Randinho

Quote of the Day from  Martin Tyler Ian Darke on ESPN: “And you know contact with Ronaldo will make him fall. Any contact at all. Maybe even a puff of wind.”

I have never liked Carlos Queiroz as a coach. Not because he coached Real Madrid and I’m a Barcelona fan (I like Vicente del Bosque), but because apparently he likes boring football, even when he coached  the NY/NJ Metrostars. His tactical plan for Portugal against Ivory Coast was anti-football.

Don’t panic Brazil fans. In 2006 Brazil beat Croatia 1-0 in their first game. In 2002 they beat Turkey on a very dodgy penalty call. In 1998 they beat Scotland 2-1 on an own goal. They had a better start in 1994, beating Russia 2-0, but this is why they play three games. Besides, a win is a win!

While I’m sure the Kiwis are thrilled with the point against Slovakia, in my humble opinion, they ought to feel hard done by, given that Robert Vittek was clearly offside when he scored his goal for Slovakia.

I thought Sven Goran Erikson was a bit questionable in his tactics in 2002 when, in the loss to Brazil, losing 2-1 with a man advantage, he took Michael Owen off – for Darius Vassell (?!?!). I think keeping Gervinho in this game was a good move today, notwithstanding the result. As an Arsenal fan, I hope Arsene Wenger saw Gervinho’s game today.

I love Portuguese wines, I just don’t much care for Portuguese whiners.

Kaka and Luis Fabiano failed to impress. I believe that Luis Fabiano would be better served with Nilmar than Kaka.

I would love to see Dunga find some way to get Dani Alves to start in the next two games. I just don’t know how.

I believe Italy will go through. Slovakia was even more lackluster against New Zealand than Italy against a vastly superior (to New Zealand) Paraguay.

Some Thoughts on Tuesday’s Games 6-15-10Post + Comments (94)

No one on Denmark’s team should whine about giving up an own goal. They usually result from pressure and that’s what Denmark experienced through much of the game.

The blame for Dirk Kuyt’s goal should rest squarely on Simon Kjaer’s shoulders. Both players were trailing the play virtually next to each other, but where Kuyt speeded up on Elia’s shot, Kjaer slowed down, leaving Kuyt free to finish off the rebound.

Eljero Elia was terrific off the bench. I don’t think that the Netherlands will have any problem going through, but if Bert van Marwijk is smart he’ll find a way to get Elia in the starting lineup in subsequent rounds.

Nigel de Jong is a red card waiting to happen.

If Denmark doesn’t win against decisively against Cameroon, they’re in deep trouble.

Nicklas Bendtner still has problems finishing his chances. Given that he’s not 100% and Morton Olsen only brought three forwards with him, Denmark’s offense has their work cut out for them.

Talk about making the most of your chances: Japan had three shots, two on goal, one of which they scored. They also had no corner kicks. That may have worked barely against Cameroon, but at the risk of belaboring the obvious, it certainly won’t work against the Dutch.

Did anyone see any organization in the Cameroon attack? I certainly didn’t.

For a tough guy Daniele de Rossi seems fragile: he tripped on what must have been a blade of grass early on and managed to fling out his arms. I guess he thought it was a team practice.

Paraguay played with a lot of heart. You have to admire that.

Notwithstanding his shot in the 83rd minute, Riccardo Montolivo did not seem to be a particularly good replacement for Andrea Pirlo.

Did Iaquinta and Gilardino play in this game? I barely saw them.

In my analysis of this group I made the following comment in the comments:

Here’s a conceivable scenario: Paraguay beats or ties Italy, Slovakia
beats New Zealand, Italy beats New Zealand, Slovakia and Paraguay tie,
Slovakia beats or ties Italy and Paraguay beats New Zealand. Who goes
through would then depend on the goal differential against New Zealand.

Pending the result of tomorrow’s first game, that seems even more conceivable.

Some Thoughts on Monday’s Games 6-14-10Post + Comments (53)

You can stick a fork in Algeria and Australia.

Serbia has to have a significant result against Australia to have any hope of moving on, scoring a significant number of goals and not surrendering any. They have to hope they can at least tie the Germans. Neither is likely to happen. The schedule does not favor Serbia as they play Germany next and the Germans will want to put things away. I picked Germany and Ghana to go through and I still believe it now more than ever.

