Back and Ready

Its been a while since anyone has posted on the blog and I apologize for that. Its been a while for me especially. Back from Germany with experiences that will last a lifetime (Dancing with Aussies in a Munich Square after a tie with Croatia, fun stuff). With the Quarter-finals starting tomorrow just a few ideas that should get out there.

I AM THROUGH WITH THE AMERICAN NAMES FOR THE WORLD'S BIGGEST COMPETITION. I will not stand for the quater-finals being called the Elite 8 (Its not March Madness) or the 2nd round being called the Sweet Sixteen. No more comparing the world's most notable athletes to American athletes (You can not compare Ronaldinho to anyone in the world in any sport I do not care about Michael Jordan or Lebron James). And as the MeanBaldGuy has stated before THE WAVE or "La Ola" (pardon the spelling if it is wrong) is stupid and should be banned. No need to show it on TV either, WE WANT TO WATCH THE GAME!

And now a notice to American announcers, especially Balboa: Get over the horrible Russian referee and stop complaining about cards. One minute you say that the ref was good in giving the 2 cards so early in the game then the next moment its too early for a third. CARDS DO NOT HAVE A TIME LIMIT OR RESTRAINT, they can be given at any moment of the match. And a notice to Dave Obrien and JP, you do not have to talk every moment of the game, be more like europeans please, they have perfected the game and everything about it, all you need to say is the last name of the person who has the ball. NO need for you to say "Swung outside to SOandSO, he passes it back to SOandSO" we are watching the game on TV we CAN SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING. If not we as sure would be listening on the radio and not to you.

Now to the games themselves. France v Spain was the last 2nd round game and just gets me even more excited for the next round. Great game, probably one of the best in the tournament. The type of game even if you arent rooting for someone your heartbeat is still racing. Germany v Argentina is the game to watch tomorrow, Ukraine plays too negative to really threat Italy especially with their 2nd striker out. I'm spent for now but stay tuned for more.

Ghana 2 - US 1

The dream is over. The US has crashed and burned its way out of the WC. And unlike the Italy game, when (let's be honest here) the team played its way to 9 men, here the referee really did botch a major call. At least, none of the replays I've seen suggest that Gooch's bump of Razak Pimpong merited a foul call, let alone a PK. A game-changing call. Yes, the US had another 45 minutes to play, but going to the locker room even is much different going in behind.

That said, the US never played with the intensity or imagination or speed needed to match their competition in any of the three games it played. The Czechs, a team later exposed as slow, ran through and around the US. The Italy game showed that the US has heart, but not the skill to match a top team. Against Ghana, the team's weaknesses were on full display: lack of depth, poor first touch on the ball, insufficient speed, lack of imagination. Too often, the US offense consisted of long balls over the top hoping that a single striker, usually Brian McBride, could bring the ball down and get a shot on the ball. This is less a strategy for success than a hope for a miracle -- sort of the hail Mary of soccer.

Other shortcomings: a lack of patience in the midfield. Argentina and Brazil pass the ball from side to side, up and back, probing defense before striking. Players move constantly. There was little of that from the US. After a handful -- a small handfull -- of passes, the US tries to strike, but there's nothing there. On set pieces, the US was dreadful. In the Ghana game, the US had a late free kick from just outside the box on the left, which Donovan sent far over the far post. The US rarely threatened. And although the team did have seven corners and seven shots, only three of these shots were on goal.

So although the US MNT did get -- well, look up and to your right -- on the PK call, there were too many other problems and issues with this team that led to this early exit. And if this was the best US team ever, all it shows is that the world has also improved and that the US remains a developing soccer nation.

Stressed

So it's D-Day for the US MNT. To say I'm feeling a bit stressed is an understatement.

I'd feel better if the team had been performing well but had been unlucky. The fact is, however, that the team has not performed very well and has given little reason to suspect things will be different today.

In the Washington Post this morning, the team's woeful offensive performance was noted: tied with T&T for last in goals scored at 0 (own goals don't count); second from the bottom in shots per game at 7; last place for shots on target at 0.5 per game; and third from bottom in corner kicks at 2.5 per game.


So this is either the breakout game we've been waiting for or the boys are packing their bags and heading home to watch the rest of the cup with us here stateside.

