The Great Alphonse Davies

The Budumburam refugee camp in Ghana was a refuge for thousands and thousands refugees from Liberia, who fled the bloody civil war that destroyed the country in the 1990s and early 2000s. The squalid conditions of the camp were better than the utter destruction that the Liberians had fled, and many stayed in the camp for years, even decades, trying on the one hand to move somewhere else, or on the other hand to create a new life in Ghana. 

In 2000 a baby was born in the camp’s basic clinic run by UNHCR. The baby’s parents had fled the violence of Monrovia, and had applied for asylum in North America. The little family nevertheless stayed five year at Budumburum before being able to relocate to Canada and start a new life. 

The little boy, Alphonso Davies, would go on to be the youngest player to sign an MLS contract, the youngest player to debut and score on the Canadian national team, and the scorer of Canada’s first World Cup goal ever. He was signed by mighty Bayern Munich where he became the first Canadian to win the Champions League. Widely hailed as one of the best left-backs in the world, Alphonso Davies life started in the most difficult conditions imaginable, but he brought glory to his adopted country.

The Aftermaths

The aftermath of both tournaments has started, firstly with Gareth Southgate stepping down as England manager. He is undoubtedly the most successful English Manager having taken England to the 2018 World Cup semifinals, to the 2021 Euro final, and to these 2024 Euro finals.

Yet Gareth Southgate was widely criticized, justly in my view, for his defensive and cautious style, as well as team selection (for instance insisting on Harry Kane this tournament). That said, these results speak for themselves for a country that had hardly achieved anything since 1966, and despite the criticism I think it will be difficult to follow in the footsteps of Mr. Southgate.

Spain's victory in the tournament was well-deserved, and one can hope that the only side that did not focus on only defending will inspire the many other sides who most often chose to defend than to attack. In this regard it was in my view one of the most boring tournaments in history, not helped by a poor refereeing that was just helped along by VAR.

Finally, as so many tournaments, passions were too high, both at the Euro, but certainly at the Copa America, where a shameful organization culminated in a final where the organizers, US and CONMEBOL, seemed on the one hand to not understand what football means for Latin Americans (in case of the North Americans), and on the other hand a CONMEBOL that prioritized making money and having pictures with Shakira.

This dreadful organization is at a country that will host next World Cup....

But otherwise it was also a boring tournament with defensive sides, and an Argentine side that won in majorly on routine and cold-bloodiness, while Colombia played entertaining football, but simply lacked mentality to win (they basically also lacked mentality to lose). The most positive thing about the tournament was sadly Canada who played a good 2-2 match for third place with Uruguay, but ended losing at penalties after Luis Suarez had equalized in the last second of the match.

I say sadly, because it is of course good to have a new strong side in North America, but sad because in terms of football Canada provides nothing new, but plays a defensive, controlled tactical game that is choking the entertainment value of football.

So these tournaments were another step towards the inevitable demise of national team football. At least we still have the club game, in particular the Champions League, for intense and good football, as well as avoiding the horrible specter of nationalism, xenophobia and racism that increasingly seems to be what national team football has going for it.

Copa America 2024 Semifinals

Copa America 2024 has reached the semifinals, and my cat Whisky is still an excited sellout on all the teams that will play:

Canada	Argentina
Uruguay	Colombia

Canada, the only CONCACAF team left are surely the surprise in their first semifinal ever and will face the World and defending Copa America Champions of Argentina in the semifinals. Canada, who have only scored two ordinary goals in the tournament, already lost 0-2 to Argentina in their opening match, and if they manage to win, it will surely be one of the greatest upsets in the history of the game.

In the meantime Uruguay and Colombia are facing one another in a semifinal that is harder to predict. Colombia, led by a resuscitated James Rodriguez, is going through their longest streak of not losing ever, and are the most scoring team of the tournament after crushing Panama 5-0. In the meantime Uruguay is coming from three straight victories in the first round, and eliminating (no longer so) mighty Brazil in the quarterfinals on penalty kicks.

What we are hoping mostly is that the sides won't defend to much, and give one another some great matches. 

And despite of what my cat says, I hope for an Argentina-Colombia final!

