A list of what I consider the best teams of 2010:

10) Fulham: There are other teams in England than the usual big ones, and Fulham was a huge surprise in 2010 as they made it to the UEFA Europa League final. In spite of losing to Atlético Madrid, their performance deserves all the credit it can get!
9) FC Copenhagen: I admit that as Brøndby fan this hurts, but their overwhelming success in the Danish league and the Champions League obliges me to include them here.
8) SC Internacional: the Brazilian side won the Brazilian championship and the Copa Libertadores.
7) Ghana: The Ghanaians proved they are the best team in Africa, in spite of losing the Africa's Cup of Nations final to Egypt (who I nevertheless don't include for their World Cup qualification circus) with a young team, that later in the year, in the World Cup, became the flag-bearer for Africa. They had the best fans and a splendid team that did not play as naive as in 2006, but gave us one of the greatest dramas of the World Cup in the quarterfinal against Uruguay!
6) TP Mazembe: the Congolese side are undoubtfully the best team in Africa. Winner of the CAF Champions League, they came to the world's attention as they defeated SC Internacional in the semifinal of the FIFA Club World Cup, to become the first African side to make it to the final!
5) Uruguay: One of the greatest footballing nations in the world upset many by its powerful return to the world stage, making it to the semifinals in South Africa, and becoming the best South American side.
4) FC Barcelona: "Only" won the Spanish League in 2010, but they are still the most entertaining and best team in the world, something they have shown in particular in the second half of 2010, notably their incredible 5-0 victory against the arch-rivals of Real Madrid. They are again the team to watch in 2011.
3) Bayern Munich: Has had a poor fall in 2010 in the Bundesliga, but in the first half of the year won the "Double", and also made it to the UEFA Champions League final where they lost to Inter Milan.
2) Inter Milan: Winner of the "treble" in 2010 under coach José Mourinho. In December they took the title as World Champions, surely making the Italians the most winning side of 2010. However, a poor fall season in the Italian league and unconvincing Champions Lague, including a firing of coach Rafa Benitez, does not put them on the top of the list.
1) Spain: Spain had until 2010 been the best nation in the world never to win a World Cup. In spite of not scoring many goals (and some poor performances later in the year against Portugal and Argentina), they were undoubtfully the best side, and deserved winners of the world title.

It was not an easy list this year! There are some teams that nearly entered the list: Atlético Madrid, Egypt, Netherlands, Germany, Manchester City, Guadalajara and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Posted by El Erik at 01:56 No comments: Links to this post Labels: 2010, Bayern Munich, best of the year, best teams, FC Barcelona, FC Copenhagen, football debate, football discussions, Fulham, Ghana, Inter Milan, Internacional, Spain, top ten, TP Mazembe, Uruguay

Best and worst of the 2010 football year

It is time for a review of football-year 2010, and I will start by my personal top-10 of best and worst football things this years.
Saving the good for last, here comes the worst (a list that has, fortunately, been a bit difficult to make!):
10. Paraguay not becoming World Champions, to be summarized in one name: Larissa Riquelme...
9. Not having played football once during the year.
8. Time difference: Living in Venezuela has made it difficult to watch many mid-week matches, as they are in working hours.
7. FC Copenhagen doing so well; as a Brøndby fan I am green of jealousy! But of course, it is impressive!
6. Ghana's defeat in penalty kicks to Uruguay: so close, and yet so far from being the first African team in a World Cup semifinal! An emotional roller-coaster of a match that I watched with hundreds of people in Brussels!
5. People who normally don't watch football, who suddenly become all too passionate during a World Cup.
4. Argentina's elimination from the World Cup, which was more painful as I had really hoped for the best for them under Maradona. I do admit though, that his choice of tactics against Germany was poor.
3. FIFA and refereeing: although some small changes have been made, there is still too much conservatism and lack of openness in making refereeing better. In the World Cup, although in general good, some lousy decisions still haunt all fans.
2. The Octopus
1. Brøndby: not only that they are generally doing bad, but I was hugely disappointed for their loss to Sporting Lisbon.
And now, the best, a list much harder to limit!
10. BBC's World Football Phone in: the best football show ever.
9. Inter Milan's impressive victory of the triple. Although not a popular team, they had José Mourinho, whom I consider the world's greatest coach.
8. Germany: impressive in the World Cup with a diverse, young and entertaining side, and the Bundesliga has also improved to become one of the leagues in Europe with most excitement and most goals!
7. That Valencia CF are back in the Champions League, and have done well.
6. I have not been to many matches this year; a couple of Copa Libertadores matches in Caracas, but Benfica-Braga in Lisbon, was surely the best!
5. The way FC Barcelona have been playing in the second half of the year, notably their 5-0 victory against Real Madrid, which I watched in the office, was a truly impressive display of awesome football.
4. Spain as World Champions made me most happy for all my family and friends there!
3. The marvelous Black Stars and their performance in South Africa, and in particular their fans!
2. A wonderful World Cup in South Africa! South Africans were the best hosts ever!
1. Watching World Cup football in five different countries, with friends, family and drinking beer!
Merry Christmas to everyone!
Posted by El Erik at 11:47 No comments: Links to this post Labels: "football reflections", "no life", 2010, Argentina, Brøndby IF, FC Barcelona, FC Copenhagen, football culture, football debate, Ghana, South Africa 2010, Spain, top ten, World Cup 2010

FC Copenhagen has surely been one of the teams of the year: they upset everyone by playing excellent football in the CL, coming second in their group, only behind mighty Barcelona, and will now face Chelsea in the Last-16.
In the Danish League, no team has ever been so dominating as FC Copehagen is now: they are undefeated in the league, and as they go on winter-break, they are impressive 19 points ahead the second ranked OB. There is no doubt they will be champions, it is only a question of how many records they will beat.
So is all this good for the Danish league? It seems doubtful. It is not the Danish league that has become better; it is FC Copenhagen that has run away from everyone else!
While FC Copenhagen is not only well-managed, they are very rich compared to any other club in Denmark, and are sure to become more so. The other teams in the league are all pretty level: there are only 16 points between OB on second spot, and the bottom team AaB. Of the 12 teams, six or seven seem to be fighting to avoid relegation, while the remaining teams basically fight for the European spots, where one, given FC Copenhagen's success, may lead to another Danish CL spot. That would not be nice; as much as I would love to see my dear Brøndby have the opportunity, I only think they would be there to be humilliated. Bad for Brøndby, and bad for Danish football.
FC Copenhagen's success is admirable, but it is not great to see the Danish league become a mono-league.
Oh well, I live in Venezuela, and hardly follow it anyway...
Posted by El Erik at 03:31 No comments: Links to this post Labels: "Danish football", "no life", "Superligaen", Brøndby IF, danish league, FC Copenhagen, football debate, football discussions, OB