Slovenia did not impress me. I saw little creativity, precious little offense in the first half and not a lot of cohesion in the midfield. A stat courtesy of ESPN: 19 crosses not one of which connected.

Memo to Radomir Antic: Nikola Zigic is not the answer; he’s the question. No is the answer.

Bonehead handballs by professional players for Algeria and Serbia. It boggles the mind, especially Ghezzal’s for Algeria. Dying to see who’s going to be among their attackers against England.

If the Ghana and Germany contest means anything significant to either team at that stage, that will be a memorable game.

Glad to see the yellow cards for diving. I hope it sends a message. Are you listening Ronaldo? How about you Alberto Gilardino? Or you, Steven Gerrard?

Tim Cahill was treated a bit harshly. Wonder if that will send a message.

Some Thoughts on Today’s Games 6-13-10Post + Comments (32)

Greece may very well go through another World Cup without scoring a goal. That shouldn’t surprise anyone who saw yesterday’s game. Nor should it surprise anyone who followed them at the 2004 European Championship, which they won by scoring more than one goal only once – and that was a penalty that beat Portugal 2-1.

The USA-England match suggests three possibilities, none of which offer any comfort to England and at least one of which has to be true: Fabio Capello’s tactical decisions were not good in that game, England has precious little speed in defense and will be vulnerable against teams that can maintain possession and has attackers with good pace (i.e. Brazil or Spain) and/or their midfield is in trouble, especially if they can’t maintain possession against a team like the USA..

Peter Crouch still fails to impress me. His wife is quite lovely.

David (Calamity) James must be wondering what nickname they will give Robert Green.

The critical match in Group B will be Nigeria v South Korea. Argentina will feast on South Korea’s back line and everyone will feast on Greece.

Memo to Leo Messi and Gonzalo Higuain: you have to finish those chances. the next round isn’t going to be any easier.

Memo to South Korea’s defense: if you offer subsequent teams as much space offered the mediocre Greek attack at the end of the game, your speediest attackers won’t be able to make up the difference in goals scored.

This may be the best analysis of the US-England game.

Some Observations About Saturday’s Games 6-12-10Post + Comments (69)

A few thoughts:

• Is it just the hair or does anyone else get reminded of Ronaldinho when Giovanni do Santos has the ball at his feet?
• Sydney Govou? Really?
• Note to Oscar Perez: when someone such as Shabalala is advancing on your goal, don’t just stand there; move towards him. You’re 5’9″. Unless you are one of the Fantastic 4, you can’t jump far enough.
• Rafa Marquez’s first touch on the pass that led to Mexico’s goal was a thing of beauty.
• Uruguay: you’re going to have to pressure a lot more . Seven shots over all and no corner kicks isn’t anyone’s idea of pressure.
• Finishing IMHO remains the most underappreciated aspect of the game.
• WTF was that Macarenaesque goal celebration by South Africa? This is a goal celebration:

The floor is yours.

Open Thread On Opening Day GamesPost + Comments (53)

How solid is Spain as a team? You could easily create the strong nucleus of a World Cup contender from their bench. Consider a team consisting of Victor Valdes, Raul Albiol, Álvaro Arbeloa, Carlos Marchena, Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas, Pedro, Javi Martinez, Jesus Navas and Fernando Llorente and you get the idea.

Full disclosure: I’m a big FC Barcelona fan. One of the highlights of a trip to Spain ten years ago was seeing a game at the Nou Camp stadium.

While Iker Casillas remains La Furia Roja’s number one keeper, for the past two seasons in La Liga Victor Valdes has compiled a better record with 34 clean sheets to Casillas’ 28, yet Valdes just got his first cap a week ago today against South Korea. Two of Valdes’ teammates at Barcelona, Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué form a tough and savvy central defense, with Joan Capdevila at left back and Sérgio Ramos at right back. Notwithstanding his athleticism, I don’t think Ramos always keeps his head in the game and that makes me a bit nervous.

