The Asian Cup final

I must admit that due to time difference and media coverage in this part of the world, I have not seen any matches of the 2011 Asian Cup in the future World Cup hosts of Qatar. However, I will have to try to watch the final this next Saturday against two giants that I have found excellent to watch in the last two World Cups: Australia was great in 2006, barely losing to Italy, and fought well in a difficult group in 2010. Although they only recently became part of the Asian football Federation, I think this has only made Asian (and Australian) football stronger.
Japan has been in every World Cup since 1998, and been steadily improving, this last World Cup beating Denmark and playing an intense match with Paraguay in the last-16, only being eliminated on penalty kicks.
In fact, the two teams faced one another in the 2006 World Cup, with a resulting 3-1 victory for Australia.
Japan is in the final after an intense match with another of Asia's giants and their close rival, South Corea. The match ended 2-2, with a last minute equalizer from the Coreans, but the Japanese were coolest from the penalty spot, where South Corea missed every single kick! Australia on the other hand trashed one of the surprises of the tournament, Uzbekistan, 6-0.
The final between these nations should be a great match, and I hope to be able to watch it!

Greatest World Cup matches: France-Italy (2006)

France and Italy are two of the most powerful footballing nations in the world. With Italy having a long history of dominating the match, France had only won its first world title in 1998, and remained at the top of the world game since then. Both teams had played many times, also in the World Cups: in 1938 in a legendary quarter-final, in 1986 in the last-16, and in 1998 when France had defeated the Italians in the quarter-final on the way to win their first world cup title. But not only had they faced one another in the world stage: in the 2000 European championship final France had defeated Italy 2-1 in extra time in a dramatic match. So the two team knew each other well before facing one another in the 2006 World Cup final in Berlin.
France had entered the tournament looking rather weak, fighting hard to qualify from an apparently easy group, and with an ageing team. The star of the team, Zinedine Zidane from Real Madrid, three time FIFA World Player of the year (1998, 2000, 2003), had retired from the national team in 2004, but when things were going badly for the French, he was asked to return, and he captained France to the World Cup. Nevertheless, things had still not looked good for France: they had not played well, and had opened with ties against Switzerland and South Corea, before a 2-0 victory against Togo had put them through to the last-16 against Spain. But here the French veterans woke up: facing the fancied Spaniards they won 3-1, giving the French renewed energy. In the quarterfinal France outplayed the defending world champions of Brazil, winning 1-0, and in the semifinal they had defeated Portugal 1-0 to make it to their second World Cup final ever.
Italy, coached by Marcelo Lippi, had not entered the tournament as outright favourites for the title, but with a very strong and disciplined team: Defensively the team was outstanding with for instance Fabio Cannavaro and Marco Materazzi from Inter, and Juventus’ Gianlucca Zambrotta. In midfield they had the elegant Francesco Totti from AS Roma, and the great Alessandro Del Piero from Juventus.
In the first round Italy had won their group ahead of Ghana, the Czech Republic and USA. In the last-16 they had played a very close match with Australia whom they only managed to defeat 1-0 on a late penalty kick. In the quarterfinals Italy defeated Ukraine 3-0, and in the semifinals they played a great match against the popular German hosts, whom they defeated 2-0 on two late goals in extra time.
While Italy had looked the strongest, France had grown the most during the tournament, and considering their previous history, it looked to become a final full of drama.
France started the game best: after only six minutes the Olympique Lyon winger Florent Malouda was brought down inside the Italian penalty area by Marco Materazzi, and Zinedine Zidane brought France ahead 1-0 on the following penalty. Zinedine Zidane thus became the only fourth player ever to score in two different World Cup finals. The goal nevertheless did not discourage the Italians: the AC Milan midfielders Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso started taking over the midfield, and only 19 minutes into the match the growing Italian dominance led to a goal: Marco Matterazzi scored on a header after an Andrea Pirlo corner kick.
The score being 1-1, the game continued back and forth, with no team really dominating, although Italy had the biggest chances on corner kicks from Andrea Pirlo, one on which Luca Toni hit the crossbar.
In the second half both teams went for the victory: both Luca Toni and Thierry Henry had good chances, but were unable to capitalize, and the match ended 1-1, and had to go into extra time.
France seemed more energized in the extra time, and both Frank Ribery and Zinedine Zidane had good chances. However, the most dramatic and memorable moment of the final (and perhaps of the entire tournament) came five minutes into the second half of extra time: with the ball not nearby, Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi seemed to be discussing something, when Zinedine Zidane suddenly turned around and headbutted Matterazzi on the chest. There was no doubt from the Argentinian referee Elizondo who correctly gave Zinedine Zidane a red card.
This was Zinedine Zidane’s last match in a World Cup and for France, ending a great career in disgrace. However, he remains popular as his aggression was seen as a response to Matterazzi’s provocations, although this meant a significant weakening of his team, and an thoughtless act in front of the whole world.
The match was to be only the second World Cup final ever to be decided on penalty kicks, and Italy had been the losing side on the previous one in 1994. But this time things went better for Italy: all the Italian players scored, while Juventus’ French player, David Trezeguet, hit the crossbar for France.
Italy had won their 4th World Cup, becoming the second most winning nation ever after Brazil.

