World Cup 2010

[rhubarbrhubarb]

Root - a good summary of the England team managership situation, I think! It really does sound like a great racket to get into - employers who don't really know what they're doing and who panic very easily, a multi-million pound contract, a multi-million pound pay-off when it all goes horribly wrong .... and bring along all of your friends and advisers to join in the fun .... and the loot. I think that Capello may well have been very shrewd in getting that 'break clause' removed from his contract just before the World Cup began. I do wonder just how well-founded those 'rumours' of a possible courtship by Italian side Internazionale actually were .... ?

As for what comes next on the managerial front, goodness only knows. The money's pretty good, but the hassle isn't. The baying hoards expect instant and continual success; if they don't get it, they then turn into a lynch mob. However, if you can withstand the hassle, the continual media intrusion into your private life, the death threats if the team doesn't do well enough, etc., etc., then I'd say that being England manager for a few years is worth it for the income that it brings you. I'd do it - for a few million quid a year!!

Turning to the team, the suggestion made by Capello that they are all 'too tired' is, in my opinion, complete bollocks! When you look at what other sportsmen have to do, soccer players have got it pretty easy. Rugby union and rugby league must take much more, physically, out of the human body; cricketers may well have to play for five days on the trot in full sun and very high temperatures; tennis players don't exactly have it easy sometimes (70-68, anyone?!). Professional soccer players play for ninety minutes or so, usually no more than once or twice a week. A year of that should be well within the capabilities of a fit young (or even young-ish) man, given an appropriate training regime and a life-style in which sport and fitness play the dominant roles (as opposed to luxury and excess).

No; I think that the problem is that the England players are all multi-millionaires and that their clubs are where the money is. Playing for England is just an inconvenience; one that disrupts their millionaire life-styles. Getting back home early from the World Cup will just enable the players to continue to enjoy their luxury life-styles, but for rather longer than would otherwise have been the case. They can have a nice long holiday, lots of late nights and early mornings in expensive night-clubs, etc., - with all the media attention, scandals and misdemeanours that seem to attend their lives and activities.

Whether England will ever be able to put together a world-beating team in the future has to be open to question. I agree that there are far too few England-qualified players playing in top-flight football; this must limit any manager's choice when it comes to team selection. The more foreign players there are playing in England, the lower the chances are of England being able to field a strong team. In the English game, clubs are far more important than country. That's just the way it is. Nothing is ever likely to change.

Interestingly, I read somewhere that a French commentator had said that, in his view, the English clubs' money-only approach to football had contributed to the culture that had led to the French team imploding so spectacularly. I think that he has a point. However, I suspect that in many other cases, foreign players playing for English clubs actually find that very helpful to them. They get to know how the English game is played - and, if they themselves have a strong enough allegiance to their own home country, they can use that knowledge to the advantage of their national team, against England (if they happen to be playing them).

And so to the next few weeks .... Well, the media will continue to howl and howl. The FA will dither (as usual). A deal might eventually be done with Capello such that he sails off into the sunset with a nice juicy cheque in his back pocket. The hunt will then be on for the next England manager. All of the 'usual suspects' will crawl out (or be dragged out) from underneath rocks. The FA will utter all of the usual platitudes and promise a full, root-and-branch, review of English football (but nothing will actually change). Then, they'll do all of the usual things - lots of consultation, expensive trips abroad for FA officials to look at and possibly interview potential contenders for the job, offers of loads of money in attempts to tempt someone to take the job, etc., etc. Then, somebody will get appointed as manager. And then the whole shambles will start all over again, just in time for whatever the next international competition is.

I agree with Starkey - now we can get back to the cricket!

Roger.

[Root]

Interestingly, I read somewhere that a French commentator had said that, in his view, the English clubs' money-only approach to football had contributed to the culture that had led to the French team imploding so spectacularly. I think that he has a point.

Was that article online? If so, do you have a link to it? I'd be interested in seeing it. Was the reason for his view that much of the French squad (Anelka, Gallas, Sagna, Clichy, Malouda, Diaby, and the captain Evra) play in the Premier League? It's true that they wouldn't earn anything like the same wages in the French League 1.

