As I indicated here, I apologize for my recent absence here. I appreciate the kind words and notes of encouragement some of you sent my way. It meant a lot to us.
As it’s been a while since I’ve commented on the world’s most popular sport, just some brief notes and observations here.
When Mércia and I were in Portugal, we had the pleasure of being in Leiria when FC Porto and Sporting Braga played the Europa League final and in Porto itself when FC Porto played Vitória Guimarães for the Portuguese Cup. Porto won both championships, giving them a total of four for the prior eleven months (the Portuguese Primeira Liga and the Portuguese Supercup are the other two) and their impossibly young coach, André Villas-Boas, age 33 with no history as a professional player, the hottest coaching commodity in years. So hot, in fact, Chelsea snatched him up, hoping he’ll have José Mourinho’s genius without his ego. I think they won’t be disappointed.
Unfortunately, I was not able to squeeze in a game in this trip, but did get to go to Porto’s stadium, Estadio do Dragão:
The sign says “National Championship 2010-2011: This is our Destiny.” It certainly was – and then some.
On the CONCACAF Gold Cup, I’ll be brief. To Bob Bradley: Jonathan Bornstein is not the answer; he is the question. No is the answer. Get some speed in your back four. Please.
I didn’t cover the Women’s World Cup thus far, in large part because I don’t really get to see the players play much on the club level if at all. I had never heard of Louisa Necib, the French attacking midfielder, who is often referred to as the female Zinedine Zidane as much for her skills as for being , like Zidane, the child of Algerian immigrants.
That being said, I have enjoyed watching the games I’ve seen, especially the Japan v Germany and USA v Brazil quarterfinals. There is a sort of poetic justice that Abby Wambach’s game tying goal was scored in extra time that was the result of Erika’s disgraceful delaying tactics.
To say Brazil has played an uninspired Copa América is putting it mildly. Argentina had also been playing in a rather lackluster fashion until their 3-0 win against Costa Rica yesterday. My own thoughts are that Colombia has been having a pretty good run. I wouldn’t object to seeing them win the tournament
Finally, the Argentinean team, River Plate, a team so prominent in Buenos Aires that whenever I met someone from that city, I routinely ask them “Boca [for Boca Juniors] o River” and usually count on them claiming one of the two, has been relegated to the second division for the first time in its 110 year history. If you’re baseball fan, imagine the Yankees beng sent down to Triple A and you get the idea. This has been a bit of a scandal to put it mildly, but this reaction sums it up best as this man was watching the game which resulted in their relegation. Hat tip to my buddy and erstwhile Porteño, Brian Greene.
mellowjohn
nice to see the women are learning how to flop.
burnspbesq
France is entirely capable of sending us home if we don’t bring our A game. Necib is the genuine article. We especially need Boxx and Lloyd to play better.
Randinho
Boy do I agree with you about Necib. She’s terrific.
BGinCHI
GREAT to see you back, Randinho.
That US vs. Brazil WC match was epic. US deserved to win.
Now, let’s talk about all the reasons Liverpool is going to beat Chelsea like a red-headed step child this coming year.
burnspbesq
Bornstein is history. Barring injury or catastrophic loss of form, Lichaj is our left back for the next decade. Now we need to find and groom a replacement for Cherundolo. Who that might be is anybody’s guess at this point, although I will be very interested to see how Sean Franklin does in the All-Star game.
HumboldtBlue
Wondered where you were. The rest of the world has caught up, this may be the beginning of the end of U.S. dominance in women’s soccer.
There are a lot more Martas to come. Wambach’s goal will live on, however.
Dave
That guy in the video is channeling Bruno Ganz in Downfall. Wow.
AAA Bonds
Sports thraed:
http://1340thefan.com/ncaa-will-not-change-policy-will-penalize-north-dakota-university-fighting-sioux-for-using-american-indian-themes/
Z
Tough to bet against us the way destiny seemed to take care of the last one.
¡¡¡Pero la puta que te parió!!!
Video was hilarious. Even if you don’t speak Spanish, check it out. Thanks for the link.
Violet
Sorry to read about your recent challenges. I hope Mercia is doing better and that things are a bit more back to normal.
I’ve seen bits of some of the Women’s games because they’ve been on at the gym when I’ve been there. I probably saw Necib because I remember seeing a terrific French player. Must have been her.
I’m in the middle of reading Soccernomics, which I picked up during the World Cup last summer and hadn’t got around to reading. Really enjoying it.
