Hello New Champions!

I must confess. There was nothing more heartening to see the German football team pushing and panting against the Spaniards in their semi-final clash. I was even more elated when I saw the mighty Germans fall to the ground at the blow of the final whistle. I’m no sadistic sports fan, it’s just that when people tend to place a team like Germany almost near the pedestal of undefeatable, it automatically spells doom.

Germany for most of the tournament had eliminated teams with clinical precision using their strength and technique in counter attack. Klose, Muller, Ouzil, Podolski were almost un-markable by oppositions. It would be fair to say that they performed way better than their counterparts at this edition of the world cup. They were getting used to thumping four goals against most of their rivals. It is sad though that a team with the most final and semi-final appearances in World cups can’t go the full hog.

Watching the Spain-Germany clash I found out how easily the Spaniards were holding the Germans at bay. By controlling ball possession. It’s not rocket science. In fact, it’s one of the simple basics of the game. Kudos to Spain for nailing down what “stronger” teams like England and Argentina could not. The Spanish play for the first time in the tournament had flair, fluency and class. Words which are usually used to describe South American style of football. But this was like almost watching Barcelona play! (7 of the 11 players on the pitch do play for Barcelona :p)

I always go rooting for the underdogs. And I was sad when Uruguay lost to the Netherlands. It was almost like a dream run after decades. For someone like Diego Forlan, this could have been the last chance at making history for his country. But the South Americans can go into the third place match with their heads held high! They performed over and above everyone’s expectations and that takes some doing! Especially at the world cup!

The Netherlands on the other hand gave a dominating performance which put all doubts to rest on their credibility to be in the finals. The team which nobody paid attention to before the competition has everyone’s eyes on them. If the win against Brazil left some doubts, then the win against Uruguay cleared em all. Sneijder and Robben are definitely going to be the key play makers. Dirk Kuyt will have to step up his game if he’s to make any kind of impression in the finals. Can they be third time lucky?

One player each from both teams, David Villa from Spain and Wesley Sniejder from Netherland are top scorers in the tournament. They are definitely the ones to watch in the final. Who will edge the other for the golden boot and the golden trophy?

One thing is certain though. Two teams who have never won the world cup before stand before us to make history. And we are going to watch it happen. It’s a win-win situation all the way!

Champions of the world this time?

Quarter Up!!!

So eight teams now remain to slug it out and get their grips on the beautiful world cup trophy. As I said in my last post a few names have been surprising. But that’s a cause for celebration rather than worry. It could also mean new entries into the record books. If Uruguay wins their match against Ghana, it would be the first time in three decades that they would make a semi-final appearance. It would be nice to see this team achieve this feat, since after being the initial superpower at world football, the Uruguay national football team lost its footing at the international stage. So much so that they could not qualify for four world cups since then!

In Uruguay’s way stand Ghana. The black stars are the only team representing Africa with millions of hopes pinned on them. They should probably have a chat with the Indian cricket team on how that feels like. Honestly, the initial hype surrounding the African teams before the World Cup turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. Out of 6, only 1 managed to wriggle its way to the final 16. Anyway, if they do put up the greatest show on earth and do manage to make it to the semi-finals, Africa will erupt with joy.

It’s funny to think now that this could have easily been England’s semi-final spot. All they had to do was get top spot in Group C. And they would have had to deal with teams like Ghana and Uruguay and Germany and Argentina would have been U.S.A’s headache. But what’s not is not. Chokers are chokers and England bottled it!

Over to the next match-up, and it’s Brazil who look like the stronger semi-final contenders rather than the Netherlands. News of internal strife and ego clashes between top players (Read Van Persie and Robben) has not helped their cause. I may be wrong but throughout the tournament, Brazil though far more technical than we’re used to seeing them, have been very confident in their execution of play. However, the fact remains, that the team who wins this round, is definitely strong enough to defeat both Uruguay or Ghana and make a dash for the finals berth.

At the next fixture, Argentina and Germany have started playing the pre-match mind games. Play between these two teams has always been exciting. Even though I’m an Argentina fan, I do admit than the Argentineans do tend to play a rough match. And who can forget last world cup’s bust up between the two teams. That doesn’t seem to go well with the refined Germans. The Germans have been playing all guns blazing this summer. The worry for Argentina would be its defence and back line. No matter how could their front three (Messi, Tevez & Higuain) are doing, teams like South Korea & Mexico did exploit Maradona’s defensive line. And Germany is a way bigger threat. It’s a tough match to call, but this one’s gonna be an absolute cracker!

