Kiwis rock!

It was only a non-existant penalty that gave Italy the 1-1 against a charming a fighting New Zealand side. While Italy was outright pathetic (and so... they will probably become world champions...), nobody could but help but to support the Kiwi's who could have plausibly drwan one of the most sensational victories in World Cup history.
Paraguay won 2-0 against Slovakia and now has it all in their hands to win the group.

The Start of the World Cup

I was in Colombia for the start of the world cup, with serious concentration problems; all my focus was on June 11th! Colombia is funny, as they like football, but as their team has not qualified, people seemed at least as focused on Shakira and Juanes, playing a central role in all the pre-tournament blah-blah, as they did on the football.
But the World Cup started, and I am currently with serious case of high football fever (although it is a pity I am not going on vacation until next Friday, and will have to miss some matches....).

That said, I have some observations about these first few days of the tournament:

• Matches have been disappointing in terms of quality and excitement, except for Germany today, who was amazing in destroying Australia 4-0. I have not rated Germany highly, and must admit I was very wrong.
• And the Black Stars from Ghana won a hard-fought victory against Serbia! The group may be exciting, but Germany must be the highest rated after their victory today!
  
• Mexico was arrogant and I was partly disappointed Bafana Bafana didn't win.
  
• Uruguay was a disappointment and France was better than we thought. The group is open, but the "traditional" nations have started well.
• Except England: I was expecting much more of England (perhaps as little as I was expecting from Germany), and notwithstanding Green's giveaway, they didn't look unbeatable.
  
• Argentina won a small victory that should have been larger. That said, they weren't impressive against a pathetic Nigerian side that gave too much space to the Argentineans, notably to Messi. Nobody else will give them such space, and then Argentina suddenly looks weak. Their true test will come against the bigger teams.
• Watch out for South Corea!

Bah! I cannot wait for the next weeks!

The fifty greatest matches

I have over the last 8 months or so tried to find and tell about the 50 greatest matches in World Cup history, as a way of preparing for this coming World Cup in South Africa.
The final list is (in chronological order!):

1. France-Mexico, 1930
2. Uruguay-Argentina, 1930
3. Italy-Czechoslovakia, 1934
4. Brazil-Italy, 1938
5. Italy-Hungary, 1938
6. USA-England, 1950
7. Brazil-Uruguay, 1950
8. Hungary-Uruguay, 1954
9. Hungary-West Germany, 1954
10. Sweden-Brazil, 1958
11. Brazil-Czechoslovakia, 1962
12. Italy-North Corea, 1966
13. England-Argentina, 1966
14. Portugal-North Corea, 1966
15. England-West Germany, 1966
16. West Germany-Italy, 1970
17. Brazil-Uruguay, 1970
18. Italy-Brazil, 1970
19. West Germany-East Germany, 1974
20. Yugoslavia-Zaire, 1974
21. Netherlands-Brazil, 1974
22. West Germany-Netherlands, 1974
23. Argentina-Netherlands, 1978
24. Hungary-El Salvador, 1982
25. Algeria-West Germany, 1982
26. Italy-Brazil, 1982
27. France-West Germany, 1982
28. Italy-West Germany, 1982
29. Morocco-Portugal, 1986
30. Brazil-France, 1986
31. Argentina-England, 1986
32. West Germany-Argentina 1986
33. Cameroon-Argentina, 1990
34. West Germany-England, 1990
35. Italy-Argentina, 1990
36. West Germany-Argentina, 1990
37. Russia-Cameroon, 1994
38. Italy-Spain, 1994
39. Bulgaria-Germany, 1994
40. Italy-Brazil, 1994
41. USA-Iran, 1998
42. Croatia-Germany 1998
43. Argentina-England 1998
44. France-Brazil 1998
45. USA-Mexico, 2002
46. South Corea-Spain, 2002
47. Germany-Brazil, 2002
48. Italy-Australia, 2006
49. France-Brazil, 2006
50. France-Italy, 2006

Not all may agree, and there are some matches that may deserve a position here; for instance: France-Italy 1938, Sweden-West Germany 1958; Chile-Italy 1962; Peru-Brazil 1970, etc....
However, I feel this list is quite good, including matches for their importance, their historical context, their geographical significance and in a few cases, mere political implications. In any case, as are now having a new World Cup, there will soon be more matches to add to this great list!

