Gracias Iker

Iker Casillas is retiring. He is certainly one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, and one of the gentlemen of the sport, of which there are few left. He won it all with Spain and Real Madrid, and it is therefore terribly unfair how he was treated when his career was on the wane. They should have thanked him forever for what he gave them, but Mr. Casillas was never a bitter man, and has, as always, shown more grace than the people who criticized him! Thanks for everything Iker Casillas!

There will never be a greater Real Madrid goalkeeper

Iker Casillas is leaving Real Madrid for FC Porto. He is a living legend; he has been one of the most important - if not THE most important - part of Real Madrid and Spain for many years, having won every single title that there is to win in football. The past season he has been unreasonably insulted and humiliated by the Real Madrid club that he gave everything to, but still he is leaving without bitterness, saying that he will always be a Real Madrid fan.
That is exactly why is and will always be one of the greatest players of all time, and surely forever be the greatest goalkeeper Real Madrid and Spain have ever had and ever will have.

The fall of the Champions

Real Madrid is the team of records in the Champions League, and this year they were hoping to become the first team to win two finals in a row. But it was not to be: they ran into a highly motivated and well-organized Juventus side whose Alvaro Morata, who grew up in Real Madrid's ranks, scored to eliminated his friends from Madrid.
Juventus were fantastic underdogs in both matches. They played like they really wanted the title. They were very organized and played with discipline.
Can they defeat mighty FC Barcelona? They have to play their best, but the Catalonians are not invincible!
So where does Real Madrid go from here? First of all, this should mean that Carlo Ancelotti is out. The problem is not that they will win no titles; the problem is rather that they have no plan, no tactics. If anyone should know that you cannot rely on your brilliant players alone, it should be Real Madrid! Against Juventus he played with fear: when they were up 1-0 Real Madrid drew back to defend, instead of attacking and closing the match.
They played more Italian than the Italians!
If I wanted Real Madrid to win, it would only have been for the great Iker Casillas, who has suffered several unfair attacks this season, and has been blamed for defeat after defeat. Ironically, the "old man" was the best player of Real Madrid, so I hope he shut up all those idiotic fans who cannot see that Spain's and Real Madrid's problems are not due to Iker Casillas, but due to their coaches!

Spanish gratitude for Casillas

For the first time since 2006 Spain lost a qualifier, when they lost 2-1 to Slovakia in their qualifier for Euro 2014. And as everyone in Spain seems to be doing these days, they blame Iker Casillas, who made a mistake in allowing the first Slovak goal.
Spain should be thankful to Iker Casillas, a true gentleman and great sportsman: he and Carles Puyol were more than anyone else the architects behind the team that won the World Cup and two European titles.
And now they should perhaps be more thankful than ever: they can continue blaming a man who has done everything for Spain and for Madrid, for every crap performance of their team. Because Spain should face the truth; the problem is not Iker Casillas.
It is Vicente del Bosque.
With a lot of possession and dominance Spain only shot on goal seven times, and they continue insisting on Diego Costa, who is a genious under Mourinho, but who does not fit into the style of Spain. The refusal to use some of the yougn players was partly corrected when Paco Alcacer finally came on for David Silva and scored. But only partly, and Vicente del Bosque's refusal (or incapacity?) to change and to renew, will end up making the near future difficult for Spain, despite the country, along with France and Germany, having the most outstanding pool of football talent in Europe.

Ungrateful bastards

Things have not started well for Real Madrid this season, and yesterday they faced the defending Spanish champions of Atletico Madrid at home on Santiago Bernabeu stadium. On goals by Tiago and Arda Turan, Atletico Madrid gave Real Madrid their second defeat in three matches. Real Madrid, with all its new superstars is simply not working. Maybe it will change with time as players get acquainted to one another, but as it is now they seem like a tired group of men without confidence.
Real Madrid fans are not accustomed to this, and yesterday they expressed their dissatisfaction with the team, where in particular Iker Casillas received the bulk of insults and buhs.
It is sad to see such a great legend, who has given so much to Real Madrid and to Spain, being pelted by fans who should be supporting him in a difficult time.
I have never been a Real Madrid fan, and now I am even less when they have such ungrateful fans towards a fantastic player and a gentleman (and I say this about a man who has always played in teams that I have not supported!).

The foretold fall from grace

All great teams fall from grace. Some people did not believe it would happen to Spain, but it had to. Perhaps the greatest surprise was that it would happen in such a way that it happened, getting hammered 1-5 by the Netherlands, whose revenge for the defeat in the 2010 final could not have been sweeter.