Luc
Does anybody know if the video was comedy or reality TV ( ahem Youtube)?
Sorry I do not speak Spanish.
handsmile
What a pleasure to turn on the Balloon Juice machine this evening and find your name under the very first post, Randinho. (Always nice to read the familiar noms de guerre as well.) Welcome back, and all best wishes to you and Mrs. R!
So much football, so little time…..
I opted to follow closely the Women’s World Cup rather than the Copa America (in part because I will be on a blessedly offline vacation at the Copa’s concluding stages), but I must confess to being a wee bit disappointed at the quality of matches overall.
Germany’s defeat by Japan was the upset of the tournament and now all four remaining squads are truly competitive to become the new WWC champion. (Compelled by lineage, I’m rooting for Sweden.)
All credit to US mettle and grit and to Megan Rapione’s legendary cross in the closing seconds of the match, but to my eyes Brazil’s outfield X was the superior squad even before Rachel Buehler’s fully deserved red card. Brazil squandered their advantage by selfish goal-shooting and, especially in overtime, arrogant playmaking.
In today’s semifinal, I expect the play of both France and the US will suffer from their punishing 120+-minute weekend matches. France has displayed unexpected technical and tactical prowess thus far and will have had one extra day off.
It’s July 13 and to my utter stupefaction, Cesc Fabregas remains a member of the Arsenal squad. This soap opera has been running for the past three summers and I can’t understand how the other Gunners tolerate it. There’s an amusing article in tonight’s Guardian quoting Jack Wilshere on the subject of Fabregas and Samir Nasri. The 19-year old spoke of loyalty to the club, urging his teammates to “man up.”
Yes, the Augean stable cleaning has begun at the Emirates with Clichy already gone and the door about to hit the backsides of Bendtner and Alumnia. Quite a bit more muck needs to be cleaned out though. In the useless but always entertaining exercise of preseason predictions, here are two of mine: Arsene Wenger will be the former coach of Arsenal by 1/1/13, and the club will struggle to earn a Europa Cup slot in the new season of the Premier League.
Finally, I think BGinChi (#4) may very well be right about Liverpool, even with Andre Villas-Boas agreeing to be the next recipient of an early severance package from Roman Abramovich.
bryanD
Watching the Women’s World Cup has been a blast. And I’m not normally a homer, but seeing the USA pull out that crazy win over Marta the Angry Yamamamo was very satisfying. Normally, a top-rank USA team of a stunted womens’ league variety is braggadocious, but this one isn’t. No sports bras yet anyway.
I would also like to take Le Peilbet camping.
burnspbesq
@handsmile:
I don’t think we watched the same match. Marta made a dog’s breakfast out of a fair challenge and the referee bought it. There was one replay angle that suggested, quite inconclusively, that Buehler might have had a handful of Marta’s jersey, but she wasn’t impeded when she jumped into the air with both feet out in front of her like she was going down a playground slide. Also too, the ball was out of her reach when she went down. There was no clear goal-scoring opportunity. Solo was going to collect.
Yutsano
I don’t have anything to say beyond ki o tsukete kudasai and the black swan on your blog rocks.
ChrisB
A perfect description of Marta’s flop.
2liberal
Since you insist on referring to this as the worlds most popular sport, why not use the word that most of its adherents use, Fútbol, as the name of the sport? To most english speakers, Football means a completely different sport.
Are you a Mac user? You seem to show some of the same pathology.
Randinho
Wow! Of all things to carp about you had to dig pretty deep there. As long as I write these posts in English, I’ll continue to call it football.
SRW1
Sounds like a really trying time for you and your family. Hopefully things have already taken a turn for the better.
I didn’t catch too many games of WC 2011, but of the ones I have seen, the team I was most impressed by was Sweden. Against the US their D looked pretty solid, especially the left back. If they go all the way, my money is on Lotta Schelin as the player of the tournament.
handsmile
burnspbesq (#14):
“I don’t think we watched the same match.” [re Marta/Buehler]
I expect we did not; we so rarely seem to. I appreciate your vivid description of the incident. Here’s mine:
Shimmying past US defenders, Marta flicked the ball over Buehler’s head. Moving clumsily like a child in a sandbox, Buehler extended her right leg to clear the ball as it bounced up off the pitch. In so doing she clattered into Marta who had jumped into the air to address the rising ball, having gained positional advantage for a shot goalwards.