Match Stats:

• 9th July, 2006 Olympia Stadium, Berlin
• Attendance: 69,000
• Referee: Horacio Elizondo (Argentina)

Italy-France 1-1 (After Extra Time)
Goals:0-1 Zidane (7) (pen)1-1 Materazzi (19)

Penalty kicks:
Italy-France 5-3

• 1-0 Pirlo
• 1-1 Wiltord
• 2-1 Materazzi
• Trezeguet missed for France
• 3-1 De Rossi
• 3-2 Abidal
• 4-2 Del Piero
• 4-3 Sagnol
• 5-3 Grosso

Teams:
Italy: Buffon, Cannavaro, Grosso, Materazzi, Gattuso, Pirlo, Camoranesi (Del Piero), Totti (De Rossi), Zambrotta, Perrota (Iaquinta), Toni
France: Barthez, Abidal, Vieira (Diarra), Thuram, Sagnol, Ribery (Trezeguet), Galas, Makalele, Malouda, Zidane (RC, 111), Henry (Wiltord)

Greatest World Cup matches: France-Brazil (2006)

After the 2002 debacle, France had again had problems in the European Championships of 2004, where they had been eliminated in the quarterfinals by the later champions of Greece. For the 2006 their qualifying campaign had not been convincing in a group where they should otherwise have done better, but the team had qualified ahead of Switzerland.
On paper, France retained one of the strongest teams in Europe: Fabien Barthez from Olympique Marseille, the veterans Patrick Vieira and Lilliam Thuram from Juventus Chelsea’s Claude Makalele and William Gallas, Arsenal’s prolific goal-machine Thierry Henry, Bayern Munich’s Willy Sagnol, as well as Olympique Marseille’s talented Frank Ribery.
The star of the ageing team was undoubtedly Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane, three time FIFA World Player of the year (1998, 2000, 2003). He had announced his retirement from the national team in 2004, but in the face of France’s meagre qualifying campaign had returned in 2005, and had captained the team to qualify.
It was indeed a team to be feared, but they remained unconvincing.
In the opening matches France had been poor to say the least: they had opened with 0-0 against Switzerland and 1-1 against South Corea, before a 2-0 victory against Togo had put them through to the last-16 against Spain. The Spaniards had been outstanding in the first round, and were looking to defeat the shaky French. But in this match the French players stepped up a gear, showing that they were indeed a team to be reckoned with, and won 3-1.
In the quarter-finals they were to face the defending world champions of Brazil.
Brazil had, as always, entered the tournament as huge favourites. The team looked at least as good as the winning side of 2002, with Ronaldo continuing from where he had left off in 2002, and complemented by FC Barcelona’s Ronaldinho, AC Milan’s Kaka, Inter Milan’s Adriano, Bayern Munich’s Ze Roberto, as well as Real Madrid’s Roberto Carlos and the veteran captain Cafú, from AS Roma.
Brazil had indeed also looked awesome: in the first round they had swept aside all opposition, defeating Croatia, Australia and Japan. In the last-16 they had crushed a naive Ghanaian side 3-0, in a match where Ronaldo had become the most scoring player ever in World Cup history by scoring his 15th world cup goal in the match against Ghana, thus passing Gerd Müller’s record of 14 goals. Brazil were now huge favourites against the French in the quarter-final, in what some were touting to be revenge for the 1998 World Cup final where France had crushed Brazil.
It was to be no revenge, and if anything, Brazil played an even worse match than in 1998: had it been a stronger French side, the score might have been as bad.
That said, Zinedine Zidane was spectacular: he completely dominated the midfield, playing the ball superbly, and inspiring his team-mates, and in the first half setting up chances both for Laurent Malouda and for Patrick Vieira, but without resulting in goals. In spite of the 0-0 score after the first half the Brazilians had been a shadow of themselves, while France had been far superior.
This continued as the second half started, and 12 minutes into it, France finally went ahead: Zinedine Zidane took a free kick from the left side, and the ball went perfectly to Thierry Henry, who by the far post was completely alone to volley the ball into the net. Although it was a great goal, the fact that Henry stood so alone can only be blamed on Roberto Carlos, who in one of the most pathetic pieces of defending in World Cup history, seemed to be tying his shoes as the free kick was taken, instead of marking Henry. The images are so blatant that it has led to conspiracy theories flourishing on the internet, but it is perhaps more correct to say that while Roberto Carlos was a great offensive right back, he was an extremely sloppy defender; this was not the first goal that he cost, but surely it was the most important.
The zombie-like Brazilians seemed unable to reply, while France remained in control of the midfield, and even created more chances for a second goal.
Towards the end of the match, Ronaldo came close to getting an equalizer for Brazil, but was denied by Fabien Barthez. Instead, France won as they had done eight years before, and Brazil repeated against France, what is perhaps the poorest match that the mighty South Americans have ever played in a World Cup.
France in the meantime, emerged as favourites to win the tournament, and in the semifinals defeated Portugal to make it to the final, where they lost to Italy after penalty kicks in Zinedine Zidane’s last match on the national team.

