Showing posts with label Wold Cup 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wold Cup 2010. Show all posts
Monday, June 28, 2010
World Cup 2010 ... no video replay, retire FIFA executives ... by gimleteye
It is inexcusably archaic: the absence of video replay to double-check calls at the goal line for the World Cup. There have been too many mistakes by officials, including the call-back of a clear goal by England in its 4-1 loss to Germany yesterday. Using video replay to verify goal line calls would be simple; off field referees could provide answers without substantially interrupting play. Question: the referees already have headsets. WHO are they talking to??? It is time to make the change, or, to remove the FIFA officials holding back this necessary reform.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
World Cup 2010 ... US sent home by Ghana ... by gimleteye
Soccer was my sport for more than 25 years, and then I coached for more years than I played the game. The theme that is most resonant is that top soccer skill is not generated in weekend leagues or by travel teams; it happens in early years when kids play informal pick-up games on the street or in fields. If I were to guess a fair representation of kids playing on the US World Cup team started their playing experience in games as children in Haiti, or Germany, Mexico, or other countries.
My youngest son, when he was in his early teens in Miami, was skilled enough to be in the feeder system for national team training. It was a system that depended, heavily, on parents and automobiles and countless hours ferrying kids to practices and games. (And BTW, it was through these youth soccer travels that I experienced first-hand the penalties of the sprawl landscape in Florida that are central targets on this blog.) But back to the World Cup. Our guys did well. We did well enough to win against Ghana in a game where we were lucky as against Algeria. There is still a big gap between the skill level of the world's top players and ours. When Landon Donovan said, after the game, that "we were a little naive", I guess what he meant that the US still needs to play more physically and brutally to make up the difference. The gap is much narrower than it used to be, but as long as millions of parents are driving kids to soccer practices, that is how it will remain. That is not to say that we will never win a World Cup. Advanced selection and training systems are already in place that have turned professional football into a human form of thoroughbred racing. I wonder, where is the joy of the beautiful game in that?
My youngest son, when he was in his early teens in Miami, was skilled enough to be in the feeder system for national team training. It was a system that depended, heavily, on parents and automobiles and countless hours ferrying kids to practices and games. (And BTW, it was through these youth soccer travels that I experienced first-hand the penalties of the sprawl landscape in Florida that are central targets on this blog.) But back to the World Cup. Our guys did well. We did well enough to win against Ghana in a game where we were lucky as against Algeria. There is still a big gap between the skill level of the world's top players and ours. When Landon Donovan said, after the game, that "we were a little naive", I guess what he meant that the US still needs to play more physically and brutally to make up the difference. The gap is much narrower than it used to be, but as long as millions of parents are driving kids to soccer practices, that is how it will remain. That is not to say that we will never win a World Cup. Advanced selection and training systems are already in place that have turned professional football into a human form of thoroughbred racing. I wonder, where is the joy of the beautiful game in that?
Sunday, June 20, 2010
World Cup 2010: the controversies ... by gimleteye
If instant replay were used by FIFA, the organizing entity of international football; France would not have qualified for the World Cup, the US would have won the other day against Slovenia, and the Brazilian superstar Kaka would not be sitting out the next game due to a red card mistakenly issued. This is an incomplete catalogue of errors made by referees and line judges, clearly available on replay to billions of viewers. It is quite a spectacle, to watch the world class national team of France implode half a world away. But I would rather watch a game in which officiating mistakes did not play such a pivotal role. Wouldn't you?
Saturday, June 19, 2010
World Cup notes ... by gimleteye
The World Cup divides according to unpredictable team performances at the start that distill the best, advancing to the knockout stage of the tournament. What starts out as nervous team play quickly reveals team character. Argentina may still find 100 ways to lose, but so far the team that wouldn't start Lionel Messi four years ago has found the discipline to keep him the focus of the offense, and he, the ability to be a brilliant playmaker slightly behind other talented stars eager to score. You cannot teach that level of talent. It is there. It must be teased out, and if Maradonna succeeds it will be one of the quirkiest triumphs in football history. In contrast, the British star Wayne Rooney looks lost as a five year old in the Underground. 0-0, with Algeria. Ouch. It was painful to watch, as all England's flaws were naked. The division between the teams is marked by those who are extraordinarily well prepared, as teams-- both Koreas and Japan have played quite well, and the US too-- and those whose stars are reconstituted all-stars from first division teams in Europe. Maybe it is just the case that British football cannot produce first-rate talent. Surely the coaching must come into play. But why can't England can't come up with a coach to coax the talent out? The pressure on England can't be greater than in Brazil, obsessed with the beautiful game. The Brazilian stars seem to weave together seamlessly, the lesser known lights shining alongside the superstars; not only playing with sublime skills but tactically, too, to match and exceed the Europeans. It is all a mystery how this level of play happens, and one of the great reasons the World Cup is the best sporting event on the planet.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Ole, Ole Ole: The World Cup, three days away! ... by gimleteye
No oil spill reaches South Africa where the world's elite football teams will compete on the African continent for the first time. Yea!!! I'm giving up the term, "soccer". So what if it offends. At the World Cup, we watch the beautiful game called football. Can the US beat England on June 12? Here's my analysis:
The US national team has had a much clearer head about what is to come, than England. All the advantages of England's squad-- Premier League stars load the team-- are diminished by having just completed grueling seasons in which they mastered the grooves of their club teams (and worn out?). So what we are going to see (for baseball fans on our blog) could be a tired All Star team. On the other hand, the US players are mostly chipping in the Big Leagues from the sidelines or the edges. They have a lot to prove. Goalkeepers, excepted. This could mean being more focused and cohesive as a unit, and, not entirely unaware that their earnings combined are less than a tenth of what the British stars earn in aggregate. If the poor Yanks win, Great Britain will never be the same. A Yankee victory would be like Big Ben falling into the Thames.