But looking at Spain's defense it was perhaps not so surprising. We have to admit that while Pique, Ramos and Albiol are good players, none of them are certainly not world class players. The genius of Spain's defense in 2008, 2010 and 2012 was Carles Puyol. Without him they are barely strong enough to withstand world class players. Teams like Brazil and Argentina must have been watching with delight. Pique and Ramos' weaknesses were particularly exposed in Robben's goals, where they proved to be slow and in wrong position. 

When the best goalkeeper in the world fails, it is a recipe for disaster, and that is what happened. He may not be at his best, and this is surely a cold shower, but Casillas has been the best goalkeeper in the world.

With the weak defense the Dutch team under Van Gaal did the right thing against the by-now predictable tiki taka. High pressure on the Spanish midfield and strike quickly. By the third goal (which was a free kick to Casillas) what happened to Spain was what happens to all great sides that have not faced adversity before: they fall apart. This included Del Bosque's changes, which seemed more of desperation than any tactical calculation.

Van Gaal again proved to be a genius, and Manchester United fans must be delighted at what lies ahead.

Of course the World Cup is not over for Spain, despite this heavy blow (never before has a World Champions been trounced this way). In 2010 they also opened with a defeat to Switzerland. But back then the problem lay in bad luck and underestimation, and that match proved to be crucial. I am not sure this match will be the same; there are structural weaknesses in an ageing side (Koke is the youngest player in the squad at 22). The match against Chile will be excellent. The Chileans will try to capitalize on the obvious Spanish weaknesses, while Spain needs to show that the 1-5 was a fluke.

I only watched first half of the match before I had to board a plane. I have watched second half online now, and will now be fully dedicated to the World Cup!

Bayern Munich-Chelsea! The best final!

Perhaps it is because I live in South America, where almost all European football talk is limited to Barcelona and Real Madrid. Granted, they are amazing sides, but I have been kind of getting tired of all the hype for a while, and was really hoping we would not get another Real Madrid-Barcelona final. We had many of them last year, and now there has gone a bit of inflation into their matches.
After last night's elimination of FC Barcelona, hopes were nevertheless set high by Real Madrid and its fans, that they finally might take the crown as the world's best team from their archrivals.
But they had to get past Bayern Munich, a side that in spite not having the German title in sight any longer, has been strongly focusing its attention on the Champions League, where the final is set to be played at home, in Munich. This seems to have escaped the attention of many overly-focused to-2-Spanish-league-enthusiasts.
Granted Chelsea had a lot of fortune in its defensive victory over Barcelona, but Bayern Munich was clearly fully up to facing Real Madrid. Today's match was splendid, perhaps the best match of this season's Champions League. Real Madrid seemed to have it all in their hands, just like Barcelona against Chelsea, and like Barcelona, they were not unable to keep the lead. Bayern Munich was still dangerous, and when the game went into extra time, both teams seemed very careful. I understood this more about Bayern Munich, but it surprised me more of Real Madrid. Perhaps it shows that Mr. Mourinho did have careful respect for the German side, him being a far superior footballing brain than most of us.
In the end, the penalties may be a lottery, but if you are smart, you increase your chances. Real Madrid seemed to be solely relying on Iker Casillas' brilliance, while I think Manuel Neuer (who is also a very strong goalkeeper!), had more carefully studied the Real Madrid players, and played more on the psyche of the shooters. The pathetic miss by Sergio Ramos was a case in point, where Neuer could be seen as approaching Mr. Ramos before his shot.
I am happy we will see an English-German final of the greatest European football tournament, and I think it will be a great match. I would put my money on Munich though.
And I wish I could be there to see it...

Thank you Mourinho

I have always been anti-Madridista, and wished that the team would lose. However, this has not always been easy, as I have had to recognize a team with enormous merits, not only winning titles, but also putting pride in being fair. It has always been a team characterized by many gentlemen who have been involved in the club for whom I can only have the greatest respect: Jorge Valdano, Vicente del Bosque, Raul, Fernando Hierro, Zinedine Zidane, and more recently, Iker Casillas himself, the greatest goalkeeper in the world and a true sporting gentleman.
So with this in mind, I can only be delighted that Real Madrid has decided to lower its standards on fair play and manners to the lowest levels, namely that of José Mourinho. While I have before thought that Mr. Mourinho´s provocative behaviour was part of his competitive mindset and overall strategy, the damage he is currently causing Real Madrid makes one put this into question. This is simply low life idiocy, and incredibly, Real Madrid, a club that should be proud of its traditions, choses to ignore it. If Mr. Mourinho does not win a title, he may leave Real Madrid leaving greater scars to the club than any of the former coaches that have been fired more easily, but were far greater men that Mr. Mourinho.
That said, I am happy that Mr. Mourinho is there, because it makes it so much easier to hate Real Madrid!

