Greatest World Cup Matches: Spain-Netherlands (2010)

The first World Cup final on the African continent was special for many reasons. Firstly it was the first all-European final outside Europe, but also the first final ever without the participation of either Brazil, Argentina, Italy, or Germany.
And there was certainly going to be a new world champion: for Spain it was their first World Cup final; it was the third for the Netherlands, having lost their two previous finals in 1974 and 1978.
The Netherlands had always had a complex of not achieving the pinnacle. Besides their European Championship title of 1988, success had always eluded them. With some of the best football academies in the world, the Dutch produced a long line of incredibly talented players who were schooled in the Dutch model of total football, combining tactical and physical skills and a well-developed understanding of the game.
The Netherlands always entered the tournaments as favourites, but had largely disappointed. In 2008 the former Feyenoord coach Bert van Marwijk was made manager of the team to lead them to the 2010 World Cup. In qualifying the Dutch made a clean sweep by winning every match. But there was criticism on their style: always proud of playing beautiful football the Dutch became, like the Argentines, divided on whether to play a more cynical style in order to get results. The 2010 team was a result of this. The side contained some superb technical players such as Inter Milan's Wesley Sneijder, Arsenal's Robbie van Persie and Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben, but also some uncompromising players such as Bayern Munich's Mark van Bommel, Manchester City's Nigel de Jong (known as the lawnmower) or Everton's John Heitinga. While there were occasional brilliant moments, the team played more result-oriented and physical football than previous Dutch sides. And it seemed to be working.
Arriving at the World Cup the Netherlands had won all three first round matches against Denmark, Japan and Cameroun. In the last-16 they defeated a Slovakian side that had eliminated the defending World Champions of Italy 2-1 on goals by Robben and Sneijder.
In the quarterfinals the Dutch played the favourites of Brazil. After being down 0-1, Wesley Sneijder scored twice in the second half to give his side a semi-final match against the double world champions from Uruguay.
The Dutch won an exciting match 3-2 and were ready to face Spain in Johannesburg.

As defending European champions Spain entered the tournament as the biggest favourites, but started with a debacle when they lost their first match 0-1 to Switzerland. It was a match where Spain had possession and chances, but their feeble attack gave no results. Spain lacked a strong striker, and manager Vicente del Bosque sometimes chose to play without a striker, giving Spain a lot of possession but little to show for it. The side was not outright defensive, but their main strength came from their possession and their outstanding defense around FC Barcelona's Carles Puyol and the Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
In their following two matches Spain fought themselves back to win the group by defeating Honduras and Chile. The next three games resulted in three narrow 1-0 victories against Portugal, Paraguay and Germany to make it to the final. All victories were achieved by a high level of possession that had become Spain's trademark, just as FC Barcelona, but without the powerful striking force of the Catalonians. Still, Spain had every reason to be optimistic before the final against the Netherlands, who nevertheless must have noted the possibility of winning against Spain's low-scoring side.

It was not a nice match. Netherlands came out to destroy Spanish possession, and had already received five bookins within the first 30 minutes of the match. Nigel de Jong should have been given a direct red card by a vicious karate kick against Xabi Alonso, but a forgiving referee Howard Webb only booked him, and the Dutch violence did nothing but break the rhythm of the match.
This was the least likely Dutch side in the history of football.
While not being able to play as polished as before, Spain still had possession; Sergio Ramos had a great chance on a header that was saved by Stekelenburg, but otherwise it was a hugely disappointing first half.
The ugliness continued in the second half, and the increasingly frustrated Spaniards also joined the fight; while they continued having more possession, Arjen Robben had the biggest chance of the match to put the Dutch ahead after Wesley Sneijder had torn apart the Spanish defense, but Robben was prevented by the great Iker Casillas.
In the 83rd minute, Arjen Robben had another a good run against Casillas but Spain's captain again saved his side.
The true star of the match, who gave Spain the title, was Iker Casillas.
Before that Sergio Ramos had missed a free header to put the Spanish ahead, but in the end it was 0-0 of a very ugly final that went into overtime.
Spain tried to put pressure on the Dutch with Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas coming in for Xabi Alonso. And Fabregas had the first big chance of extra time when he missed alone with Stekelenburg. In the second half of extra time the Dutch were finally given a red card when John Heitinga brought down Fernando Torres. And soon after this Spain scored the winning goal after a controversial situation where the Dutch should clearly have been awarded a corner-kick after a free kick.
But the Netherlands had made no friends, and nobody really cared about the Dutch protests after Andres Iniesta smashed the ball in with his right foot after Fabregas' through-pass caught Iniesta on-side.
Spain were champions.

The fourth 1-0 victory for Spain in a row made them the least-scoring World Champion ever. Still, it was a well-deserved title, and nobody felt sorry for the Netherlands. It was a record final in terms of yellow cards (12), and it was a pity that the first final on African soil should have been such an ugly match after a wonderful tournament. A historical victory, not only because Spain won for the first time. It was also the first victory of a European side outside Europe.
 