Match Stats:

• 1st July, 2006, FIFA WM Stadium, Frankfurt
• Attendance: 48,000
• Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain)

France-Brazil 1-0
Goals: 1-0 Henry (57)

Teams:
France: Barthez; Abidal, Vieira, Gallas, Makalele, Malouda (Wiltord), Zidane (c), Henry (Saha), Thuram, Sagnol, Ribery (Govou)
Brazil: Dida; Cafú (c) (Cicinho), Lucio, Juan, Roberto Carlos, Kaká (Robinho), Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Ze Roberto, Gilberto Silva, Juninho (Adriano)

Greatest World Cup matches: Italy-Australia (2006)

Football has reached the entire world, but some parts have been reached later than others. Oceania has been a region dominated by rugby, and football has been peripheral and largely dominated by the region’s largest country, Australia. However, due to the region’s poor performance in world cup history, Oceania has historically only had a play-off place to play for, usually against an Asian or South American country. It was usually Australia that had to play it, and usually they lost, although they were steadily improving as some Australian players were getting experience in Europe and the game slowly grew in popularity. For the 2006 campaign the Australian football federation hired the outstanding Dutch coach, Guus Hiddink, to lead the team to the World Cup. And over two matches against the number five of South America, Uruguay, Australia managed to qualify to its first World Cup since 1974 (incidentally, also in Germany).
The team was a healthy mixture of players of diverse backgrounds and with experience from European leagues: this included an experienced defence with the Middlesborough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer on goal, Crystal Palace defender Tony Popovic, Blackburn right back Lucas Neill, and Craig Moore from Glasgow Rangers. The team also had very skilled strikers in the form of Millwall’s Tim Cahill, Osasuna’s John Aloisi and the Leeds United strikers Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell (the latter was nevertheless injured for this match).
The Australians had surprised everyone by unexpectedly going through on second spot in a rather difficult group: they had opened by defeating Japan 3-1, and had in the second match put up an excellent fight against the Brazilian world champions, but still lost 2-0. In their last match they managed 2-2 against Croatia in a dramatic match, which effectively put them in the second round, where Italy was awaiting.
Italy was looking strong without forcing it. They had won their group by defeating Ghana and the Czech republic and tying the USA. As usual, the team coached by Marcelo Lippi did not play any exciting football, but had some outstanding players on all positions, particularly in defence that included Inter’s Fabio Cannavaro (that year to be given the prize as World Player of the year) and Marco Materazzi, Juventus’ Gianlucca Zambrotta and the excellent defensive midfielder from AC Milan Gennaro Gattuso. In midfield Italy had the elegant AS Roma player Francesco Totti, although he surprisingly did not start in for this match, but was replaced by Juventus’ Alessandro Del Piero.
The first half of the match was very equal with both teams standing well in defence. The best chances went to the Italian strikers Luca Toni from Brescia and Verona’s Alberto Gilardino. Toni came very close to scoring on a header after only three minutes, and an excellent turn-around shot that was well saved by Schwarzer. Gilardino had a good volley that the Australian goallie also saved. With 0-0 at halftime Italy should probably have been in the lead, but Australia had not played badly.
Five minutes into the second half things changed: Marco Materazzi was given a very harsh red card by the Spanish referee Luis Medina Cantalejo for a tackle on Marco Bresciano. One man down, Italy lost some of its power going forward, and Australia started to dominate possession. However, it proved difficult for the Australians to create chances confronted with the excellent Italian defenders. The FC Basel midfielder Scott Chipperfield had a good shot that was saved by Gianluca Buffon, but otherwise the Asutralians seemed afraid to risk more in attack by opening too much in the back against deadly Italian counter-attacks. Thus, the match went into a relative stalemate and everyone was expecting that the match would end goalless. But in the fourth minute of added time, Fabio Grosso got through on the left side, and entered the Australian penalty box. Lucas Neill tried to tackle rather clumsily and Fabio Grosso immediately let himself fall in the area. Perhaps it was to compensate for the harsh dismissal against Materazzi, but the Spanish referee gave the Italians the penalty kick from a situation that would not normally be given.
Francesco Totti, who had come in to replace Del Piero in the second half, kept his head cool and scored. The referee blew the whistle to end the match a few seconds later. Italy was in the quarter-finals.
Australia was out, but Italy in fact went on to become world champions, after defeating Ukraine, the German hosts, and France in the final. Australia’s feat was in the face of this all the more impressive, and perhaps a premonition of things to come for the “socceroos” (and may I add that they should change this stupid name).