The clasico foursome

Four matches between the archrivals of Real Madrid and Barcelona have ended. The first one, the league match (which I did not see because I was barbecuing with friends in Richmond, California), ended 1-1, and with 8-point difference, the league is quite certain to end in Barcelona for the third season in a row.
The final of the Copa del Rey was a 1-0 Real Madrid victory after extra time (I half-watched the match in a bar in Haights, in San Francisco, California). Finally Real Madrid won a title, and to this one must add that it is a title that has eluded them for many years (it was for instance the only title the splendid goalkeeper Iker Casillas had never won). It was in fact a well-deserved victory, and must have given the merengues confidence before the Champions League semifinals, that the entire world was awaiting eagerly.
I watched the first match after (I was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon when it took place). It was a disappointment of a Real Madrid team that did not seem to have confidence after their Copa del Rey victory, too much girly behaviour by the Barca players, and a referee that was good, but whose one mistake proved crucial: Pepe's expulsion. Barcelona won 0-2 in Madrid and the most memorable moment of this match was Lionel Messi's splendid second goal, although many will remember Mourinho's sour face.
Mourinho is surely a provocateur. As if these matches were not always surrounded by tension, he is only too happy to throw gasoline into the fire. In my view, it is part of the football entertainment today, but I am not sure it helps the players; there is simply too much spark in some of the players.
Real Madrid started the second match very well (this one, I watched at home), but as soon as Barcelona gets going with their passing game, the balloon runs out of air. It is characteristic for both the CL matches how superior Barcelona was in possession and in passing, and in spite of the good fight the Madrid side put up, the score was only 0-0 at halftime because of some splendid saves by the world's best goalkeeper, Iker Casillas. Still, 1-1 was enough for Barcelona, who may feel that they got a double revenge: against their archrivals whom they had never eliminated from a European semifinal, and against José Mourinho, who has been provoking them so much, besides coaching Inter when the Italian side eliminated Barcelona in last season's CL.

This foursome will surely go into history, as in a few weeks the ultimate rivalry of these two sides was put to the test. However, it further underlines the enormous problem this is for the "Scottish" Spanish league: it is effectively a two-team league. The rest of the sides are only in it for the spoils of the big ones (both sport-wise and economically). The Spanish league is a bore and it will continue to be, except when these two sides meet, as much as any football fan should love to see them play.

Top-10 Player of the Year

Following my need to make top-10's for the year 2010, here is the list of my favourite 10 players of the year:

10) Carles Puyol: a brilliant defender who gives both Barcelona and Spain tranquility and solidity. His role in both of the world's greatest teams should not be underestimated!
9) Iker Casillas: In my view, the best goalkeeper in the world. He is the crucial captain of Real Madrid, and was very important in giving Spain the world cup title.
8) Diego Forlán: Had a splendid World Cup with Uruguay, and is a hugely dangerous striker, something he also showed with Atlético Madrid, although his form went down in the second half of the year.
7) Arjen Robben: A splendid season with Bayern Munich in the first half of the year. Although injured during the first round of the World Cup, he was splendid when participating in the latter matches, scoring against Slovakia and Uruguay.
6) Mesut Özil: wonderful young player who caught the world's attention on the excellent Germany side in South Africa. His new career in Real Madrid has started well.
5) Lionel Messi: There is no player to watch like him - what he does with the ball is magic, and he seems to have grown in the second half of the year to become more of a leader. However, he had a poor World Cup with Argentina.
4) Thomas Müller: Was a crucial part of Bayern Munich's "double" winning side in the first half of the year, and he scored five goals in the World Cup, besides becoming the best young player of the tournament. His absence in the semifinal against Spain in South Africa was crucial in Germany's defeat.
3) Andrés Iniesta: in spite of many minor injuries during the year (including in South Africa) he is one of the most complete players in the world, and is crucial in both FC Barcelona and in Spain. And well, he scored the winning goal in the World Cup final!
2) Wesley Sneijder: A brilliant player with a leading role in Inter Milan winning "the Triple", and won the title as best player of the CL 2009-10 season. At the World Cup he was consistently player of the match, and scored the crucial winners against Brazil in the quarterfinal.

1) Xavi: The competition at the top-3 is very very difficult, but I have decided to go with FC Barcelona's Xavi. His skills are superb, but it is his vision and passing abilities that have made him the architect behind many of Spain's and Barcelona's victories!