Starting line-ups are in and Conrad is starting in place of Pope and Lewis is in for Mastroeni. Arena also is starting Beasley in place of Convey, and the team is coming out in a 4-5-1 alignment. We'll see whether these make much of a difference.

England: A Tale of Two Teams

It was the best of halves, it was the worst of halves, they attacked creatively, they defended dully, they showed promise of better things, they showed weaknesses easy to exploit, they showed age and wisdom, they showed age and slowness of foot, it was a half of hope, it was a half of despair, they could see a path to glory, they could feel the ground fall beneath their feet. In short, it was a game from which England could take away some hope of advancement, but one that revealed serious weakness that may lead to problems, if not in it's next game against Ecuador, then certainly in the round of eight.

The first half of the ENG-SWE game showed the Brits at their best: crisp midfield play, good buildup, solid control of the ball and the tempo. Joe Cole's goal was a beauty -- a soft shot lofted high towards the far post, over the outstretched hand of Andreas Isaksson, Sweden's 6'5" keeper. But Marcus Allback's tying goal for Sweden seemed to take the air out of England and the game turned on a dime. Now Sweden had possession, played with a flair and intensity that had been lacking. England's second goal came against the run of play, on a fine cross from J Cole -- easily the Man of the Match -- headed home by Gerrard, a 69th minute sub for a tired Rooney. But this was a short-lived lead: five minutes later, Sweden scored its second goal, on a ball that any number of English players should have knocked out of harm's way.

Ominous for England: their poor defending on set pieces, particularly corners. Allback's goal on a corner saw him come out to meet a low near post kick unguarded and his flick to the far post was unstoppable. So the next time Sweden had a corner you might have anticipated better defending on him. You would have been wrong. In fact, Sweden had several solid chances to score on corners and set pieces throughout the second half. Then in the 90th minute, on a throw-in, you would have thought that the ball was giving off some strong negative vibes towards the English defenders the way they avoided it as it wended its way through the goal area and into the net, with the barest of touches from Larrson.

More ominous: the loss of Owen, who went down with a knee injury and may be out of action for five months. England, which brought only four strikers, is down to three: Rooney, Crouch, and Walcott, the 19-year-old Arsenal forward who has yet to play a minute in the WC (and who never played a minute in any of the matches leading up to the WC, or even a minute in the EPL). You have to wonder whether Sven Goran-Ericksson, the English manager, now wishes he'd brought someone with a tad more experience at high level soccer to the WC.

So what to make of this game and these teams' chances. The Germany-Sweden game should be a barn-burner. The Swedes have shown flashes of brilliance and but for brilliant goalkeeping in the T&T game, would have had a second group victory. I think my German-traveling colleagues will have a great final game to watch before returning state-side. As for England-Ecuador: this game is harder to call. Some of Ecuador's shortcomings were exposed in the Germany game, though the team rested five starters. If the England of the first half plays, Ecuador could be in for a long day of chasing the ball around the midfield. But if they play England's second half team, Ecuador could see itself moving much farther into the tournament than anyone could have expected.

Not Klose!!

In a final conversation before I had to head out to a meeting this morning, the Ms. asked who the key players were for both Ecuador and Germany. After identifying several key Ecuadorians, I turned to the German squad: Miroslav Klose, I told her, was the go-to-striker on the German team; Ballack is the key midfielder, but also a prolific goal scorer. These were among the several important German players.

So I'm at my meeting and my phone vibrates -- only a few minutes after the game started. Already 1-0 Germany!! And it got worse (from our perspective, not that of my traveling colleagues). Two more times my phone buzzed, but that "0" never changed and the German numbers kept going up. When I got back to the office and could look at the summary, it was there staring me in the face: Klose: 2 goals;, Poldolski: 1 goal;, man-of-the-match: Ballack. And the report from my wife: Germany clearly dominated, was the better team, and that while Ecuador had chances, they couldn't get a shot on net. Look at it this way: a learning experience and it will get them ready to play their next opponent, which will be another European team.

So, now I know where I'll be Sunday and who I'll be rooting for in the second round's third game.

Germany is amazing, but why not rant?

