Have just finished watching the 3rd place match of the World Cup and just felt like making a post about that. I love football and I think it would be a crime if I let this occasion pass. Coming into the WC, I was open in my support for the Dutch, Germans and Portuguese in that order. As it happened, things did not quite work out, but hey, that happens. Here’s my take though.
This edition, more than any other that I have seen though, seemed to have a lot to do with the managers, rather than individual players. In most tournaments, you have a particular team that is excellent in terms of work-rate or more importantly and more commonly, a fantastic player who makes the difference. This time though, it was the managers who came to the fore and determined what happened to the teams…
1. Holland: My pre-tournament favourites. They had been playing breath-taking football and were on a real roll. And then, it all fell apart in that match against Portugal. The main reason I support Holland is Marco van Basten. I am convinced that he is the greatest footballer the world has ever seen and given the way he started shaping his squad, I felt he was headed for the moon. His aim, first and foremost, was to create a squad that would not squabble and would be united.
Ironic then, that this was exactly the point where he himself failed. In the match against Portugal, Holland created chance after chance only to see each one wasted. Yet, van Basten did not bring on Ruud van Nistelrooy, who is arguably the best finisher in Europe…at least one of the top 3. Why? Well, if rumours and statements are to be believed, it was an ego issue. How typical… I hope they get over it, for this team is certainly one to watch out for in the future. Young, dynamic…and all they need is a striker who converts chances and a manager who plays him…
2. Germany: For some reason, I have always liked German sportspersons, be it Becker, Graf, Michael Schumacher or Klinsmann, Mattheus,Ballack and Schweinsteiger. Before the tournament therefore, despite what people were saying, I backed the Germans to do well. I believed that with a striker of Klinsmann’s quality in charge, they would definitely do well and make a mark an quite frankly, they did not disappoint.
The Germans forsook their normal defensivce style and took on a more scoring-oriented approach and it paid off! They were entertaining and took their opponents by surprise and got far further than they were expected to! I am extremely glad they took third place at least for they really did deserve reward for their attacking approach in a competition that has seen teams adopt a predominantly defensive approach. The error that they made? Well, why on Earth was Schweinsteiger on the bench for the semi???
3. Argentina: Well before the tournament began, it was apparent that the Albicieste had the best squad in terms of talent as well as depth, but that they had a manager who could easily waste all of that and more! And that is exactly what happened. What more need I say than the fact that against a German team that was bent on equalising and had the crowd behind it, Pekerman substituted all the attacking players with defensive ones, with more than 15 mintues to go and Lionel Messi and Saviola did not get a look-in in that match. Sad but true. The most talented and perhaps best overall group of players left empty-handed thanks to a terrible, terrible manager.
4. Brazil: Parreira really didn’t have a clue or a plan, did he? He seemed to be praying that the individual brilliance of his players would see him through and it may have done too! But what was Ronaldo doing on the pitch…with that paunch of his…while Robinho was on the bench? And pray, just why is Roberto Carlos thought of highly? That goal in the quarter summed it up for me. He is useless as a defender…
5. France: Pure luck and screw-ups by the opposition. No skill whatsoever. No talent whatsoever. Barring Zidane in that one game against Brazil that is. With a simian as a striker, what more can one expect?
6. Italy: Great, great squad. I remembering a friend of mine before the WC started that this time around, Italy had the best squad they had had in years, yet they were under-rated (partly due to the scandal) and expectd to flop. They started badly, but have really picked up. Once again though, and I say this before the final, they may yet regret the manager’s decision to play Toni as lone striker. They have a formidable array of strikers with Gilardino and Inzaghi, not to mention Iaquinta, on the bench…yet Toni, who has been disappointing, seems to retain Lippi’s faith. I hope he can pay it back..or that Lippi sunbs him early
7. Portugal: If it was not for Figo and Ronaldo, I would say that this team was a bunch of very ordinary players. But they are not… The sad part? The manager, the universally acclaimed Scolari, was unable to see something that everyone else seemed to see. When you are trailing, it makes no sense to play a lone striker!!! Specially when that striker is a Pauleta… Still, they will learn and in Ronaldo, they have a world-beater.
Overall, I hope Italy thrash the living daylights out of the French tomorrow. I hate Italy normally, but simians like Monkeyface Henry, who do not know how to play football, do not deserve to touch that trophy and hence I am backing Italy which clearly is the better team. Yet, given the record of my favourites over the past two years, you can rest assured that France will nick it . If that happens though, I will really start believing that the entire WC is a farce and a rigged competition…something like WWE wrestling…
Already the Golden Ball nominees have made me believe that there is massive corruption that riddles FIFA from within…and if France win, there will be no further doubt about that…
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