Benitez out

Although Inter Milan just last week won the World Club Championship, it is perhaps not surprising that it was today when coach Rafael Benitez was fired after only six months. Benitez has been very critical of the Inter leadership, and as results have not been forthcoming (they are only 7th in Serie A and came second to Tottenham in their CL Group A), the firing of Benitez is perhaps not so surprising, in spite of the short time and many injuries on the Milan side.
Benitez is a great coach (A CL title, a UEFA Cup Title, a Spanish Championship) but he apparently has a controversial personality that has often led him to part ways, as in Valencia, Liverpool and now Inter. It will be interesting to see where he will be heading next.
More interesting will be to see who now takes over in Inter. The Brazilian Leonardo, with a history in AC Milan seems to be first choice. Whoever it ends up being, he will have a difficult task!
Posted by El Erik at 14:08 1 comment: Links to this post Labels: coach, coaches, Inter, Inter Milan, Leonardo, Rafael Benitez, Serie A

Inter World Champions

Inter Milan has had a pretty bad season so far, but last night nevertheless the Italian team managed to win the FIFA Club World Cup, after defeating Congo's TP Mazembe 3-0 in the final in Abu Dhabi. The tournament, in its current format, looks like this:
One important thing to note about the tournament this year is that for the first time ever it was not a final between Europe and South America: Internacional from Brazil lost in the semifinal to the outside-Africa unfancied TP Mazembe from DR Congo (a great team, as any follower of African football would know), who also became the first African team in the World Club Final. Although many people do not fancy this tournament, it remains a great achievement by the Congolese side, as well as a great achievement for Inter Milan!
Posted by El Erik at 11:22 No comments: Links to this post Labels: club world champions, club world champions 2010, FIFA World Club Cup, Inter Milan, Internacional, TP Mazembe

The Golden Boot

I must add my voice to the choir of critics of the chosen finalists for the 2010 Golden Boot: three Barcelona players, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi and Lionel Messi are the contenders for this year's title as the world's best player.
Barcelona are indeed a powerful team that plays the most entertaining football in the world, and these three players are indeed the spinal chord of the team. Add to this that Iniesta and Xavi are also the most important players of the world champions of Spain (with Iniesta playing a splendid World Cup, and scoring the winning goal in the final against the Netherlands), and it is obvious that these two players are obvious candidates for the title.
Lionel Messi is splendid to watch, and has had a great fall season with Barcelona. But he was almost pathetic in the World Cup in an Argentinean side that started well but disappointed enormously when it counted. So the inclusion of Messi is odd, considering the one player that should have been among the finalists: Wesley Snejder. The Dutch player was splendid for Inter and in 2010 won the Italian championship, the cup, as well as the Champions League (defeating Barcelona on the way). At the World Cup Snejder was also splendid; the best player on a Dutch side that made it all the way to the World Cup final.
Perhaps it is because Inter and the Netherlands have not played such entertaining football as Barcelona, and Snejder is not such a Playstation-player as Messi, but it just shows the entire strangeness of having a title as "world best player" in a sport that is about a team, and less so about an individual player.
I don't know whether Snejder is "better" than Messi, but I think he surely deserves to be among the finalists.
Posted by El Erik at 15:45 No comments: Links to this post Labels: Andres Iniesta, best players, FC Barcelona, Golden Boot 2010, Inter, Inter Milan, Lionel Messi, Netherlands, Spain, Wesley Sneijder, World Cup 2010, Xavi

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Another one!

Manchester United-Valencia is for personal reasons one of the most classic matches in CL football, for the simple fact that I support Valencia, and I have seen them play the United times many times, including a match in 2000 in Valencia, where I saw them draw 0-0, and both were through, and I then got drunk with a bunch of United fans.
Today, many years later, I was in Caracas, watching them in a bar, as they were playing another "irrelevant" match, fighting for 1st and 2nd place in the group. Valencia needed a victory, and admirably really went for the victory in a match that is probably the most entertaining between the two sides.
1-1 is a fair result of a match that puts Manchester in the first spot of the group, while Valencia can look forward to an interesting (and very difficult) draw.
Posted by El Erik at 00:04 No comments: Links to this post Labels: "no life", being a fan, Champions League, Champions League 2010-2011, champions league groups, Manchester United, UEFA Champions League, Valencia CF

Thursday, December 02, 2010

Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022

Today the hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were selected. It was widely expected that the winner of the 2018 bid would be in Europe, where England, Spain/Portugal and Russia were contesting. Following FIFA president Sepp Blatter's wish to spread the beautiful game further in new countries and regions (which admittedly gave us an excellent cup in South Africa), the choice of Russia for 2018 was not strange, and it will surely be interesting to see the World Cup there, amid strong anti-foreign feelings there.
I really do wonder whether Russia is able or even willing to welcome the world to one of the greatest events that exist.
Qatar will be even more interesting. The small Middle Eastern nation has never participated in a world cup, but invested enormous resources in their bid, and will surely have to invest even more in stadiums and infrastructure for their hosting in 12 years, but even more in actually having a competitive team! In any case, situated between Europe, Africa and Asia, good links and climate, it is surely to be one of the most memorable world cups of the 21st century, and surely already augur a new era in the spread of football around the world.
Posted by El Erik at 23:32 No comments: Links to this post Labels: FIFA, FIFA World cup, host, Qatar, Qatar 2022, Russia, Russia 2018, Sepp Blatter, World Cup 2018, World Cup 2022, world cup host

Granted, I have never been a fan of Real Madrid, but this latest team, under the leadership of José Mourinho, was gaining my respect, until today.
A great team emerges in the face of adversity. Until today against their archrivals of FC Barcelona, Real Madrid had cruised through the Spanish League, and expectations were therefore enormous for the match: two of the greatest teams in the world. But truth is, there was only one great team on the pitch today: FC Barcelona dominated every aspect of the match, and not only the 5-0 score was a humilliation of Real Madrid, but more so the way the Catalonians played around with the helpless Madrid players. It was a show of strength from Barca, but the way it ended for Madrid was not gracious. I understand players can get frustrated, but Sergio Ramos' slaughter of Messi and attack on Puyol at the end was much more than just frustration; it was the pathetic expression of a player that does not belong at this level.
There is only one great team in the Spanish league, and it is FC Barcelona.
Posted by El Erik at 00:14 2 comments: Links to this post Labels: FC Barcelona, la liga, Real Madrid, Real Madrid-Barcelona, Sergio Ramos, Spanish football, Spanish league, violence

Best league...?