Our world cup adventure continued last night with tix to the Spain /Tunisia game in Stuttgart. great fans, great time, fun game. our trip is great- beyond my high expectations, but let's list some of my least favorite things about the world cup:

The Wave- what a joke. sitting in a stadium, watching a great game, soaking in the atmosphere (passion, national pride, respect for the other team- incredible) and then some idiots decide to start the wave. whoever invented this needs to be tortured in some awful medieval fashion and i would like to observe. just watch the game!

Diving- the refs and FIFA need to do a better job with this. every time i see a guy writhing around, trying to draw a foul, and then he sprints around 30 seconds later- i just want to puke. i understand that things hurt a lot at first, but if you act like you are going to die, then either die or leave the game. fakers should be tossed from the game- italy and argentina would have no players left however.

Referees- I am sorry Peter, but I have to agree with Arena here. after last night's game (every call went Spain's way) and the Brazil/Aussie and US/Italy games, it is clear to me that the calls are incredibly biased in favor of the big soccer nations. is this because the refs are in awe of the houseold name players and the incredible traditions or because they know (hopefully unconciously but i have my doubts) that the big FAs control their destiny as refs (working big tournaments, prestige, etc.). Perhaps the answer is to have all professional refs- amateur refs don't really work in the NFL and their certainly is enough money in world football to have a cadre of full time pros available for big games in the big leagues and on the world stage.

Go Germany and Sweden!

What's Spanish for "Classy"?

Just finished watching Spain-Tunisia (on tape; some of us have to work). Notwithstanding an early Tunisia goal (on some brilliant ball work by a Tunisian player in the PA), the Spaniards dominated this game from start to finish. Holding the ball for 66% of the game, outshooting Tunisia 24-4 (at one point, Spain had taken 10 shots at the Tun goal to none for their opponents), Spain looked pretty on TV. We'll have to wait for the Ref and crew to comment on the game from the perspective inside the stadium.

Of all the games I've watched over the past week and a half (something like 31-32 games played to date; I've seen maybe 20 live or on tape), Spain has looked among the best sides. Great flowing passes, working to get the ball inside to forwards, creative playmaking. Even though Tunisia had 9-10 players inside its own half once it scored the early goal, Spain continued probing, exploring the defense, finding openings, making several hard shots on frame. The Tunisia keeper made several reflex saves, keeping Spain off the scoreboard quite a long time.

Tomorrow, we begin the final set of games to determine either who advances or, in some groups, the placement of teams. First up is surprising Ecuador against the host Germans. Clear rooting interest here in this household: Ecuadorian family member. Ms. AR works with a bunch of folks with connections to Germany, so we're hopeful she'll have something to cheer about at the office. Ecuador has played well in its first two games, so a defeat of Germany is not out of the question.

The other game of significance is England-Sweden. As noted in an earlier post , England hasn't beaten Sweden since 1968. Of course, these sorts of stats are deceptive: the players have changed a bit over the years. None, in fact of the players was born the last time England beat the Swedes. But for the English players, this has to weigh on the English psyche as they get ready for the game.

However things shake out, I have a pretty good inkling that my colleagues in Germany would love to see a England-Germany game, which would require German and Swedish victories, a not unlikely occurrence.

Thanks, Eric.

Following the conclusion of the USA-Italy game, Eric Wynalda, the “expert” commentator for ABC/ESPN made the following comment: There are two kinds of referees, bad and worse. And this one [ref in US-ITA] was worse.” He also said, “Players win games, coaches lose games, and referees ruin games.”

Aside from the abject stupidity of this comment, Wynalda’s statement is surely to have a real positive effect (ha!) on the work I do on weekends and often weekday evenings.

I belong to several refereeing organizations. Every week during the intense spring and fall soccer seasons, I get emails from referee assignors pleading for help on uncovered games. There simply aren’t enough refs to staff all of the games that get played in the metro area in which I live.

When I go to periodic meetings of a couple of these organizations, I am struck by a couple of things. First is the dedication that many of my fellow refs make to the sport. Sure there are some who barely move on the pitch and are in it for the money (no one’s getting rich here). But the vast, and I mean vast, majority of my colleagues work hard at it – study hard, run hard, really try hard.

