World Cup Diary – Jun 30

So we move into the quarters now. The second round matches are all over and its pretty much an expected lineup for the most part in the quarters. Of course, from an Asian perspective, it would have been nice if one of Japan or South Korea had made it, but nevertheless it does not take away from the fact that both have had great tournaments. South Korea were probably unlucky that they came up against a beatable team with one of the best strikers in the world right now, Suarez. His winning goal against them on a rainy evening in Port Elizabeth was one of the best, if not the best, so far in the tournament.

Japan, on the other hand, erred in probably going for a cautious approach in their match against Paraguay. They should have continued the red hot play they astonished the Danes with. Instead we got what was the most boring match of the second phase, finally decided when a single Japanese spot kick hit the crossbar. Both these Asian giants can only get better.

Sorry, sorry England bowed out, something which could have happened in the group stage itself. Rooney, after all the expectations heaped on him, could not deliver even a fraction of what was expected, and they were deservedly exposed by a young, exciting (?) German team led by their new talisman Mezut Ozil. Expect one of the major clubs to buy him out this summer from Werder Bremen.

Another player of whom great things were expected, Cristiano Ronaldo, fizzled out and cut a forlorn peripheral figure as Portugal marched into oblivion in the second half of their match against the self assured Spaniards. Portugal just did not have plan B, and a lot of blame has to be placed at the coach’s feet for not finding a way to include the worlds most expensive player at the heart of the action.

Which leaves us with the other player expected to shine, and so far the only one of the triumvirate to respond in a manner befitting of the status. Messi has done everything except score so far, but considering he has an amazing forward line to feed, maybe he doesn’t need to. Tevez’ second goal against Mexico was brilliant and it sets up a mouth watering clash in the last eight with Germany. I’m not even going to call this one.
And what of Brazil and the Dutch? Brazil looked imperious against an attractive, but ultimately toothless Chile side. Brazil may look overwhelming favorites against the Dutch, but why do I get a funny feeling that the Dutch are still in first gear and will probably burst into life and top form soon? And when they do, Brazil may find that the Dutch are an altogether different proposition from the Chileans. Did anyone notice that Robben has played only a marginal part so far and has already score a wonder goal against the Slovaks as well as a good attempt against Cameroon? And what of the fact that they so casually substituted Van Persie and Robben midway through the second half, when the match was still not safe? Strength in depth is something they have, and this is going to be my pick of the quarter finals.

Finally, the Black Stars of Ghana are carrying an entire continent’s hopes on them. They scored two exciting goals to knock out the tenacious Americans, but what astonishes me is that this is a team which is mainly formed around the core of their youth team which won the under 20 cup. Consider that their talisman and creative fulcrum was ruled out of the tournament. Their other celebrated players, Sulley Muntari and Steven Appiah, have played marginal roles so far. And yet, they find themselves in the quarters and with a good shout of getting into the semi’s. Whatever happens from now, they have a great foundation for the future and are a lesson to the unorganized structure of other African teams. Is it a surprise that they must be one of the few African teams having the same coach for the last couple of years, while teams like the Ivory Coast and Nigeria appointed theirs barely months before the tournament on knee jerk reactions?