Greatest World Cup matches: South Corea-Spain (2002)

Almost every home-team in a World Cup has been followed by accusations of favourable referees under controversial circumstances: Italy in 1934, Chile in 1962, England in 1966, Argentina in 1978, Spain in 1982, Italy in 1990, etc. So it was perhaps only a surprise to the Europeans when South Corean success in the World Cup of 2002 (that South Corea co-hosted with Japan) happened amid controversial refereeing decisions. This is a pity, because it obscures the fact that South Corea actually had an excellent team that played great football, and deserved the glory that they received by being the first (and so far only!) Asian team to make it to a World Cup semifinal.
South Corea had traditionally been the most powerful footballing nation in Asia, participating in every World Cup since 1986. Although they had been steadily improving, they had still not gone beyond the first round, and not even won a match yet. The Coreans were eager for this meager record to change as they were to co-host the 2002 World cup, hoping that home support would carry them further. Also, the Coreans had hired the experienced Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, who had time and resources to build up a solid team, playing quick passing football and taking advantage of the speed of the Corean players.
The Corean players were largely unknown outside Asia, but some of them were surely world class: the Anyang Cheetah’s Lee Young-Pyong (the best left-winger of the tournament) and Kyoto Purple Sanga’s Park Ji-Sung were to have excellent careers in Europe after the tournament (Hiddink took them both with him to PSV Eindhoven from where they went to Manchester United and Tottenham respectively); the veteran Hwang Seun-Hong was one of the most prolific strikers in Asia, while the offensive midfield had the charismatic Perugia offensive midfielder Ahn Jung-Hwan and Kashiwa Reysol’s Ju Sang-Chul.
The Coreans opened the tournament with their first world cup victory ever, 2-0 against Poland, before tying the USA 1-1. In their last first-round match they defeated Portugal 1-0 to take first spot in the group, sealing their already most successful World Cup to date. In the last-16 South Corea played Italy, and won 2-1 after extra time in a controversial match, on a late goal by Ahn, who was told by his upset Italian employers that he didn’t need to return to his club in Perugia …
South Corea had thus made it to the World Cup quarterfinal where they were to play another European power, Spain.
Spain was continuously looking for the World Cup glory that had always eluded them. In 1998 they had a terrible World Cup when they had been eliminated in the first round, but had entered the 2002 with an excellent qualifying record under coach José Antonio Camacho. The team had also started the tournament well with three consecutive victories against Paraguay, Slovenia and South Africa before facing the Republic of Ireland in the last-16. The Irish youngsters gave the Spaniards a terrific fight in a match that ended 0-0, and was only won by Spain after penalty kicks.
In spite of the Corean prowess against the other European sides, Spain was optimistic and as usual underestimating of the non-European sides, as it was clear that they were to face each other in the quarterfinals.
42,000 eager Corean fans assembled at Gwangju to push their team to victory against the Spaniards, and the Coreans also started well: the first quarter of the match they put pressure on the Spaniards, being both quicker and playing better passing football. However, the Spaniards, using their superior technique, slowly worked themselves into the match, in particular by the young Joaquín from Real Betis, who was often getting through on the right side, as well as the Real Madrid striker Fernando Morientes having some good chances that were well saved by the Corean goalkeeper Lee Won-Jae.
Early into the second half Valencia’s Rubén Baraja scored, but the goal was disallowed for pushing inside the Corean penalty box.
This was only the first goal that Spain would get disallowed as they increasingly seemed to get more nervous in the face of the fanatic home-crowd, an Egyptian referee that was very friendly to the home team, but also to the strong physical form of the Corean side, who also sought victory: the young Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas had a splendid on a volley from Park Ji-Sung.
As the match ended 0-0, it seemed that the Coreans had more strength.
However, two minutes into the extra time Spain had another goal disallowed, this time completely unjustified: Joaquín got to the back line and centered to Morientes, who scored on a header. But according to the referee, the ball had gone out of play, something that it clearly hadn’t. This only added fuel to the accusations of match-fixing against the Coreans.
The extremely unlucky Morientes had another close chance in the first half of the extra time, when he hit the post on a good volley, but the ball wouldn’t go in, and the match had to be decided on penalty kicks.
The Coreans were excellent at penalty kicks, since the matches in their national league were always decided on penalties in case of a tie. Thus, they scored on every one of their kicks, while Spain missed one: the young Joaquín was clearly nervous when he was to kick Spain’s fourth kick, and missed horribly. Hong Myung Bo’s final kick gave the Coreans the place in the semifinal against another disappointing tournament for Spain.