Any football fan in his/her right mind should be looking forward to tonight's match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Between them the teams assemble some 13 world champions and some of the best players in the world. It will be a splendid match.
However, for the Spanish football league, this cannot be good. Last season these two teams completely ruled the league, and this season they are again far ahead of the third ranked team. Truth is, the Spanish league is a two-team league, just like the Scottish, where the rest of the teams have just been relegated to be mere spectators. Barcelona and Real Madrid win every week, and the only interest when they are not playing one another, is how large their margin of victory will be.
Thus, the Spanish league may have the two best teams in the world, but it is surely not the best league: when matches between Getafe and Athletic Bilbao hardly raise an eyebrow, and the largest surprise is if Barcelona "only" wins 2-1 against Mallorca, it proves that the league is far less interesting than the English, Italian or German leagues, where competition is much closer, and there is a high standard.
Again, while any fan must love two teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid, in the long run this cannot be healthy for Spanish football at large: there will be disillusion among other teams who simply cannot compete, and interest will fall, in the end creating a smaller future generation of new Spanish players. The Spanish football league, including Barcelona and Real Madrid, would do better to try to create a system like in Germany or England, where TV money is distributed more evenly and there is more possibility for teams to retain young stars. A more equal playing field can only be of interest to Spain!
Posted by El Erik at 12:15 No comments: Links to this post Labels: FC Barcelona, football debate, football discussions, la liga, Real Madrid, Spanish football, Spanish league

Portugal destroys the world champions!

4-0 is the largest a defending world champion has lost, and it was repeated tonight, with Portugal's 4-0 trashing of Spain in a friendly match in Lisbon. Granted, it was a friendly match, but just like Argentina's 4-1 victory earlier this year, these are valuable scalps for the winning side, and Portugal in particular.
Portugal was plainly bad in the world cup under Carlos Queiroz, and were almost a walkover for Spain in the last-16. After the world cup, it would take a pathetic start to the Euro qualifiers (tie with Cyprus and a defeat to Norway) before Queiroz was fired, and the new coach Paulo Bento seems to have raised the standard of the side that always has potential but disappoints: in the Euro qualifiers Iceland and Denmark were defeated, and tonight's victory will sure raise the alarm in teams that have to face the rising Portuguese machine.
Spain in the meantime cannot use this defeat for anything in spite of the huge humilliation it is to lose to its smaller neighbour, and even as defending world champions!
Posted by El Erik at 01:38 No comments: Links to this post Labels: Carlos Queiroz, Euro 2012 qualifiers, friendly matches, Paulo Bento, Portugal, Portugal-Spain, Spain

Goal number 4000

When Valencia defeated Getafe 2-0 today, Tino Costa scored Valencia's goal number 4000 in the Spanish league. Quite a historical event in an otherwise boring match.
Valencia is now 4th in the Spanish league, behind the local rivals of Villarreal. Anyway, both teams have way to go up to the leading teams of Real Madrid and Barcelona, who will, yet again, be fighting for the title.
In any case, cheers for Valencia. It is not so often these days...
Posted by El Erik at 00:53 No comments: Links to this post Labels: Getafe, la liga, Spanish league, Valencia CF

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Champions League Group Stages: 4th round

Fourth matches of the 2010-2011 Champions League Group stages have just been played, and we are beginning to see the contours of each group.
Some teams are already bound for the next round, some are out, but still need to fight to get there, and the coming matches will be much more exciting!
Posted by El Erik at 18:56 No comments: Links to this post Labels: Champions League, Champions League 2010-2011, champions league groups, UEFA Champions League

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Finally for Argentina!

Sergio Batista has been caretaker Argentina coach since the firing of Diego Armando Maradona after the World Cup. But amid confusing political maneuvering where Maradona's name has even come up again as candidate amid heavyweights such as Diego Simeone, Alejandro Sabella and Carlos Bianchi, Sergio Batista was today finally confirmed as the coach to take Argentina forward and build up a new team looking at the Copa América 2011 in Argentina.
Batista has not had it easy as caretaker. Working to show he was the best man, he did not experiment much, instead using much of Argentina's veterans and established players. The impressive 4-1 victory against world champions Spain was such a match, where players such as Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso were outstanding, but will hardly be present at Copa América next year.
So the best for Batista and for Argentina is to finally have clarity about the post, and finally look forward. There is no doubt that Batista has the skills to carry the team forward: as a prominent player in the 1986 World Cup side, he has also coached the Under-20 side, as well as the Olympic Gold medalists of Peking 2008.
Surely a lot of challenges lies ahead, but finally this tiny step has been resolved.
Posted by El Erik at 22:07 No comments: Links to this post Labels: Argentina, Argentina 2011, Argentina coach, coach, Copa America, Copa America 2011, Diego Maradona, Sergio Batista

The genius José Mourinho

I think José Mourinho will go over to history as the greatest coach that ever lived. What he already achieved in FC Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan far exceed what most coaches achieve (and note, as a true global 21st century football legioneer, he has done it in now four different countries!), but what he is doing in Real Madrid is also impressive.
Real Madrid has been a circus the last years, with a rotating door of coaches, many who seem to have been pressured to use the stars in a lineup that seemed more about individual players than about the team. Understandably, fans have often been annoyed.
Everywhere he has been, Mr. Mourinho focuses on the team. No player is above the team, and he works to get the best out of every player. He has a superb eye for the form of the players and surely give them a lot of space and responsibility, something they also return.
Real Madrid's new players are looking awesome: Mesut Özil and Angel Di Maria (as well as Khedira, although with a lower profile than these two) have all been splendid. They are young, and have benefitted Cristiano Ronaldo from the passes and space that these players give him. Yesterday he scored four goals against Racing Santander, with Mesut Özil as the frequent architect.
Real Madrid has scored 12 goals in its last two home matches. Mourinho is certainly refuting his reputation as a defensive coach, but one must also mention that the team has so far only played "small" teams from La Liga (except for Espanyol). A big test will be in early November when they face Atlético Madrid, but surely the team is looking awesome.
I think Mourinho is on the way to adding more trophies to his and Real Madrid's CV.
Posted by El Erik at 16:30 2 comments: Links to this post Labels: Angel Di Maria, Cristiano Ronaldo, José Mourinho, la liga, Mesut Özil, Racing Santander, Real Madrid, Spanish football, Spanish league

Happy Birthday Pelé

One of the best players of all time, surely the most legendary and the one with the most goals, and icon of football, sports, and in fact, of Brazil and the century, turns 70 today.
The birthday is being celebrated widely in Brazil, where Pelé is emblematic for the rise of Brazilian football with his debut as a 17-year old in the 1958 World Cup (scoring two goals in the 1958 World Cup final against Sweden) and then reaching his pinnacle as captain of the 1970 Brazilian World Cup side; perhaps the most entertaining and awesome national team ever.
Who the best player in the world of football is, remains one of the most fervent discussions in world football. It is not a fair discussion, since great players have contributed different things at different times. I know my personal favourite (Diego Maradona), but I also know that perhaps nobody has meant as much for the spread of football as Pelé. Every football fan in the world should today take a moment and make a toast for this Giant.
Happy Birthday Pelé!
And cheers.
Posted by El Erik at 20:18 No comments: Links to this post Labels: birthday, Brazil, football culture, football debate, football history, Pelé, Sweden-Brazil, World cup final 1958, World cup history

