Bravo to Portugal's penalty skills

What I most liked about the Confederations Cup semifinals was to see Portugal's arrogance humiliated. After playing like they had done during the Euro against Chile (pulling a lucky 0-0) they hoped that penalty kicks would carry them to the final, but it was not to be because of a surprising Claudio Bravo (I have never been a fan of him, but thank him for what he did against Portugal. He must have been taking lessons from Willy Caballero) and not least, Portugal's own stupidity.
The manager Fernando Santos made three substitutions (Quaresma, Moutinho and Nani) and these three players all missed their penalties to end it all for Portugal. But even stranger was to not have Cristiano Ronaldo take the first penalty: that is often the case, like Messi in the Copa America final against Chile in 2016, as the captain he stepped up, but only to miss.
So why did Ronaldo not shoot?
Perhaps he did not feel like it. Or perhaps he wanted the glory of shooting the winner. Or simply Portugal was trying something new...
No matter what, it seems arrogant, and Portugal lost as much because of themselves as because of Bravo's skills.
And that is the best thing about the Confederations Cup.
Chile will face Germany, who was nice to Mexico by only defeating them 4-1. At least the Mexicans will avoid Chile, who defeated them 7-0 last time they met in a competitive match!

Confederations Cup semifinals

There are not major surprises in the two semifinals of the Confederations Cup: the European champions and the World champions each won their groups, followed by the Latin American teams, namely the South American champions and the North American champions. So the semi-finals will be as follows:

• Portugal-Chile: Portugal seems like a team that really wants to win this tournament, while Chile are certainly also committed, but look shaky. Chile often starts their matches well, but second half often seem tired, and in particular their defense seems vulnerable, led by a Claudio Bravo who does not seem too confident. I think the European champions will make it to the final.
• Germany-Mexico: Joachim Low is experimenting with this German side, and although they have not looked like the best team in the world, they have made it to the semifinals through victories over Australia and Cameroon, and a tie with Chile. Mexico have been up and down, looked bad against New Zealand, but took points from their European counterparts of Portugal and Russia, and could certainly surprise a German side that is not wholly invulnerable.

The Russian hosts have been a disappointment, only managing a meager victory against a mediocre New Zealand, but were not up to the task against qualified opposition. It does not augur well for the World Cup, as Russian fans will not be motivated if their team is eliminated early on. The African champions of Cameroun were also disappointing, despite low expectations, but it shows that a potential African world champion is very far away. In the meantime Australia did well representing Asia, and New Zealand fulfilled all low expectations of the champions of Oceania.

Confederations Consolation

This will be a summer without major football tournaments, and so the FIFA Confederations Cup is a poor replacement. Nobody seems to really want to win it, as the modern myth that the winner will not be world champion, has really caught on among superstitious footballers. Rather, the biggest sides mostly want to try out some new players, so matches are bound to be a bit dry. Include to this the absence of some of the legends: nobody is saying it out loud, but the only former world champion present in Russia is Germany. The absence of Brazil, Spain, Argentina or Italy just takes some of the spice away.
All this said, I have been watching some matches with interest, only to confirm my cynicism about the tournament: Chile looked good against a dangerous Cameroun, but only seemed to seal victory when Alexis Sanchez finally came on. Portugal looked solid with Cristiano Ronaldo, and are perhaps the team that has most seemed eager to win the tournament. The hosts from Russia have put in decent displays, but are mostly worth seeing because of their fans. Mexico and New Zealand have been poor and Germany won their obligatory victory over Australia 2-3 by experimenting somewhat with some new players.
I hope it gets more interesting, or there will not be much consolation in this football-hungry summer.

Unsurprising stuff

The Confederations Cup has been without surprises, and everything points to a final between the Brazilian hosts and the world champions of Spain. Both sides won all their matches in the first round, but Spain was surely the better team, winning all matches with style, except against Uruguay, but that they can only blame themselves for.
Africa, North American, Asia and Oceania (poor little Tahiti!) were swept aside in the first round for it to become a South American and a European semi-final respectively, setting the stage for the Brazil-Spain final: Brazil won a hard-fought 2-1 victory today against Uruguay and I doubt that Spain can avoid defeating Italy in a repeat of the 2012 Euro final.
I also doubt that Brazil has a chance against Spain: the Brazilians have not looked overwhelmingly strong despite winning their matches. They have committed serious defense mistakes, such as in Cavani's goal for Uruguay today, and will be under enormous pressure from their own fans at a time when only a victory could defuse some of the protests in the country.
No, Spain is by far the better side, and if the unsurprising tournament continues, the Spaniards will also take the title.

