Suspend Russia

Football is not important, but football can take a stand, and that is what Poland's football players have taken in terms of deciding to boycott their World Cup qualifier against Russia in March. In case Russia is awarded the match, they will face Sweden or the Czech Republic, and Sweden have already also announced that they would not face Russia either.

Potentially, this could qualify Russia directly to the World Cup. And why is that? It is because FIFA has taken no stand as to what to do, and knowing FIFA's lack of courage in these situations, one has to assume that Russia is on its way to Qatar until a clear stand is taken.

Some would argue that football and politics should not be mixed and that the Russian players and fans should not be punished for what is happening. 

Russian players and fans are great; I can say it from experience, from the fantastic time and people I met in Russia in 2018 during the World Cup. But football and politics are intrinsically linked, because football is part of wider society, and cannot be separated from its problems. Russia's government must be isolated for its blatant and aggressive invasion of Ukraine, and although football is just a small thing, Russia must be suspended.

Danish Delight

It is great to be wrong, and I was wrong about the end result in group B, where I had thought the two final matches between Belgium and Finland, and Russia and Denmark, respectively, would end 0-0.

For a long time the Belgians appeared unable to open the Finnish lock that would have put the Nordics through in their first tournament ever. In the end it is a pity for Finland, but they lacked the luck when their goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky pushed a rebound into goal. And when the great Romelu Lukaku made it 2-0 for the Belgians there was little the Finns could do.

The Belgians win the group with three victories, and although they have not been spectacular, they confirm that they can go all the way.

At the same time in Copenhagen Denmark started a bit nervously against Russia, who had a big chance to go ahead. But after the young Mikkel Damsgaard scored a spectacular goal to put Denmark ahead, the Danes were in control. Russia was forced forward and this gave the Danes the space they had lacked in the first half, but it was only a gift from a Russia defender, who passed the ball to an unmarked Youssuff Poulsen in fron of goal, that Denmark scored for 2-0. Despite Andrem Dzyuba scoring on a penalty for the Russians, Denmark were in control, and great goals by Andreas Christensen and Joakim Maehle put the Danes in the unlikely second spot in the group.

Finally the Danes improved their scoring statistics, which had been dreadful after the first two matches, but most of all, the victory was an emotional tribute to Christian Eriksen, who is doing well and must have been as delighted as every Danish fan about the result.

Denmark will face Wales in the last-16, and while they have to play up to their best, Denmark surely has a chance to make it to the quarterfinals.

Disappointed Denmark

It was with big expectations that Denmark went into the European Championships, but after two defeats Denmark is almost out of the tournament.

It is a pity, as Denmark have been extremely unlucky, even beyond the horrible thing that happened to Eriksen in the match against Finland. Denmark was the better side but lost 0-1 in Finland's only attack, and today Denmark was also unlucky, but against the best team in the world, Belgium.

Denmark were by far the better team in the first half, but was only ahead by one goal after Yussuf Poulsen's early strike. Kevin De Bruyne came on in the second half for Belgium, and the Belgians managed to put pressure on a Danish side that was nevertheless still fighting with spirit. But this was not enough against the quality of the Belgians when the speed of Romelu Lukaku and the genious of De Bruyne combined to serve the ball for Thorgan Hazzard and an equalizer.

1-1 was a good result in a match that already before the tournament was expected to be difficult, but given Denmark's many attacks it felt like a disappointment, and when Kevin De Bruyne scored what would become the winner for Belgium, it surely became a disappointment. Denmark continued attacking, but to no avail.

The Danes can be proud of the quality and spirit they put into the match, but in the end what wins matches are goals, and unfortunately the Danes are very inefficient in front of goal (something that was also the case against Finland). To have any chance of progressing Denmark must defeat Russia (and given how poor they are at scoring, this would not appear likely) and at the same time hope that Belgium defeats Finland in a match where Belgium has nothing to play for,  while Finland has everything to play for, as a tie will likely put them through. 

My tip for both matches is 0-0, which would result in Belgium and Russia going through on first and second spot, while Finland will go through as 3rd, and Denmark will be out.

Viva Rusia!!!

Russia are sadly out after a fantastic match with Croatia, who managed to win the lottery of penalties yet again. Croatia probably deserved overall to win, but as in every match Russia played up to their best, first leading on a splendid goal by Denis Cherysev, but also equalizing after being down 1-2 in extra time.
Russia are not the best team in the world, but their spirit and their fans should be admired by everyone. In particular their fans were great, and deserve the drama they were given because they have been great hosts to the World Cup.
In fact, if anything, the World Cup proves that Russia does not need to win in football to be the best in the world!
Thank you Russia!