Look at the Brits: huge holes in defense. John Terry, Frank Lampard, and Steve Gerrard are awesome players, but in their last World Cup these three never jelled. It was quite a disappointment. This year Liverpool's Gerrard had an awful, awful season. Four years later, can this trio do better? Ledley King filling in for injured Ferdinand? OMG: King's knee is so gimpy he won't even practice with his home team. Wayne Rooney, genius that he is, will have a huge task against a determined US side.
Onto the best of the rest. Real stars are injured and out of luck, dealing blows to the most riveting questions of the Cup: could Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Arjen Robben or Michael Ballack made the difference for their squads? Idle chatter. On the other hand, the biggest entertainment of the World Cup is hands-down watching the most talented team-- Argentina-- try to find its way to the pitch from the psychiatrist's office.
This incredibly skilled basket case is lead by a former national hero and periodic coke addict, its coach Diego Maradonna. Don't get me wrong: I love this guy. He is Argentina's national soap opera in a track suit. I predict Argentina will find a dozen ways not to win. If Lionel Messi can turn his genius into field leadership, no one will be more happy and amazed than me. But to me, Messi is not a leader of other stars. His genius shines when he has space. He is not a Leonardo Da Vinci put on earth to organize future Michaelangelos. So many stars, so many ways to get lost.
Then there is Brazil. Brazil is to football as Cirque de Soleil is to circus. Let me put it another way: everyone else is just Barnum and Bailey. Now there's nothing wrong with the high wire act and trapeze acts, but wouldn't you prefer dancing in Rio at Carnivale. Every player is a magician with the ball. Argentina plays with anxiety. Brazil plays with joy. The US plays with strength, Brazil plays with intuition. Germany plays with force, Brazil plays the way mercury flows. Italy plays with flashes of brilliance, Brazil plays with brilliance plus moments of transcendence.
Could Spain defeat Brazil? I think the stars on the national team of Spain control the middle of the field better than any others. Their forward line is lethal and quick. Their defense is anchored like cement. Puyol is fanastic. But look at the rest: Iniesta, Villa, Fabregas, Ramos, Torres and for my money, the best player in the world, Xabi Alonso. Spain--whose economy is crumbling like the Miami condo market--needs some good cheer. This could be its year.
The US national team has had a much clearer head about what is to come, than England. All the advantages of England's squad-- Premier League stars load the team-- are diminished by having just completed grueling seasons in which they mastered the grooves of their club teams (and worn out?). So what we are going to see (for baseball fans on our blog) could be a tired All Star team. On the other hand, the US players are mostly chipping in the Big Leagues from the sidelines or the edges. They have a lot to prove. Goalkeepers, excepted. This could mean being more focused and cohesive as a unit, and, not entirely unaware that their earnings combined are less than a tenth of what the British stars earn in aggregate. If the poor Yanks win, Great Britain will never be the same. A Yankee victory would be like Big Ben falling into the Thames.
Look at the Brits: huge holes in defense. John Terry, Frank Lampard, and Steve Gerrard are awesome players, but in their last World Cup these three never jelled. It was quite a disappointment. This year Liverpool's Gerrard had an awful, awful season. Four years later, can this trio do better? Ledley King filling in for injured Ferdinand? OMG: King's knee is so gimpy he won't even practice with his home team. Wayne Rooney, genius that he is, will have a huge task against a determined US side.
Onto the best of the rest. Real stars are injured and out of luck, dealing blows to the most riveting questions of the Cup: could Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Arjen Robben or Michael Ballack made the difference for their squads? Idle chatter. On the other hand, the biggest entertainment of the World Cup is hands-down watching the most talented team-- Argentina-- try to find its way to the pitch from the psychiatrist's office.