11^th July 2010

Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg

Attendance: 84,490

Referee: Howard Webb, England 

Teams:

Spain: Casillas, Pique, Carles Puyol, Ramos, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Capdevilla, Busquets, Alonso (Fabregas), Villa (Torres), Pedro (Navas)

Netherlands: Stekelenburg, Van der Wiel, Heitinga (RC, 109), Mathijsen, Van Bronckhorst (Braafheid), Van Bommel, De Jong (Van der Vaart), Kuyt (Elia), Van Persie, Sneijder, Robben 

Spain-Netherlands 1-0 (after extra time)

Goals:

1-0 Iniesta (116)

Greatest World Cup Matches: Germany-Spain (2010)

Germany is one of the giants of world football. In spite of reaching the World Cup final of 2002 and making it to the third place in 2006, they were hungering for another title when they entered the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.
Surely, German football was not the same it had been in the 20th century. After the debacles at the World Cup in 1998 and the Euro in 2000, Germany had started to rebuild its youth system around more skillful players and playing a more possessive style of football. This had resulted in an immensely popular side at home in 2006, when they made it to the semifinals under Jurgen Klinsmann with a youthful, attacking side that in many ways came to illustrate a new, diverse and multicultural Germany. The 2010 squad was also full of young stars, such as Werder Bremen's Mezut Ozil, Stuttgart's Sami Khedira (both were soon to change to Real Madrid) and Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller. These were supplemented by other great and more experienced players such as Bayern Munich's Bastian Schweinsteiger, Phillipe Lahm and Miroslav Klose. Germany had opened by trouncing Australia 4-0 in a match where they looked as candidates for the title. Although they lost their second match to Serbia, a 1-0 victory over Ghana in the last match gave them the first spot in the group. In the next two matches Germany suddenly looked unbeatable: they first triumphed over their eternal rivals of England with a resounding 4-1 victory and then destroyed Diego Maradona's Argentina 4-0 in the quarterfinal.
Germany was ready to take on the huge favourites of Spain!
In international football Spain had historically always been a notable under-performer. With a mass of talent and some of the best clubs in the world, Spain had never reached a World Cup final and had only succeeded internationally in 2008, when they had won the European Championship by defeating exactly Germany in the final.
With the Euro title Spain entered the 2010 World Cup with justified expectations, not least because of its amazing players that had been harvested mostly from FC Barcelona's base, and complemented by Real Madrid's flood of talent. Barcelona's Xavi and Andres Iniesta were surely the best midfield pair in the world. In defense Barcelona's captain Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique were complemented by Real Madrid's uncompromising Sergio Ramos, and in goal Real Madrid's Iker Casillas was definitely the best goalkeeper in the world.
Although Spain entered the tournament huge favourites, they fell in their first match against a defensive Swiss side that managed to get a 1-0 victory. This was perhaps healthy for the favourites who went on to defeat Honduras and Chile to win the group anyway. In the last-16 Spain defeated their Iberian neighbours Portugal 1-0 and in the quarterfinal had enormous difficulties defeating a great Paraguay 1-0.
Still, they had made it to their first World Cup semi-final since 1950, and were eager to get into their first final ever as they were to face Germany, the most scoring team in the tournament.
While Germany were without one of the best player of the tournament, Thomas Muller, Spain were in the strongest line-up, with seven Barcelona players and three Real Madrid players on the pitch. In the first half there was the predictable passing around by the Spanish, with the Germans trying to fight their way into the match. Even though Spain seemed to be passing the ball around a lot without getting anywhere, they still had the few best chances, while Germany still felt they could win the match at the end of the first half when Mezut Ozil should have had a penalty on a challenge from Sergio Ramos.
Perhaps it was the knowledge that Spain was so dominant without getting anywhere that prompted them to put more pressure in the second half. With Xabi Alonso at center stage, balls were passed more aggressively, but with little effect. Instead, halfway through the second half the young Bayern Munich talent Toni Kroos had a good shot that was saved by Casillas, and one could feel that Germany were still in the match.
But one of the many qualities of this Spanish team was their eternal patience. At no point did it seem they got nervous about Germany's chances, but instead they kept passing the ball, looking for the opening.
And it finally came in the 73rd minute.
Barcelona's Xavi took a corner into the area where his club captain Carles Puyol headed the ball with a smash, and even though the Spanish players never looked nervous, their celebrations certainly looked as relief.
It was now Germany that looked in shock. While coach Joachim Loew made a desperate offensive change, Spain's patient possession continued. In the last minutes Spain's young Barcelona striker Pedro even missed a huge chance to make it 2-0 when he preferred to be egotistical rather than play Fernando Torres, but that was quickly forgotten when Spain emerged victorious on Puyol's goal. Spain had been superior to Germany and went on to win the World Cup final, thus sealing their position as the best team in the world.
 

