Galaxy still alive

At my office we are doing a small pot on the League Cup. Eight of us drew a random team of the eight left in the quarterfinals and in the end the winner get the pot if your draw wins the tournament. Happy to say that I am still in the competition as I drew LA Galaxy, who defeated the current Mexican champions of Toluca 2-1, with the new signing Marco Reus scoring his first goal for the Californians. 

It was all in all a dreadful day for the Mexican sides, who were all eliminated. I watched Inter Miami eliminate Tigres of UANL 2-1. Luis Suarez´s scored both Miami goals on penalty kicks, both called for handball. I personally think they were both very weak calls, specially the second penalty, which came at the end of the match when Tigres were dominating following Angel Correa´s equaliser for the Monterrey side. Not that it was undeserved that Miami won; they had a good first half, but with Tigres´strong second half the match could have gone to either side, and it is a pity it is decided on a penalty kick that should not have been given as it was not a danger situation and the ball hit the player´s arm in a random situation. But in VAR times any handball is defensible, no matter the intention or situation. 

I guess now to support LA Galaxy, who will face Seattle Sounders!

Watching Valencia

 It is more than 20 years ago I became a fan of Valencia CF, as I spent a semester watching them make it to a Champions League final. But it has been some years ago that any hint of success has been near the club, and this season has started as one of the worst ever, as the team is lingering around the relegation area. Today I watched them play against Liga leaders Atletico Madrid. Although Uros Racic gave the Valencians an early and surprising lead, there was not much to be positive about in the match as Joao Felix, Luis Suarez and Angel Correa all scored to give Atletico Madrid the victory (and the veteran Luis Suarez, on his 34th birthday, showed class and experience in his goal, and is alone as the leading scorer of La Liga). 

Although many players have left the club, the players remaining are not players that should be playing to avoid relegation, but they do not appear to be performing or having belief in their abilities. It may be a period of lack of confidence that happens to a lot of teams, but the club is also in turmoil as fans today demonstrated against the club leadership who appears to be putting the financial issues ahead of the team (which is ok, but the problem is that in football these two issues are connected). Valencia should not be the kind of club that that should be relegated, but as it is going now, it appears there that it is heading.

There was not much to cheer about as I watched them today.

The Luis Suarez circus

Luis Suarez has always, no matter what you think about him, been a great footballer. And he has also been prone to scandals. As FC Barcelona is renewing under Ronald Koeman, the Uruguayan striker was not to be found in the plans, so in first instance it was reported that Suarez was signing for Juventus, which was surely to be an interesting pairing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. But in what was a truly bizarre turn of events, Luis Suarez did not sign for the Italian side: as he needed a European nationality he applied for Italian citizenship, and in what appears a truly odd turn of events, Suarez has been accused of cheating in order to speed up the paperwork application. If it is true, Suarez would really appear as an entitled rich footballer who can bypass what so many others struggle to achieve, although one has to wonder about Juventus (who appeared to backtrack on the signing) and University of Peruggia, where the exam was administered.

So after this entire circus, Luis Suarez has joined a new circus: namely Diego Simeone's Atlético Madrid side, a team where Suarez experience, skills and passion will fit in well. In his debut against Granada, Suarez came on for Diego Costa 20 minutes before the end, and scored twice, showing that it might be another interest season ahead for the traveling entertainment that is Luis Suarez.

Top 10 Players of 2018

As with my list of ten best teams of the year, the list of 10 best players is also very personal, on players that have impressed me or whom I consider have had a great season. So here we go:

10) Christian Eriksen: He almost single-handedly qualified Denmark for the World Cup and has also contributed to Tottenhams good (albeit unsteady) season. For Danish fans it is great to have a world class player again.
9) Harry Kane: Has stepped up to become one of the most dangerous strikers in the Premier League and perhaps in Europe, where he is sought by some of the bigger clubs.
8) Pierre Emerick Aubemegyang: In my view Africa's best players, although at national team level Gabon are not in the World Cup and had a disappointing Africa Cup of Nations at home. But in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund he has been their star player, and is being sought by big clubs as the Germans are struggling.
7) Luis Suarez: Not the main scoring role any more, but participates in Barcelona's awesome attacking force. Although overshadowed by Cavani, he was part of the Uruguay National team that qualified for the World Cup, where he will be one of the stars to watch, as always!
6) Lionel Messi: Absolutely out-of-this world player, who has taken on the responsibility at Barcelona, where they totally depend on him, and for Argentina, whom he almost single-handedly qualified for the World Cup. But titles have not been forthcoming this year, and the dependence on him is a risk both for Barcelona and for Argentina.
5) Kylian Mbappe: He was the find of the season in 2016-17 for AS Monaco, being absolutely splendid in their making the semifinals. He then went on to Paris Saint Germain in August, where he has been one of the stars alongside Neymar in what is one of the most exciting teams in the world at the moment. He also got his debut on the French national team and scored his first goal in a World Cup qualifier against Netherlands. Expect to see him at the World Cup!
4) Kevin de Bruyne: Much of Manchester City's success in this season is because Kevin de Bruyne has stepped up in his role as playmaker, where he is showing his world class. Also on the Belgian national team he is a core player, and is one of the superstars to watch out for in the World Cup.
3) Cristiano Ronaldo: The Portuguese has had a wonderful season winning everything with Real Madrid and also qualifying for the World Cup with Portugal. He is another out-of-this world player.
2) Lieke Martens: When the Netherlands won the European Championship this year it was in particular thanks to this splendid playmaker, who also changed to FC Barcelona, immediately becoming a core player in their current narrow lead in the league.
1) Neymar: Perhaps he was the most spoken about player ever when he changed from Barcelona to Paris St. Germain this year, becoming the most expensive transfer ever. But his qualities are unquestionable: there was a hole in Barcelona's offense initially when he left, while he in France he has been the super star of a team that is aiming for the highest. For the resurrected Brazil side that qualified in awesome style for the World Cup, he is also a superstar, and there is no doubt that Neymar is looking to take all titles in 2018!