My second observation: this is an aging population. When I look around the room at these meetings, I see more grey hair and bald heads than (I fit both categories) than I think I should. We need young folks with an interest and passion about soccer to step up and take up reffing or else we’ll see a slow stagnation in the numbers of kids playing because games won’t be staffed. Too often this past season, I’ve either soloed or been a part of a two-person crew (one center ref and one Assistant Ref; we can’t use the two-ref system in a USSF game) in rec league games played by high school age players. Forget making the close offside call on the team attacking the side away from the AR. And if you’re caught deep in the AR-covered end, you also might miss the most blatant offside. There’s too much field and the players are too fast and there’s often too much flow in and out of offside position to be right on top of this play.

Why are there so few folks willing to don the yellow striped shirts? Maybe it’s the disrespect evidenced by Wynalda’s comments. This pervasive feeling among players that there is no such thing as a good ref or that we’re all at minimum bad, if not worse than bad. You hear it often on the sidelines from parents, coaches; on the fields from players. After my first year on the pitch, when I wasn’t very good, I thought about quitting. But then I met some other refs, received encouragement, and decided to work at this to get better. I think I have (just this past season, a losing coach actually told me and my co-ref on a 2-person HS JV game that we were the best he’d seen that season; my colleague this game was The Ref). But for kids starting out, having an adult yell at them, belittle them, insult them, why go back for more? Many don’t.

True story: a young teenage female ref was working a rec league game of even younger girls. A parent of one of the players was yelling at her during the game, complaining of calls. The ref’s mom arrived at the field towards the end of the game to pick up her daughter. She heard this parent’s comments, walked up to him, and said: “That’s my daughter out there.” While that shut him up for the remainder of this game, who knows whether he learned any lasting lessons.

So who is Eric Wynalda? How many World Cup trophies did he hoist during his career? How many championship trophies? League titles? Oh, none. Must have been the refs' fault.

Until Wynalda steps onto a soccer field to ref a game, he should be a bit more careful about his comments. It also might be helpful to ABC’s viewers to invite a ref to provide some expert commentary about this aspect of the game, to actually have someone comment who knows what he or she is talking about. ABC prides itself on being an innovator in televised sports. And this surely would be new: an actually knowledgeable expert.

Where to begin . . .

A more tense game I can't imagine (until the next US game against Ghana, perhaps).

THE US MNT played a much more physical and invigorating game on Saturday and left with both a point and life. A US victory against Ghana and an Italian win against the suddenly vulnerable Czechs puts the US through. With so much at stake for all four teams, I imagine this coming Thursday to be a pretty intense day.

As for the US game: Three red cards, two of which were straight reds and the third on a second yellow; a second goal allowed by the US off a head in the PA, an own goal (when does the US score for itself -- has to happen against Ghana or the US is toast), an offside call denying the US a late goal when down to 9 men (the right call); finally some solid play from Kasey Keller in net -- lots of end-to-end action, especially with all that open space.

What to make of the officiating in this game? Jorge Larrionda, from Uruguay, certainly made his presence known in the game. Regarding the first red, this seemed right both at the time an on reflection. As a ref, you look for things like elbows near the face; you don't watch the flight of the ball, but watch the players: are they playing the ball or each other? Is one focused on the ball or on his opponent? And when the ball comes down, where are the hands -- on the opposing player (in the back, on shoulders, etc.)? This ball wasn't so high and in the flow of play there was no need to use arms to gain lift -- sometimes a player swings an arm out to try to get higher. This wasn't that. The red was called for.

The second red to Bocanegra? Harder call. Yes, a two-footed tackle, but seemed more from the side and not back. It also seems to me we've seen this play throughout the tournament and if it has drawn anything, the color has been yellow and not red. [In a Washington Post story printed Monday, US MNT Coach Bruce Arena is quoted as saying that Mastroeni only had himself to blame for the call and card, and that "It was a poor error of judgment on the part of Pablo and on a play with about a minute to go in the half in an area of the field where it didn't matter."]

The final red went to Pope, at the 47th minute. The problem here is two-fold: Pope received what seemed a soft yellow in the first half and this made him vulnerable to the second yellow-red send off. Slo-mo replays of the second card seem to indicate he got the ball well before the Italian player fell over his leg. At real speed, maybe a card is justified, maybe not. But the ref should have remembered that Pope was carrying a red and maybe have given him a stern warning that early in the second half.