[rhubarbrhubarb]

I can't find the article, but I suspect that it was either on the BBC News website or in the Guardian (at least in the paper version). I think that he was expressing the view that you suggest - that a number of French players play in the Premier League and have become 'infected', as it were, by the 'money' mentality of that league.

[Root]

Righto, here's a quick roundup of the "Round of 16":

No real surprises in this round, with seven of the eight progressing teams having won their group. Ghana are the notable exception, achieving a 2-1 victory over the USA. This seems to have gone down very well with South Africans, having seen their own team exit the competition at the group stage. In other matches, Germany taught England a lesson, Spain triumphed in the Iberian derby, and Paraguay overcame Japan in the first penalty shoot-out of the tournament after an absolutely dire 120 minutes. Finally, the perennial disquiet in the Dutch camp seems to have surfaced again, with forward Robin van Persie reacting angrily to being substituted 10 minutes from time in their victory over Slovakia. Will they ever get through a tournament without falling out with one another?

The combination of results in the round means that Group C, in which England played, is the only group not to provide a quarter-finalist. The weakest group?

>> These are the teams left in the competition:
al =Mexico
garion24wales = Algeria*, Slovenia*
geofftech = Brazil, USA
Going Underground = Denmark*
jamesthegill = England, Honduras*
joy54 = Korea DPR*
Mitchell&BrownLook = Japan*, Paraguay*
palkanetoijala31 = Australia*, France
RichieG = Spain, Switzerland*
Root = Germany
Sam = Netherlands, Serbia
scrxisi = Argentina, Greece
Soup Dragon = Korea Republic*, Slovakia*
Steeevooo = Chile, Nigeria*
tubeguru = Cameroon, Uruguay
uefacup81 = Côte d'Ivoire*, South Africa*
Wanstead = New Zealand*, Portugal
waterloo and city = Ghana*, Italy

>> Meaning the minnows group has come down to:
Ghana
Paraguay

>> And that we say goodbye to the following players after this round:
al
jamesthegill
Soup Dragon
Steeevooo
Wanstead

I suppose now would be a good opportunity to explain the second prize in more detail. If both Ghana and Paraguay advance to the semi-finals, the competition will remain alive - and what an achievement that would be! If only one manages to get through, then they will be claim the prize, of course. If both are eliminated, then whichever team got closer to the next round will win: ie if one is knocked out on penalties and the other in 90 minutes, then the former will have got closer. If both are eliminated at the same stage of their respective matches, then the next factors will be goal difference, goals scored, and finally, if they are still equal, a flip of a coin.

The quarter-finals will be played on Friday and Saturday, and there are two matches I am particularly looking forward to: Netherlands - Brazil and Argentina - Germany. I'll try to watch all four matches if I can, though.

[snudge27]

Wow! Germany were awesome today and have really shown the world why they're the new favourites. In the course of five matches, they've now scored fourteen goals!

[Starkey7]

I'm now supporting Germany.

[jamesthegill]

Not only do I get £70 if Germany win, I found I stuck a quid on Klose to be top scorer at 25/1 too

[waterloo and city]

Now, given it took 90 minutes to rid to Paraguay and 120 mins + penalties to rid of Ghana. Does that mean I win the 2nd prize...

Adam.

[rhubarbrhubarb]

An interesting set of results yesterday and today. Could have been interesting to have had an all-South American climax to the competition, but 'twas not to be so.

[Root]

Now, given it took 90 minutes to rid to Paraguay and 120 mins + penalties to rid of Ghana. Does that mean I win the 2nd prize...

Adam.

Yes indeed! I owe you half a pint (/ non-alcoholic beverage of your choice). I'll have a proper quarter-finals round-up post later on.

[Soup Dragon]

I will put my support behind Holland, having been runners-up twice I think it's high time the Dutch were champions.

[Root]

As promised, it's the quarter-final stage round-up.

I think the World Cup has really come to life with this round. All four games had moments of drama and excitement.

