Qualified for Brazil

The participants for the World Cup are ready, and there is an excellent list of participants for what could be the most exciting World Cup for decades. The draw of the groups will be on December 6th, but here is a little pre-estimate of the teams:

Europe:

• Spain: No matter what people say they are the favourites to win the title. Indeed, they are not the same as four years ago, and there may be a little fatigue in a side that has won it all. Nevertheless, they have become a team that know to pace themselves in competition. Only a few teams will be able to match them, and they need to hope Spain has a bad day (like when Brazil won the Confederations Cup).
• Portugal: It would be a great loss for the World Cup if Cristiano Ronaldo did not play in it. And indeed, he almost single-handedly brought Portugal to Brazil, and will be important in carrying them far.
• France: Classified in the last game with a good 3-0 victory over Ukraine in spite numerous difficulties along the way. While it is impossible to deny the talent of French football, the national team has been hugely disappointing for a long time now. Frank Ribery will be hugely important to carry them forward, but I doubt they will do anything memorable.
• England: The last World Cup in Brazil was also historic for England, who were brought down by little USA. This time expectations will not be as high as back then, and England will be more humble. But do not count humility to get them far either.
• Belgium: One of the dark horses of the World Cup, with one of the most exciting young teams in the world right now. While they may play some great matches and could cause some serious upsets, it is doubtful they can go all the way. Will be nice to see them go far though.
• Netherlands: As always they will enter the tournament as favourites, having been awesome in qualification. Still, they have always had difficulties, just like in 2012 in Ukraine, and while they have the capacity to go all the way, it remains to be seen.
• Germany: Surely will be a favourite to win the tournament with an excellent and organized side; one of the best of the world.
• Switzerland: The Swiss have a solid side of many strong players but qualified from what many considered an easy group (ahead of Iceland). Still, due to their results over the last years they will be seeded in the highest group, where many will look to face them. But care must be taken not to underestimate them (remember Spain in 2012...?).
• Italy: Was strong in qualification in a weak group. The side under Prandelli is more offensive and is surely to be reckoned with, although not many will think them likely to take the title.
• Croatia: Qualified in the play-offs against Iceland after trailing Belgiun in the qualifying group. They are not as strong as in former years.
• Greece: A strong and organized defense took them to the World Cup after a play-off match against Romania. Greece is not going to be World Champion in Brazil.
  
• Bosnia-Hercegovina: The only first-timer in the 2014 World Cup. They won their group ahead of Greece, and will surely want to proudly show their flag in Brazil.
• Russia:Won their group perhaps a bit surprising ahead of Portugal when the Portuguese could not defeat Israel at home. The side is coached by the almost-legendary Fabio Capello, and it will be very interesting to see what they can do in Brazil.

North America and the Caribbean:

• USA: After a bit shaky start they profited well from the results in the CONCACAF qualification zone to win the group and qualify directly.
• Honduras: After defeating the USA and tying Mexico at the start of qualification Honduras fell somehow behind until they stunned Mexico by defeating them 1-2 in Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, a match that put them well-deserved in a world cup position.
• Costa Rica: Winning all their home matches in "la hexagonal" was what effectively put Costa Rica in their fourth World Cup. I have fond memories of Costa Rica from their 1990 participation where they stunned the world.
• Mexico: One of the most difficult qualification campaigns ever for Mexico: it started in the first stage with five players being suspended for doping, and then they struggle in "la hexagonal"  where their formerly impregnable home stadium Azteca was suddenly not so impregnable. After losing at home to Honduras coach Chepo de la Torre was fired, and Mexico just managed to get the fourth spot and a play-off match against New Zealand. Here, Mexico made no doubt that they belong in Brazil, winning 9-3 on aggregate.

Africa:

• Ivory Coast: The Ivorians again go to a World Cup with one of the strongest African sides, even with an ageing Didier Drogba. Still, it will be wonderful to see the veteran in Brazil.
• Ghana: Ghana is in their third World Cup in a row, and after destroying the strong Egyptians in the qualification play-off, the Black Stars will also be a team to watch, and perhaps again keep the African hopes alive.
• Algeria: Were lucky to qualify in the end with their play-off against Burkina Faso. Algeria will always get sympathy since they were cheated in the World Cup of 1982, but still, I think I would have loved to see Burkina Faso in Brazil.
• Cameroun: The legendary Cameroonians made no doubt they wanted to be in Brazil when they trounced Tunisia 4-1 in their last play-off match. It will be their seventh World Cup and hopefully the legendary Samuel Eto'o will be there one last time.
• Nigeria: The African champions had no major problems qualifying, even defeating a good Ethiopian side in the play-offs. They will be under pressure to do well in Brazil from their expectant fans after not having done well in the latest World Cups.

