Germany-Denmark

Denmark made it through on second place after England. It was not elegant and awfully lucky for a side that seems afraid to attack (Denmark used to be so good at counter-attacking!!!! What happened!!!???) and starts to defend against teams that are frankly not very good. Because all due respect to Serbia, but when you have to win a match and you play like that, you do not deserve to go through.

So I do not understand why the Danes did not go after the victory, but defended a 0-0 that got them through on second spot, ahead of Slovenia (who are also through after 0-0 with England), because they are a higher ranked team.

Now Denmark will face the German hosts. Switzerland, a far better team than Denmark, showed that the Germans are not invincible, but at the same time that you have to play your best. Denmark will this have to play their best, but most of all, and this is what worries me, they have to believe that they can win instead of defending the entire match.

Of course, it is arrogant Germany, nobody the Danes would rather defeat, but we have to face that it will be nearly a miracle if they do.

The fucking world we live in

Every tournament it gets worse, and it just saddens me. The racism, xenophobia, hate... It is not the fault of football, but with football it just becomes almost legal to express extreme viewpoints; to say what you think, but apparently it is not legal to actually think.

Serbia is angry that Croatian and Albanian fans shouted "kill Serbs" during their match. Truly despicable, and cannot understand why a match like that is not suspended. At the same time you see images of these Serbs shouting racist slogans and not letting a black man on a train, and one feels that they are as despicable as the Albanians or Croatians.

Sad truth is that everyone all over the world is the same....

Then we hear Germans (Germans!!!) complain about the colour of their players, something we have seen in England, France as well. I am happy that at least Julian Nagelsmann strongly criticised it, but I am afraid he is another lone voice fighting the tide of hate that envelops all our societies.

As I said, it is not football's fault. It is our societies; full of ignorance and idiotic tribalism (both ignorance and tribalism are sadly concepts worn with pride by most people everywhere in the world).

Although it is not football's fault, it becomes difficult to get excited about the game when all you see is that; when friendly taunting and mutual respect, a place to meet other cultures and nationalities in a friendly sport, becomes just what is the most characteristic trait of the human race since times immemorial: pure and evil hate. 

The fucking world we live in.

Heading for Qatar

 I must admit that I have been watching a lot of football the last few days; World Cup qualifiers from Europe, South America, Concacaf, and even watched good ole’ Liberia lose 0-2 to Nigeria, who goes on to win the group and is in the run for a World Cup spot.

In Europe all Group winners have been decided, with the two big surprises being Switzerland and Serbia. They Serbians did the unexpected by winning 1-2 in Lisbon to take first spot in the group ahead of Portugal, who were even 1-0 ahead and would have won the group with a tie. The other surprise were Switzerland, who did what they had to do by defeating Bulgaria 4-0, as Italy’s European champions were unable to get past 0-0 against Northern Ireland. Four years ago Italy also missed out on the World Cup in the play-offs, and although I think they will make it, the play-offs will be nerve wrecking: twelve teams will fight for three World Cup spots, and some of the teams besides Italy and Portugal include Russia, Poland, Wales, Sweden and Scotland.

The European sides going straight to Qatar from Europe are:

• Group A: Serbia
• Group B: Spain
• Group C: Switzerland 
• Group D: France 
• Group E: Belgium 
• Group F: Denmark
• Group G: Netherlands
• Group H: Croatia
• Group I: England
• Group J: Germany

In the meantime in South America Brazil and Argentina tied 0-0; Brazil has qualified while Argentina are on the verge of qualifying. Ecuador appears a relatively solid third after a strong 0-2 away win in Chile, while there is a bitter fight for he next two spots. Colombia, after yet another 0-0 against Paraguay is on fourth place with 17 points, with only two points down to Bolivia on 8th place. Bolivia defeated Uruguay 3-0 in La Paz, and are thus still playing for a place in Qatar. The only team that has no option of qualifying is Venezuela, while all other teams are still in the contest with just four matches left. Peru is currently in fifth place, with 17 points, following a win over Venezuela, and will face Colombia in the next match.

Await some epic matches in South America!