My trip to Russia

I had the fortune to go to Russia with a great friend for six days during this World Cup. The fortune was mainly due to visiting a beautiful and friendly country with a great friend. The football was so and so...
Of course, due to the impossibility of getting tickets for the best matches, we took tickets to whatever we could get: Croatia-Iceland in Rostov-on-Don. I have to mention that when Argentina did not win their group, and Denmark were to face Croatia, Argentineans in every street corner of Moscow were offering tickets for the Denmark-Croatia match, as many had bought tickets thinking they would be group winners. Seems strange that I could have bought a ticket off the street from almost any Argentine, while at FIFAs website it was all but impossible...
The World Cup in Russia is well-organised: the FAN-ID system worked fine and there were volunteers to help fans all over the country. Getting to Rostov-on-Don we took Russian-Trains, 19 hours from Moscow in a sleeping wagon.
It was a splendid trip going South, with a nice albeit slow train with eating wagon and very friendly Russians throughout. Perhaps the greatest of the Western myths about Russia and its people is that they are not friendly, but this was quite the contrary throughout, and I am sure that this World Cup is by far friendlier than any pervious or future tournament in Europe or North America, especially from what we will see in the so-called "World Cup" of 2026.
Rostov-on-Don is a nice city in southern Russia that probably does not see that many foreign visitors. One local told me that the city had been thoroughly renewed (among others a new airport that is one of the nicest airport I have ever seen) and that the city seemed in perpetual holiday atmosphere with the World Cup. And indeed the atmosphere was great.
The stadium, Rostov Arena, is beautifully situated next to the Don River and on match day it was a lovely walk across the river to get to the stadium.
Croatia-Iceland was an ok match. Croatia, who did not seem to stretch themselves, were clearly a better team. Iceland, who clearly had more support among locals and neutral alike, fought bravely but were eliminated from their first ever World Cup. Besides the atmosphere, experiencing the famous Icelandic "Hu" Cheer was quite amazing in the stadium.
Fans are the best thing about the World Cup, because the vast majority are nice people out to have fun in the guise of "eleven-guys-kicking-a-ball-who-happen-to-share-your-passport". Petty nationalism is the worst of this (and any) World Cup, but it remains rather in the background as fans meet and have a pint and a laugh. We greatly enjoyed hanging with fans from Iceland, Croatia, Russia and Mexico (Mexicans were numerous everywhere). But here one must mention the so-called Fan Zones: The one in Rostov was frankly, -and excuse my expression-, shit. The Fan Zones are a highly protected corporate propaganda area with watered down beer and large screens. But do not be fooled that it is for football fans! We went to the Rostov Fan Zone when Portugal-Iran and Spain-Morocco were playing, but turns out they only show one match among their 50+ large screens!! It was Portugal-Iran, but there were a huge number of disappointed Spain and Morocco fans unable to watch their teams...
Frankly, that is a disgrace, such as the whole FIFA Fan Zone concept.
Instead, the best thing was to hang out in the many bars and pubs of any of the host cities: in Rostov-on-Don we watched France-Denmark and Peru-Australia simultaneously in a pub before heading to Rostov Arena, and in Moscow enjoyed Colombia-Senegal in a pub with plenty of beer and fans (mostly supporting Colombia).
Moscow is a lovely city and the atmosphere was also great, with an even greater variety of fans than in Rostov-on-Don (on the Red Square saw fans from every place, but particularly the Latin Americans were numerous). We had no tickets for any matches there, but did see England-Belgium in the Fan Zone. As any Fan Zone it was shit, but it was certainly worth the visit because it is the beautifully situated at the foot of Moscow Univeristy. Of course, we had the annoyance with the volunteers after the match, who sent us on a one hour walk to reach a pub, instead of advising us better. That was the biggest annoyance of the trip (I lost my phone on the second day, but being disconnected during the entire trip was in fact fantastic!), but should mention that besides those idiotic volunteers the rest were friendly, smiling and very helpful, just as the vast majority of Russians.
In the end, football should only be a meager excuse to see Moscow (or all of Russia for that sake). A gorgeous city with a rich history, it is worth a visit any time, and that is something I certainly take with me from this short visit: the wish to visit again! And whatever all the petty nationalism, FIFA, as well as poor and unfair football, this World Cup will be remembered for being a great one because it was in Russia!

