Archives for category: World Cup

Goodbye South Africa, Hello Brazil!

July 13, 10 //

Spain has done it! They have become the 8th country in the history of the World Cup to proudly boast a star on their roja shirts! I am very happy for Iniesta who scored the winning goal. First of all he proves wrong all those that think that you need to have a body builded corpulence to make it in football. Then I like this player’s style. He plays forward, knows when to pass the ball and when to keep it and is one of the rare confrontational dribblers out there. In my mind he was the best player of the final. Another decisive factor in Spain’s win was Fabregas’s entry. He brought fast forward movements to the Spanish side who I felt was sometimes playing too laterally with Xavi.

I was very disappointed by the Dutch. Where have they left their flamboyant football? It is now the second time that they leave a violent mark on the World Cup, the first time being the infamous eighth final against Portugal in 2006. The quatuor which I had thought could make the difference was unable to get sufficient ammunitions from the midfield and Van Persie was transparent.

Apart from the final, here is my take on this 19th World Cup:

There were no new revolutionary or even marked evolutionary strategies.
The first round was as non-Cup like as usual.
I missed one single breathtaking game like Germany-Italy in 1970, Argentina-Peru in 1978, France-Germany in 1982, France-Brazil in 1986, England-Cameroon in 1990. The closest was probably Uruguay-Ghana for the incredible cliff-hanging suspense of that game.

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The World Cup final analysis in 7 points

July 8, 10 //

The World Cup will end on Sunday with a first-time winner since neither the Netherlands nor Spain have ever won the trophy. Either country will become the 8th nation to ever win a World Cup. If you compare that to the number of countries who participate in the World Cup (including the qualifying rounds), it is probably one of the lowest ratios of any sport. It will also be the first time that a European team will win the World Cup outside of the European continent. Here is my analysis of the final in 7 points:

Both teams are turned towards an offensive style. They both privilige attacking before defending.
Spain is a master in keeping the ball with a high percentage of completed passes. It is very difficult to steal the ball from them. It is almost a clone of how the Barça plays since 7 players are from the Blaugrana team.
The Netherlands have a key advantage in my mind since they have 4 mid-field/forwards that can all score: Kuyt, Van Persie, Robben, and Schneider. This is no longer the case with Spain who can only count on Villa since Torres is out of shape (until now at least).
The Spanish team – like Barça – has become somewhat too systematic in its way of playing. The Netherlands on the other hand have more of an erratic behaviour on the pitch which could play to their advantage.
Casillas is back on top form and can win a match to himself. That is not the case of Holland’s Stekelenburg.
Spains’s defense is stronger than the Netherland’s which has shown weaknesses since the beginning of the World Cup.
England’s Howard Web will referee the final. That is good news for both teams and for football in general since he was one the rare referees to perform during this tournament.

I am very uncertain about the outcome of the final in view of the points listed above. What do you think are the chances of each team? Don’t count on Paul the Octopus this time since I just heard that he will probably not be asked to guess the World Cup final winner!

Maracanazos enjoy + / – analysis.

Letter to Sepp Blatter

July 2, 10 //

Dear M. Blatter,

You are a lucky man, millions, no billions of people cherish the sport you are at the head of. I am part of those, ever since I first went to the Parc des Princes stadium when I was 5 or so. I have cried, laughed, supported, gone wild, criticized, shown compassion, replayed legendary matches in my mind, you name it, all the emotions that football fans undoubtedly go through. You have a dream job M. Blatter.

Recently though I have started to sense that the sport we so enjoy is in danger of becoming forever changed, distorted, destroyed by events that you need to take action against. If you don’t, then I fear that football will become a living nightmare, a sporting equivalent of Blade Runner, an unworthy MMOG.

The most imminent and prominent danger is what I call the demand for instant gratification. We live in an era of the instantaneous. Instant access to information, instant pleasure, instant emotions, instant relief, instant everything…Now you will ask me what does this have to do with football? The fiery debate about the use of video to “help” referees has all to do with the search for instantaneity. The Video God freezes a football action to bring an instant picture of “truth” to the millions, billions of people watching the most popular sport in the world. We want to know the truth and we increasingly rely on machines to hand it to us; right away. Is this the way to go M. Blatter?

Football is a played by humans. With their qualities and shortcomings. That is why this blog has the tagline “Football is the universal sport because it is the closest to human nature.” Some cheat and then geniously make up for it, others have the highest sense of ethics, and the majority just do the best they can. The good and the bad have been part of this sport since its start somewhere in Middle Age Britain unless it was in some Tuscan village. Forwards have scored goals “outside of this world” while others have missed the unthinkable. Defenders have shown incredible bravery while others displayed remarkable actor talents…

The character who orchestrates that this commedia dell’arte is played according to the rules is another human; namely the referee. He is almost alone to do this helped in his task by 2 side line referees. These 3 people have to keep a hawks eye on 22 players, knowing that thousands in the stadium and billions behing their tv sets are ready at any moment to hunt them down as soon as the first blunder materializes. Enters the video. The hunters want to rely on the image freeze magic to instantaneously condemn the man in black. The machine made truth replaces the human factor. Is this the way to go M. Blatter?

