Nathan’s Musings

As so often happens, the better of the two games last weekend, from a pure footballing standpoint, was the 3rd place game between Germany and Portugal. No pressure, just nice, free-flowing, positive football, with a deserved 3-1 win for Germany. I did not think I would ever say this in my life, but Germany was the most positive surprise of the tournament and the team that played the best, most positive football in the knockout stage. They were unlucky to go down to Italy in the semi-final, but they are a young team and have to be considered the odds-on favourites to win the next major trophy, the European Championship to be held in Switzerland/Austria in 2008. Portugal continued its ugly diving tradition; one of the most memorable images from the game against Germany has got to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s blatant dive–as he was going down, he was looking at the referee with pleading eyes. The referee wisely did not bite, although he should have handed Ronaldo a yellow card. It is highly unfortunate that such a technically gifted player feels that he needs to resort to such tactics, and equally unfortunate that his coach and teammates apparently condone and encourage this behaviour.

Then the final. As usual, it was a game of high drama more than great football. On balance, the French were the better team in the second half and extra time, but in the end scoring goals is what matters, and they were unable to get past the Italian defense, anchored by the world’s best keeper. Of course, the game will be overshadowed by the bizarre incident between Zidane and Materazzi which resulted in Zidane getting a deserved red card in his last professional game. During the past few days, various news organisations have tried to guess what the Italian had said to Zidane to make him lose his cool, employing lip readers. But the different lip readers came to different conclusions, ranging from Zidane being called an Islamic terrorist to insults against his mother. Unfortunately, neither Zidane nor Materazzi are talking; Zidane was on French TV tonight, but all he would say was the insult was highly personal and involved his mother and sister.

Anyway, as everyone knows, the game ended 1-1 and Italy won on penalties. Are the Italians worthy champions? Grudgingly, I must say yes. I do not like Italian football, with its corruption, dirty tricks and sometimes overly defensive tactics. But this Italian team played well; they started slowly but got better as the tournament went on. Looking at all 7 games, they won all except that embarassing 1-1 draw against USA in the group stage; they played technically well, went on the attack when they had to, and had by far the strongest defense of any team. Over the course of those 7 games, they only allowed 2 goals: one was an own goal in the USA game, and the other the penalty scored by Zidane in the first half of the final. In other words, not a single goal was scored on Italy by an opponent during open play. That is impressive.

Some people will be bothered by the fact that the World Cup was decided on penalties. But what is the alternative? One could of course keep playing extra periods until the players got so tired that someone would score. But more likely the attackers would get tired before the defenders, and certainly before the keepers, so this grotesque (and dangerous) spectacle could go on for hours. Penalties are part of the game, and the drama and tension provided by a penalty shootout is unsurpassed.

Today, Italy’s coach resigned, as did Germany’s Klinsmann. Both resignations are a bit strange, given the success of the two teams. But I suppose Lippi wants to go and make the big money in one of the big clubs, and Klinsmann said that he is tired and just wants to return to his family in California. Maybe so, but he is only 41 and healthy, so look for him to pop up somewhere once he has had a few months’ rest.

And finally, my office pool. It could have been worse–at one point I was dead last, 13th out of 13 participants. In the event, I finished 9th; my performance was somewhere between Poland and the Ivory Coast…

Based on yesterday’s game, neither France nor Portugal deserve to be in the World Cup final. But OK, this was a semifinal, France won 1-0, and since we must have an opponent for Italy on Sunday, France is the more deserving of the two teams.

This was a game that Portugal lost rather than France won. Besides the penalty awarded to Henry in the 33rd minute, France produced few attacks of any consequence, and the Portuguese keeper must have been bored. Portugal combined well and dominated play for long periods, although they too produced too few real chances. But they did have opportunities in the second half, including a fumbled ball by shaky French keeper Barthez, which Luis Figo somehow managed to head above the goal from point-blank range.

Portugal has by now built a solid reputation for diving and dirty tackling, and this reputation finally caught up with them. Even what looked like legitimate freekicks to Portugal were not given by the referee whose assumption on seeing a Portuguese player go down was that it was a dive. Portugal had used its dirty tactics to eliminate the Netherlands and then England, but by now they had cried wolf too many times and the referee last night was not buying it anymore. Cristiano Ronaldo, the chief diver, should consider himself lucky that he did not get a yellow card for diving–he was stupid enough to attempt it even after it was clear that Portugal were not going to get any freekicks or penalties unless the foul was totally blatant and right in front of the referee. He was also booed by the crowd every time he touched the ball–clearly this World Cup has not done much for his popularity, and it will be difficult for him to return to Manchester United and the Premiership in August.