 

 

 

 

 

Opening match

I did not watch the opening match of the World Cup. But I heard it ended 5-0 for Russia. I am happy for the Russian fans, who have been vilified by the West. Otherwise, not much to be happy about: this is the largest winning scoreline in an opening match ever. So history happened, but not much to be happy about: it just shows that there are too many mediocre footballing countries in the World Cup, such as Saudi Arabia, and that we will have to wait a while before we start seeing some real football (knock-out rounds). And just expect this to be even worse when the World Cup is expanded to 48 teams: opening match between Saudi Arabia and Nepal...

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.

The best of group H: Algeria

There have been big expectations to Belgium for this tournament. But the team has not lived up to the expectations despite winning their first two matches. Today Belgium and Russia combined to play one of the dullest matches of the tournament. It looked like a boring 0-0 until the last five minutes when Belgium finally decided to play some football, and Divock Origi scored the winner for Belgium.

Belgium are now certain to make it to the next round. Very unimpressive though.

Russia is another disappointment. Their first 1-1 against South Corea was a bore, and today they were as boring, uncommitted and poor as bowling pins.

Expectations were not big to South Corea-Algeria, but here was, for the first time in group H, a team that actually wants to play football. Algeria were stunning in the first half, 3-0 up against a Corean side that arguably gave the worst performance of the tournament in the first half. Knowing that they could not look their countrymen in the eyes for such a performance, Corea played with different commitment and scored two goals. But this was not enough, as Sofiane Feghouli and Yacine Brahimi combined in to score a beautiful fourth for Algeria.

For many, Algeria's victory is a surprise. But truth is that they are the true champions of a group H where they are the only ones who have wanted to play football. They deserve to be in the next round, and if they play like today, I can see no way that they could not defeat Russia. It would also be a victory for football.

Thank you Algeria!

Day 6 of the World Cup: Brussels, Belgium

Landing in Brussels you could feel the World Cup atmosphere. There were flags and signs about the Red Devils everywhere. For a country so divided, it is amazing to see that the power of football can unite it in such a way. Football is one of the only reasons that the country remains united.

Belgium is not only a very nice country, but their football team has always been over-performing underdogs. In the 1980s they were surely among the world's best; I did see Belgium shirts with Mexico 86 on it, a year where they made it to the semifinals, where only Maradona's genius tore them apart. Their last World Cup appearance was in 2002, so they are eager to return to the world with their much touted side.

I watched the match in a crowded bar on Place Luxembourg, a square where the European elites hang out before and after they have been doing their things. It is a fun place to watch football as there are usually people from all over the world, but this day the square was wonderfully red in the Belgian colors.

It seems the Belgians suffered more than they had  expected. The Algerians were packed in the back, barely daring to move forward. In what was almost their only attack the referee gave them a  very doubtful penalty with which Sofiane Feghouli  brought the North Africans ahead.

The Belgian fans were suffering as their team pushed forward against a white wall. In the second half Marc Wilmots made two changes: Dries Mertens and a young Divock Origi came on. To everyone's surprise Romelu Lukaku went out. But Wilmots was right.

It was Marouane Fellaini who broke the wall when he scored with his hair, and ten minutes before time the Belgians for the first time caught the Algerians in the counter-attack, and Dries Mertens made it 2-1.

The Belgians in Place Luxembourg celebrated as if the World Cup had been won. This was really football passion! In fact, later, downtown Brussels was also full of celebrating fans with a lot of police guarding or rather protecting the smallest group of Algerian fans.

Happy for Belgium, I felt a bit sorry for the Algerian fans; but their team was not very good to look at.

I stayed in Place Luxembourg, less crowded for the Brazil-Mexico match. There was a group of lively Mexicans who saw goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa be the star of the match with some fantastic saves. At the same time Brazil was very disappointing, although you have to grant the Mexicans that they have always had a good take on Brazil. But 0-0 is always a disappointment when we talk about Brazil, and the home side must impress more if they are not to start losing fans.

I watched the last match in a rowdy and a bit scummy bar in downtown Brussels. It was a match that could have gone to both sides, so 1-1 between South Corea and Russia is well-deserved, although the Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev must like Coreans because he gave them a goal. In the end it plays into the hands of the Belgians, who are leading the group and despite the problems they had, they can beat both South Corea and Russia.

Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022

Today the hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were selected. It was widely expected that the winner of the 2018 bid would be in Europe, where England, Spain/Portugal and Russia were contesting. Following FIFA president Sepp Blatter's wish to spread the beautiful game further in new countries and regions (which admittedly gave us an excellent cup in South Africa), the choice of Russia for 2018 was not strange, and it will surely be interesting to see the World Cup there, amid strong anti-foreign feelings there.
I really do wonder whether Russia is able or even willing to welcome the world to one of the greatest events that exist.
Qatar will be even more interesting. The small Middle Eastern nation has never participated in a world cup, but invested enormous resources in their bid, and will surely have to invest even more in stadiums and infrastructure for their hosting in 12 years, but even more in actually having a competitive team! In any case, situated between Europe, Africa and Asia, good links and climate, it is surely to be one of the most memorable world cups of the 21st century, and surely already augur a new era in the spread of football around the world.

Greatest World Cup matches: Cameroon-Russia (1994)

The match between Russia and Cameroon in the first round of the 1994 was completely irrelevant for both teams. Russia had lost their previous two matches 2-0 and 3-1 to Brazil and Sweden respectively, while Cameroon had tied Sweden 2-2 and lost 3-0 to Brazil. This meant that while Cameroon had a small theoretical chance of progressing, Russia was out. With Brazil and Sweden tying 1-1, the match was nevertheless irrelevant.
Still, the match in Stanford, California, is worth mentioning since two incredible records in world cup history were made in the same match.
After 15 minutes Oleg Salenko, striker from the CD Logroñés in Spain, opened the scoring for Russia, and by half-time, the same player had made a hat-trick by scoring two more goals (one of them on penalty). Cameroon, an ageing team that had been the sensation of the 1990 World Cup where they made it all the way to the quarterfinals, was being humiliated, and the saviour from the 1990 World Cup entered the pitch, the 42 year old Roger Milla.
Roger Milla had played some years in France during the 1980s and in 1976 had been awarded the African Footballer of the year award, but his career came came to the wider world’s attention in 1990 when, at the age of 38, he had controversially been selected for the world cup squad after Cameroon’s president had put pressure on the coach. Entering against Colombia in the last-16, he had scored the winning goal, and had been instrumental in Cameroon’s 2-1 lead against England in the 1990 quarter-finals. Then, Milla had been the oldest player to score in a World Cup. As he entered the pitch against Russia, it was only one minute before he beat his own record when scoring as he strongly held off a Russian defender in the penalty area and placed the ball in the goal.
Roger Milla’s record as the oldest man to score in a world cup is unlikely ever to be beaten.
However, this was not the first record to be broken. Cameroun was unable to score again, and instead Russia, and notably Oleg Salenko, proceeded to tame and destroy the African lions. Halfway through the second half Oleg Salenko scored his fourth goal on a comfortable right-foot shot after a quick Russian attack.
Only eight players before Salenko had ever achieved the feat of scoring four goals in a world cup match, the last being Emilio Butragueño in 1986, when Spain defeated Denmark. However, no player had ever scored five goals in one world cup match, and this was exactly what Oleg Salenko achieved only three minutes later, when he scored a fifth for Russia on a quick attack that tore apart the tired African defense. To this day Oleg Salenko remains the only player that has scored five goals in one world cup match.
Dmitri Radchenko from Zenit Leningrad scored a sixth for Russia before the end of the match, but that is only an anecdote in a match that had already seen two world cup records.
Roger Milla played his last world cup match in this match, as Cameroon returned home. He is still a legend in Cameroon, and widely considered one of the best players Africa has ever produced;
Oleg Salenko only played eight matches for Russia, and his club career was not prominent in spite of his talent, playing for Valencia, Glasgow Rangers, Istanbulspor, Córdoba and Pogon Szczecin with mixed success. In spite of this, he remains in the history books because of his record in this match, and including the goal he had scored against Sweden, he became top-scorer of the tournament together with Bulgaria’s Hristo Stoitchkov.

Match Stats:

• 28th June 1994, Stanford Stadium, Stanford
• Attendance: 75,000
• Referee: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria)

Russia-Cameroon 6-1
Goals: 1-0 Salenko (15), 2-0 Salenko (41), 3-0 Salenko (44) (pen), 3-1 Milla (46), 4-1 Salenko (72), 5-1 Salenko (75), 6-1 Radchenko (81)

Teams:
Russia: Cherchesov; Nikiforov, Ternavski, Tetradze, Korneev (Radchenko), Tsymbalar, Onopko, Lediakhov (Beschastnykh), Salenko, Karpin, Khlestov
Cameroon: Songo; Kana, Ndip, Libiih, Omam-Biyik, Mfede (Milla), Kalla, Tataw, Agbo, Foe, Embe (Tchami)

