No Round of 16 for Old Men.
Psst: Giorgio Chiellini. When someone bumps you on your right shoulder and you jump up in the air and fall down on your knees, that’s not a foul, it’s a dive.
Is it just me or could Fabio Cannavaro make a living as a Mussolini impersonator?
From the Gazzetto dello Sport: Back home in shame. Lippi: “It’s my fault. I prepared the team badly.” No shit. Gattuso: “Four years ago we were knights of hard work; now we’re knights of shame.”
Kamil Kopunek’s goal off the throw-in is a special embarrassment for the Azurri. They looked like they were in the REM stages of sleep.
Ruud Gullit nailed it: ” The core of their defense is from Juventus – and they just had their worst year ever.”
I wonder if the pomodori will be flying on their return as they were in 1966 . . . It might be worth while to consider flying into Lugano, Switzerland or Nice and taking a train home. In disguise.
Impressive efficiency by Slovakia: four shots on target; three goals.
Jon Dahl Tomasson’s whiff in the 70th minute was one of the worst I’ve ever seen.
Thomas Sorenson – a usually good goalkeeper who had a really bad day.
I’m glad that I didn’t DVR the Paraguay v New Zealand game. Did anyone see it? Was it as dull as it appeared in the speed game?
Nicklas Bendtner, please work on your finishing before Arsenal’s next season starts, okay?
Ronnie P
I was pulling for Italy at the end just in hope’s that I could see more Quagliarella.
beltane
At least the Italians were not quite as obnoxious going out as the French. We know how to lose at things.
The Netherlands continues to look good.
KRK
Go Slovensko!
Calouste
No mention of the Japanese free kicks? Sorenson could probably have done better, but the execution of both of them was excellent.
The Dutch still look pretty good. Not completely dominating, but a couple of times they have shown that they can move up two gears for 10 or 15 minutes.
Mark S.
Those were some wicked free kicks by Japan.
Man, there are some good games tomorrow: Brazil-Portugal and Spain-Chile. Wouldn’t it be wild if Brazil and Spain ended up meeting in the round of 16? A lot of people probably had those two meeting in the final.
MikeJ
The Netherlanders will win the cup.
Today I was listening to yesterday’s Grauniad podcast and they were going on about how before play started they looked at what they guessed the brackets would be and decided that Engerland was going to have an easy way through to the semis based on them winning the group. They never counted on the US beating them and it being England stuck playing Germany in the first elimination round.
To be honest neither did I, but we’re not talking about me now, are we?
MattR
@Mark S.: Spain-Chile should be the game of the day. Portugal-Brazil has potential but there isn’t enough on the line. OTOH, my surprise team for tomorrow is Honduras. My picks for tomorrow:
Brazil 1, Portugal 1
Ivory Coast 3, North Korea 0
(Brazil and Portugal advance)
Spain 2, Chile 1
Honduras 2, Switzerland 1 (maybe 2-2 draw)
(Spain and Chile go through)
Vico
@MikeJ: 538 gives the Netherlands a 16.25 percent chance of winning the Cup, and Brazil a 16.75 chance. Argentina, at 13.39, is next highest.
Jonothan8
Hey! I seem to recall a very patronising dismissal of the New Zealander’s chances from you guys. Yet they were undefeated – a team with four part-time players in its ranks, including one who had to get leave without pay from his job at the bank. A little credit where it’s due, buster!
Calouste
@Mark S.:
Wild, but not too likely.There are some scenarios where Spain finishes second, but most likely they either win the group by beating Chile or go home if they don’t win and the Swiss do.
Brazil-Portugal will be interesting. Brazil better not give goals away like they did that one against Ghana.
The Claw
It is always a pleasure to see Italy go out. I became a football viewer bearing no malice towards any nation, but the degree of cyncism in Italian football is amazing.
Teams that have not had their best game yet:
Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Netherlands, England
Mark S.
@Calouste:
I agree that, barring Switzerland exploding and scoring a bunch of goals, Spain is either first or out. But Portugal beating a Kaka-less Brazil is hardly out of the realm of possibilities.
handsmile
Perhaps the most delicious (and revealing) statistic on the Azzuri’s humiliation: six shots on the Italian goal during the group matches; five goals conceded.