France looked tired and were content to defend their lead in the second half. I don’t know if the win over Brazil, in which France played so well, had taken too much out of this aging side, but in any event France is in the final mainly thanks to luck and Portugal’s poor performance. The referee helped by being harsh on Portugal and by not handing out any yellow cards–several French players had a yellow card from the Brazil game, and a second one last night would have meant suspension from the final. The only player who was affected by this was substitute Saha, who was on the field for only the last few minutes and still managed to pick up a yellow card which will keep him on the bench on Sunday.

So now it is France-Italy for the World Cup and Germany-Portugal for 3rd place. Actually, the 3rd place game promises to be a better match than the final, based on the performances of the four teams up to now, and it is impossible for me to predict a result with any confidence. On the other hand, the prognosis for Sunday must be a victory for Italy. But then again, my prognosticating record at this World Cup is so miserable that the reader would be wise not to place any bets based on my musings…or if you must, bet on the opposite of what I predict.

I found myself in the highly unusual position of rooting for Germany last night. I do not like Italian football. It suffers from the same tendencies to unsporting behaviour as Portugal has so amply demonstrated, and then there is the current corruption scandal which is currently unfolding. The top four clubs–Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio–will probably be playing in the lower divisions next season and will be banned from European competitions. So for these and other reasons, I supported Germany.

But I must admit that Italy deserved to win last night. They turned the tables on Germany and played the kind of patient and intelligent football that Germany usually plays. Their defense was rock solid (so much so that the Italian keeper did not have to make a serious save until deep into the second half); their midfield dominating; their attack was much more dangerous than Germany’s and caused frequent havoc in Germany’s defense. Germany was exposed as what they are: a young team that has actually made it further in the tournament than most people expected. Last night that youth and inexperience showed, especially in the attack, where many opportunities were wasted through long shots that were never going to trouble Buffon, who is considered by many to be the world’s best goal keeper. In contrast, the Italians played their passing game, and even though they began to look tired in the second half (at least according to the hopeful commentator on Germany’s ZDF station), they actually began playing more offensively as the game went to extra time. Even with the world’s best keeper, the Italians evidently had no appetite for a penalty shootout against Germany, so they were trying to win the game in the standard fashion. And they did, in the 29th minute of the extra half hour, when Grosso placed a perfect shot just out of reach of German keeper Jens Lehmann. A minute later, Del Piero made it 2-0 as Germany were pressing forward and created an opening for an Italian counterattack.

Overall, the Germans and the Italians can be proud of their respective teams. The Germans have a chance to finish 3rd if they can themselves up for the game against the loser of tonight’s France-Portugal seminfinal. Not many people expected them to get this far. And of course Italy, while always considered among the favourites, has overcome many obstacles, including a slow start (remember that 1-1 against USA in the group stage!) and distractions back home (13 of the 23 players are in the four clubs that stand to be relegated next season).

After last night, if Italy wins the World Cup, they will be worthy champions.

This has turned out to be the worst World Cup for South America since 1982, which was the last time no teams from that continent made it to the semifinals. It has also become a World Cup of surprises; if someone had said 4 weeks ago that both Brazil and Argentina would be knocked out at the quarterfinal stage, he would be considered nuts by most people who follow football. Based on the betting odds (the most reliable indicator of such things), Brazil was the overwhelming pre-tournament favourite. Once the tournament got going, Argentina also shot up in the rankings due to its performance in the group stage (wins of 4-0 and 6-0, followed by 0-0 against the Dutch). And now both are out. Some people will moan the loss of especially Brazil and their “samba football”. The truth is that there was not much samba in their football, they were not well organized and acted as if they expected to win just by showing up. They had an easy time at the group stage, benefitting from a relatively weak group (Croatia, Australia and Japan were not exactly fear-inducing competition). In the 1/8 finals they did beat Ghana comprehensively, 3-0, but that game was as close as Brazil got to playing impressive football in this World Cup. In yesterday’s 1-0 win, France played with heart, commitment, good defense and good organization, and an effective attack–those are the things you need to win games. Even the Brazilian coach Parreira did not engage in the usual Latin whining after the game (the referee, the opponent not letting us play etc.), instead saying that he took the responsibility for the result and that France had played an “impeccable” match. Those are sporting words.

So Brazil simply was not good enough this time. I am sure they will be back in four years in South Africa, with new players, without Ronaldo (who was a definite liability in this World Cup), and with a better team.