7^th July 2010

Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban

Attendance: 60,960

Referee: Viktor Kassai, Hungary

Teams:

Germany: Manuel Neuer, Friedrich, Sami Khedira (Mario Gomez), Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mezut Ozil, Podolski, Miroslav Klose, Piotr Trochowski (Toni Kroos), Phillip Lahm, Mertesacker, Boateng (Jansen)

Spain: Iker Casillas, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Sergio Ramos, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Joan Capdevilla, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso (Marchena), David Villa (Torres), Pedro (Silva)

Germany-Spain 0-1

Goals:

0-1 Puyol (73)

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

Best and worst of the 2010 football year

It is time for a review of football-year 2010, and I will start by my personal top-10 of best and worst football things this years.

Saving the good for last, here comes the worst (a list that has, fortunately, been a bit difficult to make!):

10. Paraguay not becoming World Champions, to be summarized in one name: Larissa Riquelme...

9. Not having played football once during the year.

8. Time difference: Living in Venezuela has made it difficult to watch many mid-week matches, as they are in working hours.

7. FC Copenhagen doing so well; as a Brøndby fan I am green of jealousy! But of course, it is impressive!

6. Ghana's defeat in penalty kicks to Uruguay: so close, and yet so far from being the first African team in a World Cup semifinal! An emotional roller-coaster of a match that I watched with hundreds of people in Brussels!

5. People who normally don't watch football, who suddenly become all too passionate during a World Cup.

4. Argentina's elimination from the World Cup, which was more painful as I had really hoped for the best for them under Maradona. I do admit though, that his choice of tactics against Germany was poor.

3. FIFA and refereeing: although some small changes have been made, there is still too much conservatism and lack of openness in making refereeing better. In the World Cup, although in general good, some lousy decisions still haunt all fans.

2. The Octopus

1. Brøndby: not only that they are generally doing bad, but I was hugely disappointed for their loss to Sporting Lisbon.

And now, the best, a list much harder to limit!

10. BBC's World Football Phone in: the best football show ever.

9. Inter Milan's impressive victory of the triple. Although not a popular team, they had José Mourinho, whom I consider the world's greatest coach.

8. Germany: impressive in the World Cup with a diverse, young and entertaining side, and the Bundesliga has also improved to become one of the leagues in Europe with most excitement and most goals!

7. That Valencia CF are back in the Champions League, and have done well.

6. I have not been to many matches this year; a couple of Copa Libertadores matches in Caracas, but Benfica-Braga in Lisbon, was surely the best!

5. The way FC Barcelona have been playing in the second half of the year, notably their 5-0 victory against Real Madrid, which I watched in the office, was a truly impressive display of awesome football.

4. Spain as World Champions made me most happy for all my family and friends there!

3. The marvelous Black Stars and their performance in South Africa, and in particular their fans!

2. A wonderful World Cup in South Africa! South Africans were the best hosts ever!

1. Watching World Cup football in five different countries, with friends, family and drinking beer!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

The best and the worst from the world cup

The 2010 World Cup is over. I feel it was a wonderful World Cup; much better than the disappointments of 2002 and 2006! The following is a top ten of the best and the worst respectively, starting with the bad things:

10) Petty nationalism: Many people only interest themselves in football every four years for the World Cup, as the nationalism and stereotypes appeals to them. They don't watch it for the football. At the same time, the results on the pitch are interpreted to confirm all types of stereotypes and situations in the world, and any comment about a play is interpreted as an insult of a nation. When France's team strikes, it does not mean all French are arrogant and selfish. When we say that the Dutch played like animals, it does not mean that we don't still love the Netherlands. When I say that the Spanish team deserved to have their air down against Switzerland, it does not mean that I find that all Spanish are arrogant....

Football is passion, but people who don't watch it often should learn to relax: it is only football!

9) People who kept complaining about the vuvuzelas: the vuvuzelas rocked!

8) Some empty stadiums: Incredibly, there were some empty stadiums in the first rounds, and I am certain that they could have been sold out. Why!?

7) Defensiveness: In the first round in particular too many teams are more afraid to lose than prepared to win. The few goals scored in this tournament are also an expression of a tournament where most teams are not prepared to take risks. Fortunately, the winners were not one of these (although being very inefficient up front, Spain relied strongly on its defense to win).

6) Some referees: In general the referees were quite good, considering the lacking assistance they get from FIFA and from players. However, still some referees were appalling, most notably Mr. Webb in the final, who allowed too much from the violent Dutch.

5) African sides: The first World Cup in Africa, and all but Ghana were eliminated in the first round. In particular Nigeria and Cameroon were hugely disappointing. Even in the long-term, Ghana remains the most likely African World Champions.