As always, there were some splendid players who could not make the list, such as Nadia Nadim, Pernille Harder, Luka Modric, David De Gea, Gianluigi Buffon, Mohamed Salah...

The sad comeback

Last Wednesday I found myself in a bar in the city of Danane, in Cote d'Ivoire, at first only half-watching the Barcelona-Paris St. Germain match, but getting caught by Barcelona's incredible last 3 minute comeback to eliminate the Parisians.
Along with most people in the bar, I was not happy. In Cote d'Ivoire they also supported Paris St. Germain. And whom I felt most sorry for were the Paris St. Germain fans; I know how it feels when your team loses, but I do not know how it feels when you come from the heights of happiness to the depths of sadness. I felt much more sad for them than for the Barcelona fans who just ten minutes before would have trashed their team out of the stadium.
In the end Barcelona did something incredible, but not elegant. Their attitude will and should annoy any decent football fans, and the admiration for Luis Suarez' skills are just frustrated by the ugliness of his antics.
But I cannot blame them: this is part of football, as much as I dislike it, and had it been my team, I would have been celebrating it like Barcelona fans did.
All great teams know how to stretch the rules, and Barcelona were just better at it than Paris St. Germain, which just makes it more sad for the great Parisians!!!
Barcelona is in the next round, but at least in Danane, as in Paris, it was not celebrated!

Top Ten Best Players of 2016

On this last day of 2016, as we all reflect on the past year and the challenges of the coming, it is nice to dwell on football. It has not been a great year, but despite it all, the world football family sticks together.
The following is a list of my favourite 10 players of 2016. As with the list of best teams, it is a subjective list, but also influenced by what I have seen and read throughout the year.
10) Kevin De Bruyne: For a long time De Bruyne has been a talented player but has become better and better. Manchester City increasingly depends on his great skills, and are clearly weaker when he is injured (which he is too often). He was a bit weaker for Belgium at the Euro 2016, but at his best age he seems destined to better things.
9) Lionel Messi: Messi has already made his mark on a footballing generation, and he has become the undisputed leader of FC Barcelona. That said, the Catalan team is in transition, and if anything, they seem to depend too much on their "Holy Trinity" of Messi, Neymar and Suarez. At the national team level it was another bad year for Messi, who first quit the national team after losing the Copa America final, only to return a couple of months later. A weak Argentina side, who may not make it to the World Cup, depends on Messi at least as much as Barcelona does.
8) Alexis Sanchez: Arsenal is an excellent side that does not exude confidence. And what makes them even better is the fantastic Chilean, who is considered crucial in Arsenals' adventures in the Premier League and Champions League. Also on the Chilean national team he was crucial when the Chileans won their second Copa America title.
7) Antoine Griezmann: 2016 was perhaps a year Griezmann would rather forget as he lost both the Champions League and Euro 2016 final (and even missed a penalty in the Champions League final. But there was no denying that he was crucial in Atletico Madrid's 2015-16 season and their making the Champions League final and became the center of France's attack at the 2016 Euro. 
6) Robert Lewandowski: In another era Lewandowski would probably be considered the best striker in the world. He was the top scorer of an awesome Bayern Munich Bundesliga champion side, among other scoring 5 goals in the space of 9 minutes against Wolfburg. Although he was not as prolific with Poland in the 2016 Euro, his skills are super important for Poland. In October I went to see the Poland-Denmark World Cup qualifier, where a superb Lewandowski was the difference between two mediocre sides.
5) Riyad Mahrez: Already in 2015 Mahrez, who until then had been relatively unknown, became a star in the rising Leicester side. With Leicester's title Mahrez became a super star, also named Premier League Player of the year. He was sought out by many big clubs but stayed in Leicester, where he has been central in the Champions League campaign. Mahrez is also a crucial player in Algeria's national team who must be considered on of the favourites at the coming Africa Cup of Nations.
4) Neymar: Neymar is an important part of FC Barcelona's "Holy Trinity", and must be considered the best Brazilian player in the world, which automatically makes him one of the best in the world. In 2016 he also became crucial in Brazil's revived national team under Tite, underlined by their extraordinary 3-0 victory in a World Cup qualifier over Argentina, where Neymar outshined his teammate Messi. To top it off he was also part of Brazil's Olympic Gold winners.
3) N'golo Kante: Kante is the kind of player that tends to be forgotten, but is crucial for any team. He may not score the goals but works tirelessly. For Leicesters' Premier League winners he was the engine of the midfield, and after changing to Chelsea, he has become the midfield engine of a team that is leading the Premier League at the end of the year. It is not unlikely that Kante will win the Premier League for the second time in a row, and he has been a hugely important player in both teams.
2) Luis Suarez: Luis Suarez has continued growing as a player and in 2016 he has not only been a prolific goalscoring machine for FC Barcelona, but also an important team-player. He continues to be the type of player that gives all he has for his team, and the fact that he is not as temperamental as he used to be has only made him better. In my view the best striker in the world.
1) Cristiano Ronaldo: There is no way around it, as I think that Cristiano Ronaldo has this year really shown himself not just as a great player, but also as a great teammate and leader. His skills are unquestionable, and despite his occasional outbursts of arrogance (most of all in the Euro 2016 when they managed to tie Iceland), he has been a crucial leader in Real Madrid's Champions League winning side, and not least in Portugal's Euro winners where, despite being injured during the final, his sideline leadership was crucial in pushing the team to the title. A true great player in 2016.