Copa America 2024

More great football as the European championship continues underway, as Copa America started last night with the World Champions of Argentina defeating Canada 2-0 in the opening match. Argentina are also defending Copa America Champions, and are eager to retake the title. The sixteen participating teams (ten from CONMEBOL and six from CONCACAF) are distributed as follows:

Group A:

• Argentina
• Canada
• Peru
• Chile

Group B:

• Mexico
• Ecuador
• Venezuela
• Jamaica

Group C:

• USA
• Uruguay
• Panama
• Bolivia

Group D:

• Brazil
• Colombia
• Panama
• Costa Rica

It paints to be an exciting tournament running in parallel with the Euros.

Morocco repeating history

In 1986 Morocco were the first African team that were group winners in a World Cup. They won the group ahead of three European nations (England, Poland and Portugal). Although Morocco were eliminated by a rather disgusting and foul West German side in the last-16, they were pioneers of the era when African teams were to be reckoned with (Cameroun and Algeria had already warned about this in 1982). 

That is why it is so great that Morocco has again won a World Cup group, and again ahead of two European powerhouses, Croatia and Belgium; the latter ranked number 2 in the world, and surely never expected to be out to Morocco! 

All Morocco needed in their last match was to defeat the already-eliminated Canadians to win the group, and 25 minutes into the match were already ahead 2-0 on goals by the great Hakim Ziyech and Sevilla's Youssef En-Nesyri. Although they did suffer after an own-goal by  Nayef Aguerd, the score held (with a bit of luck), and as Croatia tied the hapless Belgians (surely the end of the golden generation), Morocco were group winners and a delight for Africa and the world!

Morocco will face Spain in what will be a clash to look forward to. Not only neighboring countries with close relations, but also many Moroccan players who play in Spain and know Spain well, such as PSG's Achraf Hakimi (born in Madrid and came through Real Madrid's youth academy), Sevilla's goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, or Osasuna's Abde Ezzalzouli (who has come through Barcelona's youth). 

Spain are surely favourites, but Morocco has shown that they are a strong and competitive side that does well against European sides that underestimate them. Spain would be wrong to underestimate a team that seems to be riding on a wave!

The best and the worst after two games for each team

Things are taking shape, more or less, in this World Cup; some teams are out, some are in, but many more have a lot to play for as we enter the last matches of the group stages.

This is a personal list of what I have liked and disliked in the tournament so far:

• Best team: Brazil! After many years during which Brazilian football had lost its way (culminating in the infamous 1-7 defeat to Germany) the Brazilians under Tite are now back with a solid and technically skilled side that so far has defeated two complicated and defensive European sides, Serbia and Switzerland. There is a lot of tournament ahead, but Brazil is more and more looking like the side to beat (alongside France and Portugal perhaps).
• Best goal: Richarlison against Serbia. No doubt, and showing the quality that Brazil has
• Worst side: Qatar. Not only should they never have been hosts, but they are also poor in footballing terms, showing nothing on the pitch and with fans who leave before the end of the match. Nobody will cry their elimination. Perhaps Costa Rica were worse against Spain, but they lifted themselves up at least
• Darlings: Canada. Impossible not to love the young Canadians who put up great matches against Belgium and Croatia, but are out nevertheless. However, the world will love to see them again. Of the teams that are still in the tournament, Ecuador are perhaps the darlings to watch
• Dark horses: Morocco and Ecuador. Two great sides that have pulled some excellent results, so hard to choose between them. Ecuador should have defeated the Netherlands, and have a thriller ahead against Senegal, while Morocco has tied Croatia and defeated the mighty Belgians, and with Canada left, they may win the group
• Biggest Surprise: Morocco, because they appear likely to win the group. But one should also add Saudi Arabia, due to their result against Argentina, but we are still to see whether it was a one-off and whether they are able to make it through
• Biggest Disappointment: In a hard contest I pick Belgium. They were lucky against Canada and had little to offer against Morocco, so it is the end of an era for the Belgians who I think are on their way out. They may be followed by other disappointing sides like Germany, Wales, South Corea, Denmark and Uruguay
• Best players: So many, but to mention a few (including some players to watch) Hakim Ziyech, Kylian Mbappé, Alphonse Davies, Enner Valencia, Pedri, Casemiro, Aurelien Tchouameni, Richarlison, Bruno Fernandes, Wojciech Szczesny

Still a lot to watch, and the list will surely change as the tournament progresses.