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Nigel de Jong

Back in the 1980s there was a Spanish player from Atlético Bilbao known as "the Butcher from Bilbao" for his uncompromising and outright violent tackles that injured many players, among them Gary Lineker and Diego Maradona.
Harder refeereing has all but eliminated these kind of players, but once in a while some new "butchers" emerge, and one such is surely the Dutch Manchester City defender Nigel De Jong.
De Jong became world famous for a karate kick he gave Xabi Alonso in the world cup final. This kick became a symbol of a Dutch side that was no longer playing the beautiful style they were usually famous for.
But De Jong's sins are many: known as an uncompromising player, he managed to fracture the US player Stuart Holden's leg in a "friendly" match between the USA and Netherlands in March 2010, and this last weekend he repeated the feat of fracturing a player's leg when Newcastle's Hatem Ben Arfa was carried off the pitch in the Premier League match between their two sides.
This last tackle has fortunately been widely condemned, and the Dutch national coach, Bert van Marwijck, has decided to exclude de Jong from the Dutch national team that will play two Euro 2012 qualifiers this week.
This is surely a just punishment, but in fact, one of the worse things about de Jong has been the permissivenes of the referees; the situations with Alonso and Holden cost meager yellow cards, and for the Ben Arfa tackle, he wasn't even booked. Interestingly, the only one that has come out to defend De Jong is the Dutch captain Mark Van Bommel, another player whose tackles are not booked enough (and who should have had a couple of red cards in the World Cup).
Are the referees becoming more permissive, or are the Dutch now creating a new generation of defenders who can mask their violence? No matter what, they don't belong in football.
Posted by El Erik at 01:12 2 comments: Links to this post Labels: football debate, football discussions, Hakim Ben Arfa, Manchester City, Mark Van Bommel, Netherlands, Newcastle, Nigle de Jong, referees, violence

The presidential kick

President Evo Morales of Bolivia plays on a football team, and a couple of days ago he came on the world media when he did something that was not so fair-play:

A lot of people would perhaps think this is a bad example to set by a president, but on the other hand, football is about passion, and if he has to lose his head, surely better he does it on the football pitch!
The referee didn't give him a red card - of course, it is the president!
Posted by El Erik at 18:38 1 comment: Links to this post Labels: Bolivia, Evo Morales, football culture, humour, politics and football, violence

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

I have been travelling a lot the last two weeks, but not missed out on football! I was in Lisbon this weekend, and Sunday evening, decided to go to the legendary Estadio da Luz to watch the home side Benfica against Braga. These two teams ended first and second respectively in last season's Portuguese league, and are currently the Portuguese representatives in the Champions League. Braga has done badly in the first two matches in the CL, first getting destroyed by Arsenal and this last week they lost 0-3 at home to Shakhtar Donetsks.
Benfica has a victory in the CL, but losing 0-2 to Schalke 04 still makes it a challenge for them to go through in a season that has started badly for them: before the Braga match they were only seventh in the league with 9 points for six matches, while Braga was fourth with 11, both trailing FC Porto, who started the season with six straight victories. It was therefore crucial for both teams to get a good result, and pressure was particularly on Benfica, whose play has been meagre this season.
For me, it was also special to go to the legendary stadium, and atmosphere was truly extraordinary in spite of it not being sold out (there were 44,000 spectators). I was specially impressed by the start of the match where a real eagle (the eagle is the symbol of the team) is let loose to fly in the stadium, to the cheers of the spectators, and to land by the Benfica captain.

Benfica were clearly the most motivated team, and played much better in the first half, where Braga was nevertheless disciplined in defence, including some splendid saves by the Braga goalkeeper Artur Moraes. Still, in spite of the dominance, Benfica, it seemed to me, lost too many balls, and is not entirely funcitoning as a team. In particular the elder Argentinean, Javier Saviola, worked hard as always, but lost many balls and missed some big chances (he was also taken out eventually). In the second half Benfica continued attacking, but for a while it seemed the air had gotten off the balloon, and both the fans and the team seemed more and more nervous as time advanced.
But finally, in the 77th minute, Carlos Martins scored a beautiful goal where he took the ball down very well and kicked precisely behind the goalkeeper. It could have been 2-0, as Braga, in spite of clear Benfica nerves (and some nasty nervous tackles towards the end), couldn't really answer back.
Benfica won 1-0, and because of the other results of this round, suddenly jumped to second spot (things are pretty close as there are three teams with 12 points and three with 11), but still 7 points behind the leaders of Oporto. However, this match may well mean that Benfica gets back the belief that they can again win the trophy this season!
And I was there! Posted by El Erik at 01:47 1 comment: Links to this post Labels: "no life", Benfica, Braga, Carlos Martins, Javier Saviola, Lisbon, Portuguese league, travel, travels

And Brøndby lost 0-2 to FC Copenhagen in the Danish derby. I think it was to be expected, although my Brøndby heart always keeps a tinge of hope - the Danish league is effectively a one-team league, and Brøndby has not been able to win in Copenhagen for six seasons.
Sadly, Brøndby fans behaved ungracefully again, so only thing that remains is to congratulate FCK fans, and hope again: "next season...."
Posted by El Erik at 13:31 1 comment: Links to this post Labels: "Danish football", "Superligaen", Brøndby, Brøndby IF, danish league, FC Copenhagen

The artist and the beast

Ever since Lionel Messi I have been waiting for him to get injured by some cynical player who would rather destroy him and let the little magician pass by him. With his small size, I really feared that Lionel Messi's career would end there. Fortunately, Messi has proven more robust than I thought, but also, referees are much more protective against wild tackles than they were in the 1980s for instance, when Maradona often was slaughtered in match after match.
That has not prevented some players from trying, and in this weekend's la liga match between Barcelona and Atlético Madrid (that Barcelona won 1-2 on goals by Messi and Piqué) another player came close to destroying Messi: Atlético Madrid's Czech defender Tomás Ujfalusi decided to end the match (it happened in the dying seconds of the match) by doing a vicious tackle on Messi, who for now will apparently be out for a couple of weeks. Ujfalusi was correctly given a red card, but this does not take away that these day's football magician will be sorely missed for a couple of weeks.
Posted by El Erik at 13:22 No comments: Links to this post Labels: Atlético Madrid, FC Barcelona, la liga, Lionel Messi, Red Card, referees, Spanish football, Thomas Ujfalusi

I really need a TV

Time difference between Venezuela and Europe does that I am only at times able to watch European matches. Add to this that I have been unable to find any footballing bar in town where some of the more random matches are shown, and the result is that I am watching less and less football. I don't do much outside work, so not having the possibility to watch football is becoming more and more tedious.
I have just been following the splendid Manchester United-Liverpool on the internet, and was getting desperate to see it; would have loved to watch United's 3-2 victory with coffee and a cheese sandwich...
So getting a TV is becoming imperative for me here, although it has been years since I have had a TV! I just really hate going to shops, buying stuff, talking to salesmen who will lie to you to get a deal, all the hassle, the paying, the transport... But truth is that I need to overcome this to have more footie back in my life!
Posted by El Erik at 16:27 No comments: Links to this post Labels: "football reflections", "no life", being a fan, football fan, football fanatic, Liverpool, Manchester United, TV

The show is on!