Greatest World Cup matches: Sweden-Brazil (1958)

Brazil didn’t start the sixth World Cup in Sweden very well: on their first two matches they had defeated Austria 3-0 and tied 0-0 against England (this was the first goalless draw in a World Cup), and it came down to their last first round match where they were facing a strong USSR side that still had a chance at the quarterfinals.
Since the Brazilians had looked too convincing in the first two matches, the Brazilian coach put two new players that had not played the first matches on the team: the Botafogo striker Garrincha, who was already known for his incredible dribbling abilities, as well as a 17-year old striker from Santos, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, or rather, Pelé.
Although neither of the players scored, they were instrumental in giving Brazil a 2-0 victory against a stunned USSR team, where the captain, Igor Netto, later said that he was stunned at the Brazilians beautiful game.
And this match set the stage for what became a Brazilian theater of beautiful football, where players such as Garrincha, Vavá and most of all Pelé quickly became idols in Sweden. In the quarterfinals Brazil defeated Wales 1-0 on a lone goal by Pelé, and in the semi-final they trashed one of the best French sides in history (with thelegendary Just Fonaine, who became the most scoring player of the tournament, and until 2002 was still the most scoring player in history) 5-2, and again the 17-year old Pelé scored three goals.
Brazil was ready for the final where the entire world was eager to see this marvelous team!
In the meantime, the hosting Swedes had played well in solid victories against Mexico and Hungary and a tie against Wales in the first round. In the quarterfinal they defeated the USSR 2-0.
Not only benefitting from the home-advantage, Sweden also had a team of outstanding players, revolving around the AC Milan captain Nils Liedholm, the Roma striker Gunnar Nordahl (who had played in AC Milan for seven years, scoring 221 goals, and is still the second most scoring player in the history of AC Milan), as well as the ageing but legendary Gunnar Gren, who had played many years in Italy.
In spite of this, Sweden had during the tournament had some problems mobilizing its fans, who seemed to be rather indifferent to the home side’s results.
In the semi-final the Swedes played the defending world champions of West Germany. Finally the Swedish fans managed to get excited about their team, which played one of the most legendary matches in Sweden’s football history. Leading 2-1 Kurt Hamrin cemented the victory by scoring an extraordinary last goal in the 3-1 victory that took Sweden to the final (Kurt Hamrin, who the same year had changed from Padova to Fiorentina, and became one of the most scoring players in the history of the Serie A).
Sweden was excited to be playing the entertaining and popular Brazilians in the final!
It was the first World Cup final to be transmitted live on television, so millions were watching the match which started on a pitch that was wet from an entire day of rain, something that seemed to favour the home team. And when Nils Liedholm passsed through two weak Brazilian defenders after only four minutes, he seemed to confirm this as he brought Sweden ahead 1-0.
This was the first time that Brazil was losing during the entire tournament, and some people were wondering whether this would cause the South Americans to crash. But this didn’t prove the case, as the Brazilians were overly confident of their abilities. Garrincha seemed unstoppable on the Swedish left-hand defence: within half an hour Brazil went ahead 2-1 on two almost identical goals by Vavá, where he only had to push the ball in after flat crossing from Garrincha on the right.
Brazil was ahead by half-time, and second half was the moment of glory for the young wonder Pelé. Ten minutes into the second half he scored one of the most beautiful goals in a world cup final, when he received a high ball in the Swedish area, stopped it with his chest, and while rounding the Swedish defender, tipped the ball over the defender and smashing the ball into the net with a perfect volley.
Only thirteen minutes later, as the Brazilians were showing off their marvelous footballing skills, the legendary Mario Zagallo took advantage of a Swedish defensive mistake to make it 4-1 (Zagallo was in 1970 the first man ever to win the World Cup both as a player and a manager).
Sweden had been defeated, and it made no difference that Agne Simonsson scored for Sweden ten minutes before the end.
Only one minute from time, Pelé sealed his great performance to become a legend of football, by scoring the last goal of the final.
Brazil had won their first World Cup, in Europe, and to this day it is the only time a non-European side has won in Europe.
The World Cup in Sweden was surely the friendliest world cup, and the one that has been played with the best sportmanship. This was amply symbolized by the Swedish fans celebrating the Brazilian victory, and the Brazilian players thanking them by running a victory round with a giant Swedish flag.

Match Stats:

• 29th June, 1958 Råsunda Stadion, Stockholm
• Attendance: 49,737
• Referee: Maurice Gigue (France)

Brazil-Sweden 5-2
Goals: 0-1 Liedholm (4), 1-1 Vavá (9), 2-1 Vavá (30), 3-1 Pelé (55), 4-1 Zagallo (68), 4-2 Simonsson (80), 5-2 Pelé (89)

Teams:
Brazil: Gilmar, D. Santos, N. Santos, Zito, Bellini, Orlando, Garrincha, Didí, Vavá, Pelé, Zagallo
Sweden: Svensson, Begmark, Axbom, Börjesson, Gustavsson, Parling, Hamrin, Gren, Simonson, Liedholm, Skoglund

Ghana World Champions 2009!