South America:

• Brazil: Brazil is under huge pressure and expectations to win the World Cup, and they are surely favourites. It has helped that they now have Felipe Scolari as coach, who is the one man who may lead the Brazilians beyond the pressure to success. Together with Spain, they are the favourites.
• Colombia: A likeable and strong team, Jose Pekerman has an important challenge in trying to tie together his offensive players in the most efficient manner. While Colombia may be a dark horse for the title, I think their defense weaknesses and the enormous pressure their fans always puts on them, will likely prove their demise.
• Chile: Because of its attractive playing style Chile is likely to win even more friends in Brazil than they did in South Africa. Also, the side looks even stronger, making Chile another of the sides to watch out for in Brazil.
• Argentina: While they apparently have some of the best attacking power in the world, Argentina does not look to be an unbeatable side. Coach Alejandro Sabella has himself admitted that they are weak in defense, and denied that Argentina is a favourite. I agree.
• Ecuador: They started well in qualification but foundered a bit towards the end, although their participation never really looked threatened.
• Uruguay: They had some problems in qualification, and at one point their participation looked unlikely. But towards the end they came back strongly, with some of their excellent strikers putting up strong performances to give them a play-off match against Jordan. There was really no contest when Uruguay destroyed the Jordanians in Amman. Last time Uruguay played a World Cup in Brazil they won it in front of an astonished Maracana Stadium. While they may not win it again, their participation in Brazil is one of the most necessary ones for the tournament.

Asia:

• Japan: The Japanese were the first side to qualify to Brazil, where they will surely have many fans following them, something that will give them extra energy. They did well in South Africa and are bound to do well in Brazil.
• South Corea: Perhaps not as strong as before, but still the most consistent team from Asia, having participated in every World Cup since 1986.
• Australia: Now part of the Asian qualification Australia had little trouble qualifying behind Japan in their group. This will be their third consecutive World Cup.
• Iran: Qualified well by winning the second round group ahead of South Corea and Uzbekistan to make it to their fourth World Cup.

Ronaldo to Brazil

In a previous post I asked who I would rather see walking down Copacabana: a Portuguese or a Swede? This was partly because I was afraid of asking whether Ronaldo or Ibrahimovic would be best in te World Cup.

I am not afraid of comparing any more. While it will be a pity that Ibrahimovic (who scored two goals tonight), it would be a much greater pity to miss Cristiano Ronaldo, who at the moment, together with Frank Ribery, is the best player in the world, far better than the little Argetinean, who is becoming more of a boring soap opera star.

Who would have thought...?

With three goals tonight it was Cristiano Ronaldo who took Portugal to Brazil. Portugal often annoys me me because they become cocky, and lose matches against worse teams. They may do the same in Brazil, but if they keep their head cold and with a magical Ronaldo, Portugal could well conquer the world in their former colony...

Saved by the USA

Mexico has for decades been the leading footballing nation in North America. But over the last ten years, the USA, their neighbour from the north, with all the historical and social ties that bind them and separate them, has also become the arch-rivals of Mexico on the football pitch. In spite of the USA's massive advances, Mexico has also enjoyed success, taking the Gold Cup title in 2009 and 2011, and taking Olympic goal in 2012. But in 2013 Mexico has surely been surpassed by the USA, who took the Gold Cup title, and was by far the best in World Cup qualification, becoming the first CONCACAF nation to qualify. In the meantime, Mexico was struggling for a play-off match as they suffered to get points, most notably losing to Honduras in the intimidating Estadio Azteca for the first time ever.
Soon, Honduras and Costa Rica were set to join the USA, while Mexico was bound to dispute the play-off match with Panama. They did well last weekend when they defeated Panama at home, but in their last match Mexico lost 2-1 to Costa Rica, and thus had to hope that Panama did not defeat an already qualified USA side, who went to Panama with many of its reserves.
With the 90 minutes gone Panama were 2-1 up, and heading to a play-off match with New Zealand.
But alas, the US Cavarly came to the rescue of the beleaguered Mexicans in the 91st minute: first Graham Zusi and then Aron Johannsson (both to become national heroes in Mexico, with a few rancheras named after them) scored for the USA to give them a victory, a cold shower for the Panamanians, and a lifeline to the beleaguered Mexicans.
Mexico has been poor to say they least; while they surely be favourites against New Zealand, they should not take it for granted, as New Zealand can surely take out the Mexicans on a good day. And this time, there will be no USA around to help the Mexicans!

Ghana... GHANA!