First up was Holland - Brazil. Brazil played arguably their best football of the tournament in the first half, and should have scored many more goals than the one they managed. But things changed after half-time, not so much from a Dutch improvement as a Brazilian implosion. Felipe Melo collided with goalkeeper Julio Cesar after a cross into the box, and managed only to deflect the ball into his own net. A cross undid them again not long later, with Sneijder heading in to make it 2-1 to the Dutch. Melo then rashly stamped on a Dutch player, earning a red card for his actions and making Brazil's task much harder. It proved to be too much for them, and out crashed one South American giant.

The conclusion to the Uruguay - Ghana game was particularly astonishing. A definite goal for Ghana (albeit after a possible offside was missed) was denied by a handball on the goal-line by Uruguay's Luis Suarez, in the very last minute of extra time after their match had finished 1-1 in normal time. He was sent off, and Ghana had a penalty: one kick, the last of the game, to make them the first ever African World Cup semi-finalists. Asamoah Gyan stepped up for Ghana, for Africa... and thundered the penalty onto the crossbar. The game went to a shoot-out. Gyan showed a lot of courage to take and score a penalty, but Ghana missed two spot-kicks and Uruguay went through to their first semi-final since 1970.

Next came Argentina - Germany, a game that seemed to close to call before kick-off. Both teams had played effective and attractive football in the tournament leading up to the match, but of course, there could only be one winner. And from the third minute, when Muller scored, that winner looked like it was going to be Germany. But the domination they showed in the second half of the match was still surprising, as they scored three more goals without reply to absolutely humiliate Diego Maradona's men and knock the other South American giant out. Bastian Schweinsteiger gave, in my opinion, the best individual performance of the whole tournament, simultaneously nullifying the threat of Lionel Messi and setting up three of Germany's four goals.

Finally, Paraguay - Spain. European champions Spain had been expected to win comfortably against arguably the weakest team still left in the tournament, but it proved to be much more difficult. They dominated possession, with nearly two-thirds of it over the 90 minutes, but fashioned precious few chances in front of goal. In truth the match was fairly disappointing, except for one brief spell enlivened by the referee Carlos Batres. First, he gave a deserved penalty to Paraguay, which was saved by Iker Casillas while numerous Spanish players were in the penalty area (grounds for a re-take). Just a couple of minutes later, a softer penalty was won by Spain. Xabi Alonso scored, but because of Spanish players encroaching yet again, the referee ordered it to be re-taken. The second attempt was saved but spilled by Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar, who then committed an obvious foul against Cesc Fàbregas, which should have resulted in another penalty and a red card, but which received neither. The match was settled by David Villa - who else - after two shots hit three posts before the ball finally crossed the line.

>> This means there are only four teams left in the competition (I won't bring out the whole list again). The semi-final matches are:
Uruguay (Tubeguru) - Netherlands (Sam) on Tuesday
Germany (Root) - Spain (RichieG) on Wednesday

>> So it's bye-bye to:
geofftech
Mitchell&BrownLook
scrxisi
waterloo and city

>> And we have a winner! The second prize, for the best minnow team, goes to Ghana, as they were knocked out on penalties, while Paraguay didn't last beyond 90 minutes. That means I'll be buying waterloo and city half a pint of something the next time I see him. God knows when that will be, but I shan't forget! Well done.

The semi-finals should both be exciting. The Netherlands will be expected to defeat Uruguay, but they still haven't totally convinced at any stage of the tournament so far, so I'll predict that they will still get through to the final, but far less easily than most pundits would have you believe. Suarez, one half of Uruguay's potent forward line, will of course miss the game, a loss which could prove important. The other game is the one I'm looking forward to, though, as Germany take on Spain: the best-performing team at this tournament so far against the team with probably the best squad of players at the tournament. But again, the absence of a key player, Germany's Müller, could sway the game in Spain's favour. My only prediction is that I don't think that match will be settled in 90 minutes.

[tubeguru]

So you're not classing Uruguay as a "minnow", yet Paraguay and Ghana qualify as such?

No one would have expected Uruguay to be at this stage.

[tubeguru]

OIK, so Uruguay's ranking is in the top 16 ... but you did say I'd got a duff draw. One good game against Holland and I'm in the final baby!

[Root]

I thought I posted an explanation before your second post, Neil, but it's gone! Or maybe it didn't register with properly with the forum software. But that's basically what my explanation was.