Others who I almost got into this list: Dimitri Payet, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang, Gareth Bale, Paul Pogba, Pepe and Diego Godin.

Let me wish everyone Happy New Year!

Three strikes you're out

I think that many had expected more, even from a luckless Paris St. Germain without Zlatan and a Thiago Silva who had to be replaced too early by the 15 Mio Euro David Luiz.
David Luiz has always been a nice guy; an eccentric player who easily catches the attention of people. The attention; because he has never been a world class player, and it is all too often displayed when he is alone against class. And today was no exception. Without Thiago Silva, the genius of Barcelona's attacking trio made David Luiz look mediocre. Not least Luis Suarez' third goal, when after tunneling David Luiz, he put a ball he could have kicked in softly, in the most difficult corner of the goal.
Luis Suarez was fantastic for a Barcelona side that almost seems the most focused side of the ones that are left in the Champions League.
Three strikes; Paris St. Germain is out.

In the meantime, Bayern Munich lost 3-1 to an FC Porto side that everyone in history has done wrong in underestimating (do not forget that they won the tournament in 2004), perhaps because Pep Guardiola's world does not know other teams that Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Manchester United. It will be interesting to see FC Porto; they can go all the way, but of course the ones that need to fight the most for it.
Three strikes; Bayern Munich may not be out yet.

Luis Suarez' and Barcelona's comeback

Starting in Barcelona was bound to be difficult for Luis Suarez, notably after his suspension for his famous bite in the World Cup. And much criticism was initially poured on him after his impressive goal-scoring record from Liverpool has not followed suit in Barcelona.
But as much as Suarez is a dislikeable character, his work ethic and skills call for respect, and that has now finally begun to shine through in an FC Barcelona whose South American attacking trio of Neymar-Messi-Suarez looks ever more awesome.
Yesterday Barcelona took first place in La Liga: Real Madrid lost to Athletic Bilbao, and the Catalonians destroyed Rayo Vallecano 6-1 to go on top. Messi scored three goals, and continues being a goal machine with 30 goals (equaling the ever-impressive Cristiano Ronaldo), but the most impressive was Luis Suarez, despite scoring "only" twice. With Messi given a more free role up front, Luis Suarez is more of a supporting player than he was at Liverpool. That said, in that position he is becoming more and more impressive. He works hard, creates a lot of chances, opens spaces for Messi and Neymar, and even has an impressive record on assists (third in the league after Messi and Ronaldo).
People were talking of a Barcelona crisis in 2014, but the club is now top of the league, in the Cup final, and seem poised for a Champions League quarterfinal.
And if anything, Luis Suarez has shown that he is a worthy and important piece of this Barcelona comeback.