On that point, I must confess to some relief that Gianluigi Buffon will be spared a full measure of opprobrium by the Italian faithful, due to his spinal injury. (Also, one could not help but be impressed by the raptor-like focus and passion exhibited by Buffon on the sidelines during this game.)
“Stoic disembowelment” is the only phrase I could come up with to describe the expression on Cannavaro’s face at match end.
@ MattR: What’s “on the line” tomorrow between Brazil and Portugal is the motivation of final standing in Group G. I have to think both squads would prefer to face Chile rather than Spain in the first knockout round. Also, I’m eager to learn what incentives will be at issue for Chile v. Spain, as their evening match begins with the knowledge of the day’s earlier result.
wengler
Spain v. Portugal might be nearly as good as Spain v. Brazil.
Instead of taking his old favorites from Juventus, Lippi could have picked one of the only Italian players from the European Champions in Ballotelli. But he didn’t. He could have kept Rossi on the squad despite a lackluster club performance. But he didn’t.
There was no reason to take a squad this old except for the stodginess of Lippi and the nostalgia for the last World Cup. They should’ve been gone like a Ken Griffey sleeping in the clubhouse. Personally I say good riddance. That embarrassing flopping around like a fish caught in a net after the first Italian goal was an affront to the game. FIFA really needs to crack down on simulation, diving and embellishment.
MattR
@handsmile: re Chile vs Spain – Despite my prediction of a Honduran upset of the Swiss, both Chile and Spain know that there is a very good chance they will be out with a loss (and Spain could very well be out with a tie). That should lead to both teams playing all out all game, or at least until the result of the other game is more clear.
As far as Brazil vs Portugal, I know there is a huge rivalry between the countries, but I think both teams will be more concerned with avoiding yellow cards and injuries and with getting ready for the knockout phase. I think the importance of where they finish in the group is a bit overblown. The only exception might be if Spain finished second in their group in which case, second place in group G would be better (Chile then Paraguay/Japan is an easier path than Spain then Holland). Otherwise Spain then Paraguay/Japan is a tossup with Chile/Switzerland then Holland. And the group G games kick off first so neither Portugal nor Brazil can know who they will play next if they win the game.
Attaturk
Ruud Gullit was spot-on about Italy’s defense and how they picked the Juventus defense.
There’s a reason why Inter have dominated the Italian league the last few years…how many Italians play on their starting 11 compared to Brazilians and Argentines?
Jaim
Really surprised by Japan. I’ll root for them as long as they don’t play the US or South Korea.
Calouste
@Jaim:
That could only happen in the final, so I don’t think it is something you need to be particularly worried about.
Thlayli
In fairness to Lippi, what choice did he have?
There are central defenders from Inter (Lucio, Samuel), Roma (Juan), and Milan (Onyewu) still alive in the tournament — but Italy couldn’t pick any of them. The only Italian defender on any of those clubs is Nesta, who wouldn’t have done any better.
Funkhauser
The commentators on Band pointed out that Inter has only four Italians, four Brazilians, and three Argentines in their core squad.
SLKRR
Brazil-Portugal will be a great game. Portugal is going to come out playing hard to win – their last friendly with Brazil they got shellacked 6-2 and they are going to want to prove that it was a fluke. Brazil will be without Kaká, but Daniel Alves will be starting (I think Randy mentioned wanting that to happen in an earlier post).
(The Italians may not have played that well this year, but they got completely hosed on the tying goal non-call…)
Vai Brasil! Rumo ao HEXA!
Attaturk
@SLKRR:
Also, how bad do you think Ivory Coast is going to try to pound North Korea?
They need to score at least a half-dozen and hope Brazil beats Portugal badly.
…
And then this afternoon Chile & Spain play — that one might be 10 to 9.
Randy Paul
@Calouste: My bad. it was a long day and it’s tough to cram careful watching of both games into less then four hours.
Sarcastro
I was hoping we’d get a chance at Italy. That Juve defense would crumble at the sight of Clint Dempsey coming at them… again. Not that they stood very firm against anyone else.