Canada out, Morocco in

 Canada has been a joy to watch in this World Cup; led by Alphone Davies they have a young and talented side, and mark my words: this is not the last we will have heard of Canada.

Against Croatia the Canadians were up against a great side that kept their cool after Davies' shock opener, and through Andrej Kramaric and Marko Livaja managed to turn a difficult match around, with Lovro Majer making it 4-1 in injury time in a too-large victory. 

Croatia are serious about this tournament, and may reach as far as they did in 2018.

Canada were very unlucky to lose 0-1 to Belgium. Belgium's performance appears to not have been a one-off, and today a great Moroccan side were superior to the famous Belgians. Morocco went ahead on a free kick goal by Abdelhamid Sabiri (and Courtois did not look too good either), while Zakaria Aboukhlal made it 0-2 in injury time. Hakim Ziyech was simply fantastic and is certainly a player that can carry Morocco very far in this tournament.

I was recently in Morocco, and can imagine the partying in that football-crazy nation!

Morocco can take first place in the group with a victory over Canada (it will not be easy!), while Belgium is forced to win against a Croatia that looks far stronger than Belgium. It appears unlikely, and it may be that elimination in the first round of this World Cup will be the end of Belgium's golden generation of players.

Now that every team has played

The first round of the World Cup is over, so it is a good time to assess what has been good and bad, and what teams are worth looking out for.

• Qatar: besides the fact that they should never have had the World Cup, they are a poor footballing nation, and hopefully will be out in the first round
• Netherlands: defeated Africa's best side, Senegal, and for that they should be counted on. Another test will be against an Ecuadorian side that is stronger than was expected
  
• England: their 6-2 win over Iran was noteworthy, and surely they must be counted as candidates. But at the same time it was a strange match with political overtones and an injury, so England must still be tested against stronger opposition
• Argentina: a sensational loss to Saudi Arabia does not necessarily mean they are out; in 2010 Spain opened by losing to Switzerland and went on to win the entire thing. However, an Argentina led my Messi appears to lack this kind of stamina, and the side also shows weaknesses in defense that will prove good for opposition
• France: despite the absence of some of their key players the defending World Champions are looking to defend their title. France has star quality substitutes in every position, and although they were up against a quite primitive Australian side they will probably face little problems in overcoming Denmark and Tunisia to win the group
• Belgium: one of the favourites undeservedly won against a fantastic Canadian side, and should therefore still be considered favourites. Canada will be interesting to follow though, and could easily become the darlings of the tournament if they pull good results in their coming matches
• Spain: after their trashing 7-0 of Costa Rica they are surely one of the candidates for the title. But although they played well, it was against a very cheap background: Costa Rica's match must stand as one of the worst performances of any team in World Cup history. Spain will get far I think, but will be tested against better teams
• Germany: Their loss to Japan was a surprise, but not a huge one. Germany cannot win by name alone, and everyone seems to have forgotten that four years ago they lost to South Corea, In my view Hansi Flick made a tactical error when withdrawing Musiala and Gundogan, giving all initiative to the Japanese, who knew Germany well (most players play in German clubs). That said, Germany has slow defenders, something that will make them suffer against bigger teams. I expect Spain to defeat them, and Germany may likely be on the way out
• Japan: they have been improving over the past two decades; anyone who has watched football should know this, and nobody seems to recall four years ago when they defeated Colombia and almost eliminated the mighty Belgians in one of the best matches of that tournament. Anyone who is surprised about Japan should simply shut up and stop watching.
• Brazil: They passed their test against a defensive and disciplined Serbian side winning 2-0 in a match where Richarlison scored what is the best goal of the tournament so far. They overcame a difficult match, and with few visible weaknesses are, in my view, the favourites to take the title after the first round of games.

 Of course, as in any World Cup, many things can and will happen. Teams will improve, others will decay.

Things decided in CONCACAF

 El Salvador had no chances to qualify following their recent tie with Jamaica, so in today's qualifier against Costa Rica they had only honour to play for as I went to cheer for them in a lovely sunny afternoon in San Salvador.