Pellegrini's punishment

Manchester City are not that much worse than Barcelona, although in the first half of tonight's Champions League clash they appeared so: on two goals by Luis Suarez, the Catalonians were winning 0-2.
Only one person is to blame of the dismal first half performance: Manuel Pellegrini. His 4-4-2 lineup could have been genius, but after the first half appears reckless and ignorant of how Barcelona play. On top of this, Edin Dzeko in attack was a gamble that didn't work on a day when the high balls into the area were rather random, and when Dzeko seemed tired. And that is Pellegrini's second failure: while improving in the second half, his players seemed sloppy and not believing in themselves! How can a coach not motivate his players for such a match!?
Sergio Aguero's splendid goal and Joe Hart's penalty save gave Manchester City some meager hope that they might be able to progress. However, it is hard to believe that Manchester City have any chance whatsoever of progressing in the tournament.
In the meantime, it is getting more and more exciting to see the Messi-Suarez-Neymar Triple Alliance in action for Barcelona!

Not-so Super Mario

Last season Liverpool came as close to winning the Premier League as they have come for a long time, and this had led to hopes rising among Liverpool fans for this season. So far, they have been disappointed, and the 0-3 trashing they received by Real Madrid in the Champions League only showed how far Liverpool are from reaching the levels of the world's best teams. If anything, Real Madrid were nice to play at a lower tempo, or the trashing could have become as embarrassing and overwhelming as what Bayern Munich had done in Rome the day before.
What perhaps symbolizes Liverpool's fall compared to last season is the players they let go, and the replacements that came in. Liverpool's defense is, if not a joke, somewhat comical, and while one can question the quality of current defenders, their lack of experience seems unquestionable. But one of the most clear changes in Liverpool is the absence of Luis Suarez, the "biter", and his replacement with Mario Balotelli. Liverpool good rid of a troublemaker, yes, but a quality and hardworking player, who despite his lack of discipline, always put the team ahead of himself. What Liverpool did well was to manage to rein in his psychotic traits during matches, and then get the best from his genius. They undoubtedly have been hoping to do the same with Balotelli, but the problem is that Balotelli's issues are different. While Suarez has been a problematic star in every team he has been at, Mario Balotelli has been a super talented problem child in every team he has played at. He has amazing skills, but he is lazy and self-centered; everything is about Balotelli. His controversial shirt swap with Pepe during half time of the match exemplified a player who thinks of himself before the team; his attitude and lack of fighting for the team on the pitch exemplifies this even more.
Perhaps Liverpool can change Balotelli. I hope so, because he is a fantastic player. But I doubt it, and I think Balotelli will turn into one of the flops of this season's Premier League, along with Liverpool's hopes to have a better season than last.

Suspend Suarez!

Just a word on Luis Suarez, because he is not worth that much. If FIFA is serious about its message of respect and fair play, they should suspend him for life from the World Cup. He has apologized for doing this again and again, and then does it on the world stage.

Luis Suarez is a disgrace to the World Cup, to his beautiful country, and to the world in general.

Luis Suarez 2-England 1

I watched the England-Uruguay match in a crowded bar in Brussels. The lone Uruguayan present waved his flag as he saw Luis Suarez score twice to sink England to a likely early exit. I spoke with a Liverpool fan who expressed her mixed feelings about this. Luis Suarez is loved in Liverpool, and hated pretty much everywhere else. He did not play the celestes opening opening match against Costa Rica, but proved crucial against England. Uruguay had their back against the world, and played pretty much like they did all of 2010: let the others dominate possession, but Uruguay strike with force in the counter attack. Better teams will know how to win against this, but England was certainly not one of these great teams. While not outright bad, the English seem to lack imagination and pace. One even has a slight feeling that they do not believe in themselves; that the pessimism of English fans and their press has gotten to the players as well. Whatever the case, they have a small hope that Italy will all their matches and that they can beat Costa Rica sufficiently to progress on goal difference. But how England have looked till now, they cannot take a victory against Costa Rica for granted.

The injury domino

Many of the world's top players have had a very long season. And after a long season, now comes the world's foremost tournament. Many are still trying to get past injuries. Some are already ruled out due to injuries, while other have suffered the horrible fate of getting injured during the warm up to the tournament. Here is some of the domino of world Cup injuries:

• Germany: Marco Reus was injured in last week's friendly against Armenia. A loss for Reus, and a huge loss Germany.
• France has lost their best player, Frank Ribery. Although France has been good lately, this would seem to hamper their possibilities. That said, many teams have before done well without their super-star...
• Colombia will miss their star striker, Radamel Falcao. However, I do not believe this will matter that much, as Colombia already has good striking power. Colombia's weakness will be elsewhere.
• Netherlands: they have more men down, with Rafael Van der Vaart, Gregory van der Wiel and Kevin Strootman all out. Still a strong side, but not as complete as they could be.
• Portugal has brought Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe to Brazil, but both remain doubtful. I would be surprised if they do not force them on the pitch anyway. Portugal's success depends on Ronaldo.
• Uruguay: Luis Suarez has been doubtful, and recently underwent an operation, and he is apparently ready.
• Belgium: Cristian Benteke was injured before the tournament, and Belgium will have to rely mainly on Lukaku and Hazard.
• Spain: Diego Costa has been doubtful, but seems to be ready. Thiago Alcantara is their main loss, but are otherwise at full strength.
• Italy's Ricardo Montolivo fractured his leg in a friendly against Ireland. The curse of the friendlies, where players are dead scared to get injured...
• Russia's Roman Shirokov is out, and this will surely weaken the Russian midfield.
• Mexico's Luis Montes was one of the new players brought in by Luis Herrera when the North Americans almost missed qualification for the World Cup. A broken leg in a friendly against Ecuador has also left him out of the tournament.
• England's big loss is Theo Walcott

Greatest World Cup matches: Ghana-Uruguay (2010)

The first World Cup in Africa came amid criticism whether the South African hosts were ready to host the tournament. On the pitch however, there was surely no doubt that Africa was ready: since the 1970s African football had taken enormous strides to take its place among the top world football. First Cameroun and Morocco had taken the world by storm in 1982 and 1986, and were then joined by Nigeria, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, all nations that in their World Cup appearances had performed at the highest level.
So as the tournament came to Africa for the first time ever, expectations were understandably high. But most were left disappointed: After a promising opener, the South African hosts proved to be the first host nation eliminated in the first round of a World Cup. Nigeria, Algeria and Cameroun all came last in their respective groups, while Cote d'Ivoire came third in a difficult group behind Brazil and Portugal. After the first round, only one African team was left in the tournament: the “Black Stars” from Ghana.
Ghana had until 2006 been a notable under-performer at senior level, while they had come to the forefront of youth football: World champions for U-17 in 1991 and 1995 and runners-up in the U-21 World cup in 1997, as well as a memorable bronze medal in the 1992 Olympics. The incredible pool of talent and a high level of organization had always made it only a question of time before Ghana would emerge on the stage, something that finally happened in 2006, for their first world cup, where they surprised everyone by making it to the last-16 ahead of the Czech Republic and the USA, and there losing to Brazil.
In 2006 they had been one of the youngest sides, so in 2010 they were a team with more experience that was to face Serbia, Australia and Germany in the first round. Under the Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac it was a more cynical Ghanaian side than the charming but naive side of 2006. They had started with a difficult 1-0 victory over Serbia and had then tied 1-1 with a fighting Australian side. Both goals were scored on penalty by the Rennes striker Asamoah Gyan. In their last group-match Ghana lost 1-2 to Germany, but when Australia managed to defeat Serbia, Ghana was through on goal difference.
In the last-16 Ghana faced the USA, and as in 2006 the Black Stars won 2-1, but after extra time.
As only the third African team to make it to a World Cup quarterfinal, all the hopes of the continent were now with Ghana, who were to face Uruguay. The team had been strong an efficient, but had been mired in some controversy as the Inter Milan striker, Sulley Muntari, who had been suspended from the team during qualification, had been expelled for insulting Rajevac. However, captain Stephen Appiah's plead to the coach had allowed Muntari to be pardoned by the coach.

It was proper that the double world champions of Uruguay would participate in the first World Cup in Africa; as the first hosts and champions themselves, Uruguay had also been the first country to use black players on their team, at a time when other countries were still immersed in their colonial racism and idiotic arrogance.
Although Uruguay had struggled to qualify (they qualified as the very last team after a hard-fought play-off match against Costa Rica), they arrived to the tournament with a powerful striking force in Diego Forlan, from Atletico Madrid, and Luis Suarez from Ajax Amsterdam, supplemented by players with a lot of experience in the top European leagues.
Uruguay started with a tie against France before defeating the hosts of South Africa 3-0 and Mexico 1-0 to take the first spot in their group. In the second round the South Americans played South Corea and won 2-1 on two goals by Suarez, and were now to face Africa's darlings in the quarterfinals.