I lived in Ghana for many years, and it is with happy nostalgia that I have seen that the Ghana U20 team has won the 2009 U20 World Cup in Egypt, by defeating Brazil in the final, 4-3 after penalty kicks! This is the first time ever an African team wins this tournament, and breaks eight years of South American dominance in the tournament, although Ghana was also in the final in 1993, losing to Brazil, and in 2001 (in fact defeating Brazil in the quarterfinals), losing 3-0 to an outstanding Argetninean side in the final.
But Ghana are now World Champions!!!!!
In most of Europe the Cup has had very limited interest, which just shows that Europe has little interest in the stars of the future, beyond the ones they can pay millions to get outside Europe.
And this is a pity, as the U20 World Cup in Egypt has been excellent, and I do not believe the significance of Ghana's victory should be underestimated: after an outstanding 2006 World Cup (when I happily lived in Ghana), Ghana has now qualified for the 2010 World Cup as well. With players in the best European league, a strong domestic league, outstanding youth-talent, and what is arguably the best and most professional football organisation in all of Africa, Ghana has really become the only serious contender for being Africa's first World Champion.

It will be a long road to travel, but Ghana has taken a first step, and I am celebrating with all wonderful people of Ghana!

On the way to South Africa 2010

After this weekend's interesting qualifiers for the World Cup i South Africa, we had more countries qualify, so that we now know eight of the nations that will surely be in South Africa next year.

The Asian countries qualified in June , and the only pending issue is the match between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, about who will get a play-off match against New Zealand:

• Australia
• Japan
• South Corea
• North Corea

In South America, after defeating Argentina away 1-3 (Argentina's only second home defeat in World Cup qualifiers ever), the five-time champions have qualified:

• Brazil

In the meaintime, Chile and Paraguay are just one step away from qualifying: Chile will be playing Brazil next, while Paraguay will face Argentina. Argentina is still in fourth place, but is increasingly being threatened by the fifth place, where four teams are nevertheless contesting the post: Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela. The ending of the South American qualifiers will be a drama!

In the CONCACAF region no team has qualified for sure yet. USA defeated El Salvador 2-1, Honduras trashed Trinidad and Tobago 4-1, while Mexico defeated Costa Rica 3-1. After this results, the three teams going to South Africa will surely be either Mexico, USA, Honduras or Costa Rica, while one of these teams will get a play-off match with South America's fifth.

In Africa, the hosts are of course qualified, by one team qualfied this weekend after defating Sudan 2-1, namely the great West African nation of Ghana, who will be going to its second consecutive World Cup:

• South Africa
• Ghana

In the meantime, Ivory Coast is just one match away from qualifying, while Tunisia is also very close to booking their tickets.

In Europe only one team has qualified, as they have been awesome in their group:

• Netherlands

In the meantime however, other teams have been as awesome as the Dutch! The European Champions of Spain have won all their matches, lately 5-0 against Belgium, but are still theoretically not certain to qualify directly. However, with one more victory they will book their tickets. England has also won all matches, and a victory against Croatia on wednesday will put them in South Africa.

France tied 1-1 with Romania in Paris, and it is looking difficult for them to catch Serbia, who can qualify if they defeat France in Belgrade on wednesday.

Greatest World Cup matches: France-Mexico (1930)

There are 40 weeks left to the world cup in South Africa, and as a preparation to the event, I will try to make a weekly blog-posting on the greatest world cup matches in history. By "greatest", I mean matches that have had a historical significance and/or have caught the attention of the world or football historians in some way or another. As I have no way of ranking the matches, I will do them in chronological order, starting with the World Cup in Uruguay in 1930:

Until 1930 the Olympic Games were the unofficial world championships. In the 1924 and 1928 Olympics little Uruguay had taken the European nations by storm by taking the gold medals twice in a row.
South America was thus emerging as the main power of football, not only by tactical and physical qualities, but also on how they played: many passes, speed and technical prowess that was unprecedented in European football, and eventually changed the game of football itself.
It had been discussed before to hold a World Cup, and after Julet Rimet became FIFA Secretary General, and the fact that football was taken out by the 1932 Olympics, FIFA decided to give the hosting of the world's first World Cup to the strong Uruguayans on the year of the centenary of Uruguay's Constitution.
All FIFA members were invited to participate, but only four European nations (France, Yugoslavia, Romania and Belgium) accepted to take the long trip to South America. However, this could not dampen the Uruguayans enthusiasm and pride at having been given the World Cup for their country. A whole new Stadium, the Centenario (named after the Constitution), with space for nearly 100,000 spectators was built in just over six months to accommodate the tournament.
The very first match of a tournament that would become the greatest sporting event in the world, didn’t take place in the Centenario, but in the smaller local stadium, Pocitos, where the local club of Peñarol played until they moved to the Centenario after the World Cup (The Centenario was said to be a large version of the Pocitos, that demolished a few years later).
France faced Mexico in the first World Cup match ever. Both teams had travelled far to be in Uruguay, and there were not many spectators at Pocitos to see when Lucien Laurent scored the very first goal in World Cup history. Interestingly this player was the only player alive from the 1930 team to see France lift the World Cup trophy in 1998.
Both France and Mexico were eliminated after the first round. France nevertheless went on to host the 1938 World Cup, and has been at the forefront of world football since then.
Mexico was the leading nation of the Concacaf region for many years, but still had problems when at the world stage. It wasn’t until 1962 that they won their very first match, and only made it to a quarterfinal when hosting the World Cup in 1970 and then again in 1986.
This match was perhaps not the greatest in the history of football, but it was the the first, and thus deserves to be remembered.

Match Stats:

• July 13th 1930, Estadio Pocitos (Montevideo)
• Attendance: 1000
• Referee: Lombardi (Uruguay)

France-Mexico 4-1
Goals: 1-0 Laurent (19), 2-0 Langiller (40), 3-0 Maschinot (43), 3-1 Carreño (70), 4-1 Maschinot (87)
Teams:
France: Thépot; Mattler, Capelle, Chantrel, Villaplane, Delfour, Pinel, Laurent, Maschinot, Liberati, Langiller
Mexico: Bonfiglio; Garza Gutiérrez, M. Rosas, Amezcua, A. Sánchez, F. Rosas, López, Ruíz, Mejía, Carreño, Pérez

World Cup to Indonesia?

The race for hosting the 2018 and 2022 World Cups has started, with the following countries already offering to host: USA, England, Australia, Russia, Spain/Portugal, Mexico and Japan. With 2010 in South Africa, and 2014 in Brazil, one the following World Cups will likely go to Asia, and a few days ago Indonesia apparently came out as a candidate.
Indonesia has never been to a World Cup, except in 1938, where they participated as the Dutch West Indies, and is ranked 139th in the world in FIFA's last world ranking. While they may improve over the next years, Indonesia is clearly not a football nation, and they should not get a world cup unless they improve their football and display greater interest for the sport.

Of course, South Africa, an exclusive rugby and curling nation, has been given a World Cup for 2010, so why not give it to Indonesia, where the major sport is badminton?
It is like giving Mali the ice-hockey world cup.

World Cup memories

On BBC World Football phone this weekend they talked about their favourite world cup memories, which led myself to reflect on my favourite world cup memories.
I started watching the world cup in 1982 when I was 7 years old, but 1986 was the first world cup that I watched passionately as a fan. In spite of this limited timeframe, I still have difficulties in defining my one moment, so I have made a list of five, in no particular order of priority:

• Argentina's world cup victory in 1986 where the England match and the final against West Germany most come to mind.
• Argentina's penalty victory against Italy in the semifinal of 1990.
• Denmark's three-game winning streak in the first round of 1986.
• Denmark's victory against Nigeria in 1998 and the subsequent match against Brazil.
• Brazil-France, 1986: a classic and brilliant match, and I really don't think we will ever again see this type of football in a world cup.

Ages ago, when this blog was more than just a blog, but also included information on world cups, I made a posting about my favourite top-10 goals in the world cups, but reflecting on this, I also made a list of the most memorable world cup goals for me personally:

• Canniggia's winning goal between Brazil and Argentina, which was totally undeserved, but masterly executed, making a young Argentina fan like myself very happy.
• Freddy Rincón's equalizer for Colombia against West Germany in the 1990 World Cup. Colombia had been brilliant but was trailing 0-1 in the dying minutes of the match, when Rincón made a deserved equalizer that put Colombia in the next round.
• Maradona's 2-0 goal against England in 1986: need I say more that I was happy like a mosquito in a Mercedes?
• Brian Laudrup's equalizer to 2-2 for Denmark against Brazil in 1998: this was the last time I felt true passion for a world cup goal, as the brilliant strike kept the hope that Denmark might defeat the Brazilian world champions.