Costa Rica did not seem like a team that had a World cup spot to play for, but at the same time their experienced players gave the Salvadoran defense problems, and Costa Rica were leading 1-2 at halftime on goals by Anthony Contreras and Joel Campbell, that most of all exposed Salvadoran defensive mistakes. At the same time Costa Rica let El Salvador play the ball around, but without getting really dangerous, except when Cristian Gil Hurtado was excellently played into scoring position to pass Keylor Navas.

Second half was poor: Costa Rica defended and spent time, while El Salvador continued playing the ball around, but seldomly getting really dangerous.

The victory puts Costa Rica in the top four for CONCACAF, and they may still get third spot if El Salvador manages to take points from Mexico. 

In the meantime the long expected qualification of Canada was confirmed as they trashed Jamaica 4-0 at home (they lost their first match in qualification last week to Costa Rica), and it will be interesting to see if they can continue their regional success at the world stage, 36 years after their previous World Cup in 1986 (from which I have an anecdote for another blog-post).

In the meantime congratulations to the four teams from CONCACAF, and for El Salvador, they have to continue growing, and should have a chance at the next World Cup.

 

 

El Salvador-Canada

Two days ago I was among the Salvadoran fans supporting their team in their last attempts to qualify for the World Cup as they were facing the team of the moment in CONCACAF, Canada. 

Despite the stadium not being full, the passionate fans created a great atmosphere, but in the first fifteen minutes the atmosphere did not help the home team as Canada dominated with a high pressure, and were only prevented from scoring due to a couple of great saves by the FAS goalkeeper Kevin Carabantes. But slowly the Salvadorans worked themselves into the match, and when it reached halftime the score was a deserved 0-0.

Second half started well for El Salvador who was putting more pressure on the Canadians, although they were missing obvious chances. During one excellent attack Bryan Tamacas was taken down in the Canadian area in what I considered a clear penalty (and after seeing it on TV I still consider it a clear penalty where the Canadian defender never touched the ball, but directly took down the man), but the referee, who had a really bad night, did not call the penalty. An awful decision, and in the next minutes Canada's Atiba Hutchinson scored one of the strangest and luckiest goals I have seen (and in fact in the stadium it was hard to see what happened exactly, and I have had to see it a few times on TV): following a cross a struggle between Eric Zavaleta and Hutchinson made the ball jump to the outside part of near post. Hutchinson fell on the goal-line and the ball fell on his back as he lay down, and jumped a strange curve from a very sharp angle into goal. There was some controversy as the linesman had waved the flag for a possible foul, but the referee correctly called the goal.

Respect for Canada, but that was incredibly lucky; it took some of the air out of the Salvadorans who appeared disorganized, while the Canadians now focused on defending and pulling the rhythm out of the match. That said, in the last minutes El Salvador created two big chances, the latter a spectacular shot that was just saved by Milan Borjan in the Canadian goal.

And as often happens when one is pushing forward in the last minutes, Canada struck back on a counterattack to make it 2-0 in the last seconds of the match (just as they had done when defeating the USA 2-0 on Sunday): a very sloppy throw-in by Enrico Dueñas was caught by the Lille striker Jonathan David who rushed towards goal and was ice-cold to score. 

Jonathan David confirms that he is a striker on fire!

The match thus ended in disappointment for El Salvador, who had played a good match, but just hadn't the luck or the referee to pull a tie, which would have been much more deserved. They can still mathematically qualify for the World Cup but it appears extremely unlikely: they need to win every match, while both Panama and Costa Rica must lose all their remaining matches. But both against the USA (1-0 loss), Honduras (0-2 win) and this match the team has shown good qualities, and they should look forward to keep improving.

In the meantime I can say that I saw the strongest team in CONCACAF. Despite the luck Canada are a strong and organised side with excellent players, and they come through three important victories in this round of qualifying (USA, Honduras and El Salvador), remain the only undefeated team, and they are almost sure to qualify to Qatar (they only need one victory in their last three matches).

Congratulations to Canada.

CONCACAF likelihood

Although all teams can still theoretically qualify in the CONCACAF Octagonal for the three direct spots for Qatar 2022, it appears more and more likely who the three teams will be, and who will be out after the matches played yesterday.