Top 10 Best Football Teams of 2015

There have been many great football teams in 2015. The following is what I consider the ten best teams of 2015:

10) Australia: Although not heard much about, Australia took the Asian football championship at home this year.
9) Sevilla: Again the south Spaniards took the Europa League title. They are among the best in Spain, although far from contesting the title. In the Champions League they ended trailing behind Manchester City and Juventus, but that means they will be defending their Europa League title in 2016.
8) Bayern Munich: The south Germans continue to be among the best in the world, leading in the Bundesliga and favourites to go all the way in the Champions League.
7) Juventus: They dominated in Italy in the first half of the year, and upset Real Madrid to make it to the Champions League final, where only mighty Barcelona stood on the way. They have been weaker after the great Andrea Pirlo left for the USA, but continue fighting for the Italian title and the Champions League title.
6)  River Plate: The winners of the Copa Libertadores also made it to the final of the Club World Cup, where Barcelona defeated them. That said, they showed that they have some of the best fans in the world!
5) Serbia U-20: The Serbian youths were surprise winners of the 2015 u-20 World Cup in New Zealand, defeating Brazil in the final. It augurs well for the future of Serbian football!
4) Cote d'Ivoire: The Ivorians finally won the Africa Cup of Nations that has been eluding them for many years in a final against Ghana.
3) Chile: Chile hosted a highly competitive Copa America and for the first time ever took the title in a final against their Argentine neighbours.
2) FC Barcelona: The Catalonians have only become better in 2016, winning everything in Spain, the Champions League, and lastly the World Club Cup. They are leading the Spanish league at the end of 2016 with a scoring record of 40 goals, 35 of which have been scored by their attacking trio of Suarez, Neymar and Messi.
1) USA: With a fantastic World Cup in Canada women's football showed that it is fully at the level of Men's football when it comes to national team football (there may be more differences at Club level). The tournament was at least as good as the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, culminating in a splendid final between USA and Japan. USA were amazing, winning 5-2, and in particular Carly Lloyd's performance should pass into World Cup History. With this, USA's Women's side is in my view, the best football team of 2015!

Some things never change (but others do)

I had big expectations to England in this World Cup, such as many, but apparently England has the same problem as Spain: they cannot handle expectations! While one has to be critical of England's match against Algeria, one has to credit the ever-underestimated Algerians, whom I cannot but have sympathy with because of their 1982 World Cup when they were unfairly eliminated by Austrian and German collusion.
But while Spain and England seem to be unexpectedly fighting for their progress to the next round, other things do seem to change: in their first match Germany played a very offensive style that gave huge expectations to their second match against Serbia, instead of the usual more controlled offensive that many connect with a "typical" German team. Another thing many connect with Germany is that they always have the luck and coldness to win a match, but their 1-0 loss to Serbia was not such a match: a rather harsh red card against Miroslav Klose limited their possibilities, but even, in the second half they missed a penalty, something Germany has not done for ages. The group is quite thrilling now, after Ghana and Australia tied 1-1, and Ghana and Germany will be one of the most interesting matches of the next round!

Interesting friendlies

The world cup is soon starting, and this week's friendly matches can perhaps give us a small indication of what forms some teams are in:

• The defending world champions from Italy tied another world cup participant, Cameroon, 0-0 (repeating their 1982 world cup feat). While both are looking solid in defense, the match said little about their offensive capabilities.
• Spain again showed that they must be considered favourites for the title after a 2-0 away victory to France on goals by David Villa and Sergio Ramos.
  
• England, immersed in scandals about some players, had a difficult time defeating the African champions of Egypt, and even went behind 0-1, but managed to pull back a 3-1 victory.
• Ghana, one of the African hopefuls, lost 2-1 to Bosnia in a match where they did not play too well, but were also missing many of the stars.
• Another African participant, Algeria, was destroyed 3-0 by Serbia. In the meantime, the Serbians, who qualified in an awesome manner, are cementing a position as an important "Dark Horse" for the World Cup.
• Uruguay defeated another World Cup participant, Switzerland, 3-1 away, where three of their extraordinary strikers scored a goal each: Diego Forlán, Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani. Uruguay will also be a team to watch in South Africa, particularly due to their awesome strikers.
• Another of the favourites for the title is surely Argentina. Although coach Maradona has been heavily criticised their 1-0 away victory against Germany should send warning signs to anyone who underestimates the Argentineans. The entire team stood well, played intelligently, and their strikers gave the Germans trouble. Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuaín, who is currently in great form, scored the Argentinean winner.
• The Netherlands defeated the USA 2-1.