Match Stats:

• 26th June, 2006, Fritz Walter Stadium, Kaiserslautern
• Attendance: 46,000
• Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain)

Italy-Australia 1-0
Goals:1-0 Totti (pen) (90+5)

Teams:
Italy: Buffon; Cannavaro, Grosso, Gatuso, Zambrotta, Perrotta, Pirlo, Matterazzi (RC, 50), Del Piero (Totti), Toni (Barzagli), Gilardino (Iaquinta)
Australia: Schwarzer; Neill, Moore, Cahill, Culina, Viduka, Grella, Chipperfield, Wilkshire, Sterjovski (Aloisi), Bresciano

France-Italy: Not for children

First time Italy played an official national football match was in Milan in 1910. They won 6-2 against one of the other best teams in history, France, laying the groundwork for an almost-centennial rivalry.

Tonight they are at it again in an all-for-nothing match in the first round of the Euro 2008. True, both teams have been a huge disappointment so far, but with their backs against the wall, the match tonight could truly be a drama PG-16.

The two countries have faced each other 35 times in official matches (tonight will be their 36^th) with Italy winning 17, France 8, and 10 matches ending in a draw. The last includes two penalty shootouts: one memorable one in the World Cup final of 2006, where Italy won, and another one in the quarterfinal of the 1998 World Cup, where France won (and eventually became world champion).

In fact, the last ten years has only seen important matches between these two giants: besides the 2006 World Cup final, they also faced one another in the Euro 2000 final, where France won after exra time after Wiltord equalized Italy’s lead in the 90^th minute, and Trezeguet scoring the winner in extra time.

In the qualifying for this current Euro 2008, the two teams also faced each other, and after the 2006 World Cup, France came out the best: they won 3-1 at home and managed to tie 0-0 in Italy to win the group.

Tonight will be a completely different story, but be certain that a new chapter of drama is to be written into the books of these two football giant’s rivalry.

I hope good and fair football will be the winner, and wish the best to all the charming fans of either team!

Jurgen Klinsmann to Bayern Munich

The former German national team coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, has been confirmed of new coach of Bayern Munich when Ottmar Hitzfeld steps down next summer.
Lately the Bayern giants have not been as strong as before, but I am sure Mr. Klinsmann can carry them very far. When he played he was a superb striker, and as national team coach he created a charming and offensive team that did so well in the 2006 World Cup.
It is the best choice, and I wish Mr. Klinsmann the best!

Don't miss it: The African Nations Cup 2008

The African Nations Cup is starting on January 2008 in Ghana. It is bound to be an interesting spectacle, with some intense clashes in the Ghanaian heat and humidity, but I would not expect too much in level of quality: while there are many top players who perform in top clubs in Europe, quality in these types of national tournaments is far below what is seen in top clubs nowadays (with the World Cup being an example).
Nevertheless, with the intensity and nationalism these tournaments engender, it is not to be missed. Also, with the next World Cup 2010 being held in South Africa, it will be interesting to see the way the teams perform.
The groups with the 16 teams are as follows:

• Group A: Ghana, Namibia, Guinea, Morocco
• Group B: Nigeria, Benin, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire
• Group C: Tunisia, Angola, South Africa, Senegal
• Group D: Egypt, Sudan, Zambia, Cameroon

Obviously there are already in the first round some interesting matches!
In group A, the hosts of Ghana, supported by passionate fans, will be expecting nothing else but success at home.
Group B will see giants Nigeria and last cup's finalists Cote d'Ivoire in an interesting West African group, where Mali should be considered some serious outsiders with many very experienced players from European top clubs.
Group C sees some giants of African football, Tunisia and Senegal, with the South Africans, who will desperately be looking for success before the 2010 World Cup, and the new interesting Angolan side, who did so well in the 2006 World Cup.
Finally, group D will see Egypt, defending champions from 2006, and a Cameroonian side, led by Samuel Eto'o, who will be looking for the success they otherwise have the team for!
Don't miss it!!!

Jupiter in retrograde

I have little time to write a long blog on my disappointment of Italy's victory. Of course, maybe I should start by congratulating the Italian fans and my friends, whom I am sure had a great party last night.

Nevertheless, the Italian victory was a bore. A pity an otherwise good tournament ended with that result, although we did miss the epic clashes I had expected. I think what I will most remember is Zidane's exit... One of the best player's ever, and he finishes off in such pathetic manner, it is almost to cry about. Has he been too many years in Real Madrid!? What went through his head?

Sadly, he could have been remembered as a great player only, but now we have to add great idiot to it as well.

Oh well, back to normal life...