I was unable to watch Ghana-Egypt today, as I was still in the office, but was following a live feed of the match as goals were pouring in. Egypt, 2010 African champions and the only African nation to go through a clean sheet in the first round of qualifying seem to have been no match for Ghana!

But let us face the real World Cup facts: only one of these two nations belong in Brazil, and that is Ghana. Twice beloved in 2006 and 2010 for their World Cup participation, Ghana is a nation that embodies the best of African football: discipline, physical strength, technical skills, and not least, the best fans in the world. 

What about Egypt? World Cup participants in 1934 and 1990, winners in Africa many times, but without the stamina to qualify to World Cups. And what are their fans known for...?

No, Ghana belongs in Brazil, and I am more than delighted that they so thoroughly crushed the Egyptians today!

Ethiopia can only hope

I went to an Ethiopian restaurant near my place in Monrovia to watch the World Cup play-off between Ethiopia and Nigeria in Addis Abbaba. The atmosphere was good as I noticed a cautious optimism among the Ethiopians in the restaurant. And this optimism only increased in the first half as Ethiopia played excellent and entertaining football to pressure the African champions. They even had a goal disallowed which in my view had crossed the line (there is no goal-line technology in Africa, and it will remain controversial, but I think Saladin Said's shot was across the line), and were largely the better team in the first half.
In the second half Ethiopia went ahead 1-0 on one of the strangest goals I have seen: Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyaema misjudged a pretty bad cross, and when catching the ball he seemed to cross the goal-line. It is as unclear as the first half goal, but this time the goal was awarded.
This made Nigeria wake up, and Emmanuel Emenike equalized with a great strike, where, if anything, the Ethiopian defense gave him too much space. And that is what may make Nigeria a great side: they score on their chances in spite of not playing better.
Ethiopia clearly stopped believing after this. In the restaurant where I watched the match it was clear that the cautious optimism turned to disappointment, and that also seemed to be what happened in Addis Abbaba. In fact, they never really believed they could do it, and the rest of the match they showed no danger to the Nigerian goal. On the other hand, in the last minute Nigeria was awarded a penalty which Emmanuel Emenike scored on, and gave Nigeria a victory. The next match will be in one month in Nigeria. I cannot believe that Ethiopia has much of a chance there, where Nigeria is is almost certain to win a spot in their fifth World Cup.
It is great that the African Champions are going to Brazil, but it is impossible not to feel a little sad for the Ethiopian side. With a largely home-based squad they play very entertaining football, valuing speed and technical quality much more than the overly tactical sides of today (Like Nigeria!). It is surely a bit naive, but it would be fantastic to have a team like that in Brazil next year, if anything, to add a little spice to the tournament.

Intensity in Ouagadogou

I just had the pleasure to watch the first leg of the African Play-off World Cup qualifier between Burkina Faso and Algeria. After Burkina Faso's sensational runner-up spot at the Africa Cup of Nations, they are now looking to qualify for their first World Cup ever. The Algerians are an experienced side who have already been to three World Cups, and are probably still favourites with their many young players plying their trade in leagues such as the Italian, French and Spanish.
In the first half things looked good for Burkina Faso when they got a correct penalty, but Aristide Bance missed it. However, in the last minute of the first half Jonathan Pitroipa, who plays in Rennes in France, brought the Burkinabes ahead 1-0 on an elegant header. In the second half Sofiane Feghouli equalized for Algeria, before Djakaridja Kone brought happiness back to the Burkina fans. But poor defending signified another equalizer for Algeria by Carl Medjani.
In the last minutes of the match Burkina Faso was awarded a highly controversial penalty. Watford defender Essaid Belkalem was penalized for a handball in the area, but on TV it could clearly be seen that it was not a handball, and he even seemed to be outside the area.
It would perhaps have been more fair if Aristide Bance had missed his shot this time, but on his second try he did not, and his goal gave Burkina Faso a 3-2 narrow victory and took the a step closer to Brazil.  However, be sure that on 19th November, the Algerians will give a hellish welcome in Algeria. I hope the Burkinabes make it, but I think I would put my money on the Algerians.

Epic Colombian qualification

A tie at home against Chile was enough for Colombia to qualify for their first World Cup since 1998. So there was a festive mood in Barranquilla, where Colombia has been awesome during this qualification campaign, and perhaps it was some of the reason that the Colombian team seemed to forget that they had to play the match before celebrating. Withing 30 minutes they were 0-3 down against an efficient Chilean side that seems likely to make it to Brazil.
Barranquilla was quiet, but Pekerman, the Argentinean coach of Colombia, must have spoken harsh to his players at half-time, as they came out with renewed attitude and attacking prowess. It took a harsh red card to Chile's Carlos Carmona, a strike by Teofilo Gutierrez and two penalty goals by Radamel Falcao to seal an epic comeback and a deserved spot in Brazil 2014.
That said, Colombia will suffer from the enormous pressure by the hugely expectant and critical Colombian fans, who can be as passionately unforgiven and cruel to their players as they can support them with emotion when they win. Few teams in the world face the kind of pressure Colombian players face, and this will probably be their downfall in Brazil next year, in spite of me hoping the opposite.
At least this time they will be able to blame it all on an Argentinean coach.