4) The Netherlands: To reach the final the Dutch were stable and efficient, as well as outright nasty (notably Van Bommel should have gotten a red card many times during the tournament). It (almost) worked, but many people miss the beautiful and entertaining football that has made the Dutch admired and respected.

3) The soap operas of the European sides: The most pathetic display came from the French side, but also England, who had a humilliating World Cup suffered from internal dicussions, pressure from the press, and so on. Finally, Italy grossly underperformed, perhaps due to a coach who still lives in 2006...

2) Paul the octopus: Who came up with this stupid idea of a psychic octopus...? Granted, it is funny, but as the tournament progressed the octopus got more attention and I personally got increasingly annoyed that it kept making better predictions than myself... Why not just cancel the next World Cup and let it make predictions - imagine how much money, time and nerves will be spared!

1) FIFA and technology: FIFA is a powerful and conservative organization that does not accept any criticism. Its stance on using some technology to improve the game is outright stupid: Lampard's goal against Germany was seen by the entire world, including the referees, within seconds of it happening, but still, the referees could not change!? I understand it is a more complex discussion, but intransigence to consider it in a game that moves billions, is stupid.

I must admit that I did not have an easy time thinking of ten bad things! In any case, it is much easier to mention the good things:

10) Andrés Iniesta: In my humble view, the King of the Tournament.

9) Diego Maradona: the most controversial person in football, and many would surely not put him on this list. But I do: he has been as refreshing as controversial, has tackled the pressure well, and made Argentina play good offensive football. In spite of Argentina falling apart against Germany, he remains one of the great memories of the tournament. Viva Diego!

8) Larissa Riquelme: Why one would unconditionally support Paraguay!

7) Uruguay: To many Uruguay were the surprise of the tournament. However, the small giants have an excellent team and a great history. The fact that they returned in Africa forty years after their latest semifinal also carries the symbolism that they were the first team to use black players nearly 100 years ago!

6) New Zealand: With three ties the Kiwis were in fact the only undefeated team of the tournament! Bravo for a team nobody expected anything from!

5) The finalists: The Netherlands played their third World Cup final while Spain played its first. Although both teams are giants, this was an unusual final, as it is the first final ever without the participation of Brazil, Italy, Germany or Argentina.

4) Ghana and their fans: Ghana is the best African team, and showed it again, being just one kick away from being the first African semifinalists ever. That they didn't make it was heartbreaking, partly for the team, but mostly for all Ghana's fans, who are surely the best fans in the world! The World Title for best fans went to Ghana!

3) Germany: Germany broke a lot of stereotypes with a young team that any football fan should look forward to seeing in the future. I was not expecting much of them, but was impressed by the German youngsters (notably Mesut Özil and Thomas Müller) who with style, pace and efficiency became the most scoring team of the World Cup.

2) Spain: World Champions for the first time ever, and breaking a longtime curse for the Spanish side. It has been amazing to see how they have united an otherwise disunited country, and knowing Spaniards, I am sure that the party was epic! Cheers!

1) South Africa: the country and people of South Africa silenced all critics (including myself) hosting a marvelous tournament, welcoming the world with hospitality, smiles and a gorgeous country. There are many world champions from this tournament, but South Africa is surely the foremost!

On a personal note, I had the privilege of watching the world cup in five countries, continuously travelling, with friends, family, plenty of beers, smiles, laughs, frustration, disappointments, happiness.... This is what football is about! Still, I have to go cold turkey on this football overdose for now!

Cheers!

Spain World Champion

Spain had until yesterday always been cursed by being the best nation to participate in a World Cup that had never won it. In fact, all they had was a meager semifinal in 1950 to talk about. After their triumph in the Euro 2008 Spain entered the World Cup as favourites and with enormous pressure to bring the long-awaited glory to Spain. It did not look well after opening with a loss to Switzerland (Spain is the first nation since 1978 to become world champion while losing a match on the way to the title), but that defeat may in fact have been Spain's luck: since that match the team seemed more aware of the task ahead, and looked at one match at a time.

Seen as a whole Spain were the best team of the tournament, and a deserved world champion in a final were the Dutch in particular did not win any friends, and where a terrible referee came close to losing the match for everyone by allowing the Dutch to play like animals.

That said, Spain have not been very efficient: eight goals in seven matches to take the title is not overly impressive, and although Spain has not been a defensive team there is no doutbt that the championship was won by their defence around Puyol and Piquet, and with the superb qualities of Xavi and Iniesta. There were seven Barcelona players in the starting lineup of Spain, and the influence of the Catalonian giants is clear in the Spanish style.