This incredibly skilled basket case is lead by a former national hero and periodic coke addict, its coach Diego Maradonna. Don't get me wrong: I love this guy. He is Argentina's national soap opera in a track suit. I predict Argentina will find a dozen ways not to win. If Lionel Messi can turn his genius into field leadership, no one will be more happy and amazed than me. But to me, Messi is not a leader of other stars. His genius shines when he has space. He is not a Leonardo Da Vinci put on earth to organize future Michaelangelos. So many stars, so many ways to get lost.
Then there is Brazil. Brazil is to football as Cirque de Soleil is to circus. Let me put it another way: everyone else is just Barnum and Bailey. Now there's nothing wrong with the high wire act and trapeze acts, but wouldn't you prefer dancing in Rio at Carnivale. Every player is a magician with the ball. Argentina plays with anxiety. Brazil plays with joy. The US plays with strength, Brazil plays with intuition. Germany plays with force, Brazil plays the way mercury flows. Italy plays with flashes of brilliance, Brazil plays with brilliance plus moments of transcendence.
Could Spain defeat Brazil? I think the stars on the national team of Spain control the middle of the field better than any others. Their forward line is lethal and quick. Their defense is anchored like cement. Puyol is fanastic. But look at the rest: Iniesta, Villa, Fabregas, Ramos, Torres and for my money, the best player in the world, Xabi Alonso. Spain--whose economy is crumbling like the Miami condo market--needs some good cheer. This could be its year.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
World Cup 2010 ... 56 days ... by gimleteye
A podcaster recently noted that the top league in France holds more players playing for national teams in the World Cup than any other, and I'm guessing that a fair percentage of these are from African nations. Can an African nation win the World Cup? Yesterday, the NY Times/ IHT reported that the captain of Togo, Emmanuel Adebayor, will give up his chance to play for his nation. Adebayor, only 26 and the leading goal scorer for the British premier team Manchester City, was on a team bus in January when Angolan separatists fired on it, killing three.
"Whether he knew it or not, Adebayor’s abandonment of his national team coincided with an explicit threat by a group allied to Al Qaeda that it plans to attack players and spectators at the United States-England match in South Africa on June 12."
Whether or not an African nation can win the World Cup, it is fascinating how many players from Africa do so well at the most elite level of competition when they lacked any of the sophisticated infrastructure to support youth development. Brilliant players like Lionel Messi-- who grew up in the club farm system (like minor league baseball for adolescents) are the exception.)
In Miami, I spent years and years ferrying kids from one soccer practice to another, back and forth, from the Gables to Kendall; the only area where there are enough fields to support games. What is lacking, not just in Miami, Florida, is the spontaneous way that children from football nations pick up a ball and create a game whenever and wherever they can. It happens in streets, on abandoned lots, without equipment even shoes. And it happens at a very young age. When you watch the US national team in the World Cup, that's the difference. Our kids have the shoes, the conditioning, strength and speed: for the most part, and in the split, fractions of seconds when it counts, they just don't have the instinctual response and brilliance.
"Whether he knew it or not, Adebayor’s abandonment of his national team coincided with an explicit threat by a group allied to Al Qaeda that it plans to attack players and spectators at the United States-England match in South Africa on June 12."
Whether or not an African nation can win the World Cup, it is fascinating how many players from Africa do so well at the most elite level of competition when they lacked any of the sophisticated infrastructure to support youth development. Brilliant players like Lionel Messi-- who grew up in the club farm system (like minor league baseball for adolescents) are the exception.)
In Miami, I spent years and years ferrying kids from one soccer practice to another, back and forth, from the Gables to Kendall; the only area where there are enough fields to support games. What is lacking, not just in Miami, Florida, is the spontaneous way that children from football nations pick up a ball and create a game whenever and wherever they can. It happens in streets, on abandoned lots, without equipment even shoes. And it happens at a very young age. When you watch the US national team in the World Cup, that's the difference. Our kids have the shoes, the conditioning, strength and speed: for the most part, and in the split, fractions of seconds when it counts, they just don't have the instinctual response and brilliance.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
World Cup 2010 ... by gimleteye
Over the weekend I wrote about Lionel Messi and Argentina, that very nearly missed qualifying for this June's World Cup despite being loaded with world class talent. A reader replied, "I was thinking about this last week. What do you think... " Here's what I think:
The reader continues, "What do you think of letting Higuaín, Agüero, Milito, and Tevez share time as the front two. Messi can be played just behind them in a creative role. Argentina is loaded up front, but they have no imagination/touch in the middle."