Other observations? First, as noted above, the offside call against the US on the Beasley shot into the net was the right call. McBride was in an offside position right in front of the Italian keeper. While he didn't touch the ball, he clearly was interfering with play. Too bad. But the good news is that Beaz finally showed up. He had space to run and did make his presence known on a few more occasions than in the first game.

Keller also showed up. He'd been looking nervous and shaky to me. Finally, late in the game, he made some saves that should help him get grounded for the Ghana game. Midway through the game, I was thinking that if the US had something to play for on Thursday, that maybe Howard should get the call. But Keller's late heroics has me leaning towards favoring no changes between the posts.

And in that game, the US won't have Pope or Bocanegra out there. My guess is that Eddie Lewis gets a second start in the back and that maybe someone like Olsen gets on the field. Or Arena could use a 3-5-2 and place Donovan in midfield and have Johnson join McBride up front. I don't think the loss of Pope should hurt the US; in my view, he's not as good as he once was -- the first Italian goal came when he left his man unmarked in the PA -- and the US has more than enough resources to replace him. Similarly, while Bocanegra plays with physical intensity, he's not irreplaceable on the pitch.

More later.

S&M Gets Spanked

Some headlines write themselves, and were I a more mature person, I would have resisted the obvious. But I'm not, so there you go.

What can one say about a game that ends 6-0? Argentina seems the class of this WC and should easily win this group and move on. Although the Dutch are also 2-0, they've struggled against these same teams that Argentina beat rather convincingly.

As for the other games yesterday, I will say that the IC are likely to be the best team not to advance. They play with heart and with speed and skill and have been a pleasure to watch. As for Mex-Angola: I'm not sure what to make of this game. Mexico had chances but Angola's keeper played splendidly. They also hit more than a few off the woodwork -- bad luck and all.

One of the things that concerns me at this point in the tournament, and I'll write more on this later, has to do with the poor showing of the CONCACAF teams: USA, Costa Rica, Mexico and T&T. So far, the conference is 1-4-2. I think only Africa has fared worse, winless so far in the WC. Not only does this showing underscore the totally unrealistic nature of FIFA rankings (Mexico is 4th, US 5th), but it give ammunition to those who think awarding 4 spots to the conference unfairly penalizes either Europe or South America. More on this later (and let me know what you think).

Sweden Breaks the Schneid

Thanks to an 89th minute header from Freddy Ljundberg off a short cross from second half sub Marcus Allback, Sweden finally scored (with injury time from the first game, over 3 hours of scoreless soccer) and defeated the now-eliminated Paraguay 1-0. Standing second in Group B with 4 points, Sweden looks more than capable of beating a still-lackluster England team when they meet next week. Nothing seen with England's play suggests that this team can do what no English team has done for 38 years: beat Sweden. Of course, a tie earns England the top spot in Group B, with Sweden finishing second.

T&T has a very outside chance of advancing, but it requires first that it score several goals, something it hasn't yet done, not give up any, and watch England beat Sweden by more than 2 (or at least 2 -- I don't know all the tie-breakers). As between Paraguay and T&T, I'd give an early nod to the South Americans, which has seemed dangerous at times with a woeful inability to finish. T&T has not shown the same offensive aggressiveness, but with nothing on the line but pride, may be more willing to push the attack.

By the way, for you non-gin rummy playing youngsters out there, "schneid" means scoreless.

Crouch earns his keep

At about 54 minutes of the England-T&T match, Peter Crouch tried emulating some of the smaller, nimbler players with a bicycle kick that sails far and wide over the goal. Peter, what were you thinking?? That's so not you!

But at 83, Crouch does the one thing he's been hired to do: head in a cross. The pass, from from Posh's man on the pitch, sails from the right to the far post, where Crouch leaps above his defender to knock the ball into the net. England scored an insurance goal in the 91st minute, a rocket from Stephen Gerrard. Despite a valiant effort from the Soca Warriors, they seemed to run out of gas towards the end, and having chased England all around the field. They just didn't have the skill or stamina to stay with the Brits for a full 90. So England is through to the second round.