The ESPN/FSC replays were inconclusive; that seems to be the dominant word as well in several accounts of the match I’ve read. Regrettably, FIFA copyright has removed footage of the incident from YouTube and other sites.
The referee, having seen the attacking player bypass the final defender, believed that contact from that defender (and there was contact) had denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity. That’s a red card. in this instance, you believe the referee was mistaken. I didn’t and don’t. Inconclusive.
A not unrelated point: a notable feature of this WWC has been the officiating’s uncommonly strict adherence to the rulebook. Calls have been blown certainly, but a surprising number of innocuous tackles and minor infractions have been whistled or carded.
One last thing. The phrase “a dog’s breakfast” is slang for a complete mess or muddle. As in, “Rachel Buehler made a dog’s breakfast of her defense on the play.” With Marta, I think the phrase you want is “made a meal of” (treating something as more important or serious than it really is; exaggerating for effect). As in, “Marta made a meal out of a fair challenge….”
SteveinSC
Hope Obama invites the women’s team to the White House, no matter the final outcome. Rapinoe to Wambach score was not only heart-stopping at the end, but elegant in its execution. Saw the thing with my dad at the retirement home. Really glad none of the other seniors were watching otherwise Massive 911 calls for defibrillators.
edmund dantes
You are neglecting that Marta is also impeding the defender as she went by, grabbing a chunk of her shirt to pull her back, and the defender responding in kind.
If this was the standard for a penalty kick in the box, the US was denied two clear penalties in extra time when similar 50-50 challenges (both fighting for the ball) occurred. Also the ball was way out of range of Marta and was being scooped up by Solo. So the clearing scoring chance does not apply.
Still… maddengingly inconsistent and horrible officiating job (even if you concede the call on Marta is good). Brutally officiated game. Sometimes things were called letter of the law even though no effect on the play, othertimes things were blatantly a card, and nothing was done. Two separate intentional handballs (one US and one Brazil) in full view. Not called.
burnspbesq
@ handsmile:
I assume you play or have played. How many times have you attempted to kick a ball by throwing both legs in front of you and essentially assuming a sitting position in mid-air?
Marta’s technique on that play was more suited to a three-meter springboard. Unfortunately her back 1 1/2 in the pike position received a 9.5 from the Australian judge.
Tuttle
I was wondering about Portugal the other day. Isn’t it odd that a nation with a population a bit less than metropolitan Chicago produces so many fine soccer players (not to mention coaches) while we, a nation of 300 million, simply can not?
There’s a serious systemic problem with American soccer. One of the prime failures is that our youth soccer prices out anyone who is not fairly wealthy. Until we find a way to field a bit more than the very best lawyers’ and doctors’ children, we’re going to produce second-rate teams. It’s endemic in the men’s game and it is starting to rear its head in the women’s game as well now that the rest of the world is catching up with us in regards to shear athleticism.
There are 50 million hispanics in the USA. A full sixth of the population who are culturally attuned to soccer to a, in general, greater degree than the other major demographic groups in America. That’s five times the population of Portugal. And we can’t find a single male striker worth the god damned name!?
And then there’s the coaching. The girls aren’t too fucking proud to have a foreign coach and the men need to get the hell over themselves. Why in the name of all that is holy is Sven Goran Erickson managing a shithole like Leicester City* instead of the money-making USMNT? Not enough craptastic collegiate NCAA experience!?!?
(* not to dump on the Foxes really, just quoting a line “It” dropped on S1TV)
handsmile
edmund dantes (#22):
Thanks for your response. In the regrettable absence of available video footage of the match and the red card incident itself (if you’ve got some, please link or direct me), I think we must unsatisfactorily agree that our memories are unspooling different visions. in my cranial cinema, Solo was merely moving towards the ball and would have been exposed had Marta not been tackled. And with multiple arms flailing in an eye’s-blink move within the penalty box, incidental shirt brushes are not the reason for a red card.
On the matter of officiating, I more emphatically disagree. It was neither brutal nor inconsistent. Yes, calls were missed; you’re absolutely right about the handballs. But in the Brazil-US match and other 2011 WWC matches I’ve seen, the “letter of the law” has been surprisingly and stringently enforced. (Meaning of course that there will be a right howler today or on Sunday.)
burnspbesq (#23):
Played. It was in fact my virtuosity with that very move that made me such a scoring threat from the bench. My chapeau is doffed to your ready familiarity with another exotic sport. Well done, sir.