Go Tahiti!

The Confederations Cup is on! While it promises to be one of the most interesting Confederations Cup ever, the opening match between Brazil and Japan was a disappointment. Brazil did just what they had to do to defeat a poor Japanese side 3-0. While the Japanese were indeed a huge disappointment one did not have the feeling that Brazil was feeling comfortable. Neymar's first goal was spectacular, and the two other goals were efficient given that Brazil did not create that much. It will be interesting to see them against better sides, because there are surely better sides than Japan today!
Tomorrow there will be two fascinating matches: Mexico will face Italy and Spain take on Uruguay. Mexico will want to improve on their poor goal scoring record, while Italy is finally caring about the Confederations Cup. Spain is also testing some new constellations and should be hungry to win this tournament that eluded them four years ago when they were eliminated by the USA. In the meantime Uruguay will want to continue their resurgence and show they are as good as in South Africa.
But with all these fantastic teams I think and hope that the darling of all neutral football fans will be Tahiti. They will never make it to a World Cup, and their side of amateurs is living the dream of any football player who never dreamed of playing against these teams. I truly hope they do not become the walkover everyone is expecting, but can put up a fight against all these footballing giants!
Go Tahiti!

Mighty mighty Brazil

That USA defeated Spain in the semifinal of the Confederations Cup was perhaps the best that could happen, since the USA contributed to a quite exciting final against Brazil, where two outstanding counter-attacks in the first half made them believe that they could actually do it. 2-0 at half-time was probably more than most dared believe!
Still, Brazil has been the best team of this Confederations Cup, and proved beyond doubt that they are still a far better team than the USA. Second half was simply a question of survival for the US, and although one can have sympathy for the US, Brazil was the rightful winner.
But don't worry, I am sure that this is not the last we have seen of this US side!
This Brazil side is excellent, harmonious, and spirited, and should now again stand as favourites to win the world title in South Africa next year.

Underestimating the Gringos

One of the most recurrent things in football is that everybody always seem to underestimate the United States side, leading to way too many surprises. The first such surprise was the legendary victory of the USA in the 1950 World Cup over England, but it has happened in later times as well, such as Colombia-USA in 1994, Argentina-USA in 1995 and Portugal-USA in 2002.
In this years Cofederations Cup in South Africa we have seen the Egyptians underestimate the Gringos, and now even the Spanish European Champions ran into a defensive but spirited and efficient US side in the semifinals, and were defeated 0-2.
The USA are a good side, and they have always been quite good since their return to World Cup football in 1990.
But they should not be that good!

With the USA in the final of the Confederations Cup, the US is now on the verge of a major international triumph on the mens' side, and I think this may be the prelude to something that eventually had to happen: the USA winning the world championship!

Football is the only great global sport that is not driven by US culture and media, but by international passion. The USA is the only country in the world where passion for the beautiful game does not build bridges between people and culture.
The USA may be a great sporting nation, and may become the best footballing nation within a decade, but this will indeed be the saddest thing that could happen to football ever, because the USA is not a footballing nation!
When the USA becomes world champion, I will not watch international football any more, because that will be when the sport will be driven by commercial breaks in both halves; that will be when the teams will be owned by magnates who will move them away from their cities; that will be when victories are not celebrated with dance and parties in the street, but with a boring reception; that will be when we stop calling it the football world cup, but soccer world cup....
In short, it will be when football finally stops being the game of the peoples' of the world, but becomes just another thing among the US global power.

While I think the 11 lads on the US team won a rightful and deserved victory against Spain last night, the rise of USA football will be the demise of football's beauty.