On Friday Germany beat Argentina on penalties after drawing 1-1 in the game. This game was a display of Latin football at its worst. Instead of the direct, attractive football Argentina played at the group stage, they played an ineffective passing game which at times produced chances but was simply not enough to beat a strong German team in Berlin. Instead, Argentina relied on trying to get freekicks and penalties by their incessant diving and other theatrics. In the end, it came back to bite them–when Rodriguez went down in the penalty box in the 88th minute following a clean tackle by German defender Lahm, his reward was not the hoped-for penalty, but a yellow card. Diving has become the scourge of South American and Southern European football (which are more or less the same thing these days, since so many of the South American players play for Spanish and Italian clubs). Unfortunately, African players, who typically look to Brazil and Argentina for inspiration, seem to have taken up this habit, as exemplified by Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast and Chelsea. It is a dirty trick that sometimes is rewarded by an incompetent referee. Before the World Cup FIFA instructed the referees to be on the lookout for it and to punish it when it occurred, and by and large this has been the case. There are also signs that the tactic is beginning to backfire: a player like Drogba now has the reputation for being a diver, and referees sometimes overlook legitimate fouls committed on him because they assume he is acting.
Once the game went into penalties, it was pretty obvious that the Germans were going to win. They simply do not lose in such situations. And to make matters worse for Argentina, their keeper had been injured during the game, so the reserve keeper had to face the German penalties. The Argentines had also substituted a defender for one of their best players, Riquelme, with 18 minutes left in the game–at the time the score was 1-0 to Argentina and they were trying to shore things up. Of course, the Germans never gave up and equalised in the 80th minutes, and Riquelme was then not available for the penalty shootout. Germany made their first 4 penalties, Argentina missed 2 of their first 4, and that was the game.

Afterwards, the Argentines were extremely sore losers and started a brawl against the German players who were celebrating their victory. This may or may not have some consequences for them, depending on what FIFA decides after reviewing the video. But it once again showed Argentina as a team which sometimes plays wonderful football but also one which more often than not displays behaviour which is simply unacceptable, going back at least to the infamous “Hand of God” incident in 1986, when Maradona scored the winning goal against England with his hand.

In the other quarterfinals, Italy beat Ukraine 3-0, apparently without breaking much of a sweat. I did not see the game, as I was attending a wedding reception and the hosts had been so inconsiderate as to not providing a TV (just kidding, Anna & Geert!). But 3-0 is 3-0 and the Italians have put in some admirable performances in the knockout round, especially considering the turmoil back home around the corruption scandal, which may well result in four clubs–AC Milan, Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina–being relegated next year. It must be said that no players are apparently involved in the scandal, but it must still be on their minds, since 13 of the 23-man squad play for one of the four clubs concerned. And yet the Italian players have been able to put that aside and to focus on football here and now. Well done to them.

And finally, England, the team I supported once the Netherlands had been knocked out. Being an England supporter is a frustrating and painful affliction. Tournament after tournament the team disappoints, and this World Cup was no exception. How can it be that a team composed of players from the world’s best league, the English Premiership, puts on such pitiful performances time and again? They scraped through games they should have won comfortably (e.g. Trinidad & Tobago); they played boring, ineffective football–not defensive as such, you need to be well organized to do that, and England was not organized at all. The players did play hard, there was nothing wrong with their spirit. But they simply did not function well as a team. Portugal was not great, and they got to the quarterfinal partly by using some of the dirty tricks I described above. They used those same tricks against England, and unfortunately they worked. The game ended 1-1, no goals were scored in extra time, and once it came to the penalty shootout, England was doomed. Just as the Germans never seem to lose such shootouts, the English never seem to win them.

I think that England suffered from poor coaching. Eriksson was not the right man in the end. He is Swedish but has spent most of his top-level career in Italian football, and he was never able to get the best out of his players. Just contrast the performance of the Chelsea and Liverpool players on the England team with the performance of the same players when the play for their clubs. John Terry, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard were just shades of the players I watch every week in the Premiership, and as much as it hurts this lifelong Liverpool supporter to say this, Peter Crouch was a liability for England.

Eriksson is now done (it had been decided months ago that he would step down after the World Cup) and Steve McClaren will take over. Hopefully an English coach can get the players playing like English players should play (and they do, in the league!).

The Germany-Argentina game cost two people their jobs: the Argentine coach did the honourable thing and resigned following the loss; and the stadium announcer at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium was fired for exhorting the German fans to support their team. This is verboten–the stadium announcer is supposted to be neutral.