Italy-Germany matches

Italy and Germany are facing each other in a World Cup Semifinal tonight. Germany seem favourites, playing at home in front of a record crowd. But what does history tell us about these encounters?

They have met each other six times in either World Cups or European Championships. Of these, three have ended 0-0, one has ended 1-1, while Italy has won the remaining two matches. So it does not look good for Germany...

In the World Cup, the matches have been the following:

• First Round, Chile, 1962: This ended 0-0. West Germany won the group, only to be eliminated by Yugoslavia in the Quarterfinals. Italy ended dead last in the group
• Semifinal, Mexico , 1970: One of the most exciting games in the history of football. Italy was very unpopular, having played some of the most boring catenaccio ever seen. The ordinary game ended 1-1, and the match went into extra time. The Germans, wanting to solve it, attacked fervently. But for every attack and goal, the Italians replied back with another goal. Italy won 4-3, but were destroyed 4-1 in the final against the mighty Brazilians.
• Second round, 1978: Another 0-0 match. Italy made it to the bronze game, where they lost to Brazil, while the Germans did not make it beyond round 2.
• Final, 1982: An all-European final in an all-European World Cup (like this one). Italy had defeated Brazil, and seemed strong ahead of the Germans, who had become unpopular after their win against the charming French in the semifinal. The Italians were far better than the Germans, who only managed a late goal by Breitner after being down 3-0.

In the European Championships they have met twice:

• First round, 1988: This tournament took place in Germany. In the opening match, the home team only managed a 1-1, with goals by Brehme and Mancini. Both Germany and Italy went on to the semifinal, where they lost to the Netherlands and USSR respectively.
• First Round, 1996: Another of their 0-0 matches. It was enough for Germany to win the group, while Italy was sqeezed out after losing to the surprising Czechs. Germany played the Czech Republic in the final and became European Champions.

With this said, what is my prediction for tonight? 0-0.

The game will be an absolute bore, so don't bother to watch until the penalty kicks, which Germany will win (and take their first ever win against the Italians in a World Cup).

World Cup Road trip

The first week of the World Cup I went on a one-week road trip with three Danish drunken football fanatics, on the dusty red roads of Western Africa. A true adventure, encompassing everything from wild treks, massive thuderstorms, corrupt policemen, murderous baboons, wild elephants, beautiful beaches and drunken Swedes. And in all this, World Cup football was the background music.

We left Accra on the second day of the World Cup on our way to Hohoe in the Western Region. We made it to Akosmobo for lunch, to watch England-Paraguay at the Continental, a posh four star hotel next to the Volta river. To our amazement, there was not TV there! No wonder there were no people either. A waitress quickly advised us to a small lodge next door, where we managed to watch it on a scratchy TV set. England won 1-0 on Gamarra´s own goal after a good free-kick by Bekcham. England had gotten started.

Late evening we arirved in Wli, near the Togolese border, and checked into the charming and beautiful Waterfall lodge. There was no TV, but a local boy took us into the village, where we peeked thorugh the door of a tiny house for Sweden’s surprising 0-0 tie with Trinidad-Tobago. It was a small black-and-white TV with horrible reception, and we felt like we were disturbing our otherwise very welcoming hosts.

We were informed that another lodge in the village had a TV and we hurried there: upcoming match was the all important Argentina-Ivory Coast! At the lodge we were told by a disappointed manager of the place that the TV was not working. This was ten minutes before the match, and urgency was pressing. Then my friend Henrik steeped in as a saving angel: “I’ll repair the TV!”. We had blind faith in his abilities, and rightly so; the TV was working five minutes later, and we saw an efficient Argentine side defeat the Ivorian debutants 2-1.

Wli is beautiful. People go to see the beautiful falls in the hilly green landscapes. We did the major hike to the upper falls – a hot but marvelous hike. We missed Netherlands 1-0 win over Serbia-Montenegro, but no problem. After a visit to a small farm in the afternoon, we were fresh and ready for a beer and Portugal-Angola. The game itself was a disappointment: I would have liked to see the Angolans give their former colonial masters a good beating. Instead, the Portuguese won 1-0 on an early Pauleta goal.

At this point, it had not been Africa’s World Cup. Ivory Coast and Angola had disappointed, and one could feel a lingering doubt in Ghanaians, ahead of their debut against Italy.

The day of the match we left Wli at 7 AM: we were to drive North via Yendi and Tamale, all the way to Mole. That was the plan, but being somehow in doubt about the condition of the road, we considered staying in Tamale. Our only aim was to find a place to watch the Ghana match.