These are the four goals that immediately come to mind, but as I reflect on this, I can sadly also think of some of the saddest moments for me in world cup:

• Argentina's defeat to Cameroun in 1990: I was devastated, partly because I was a passionate Argentina fan, and partly because I thought it was unfair that everyone hated Argentina and that Cameroun had played too harsh.
• Denmark's 1-5 defeat to Spain in 1986: it felt so unfair that such a brilliant Danish side had to mess it all up in such a pathetic way.
• Argentina's early exit from the world cup of 2002, where an efficient but dead-boring Sweden stood in the way of the Argentineans.
• Brazil's defeat to Norway in 1998: I just thought it was depressing that a team playing like Norway should be able to defeat mighty Brazil. Showed me that Brazil wasn't that strong any more, but worse, since then, I have realized the low quality of world cup football!
• Denmark's defeat to England in 2002: I was just really hoping that Denmark might defeat the spice boys, but Denmark fell through completely.

Any stories and suggestions? As was mentioned in the BBC World Football Phone-in, this is a very personal list, and sure to be full of stories - personally, I loved the story of a gentleman from 1970, who said that after watching the outstanding Brazilians play, he rushed out to ask anybody to play, and ran into a thief that was being followed by police!.

The (sorry) road to a South Africa

As we are this week approaching a long list of exciting national qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, I remain unconvinced of South Africa as the venue for the world cup.
The main reason is because South Africa is not a footballing nation and will never really get excited about a world cup (even though they are told they should; whoever gets excited by order!?!?): letting them host a world cup is like giving your best piece of steak to a vegetarian.
However, I must add to this the xenophobia that sadly remains in South African society, together with crime, and now I must add government policy: South Africa refused visa to the Dalai Lama, who was to attend a peace-conference in South Africa, in order not to damage relations to China.
While no direct linkage to football, one is forced to consider what would happen if some country qualifies with whom South Africa doesn't want to damage relations with: Georgia not to damage relations with Russia? Taiwan?

As late as December 2008, there were rumours that due to the fact that South Africa was not meeting organisational deadlines, Spain was being lined up to host the 2010 World Cup instead. Sepp Blatter had to come out and say that this was not true.

Sorry, but I just don't believe South Africa is able to organise a succesful World Cup, and I sincerely hope the teams that are playing this week will be playing somewhere else in 2010.

Jupiter in retrograde

I have little time to write a long blog on my disappointment of Italy's victory. Of course, maybe I should start by congratulating the Italian fans and my friends, whom I am sure had a great party last night.

Nevertheless, the Italian victory was a bore. A pity an otherwise good tournament ended with that result, although we did miss the epic clashes I had expected. I think what I will most remember is Zidane's exit... One of the best player's ever, and he finishes off in such pathetic manner, it is almost to cry about. Has he been too many years in Real Madrid!? What went through his head?

Sadly, he could have been remembered as a great player only, but now we have to add great idiot to it as well.

Oh well, back to normal life...

World Cup Road trip

The first week of the World Cup I went on a one-week road trip with three Danish drunken football fanatics, on the dusty red roads of Western Africa. A true adventure, encompassing everything from wild treks, massive thuderstorms, corrupt policemen, murderous baboons, wild elephants, beautiful beaches and drunken Swedes. And in all this, World Cup football was the background music.

We left Accra on the second day of the World Cup on our way to Hohoe in the Western Region. We made it to Akosmobo for lunch, to watch England-Paraguay at the Continental, a posh four star hotel next to the Volta river. To our amazement, there was not TV there! No wonder there were no people either. A waitress quickly advised us to a small lodge next door, where we managed to watch it on a scratchy TV set. England won 1-0 on Gamarra´s own goal after a good free-kick by Bekcham. England had gotten started.

Late evening we arirved in Wli, near the Togolese border, and checked into the charming and beautiful Waterfall lodge. There was no TV, but a local boy took us into the village, where we peeked thorugh the door of a tiny house for Sweden’s surprising 0-0 tie with Trinidad-Tobago. It was a small black-and-white TV with horrible reception, and we felt like we were disturbing our otherwise very welcoming hosts.

We were informed that another lodge in the village had a TV and we hurried there: upcoming match was the all important Argentina-Ivory Coast! At the lodge we were told by a disappointed manager of the place that the TV was not working. This was ten minutes before the match, and urgency was pressing. Then my friend Henrik steeped in as a saving angel: “I’ll repair the TV!”. We had blind faith in his abilities, and rightly so; the TV was working five minutes later, and we saw an efficient Argentine side defeat the Ivorian debutants 2-1.