The Netherlands had been undefeated until this match (and with this result, only one team leaves the tournament as undefeated, namely New Zealand!), and losing the final for the third time is making it all seem like a curse. Spain on the other hand, now finally joins the ranks of European powers alongside Italy, Germany, France and England. All in all, it was a final with some historical remarks:

• First time Spain wins the World Cup
• First time a European side wins outside Europe.
• With Spain, a total of nine European countries have been in World Cup finals of the 12 nations that have ever had the honour.
• Second time a World Cup final ends with the score 1-0 (first one in 1990)
• First time since West Germany in 1974, that a defending European champion takes the world title.
• The first World Cup final ever that did not involve one of the following: Italy, Brazil, Germany or Argentina.

On a personal note, I have been very critical of Spain this year, but I am happy they won, mostly because of all my Spanish friends and family, who are surely still celebrating!

Viva España indeed!

Europe rules!!!

I have myself before talked about how this was in fact the worse tournament for European teams ever, as only three European sides made it to the quarterfinals. But the fact is that now, in the semifinals, all European sides advanced, easily pushing aside the South American sides that had been so talked about. Uruguay is the only non-European side in the tournament and I don't believe that they would have been there had they played any European side on their way to the semifinal (South Corea and Ghana would also have been swept aside by any European team). '

Truth is that European teams simply had an awful draw, running into each other in the last-16, but that they could plausibly have been in all the semifinal matches like it was in 2006!

Although three European giants, France, England and Italy performed poorly, the fact remains that Europe is the center of the world when it comes to football: the European championships are small world cups, and all the best football and players converges to the European leagues. When non-European players return to play for their home countries it is European styles and cultures they take with them, more so than they are giving it to European football!

In footballing terms, Europe rules the world, and it is perhaps also symbolic that the first World Cup on African soil will also be the first which is won by a European team outside Europe (no, Uruguay does not stand a chance), since Europeans brought football to Africa, and in spite of its popularity on the continent, football is as European as any other of the imperialist exports of the old continent.

In any case, no doubt that Europe rules the football world, and that this will continue for many years!

From disappointment to disappointment...

In any tournament, only one team can win, and it is most often never the team you support... I have the luxury of having many countries I support, but that has apparently not changed the fact that it is never the teams I support that win: Denmark went out early, Ghana dramatically, and yesterday Argentina crashed spectacularly against Germany (who are making good use of their psychic octopus...).

I watched the match in a bar on Place Luxembourg in Brussels. The place was full of fun Germans who of course were delighted at their team who have undoubtfully been the best team of the tournament, yesterday playing some world class counter-attacking football: Bastian Schweinsteiger was simply formidable, Thomas Müller again amazing (he will be greatly missed against Spain) and Miroslav Klose has now scored more world cup goals than Pelé... For the sake of football I believe that Germany is the team to support and for them to take the title.

In spite of the great respect for the Germans and the cool fans in the bar, I was heartbroken and left at Germany's third goal.

Now I know how it is to be English...

Argentina crashed spectacularly, but have been great to watch in this World Cup. Still, there will be much discussion on Maradona's choices, the weak defense and that Messi was another of the most spectacular flops of the tournament. Probably, Argentine football is only walking into yet another period of what it does most in its schizophrenic soul-searching.

As to me, some days full of disappointments, but as with everything in life, I have learned not to expect too much. I will have some beers, continue watching (although with some melancholy) and well, congratulate Germany, and hope they win the World Cup!

This is what a World Cup is about

The play-off matches are the best thing about a World Cup, as it is when all the legendary dramas that capture nations and the world take place. Such a drama took place yesterday between Ghana and Uruguay: Ghana was as close as possible to be the first African team in a World Cup semifinal, while Uruguay played to reach the glory of former times. Both teams were organised, careful, but the match flowed well with chances for both teams.

Uruguay was seriously weakened when Diego Logano had to go out with an injury, and only a few minutes later Sulley Muntari scored a great goal for Ghana.

In the second half none other than Diego Forlán, with the marvelous kick, scored an excellent equalizer for Uruguay, and the match had to go into an exciting extra time...

This was when the drama came...

In the last second of the match Luis Suarez saved a ball with the hands on the goalline. As is usual, he got the harshest punishment, a red card (direct red card, so he will not play any more in this tournament) and a penalty kick for Ghana that undoubtfully would have put Ghana in the semifinals, but Asamoah Gyan did not take advantage of the punishment for Uruguay, and missed a horrible penalty to the delight of the Uruguayans.

South American teams are excellent at penalty kicks, and Uruguay were no exception: a great goalkeeper and cold-blooded and skilled kickers gave Uruguay the victory and a place in the semifinals for the first time in 40 years for a team that has made history before.

It was truly heartbreaking for Ghana, and it took me a bit of time to get past the drama. But truly, this kind of matches is what a football World Cup is all about, and I would rather not have been without it!

Cheers for Uruguay and Ghana!