Where they join Germany and not-Poland. So I was wrong about that one. As I write, Ecuador sits in first place in Group A, with 6 points and a goal differential of +5. Germany also has 6 points but its goal diff is +3. I didn't watch the Ecuador-CR game, but looking at the stat sheet afterwards, I was struck by the number of shots Wanchope had and how many were on target: 0/0. (Ms. AR watching the game at work, how lucky is that!, said that the announcers commented on Wanchope's absence from any meaningful play during the game.) The Ecuador-Germany match looms large: the winner plays the 2nd place team from group B, which could be Sweden. Based on what happens later between Sweden and Paraguay, I'd almost rather play England: at least Sweden looked consistently dangerous against T&T, whereas England continued its somewhat lackluster play until late. More later after I watch the Sweden game.

Titre: Great Start

OK so there will be plenty of mistakes in writing this blog, due mainly to weird placement of the A, W, and M... To explain is that we are in France, having just left Heidelberg, where we began this adventure. What the AR has said about the USA will have to stand for now due to lack of time and the subject I wish to talk about.

Australia v Japan.

On a blazing hot day in Kaiserslautern, in front of a sold out stadium but still some empty seats we (trudo, meanbaldguy, and myself) saw Tim Cahill bring his tea, out from a one goal lead that japan had held. Great atmosphere by Japan. Jumping and chanting but very organized. The Aussies see,ed as though they really wanted to get drunk. As quoted ¨we need to get Fing drunk before the game¨. The Japanese were in line for merchandise and I being the good american cut most of them to get to get my aussie scarf. The aussies seemed to be into having a good time, the best ticket in my mind would be aussie v brazil, one hell of a party. Ok my fingers and mind is tired from trying to figure this keyboard out.... more later

Still waiting for Brazil to play

? Oh, you mean that was Brazil out there on the pitch with Croatia?

Maybe there's no way Brazil can live up to the hype the team generates. But I have to say that I was less than impressed with the team's team play. Flashes of individual brilliance to be sure (Ronaldinho dribbling in and out of double and triple-teams is watching a magician at work; Kaka's goal was such a well-placed rocket that NASA's envious). But as a team, it showed little imagination and or development through the midfield. If it's play seemed modestly quick, that's only in comparison to the French, who must have thought the American style of play worth of emulation.

Now that was a boring game, France-Switzerland. Thank God my less-than-enthusiastic-about-soccer work colleague didn't see that nil-nil game. Chiding me before the tournament started about the low scoring nature of soccer, he watched, and thoroughly enjoyed the 0-0 Sweden-T&T game. That was exciting soccer (too bad I missed most of it -- as noted in an earlier post). I watched the second half of the France-Swiss game, waiting to begin lunch at half-time. I went to the same bar-restaurant as for the US game, but this time, I actually could sit down and eat lunch. And nothing really happened in 48 minutes of soccer to get me out of the chair. (Switzerland had 2 of the 3 best chances in the second half. Its final chance came on a FK from the right of the goal with a beautiful cross to the far post. But a Swiss player, channeling Maradonna perhaps, stuck out his fist and knocked the ball into touch and out of the path of a teammate right behind him!)

So the French have now gone 4 WC games without scoring. Landon Donovan has gone (if the TV commentators are right) 16 international games without scoring. Neither the French nor the Americans will get far if these trends continue.

In deep doo . . . .

After watching Italy-Ghana, I must confess to pessimism. Both teams played a fast game, moving up and down the field with great spirit, playing creatively, connecting passes. Oh, you name it: things the US team forgot to do in its game. Ghana had clear chances to score, finishing poorly each time. Italy's play was radically different from its reputation as a stodgy defender waiting to pounce on the counterattack. Even when it went up by a goal, it continued to put players forward. Players made runs without the ball. On several occasions, a player would move down a wing and pass to ball to a teammate streaking between defenders. (Watching the US play, you might have thought this not allowed by the rules.) Even its subs were offensive-minded.

This was entertaining soccer, from end to end. Unless the US gets its legs back, Saturday is gonna be a long day.

(Update from this morning: Korea beats Togo, but only by 1 and Togo scores. The US remains in last place.)

THUD!

About half the bar I was in cleared out at half time. I bailed at the 76th minute. This was not the result we were looking for. And though beating the Czechs was going to be a stretch, losing as we did was unexpected. I don't know whether there was a facet of the game in which the US excelled. Oh yeah: we won time of possession. Not sure where that figures in to the tie-breaker.