Wli is beautiful. People go to see the beautiful falls in the hilly green landscapes. We did the major hike to the upper falls – a hot but marvelous hike. We missed Netherlands 1-0 win over Serbia-Montenegro, but no problem. After a visit to a small farm in the afternoon, we were fresh and ready for a beer and Portugal-Angola. The game itself was a disappointment: I would have liked to see the Angolans give their former colonial masters a good beating. Instead, the Portuguese won 1-0 on an early Pauleta goal.

At this point, it had not been Africa’s World Cup. Ivory Coast and Angola had disappointed, and one could feel a lingering doubt in Ghanaians, ahead of their debut against Italy.

The day of the match we left Wli at 7 AM: we were to drive North via Yendi and Tamale, all the way to Mole. That was the plan, but being somehow in doubt about the condition of the road, we considered staying in Tamale. Our only aim was to find a place to watch the Ghana match.

The road was excellent (so much for lousy African roads...), and we were on very good time to Tamale. However, as often happens, a tire went flat… The change was a hot and dirty affair which lost us half an hour. Then we drove around Tamale searching for a replacement tire. This lost us almost an hour, at which point, we got increasingly worried about our arrival for the match. This meant a fast drive from Tamale to Mole. Carlos Saenz could hardly have done it better, as we made it to Mole, on the untarred Damongo road, in one and a half hour. We arrived at Mole hotel to hear that the Czech Republic had destroyed the USA 3-0, and had thus taken their first step as contenders to the title.
All of Ghana, including Mole hotel, was on the verge for the Ghana-Italy match. People were very excited, and nobody liked the Italians. As Danes, we were telling stories about “Snotti’s” spit in 2004, much to the enjoyment of the assembled crowd.

Ghana was naive however. The Italians did no more than what they always do: defend, let them come, and then score on counter-attack. This style has made Italy World Champions three times. The Ghanaians had not done their homework. In spite of a fine match, the Italians won 2-0. The mood was somber, although Ghana had played well. But with the Czech performance earlier, the next match would be hard indeed for Ghana.

In Mole National Park you can see many wild animals; mostly elephants. In the morning hike we saw herd upon herd of elephants. At the Mole hotel itself, baboons were annoyingly running near the rooms, just like many unnamed European football fans are doing in Germany…

The next day’s drive was a long affair: via Bole along the Ivory Coast border the road was horrible. It didn’t help much that we were caught by a biblical thunderstorm. The heavens opened like Ukraine’s defense… Spain-Ukraine was our next match: we stopped in Sunyani for lunch. Found a quite fancy hotel after the stressful drive, and had pizza while watching the Spanish have yet another excellent start to the World Cup. The Spanish youngsters destroyed the Ukranian debutants 4-0!

That evening, trying to avoid Kumasi, we got lost. And even more so, as we were trying to find the Ashanti holy lake, Bosumtwi, where we wanted to stay overnight. When we finally arrived, Germany-Poland had already started. The Germans were demanding a victory against a defensive and disappointing Polish side, that had started by losing 0-2 to Ecuador. Germanuy attacked with the tenacity that has always characterised German sides. In the 93rd minute, the dying seconds of the match, Oliver Neuville scored a deserved winner for the Germans. Deserved, because they were the better team – not because anyone outside Germany wanted them to win…

We continued to Cape Coast on a rainy afternoon. We wanted to visit the Castle, built by the British in 1665, it was the British colonial headquarter until 1850. However, we never visited the castle, due to the rains. Instead, we settled comfortably at the Castle restaurant next door to see Ecuador beat Coast Rica 3-0. Ecuador was thus qualified to the last-16 for the first time ever, and were displaying charming and entertaining football.

Late afternoon we arrived to Green Turtle Lodge, not far from Busua. England had just beaten Trinidad-Tobago 2-0 to go to the next round. Sweden was up next. We joined two Swedes to give our Danish support to the Scandinavians against Paraguay. The game was watched under palm trees on the beach, on a small solar-generator powered TV set. The Swedes were nervous. Their otherwise dangerous strikers Ibrahimovic and Larsson were not performing, and they were having a hard time against a defensive and plainly bad Paraguayan side. In the end, relief came to Sweden: A late header by Ljungberg gave them a needed 1-0 victory. The Swedes were delighted, and we celebrated till late.

The games the next day were watched on the beach, over games and drinks. I had eagerly been awaiting for Argentina-Serbia-Montenegro, but the match was not shown on Ghana TV. So I only heard later that Argentina had destroyed the Serbians 6-0. In spite of this, we watched the Netherlands against the Ivory Coast. We all supported the Ivorians, except for a quiet Dutch couple. Although the Ivorians played well, the Dutch were efficient and cold. It wasn’t deserved, but they won 2-1. In the evening, Mexico and Angola tied 0-0. The Angolans got their first point ever.