The Uruguayan team started best in a match between two very skilled but also very physically strong sides. The South Americans completely dominated the first twenty minutes of the match, and the Wigan goalkeeper Richard Kingson had two good saves. But slowly Ghana fought themselves back into the match, and towards the end of the first half they were dominating when Uruguay was seriously weakened: Their experienced captain, Diego Lugano from Fenerbahce in Turkey, was injured and had to replaced by Andres Scotti. And things started to look bleaker for Uruguay when Ghana went ahead in the last seconds of the first half. The goal was scored on a long-range effort by the controversial Sulley Muntari, whose shot curled in such a way that it caught goalkeeper Fernando Muslera on the wrong foot.
But Uruguay kept their cool, and ten minutes into the second half Diego Forlan took a free kick outside the Ghanaian area, and also gave the ball a curve that caught Kingson on the wrong foot.
1-1.
The match then became a hard fought physical affair, with chances on both sides, although Luis Suarez missed a couple of great chances against Kingson. 1-1 in ordinary time, and the extra time was mostly characterized by tiredness, nerves and long-range attempts as the minutes slowly moved forward, until the last minute of extra time: Ghana got a free kick on the right side outside the Uruguayan penalty area. As the last kick of the match, they sent all men forward to try to get a goal before the penalty kicks. Dominic Adiyiah, AC Milan player who had come in for Muntari, got a strong header towards an empty goal, but Luis Suarez, who was standing on the goal-line, saved it with his hands to avoid Ghana taking the victory.
The referee was not in doubt: direct red card for Luis Suarez and penalty kick for Ghana, which would put them in the semifinal of the World Cup. Asamoah Gyan, who had scored three goals in the tournament, two of them on penalty, completely overshot his kick.
The villain, Luis Suarez, celebrated the miss from the sidelines.
Most people had the feeling that Uruguay, after looking into the deep hole of elimination, had all the advantages as the penalty kicks started. After John Mensah and Adiyiah missed for Ghana, Sebastian Abreu elegantly scored the goal that put Uruguay in the semifinal of the World Cup.
Until now, no African team has come closer to a World Cup semifinal. And it is scant consolation that Uruguay, without Suarez, lost the semifinal 2-3 to the Netherlands, and went on to lose the bronze match as well, 2-3 to Germany.
 

2^nd July 2010

Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg

Attendance: 84,000

Referee: Oligario Benquerenca (Portugal)

Teams:

Uruguay: Muslera, Maxi Pereira, Diego Lugano (Scotti), Victorino, Fucile, Alvaro Fernandez (Lodeiro), Perez, Arevalo Rios, Cavani (Abreu), Luis Suarez (RC, 120), Diego Forlan.

Ghana: Kingson, Pantsil, Vorsah, John Mensah, Sarpei, Annan, Inkoom (Steven Appiah), Asamoah, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Suley Muntari (Dominic Adiyiah), Asamoah Gyan

Ghana-Uruguay 1-1 (after extra time)

Goals:

1-0 Sulley Muntari (45)

1-1 Diego Forlan (55)

Penalty kicks:

Ghana-Uruguay 2-4

0-1 Forlan

1-1 Gyan

1-2 Victorino

2-2 Appiah

2-3 Scotti

Mensah missed for Ghana

Pereira missed for Uruguay

Adiyiah missed for Ghana

2-4 Abreu

Liverpool on the verge

Liverpool are on the verge of doing what many at least, if not impossible, thought unlikely at the start of the season. They defeated Manchester City 3-2, and are now on first place, and it seems only Chelsea will be able to threaten them. But with their splendid form it seems, if not impossible, unlikely that Liverpool should mess it all up.

I have to add my own personal experience in this drama. On my way from Liberia to Turkey I passed through London, and went to see the aspiring champions of Liverpool play at West Ham. It was the first time I was ever at a Premier League match.

It was a fascinating experience. West Ham are a club full of traidtions, from their bubble song to their links with the legendary Bobby Moore. I enjoyed the atmosphere at the stadium, although I also found it extremely aggressive and negative. In football terms West Ham is hardly an impressive team, and plays quite primitive football. They started the match well, and it was not entirely just when Liverpool went ahead on a penalty kick by Stephen Gerrard. That said, at this time, Luis Suarez had already hit the bar. But West Ham equalized by Guy Demel in a situation where it seemed Andy Carroll fouled the goalkeeper. Andy Carroll was surely the one West Ham player who gave Liverpool trouble, but in the second half Liverpool played much better, and they fully deserved the victory. Luis Suarez hit the bar again, and they were in control. However, the winning goal was on a more controversial penalty kick, again by Stephen Gerrard, which made the home crowd much more aggressive against the away team.

In the end this was an important step for Liverpool, and I was happy I was there and may be able to say that I saw them play the first time they ever won a Premier League championship.

The popularity contest winner (or Balon d'Or)

Cristiano Ronaldo is certainly a deserved winner of the 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or award as the best player of 2013. He continued to be a wonderful player and has throughout the year stunned fans with fantastic goals and consistent quality performances for both Real Madrid and Portugal, whom he almost singlehandedly qualified for the World Cup. The award has been coming Ronaldo's way for many years, but he has been in the shadow of another great, Lionel Messi, who took the award the last four years. This year he "only" came second.
Although I congratulate Mr. Ronaldo, one really has to question an award that does appear more like a football popularity contest. 184 national team coaches and 184 team captains have a vote, as well as 173 media representatives, and one can see how each one voted on FIFA's website. Studying the results one realizes that in reality this award is given with a high degree of subjectivity (and surely us football fans are able to justify any subjective football opinion in the guise of subjectivity) that more resembles the voting of the Eurovision song contest, in particular amid the national team representatives! Just a few curious observations:

• 18 different players were among the first choices of the 2 x 184 coaches captains! So 18 different players are among the "best" in the world.
• 12 captains voted for a team-mate as best player in the world, either in the national team or in his club. While most of them are not surprising (like Iker Casillas voting for Ronaldo or Philipp Lahm voting for Frank Ribery), some are more curious, like Mario Yepes voting for Radamel Falcao, Gianluca Bufon voting for Andrea Pirlo (Pirlo's only vote) or William Ashley voting for Gareth Bale. Some also clearly vote for their buddies, like Lionel Messi voting for Andres Iniesta or Robien Van Persie voting for Arjen Robben.
• Luis Suarez received five votes in top 3 among the captains: his teammate Martin Skrtel voted him as best and so did his captain in Uruguay Diego Lugano. David Gerrard put him in his list as did the captains of Iraq and Turcos & Caicos Islands.
• The top contenders, like little children, did not give a single vote to each other: Lionel Messi voted for his buddies Iniesta, Xavi and Neymar, while Ronaldo voted for Radamel Falcao (quite obscure), Gareth Bale and Mesut Ozil (at least both Messi and Ronaldo had the decency not to vote for themselves!).
• The coaches were perhaps less varied, but many of the coaches who could, did vote for "their guy": Didier Deschamps voted for Ribery, Paulo Bento for Ronaldo (not surprising considering that he may not have been in the world cup without him!), Alejandro Sabella for Messi, Vicente del Bosque for Xavi, Erik Hamren for Ibrahimovic, Adam Nawalka for Robert Lewandoski Jose Pekerman for Radamel Falcao, and Chris Coleman for Gareth Bale. A couple of notable exceptions were Oscar Tabarez, who voted for Franck Ribery, or Luis Felipe Scolari, who voted for Ronaldo.
• With such voting it is perhaps disappointing that the Danish coach Morten Olsen did not vote for Nicklas Bendtner... But there did seem to also be a (very) small tendency to vote for players from ones region (Olsen voted for Ibramovic from neighbouring Sweden). Surely not among the South American captains and coaches where only three of each voted for Lionel Messi... But of 22 votes (from 1 to 3) received by Africa's best player Yaya Toure, 18 came from African countries (from captains, coaches and media). The remaining were from Belgium, Greece (both captains had Toure in their top-3), Cambodia (the coach had him as third choice) and Grenada (a media had him on third). 
• Asia in particular is a Messi-Ronaldo sphere of influence.

Perhaps all this just shows that it is all a bit arbitrary; I think it was no different when Messi won the previous years. That said, I also believe there is a memory lapse involved; if Messi had not been injured the last couple of months of the year, he may have had a better chance of winning.
Finally, there is certainly also a tendency to favour offensive and spectacular players. It is all but impossible to win this prize for defensive players, no matter how solid they are!

In any case, Ronaldo was the most popular player of the year, and he should be congratulated because he deserves it. He is a fantastic player indeed, but it is not because of this award!

Best players of 2013

My (very personal) top ten list of the best players of 2013 is as follows:

10. Mario Gotze: While in Borussia Dortmund the German youngster was one of the leading players in taking the Germans to the Champions League final. He was purchased for a record sum by Bayern Munich, where he remains struggling to become a steady player, but still has time.
9. Yaya Toure: Manchester City has many great players, but the best is Yaya Toure, who is solid, technically skilled and an incredible shot. He is also a core player of the Ivorian national team that qualified for the world cup, but could have done better in the Africa Cup of Nations.
8. David Alaba: The young Austrian has established himself as a star in the best team of the world and was named Austrian player of the year for the third year in a row at the tender age of 21. He is set to become one of the world's greatest and is surely the world's best left back.
7. Lionel Messi: Yes, he continued scoring goals like a Duracell battery until his injury, but at the end of the year he was immersed in a soap opera of "sadness", tax-evasion and gossip. He was ok for the Argentinean national team, but was not the one leading them to the World Cup, and it may seem that the most glorious days are over for the Argentinean.
6. Philipp Lahm: Lahm is the captain of the best team in the world, Bayern Munich, and captains the German national team, for whom he played his 100th game in 2013. As captain of the Germans he has been an inspiration, playing as one of the world's best.
5. Zlatan Ibrahimovic: If anything, Ibrahimovic is one of the most charismatic players in modern football, but is surely also a great striker. He is the top scoring player in the French league in a Paris St. Germain side that will do great things, and is surely the best player of Sweden.

4. Neymar: For a long time I doubted whether Neymar was that good, but he has certainly won me over as a fan through hard work, humility, and skills that are out of this world. In Barcelona he has fought hard to prove himself but is now a certain starter, and in Brazil's side he was one of the leading players, a role that will also be expected of him in the World Cup.