Canada remains on first spot and is a likely participant in Qatar after defeating Honduras 0-2 in Tegucigalpa. Honduras in the meantime, with three points only, takes the last spot among the eight teams. USA trails Canada by one point after defeating El Salvador 1-0 in Columbus, Ohio, in a match that proved more difficult than expected for the USA. El Salvador is on seventh spot with only 6 points, but they played well, and if they start scoring more goals they would be more competitive.

Mexico has suffered, and suffered yesterday against Jamaica as they were down 1-0 with only 6 minutes to go, but two quick goals gave them a victory, and they remain on third spot, only two points behind Canada. 

That is who I think will qualify in CONCACAF: Canada, USA and Mexico. The order may change a bit, specially when USA and Canada face one another this weekend.

The fourth spot (which gives a play-off) is Panamá's right now, with 14 points. But after Costa Rica defeated them 1-0 yesterday, Costa Rica creeps up to 12 points, and may still take the spot from the Panameños. Both teams have some difficult matches ahead for them, but be sure that both will fight hard for the play-off spot!

Canada Number 1 (!)

"Canada number 1" is something I have never said before, but it is the truth in the CONCACAF region´s qualifiers, where the top three qualify directly for Qatar, while the fourth gest a play-off. Although everyone who has been watching Canada lately knows that the team, captained by the phenomenal Alphonse Davies from Bayern Munich, is to be reckoned with, their rise culminated yesterday with a 2-1 victory over Mexico, the team that has historically always dominated CONCACAF. Canada already tied 1-1 in Mexico City, and recent victories over Costa Rica and Panama has put them on top, and we should all be looking forward to a clash between USA and Canada, going for first spot. 

Mexico, traditionally dominant in CONCACAF has fallen to third place after their two defeats to USA and Canada respectively, with 14 points, alongside Panama on fourth spot, also with 14 points. That said, it appears that the top four in CONCACAF is taking shape: after defeating El Salvador 2-1, Panama and Mexico are five points clear of Costa Rica on fifth place. Panama, coached by the Spanish-Dane Thomas Christiansen, are looking for their second World Cup in a row, and have already played some epic matches to defeat the USA, and coming from behind to defeat both Honduras and El Salvador. 

My prediction is that the CONCACAF will end as its stands, with Mexico, USA and Canada qualifying, and Panama going to the play-offs. 

 In the meantime, I should say something about El Salvador, because it is the country in which I am currently residing. El Salvador´s manager Hugo Perez is being widely criticised for the lack of results and from some quarters also for his selection of some players who were not born and bred in the country, but are rather a product of the country´s huge diaspora, mainly in the USA. The team is relatively young, and I think Mr. Perez has a long-term plan, to build up a base of young foreign-based players who are now gaining experience and could compete for the 2026 World Cup. Right now, the team is clearly not competitive at the highest levels; even when they went ahead early against Panama they lacked a high pressure and controlling the match against a much more experiences and tactically savvy Panamanian side. The problem appears a lack of patience with the lack of quick results and what I consider a strange lack of support when things are not going well: last week´s home match against Jamaica was not sold out in San Salvador even though it was a crucial match for a team that could still qualify for the World Cup. 

These are the matches where the stadium should be sold out. Instead, with lacklustre support, El Salvador and Jamaica tied 1-1, and with the defeat to Panama, El Salvador are likely out of the contest. Good luck, and hope they can get more support next time.

Gold medals

Olympic football is usually overshadowed by other sports and this did not appear much different this time in Tokyo, although it is surely interesting.

Canada took their first ever gold in women’s football, after taking bronze in the last two Olympic Games. They defeated Sweden after extra time and penalties, with the Swedes taking their second silver medal in a row. The world champions of the USA took bronze, which must surely have been a disappointment for the Americans.

On the men’s side there were not many surprises: the final was between the two favourites of Brazil and Spain faced one another in the final that became an intense affair, with both teams able to take the price, but the match ended 1-1 with goals by Matheus Cunha and Mikel Oyarzabal respectively. In extra time Malcom scored the winner for Brazil, giving them their second football Olympic gold in a row.