June 17th was the day of Ghana-Czech Republic. Could it be that the Ghanaians would defeat the amazing Czechs? It started good for Ghana, but bad for all of us at Green Turtle Lodge: the generator was broken… All were passionately helping to repair, or find an alternative solution. In the end, it was decided to connect the TV to the central solar generator, and then not have light in the evening. No matter what, we missed Ghana’s early opening goal. But we did not miss the excellent Ghanaian display. The Czechs were a shadow of themselves, while the Ghanaians were at their best. We were all delighted for Ghana’s 2-0 victory, although if anything, it was too small: it was obvious that to compete at this level, Ghana needed to be more efficient.

We would all have supported the USA against Italy, but couldn’t watch the match because of the generator. However, it ended 1-1, and all was up to Ghana itself before the last match of the group. But Ghana was a party and we were here!

The next day, I had to return to Accra after visiting the interesting Elmina Castle, and that was the end of the road trip. However, it was not the end of the World Cup, which I have continued to follow eagerly, although under more normal circumstances…

Watching football at Green Turtle

Europe Rules

I am going to be very unpopular for this posting. If I’d say “Africa rules”, I would be considered a culturally sensitive person, in touch with the always oppressed peoples. Saying Europe rules, I am considered a neo-colonial imperialist pig. But that said, it is true when it comes to football.

The continued discussion of Europe having to give World Cup spots away to Africa or Asia is absolutely ridiculous: Actually, with the performance of teams from outside Europe, I think Europe should be given four more spots in the next world cup: one from Africa, two from Asia, one from North- and Central America. The only non-Europeans in the tournament able to compete at highest level were Brazil and Argentina, and they were no match for France and Germany.
The World Cup belongs in Europe, and it will surely stay in Europe for many years to come.

The World Cup is over. The only thing that counted for me, was Brazil winning, so the Cup should not again go to boring European. It is the World against Europe, and Europe wins (as usual…).

Germany-Argentina

I had been having sympathy for the new skilled German team, coached by Klinsmann, who I always admired as a player. I guess I had been forgetting why nobody likes Germany in football. But fortunately, I was reminded to dislike them again after their victory over Argentina…
Someone must have complained in Germany that they were attacking and shooting too much. Because the Germans certainly returned to their roots: let the others play beautiful, have the ball, and just muscle through. The game was bad because Germany did not want to play football, and Argentina was unwilling to force a result.
In the end, German tenacity and luck won the match. That Abundazziri had to be substituted gave the match away to Germany – who even then were unable ot force a result. The Germans forced the penalties through, knowing that they haven never lost one, and would surely not lose it at home.
I am sure Germany will be world champions. I just hope they won’t.

The Great French

What distinguishes great teams through history, is that they win the right matches at the right time. Spain has never been a big team. But France has, and showed it again last night.

Walking into the match, Spain had three first round victories, while France had been mediocre to say the least, barely qualifying for the last-16 by defeating Togo. So all eyes were set on Spain, and the fact that this might be their year. It wasn't, even though David Villa brought the Spaniards ahead on a penalty kick. 3-1 for France was the end score, where Ribery, Vieira and Zidane took advantage of Spanish mistakes. It is amazing to see Spain, again and again losing in important tournaments, by being naive and unconcentrated.

Only pity is that Thierry Henry didn't score, so he could get back on Luis Aragones racist comments...

In any case, Brazil-France in the quarterfinal is another clash of titans, much more than a Brazil-Spain. So that is something to look forward to indeed!

Big guys beat the little guys

After the disappointment of seeing Ghana lose last night, I was having a beer at Duncan's Spot in Osu, when a loud Ghana fan came up to me and said: "The European teams are always favoured by the referees! That is why Brazil won!". I only wonder since when Brazil was in Europe....

Brazil's second goal was indeed off side. But in spite minor free-kick blunders, referee Lubos Michel is no explanation for Ghana's exit. Brazil was the better team, using two of their main assets, experience and pace, to defeat a charming but somewhat naive Ghana side. The Ghanaians blundered after 5 minutes, giving Ronaldo the chance to become the leading World Cup scorer of all time. This killed off the match. The Brazilians could after that moment stand back, let the Ghanaians play the ball around, get a few chances which they blew, and otherwise strike on their deadly counter-attacks. Brazil was never in danger of losing the match; they didn't even out-stretch themselves.