M. Blatter, you are probably asking then what is the God sent solution here? Don’t blame the men in black as you did after the Mexican and English events at the World Cup. Reinforce the human factor as Michel Platini advocates by adding more referees – one behind each goal post – so that the men in black become a team in themselves. Football is a collective sport which ironically has less referees than the individual sport tennis is. Help referees by betting that the collective judgement of 5 well trained professionals will make for better human backed decisions; not machine ones please M. Blatter!

Maracanazos will always defend the human factor.

Long live the garra charrúa!

June 26, 10 //

Uruguay plays against South Korea ina few hours in the first eighth final. This could be a historic moment for the Celeste. The last time Uruguay made it through to the quarter finals was in 1970. As often at this stage of the competition, much will depend on the the mental strength of each individual player and the collective willpower of the team. This is the moment to display the famous Uruguayan garra charrúa. Astolfo Cagnacci defines in football terms garra charrúa as a “survival instinct running on the field, cementing a team in its collective definition.”

The Charrúas were a small Indian population of about 1000 living on the Uruguayan coast when the first conquistador Juan Diaz de Solis arrived in 1516. Solis was killed and this was the beginning of the legend of the Charrúas who were then gradually eliminated from the Uruguayan soil after Revolutionary leader Artigas left the country.

Garra is a combination of interior force and a ferocious willingness never to abandon. The combination of garra and charrua forever defines Uruguayan football. This small country of 3 million inhabitants, stuck between its 2 neighbouring giants Argentina and Brazil, has embraced football as the symbol of its own identity, a sport which can bring the best in the sacrifice of each player for the benefit of the team.

One of the most memorable definitions of garra was that of Jules Rimet, the President of the FIFA after the 1950 World Cup final in Brazil: “The fight was even. The Brazilian technique was drowned by the “garra” of the Uruguayans, who played well technically but who also showed the rage that makes their victory so well deserved. In football, playing well is not sufficient, you also need to feel it profoundly as does Uruguay.” And he went on to add: “It was one of the best games I ever saw during my long life as a sportsman, both in its technical virtousity and extraordinary fair-play.” Jules Rimet’s statement is important as too often non connaisseurs think of garra as just some form of violent behaviour which it is not!

I really like the following video showing a moment of garra charrúa just before Uruguay enters the pitch to play in the decisive qualifier against Costa Rica before this World Cup. Look at how captain Lugano shows (1’18) his team that football is “won in the head”.

Maracanazos have pride in the garra charrúa.

Can you win the World Cup without a great goalkeeper?

June 25, 10 //

Let’t have a look since 1970.

1970 : Brazil. Felix was not considered a star goalkeeper.

1974 : Germany. Maier was one of the best goalies the National Mannschaft ever had.

1978 : Argentina. Fillol was un fenomeno.

1982 : Italy. Zoff. No comments needed.

1986 : Argentina. Pumpido? Didn’t leave many memories…

1990 : Germany. Illgner. Good but not outstanding.

1994 : Brazil. Taffarel. Good at stopping penalties but I wouldn’t qualify him in the A-list

1998 : France. Barthez was France’s best ever goalie.

2002 : Brazil. Was it Marcos or Dida? Asling the question already gives the answer…

2006 : Italy. Buffon. Same as for Zoff. Unbeatable.

Out of the last 10 World Cups, I would say that 50% of the winning teams had outstanding goalkeepers. Let’s look at the current lineup of teams already qualified for the eighth finals :

Uruguay : Muslera. Young but promising!

Mexico : Perez. I have my doubts…

Unites States : Howard. Not bad!

Ghana : Kingson. Don’t know enough about him.

Germany : Neuer. Could be.

England : James. Calamity is his surname…

Argentina : Romero. Not decisive.

Japan : Kawashima. Don’t know enough about him.

Slovakia : Mucha. Don’t know enough about him.

Brazil : Julio César. Excellent.

Netherlands : Stekelenburg. Don’t know enough about him.

Paraguay : Villar. Average.

The other 4 teams are not known yet so I won’t make any comments except if Spain qualify. Casillas is great even though he had a complicated season with Real Madrid.

So do you think this year’s World Cup winner will have a great goalkeeper? Do you think a team can win without one?

Maracanazos think that goalkeepers have one of the toughest positions in a team.

Enjoy one of the most memorable goalkeeper saves ever : Banks vs Pele!

Lessons from the French World Cup fiasco

June 22, 10 //

The demise of the « Bleus » during this World Cup – whether they qualify or not – is a case study for all sports federations worldwide. I will not go over the recent events that you have probably read about or seen dozens of times so absurd is the farce that hit the French squad.

How did French football reach such a high time low ? There are several factors that explain the disastrous situation but let me start with what is at the heart of the game, namely the players. You can play football without its other building blocks ; coaches, federations, media, and fans, but without 11 players on the pitch, you simply can’t start.

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World Cup or championship?

June 14, 10 //

The World Cup has started off oddly with the noisy vuvuzelas, the floating balls and some not so full stadiums. Despite that, the South African hospitality and organization have been flawless and the fans seem to be enjoying it both in and outside the stadiums.