In spite of it all, Colombia's star players and excellent style of play are one of the teams that simply belong in Brazil next year, as the World Cup would not be the same without Colombia.

An anticipated elimination

I watched Denmark's match against Italy today somewhat reluctantly. There were other interesting matches at the same time, but with Armenia's victory against Bulgaria, Denmark had, against all odds, a chance for second place in their world qualifying group and perhaps even a play-off match. And I did not regret it: I got emotionally into the match as Denmark equalized Italy's lead, and even went ahead 2-1 in the second half, on two goals by the drunk-driving returnee Nicklas Bendtner. But alas, in the last seconds of the match Italy made it 2-2, and Denmark's sudden dream of a World Cup spot were suddenly shattered.
Suddenly, because they were never really there: two ties against Bulgaria, and an epic 0-4 home defeat to Armenia were the reasons that Denmark did not qualify, and in spite of the emotions of today's match, they had little to do with Italy's late equalizer. In fact, I had the sense that Italy's reserve side could have scored at will, in spite of Denmark second-half dominance. All Danish fans have to face the fact that Denmark is simply not good enough for a World Cup this time round. It is as simple as that. The return of Nicklas Bendtner could not have been more positive, with him scoring two goals. That said, it is still with regret that one looks at a player that has clearly wasted his talent, but he is surely the best striker Denmark has, which just goes to show the very low quality of strikers produced in Denmark...
Italy wins the group, and the second placed side of this group seems unlikely to get a play-off match, which also tells you of the low quality of the group.

Belgium to Brazil

Belgium have qualified to the 2012 World Cup in Brazil with a 1-2 away victory to Croatia on two goals by Everton's Romelu Lukaku (he is in fact on loan from Chelsea, and frankly he is far better than any striker Chelsea has). The victory against their closest rivals in the World Cup qualifying group (whcih also counts Wales, Macedonia, Scotland and Serbia) seals their superiority in a group where they were far superior to their rivals, as well as an extraordinary climb on the FIFA world rankings over the last few years, where they are now in the top-10.

Belgium's return to the World Cup is not only great for Belgian fans (or for fans of Belgian football, of whom I count myself as one), but also for football fans in general: Belgium's rise over the last few years under coach Marc Wilmots (who does not remember his extraordinary bycicle kick goalagainst Japan in the 2012 World Cup?) is the result of targeted work with young players, many of whom are now plying their trade in the Premier League. Besides Lukaku, some players worth mention are Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Kevin de Bruyne (Chelsea), Moussa Dembele (Tottenham), Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United) or Christian Benteke (Aston Villa). There are many more young talents, but these are also complemented by strong and more experienced players such as Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal) and Daniel Van Buyten (Bayern Munich). With this Belgium has achieved a near-perfect balance before the world cup. Many may even mention them as outsider candidates, but that may be going too far for such a young team. No matter that, they can surely defeat any team, and they will be truly exciting to watch in Brazil!

And on top of it all, it gives us all an excuse to say cheers in good Belgian beer! Cheers!

African World Cup Play-offs

The African World Cup Play-off draw has led to the following clashes:

• Ethiopia-Nigeria
• Ghana-Egypt
• Ivory Coast-Senegal
• Tunisia-Cameroun
• Burkina Faso-Algeria

The exciting newcomers from Ethiopia will have to play their best against Nigeria's African champions, while Ghana and Egypt will be an epic clash between two of the strongest footballing nations in Africa. Burkina Faso will also have to play their best to make it to their first World Cup ever, but it does not look impossible against Algeria.
First leg will be on October 11th to 15th!

Zambia out

It is difficult not to like Zambia, but almost impossible not to love Ghana. So today it was a difficult match to watch as one of the teams would surely be going out of the World Cup. Ghana was at home to a Zambian side that had to win, and that was a bit too much for the visitors, who went away with a 2-1 defeat, and are out of the World Cup.
Ghana are now winners of their World Cup qualifying group, and will be continuing to the knock-out round, where Africa's five participants for Brazil 2014 will be found. It will be thrilling, as it will see some sides that surely belong in the World Cup: Algeria and Egypt are already certain, together with Ghana.
But for now, one step closer for Ghana, which is impossible not to be supporting!