As we near the start of the third leg of Group Play for the 2010 World Cup, our distinguished soccer correspondent JG2112 offers up a quintet of observations on the various ups and downs we’ve seen so far.
1.) England and France are both a farce. England’s players have held “clear the air” talks with their manager, Fabio Capello. Which makes perfect sense. Capello has won league titles at every job he’s ever held. So of course it’s his fault Wayne Rooney is playing like a wet noodle, that Rio Ferdinand was lost for the tournament before it started, and Robert Green was introduced to weird footballs on June 12th.
As for France, unreal. Evra fights with a trainer, Anelka is booted from the team, France refuses to practice. We should have all seen this coming – France has been in decline since 2001, and only rejuvenated themselves in 2006 by calling Barthez and Zidane out of international retirement. They have no leadership through coach or player, and are a disgrace.
For your JCB purposes, if you’re looking for one of these teams to save themselves, look to England, rather than France, to recover. Capello has enough talent on the team and the bench (JOE COLE!) to qualify from Group C, and then navigate a Round of 16 match with either Ghana or Serbia. As for France, au revoir.
2.) Don’t jump on the Dutch bandwagon just yet. Yes, they’ve won two games, but they are beatable. Their defense is thin and not of the De Boer – Blind – Stam pedigree, and the team plays a rather slick but ineffective style without wingers on the field. If Robben or Elia is given more of a run-out, the team could click. At this point, they look like quarter-finalists at best.
(3) Don’t count out Germany. Germany played well against Serbia despite that Spanish ref’s attempt to “La Liga” the game. They would have gotten a draw had Podolski not betrayed the German reputation of not missing penalties (it makes more sense once you realize Podolski was born in Poland). But, Germany is Germany. They’ll be in the quarter-finals, at least.
4.) The favorites have to be Brazil and Argentina. They are the two teams combining defensive grit with attacking flair, and have the individual talent to take over games. Messi and Higuain are clicking for Argentina, and once Kaka returns for Brazil, he, Fabiano and Robinho will lay waste to teams en route to the final.
5.) Africa still has a long way to go. Pele once claimed an African nation would win the World Cup by 2000. Right. At this point of the tourney, Africa has one win out of twelve matches. South Africa will likely be remembered as the worst host participant in World Cup History. Only Ghana has a realistic chance of making an impact at the tourney. The continent needs to continue its development, which means, more youth programs and coaching, fewer European nations pilfering their players at age 13, and viable national leagues.
Oh, also, their refereeing needs to improve greatly.
One additional thought: If Yugoslavia did not break up in the early 1990s, would that team have won a World Cup by now (Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia would provide an incredible team to the World Cup).
By World Cup: Third Leg Begins, Can Western Hemisphere Continue Its Run? June 22, 2010 - 9:04 AM
[...] coming apart at the seams, devolving into a national embarassment. I am looking at you France. The French are a farce, but also irrelevant at this point, needing a win today and a major swing in goal differential to [...]