Honduras. Good defence. Not enough attacking power.
Honduras - Very respectable performance by this rather rare guest on the highest stage. (second time ever).Good learning experience.
Chile - Being overpowered by Brazil in the round of 16 (0:3), overshadowed a rather solid performance in the group. Unfortunately had little to hope for. Lost both qualifying matches to, you guessed it, Brazil with a similar score.
That's it folks... :-)
Thank you so much, Tristan! Great photos! Well chosen! :-)
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