Xabi Alonso is an excellent anchor in the defensive midfield and possesses a strong foot on free kicks. The heart and soul of Spain’s midfield are Xavi and Andres Iniesta. Xavi is a marvelous playmaker and arguably the best passer in the game, sending the ball through to his teammates as if it had eyes. He was voted the player of the tournament in the 2008 European Championship. In my opinion there is no better on-field tactician. He is complemented superbly by Andres Iniesta, another relatively small player who, like Xavi, makes up for his physical limitations with his head for the game and technical ability.

The forward combination of Fernando Torres and David Villa. While Torres has a good nose for the goal, I believe Villa is more versatile and a better finisher. In reserve they have the speedy Jesus Navas and Juan Mata and the 6’5″ target of Fernando Llorente.

Chile is another underrated team from South America. They are coached by Marcelo Bielsa, an Argentine who led them skillfully during qualification in which they finished in second place, one point behind Brazil. Likely in defense you’ll find a versatile group with pace: Gonzalo Jara, Waldo Ponce, Arturo Vidal and perhaps Pablo Contreras. Carlos Carmona, Rodrigo Millar and Gary Medel form the heart of the midfield with Matias Frnandez as a withdrawn striker/midfield playmaker.

Humberto Suazo and Alexis Sánchez make for a fairly impressive forward attacking pair. Remember, Chile doesn’t have to beat everyone in this group; just everyone except for Spain.

In this group the Swiss strike me as a bit stolid and unimaginative. Granted, they won their group in qualification, but their group consisted of Greece, Luxembourg, Moldova, Latvia and Israel. Too bad they couldn’t have faced a tough team like the Faeroe Islands. . .

That notwithstanding, Diego Benaglio is a good keeper. With the exception of Phiippe Senderos, a hardworking center back who’s good in the air, I’m not familiar with their defenders. I do know their likely midfield of Tranquillo Barnetta, Gelosn Fernandes, Gokhan Inler and Marco Paladino and it’s decent, aggressive, but can’t solve the problems in the defense and in the attack. Switzerland  will rely either on Alex Frei, if he can remain healthy along with Blaise Nkufo (age 35 with his next stop Seattle in the MLS) or Hakan Yakin, a creative player to be sure, but one man does not make a team.

I haven’t seen much of the Honduran players except in qualification. I do like Maynor Figueroa, who scored the goal of the year for the English Premier League last year: a strike from beyond midfield that seemed to be laser-guided. I also like Wilson Palacios, Hendry Tomas and David Suazo. I had the singular misfortune of seeing the skilled, but, to be charitable, mercurial Amado Guevara play here in the MLS. There’s some talent there with out question, but they’re outclassed in this group.

Spain and Chile will go through.

Here are my comments on Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D,  Group E, Group F
and Group G.

Let the games begin!

Cross posted at Beautiful Horizons.

Group H: Chile Honduras, Spain and SwitzerlandPost + Comments (27)

There is probably no greater evidence of how deep Brazil is as a football nation that three starters for their Lusofone cousin, Portugal got their start in the game in Brazil and are naturalized Portuguese citizens: Pepe, Deco and Liedson. Germany has also naturalized a Brazilian, Cacau.

Brazil’s only drawback will be the heavy weight of expectations. I often joke with my wife that Brazil’s greatest problem is that it has some 180 million coaches. Felipe Scolari was roundly – and in my opinion wrongly – criticized for not putting Romario in the squad in 2002. Winning the cup that year silenced the critics and if they can pull it off again this year, it will silence the myriad critics. My personal feeling that winning the game is a lot more important than jogo bonito (the beautiful game) and I believe that is largely shared by the coach, Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri, aka Dunga.

If anyone saw this year’s Champions League semifinal and final, they know that Brazil has a first rate keeper in Júlio César. The skill in defense doesn’t end there. Lúcio and Juan are excellent and experienced center backs; the former skilled in initiating the attack and deadly in the air on set pieces (he scored the winning goal against the US in last year’s Confederations Cup final off a corner) and the latter one of the few bright spots for Brazil in the 2006 WC. At fullback they have a bit of dilemma: Brazil has two of the best right backs in the world in Dani Alves and Maicon. Expect Maicon to start; more on Alves in a moment. Michel Bastos will probably be the left back.