3. Luis Suarez: As always, the Uruguayan was mired in controversy and drama, but in the fall he has managed to control himself and has become the best striker in the world for Liverpool FC, scoring many and beautiful goals. With Uruguay he has also been an important player in qualifying them to the World Cup, and if anything, the absence of Liverpool from European football in the spring, may end up with Suarez being fully fresh in Brazil...

2. Cristiano Ronaldo: Also immersed in controversy in the spring under Jose Mourinho in Real Madrid, the Portuguese has nevertheless grown to be the one player who carries a big part of Real Madrid on his shoulders. He is a complete players with extraordinary skill, and was also almost single-handedly responsible for qualifying his country to the World Cup.

1. Frank Ribery: With so many amazing players on Bayern Munich's amazing very complete side, it is almost impossible to see any one player independently of another. That said, Frank Ribery has come to show everything extraordinary about the German side, with skills, power, speed and intelligence, as well as taking responsibility when things are difficult. The last thing he also showed with France's qualification for the world cup, where he will indeed be crucial if France is to have any hopes of advancing.

The revived Liverpool

Liverpool has not won an English championship since 1990, and has for some years been in the shadow of other English clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. Even though they still have a record of 18 titles, they are hungering for renewed success in the English league. In 2012 Brendan Rogers became manager, and in his first season Liverpool ended 7th, not even qualifying for the Champions League. At the same time there were stories of their record signing, the ever-controversial Luis Suarez, wanted to leave, so expectations high but not exuberant as the new season started. But Liverpool has indeed been on fire, and today they impressed everyone when the destroyed another ambitious team, Tottenham, 0-5 in London. The Liverpool team played brilliantly, even without Stephen Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge. Luis Suarez cemented his position as the most scoring player in the Premier League with two beautiful goals; he is as controversial as ever, but his footballing quality is unquestionable. At the same time young players Jon Flanagan and Raheem Sterling also scored, showing that Liverpool already has outstanding young players for the future. If they can play like this every week, Liverpool is a very serious title contender in what is becoming one of the most exciting Premier League seasons ever, with brilliant teams facing one another every week!
One word about Tottenham would be that Andre Villas Boas is surely not performing as a coach, and I believe he is unlikely to stay there much longer.

Top ten excuses for Luis Suarez

Luis Suarez is surely not the best footballer ever, but the most stupid footballer ever, yes.
That said, I would like to give him a helping hand, so I have some suggestions as excuses he can use to defend himself about his latest outrageous behavior:

10. "Ivanovic put his body into my mouth on purpose!"
9. "Have you not seen the size of my teeth?"
8. "The Europeans do not understand Latin Americans and our culture."
7. "I want to be like Mike (Tyson)"
6. "I thought football was a contact sport?"
5. "Give me some credit! At least I did not racially abuse him!"
4. "I love being suspended. It gives me time to play with myself!"
3. "I want 'La Garra Uruguaya' to be renamed 'La Dentadura Uruguaya'"
2. "As you know, we Uruguayans are known for biting into people..."
1. "'You'll never bite alone'?"

Low intelligence

I have always thought that one (of the many) reasons that I did not become a footballer was because I am too intelligent. In fact, as has often been the case, with some notable exceptions (Jorge Valdano, Socrates, Ruud Gullit....), intelligent footballers seems to be more the exception that the rule, and at a time when the media scrutiny is so intense, the demand on a bit of brains in footballers seems to be all the more important. Therefore, it is a bit tragicomic to see a brainless twit like Luis Suarez in action.
I do not believe that Luis Suarez is a racist. As has rightly been pointed out by others, the connotations of what he said to Patrice Evra are completely different in Latin America, where expressions of racism have more to do with class and xenophobia than with actual race. That said, Luis Suarez should have known, after many years in Europe, that such comments are out of place in that context, and for that, he fully deserved the punishment. When Mr. Suarez today, in the first match against Manchester United since those events, refused to shake Mr. Evra's hand, he went beyond issues of fair play and gentleman behavior, and for that, he should be punished again, and if a punishment is not in its place, he should at least be given a bit of education.
Give the man something to read!
Shamefully, Patrice Evra does not display that he had a brain much larger than Mr. Suarez' pea. At a moment when he could have acted like the greater man, a gentleman, he had to act like a little offended school-boy when the match ended with Manchester United's 2-1 victory, openly provoking Mr. Suarez with his celebrations.
It was a great match, but these two "gentlemen" should receive a warning since their behaviour undermines everything that football should do more to combat, like racism and unfair play.
That said, in a match that was intense and entertaining, this drama only adds to the epic fight, and perhaps that is what we all want to see.
Perhaps Mr. Evra and Mr. Suarez are just brainless pawns in the media circus of international football. Brainless nonetheless.