Dutch delight

I was at a training course for work as the match between Brazil and the Netherlands started. When the match was only some minutes old, I heard a loud cheer, and discreetely checked my phone to see Brazil had gone ahead. I left the course for the second half and went to a bar with a friend, and saw Netherlands play much better than a lame Brazilian side. After the Dutch equalized, and went ahead 2-1 by Wesley Sneijder, Brazil, who have otherwise been an awesome winning machine the last few years, completely lacked the creativity one often has connected with Brazilians. It was a poor Brazilian side, and the "not-so-Brazilian" style that Dunga has promoted over the last years will surely have to be reconsidered. A Brazil without stars and creativity fell disgracefully to a much more efficient Netherlands side who should now be considered favourites for the title.

I saw many happy Dutch fans, and I am happy for them!

Add Portugal

European teams have disappointed in this tournament, and now Portugal should be added to the long list. The Portuguese never managed to threaten an organised Spanish side with an excellent David Villa, who will now be facing Paraguay in the quarterfinals.

I watched the match in Place Luxembourg in Brussels, and among the many Spanish fans there, there is no doubt that after the initial disappointment against Switzerland they were again thinking of the final, and clearly thinking that Paraguay will be a walkover (something echoed again in the uncritical Marca.es).

No doubt Spain are huge favourites, but don't sell the skin before shooting the bear!

El fracaso Bielsa

I must admit that what I knew about Chile before the World Cup was from the international news, and only two matches had I seen with them, where they had nevertheless impressed against poor opposition (Denmark and Venezuela). That said, I knew their coach, Marcelo Bielsa: a wanna-be intellectual and Menotista who insisted on offensive football. He was a flop as Argentinean coach in the 2002 World Cup, but his apparent results with Chile were notable, and Chile was highly rated before entering the World Cup.
I was not impressed by Chile finally seeing them in South Africa: a lot of possession; yes, and offensive football; yes; but in all other facets Chile were outright second-rate: they hardly had any quality shots on goal besides their possession, and nice little touches were nothing to handle against defensive teams like Honduras or Switzerland. Against a tougher team like an unconvincing Spain they committed grave mistakes and posed no real threat. And finally, today against one of the best teams in the world, all weaknesses of Chile's and Bielsa's style were simply exposed to the world: Brazil were far superior without even trying, and with a simple organised defence, two outstanding backs and a strong midfield, hardly had to try their best to defeat Chile 3-0.
I don't think it is as much Chile's lack of quality as Bielsa's that has been exposed, just as with Argentina in 2002: he is too focused on the tactics, never adapting it to the team he is playing or his available players. In spite of his positive attitude to the game, football is not a philosophy or way of life, it is a game, and the objective is to win. It is better to win nicely, but still, it is to win, so if you cannot win nicely....
Bielsa was a flop for Argentina, and although he has done more for Chile than most would have expected, his football philosophy has proved a flop in today's modern football, and that is the only conclusion one can draw from Chile's exit of the tournament today!

Wunderbare Deutschland!

After their first match against Australia, Germany impressed. In the play-off match today I was expecting that the English, who have not impressed, would be inspired by their Italian coach to play cynically and defensively to win a narrow victory against the young German side.

However, how delighted am I to have been wrong!

This is surely one of the most exciting German teams ever, and they were far superior to the English, besides being entertaining and cold-blooded at the most important moments. No matter that England had a clear goal disallowed (this was clearly the most appalling refereeing decision of the tournament, and revives what I have been saying for ages: technology or goal-referees), Germany was by far, by far, the best team. In particular the youngsters Mesut Özil and Thomas Müller were spectacular (Müller scored twice) and augur very well for the German future, but also for the match against either Argentina or Mexico.

England... Another huge disappointment. I was also expecting them to do better after their excellent qualification campaign, but they have played awfully, and this defeat just underlines it by being the largest English defeat in a World Cup, and the largest defeat to the German arch-rivals. The speculations about why it is like this, but perhaps the simplest explanation simply is that England are not that good; during this World Cup they have been mediocre to say the least, and they are standing in front of a massive renewal of their team.

But congratulations to the wonderful German team and to their great fans!!!! Cheers!

England versus Germany

Today England and Germany will face one another in one of the most classic rivalries in international football. The matches between these two European giants have always been immersed in drama, and cultural, historical and social associations.

This will be the fifth time that the two countries will be playing each other in a World Cup, which include some of the most legendary matches in football history:

• The 1966 World Cup final, where England won 4-2 after extra time, and remains England's greatest international triumph
• The 1970 World Cup quarterfinal, where Germany got their revenge for the 1966 final: England were 2-0 up but the Germans managed to equalize and won 3-2 after extra time.
  
• The 1982 World Cup second round group match, which ended 0-0, and was enough to send the Germans through to the semifinals.
  