More later. I really need to get back to work.

They're gone, I remain

Waaahhh!!! As my blogging colleagues are settling in in Germany, I remain stateside. They've by now landed and regrouped in Frankfurt (traveling from two different US locations), and are heading towards Kaiserslautern for their first game on Monday, Australia v Japan. So not only are they in Germany and heading for the WC, but I've got to go to work in the morning! So what are the odds I'm taking a long lunch?

Some random thoughts from the first weekend: England did not play as well as expected. Or should I say, as well as I expected. They did not look all that well organized in the middle and didn't have the firepower up front that they may need later on in the tournament. A number of articles noted the heat on the field and maybe that was a factor -- most of the English players are used to playing in cold weather and it apparently got hot quickly in Germany last week.

Germany looked good offensively, but their defense seems suspect. Costa Rica had one offensive weapon, Wanchope, and he beat the German trap twice. When Germany plays a team with a more balanced attack, they may find themselves in trouble. Ecuador played well; maybe Poland is not as good as I thought. Ecuador answered one question: yes, they can win at altitude below 9,000 feet. A TV commentator noted that the team's only road win came at La Paz, which is even higher than Quito. So winning in Germany at 300' was quite an achievement. (We were quite elated with the Ecuador win, with significant personal attachment to things Ecuadorian.) If Ecuador beats Costa Rica, which they certainly are capable of, they stand a great chance of moving on. (The photo above is from the Ecuador game.)

The one game over the weekend that I missed was Sweden-T&T. With apologies to my T&T godson JS and his great parents, I didn't think they stood much of a chance against the Swedes. So while I was hiking in a local national park and identifying late spring wildflowers with Ms. AR, Shaka Hislop was making point-blank saves and all-but single-handedly preserving the T&T victory. The BBC reports that Rooney may play against T&T when these teams meet later on this week. (Interesting factoid of which I was not aware: Rooney has not scored in some 600 minutes of WC qualifying! So is he England's answer?) I still seek England and Sweden moving out of this group, but neither team right now looks like they'll go much farther in the tournament. Sure hope this changes.

The Argentina-Ivory Coast game was quite entertaining. Both teams moved up and down, playing creatively and bravely. This may have been the most entertaining game of the weekend. Drogba didn't disappoint: he plays with tremendous heart and his late goal raised hopes here of at least a draw. The IVC keeper looks quite shakey and his play may keep the team from advancing. Robben's play for Holland was out of this world. He was all over the field and may have been the best individual out on the field this past weekend. The team also looked quite good, with great poise and possession. Serbia lost by a goal, but never seemed to mount a challenge; they never had the ball long enough (possession was 57-43, in favor of Holland).

Finally, the late Sunday games: Iran ran out of gas and a late mistake by the Iranian keeper and his defense led to the second Mexican goal. The final goal was on a great cross to the head of the smallest guy on the pitch, 5'4" Zinha, a Brazilian import to the Mexican side. Sanchez, the Mexican GK, made one brilliant diving save during a game that must have been hard for him emotionally. I think Mexican has team speed to win this group, even over Portugal, which opened successfully against Angola. The Portuguese opened the scoring early in the 4th minute, and had several great early chances. But nothing came of them and they kept Angola in the match throughout.

The First Day Finally Arrives

WOW... what an opener. Germany v the ticos was a great game. Never before had 6 goals been scored in the opening match. The first and last strikes from the Germans were classics. 3 goals in the first 18 minutes, you couldnt have asked for anything better. Once Germany get Ballack back they should use that home-field advantage even more to boost their side! Then again their defense looked sketchy to any team that could get posession and make some good thru passes.
The second game proved me wrong. Ecuador handled the Poles extremly well. While the Poles will count themselves unlucky to get any goals with two hitting the woodwork, the South American's defense looked stellar.

22 and You will be posting from The FIFA World Cup starting in two days. 5 Matches will be covered in detail. Austrailia v Japan, USA v Italy, Spain v Tunisia, Portugal v Mexico, and the Winner of Group A (Germany) v the Runner-Up of Group B (England or Sweden).