I’m not at all excited about the penultimate match of the quarters. Spain would not be worried against a side like Paraguay’s, but they would be definitely prepared. The South Americans lukewarm show against Japan only reinforces my view that Spain might have it easy. Paraguay better attack right from the start if they are to get anywhere close to bothering Spain.

So my verdict? Most probably it’s a Brazil vs Uruguay and Argentina vs Spain semi-final round-up. Let’s kick the tyres and light the fires!

Surprise, Surprise

So, the third and final stage of group matches in the 2010 Jabulani infused FIFA World Cup comes to an end with surprising results. Teams like South Korea, Uruguay, Ghana, USA, Paraguay that have qualified for the knockout stage are teams that, in my novice opinion, considered not much of a threat for bigger teams. Two former world champions and finalists the last time, Italy and France have disastrously been booted out of the world cup and that too with drama! And it was a decent scoring second & third round with at least some goals to watch. Overall, after matches like Argentina-Greece, Portugal-North Korea, Slovakia-Italy, it’s been a good turn around for a slow starting world cup.

Have teams like France and Italy seen an early exit because their players have more loyalty or seriousness towards their clubs than their countries. I doubt it. France literally shot themselves in the foot by washing their dirty linen in public. As if the off-field coach-players-support staff spat wasn’t bad enough, their on-field performance was de-motivated, dejected and depressing! Surely they’ll have a lot to answer back home.

I feel more sympathy for the Italian setup because while watching their final game versus the Slovaks I really felt that the Italians did make a desperate attempt to overcome their opposing force. Both scored goals were fantastic and a third disallowed as an offside, on their lucky day, could have seen them through to the last sixteen. But maybe that’s how Karma strikes, considering the basis on which they went through to the quarter- finals in the 2006 FIFA World Cup after beating Australia on flimsy grounds for a penalty. Let’s hope they can regroup and come back stronger as a unit.

Which brings me to the talk of countries like Japan, South-Korea, Ghana, Paraguay, Chile, Ghana and the United States. Did they wonderfully make it through to the round of 16 because they take world cup football more passionately than the bigger, already established teams? I think so. The players from these countries usually play in domestic leagues being deprived of international recognition and not many from these countries have gone on to play in the more lucrative Spanish and English leagues. It’s the thirst for national pride, for recognition, for achievement which I think makes them go the extra mile on an international stage. And all of this without the burden of expectations!

This tournament has gotten fresh! Let’s hope the end result is also worth the wait!

The Real Kickoff!!!

So club football around the world comes to a finish with no major surprises around the corner. What a pity. I really thought that the La Liga would have an exciting weekend but it turned pretty drab with Barcelona clinching their second successive title without wasting much breath! I’m just curious whether Real Madrid would still be as appealing to their expensive buyers considering their poor start, good middle and a bad end. Word already is that Chelsea are looking upto Carlos Ancelloti to use his excellent rapport with Kaka to land him in England.

Not that I would expect much of an opposition to this move considering Chelsea’s double this season and the obvious fact that their players are older than some trees in England. However I reckon that since the season end not many people are worried about issues plaguing the domestic leagues. That’s because the big daddy of football the FIFA world cup is around the corner. With the commercialization and the money involved in local leagues in Europe, word was that the World cup was a mere formality for players. However, it has been proven time and again that the biggest world spectacle gives every player the adrenaline and energy to prove himself at the highest level.

A major cause of worry again, as in before most world cups, is that of injuries. Spain has the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Torres healing themselves and Germany have just found out that their inspirational captain Michael Ballack might have to sit this world cup out (although I doubt whether that would make a difference!) What makes it worse though for Ballack is the fact that he got injured in the very last match of Chelsea’s season.

Spain, Netherlands, England and Argentina are the teams that could have a phenomenal world cup. Out of the lot Argentina was the only team which had considerable tension in qualifying, but with most of their star players back in full force I think they would be on a roll. But it’s too early to say anything and every time someone’s predicted the world cup they’ve had to hide their faces in shame. So all i’m gonna do is sit back on the couch and enjoy my share of Joga Bonito when it kicks off in a months time!!!

Look at her shine!!!