Confederations Cup semifinals

Brazil destroyed Italy's world champions 3-0 last night, and thus prevented us from seeing a dramatic semifinal between the eternal rivals of Italy and Spain. The world champions are out, and the United States surprisingly took the spot in the semifinal against Spain by defeating Egypt 3-0.
Egypt were a huge disappointing after their first two extraordinary matches against Brazil and Italy, and one would have them suspected of falling in the common trap of excited arrogance that often affects small teams that manage to pull off good results against bigger teams, but then flop against smaller ones.
With the two semifinals being Brazil-South Africa and Spain-USA, things should be set for a super final between Spain and Brazil, that would see some of the best players in the world, and surely a prelude to a world cup classic!
That is, if neither Spain or Brazil messes it up, because that would be the only reason that they don't defeat such second-rate teams as South Africa or the USA.

Iraqi football

I just read a very interesting article in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, by Asker Hedegaard Boye, on Iraqi football. This is exactly interesting as the Iraqi national team has now been participating in the Confederations Cup in South Africa as Asian champions.
The development of Iraqi football has been quite extraordinary in the face of the problems that the country has faced: in the 1980s Iraq did very well, and even made it to the World Cup in Mexico in 1986, in spite of the abuses by Uday Hussein, the sadistic sports minister. In later years, in spite of the violence under US occupation, Iraqi football has flourished: in 2004 they sensationally made it to the Olympic quarterfinals and then became Asian champions. Its players are surely flourishing, and with the proper talent development we are probably looking at a future football power!

FIFA prohibits video refereeing

In the match between Brazil and Egypt, an Egyptian player made a save on the line in the last minute of the match. Initially, the referee called a corner, but apparently, after his 4th referee called his attention, called the penalty kick, whereby Brazil won on a goal by Kaká. This was the just thing, and should show that TV images are useful for referees.
However, after protests by Egypt, FIFA has denied that video images of the situation influenced the referee, and has instead stated that all TV screens near the box are to be outlawed in this Confederations Cup.
What a sad day for all football fans, fair football teams, and for all referees who want to be as just as possible...
When something unjust, illegal, and unfar happens, isn't it in the interest of everyone to find out!? And if technology can help to improve this, without interrupting the flow and beauty of the match, shouldn't this be the way to go!?!?
I understand that we shouldn't call TV for every penalty, but this is not necessary - in most matches no situation calls for it, and in a few matches, only one situation does, like the situation was the case in the Brazil-Egypt match, and it didn't interrupt the flow of the game, but gave the match a more fair result!
It is a pity, a shame, that FIFA does not even want to test this. I think it can only be in the interest of FIFA to have as fair a match as possible.
Why not use the opportunities at hand? Why not help the referees to be better? Why not create a more fair game?
It would be for the best of the most beautiful game on the planet. FIFA's apparent intransigence on this is a hindrance to a better game.

Prelude to boredom

The Confederations Cup 2009 in South Africa started yesterday with two matches in group A: South Africa-Iraq and Spain-New Zealand. The most characteristic thing of these two matches was how boring they were, and although there is nothing else to watch, this does not make one feel like watching football!
It is quite notable that the home-side, the cricket-nation of South Africa, cannot even fill their stadium for an important match. Is this really a football nation that will host a world cup!?!? And furthermore, that they proved unable to score against an overly defensive Iraqi side (who is unlikely to qualify for the World Cup), just shows that we are talking second-rate football.
There was not so much second rate about the Spanish European champions against the third-rate New Zealanders. It was barely 17 minutes into the match when Fernando Torres scored a hat-trick, and Spain barely broke a sweat in the rest of the match to win 5-0.
Spain has not lost for 33 matches and is looking very strong, so it is perhaps unfair to compare them to such a country as New Zealand. But truth is that watching these types of matches is as exciting as watching Sdr. Omme's 12-year old girls's side play against FC Barcelona. The difference is simply enormous!
The more interesting matches are only bound the be the ones involving Brazil, Italy and Spain. The rest of the teams in the Confederations Cup are just there as well-paid spectators.

2009 Confederations Cup

It will be a quiet summer with no Euro or World Cup. The only rather meager replacement will be the 2009 Confederations Cup to be held in South Africa as the prelude to next years' World Cup. It is the time for th South Africans to show that they are really up for this, although the World Cup is at a completely different level.
Nevertheless there are some interesting matches in this tournament that has consistently improved since its start as King Fahd Cup in 1992. Most participant countries, notably Spain, are going to South Africa with their strongest team, but also Brazil, Italy, USA and Egypt are showing up with strong teams. Add to this the South African hosts who will want to give their team a good preparation for the World Cup, as well as New Zealand and the 2007 Asian champions, Iraq.
The groups are as follows:

Group A:

• South Africa
• Iraq
• New Zealand
• Spain

Group B:

• Brazil
• Egypt
• USA
• Italy

Although not to be very exciting, it will surely be interesting to see some of the teams play.