Lippi brought one guy (DeRossi) from 2nd place AS Roma and 6 guys from 6th place Juve. It’s a decision that makes Joachim Low’s decision to leave Kevin Kuranyi at home seem sober and sensible.
handsmile
@MattR: Thanks for your response; all good points to consider.
Yellow cards shouldn’t be a problem for Brazil as only Ramires is carrying one. Portugal, otoh, must be wary as three of its starting XI have been booked, including, oooohh, Ronaldo. (FIFA gently whispers to the match referee about future career opportunities…)
Re Paraguay v. New Zealand
Smitten by a World Cup squad featuring semiprofessional and unaffiliated players, I was happy to watch New Zealand’s quixotic adventure. While not a match to persuade football skeptics as to the sport’s inherent beauty and moral virtue, it was far less shambolic than some of the other 110-minute sacrifices I’ve made for this tournament (e.g., Uruguay v. France, Algeria v. England).
Deemed by some as unworthy even to appear amid this august company, New Zealand’s World Cup experience will be hailed as an epochal success, a national celebration. Data to savor: NZ conceded fewer goals than the US; in the final standings for Group F, New Zealand ranked above the 2006 world champions.
Finally, I have to believe that the agent for New Zealand’s keeper Mark Paston (likely his brother-in-law) will be kept unexpectedly busy responding to inquiries from interested international clubs. A small, but satisfying, dose of justice for his astonishing performance.
Randy Paul
@Sarcastro: Juve actually finished seventh.
Ronnie P
Yeah, I’m sure the Lippi was heartbroken he couldn’t pick Onyewu ;)
The problem with the Juve sucks argument is that Watford sucks much worse, but the US is going through.
Chad S
As a Juve fan, I have to come to our defense: Ruud gets it pretty much wrong here. Buffon got hurt in the first half of the first match and without him, Italy’s defense is so-so(chiellini is a very good player, but he’s just not enough). Juve let Cannavaro go off to some Dubai team for nothing, Lippi should have played Bonucci, who’s a rising young CB talent(and ironically was just bought by Juventus yesterday) over him. Zambrotta was a corpse out of there, but he’s a Milan player. Criscito gave them nothing either(which is probably why Juve just sold him to Genoa, Criscito was part owned by Genoa and Juve and he played in Genoa for the last couple seasons). And Italy’s consistently best player on the pitch was Pepe, who was bought by Juve a few weeks ago.
But the defense wasn’t italy’s problem imo, they couldn’t do much in the middle of the midfield(Montolivo and De Rossi totally shit the bed and Marchiso isn’t an attacking mid, he’s a CM) and got nothing from Gil/Di Natale. Lippi also didn’t help things by not picking any dynamic attackers(Totti, Balotelli, etc).
Randy Paul
The defense was Italy’s problem against Slovakia.
Camoranesi was largely useless in both games in which he played. Regardless of whether Cannavaro plays for Juve next year, he played for them this year and the third goal is on his shoulders.
Chiellini frankly, didn’t much impress me. Yes, Buffon was injured, but you should have some depth at that position and Italy didn’t. Compare that to Spain, for example.
Pepe was the best player against Paraguay, but he wasn’t particularly good yesterday.
Chad S
@Randy Paul:
1-Italy’s problem yesterday was that they got totally dominated in the midfield.
2-Cam was decent on the attack, he struggles defending(but if thats a surprise, then you don’t watch any Serie A lol)
3-Cannavaro is already gone from Juve. He was terrible in the World Cup(so-so during the season) and only made the squad because Lippi was the coach. Bonucci had a fantastic year for Bari and should have started. In any event, Ruud’s comment on the face of it is pretty stupid since out of the 5 defending players, 3 of them weren’t from Juve.
4-Losing one of the top keepers in the world sinks most teams. If Julio Cesar got hurt, Brazil would be in trouble. Expecting to replace a top keeper with “depth” is asking a lot.
5-Thats because Lippi pushed him up and asked him to be more of a deep lying striker, which is a disaster. Pepe can’t shoot to save his life.