• The 1990 World Cup semifinal: One of the most dramatic matches of all time, which ended 1-1 for Germany to win it in the end by penalty kicks, and going on to become world champions
  

Other legendary matches the two countries have played are in the European championships:

• Quarterfinal of Euro 1972 (back then it was played in two-legs at home and away), where the Germans won 3-1 at Wembley (Germany's first victory there) and the teams tied 0-0 in Berlin. Germany went on to win the entire tournament.
• The Euro 1996 semifinal: England was playing at home and had huge expectations to win the tournament. But the Germans were in the way in the semifinal, which as 6 years before in the World Cup, ended 1-1 and went into penalty kicks, which the Germans won.
• First round of Euro 2000: England defeated Germany 1-0 in the group stages, but this did not matter to either team, who were eliminated by Portugal and Romania.

For the 2002 World Cup the two teams were in the same qualifying group, and Germany won 1-0 in London, but were destroyed 5-1 in Munich in what still remains the largest victory for England between the two countries.
The last time the two teams played was in a friendly match (as friendly as it gets between the two) in Berlin in 2008 which England won 2-1 on a late goal by John Terry.

That the teams will be facing each other already in the 2010 World Cup is perhaps a bit of a surprise: England was probably expecting to win their group, while the young German team (it is one of the youngest German teams ever to play in a World Cup) surprised positively by winning their group. Because of the relative inexperience of the Germans, England is probably a slight favourite, although there is no doubt that Germany played far better than England in the group stages. The English will have to play far better if they are to have a chance against this German side, although I would not be surprised if they will have set themselves up for the challenge.

This match should be obligatory for everyone, as it will only add another drama to the long history of football rivalry between England and Germany!

The best African team

I am an unapologetic fan of the Black Stars and I wish I had been in Accra for the post-match celebrations! Instead I was in a pub in Copenhagen, but still delighted at the Ghanaian victory after extra time.
I have for ages been saying on this blog that Ghana is the best African football nation, and now they are among the top eight in the world, something I was nevertheless not expecting: I thought USA had shown stronger fighting spirit and that the Americans would ultimately prevail against Ghana's inefficiency and personal mistakes. But I could not have been more wrong: Ghana's young players have learned to pace themselves in such a tournament from their already strong experience in Africa's Cup and diverse youth world cups (and they are u-21 world champions, let us not forget!), and play with the at-times necessary cynicism. Even when USA put pressure on the Ghanaians, these did not lose their heads, and even better, they punished the US mistakes that I was expecting the Ghanaians to make.
Playing like this Ghana could go all the way, but it will certainly not be easy in a quarterfinal against a Uruguay side that is also extraordinary in pacing their game, experience, and some extraordinary strikers!
In the meantime, congratulations Ghana!

The best and the worse of the group stages

The group stages are over of an interesting World Cup but with some observations:

• The African teams have disappointed, with only one, Ghana, progressing on to the next round.
• While Africans have disappointed, Europe has as well: only six European sides have made it to the last-16 which is also the worse performance of Europe ever. And it is certain that only three teams from Europe will make it to the quarterfinals, so this is already the worse World Cup for Europe ever....
• All South American teams have progressed to the last-16 and thus this has been by far the best continent. South American is the powerhouse of the world! With USA and Mexico there as well, the western hemisphere has emerged as the dominant footballing power.
• Asia, with two teams, is doing surprisingly well, but the continental power is surely Oceania (Australia is now qualifying through Asia), whose only participant, New Zealand, has been undefeated!
• All this said, this has been a very low-scoring tournament, with an average in the first round of 2.10 goals per match, potentially making it the tournament with the least goals ever.

In my view, the best teams of the tournament have been:

• Argentina: has been excellent under Maradona
• Uruguay: surprised many, but their attacking power and strong and organised defense should be a surprise to nobody.
• Spain: Started badly, but certainly deserve to be in the last-16, and remain huge favourites as true strength is shown in the face of adversity.
• USA: Won a difficult group, with disciplined and organised football, as well as a good fight. They will be extremely difficult to defeat.
• Germany: I was very surprised about the young side who cruised through Australia, was unlucky against Serbia and organised against the Ghanaians. They are surely one of the most exciting teams.

The most disappointing sides have in my view been:

• France: simply a soap opera and a lousy joke.
• Italy: they have been absolutely pathetic in their matches, and deserved the loss to Slovakia, although they showed some will towards the end of the match.
• Serbia: Serbia was awesome in qualification and came in with a very experienced and strong team. Nevertheless, they played poorly and their early exit was well-deserved but unexpected.
• Cameroon: African sides have disappointed, but perhaps most of all Cameroon, with three consecutive defeats.
• South Africa: The first hosts ever to get eliminated in the group stages, and that says it all.

The last-16 will be really exciting!