The 2010-11 Champions League started today with some exciting matches, but let us start with the boring ones: Manchester United was unable to score against Glasgow Rangers in the only goalless draw today, while FC Copenhagen are happy that they opened by defeating Rubin Kazan 1-0 on a late goal.
The defending champions of Inter Milan opened with a 2-2 against the Dutch champs of Twente, while Tottenham also managed to get a 2-2 against Werder Bremen in Germany. Olympique Lyon defeated Schalke 04 1-0, while Benfica defeated Hapoel Tel Aviv 2-0 in Lisbon.

But I think the most interesting matches involved the Spanish sides.
Valencia has been away from the Champions League for two seasons, and were to return by playing away against the Turkish champions of Bursaspor. Valencia has started the Spanish league with two victories, and have looked solid in spite of the sale of their two stars this summer, David Villa (to Barcelona) and David Silva (to Manchester City) the club has looked solid and some of its new players, such as Aritz Aduriz and Tino Costa have looked very solid. Indeed, tonight they looked frightening as they completely demolished the Turkish champions: a 0-4 away victory is something to notice in the CL, and both Aduriz and Costa scored. Valencia is starting the season well, and we can only know they continue!
Barcelona fell to Hercules this weekend, and when Panathinaikos went ahead in today's match in the Camp Nou, some people surely felt a crisis, but only for a couple of minutes; Barcelona, and in particular Lionel Messi and Xavi were spectacular. Brilliant passes and combinations will surely be giving nightmares to the Greeks. Messi's goal for 3-1 was brilliant, but so was Dani Alvez 5-1 goal, after a brilliant pass by Messi. Also, David Villa scored his first CL goal in his Barcelona shirt, and Barcelona is surely looking frightening after today!
But at least the show has started!
Posted by El Erik at 01:51 No comments: Links to this post Labels: Artiz Aduriz, Barcelona, Bursaspor, Champions League, Champions League 2010-2011, FC Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Panathinaikos, Tino Costa, UEFA Champions League, Valencia CF

Mighty little Hercules!

Nobody expects Barcelona to slip, at home, against smaller teams. Hercules are a newcomer to the Spanish 1st division, and in their second match in the top league, nobody awaited them to shake the mighty Catalans. But lo and behold! The beauty of football is that Hercules against all odds won 0-2 on two goals by the Paraguayan striker Nelson Haedo Valdez.
It was a Barcelona side where coach Guardiola, perhaps arrogantly, decided to experiment with many new players: Abidal played in defence, while both Adriano started in, while the Argentinean newcomer from Liverpool, Javier Mascherano, played one meager half. It does not bode well for Barcelona's reserves!
Although Barcelona had possession of almost 75% it was a complete off-day for the Catalonians, while everything seemed to work for Hercules, who with their many new purchases will be interesting to watch this season, and has indeed opened with a bang!

In the meantime, Valencia is in the lead, after defeating Racing de Santander 1-0, and with two consecutive victories.
Real Madrid got their first victory of the season, 1-0 at home against Osasuna. It was not a very convincing Real Madrid side, although they should have won with a larger margin, and were only prevented by the Osasuna goalkeeper. The best thing on the Real Madrid side was undoubtfully the German Mesut Özil who dominated the midfield, and may look to have a central role on the Madrid side this season. He will undoubtfully be interesting to follow.
Posted by El Erik at 22:51 No comments: Links to this post Labels: FC Barcelona, Hercules, la liga, Mesut Özil, Nelson Valdez, Osasuna, Racing Santander, Real Madrid, Spanish league, Valencia CF

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Short time to celebrate

A few months ago Spain won the World Cup, and has understandably been living on planet Glory since. However, today came the time to return to planet football: they must learn that every country will now want to defeat Spain - the scalp of a world champion is a precious one!
And so, the friendly match between Argentina and Spain today in Buenos Aires, was more than just a friendly encounter between two of the greatest footballing nations on earth!
Granted, Argentina were hungry: after their disappointing World Cup they are now under "caretaker" coach Sergio Batista, who after today should certainly be looking for a fixed contract. Argentina destroyed the world champions 4-1 in an entertaining match where Lionel Messi was splendid against many of his teammates, and Spain were also unlucky and with a goalkeeper Pepe Reina who is perhaps still a bit hungover.
Although Batista's team differed greatly from Diego Maradona's, it can hardly be the team of the future: Batista had included Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso from Inter. Two great players who were eager to show that they should have been in South Africa, but who in thelate thirties hardly will be the cornerstone of a future Argentinean side. However, the inclusion of Ever Banega also seems to show that Batista is not only looking for a steady job, but also for the future. Banega worked perfectly with Messi and Higuaín, and even Tévez seemed to fit in.
Spain's Vicente Del Bosque made many changes, and granted it wasn't the usual lineup. Still, some of the stars, such as Xabi Alonso had an off-day, and the defense around Marchena, Arbeloa and Piqué was a disaster.
There we see the importance of Puyol....
Anyway, in spite of the Spanish experiments and bad luck, such a defeat is not usual for a world champion, but is sure to feed Argentinean hopes for a new era. But no matter what, it was in the end just a friendly match!
Posted by El Erik at 00:46 No comments: Links to this post Labels: Argentina, Argentina-Spain, Esteban Cambiasso, friendly matches, Javier Zanetti, Lionel Messi, Sergio Batista, Spain, Vicente del Bosque