Match Stats:

• 22nd June, 2002, Gwangju World Cup Stadium, Gwangju
• Attendance: 42,114
• Referee: Gamal Al-Ghandour (Egypt)

South Corea-Spain 0-0 (After Extra Time)

Penalty kicks:
South Corea-Spain 5-3

• 1-0 Hwang Sun-Hong
• 1-1 Hierro
• 2-1 Park Ji-Sung
• 2-2 Baraja
• 3-2 Seol Ki-Hyeon
• 3-3 Xavi
• 4-3 Ahn Jung-Hwan
• Joaquín misses for Spain
• 5-3 Hong Myung-Bo

Teams:
South Corea: Lee Woon-Jae; Choi Jin Cheul, Kim Nam-Il, (Lee Eul-Yong), Yoo Sang-Chul (Lee Chun Soo), Kim Tae-Young (Hwang Sun-Hong), Seol Ki-Hyeon, Lee Young-Pyo, Ahn Jung-Hwan, Hong Myung-Bo, Park Ji-Sung, Song Ching-Gug
Spain: Casillas; Helguera (Xavi), Puyol, Hierro, Nadal, Baraja, De Pedro (Mendieta), Romero, Valerón (Luis Enrique), Joaquín, Morientes

Top ten best players in 2009

My personal list of my 10 favourite players in 2010:
10) John Terry: Strong for Chelsea and for England.
9) Michael Essien: Scored one of the best goals of the year against Barcelona in the CL and has been one of the best players in the PL. His has besides this also been an important part of Ghana's awesome Worle Cup qualifying side.
8) Didier Drogba: The world's best forward he has been strong for Chelsea and for Cote d'Ivoire's World Cup qualifiers.
7) Juan Sebastian Veron: I have always had my doubts about him, but he has had a rennaisance in Estudiantes de la Plata's winning side, and has returned to the Argentine national team where I hope he does better than he has done before.
6) Cristiano Ronaldo: Was hugely important in Manchester United's championship side, and has started well in Real Madrid, although his contribution to the Portuguese national team has been weaker.
5) Iker Casillas: In my view the undisputeable best goalkeeper in the world. Crucial for Real Madrid and for Spanish national team.
4) Kaka: Was extraordinary for Brazil, taking on the leadership role the team needs. He has also been strong when starting for Real Madrid.
3) Xavi: same as for Iniesta. I don't know which one is more important, but I enjoy Iniesta slightly more.
2) Andres Iniesta: Him and Xavi are the heart of Barcelona's awesome side.
1) Lionel Messi: the most beautiful and exciting to watch, he seems to be able to do everything, but is also modest and recognises the importance of the team around him. A true football star.

Viva Sevilla

Real Madrid had started the Spanish season with five consecutive victories before yesterday's match against Sevilla, just as the defending champions of FC Barcelona, and I think that most outside observers of Spanish football considered that the Spanish league will be a question of FC Barcelona versus Real Madrid, and all other teams are just to be observers. However, this clearly ignores that FC Barcelona has been as awesome as last season (they have still won all their matches after defeating Almería this weekend), and that Real Madrid, in spite of its victories, has not really gotten its game flowing, while other teams are strong too.
One of the teams that is to try to bid for the title, Sevilla, played Real Madrid last night. Before today's match Sevilla had only lost one match (on opening day to Valencia), but had since won everything. And last night they continued on their winning streak while stopping Real Madrid's, when winning 2-1, on goals by and outstanding Jesús Navas and Renato, taking the second spot in the league behind Barcelona.
Real Madrid reminds of the "Galacticos"-team: Full of stars who don't really play together, and thus entirely dependent on one star doing something spectacular. One of these stars, Cristiano Ronaldo, was not playing last night, and a continuosuly shaky defense was only saved by the world class goalkeeper Iker Casillas, without whom Real Madrid could have suffered a huge defeat.
There is only one team in Spain, FC Barcelona, and they are the team to beat - not Real Madrid.

Real Madrid-Barcelona

I had been waiting with excitement for this match for a long time. A match set up with the legends of former times, with many of the greatest players on the pitch. And with the rest of the world of football fanatics, I was not disappointed. The match was absolutely extraordinary from the first moment!
I watched the match in a sports bar in Accra, Champs, with a bunch of friends who know nothing about football. However, even they could see the marvels of this match, and it even angered me a bit when some would lift their arms at Madrid’s beautiful goals.
I do not like Madrid, but I can see when they do something brilliant. Specially Iker Casillas, was amazing, again tonight, and is on the way of becoming the world’s greatest goalkeeper.
Now, Barcelona is “only” 6 points ahead in the Spanish Primera Division. I hope they will become champions.
My dear Valencia is out. I just hope they might get the Champions League spot!