The road was excellent (so much for lousy African roads...), and we were on very good time to Tamale. However, as often happens, a tire went flat… The change was a hot and dirty affair which lost us half an hour. Then we drove around Tamale searching for a replacement tire. This lost us almost an hour, at which point, we got increasingly worried about our arrival for the match. This meant a fast drive from Tamale to Mole. Carlos Saenz could hardly have done it better, as we made it to Mole, on the untarred Damongo road, in one and a half hour. We arrived at Mole hotel to hear that the Czech Republic had destroyed the USA 3-0, and had thus taken their first step as contenders to the title.
All of Ghana, including Mole hotel, was on the verge for the Ghana-Italy match. People were very excited, and nobody liked the Italians. As Danes, we were telling stories about “Snotti’s” spit in 2004, much to the enjoyment of the assembled crowd.

Ghana was naive however. The Italians did no more than what they always do: defend, let them come, and then score on counter-attack. This style has made Italy World Champions three times. The Ghanaians had not done their homework. In spite of a fine match, the Italians won 2-0. The mood was somber, although Ghana had played well. But with the Czech performance earlier, the next match would be hard indeed for Ghana.

In Mole National Park you can see many wild animals; mostly elephants. In the morning hike we saw herd upon herd of elephants. At the Mole hotel itself, baboons were annoyingly running near the rooms, just like many unnamed European football fans are doing in Germany…

The next day’s drive was a long affair: via Bole along the Ivory Coast border the road was horrible. It didn’t help much that we were caught by a biblical thunderstorm. The heavens opened like Ukraine’s defense… Spain-Ukraine was our next match: we stopped in Sunyani for lunch. Found a quite fancy hotel after the stressful drive, and had pizza while watching the Spanish have yet another excellent start to the World Cup. The Spanish youngsters destroyed the Ukranian debutants 4-0!

That evening, trying to avoid Kumasi, we got lost. And even more so, as we were trying to find the Ashanti holy lake, Bosumtwi, where we wanted to stay overnight. When we finally arrived, Germany-Poland had already started. The Germans were demanding a victory against a defensive and disappointing Polish side, that had started by losing 0-2 to Ecuador. Germanuy attacked with the tenacity that has always characterised German sides. In the 93rd minute, the dying seconds of the match, Oliver Neuville scored a deserved winner for the Germans. Deserved, because they were the better team – not because anyone outside Germany wanted them to win…

We continued to Cape Coast on a rainy afternoon. We wanted to visit the Castle, built by the British in 1665, it was the British colonial headquarter until 1850. However, we never visited the castle, due to the rains. Instead, we settled comfortably at the Castle restaurant next door to see Ecuador beat Coast Rica 3-0. Ecuador was thus qualified to the last-16 for the first time ever, and were displaying charming and entertaining football.

Late afternoon we arrived to Green Turtle Lodge, not far from Busua. England had just beaten Trinidad-Tobago 2-0 to go to the next round. Sweden was up next. We joined two Swedes to give our Danish support to the Scandinavians against Paraguay. The game was watched under palm trees on the beach, on a small solar-generator powered TV set. The Swedes were nervous. Their otherwise dangerous strikers Ibrahimovic and Larsson were not performing, and they were having a hard time against a defensive and plainly bad Paraguayan side. In the end, relief came to Sweden: A late header by Ljungberg gave them a needed 1-0 victory. The Swedes were delighted, and we celebrated till late.

The games the next day were watched on the beach, over games and drinks. I had eagerly been awaiting for Argentina-Serbia-Montenegro, but the match was not shown on Ghana TV. So I only heard later that Argentina had destroyed the Serbians 6-0. In spite of this, we watched the Netherlands against the Ivory Coast. We all supported the Ivorians, except for a quiet Dutch couple. Although the Ivorians played well, the Dutch were efficient and cold. It wasn’t deserved, but they won 2-1. In the evening, Mexico and Angola tied 0-0. The Angolans got their first point ever.

June 17th was the day of Ghana-Czech Republic. Could it be that the Ghanaians would defeat the amazing Czechs? It started good for Ghana, but bad for all of us at Green Turtle Lodge: the generator was broken… All were passionately helping to repair, or find an alternative solution. In the end, it was decided to connect the TV to the central solar generator, and then not have light in the evening. No matter what, we missed Ghana’s early opening goal. But we did not miss the excellent Ghanaian display. The Czechs were a shadow of themselves, while the Ghanaians were at their best. We were all delighted for Ghana’s 2-0 victory, although if anything, it was too small: it was obvious that to compete at this level, Ghana needed to be more efficient.

We would all have supported the USA against Italy, but couldn’t watch the match because of the generator. However, it ended 1-1, and all was up to Ghana itself before the last match of the group. But Ghana was a party and we were here!

The next day, I had to return to Accra after visiting the interesting Elmina Castle, and that was the end of the road trip. However, it was not the end of the World Cup, which I have continued to follow eagerly, although under more normal circumstances…

Watching football at Green Turtle

History repeating

I know Germany will be World Champion, because it is history repeating. Germany wins on penalties, England always loses. France always defeats Brazil in the World Cup, and Argentina never wins in Europe. Italy always gets far playing mediocre matches against small teams, and Spain always gets eliminated. Referees are always blamed for it all, and FIFA says they will change it for the next world cup. African teams always complain they were treated unfairly, while the Dutch always play mediocre with one of the most talented sides.