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Euro 2012 qualifiers

With the World Cup barely over and the European leagues starting up, a new football tournament to look forward to started up this week, namely the Euro 2012, that will take place in Poland and Ukraine.
I was sitting in my office, quietly listening to the radio while working, and following all matches on the internet. Time difference is a bummer....
Listening to Denmark's match against Iceland, I was getting increasingly nervous, but fortunately Thomas Kahlenberg scored for Denmark in the last seconds of the match, giving Denmark an important start in Group H. Denmark's group is for now led by Norway, who defeated Portugal 1-0. The Portuguese favourites, again falling into the trap of their own arrogance and cheasy haircuts have started very badly with a 4-4 match against Cyprus and today's defeat to Norway.
England is looking to renew its team after the World Cup mishap, and a 3-1 away victory to the strong defensive Swiss is an important step. Perhaps the best was that Wayne Rooney scored; he has been the victim of the media slander of his personal life over the last week, but with his goal today he proved to people like myself, who really only care about his football, that he remains a great footballer.
Another nation looking to rise again is France, who started badly with a 0-1 defeat to Bielorrussia. However, today they won 2-0 against Bosnia-Herzegovina on goals by Karim Benzema and Florent Malouda, and should remain favourites to win Grouo D.
Germany have started strongly with two victories in group A, which will have some exciting matches including Austria, Turkey and Belgium. The last two played a very exciting match in Istambul, which the Turks won 3-2,
In group Scotland has taken the lead with 4 points in two matches, after defeating Liechtenstein 2-1 on a last-minute goal. Not overly impressed, and it remains likely that Spain, with 3 points for one match, will cruise through to win this group.
Posted by El Erik at 23:30 No comments: Links to this post Labels: "no life", Denmark, England, Euro 2012, Euro 2012 qualifiers, France, Germany, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Switzerland, Wayne Rooney

My team....

Can people's life really be measured by the football team they support...?

Indeed, I support Brøndby, who today pathetically lost 3-0 at home to Sporting Lisbon and was eliminated from the Europa League.
Brøndby is team that is full of hope every season that they will do well. And when things start going well and it looks that this might be the season, their moment, they completely mess it up at the last moment, and end up grumpy and disappointed. Their greatest success is still some matches some 20 years ago that only hardened fans still remember, and the hardened fans are that; old bitter men who never got much out of life, but are still reaching for that last moment of meager glory, like defeating a second-rate Portuguese side, before they fade out into the oblivion that they are as much as their team.

We don't chose our lives. We don't chose who we love. I support Brøndby, as much as I would like not to. Perhaps as much as I would like to be someone else... (a supporter of a good team).
Posted by El Erik at 02:17 No comments: Links to this post Labels: "football reflections", "no life", being a fan, Brøndby IF, Europa League, football culture, football fanatic, Sporting Lisbon

Champions League 2010-2011 Groups

Today was the draw for the Group stage of the 2010-11 Champions League which will start in a couple of weeks, and look like this:

Group A:
Group B:
Group C:
Group D:
Group E:
Group F:
Group G:
Group H:
Group G is looking very interesting, with a repeat of last year's encounters between Real Madrid and AC Milan (where Milan won in Madrid and tied in Milan), but also Drogba's return to Marseille in a Chelsea shirt will be interesting, as well as Bayern Munich's visit to Roma. On a personal basis I am delighted to see Valencia back against some teams they have had previous experience with, including Manchester United and Glasgow Rangers.
Some of the smaller teams and newcomers will be looking to set their mark: Braga is in a group where they should have chances, while Zilina is set to make another mark for Slovak football this season. For Danes, seeing mighty Barcelona come to Copenhagen will be interesting - but be sure that in spite of all my FCK friends, I will be cheering for the Catalans!
Exciting days coming up!
Posted by El Erik at 00:59 1 comment: Links to this post Barcelona or Real Madrid

In the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup, Sevilla defeated Barcelona 3-1 at home, and there was hope that someone besides Real Madrid would be able to challenge the Catalan giants this season. However, in today's second leg, Sevilla were mere spectators to a spectacular Barcelona side. Xavi and Iniesta, the architects of Spain's World Cup triumph were outstanding, and with three goals Messi is probably confirming that he is quite worthless without the two generals behind him.
Barcelona will be truly exciting to watch this year, because of their style, since the Spanish League is now virtually a two-team affair: nobody but Barcelona and Real Madrid have any chance of winning it, and the only question is whether José Mourinho can do his magic in Real Madrid and make them take the title from Barca.
Real Madrid is looking interesting because of the many changes; of course José Mourinho's entrance on the team, but specially because of the many new starts that have entered the team, such as Angel di Maria, Mesut Özil and Ricardo Carvalho, and whether Mourinho can build up a team using some of the other stars such as Ronaldo, Benzemá, Higuaín, Casillas and Xabi Alonso. The quality is undoubtfully there. It will not be easy for them though if Barcelona plays like they did today, but Mourinho has been known to have a good run with the Catalans.
In any case, it will be exciting, but only for one thing: Barcelona or Real Madrid?
Posted by El Erik at 22:23 No comments: Links to this post Labels: Andres Iniesta, Angel Di Maria, FC Barcelona, José Mourinho, Lionel Messi, Mesut Özil, Real Madrid, Ricardo Carvalho, Sevilla, Spanish football, Spanish league, Super Cup, Xavi

Forca Brøndby

I didn't watch tonight's Europa-League qualifier between Brøndby IF and Sporting Lisbon. Although I still support Brøndby (and must, these days, admit to be one of those fans who have invested some money in the club, upping the stakes), they have not given me much to be happy about over the last years, and the memories of glorious time in the UEFA cup and Champions League are not gone but just that: memories.
So I did not have much expectations when they drew Sporting Lisbon, and even less expectations from the first away match. But lo an behold! To my surprise, I followed the match on the internet, to see dear old Brøndby go ahead first 1-0 and then 2-0, and well, take a hugely important victory and step towards the Europa League group stages!
Thank you Brøndby! In spite of it all, and being so far away, they can still make me happy! Labels: "no life", being a fan, Brøndby, Brøndby IF, Europa League, football fan, Sporting Lisbon

Glory, drama and... poor sportsmanship

After a 1-2 victory away Internacional from Porto Alegre had it all to take the 2010 Copa Libertadores title at home to "Chivas" Guadalajara from Mexico.
It all started quite ugly, as both teams showed poor sportsmanship and little respect during the national anthem, but it was a well-played and dramatic match amid the clear dislike between the two sides.
Guadalajara levelled the match at the end of the first half with a splendid half-bycicle kick by Marco Fabian. But into the second half the Brazilian pressure bore fruit, although with poor defending by the Mexicans: Rafael Sobis got a toe on a ball in front of the Mexican goallie to equalize, while Leandro brought the Brazilians ahead after conquering the ball in midfield. Towards the end of the match the Mexicans got more desperate, and Omar Arellano got a well-deserved red card. Soon afertwards the young Giuliano scored a beautiful goal, getting in between two defenders and putting the ball over the Mexican goalkeeper.
In the last seconds Chivas got a consolation by De Luna, but it was too late. Internacional took their second Copa Libertadores title in their history (the first being in 2006).