"World Cup" 2026

Today the "World Cup" 2026 went to the USA, Mexico and Canada in order for FIFA to make billions. Because of course the priority is not the game, but FIFA's money. A tournament in three countries (of which only one can be called a footballing nation) with what seems will be 48 teams participating cannot be called a World Cup but rather a nationalist get-together of mediocrity. The last World Cup will be this one in Russia.

The two great football events today

Today is, arguably, one of the greatest football days of 2015 with two of the greatest football events of the year taking place, both equally immense: the 2015 Champions League Final and the Opening of the Women's World Cup in Canada.
In Berlin, Juventus and Barcelona will face one another in a highly expected final. Barcelona are surely favourites against a Juventus side that will not be difficult to beat: nobody expected them to defeat Real Madrid in the semifinal, and coach Masimillano Allegri is a more astute coach than Luis Enrique. But astute may not be enough to stop Lionel Messi's magic. No matter what, it is a highly expected final.
Women's football is great. Anyone who thinks differently is a narrow-minded twit who has not been following the fantastic advances over the last decade. And this World Cup in Canada is set to be one of the best ever; I would not be surprised if it was better than the 2014 World Cup in Brazil in terms of quality. The opening match is between the hosts from Canada and China. And over the next months there will be fantastic matches to watch with great teams, such as Japan, USA, Sweden, Nigeria, and many others!!!!
Don't miss football today!

Golden USA ladies

Since women's football entered the Olympics in 1996, the USA ladies have been in every final. Today they were set to win their fourth Olympic gold medal in this sport in a repeat of the 2011 World Cup final USA-Japan, which Japan surprisingly won..
Japan is a patient team. They bite and fight themselves into the match, but that seemed to go against them today. USA started like lightning, and Carli Lloyd brought them ahead 1-0 after only seven minutes. Only then did the World Champions wake up, and hit the post, forced some good saves by the USA goalie Hope Solo, and should even have had a penalty. At the same time, the USA were still dangerous on their counterattacks. In the second half Carli Lloyd in fact brought USA ahead 2-0 on one such counterattack. Japan continued pressing, and got one goal, but in the end it was not enough. But a final worthy of the best. Any football fan should love both the US and Japanese ladies, who play with style, passion, happiness and some of the dignity that you hardly see in men's football any more.
You do not see any ladies cry at every tackle. Be ready to, in the men's final, to see a bunch of men cry like... well... I was going to say girls. But clearly men's football could learn from the women!
Gold for the USA, silver for Japan, and bronze for Canada, who beat France in the match for bronze.

Girl power

Maybe this Olympic tournament is when women's football begins to get the respect it deserves. At least it has been much more entertaining, not to say dignified, than the men's, and it was topped today by two splendid semifinals which in terms of quality, technique, skills and drama were absolutely top level.
First, the outstanding French side played against the world champions of Japan. Both sides are relatively new additions to top level women's football, which in my view has previously been hampered by women too often trying to emulate men. Not these sides however. Japan plays a patient, organised but very technically skillful style, while France plays with power as well as skill. Japan won 2-1, but France put enormous pressure on the Japanese, and even missed a penalty that would have taken the match into extra time. France's goalkeeper, who made an appalling mistake in the first half to give Japan their first goal, will not be sleeping well tonight, but France will nevertheless have a good shot at bronze medals against Canada.
Canada is also a recent newcomer to top level women's football, and in this semifinal played their mighty neighbour, the USA. The north Americans are undoubtedly one of the most watchable sides in women's football, full of style, skills and charisma, as well as an admirable fighting spirit. Today they needed all these qualities against their northern neighbours. Three times the Canadians were leading, every time on a goal by their captain Christine Sinclair, but every time the USA managed to get back into the match, which thus ended 3-3. During the extra time, after half an hour of nerves and fight, everyone thought the match would go into penalty kicks when Alex Morgan scored the winner for the USA in the last second of the match.
Surely bitter for the Canadian ladies who nevertheless were splendid, and should be thanked by all football fans!
The final will be a repeat of last year's world cup final, where Japan surprisingly defeated the USA. One thing I will I am certain of though, is that it will be a splendid match between two splendid sides of ladies who could beat most men team's in the world!
Do not miss the final!