This World Cup is no surprise if you know your football history.

Europe Rules

I am going to be very unpopular for this posting. If I’d say “Africa rules”, I would be considered a culturally sensitive person, in touch with the always oppressed peoples. Saying Europe rules, I am considered a neo-colonial imperialist pig. But that said, it is true when it comes to football.

The continued discussion of Europe having to give World Cup spots away to Africa or Asia is absolutely ridiculous: Actually, with the performance of teams from outside Europe, I think Europe should be given four more spots in the next world cup: one from Africa, two from Asia, one from North- and Central America. The only non-Europeans in the tournament able to compete at highest level were Brazil and Argentina, and they were no match for France and Germany.
The World Cup belongs in Europe, and it will surely stay in Europe for many years to come.

The World Cup is over. The only thing that counted for me, was Brazil winning, so the Cup should not again go to boring European. It is the World against Europe, and Europe wins (as usual…).

Germany-Argentina

I had been having sympathy for the new skilled German team, coached by Klinsmann, who I always admired as a player. I guess I had been forgetting why nobody likes Germany in football. But fortunately, I was reminded to dislike them again after their victory over Argentina…
Someone must have complained in Germany that they were attacking and shooting too much. Because the Germans certainly returned to their roots: let the others play beautiful, have the ball, and just muscle through. The game was bad because Germany did not want to play football, and Argentina was unwilling to force a result.
In the end, German tenacity and luck won the match. That Abundazziri had to be substituted gave the match away to Germany – who even then were unable ot force a result. The Germans forced the penalties through, knowing that they haven never lost one, and would surely not lose it at home.
I am sure Germany will be world champions. I just hope they won’t.

Brazil-France World Cup clashes

On Saturday Brazil and France will play their fourth encounter in a World Cup. They have always played exciting matches, with France so far having won twice, and Brazil once. The matches have been the following:

• Semifinal, Sweden 1958: France had an extraordinary side with Raymond Koppa and Just Fontaine. The latter is still the player to have scored most goals in one World Cup, with 13 in this one year. In the semifinal however, they were up against one of the most legendary Brazilian sides of all time. Brazil won 5-2, and later became World Champion against Sweden. One young 17-year old Brazilian scored three goals to defeat the French: Pele.
• Quarterfinal, Mexico 1986: Brazil and France were filled with some of the World's most talented players, and in this quarterfinal played one of the most entertaining matches ever seen in a World Cup. It ended 1-1 in ordinary time, althoguh 5-5 would probably have been a more fair score. Legendary Brazilian Zico missed a penalty 10 minutes before the end of the match, and after extra time, France won on penalty kicks.
• Final, France 1998: France had never been World Champions until they hosted it this year. In the final they were to face the defending champions of 1994, Brazil, who had had a quite mediocre performance, but nevertheless made it to the final. However, the Brazilians were no match for the motivated Frenchmen, who crushed Brazil 3-0 in one of the most uninteresting finals of all time.

I am certain that the quarterfinal match on Saturday will be another for the history books. France is motivated after their win against Spain, while Brazil has been looking vulnerable until now. The game could go to either side.

The Great French

What distinguishes great teams through history, is that they win the right matches at the right time. Spain has never been a big team. But France has, and showed it again last night.

Walking into the match, Spain had three first round victories, while France had been mediocre to say the least, barely qualifying for the last-16 by defeating Togo. So all eyes were set on Spain, and the fact that this might be their year. It wasn't, even though David Villa brought the Spaniards ahead on a penalty kick. 3-1 for France was the end score, where Ribery, Vieira and Zidane took advantage of Spanish mistakes. It is amazing to see Spain, again and again losing in important tournaments, by being naive and unconcentrated.

Only pity is that Thierry Henry didn't score, so he could get back on Luis Aragones racist comments...

In any case, Brazil-France in the quarterfinal is another clash of titans, much more than a Brazil-Spain. So that is something to look forward to indeed!

Big guys beat the little guys

After the disappointment of seeing Ghana lose last night, I was having a beer at Duncan's Spot in Osu, when a loud Ghana fan came up to me and said: "The European teams are always favoured by the referees! That is why Brazil won!". I only wonder since when Brazil was in Europe....

Brazil's second goal was indeed off side. But in spite minor free-kick blunders, referee Lubos Michel is no explanation for Ghana's exit. Brazil was the better team, using two of their main assets, experience and pace, to defeat a charming but somewhat naive Ghana side. The Ghanaians blundered after 5 minutes, giving Ronaldo the chance to become the leading World Cup scorer of all time. This killed off the match. The Brazilians could after that moment stand back, let the Ghanaians play the ball around, get a few chances which they blew, and otherwise strike on their deadly counter-attacks. Brazil was never in danger of losing the match; they didn't even out-stretch themselves.