It ended in shameful aggression between the two team's players though, and that is truly a pity when players of two of the greatest footballing countries, playing in one of the most important competitions in the world, with the entire world looking at them, decide that they have to be remembered as thugs, instead of the great football match they gave us.
They are all idiots.
Posted by El Erik at 10:15 2 comments: Links to this post Labels: Chivas, Chivas Guadalajara, Copa Libertadores, Copa Libertadores 2010, Copa Libertadores final, Giuliano, Guadalajara, Internacional, Rafael Sobis

Not hungover any longer

After a long hangover from a great World Cup 2010, football is slowly creeping back into my life.
Perhaps of less importance to many, the Venezuelan league started last weekend, with favourites Caracas FC starting out with a 1-0 victory over Monagas.
Much more important, the first leg of the 2010 final of the Copa Libertadores between S.C. Internacional and Guadalajara, resulted in a 1-2 away victory for the Brazilians, who have it all in their hands to take the top title next week at home in Porto Alegre!

In the meantime many European teams are starting the fight to qualify for this season's Champions League and Europa League. Some of the European leagues are slowly starting:
The Danish league started as usual, with FC Copenhagen leading, with Brøndby and FC Herning (øhhh... Midtjylland...?) following close behind... But for how long in a league that is set to become a one-team league...?
The English Premier League will be starting next weekend with all eyes on Manchester United and Chelsea, who played in the annual FA Community Shield match last week, with the Reds winning 3-1, on one of the goals by the new Mexican Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez.

Hernandez in fact made more headlines when Mexico faced the world champions of Spain in the first friendly match since the World Cup, and scored for Mexico to almost give them the victory. But with the luck of a world champion, Spain equalized in the dying seconds of the match.
As Euro 2012 qualifiers start, many teams are looking at their post-world cup renewal, and this week's friendlies may have given some clues: a whole new French team under Laurent Blanc lost 2-1 to Norway, apparently continuing the slide down for French football. Stephen Gerrard saved England by scoring both goals in their 2-1 victory over Hungary, while Italy lost again, this time 1-0 to the Ivory Coast, further underlining the crisis for the Azurri.
In the meantime, both Argentina and Brazil started new eras with victories over Ireland and the USA respectively, while Uruguay continued where they left with a 2-0 victory over Angola.

Hangover is over; I am ready to eat football, drink football, sleep football....
Posted by El Erik at 01:50 No comments: Links to this post Labels: "no life", Caracas FC, Copa Libertadores, danish league, football fan, football fanatic, friendly matches, Guadalajara, Internacional, Javier Hernandez, Mexico, Premier League, Spain, Venezuela

The all-time world cup table

When I had my old website I would have all statistics on the World Cup from a big Excell table that I have been updating since I learned to use Excell in the mid-1990s... I have now updated it again, below with the all-time World Cup list.
It is notable that there have been some changes at the top, something that does not happen often: The top five remains unchanged, but Spain, the world champions, overtook France to become the number six all-time nation in World Cup history, while the Netherlands moved up one spot, and little Uruguay returned to the top ten.
It is usual that the major movements happen in the lower positions: South Corea moved up again, steadily working their way up, but Japan moved up 12 spots and Australia 9, all meaning big movements for Asia.
Undefeated New Zealand, in their only second world cup ever, also moved up 12 spots.
Two smaller European nations, Greece and Slovenia, also moved up mostly due to the fact that differently from last time they participated, they actually won matches (in the case of Greece, they even scored goals...).
But the big mover came from Africa: Ghana moved up 14 spots on its second World Cup. It overtook Nigeria (on goal difference), and are now only one World Cup and five points from overtaking the highest placed African country, Cameroun.
Must be said that South Africa, in spite of being the first host ever to be eliminated in the first round, nevertheless also moved up 12 spots.
Anyway, there is a link to all the tables here.
Posted by El Erik at 01:47 No comments: Links to this post Labels: best teams, football statistics, statistics, World Cup 2010, World cup history, world cup statistics, world cup table

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Maradona out Raul to Schalke 04 Saturday, July 24, 2010

El Diego in Venezuela (and El Erik) Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The best and the worst from the world cup Monday, July 12, 2010

Spain World Champion Sunday, July 04, 2010

Europe rules!!! From disappointment to disappointment... Saturday, July 03, 2010

This is what a World Cup is about Dutch delight Add Portugal

European teams have disappointed in this tournament, and now Portugal should be added to the long list. The Portuguese never managed to threaten an organised Spanish side with an excellent David Villa, who will now be facing Paraguay in the quarterfinals.
I watched the match in Place Luxembourg in Brussels, and among the many Spanish fans there, there is no doubt that after the initial disappointment against Switzerland they were again thinking of the final, and clearly thinking that Paraguay will be a walkover (something echoed again in the uncritical Marca.es).
No doubt Spain are huge favourites, but don't sell the skin before shooting the bear!
Posted by El Erik at 09:25 No comments: Links to this post Labels: Paraguay, Portugal, South Africa 2010, Spain, World Cup 2010

El fracaso Bielsa

I must admit that what I knew about Chile before the World Cup was from the international news, and only two matches had I seen with them, where they had nevertheless impressed against poor opposition (Denmark and Venezuela). That said, I knew their coach, Marcelo Bielsa: a wanna-be intellectual and Menotista who insisted on offensive football. He was a flop as Argentinean coach in the 2002 World Cup, but his apparent results with Chile were notable, and Chile was highly rated before entering the World Cup.
I was not impressed by Chile finally seeing them in South Africa: a lot of possession; yes, and offensive football; yes; but in all other facets Chile were outright second-rate: they hardly had any quality shots on goal besides their possession, and nice little touches were nothing to handle against defensive teams like Honduras or Switzerland. Against a tougher team like an unconvincing Spain they committed grave mistakes and posed no real threat. And finally, today against one of the best teams in the world, all weaknesses of Chile's and Bielsa's style were simply exposed to the world: Brazil were far superior without even trying, and with a simple organised defence, two outstanding backs and a strong midfield, hardly had to try their best to defeat Chile 3-0.
I don't think it is as much Chile's lack of quality as Bielsa's that has been exposed, just as with Argentina in 2002: he is too focused on the tactics, never adapting it to the team he is playing or his available players. In spite of his positive attitude to the game, football is not a philosophy or way of life, it is a game, and the objective is to win. It is better to win nicely, but still, it is to win, so if you cannot win nicely....
Bielsa was a flop for Argentina, and although he has done more for Chile than most would have expected, his football philosophy has proved a flop in today's modern football, and that is the only conclusion one can draw from Chile's exit of the tournament today!
Posted by El Erik at 00:06 No comments: Links to this post Labels: Brazil, Chile, coach, coaches, football debate, Marcelo Bielsa, South Africa 2010, World Cup 2010

Wunderbare Deutschland!