The last-16 and predictions

The World Cup has passed the initial group stages and there are 16 teams left for the following play-off matches:

• 26/6: Uruguay-South Corea
• 26/6: USA-Ghana
• 27/6: Germany-England
• 27/6: Argentina-Mexico
• 28/6: Netherlands-Slovakia
• 28/6: Brazil-Chile
• 29/6: Paraguay-Japan
• 29/6: Portugal-Spain

It is a wonderfully diverse group of teams, with 5 South American sides, two from North America, two Asian, six European (who will all be facing one another...) and disappointingly only one team from Africa, Ghana, who will have all the support of Africa and from most of the world for their match against the USA.

My tips are the following:

I believe that Uruguay, who has been strong and disciplined, will defeat a Corean side that has not been convicing, although they have been well-organised. Still, I believe Uruguay are by far the better team.

I support Ghana, but their poor striking force will be their doom against a strong USA side, where Landon Donovan has been the saviour. USA will make it to the quarterfinals.

Germany-England will be a repeat of one of the most classic matches of international football, and the match will be another drama to go over to history. That said, neither team is as brilliant as their history, but I believe that a slightly more cynical England side will win against a German team that I would nevertheless much rather see through.

Argentina has been great, and I believe that they will carry the day against Mexico, although as in 2006, it will not be easy, and likely be a close match where the Mexicans will be their usual dirty.

The Netherlands should be in the quarterfinals, and I see them as the greatest favourites in the last-16 against Slovakia, although the Slovakians showed that they should not be underestimated!

Chile and Brazil will be a great South American encounter, but Brazil will surely win. Chile are charming and offensive, but as inefficient up front as a team full of grandmothers, and with so many mistakes in defense that Brazil will surely win.

Paraguay-Japan is sure to be an exciting and close match, but an organised Japan team, with some extraordinary and quick players, should carry the day against an organised but at times inefficient Paraguayan side.

Portugal-Spain is, with England-Germany, to be one of the most exciting matches of the tournament. Spain is by far the better side than the Portuguese, but the latter will be very excited for this match. I believe the sensation will be there, and Portugal will win a close match, perhaps after extra time and penalties.

Thus, my predictions for the quarterfinals are these:

• Uruguay-USA
• England-Argentina
• Netherlands-Brazil
• Japan-Portugal

Thank you Honduras!

Spain managed to defeat Chile 2-1 in a match that in the end did not turn out as dramatic as one was expecting. Still, Spain's victory could put Chile out of the tournament in case Switzerland, as most expected, could defeat Honduras by at least two goals (unless Spain had scored more against Chile). But the mighty defenders of Switzerland were unable to create a match against Honduras, who in the end came closest to winning.

In spite of the sympathy with the Swiss victory against Spain, Swizterland is a boring defensive side, and the World Cup is only better without them in the last-16, where Chile and Spain are the wish of any football fan!

Thank you Honduras!

Denmark run over by a Honda

I was in Copenhagen today and the city was as always wonderful in a gorgeous sun and people were expectant about today's important match against Japan: Denmark had never been eliminated before in the first round of a World Cup and Japan did not seem an awfully frightening opponent although Denmark had not been too convicing in the first two matches.

Better and easier to be an optimist on such a beautiful day in Copenhagen!

However, the Japanese were far superior to a Danish national team that was indeed eliminated for the first time. The Japanese were very organised, disciplined, ran like machines and scored three beautiful goals, two of which were on free kicks, something that has not been done often in this World Cup! In particular the CSKA player Keisuke Honda ran around the Danish players, and stands out as one of the players to continue watching during this tournament.

It is always disappointing to see your team fall, but it makes it easier when it happens to a far better team, such as Japan was today (well, just grab a beer!). Congratulations to Japanese fans, who will see their team with very good chances against a Paraguayan side that could only manage a 0-0 with New Zealand and which is looking far less dangerous than Japan! I think Japan will make it to the quarterfinal!

Banzai!

The champions are out

The defending world champions of Italy have been a huge disappointment during this tournament, where in particular their match against New Zealand was a pathetic display. However, Slovakia had not been much better, and everyone expected that Italy, only needing a tie (in case New Zealand didn't defeat Paraguay), would pull their usual result and progress to the next round. However, I am not sure what the greatest surprise of the match was: that the Slovakians were so aggressive, or that the Italians were so poor.

What Italy did in the first half was simply one of the worse performances of this world cup, and the Slovakian 1-0 lead was fully deserved. Only in the second half, when Slovakia went ahead 2-0, did the Italians seem to wake up, and the entrance of Andrea Pirlo surely helped. The last minutes of the match were some of the most exciting we have seen in this World Cup, but the Slovakian victory of 3-2 was surely not expected. In any case, I really wish that I were in Bratislava as the party must have been a blast!

The defending world champions are out in the first round, and Italian fans have every reason to be angry with their national team, and I am certain that the reception of the team in Italy will not be quiet!

Congratulations to Slovakia though, who will be facing the Netherlands in a very difficult last-16!