Wonderful Brazil - poor Argentina

Brazil defeated Argentina 4-1 in the final of the Confederations Cup 2005, to win their second title in this tournament. Led by an excellent Ronaldinho, a dangerous Adriano and an amazing Kaka, Brazil was truly superior to Argentina in every aspect of the game. This might be less surprising than Argentina actually being that bad: Argentina has shown little in the tournament, and coach Mr. Pekerman should be very worried about the actual potential of Argentina for next years World Cup. Centering the game around Mr. Riquelme is simply too predictable, and Mr. Riquelme simply lacks the quality (that is why he never made it in Barcelona). Argentina will not get very far playing like this. Brazil on the other hand, should be heading to a new World Cup title - although it is all very early to predict...

Upcoming Argentina and Brazil clashes

With Argentina's victory against Mexico in the semifinal of the FIFA Confederations Cup, we are on our way to witness another classic encounter between the football giants Brazil and Argentina. Last time they met was in a World Cup qualifier in Buenos Aires only a few weeks ago. Then, Argentina won 3-1, and Brazil should now be ready for an entertaining and intense rematch. There is no doubt that the rivalry between these two teams is so great, that on next Wednesday, they will play their best to take the Confederations Cup title. In any case, and as I had predicted earlier, the title will go to Latin America.

These days seem to be abounding with encounters between these two nations. On the day before the Confederations Cup final, Brazil and Argentina will also face each other in the semifinal of the FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. Thus, these teams are showing that while their senior players are among the best in the world, the youngsters are ready to continue their dominance.
The other semifinal in the Youth World Championship is between Nigeria and Morocco. Nigeria defeated hosts the Netherlands, while Morocco upset the Italians for their spots in the semifinals. This also shows the great talent coming from Africa these days. No matter who we will see in the final, it promises to be a great South American-African Youth clash!

Brazil and Greece

A day of great surprises in the 2005 Confederations Cup. After Argentina's and Germany's expected victories, Greece and Brazil were also expected to follow suit. However, the Greeks continued with their poor showing as European Champions, and lost to a motivated and organised Japanese side. In the other match, although less surprising, The Mariachi's showed that they can tame the Brazilian samba. Mexico won 1-0, and in spite of good Brazilian chances, Mexico also had the chance of of winning with a larger margin. The tournament is thus getting more exciting, but I still expect that it will end up with a Latin American winner.

Confederations Cup: Brazil-Greece

I am currently on vacation. As usual, I am very bored. At least, there is the Confederations Cup to waste my time with. So far, every team has been a disappointment, except one: the defending World Champions of Brazil. Tonight they showed why South America is still completely dominant when it comes to football, by giving the European Champions from Greece a true footballing lesson. 3-0, with strikes from Inter's Adriano, Santos' Robinho and Lyon's Juninho, does not really do justice to the huge qualitative difference between the two teams.
While I hope that other teams will start showing what they are able to do, Brazil is so far the only one worth wasting my vacation on!

Argentina-Tunisia and Germany-Australia

The 2005 Confederations Cup in Germany has just started with two matches.

In the first one, an unconcentrated Argentina side won 2-1 against a Tunisian side that dared too little. However, Argentina has started well, and if they concentrate they should be able to defeat both Germany and Australia. In spite of Germany winning at home, they looked very shaky, particularly in defence; a non-impressive Australia managed to make 3 goals against the hosts. Still, with some beautiful goals by Kuranyi, Ballack, Mertesacker and young Lucas Podolski (according to German TV, the new young pop-star of German football), Germany managed to get their expected victory.

In spite of many goals however, none of the teams were looking overly impressive. Actually, most goals were defence mistakes. Things will have to improve if any of the teams hope to win the tournament. At least it has started well for Argentina and Germany.