After their first match against Australia, Germany impressed. In the play-off match today I was expecting that the English, who have not impressed, would be inspired by their Italian coach to play cynically and defensively to win a narrow victory against the young German side.
However, how delighted am I to have been wrong!
This is surely one of the most exciting German teams ever, and they were far superior to the English, besides being entertaining and cold-blooded at the most important moments. No matter that England had a clear goal disallowed (this was clearly the most appalling refereeing decision of the tournament, and revives what I have been saying for ages: technology or goal-referees), Germany was by far, by far, the best team. In particular the youngsters Mesut Özil and Thomas Müller were spectacular (Müller scored twice) and augur very well for the German future, but also for the match against either Argentina or Mexico.
England... Another huge disappointment. I was also expecting them to do better after their excellent qualification campaign, but they have played awfully, and this defeat just underlines it by being the largest English defeat in a World Cup, and the largest defeat to the German arch-rivals. The speculations about why it is like this, but perhaps the simplest explanation simply is that England are not that good; during this World Cup they have been mediocre to say the least, and they are standing in front of a massive renewal of their team.
But congratulations to the wonderful German team and to their great fans!!!! Cheers!
Posted by El Erik at 19:29 No comments: Links to this post Labels: England, Germany, Germany-England, Mesut Özil, South Africa 2010, Thomas Müller, World Cup 2010, world cup play-off matches

England versus Germany Today England and Germany will face one another in one of the most classic rivalries in international football. The matches between these two European giants have always been immersed in drama, and cultural, historical and social associations.

This will be the fifth time that the two countries will be playing each other in a World Cup, which include some of the most legendary matches in football history:
Other legendary matches the two countries have played are in the European championships:
For the 2002 World Cup the two teams were in the same qualifying group, and Germany won 1-0 in London, but were destroyed 5-1 in Munich in what still remains the largest victory for England between the two countries.
The last time the two teams played was in a friendly match (as friendly as it gets between the two) in Berlin in 2008 which England won 2-1 on a late goal by John Terry.

That the teams will be facing each other already in the 2010 World Cup is perhaps a bit of a surprise: England was probably expecting to win their group, while the young German team (it is one of the youngest German teams ever to play in a World Cup) surprised positively by winning their group. Because of the relative inexperience of the Germans, England is probably a slight favourite, although there is no doubt that Germany played far better than England in the group stages. The English will have to play far better if they are to have a chance against this German side, although I would not be surprised if they will have set themselves up for the challenge.

This match should be obligatory for everyone, as it will only add another drama to the long history of football rivalry between England and Germany!
Posted by El Erik at 10:30 No comments: Links to this post Labels: England, football history, Germany, rivalry, South Africa 2010, World Cup 2010, world cup final 1966, World cup history

The best African team

I am an unapologetic fan of the Black Stars and I wish I had been in Accra for the post-match celebrations! Instead I was in a pub in Copenhagen, but still delighted at the Ghanaian victory after extra time.
I have for ages been saying on this blog that Ghana is the best African football nation, and now they are among the top eight in the world, something I was nevertheless not expecting: I thought USA had shown stronger fighting spirit and that the Americans would ultimately prevail against Ghana's inefficiency and personal mistakes. But I could not have been more wrong: Ghana's young players have learned to pace themselves in such a tournament from their already strong experience in Africa's Cup and diverse youth world cups (and they are u-21 world champions, let us not forget!), and play with the at-times necessary cynicism. Even when USA put pressure on the Ghanaians, these did not lose their heads, and even better, they punished the US mistakes that I was expecting the Ghanaians to make.
Playing like this Ghana could go all the way, but it will certainly not be easy in a quarterfinal against a Uruguay side that is also extraordinary in pacing their game, experience, and some extraordinary strikers!
In the meantime, congratulations Ghana!
Posted by El Erik at 09:57 No comments: Links to this post Labels: Ghana, South Africa 2010, Uruguay, USA, World Cup 2010, world cup play-off matches

Saturday, June 26, 2010

The best and the worse of the group stages

The group stages are over of an interesting World Cup but with some observations:
In my view, the best teams of the tournament have been:
The most disappointing sides have in my view been:
The last-16 will be really exciting!
Posted by El Erik at 01:14 No comments: Links to this post Labels: best teams, FIFA World cup, football debate, football discussions, South Africa 2010, statistics, top five, World Cup 2010, world cup groups, World cup history

Friday, June 25, 2010

The last-16 and predictions

The World Cup has passed the initial group stages and there are 16 teams left for the following play-off matches:
It is a wonderfully diverse group of teams, with 5 South American sides, two from North America, two Asian, six European (who will all be facing one another...) and disappointingly only one team from Africa, Ghana, who will have all the support of Africa and from most of the world for their match against the USA.
My tips are the following:
I believe that Uruguay, who has been strong and disciplined, will defeat a Corean side that has not been convicing, although they have been well-organised. Still, I believe Uruguay are by far the better team.
I support Ghana, but their poor striking force will be their doom against a strong USA side, where Landon Donovan has been the saviour. USA will make it to the quarterfinals.
Germany-England will be a repeat of one of the most classic matches of international football, and the match will be another drama to go over to history. That said, neither team is as brilliant as their history, but I believe that a slightly more cynical England side will win against a German team that I would nevertheless much rather see through.
Argentina has been great, and I believe that they will carry the day against Mexico, although as in 2006, it will not be easy, and likely be a close match where the Mexicans will be their usual dirty.
The Netherlands should be in the quarterfinals, and I see them as the greatest favourites in the last-16 against Slovakia, although the Slovakians showed that they should not be underestimated!
Chile and Brazil will be a great South American encounter, but Brazil will surely win. Chile are charming and offensive, but as inefficient up front as a team full of grandmothers, and with so many mistakes in defense that Brazil will surely win.
Paraguay-Japan is sure to be an exciting and close match, but an organised Japan team, with some extraordinary and quick players, should carry the day against an organised but at times inefficient Paraguayan side.
Portugal-Spain is, with England-Germany, to be one of the most exciting matches of the tournament. Spain is by far the better side than the Portuguese, but the latter will be very excited for this match. I believe the sensation will be there, and Portugal will win a close match, perhaps after extra time and penalties.
Thus, my predictions for the quarterfinals are these:
Posted by El Erik at 23:01 2 comments: Links to this post Labels: FIFA World cup, last-16, predictions, South Africa 2010, World Cup 2010, world cup groups, world cup play-off matches

Thank you Honduras!

Spain managed to defeat Chile 2-1 in a match that in the end did not turn out as dramatic as one was expecting. Still, Spain's victory could put Chile out of the tournament in case Switzerland, as most expected, could defeat Honduras by at least two goals (unless Spain had scored more against Chile). But the mighty defenders of Switzerland were unable to create a match against Honduras, who in the end came closest to winning.
In spite of the sympathy with the Swiss victory against Spain, Swizterland is a boring defensive side, and the World Cup is only better without them in the last-16, where Chile and Spain are the wish of any football fan!
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