Heading to South Africa

New Zealand and Nigeria qualified for the World Cup yesterday, but other countries also either made sure they are going to be in South Africa, or took steps to it.
In Africa Cameroon finally qualified with a 2-0 away victory over Morocco, and are now the African nation that has participated in most World Cups.
One of the most awaited matches was surely Egypt-Algeria in Cairo. The match ended with a late Egyptian 2-0 goal that will force a re-match in Sudan on Wednesday, to decide which of the two will be going to the World Cup. According to some sources, before the match in Cairo, the Algerian team was attacked by Egyptian hooligans, and it seems the match was played in a very intimidating atmosphere. FIFA should certainly consider some sort of punishment for the Egyptians if this proves correct - these things don't belong in a World Cup participant!
In San José, Uruguay managed an important 0-1 victory against Costa Rica that puts them only one step away from South Africa, while in Europe, the four play-off matches left nothing for sure. Portugal barely managed to defeat an unlucky Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0, while Greece and Ukraine tied 0-0 in what sounds like a bore of a match.
Russia pressed and pressed for goals against Slovenia, but leading 2-0 gave away a late goal that can prove crucial for the next match on Wednesday in Ljubljana. France on the other hand seems to have taken a gigantic step with a 1-0 away victory against Ireland in Dublin with a goal of the ever-present Nikolas Anelka.
By next Wednesday we will know all the participants in the 2010 World Cup!

Top 5 Best things of Euro 2008

The Euro 2008 was exciting, great matches, entertaining football, drama and tenacity. It was one of the best international tournaments of the last years.
In my personal opinion the five best things of the tournaments were the following:

5) Netherlands in the first round: The Dutch started the tournament like super-men, trashing the Italians and French in spectacular matches which led one to think about their spectacular teams of the 1970’s. It was a pity that they were unable to keep it up, but still, I loved seeing them, and look forward to see if they can do better in South Africa.
4) Russia: Welcome back to the Russians! Under Guus Hiddink and with some marvelous players the Russians showed that they were rightfully in the tournament. Look out for the Russians!
3) Austrian fans: In general the fans of Euro 2008 were great – although don’t mind a handful of trouble-makers, a few petty nationalisms and high prices. But I liked the Austrian fans, who gave their otherwise petty national team excellent good-humoured support which surely gave the players and extra incentive.
2) Turkish tenacity: The “crazy” Turks showed how much it matters never to give up, and for that they gave us some memorable matches in Euro 2008: Their amazing come-back against the Czechs, the incredible last-second equalizer against Croatia, and their spirited fight against the Germans were all examples of good ole’ fashioned spirit, and many teams could learn from this.
1) Spain: Spain were the best of the tournament, firstly because they finally managed to win a major tournament, and secondly because of how they did it; they played brilliantly.

The Champions are out

In spite of their boring style I thought Greece were deserved (albeit not worthy) champions of Euro 2004. Last night, on their second consecutive loss in Euro 2008 (0-1 to the Russians), the defending champions are out, and deservedly so. They are simply not as good, and their boring style should not be copied. This should be the year of entertaining football!
Sorry to the great Greek fans, but it is true.
Bye bye Greece.
The last match of the group between Russia and Sweden will be a nail-biter, as both teams can go through. Although I personally would go for the Russians, I (sadly) believe the Swedes are more disciplined and better organised, besides their absolutely wonderful strikers (Henrik Larsson is still, at 37, one of the greatest players ever!).

Zenit St. Petersburg UEFA Cup Champions

One can only imagine the amounts of beer and vodka being drunk today in Manchester, as thousands of fans of Glasgow Rangers and Zenit St. Petersburg decended upon the English city to see their teams clash in the 2008 UEFA Cup final.
In reality, there was only one team on the pitch: the Russians deservedly won their first European title. They were far superior in every facet of the game to the overly defensive and boring Scots, and it was a victory for football that Zenit St. Petersburg won.
I must admit that I know little of the Russian team; first time I heard about them was last year, when they won the Russian league, and after a poor start in the UEFA cup, I don't think anybody would have expected them to win. But the team under Dick Advocaat has been impressive, in particularly against Bayern Munich, which was the first time I had the pleasure to watch them play.
I am certain that this is not the last time we have heard about the Russian team, but I will also be looking forward to seeing more of their players at this summer's European Championship, and against some better teams in next season's Champions League.
Until them, congratulations to Zenit, their fans, and cheers in vodka!