Confederations Cup 2005

The FIFA Confederations Cup 2005 is starting this Wednesday June 15th. The tournament does not carry the prestige of other tournaments, but still is a good opportunity to see some of the world's best national teams in a competitive context in a year when there are few other international tournaments.
The tournament started in 1992 in Saudi Arabia as King Fahd Cup. Since then, it has grown to become a mini-World Cup, comprising the champions from each continent. The winners have been:

• 1992: Argentina
• 1995: Denmark
• 1997: Brazil
• 1999: Mexico
• 2001: France
• 2003: France

This year's Confederations Cup is taking place in Germany (giving the home team a good opportunity to try out the venue of next year's World Cup), and will contain the following teams in two groups:

• A: Argentina, Australia, Germany, Tunisia
• B: Brazil, Greece, Japan, Mexico

The Greek European champions are making their first appearance. Germany, the home team, should be watched out for, as they will be going for it all in one of the few tournaments they have never won. All Latin American teams have won it before, and will be favourites to take the title as well. Finally, the surprise African champions of Tunisia should be watched for. The same should be said of Japan.

In any case, for some good football next week, the Confederations cup is a good bet.

Party in Accra!

The second leg of the African Confederations Cup final took place in Kumasi yesterday. Asante Kotoko had the upper hand after a 1-1 in Accra, and were set to take the title. But after a spirited fight and very exiting game, things proved differently.
Hearts of Oak came out with a much better fight than they had done in the first match. At the same time, Kotoko seemed happy to wait for Hearts to come to them, and did not attack much in front of their home crowd.
Five minutes into the second half, things seemed to go Kotoko's way, when Charles 'the terror' Taylor brought the home team ahead, to the spectacular joy of the home crowd.

But Hearts of Oak has the reputation of never giving up. In the first match they equalized in the last minute, and this time, they started attacking, while Kotoko coach Hans Dieter Schmidt, strangely brought in extra defenders.
Ten minutes before full-time, Lawrence Adjei scored the equalizer for Hearts, and the game went into a nerve-wrecking penalty shoot-out.
The players were actually excellent shooters, and the shoot-out went into the 8th kick, when Kotoko Captain Hendricks missed, and in the subsequent kick, Hearts took the trophy.

Celebrations erupted in Accra. I think many are still partying!

Accra Hearts of Oak-Asante Kotoko

Not wholly passed my new years hangover, I went to watch the 1st leg of the Final of the African Confederations Cup, on January 2nd. First time ever two teams of the same country, namely Ghana, face one another in this prestigious tournament.
Hearts of Oak, the home team from Accra for the first leg, boasts a young and talented side, while Asante Kotoko, from the city of Kumasi, has an experienced side, which are currently defending champions of Ghana.
Since these teams are by far the two main teams in the country, they have a very strong rivalry that before has led to violence, so a lot of police and military was out for this game.

It was a burning hot Sunday afternoon, and I was surprised to see the quick pace which Hearts of Oak started with. In spite of some shaky flanks, Asante Kotoko's defense was very strong, centered around their captain Joe Hendricks. But the strikers of Hearts were at the same time not looking too good, and as the game progressed, Kotoko got more and more into the match.
The best player of the match was a small offensive midfielder in Kotoko, Stephen Oduro. Small in size, but with excellent technique, speed and physical stubborness he completely dominated the midfield. After one hour, it was also a strong run from him, which gave Kotoko a free kick outside the area. Although a good kick by former-Hearts player Charles Taylor, the keeper should have had it. Instead, he dropped the ball right on the feet of Michael Osei, who scored without problem.
After this, the experience of Kotoko shined through, while the inexperience of Hearts
became obvious, as the home-crowd grew more and more impatient. It seemed Kotoko's substitutions were excellent, while Hearts coach was waiting way too long before changing anything on a team that was looking more and more disillusioned.
The game went into 4 minutes injury time. In the last second of the injury time, a somewhat weak shot from outside, by young Hearts striker Louis Agyemang, equalized the match. A shame for Kotoko's goalkeeper, George Owu, who had otherwise played an excellent match.
Kotoko was understandably disappointed, having lost victory in the dying seconds. However, next Sunday they will have a fanatic crowd behind them, as they host the young Hearts team in Kumasi. I would put my money on Kotoko.

A jubilant Michael Osei after scoring