Ghana should still be proud. It is not often a World Cup debutant progresses to the second round, and a game against Brazil is always bound to end this way. Now Ghana has World Cup experience, and will hopefully make it to South Africa in 2010! Can't wait to see them there!

Thank you, Black Stars.

It will be difficult for Ghana

It will likely be a victory for Brazil. I find it hard to believe that Ghana can outperform the Brazilian World Champions, although the amazing optimism of the Ghanaians is quite catchy. Ghanaians seem sure that God will be with them, and that "they will score Brazil"! This is certainly in starch contrast to the pessimism the Ghanaians displayed after their pathetic exit of the Africa's Cup in February, when they were saying that they shouldn't even send a team to Germany, and that Dujkovic should be fired…

But without Michael Essien, and being a debutant at the World Cup, Brazil is an awfully big mouthful. Ghana cannot afford to commit a single mistake - something they have been doing in every match, in spite of winning them. Furthermore, the Ghanaian is a very young team. If Brazil scores a fast goal, their natural optimism may turn into desperate inexperience, and things may go very wrong...

On the other hand, the Brazilians are bound to underestimate Ghana (although Coach Parreira has once been Ghana national coach, in the 1960's...) and a quick Ghanaian goal might start off an exciting match, just like the good fight Denmark gave Brazil in the 1998 quarterfinal.

Although a Ghanaian victory would be great, I just can't see it happening. Accra will surely go crazy if it happens! But I just hope Ghana will give the Brazilians a great fight!

Yawn!!!

Italy-Australia and Switzerland-Ukraine get the price for the most amazingly boring matches in this World Cup, and certainly score high on the list of all-time most boring matches. What a waste of time!

Italy played boring as usual, and even one man up, the Australians were as much a threat as a lazy koala. In the end, the Italians had their usual luck, scoring on a non-existant penalty, properly taken care of by "Snotti".

Switzerland has become the first team ever to be eliminated from the World Cup, without conceding a single goal. Don't know how much I'd be proud of that one after last night. I counted two chances in the whole match, including extra time! And the Ukranians were no better, pointelssly playing the ball around. I have no idea how deserved it was for the Ukranians to win, but the fact is, that the Swiss certainly do not aim like Wilhelm Tell.

Italy-Ukraine are playing their quarterfinal next Friday evening. Another bore probably - I can't wait to be doing something else...

By the way, below is a very accurate description of the Australia-Italy game (courtesy of http://users.on.net/~billt/italianjob.gif):

Great Quarterfinals

The first matches of the last-16 were played this weekend. Germany was excellent against a tame Swedish side, although they only won 2-0. Sweden has really been one of the most over-estimated side of the torunament, and will hardly be missed.

Argentina-Mexico was as expected, a difficult match for the Argentinians. The Mexicans, who have not been very impressive, put up a good match against Argentina, who was somewhat disappointing. However, Maxi Rodriguez gave Argentina the victory with a stunning strike! One of the best goals of the tournament.

Now, we will get a classic clash in the quarterfinal: Germany-Argentina! Not only is is a repeat of the 1986 and 1990 World Cup finals, but it is also a game between two of the favourites for the title. It is an encounter every football fan will wait for. And I hope Argentina prevails...

England was again not impressive against little Ecuador, although winning a narrow 1-0. Two things saved England: Ashley Cole's tackle in the first half, and David Beckham's great free-kick. As before, England needs to play much better if they are to hope to defeat any of the big teams.

Portugal-Netherlands was a true knock-out drama, ending in disgrace for both teams. Netherlands confirmed that in spite of many great players, they have not managed to pull a team together at all - making you wonder about Dutch football. The Portuguese won, but it was a hard won victory, ending in disgrace: two red cards for each game, and Portugal will be missing Deco, Costinha and Cristiano Ronaldo against England. In spite of this, England-Portugal promises to be another drama, a repeat of their quarterfinal clash in the 2004 European Championship, where Portugal won a dramatic victory after penalty kicks.

The best thing for now about this World Cup, is that we are getting these huge classic encounters in the quarterfinals. Already a Spain-France tomorrow, and possibly a Brazil-Spain in the quarterfinals! This is football for giants!

Ronaldo's 14th World Cup goal

Ronaldo has been highly criticized lately, and he is certainly not such a potent striker as he used to be. In spite of this, he can still score goals. In last night's Brazilan win against a rather tame Japanese side, Ronaldo scored two goals. With that, he has now scored 14 goals in World Cups (1998 and 2002 included), equalizing legendary Gerd Muller's 14 goal all-time record. With only one more goal, Ronaldo will place himself firmly on top of the all-time scorers list.

Well done Mr. Ronaldo!