World Cup Diary – Jun 27

So, belatedly, I decide to start writing about this world cup. The second round match between England and Germany has just got over, and a young, exciting German team has just hammered an English team which has been looking woefully average throughout the tournament so far. Of course, England will point to the wrongly disallowed goal from Lampard, but you get a feeling that it may not have made much of a difference in the final outcome. That, however, does not excuse FIFA and their archaic norm of not allowing video technology into the game. According to their much maligned head, Sepp Blatter, introduction of video technology will supposedly take away the human element from the game. Well, I’m pretty sure nobody will mind this sort of human element being taken away.

While I wait for the next mouth watering clash between Argentina and Mexico to start, I felt like reflecting on what has so far been a pretty exciting tournament. The first few days of matches were pretty boring leading me to wonder if this world cup will ever come to life, but once the initial matches were over, the fun began. The state of a lot of the groups at the end of the first round may not exactly been what many had in mind before the games began. Who would have ever believed that the Slovaks had it in them to send the reigning world champs, Italy, back home bottom of their group? Their figurehead from that triumph four years ago, Fabio Cannavaro, cut a sorry figure as he comforted his teammates after the game. It was obvious a lot of this was past their prime and Lippi probably should have blooded a few new faces. Though, on the evidence of what was seen, it didn’t look like the new faces were any better. In the same group, New Zealand showed, why despite not possessing world class personnel, their attitude and determination (along with their Oceania neighbors, Australia) will always make them a threat in any sport. A team expected to be cannon fodder for the other teams in the group, ended up undefeated with three draws and on top of Italy. Great Stuff.

And what about the Asians? South Korea were expected to be pretty strong this time around and were given a chance of making it through, and they did that though they did look a bit shaky in the last group game against Nigeria, whose striker Yekubu probably made the miss of any match I have seen so far when he shot wide with the goal gaping at him and just a few feet away. South Korea may be out now to a Uruguay side starting to look ever more dangerous, but they are definitely progressing from the days they were just also rans. On the other hand, Japan had seemed a shaky bet before the tournament started, but they have impressed even more with two victories. The second of these, the clincher against Denmark was achieved with astonishing certitude, including two great free kicks in a tournament which has seen a paucity of free kick goals. In fact, the Asians seem to have learnt to control the much derided Jabulani ball than their counterparts. South Korea also scored a direct free kick off the Nigerians and almost scored an early shocker against Uruguay. The third Asian representative, the unknown North Koreans, may have been hammered by Portugal, but showed enough in their first match against Brazil to win a lot of fans. An enduring image is that of their Japan based striker Jong Tae Se crying while their national anthem was playing. His style of play was increasingly impressive, with his holding techniques among others not something seen much in European football these days. And when they got that late consolation against Brazil, everyone seemed to be taken aback. All in all, a great performance so far in a tournament the Africans were supposed to come to the fore.

Which brings us to the debacle of the Africans. Though no host nation had failed to get past the opening round so far in World Cups, no one really expected the South Africans to make it. However, when the Bafana Bafana opened the tournament with a wonder strike and eventually drew with a strong Mexican team, hope was raised. Before Uruguay brought them crashing down with an emphatic victory. They may have won against a horrible French side, but by then the writing was already on the wall. As for the African sides, Cameroon and Nigeria flattered to deceive and were overtaken by their Asian rivals Japan and South Korea respectively. Algeria never looked threatening enough, other than the bore draw with England which was probably the worst match of the tournament so far. Ivory Coast had the misfortune of once again finding themselves in the group of death, but even otherwise they hardly looked like world beaters. It looks like their golden generation will fade into the sunset without much to show for at the international level. Finally, it is Ghana like the previous world cup, who will be the sole torch bearers for Africa in the next round. They have just made the quarterfinals after an impressive extra time victory over the United States and will look to go further. This is an impressive Ghana side. When you consider the fact that their foremost player and creative fulcrum, Michael Essien is not even playing and their other experienced stars like Sulley Muntari and Steven Appiah have been marginal figures so far, their progress looks very promising for the future. They may have been lucky in the group stages, but they came into their own against a good American side. Otherwise, though, it is back to the drawing board for the African teams, who will have to realize that without strong planning and organization they really cannot hope to mount a serious challenge.

What of the Spaniards and the Argentines? The Spanish, amazingly, lost their opening match to a dour and boring Swiss side, but came back strongly to win against Honduras and an impressive Chile side. David Villa seems set to make the tournament his own after 3 stunning strikes so far, one of them a great spectacle of confidence and accuracy from 35 meters out against Chile. I expect them to come into their own in the latter stages. Argentina, managed by the eccentric genius Maradona, have looked great in the opening fixtures though there is a concern that their defence may have issues against quality opposition. But when you have team having a forward line of Tevez, Higuain, Milito… Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the best player in the world yet, Lionel Messi. He may nto have scored yet but his contribution has been substantial so far. Expect great things from them. Though I wonder if I do want to see them win, considering Maradona has said he would run naked in Buenos Aires if they do.

And finally, Oranje… The Dutch team I always have a soft spot for. They may not have shown much of their total football yet, with dour victories against Denmark and Japan, but you could see the signs of it coming back in the last group game against Cameroon when they won with two wonderful goals. And considering Arjen Robben has still played only a minor part till now, once he fully returns… I wonder… Dare the Oranje start dreaming now?