Ghana should still be proud. It is not often a World Cup debutant progresses to the second round, and a game against Brazil is always bound to end this way. Now Ghana has World Cup experience, and will hopefully make it to South Africa in 2010! Can't wait to see them there!

Thank you, Black Stars.

It will be difficult for Ghana

It will likely be a victory for Brazil. I find it hard to believe that Ghana can outperform the Brazilian World Champions, although the amazing optimism of the Ghanaians is quite catchy. Ghanaians seem sure that God will be with them, and that "they will score Brazil"! This is certainly in starch contrast to the pessimism the Ghanaians displayed after their pathetic exit of the Africa's Cup in February, when they were saying that they shouldn't even send a team to Germany, and that Dujkovic should be fired…

But without Michael Essien, and being a debutant at the World Cup, Brazil is an awfully big mouthful. Ghana cannot afford to commit a single mistake - something they have been doing in every match, in spite of winning them. Furthermore, the Ghanaian is a very young team. If Brazil scores a fast goal, their natural optimism may turn into desperate inexperience, and things may go very wrong...

On the other hand, the Brazilians are bound to underestimate Ghana (although Coach Parreira has once been Ghana national coach, in the 1960's...) and a quick Ghanaian goal might start off an exciting match, just like the good fight Denmark gave Brazil in the 1998 quarterfinal.

Although a Ghanaian victory would be great, I just can't see it happening. Accra will surely go crazy if it happens! But I just hope Ghana will give the Brazilians a great fight!

Yawn!!!

Italy-Australia and Switzerland-Ukraine get the price for the most amazingly boring matches in this World Cup, and certainly score high on the list of all-time most boring matches. What a waste of time!

Italy played boring as usual, and even one man up, the Australians were as much a threat as a lazy koala. In the end, the Italians had their usual luck, scoring on a non-existant penalty, properly taken care of by "Snotti".

Switzerland has become the first team ever to be eliminated from the World Cup, without conceding a single goal. Don't know how much I'd be proud of that one after last night. I counted two chances in the whole match, including extra time! And the Ukranians were no better, pointelssly playing the ball around. I have no idea how deserved it was for the Ukranians to win, but the fact is, that the Swiss certainly do not aim like Wilhelm Tell.

Italy-Ukraine are playing their quarterfinal next Friday evening. Another bore probably - I can't wait to be doing something else...

By the way, below is a very accurate description of the Australia-Italy game (courtesy of http://users.on.net/~billt/italianjob.gif):

Taunting the Dutch

Friendly taunting is part of the World Cup. I certainly don't hold back with taunting the English for their "pretty boy" team or the French for their old men.

The Germans have always been a great object (of not so often friendly) taunting. So I found this website very amusing: http://www.das-war-wohl-nix.com/

A German getting back at the Dutch team on its way back to the Netherlands. A good friendly laugh indeed!

Great Quarterfinals

The first matches of the last-16 were played this weekend. Germany was excellent against a tame Swedish side, although they only won 2-0. Sweden has really been one of the most over-estimated side of the torunament, and will hardly be missed.

Argentina-Mexico was as expected, a difficult match for the Argentinians. The Mexicans, who have not been very impressive, put up a good match against Argentina, who was somewhat disappointing. However, Maxi Rodriguez gave Argentina the victory with a stunning strike! One of the best goals of the tournament.

Now, we will get a classic clash in the quarterfinal: Germany-Argentina! Not only is is a repeat of the 1986 and 1990 World Cup finals, but it is also a game between two of the favourites for the title. It is an encounter every football fan will wait for. And I hope Argentina prevails...

England was again not impressive against little Ecuador, although winning a narrow 1-0. Two things saved England: Ashley Cole's tackle in the first half, and David Beckham's great free-kick. As before, England needs to play much better if they are to hope to defeat any of the big teams.

Portugal-Netherlands was a true knock-out drama, ending in disgrace for both teams. Netherlands confirmed that in spite of many great players, they have not managed to pull a team together at all - making you wonder about Dutch football. The Portuguese won, but it was a hard won victory, ending in disgrace: two red cards for each game, and Portugal will be missing Deco, Costinha and Cristiano Ronaldo against England. In spite of this, England-Portugal promises to be another drama, a repeat of their quarterfinal clash in the 2004 European Championship, where Portugal won a dramatic victory after penalty kicks.

The best thing for now about this World Cup, is that we are getting these huge classic encounters in the quarterfinals. Already a Spain-France tomorrow, and possibly a Brazil-Spain in the quarterfinals! This is football for giants!