However, the first 11 games have overall been caracterized by extremely cautious tactics and the objective of not loosing before thinking of eventually winning. This trend – which is not new – lies with the 2 tier organization of the World Cup with a first round which is in fact a small championship to filter out the top 2 teams from the 8 groups which then play the real cup phase with direct elimination in the eighth, quarter and semi-finals.

One important reason for having a mini championship to start with is to increase the number of games played – 48 – so as to cumulate maximum television audiences and the revenues that these generate. However, the first phase of the World Cup has too many drawbacks in my opinion:

The favourite teams can afford to manage their first and even second game and still qualify in the third one (Italy even qualified with 3 ties in the first round of the 1982 World Cup!).
This leads to dry and boring games where the smaller football nations are proud even tying against higher rated opponents.
It becomes very difficult for the so-called smaller teams to qualify for the eighth finals because they need to play 3 top quality games to have a chance of going through.
In some cases, when a team wins its first 2 matches, the third one can become an opportunity to have a majority of substitutes play.

I would change these 2 tier rounds so that the World Cup deserves its cup quality as of game 1 by adopting the same elimination system as in pro tennis tournaments. A ranking system would classify the 32 qualifying teams depending on past and current results (more on this in a future post). The nation ranked 1st would play the 32nd, the 2nd would play the 31st and so on. Direct elimination would therefore happen from game 1. There are several advantages with this method:

Every single game is eliminatory thereby providing for maximum intensity and drama.
By halving the total number of games from 64 to 32 the FIFA would be preserving the physical integrity of the players and increasing the quality of the matches.
Less is more!
Smaller nations would stand unique chances of causing memorable upsets keeping alive the true nature of cup games.
Better and more intensive games will bring higher tv audiences and the revenue flows that come along with these.

FIFA, bring the passion, drama and intensity that the World Cup deserves from day 1! Fans will thank you for that.

Maracanazos don’t want to mix championships with cups.

A World of Football!

June 10, 10 //

Tomorrow starts the 19th World Cup.

I love this event because of its scarcity, drama, joys, exuberance and passion. In all the 32 countries participating, the World Cup fever is mounting. People are getting organized to watch the games of their home team wherever they will happen to be; at work, at home, travelling, camping, commuting, anywhere! Some governments like the one of Honduras are even letting their civil servants go home earlier so as not to miss any second of their favourite team! Football fans are getting together, in bars, pubs, cafés, restaurants, in front of tv shops, any spot where they can see the World Cup at play. The populations of the supposedly weaker teams are thinking; what if this time we get through to the 2nd round?!

Dreams are running wild, everyone becomes the head coach of their team, 16 million Chileans are convinced they each own the magic formula for the best Roja team ever! Mexicans are thinking to themselves, and what if they get to the semi-finals for the first time in their history? Americans are praying to beat England again as they did in 1950. Paraguayans are thankful that the golden goal doesn’t exist anymore. Argentinians are already chanting Vamos Vamos Argentina! Brazilians are already counting their 6th star. All 3 million Uruguayans will be listening feverishly to radio and tv channels at the same time. Algerians will be humming, “one two three, viva l’Algérie”! Cameroon will come to a halt and children from the Ivory Coast are hopeful Drogba’s arm heals asap! South Africans are already proud of all they have accomplished so far. The whole of Ghana is in trance and Nigerians are counting the seconds. The All Whites are hoping to do as well as their All Black brothers. The Aussies would like avoid bad refereeing again. North Koreans are waking up from 1966 and South Koreans are alive with memories from 2002. Japanese are stacking up with sake. The Nati followers are making sure their watches are on time while the Germans would love to revive Lineker’s famous quote. The Dutch are convinced this is the right one. Espana is hoping that the favourite’s curse won’t affect them. Slovenians , Slovakians and Serbs are excited to be in World Cup for the first time. Greeks are relieved Maradona is off the pitch this time. England fans will be on their best behaviour. Italians are sorry Zidane isn’t there this time and all of France wants to get rid of their coach. Portugal is living and breathing with Cristiano and the Danes are just enjoying it as usual.

Maracanazos are citizens of the world.

Thank you “l’After”!

June 8, 10 //

RMC Radio has the best football talk shows by far in France. The evening one is called the “After Foot” but everyone calls it “l’After”. I believe it is followed daily by more than 400,000 listeners. I was honoured to be part of the discussion yesterday regarding the Uruguayan team. If you understand French, you can listen to the mp3, my part starts just after the first quarter. Thank you Gilbert & Co for having me participate in your great show!

Maracanazos admire the After Foot team, principally Gilbert and Daniel, but also Jean-François, Florent, Stéphane and the drôles de dames!

World Cup tech stuff

June 8, 10 //

Some tech stuff tonight to follow the World Cup :

With Google ‘s Street View, immerse yourself in some of the World Cup stadiums.

Marca’s great World Cup calendar (via @alexdc)

And type “World Cup” in Google and check the bottom of the page! (via @flepalec)

Maracanazos are counting the hours!