An England-Brazil final: seems I agree!

So I finally sat down with my special summer issue of World Soccer, the one with reviews and comments concerning the 32 WC teams and tried to figure out how the event will play out, first within each of the groups and then in the one-and-out playoffs. After a few fits and starts, I eventually came to the same final as the Ref (see below): an England-Brazil final. I've not gone back to his post to see who comes out of each of the groups; we may agree on some, disagree on others. I also will admit that having watched the EPL all year may have influenced my views of the English team, because I believe players such as Terry, Lampard, Gerrard, J Cole, and Robinson are among the best at their positions. Even without Rooney, England should win its group and then have a clear shot to the final, as explained below.

(Two caveats: 1) having discussed some of the various strengths and weaknesses of different teams with the Ref, I would be remiss not to note the greater depth of his soccer knowledge, so differences between his and my picks may be explained by my ignorance; 2) as Ms. AR said to me, she probably could do just as good a job picking teams based on, oh, uniform colors for example. Sadly, in my case, she's probably right.

Group A (in order of finish):

Poland
Germany

Group B:

England
Sweden

Group C:

Argentina
Ivory Coast (I think the Netherlands are hurting and that IC is just a bit better than S&M)

Group D:

Portugal
Mexico

Group E:

Czech Republic (Koller's back and he looked dangerous in the pre-Cup friendlies)
US (going with heart over head, clearly)

Group F:

Brazil
Croatia

Group G:

France
Switzerland

Group H:

Spain
Ukraine

In the first round knockouts, I have the following

Poland-Sweden = Sweden

Argentina-Mexico= Mexico (not crazy about Mexico, so if the Argentines advance, that's alright by me)

England-Germany=England (Germany gets out of group A because it gets a boost from the hometown fans; but it goes no further)

Portugal-Ivory Coast=Ivory Coast (I'm a big Drogba fan, and Portugal always underachieves)

Czech Republic-Croatia=Czech Republic

France-Ukraine=Ukraine (Henri's great, Zidaine is still good, but that's about it)

Brazil-US=Brazil (I'm not delusional)

Spain-Switzerland=Spain

Quarterfinals

Sweden-Mexico=Sweden

England-IC=England (Rooney returns, scores, picks up a yellow for language)

Czech Rep-Ukraine=CR

Brazil-Spain=Brazil (Spain gets this far because of a weak draw, but it's no match for Brazil)

Semis

Sweden-England=England (this means that England probably has to do twice what's it's failed to do once going back 10 games: beat Sweden. I think this team can.)

Brazil-CR=Brazil (but a CR win would not be a huge upset: it's ranked 2nd in FIFA (the US FIFA ranking at 5 is way off because the US plays in a weak conference, but the CR plays in Europe, which is not so weak))

Final

England-Brazil= . . . .

If the game comes down to defense and goalkeeping, I think England has the edge. If it's wide open, then the Brazilian forwards, along with Ronaldinho may be able to dictate play, but going against Lampard, Cole, and Gerrard in the midfield could present them with their hardest test.

England wins! (I'm a Red Sox fan from way back, so rooting for a long-suffering underdog/underachievers comes second nature to me.)

Refs for the first 16 games . . .

of the World Cup have been announced and can be found here. The ref for the first match of the World Cup is Horacio Elizondo, and his ARs are Dario Garcia and Rodolfo Otero. All are from Argentina -- part of FIFAs plan of using refereeing teams to cover WC games.

A crew from Paraguay will work the US-Czech Republic team, led by Carlos Amarilla. He's been a FIFA ref since 1997.

Italian Scandal: Worse than expected

That's the comment from the person just appointed to head Italian soccer. According to this article, he also said that he thought the national team "could avoid being dragged into the scandal and stay focused on the World Cup, which starts next week in Germany." I suppose on the one hand you want to play the Italians at their best in order to see where you stand in relation to one of Europe's traditional top teams. But on the other hand, making it through the group stage is significantly more important for US soccer than for the Italians: if we don't make it out, I fear that the soccer-know-nothings in the US (and especially in sports media) would deem a third or fourth place finish to continue running down soccer in the US, regardless of the actual performance of the team. For the Italians, if they don't make it out, they can blame it on the soccer scandal, an already made excuse!