I agree. The problem is that they all want to be the star. They all want to be Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez. They all want to bat clean up. (If the US had any one of those players, we'd jump 10 places in work rankings immediately.) The problem is Argentina has so much talent that Messi doesn't have the room he needs. The same way that Arsenal built around Henry getting the ball midfield on the left, Argentina has to build around Messi getting the ball in space on the right. (Although Messi, for Barcelona, is far better than Henry in tight spaces and long distances. He's just the quickest player in the world, there, and a decade younger than Henry.) The big problem for Argentina is they don't have a leader in the midfield like Xavi Hernandez, supported by great defenders, who manage the field of play and give Messi space to run into. Maybe the thing to do is put Tevez as the attacking midfielder, with Messi up front alternating with one of the others until something gels like Anelka with Drogba this season at Chelsea. Can that happen in the space of a month long World Cup? I'm a big Tevez fan but not sure he is smart enough to change his playing style. Remember how frustrated he got, having to play with Rooney? He's been great at Man City this year, but from the front. Oh well: what does Maradonna know about subjugating egos? Nada.
The reader continues, "What do you think of letting Higuaín, Agüero, Milito, and Tevez share time as the front two. Messi can be played just behind them in a creative role. Argentina is loaded up front, but they have no imagination/touch in the middle."
I agree. The problem is that they all want to be the star. They all want to be Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez. They all want to bat clean up. (If the US had any one of those players, we'd jump 10 places in work rankings immediately.) The problem is Argentina has so much talent that Messi doesn't have the room he needs. The same way that Arsenal built around Henry getting the ball midfield on the left, Argentina has to build around Messi getting the ball in space on the right. (Although Messi, for Barcelona, is far better than Henry in tight spaces and long distances. He's just the quickest player in the world, there, and a decade younger than Henry.) The big problem for Argentina is they don't have a leader in the midfield like Xavi Hernandez, supported by great defenders, who manage the field of play and give Messi space to run into. Maybe the thing to do is put Tevez as the attacking midfielder, with Messi up front alternating with one of the others until something gels like Anelka with Drogba this season at Chelsea. Can that happen in the space of a month long World Cup? I'm a big Tevez fan but not sure he is smart enough to change his playing style. Remember how frustrated he got, having to play with Rooney? He's been great at Man City this year, but from the front. Oh well: what does Maradonna know about subjugating egos? Nada.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
World Cup 2010 ... by gimleteye
As the various European football leagues and championships move toward their finales, curiousity is building to the World Cup to be played on the African continent for the first time starting in June. The World Cup draws the best players from professional teams around the world to play for their national squads. The level of play in the national teams progresses by fits and starts, in the World Cup, even though the players have experience with one another. Take Lionel Messi, for example, the wonder from Argentina...
I was a huge fan of Messi, from the first moment I saw his limited play in the last World Cup, in Germany, as an 18 year old. Who was this diminutive character who lit up the field every time he touched the ball? And why did the national team coach only play him sporadically? In the past four years, Messi has emerged as one of the top footballers in the world, if not the best in the world. He scored four great goals for Barcelona in last weeks semi-final Champions League match against British team, Arsenal. In the press this morning, Argentinian coach and former all-world Diego Maradonna -- with whom Messi, now 22, is being compared-- said that Messi was playing on the field as though with Jesus.
But the Argentinian national team has been playing abysmally and barely qualified for the World Cup despite being loaded with talent. Barcelona is not just the best team in Spain, or possibly in Europe, it is also a team that where the players have figured out how to mesh with Messi's skill. That hasn't happened on the national team, which more like baseball's All-Stars in the mid-August showcase of individual talent.
I love what the World Cup does for billions of football fans around the world. Who can describe or explain that phenomenon, anymore than one can the unfathomable skill and performance of a 22 year old from Argentina who seems almost as amazed as anyone else at the results of his talent?
I was a huge fan of Messi, from the first moment I saw his limited play in the last World Cup, in Germany, as an 18 year old. Who was this diminutive character who lit up the field every time he touched the ball? And why did the national team coach only play him sporadically? In the past four years, Messi has emerged as one of the top footballers in the world, if not the best in the world. He scored four great goals for Barcelona in last weeks semi-final Champions League match against British team, Arsenal. In the press this morning, Argentinian coach and former all-world Diego Maradonna -- with whom Messi, now 22, is being compared-- said that Messi was playing on the field as though with Jesus.
But the Argentinian national team has been playing abysmally and barely qualified for the World Cup despite being loaded with talent. Barcelona is not just the best team in Spain, or possibly in Europe, it is also a team that where the players have figured out how to mesh with Messi's skill. That hasn't happened on the national team, which more like baseball's All-Stars in the mid-August showcase of individual talent.
I love what the World Cup does for billions of football fans around the world. Who can describe or explain that phenomenon, anymore than one can the unfathomable skill and performance of a 22 year old from Argentina who seems almost as amazed as anyone else at the results of his talent?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)