In midfield, Gilberto Silva and Felipe Melo will be the defenders and Kaká and Elano will probably round out the offensive midfield, with Kaká almost like a withdrawn forward and given his distribution skills, speed and feel for the game, a playmaker to be reckoned with. Melo will need to remember to keep a cool head. If it were up to me, I would put Dani Alves in for Elano. Alves often comes up on the attack in Barcelona, while tracking back pretty well on defense, which would be a good rule when Maicon goes forward. His skills on free kicks are not something you want to leave on the bench.

Luis Fabiano, an excellent target man (look how he took the wind out of the US sails in the Confederations Cup at the start of the second half) and Robinho will be the forwards. Am I the only one who isn’t exactly sold on Robinho? I would prefer Nilmar complementing Luis Fabiano.

Given that I don’t see the Portuguese League that often outside the major teams such as Benfica, Porto and Sporting Lisbon, I have never seen Eduardo, Portugal’s number one keeper play. His club football is with Braga and to his credit they had their best finish ever as runner-ups to Benfica, surrendering only 20 goals in 30 league matches. Bruno Alves and Ricardo Carvalho will figure as center-backs with Alves’ threat on set pieces (he scored six goals for Porto last season and two in WC qualification for Portugal) a nice bonus. I would imagine that given his recent injuries, Pepe willbe brought in as a substitute when needed. Paulo Ferreira and either Miguel or Duda will figure as fullbacks, no doubt leaving coach Carlos Queiroz wishing José Bosingwa was healthy. In midfield Deco and Simão should figure in the attack, but in my mind the heart and soul of their midfield is Raúl Meireles, a versatile player who can do it all: defend, distribute and on occasion, score.

The team received a body blow to their offense with the announcement yesterday that the winger, Nani, who had a dream season at Manchester United, has broken his collarbone and will miss the World Cup. I don’t know much about his replacement, Ruben Amorim, but I’m sure their fans were practically drooling with the thought of Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo as wingers with Liedson as a target man in the middle. I don’t know how they’ll adapt, but I believe that with Ronaldo, they’re still a potent threat. Love him or hate him, his speed, skill on the ball and dangerous free kicks are the real deal.

While everyone is wondering if Didier Drogba will play, precious little attention is being given to their weakness in goal. I have not seen Boubacar Barry play, but whatever I have been able to read about him is not encouraging. He will have some good defenders in front of him. Although Kolo Touré is not nearly the same player at his peak with Arsenal, he still has a fairly good head for the game and is a hard worker. Paired with the imposing Souleymane Bamba, they’ll be the central defenders. Emmanuel  Eboué and Siaka Tiéné provide skill and pace at left and right back, but whereas Eboué’s disciplinary record at Arsenal has improved over the years, Tiéné has drawn 21 yellow and three red cards for Valenciennes. That could be a serious problem in an opening round.

Dididier Zakora and Yaya Touré (Kolo’s brother) also provide Barry with some protection as topnotch midfielders, but Zakora again had disciplinary issues with Sevilla, some of which could be blamed on his transition from the English Premier League to La Liga in Spain, a tougher league on fouls, to be sure. I really don’t know who will be helming the midfield offense.

As for Drogba, everyone is waiting. Drogba along with strike partner Salmon Kalou would, in my opinion, be the best strike partnership of any of the African teams. If Drogba can’t play, who will replace him? Gervinho, perhaps? Aruna Dindane?

If there is a team I know next to zero about it’s North Korea. One of their players, Jong Tae-Se, nicknamed the People’s Wayne Rooney plays in Japan. Another, Hong Yong-Jo plays in Russia. the rest all play in North Korea. Expect them to be an hors d’œuvre for the other teams in this group. Trust me: there will not be a repeat of 1966. Enough said.

So, who goes to the next round? Brazil and Portugal. If Didier Drogba can play, Ivory Coast may challenge, but I expect an all-Lusofone move to the next stage. If you live in or near Newark, NJ or Somerville, MA, the morning of June 25th will be fun. Portugal and Brazil play each other. These two communities, with large immigrant populations from both countries, will be rocking.

Here are my comments on Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D,  Group E and Group F.

Cross-posted at Beautiful Horizons.

Group G: Brazil, Ivory Coast, North Korea, PortugalPost + Comments (27)