World Cup 2006: A look back before the Grand Finale!

What a World Cup tournament this has been! The most yellow and red cards shown in a single tournament in World Cup history! A bunch of sensational matches, all the superpowers progressing through to the latter stages of the tournament, and most remarkably, the return to form of one of the greatest players to ever play the game, Zinedine Zidane, affectionately known as Zizou! I'd like to just highlight some of the memorable moments of the Cup so far, and give you my version of the World Cup All-Stars. Fifa's official All-Star squad was really quite disappointing in certain aspects.

The big plusses:

Trinidad & Tobago, for that inspirational 0-0 tie with Sweden which showed that size of the country does not matter! So, shut up Portugal! Leo Beenhakker really worked wonders with the limited resources at his disposal.

Ivory Coast, for putting up 3 immensely gritty performances in the Group of death. 3 times they went down 2-0 and all three times they came back roaring and played some terrific attacking football that finally came to fruition against the hapless Serbians. They put a smile back on the Ivorians' faces, and for a country torn by civil war, that is quite an achievement.

Italy, for being able to play such great football so consistently when most of the players know they will be out of a job within the next couple of months! Amidst the terrible betting scandal, the Italians have restored integrity to themselves and proved what a footballing superpower they truly are.

Argentina, for playing the beautiful game exactly as it should be played, with flair and skill! Their 6-0 demolition of Serbia & Montenegro will probably live on in most fans' memories as the finest display of the South American style of play, perhaps even of all time! It was sad to see them lose in a penalty shoot-out though.

Germany, for restoring national pride to a nation not known for being patriotic. Heavily criticized before the tournament, Jurgen Klinsmann worked his way into the hearts and souls of every German within the span of 3 weeks, and he had the usually sterile German side playing flowing, attacking, winning football! Truly a great achievement.

The minusses:

Czech Republic, for disappointing so badly after promising so much in their first outing when they took apart the US 3-0. An ageing squad led by an ageing coach looked their age against the energetic Ghanians and rejuvenated Italians. Touted as one of the pre-tournament dark horses to win the Cup, they made a quiet exit in the first round!

Holland, for dragging the beautiful game to its lowest ebb in its game against Portugal in the second round. 16 yellows and 4 reds will tell you quite a lot about the nature of this game, and the Dutch instigated the dirty game by engaging in some horrendous tackles very early in the game. For a team boasting the flair of Robben, van Persie and van der Vaart to stoop so low was really pathetic!

Togo, this one really comes down to the Togo federation that made life so difficult for its players and coaches by being embroiled in a pay dispute virtually throughout their World Cup stay! Despite this terrible drama, it is quite remarkable that Togo put in some decent performances against Korea and France in particular. But you have to wonder how much better they might have been, had all the problems been sorted out before the tournament.

Serbia & Montenegro, perhaps the biggest minus of all in this tournament! They came into this tournament with high hopes, having had a very strong European qualifying run. It all fell apart in their 3 Cup games, however. There was no cohesion, very little effort and almost no skill shown by this side which lost all three of its games to Holland, Ivory Coast and Argentina. A massive clearout is needed if they are to be taken seriously by any opposition anymore! Shameful!

World Cup All-Star Squad:

Goalkeepers:
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy) - Only 1 goal allowed until the final, and that was scored by his own teammate! Enough said!
Ricardo (Portugal) - If for nothing else, for his sensational penalty kick stopping feats against England!
Shaka Hislop (T&T) - His performance against Sweden remains the best by any goalkeeper in this tournament!

Defenders:
Fabio Cannavaro (Italy) - Commanding captain
Christoph Metzelder (Germany) - Led a very inexperienced German backline admirably.
Philippe Senderos (Switzerland) - Fantastic young center-back with loads of guts.
Philipp Lahm (Germany) - Easily one of the best full-backs in the competition.
Fabio Grosso (Italy) - Probably the best left-back in the Cup, along with Lahm.
Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy) - Easily the best right-back in the tournament.
Brett Sancho (T&T) - Heart and soul of the T&T defence.
Miguel (Portugal) - Marauding full-back attacked as much as he defended.

Midfielders:
Andrea Pirlo (Italy) - Classy holding midfielder, made that superb pass that knocked Germany to its knees in the semis.
Didier Zokora (Ivory Coast) - Immensely hardworking midfielder that made the Ivorian midfield tick.
Michael Essien (Ghana) - Led the Black Stars to the second round, and how they missed him against Brazil!
David Odonkor (Germany) - Only played as a sub, but he changed almost every game he was involved in. Amazing speed!
Tranquillo Barnetta (Switzerland) - Terrific young winger lent pace and skill to the Swiss attack.
Juan Roman Riquelme (Argentina) - Pulled all the strings for the Argentines in midfield. Taking him off against Germany was a huge mistake!
Francesc Fabregas (Spain) - Only 19, but now established in the heart of the Spanish midfield.
Zinedine Zidane (France) - The maestro took his time to get going, but he was huge in the wins over Spain and Brazil.

Forwards:
Fernando Torres (Spain) - Proved himself to be a goalscorer at the highest level after having many doubters.
Miroslav Klose (Germany) - Pure goalscoring ability. Kept Germany alive against the Argentines with a typically important strike.
Abdelkader Toure (Togo) - Hardworking, skilful striker overshadowed his more illustrious compatriot Emmanuel Adebayor!
Lukas Podolski (Germany) - The other half of the potent German strikeforce. Fifa Young Player of the tournament.

World Cup 2006: The Semi-finals

Semi-final #1 saw hosts Germany take on Italy, two sides with immense World Cup pedigree. Germany brought in midfielder Tim Borowski to replace Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sebastian Kehl to replace the suspended Torsten Frings. Italy restored Marco Materazzi to the central defence but retained Mauro Camoranesi in midfield, after he impressed against Ukraine. Italy started the stronger of the two sides, and Luca Toni was a constant threat up front. Jens Lehmann in the German goal was called upon to make saves from Toni and Gianluca Zambrotta as the Italians created some chances. At the other end, Lukas Podolski was lively up front for the hosts, but the Italian defence protected goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon impressively. It was 0-0 at the half, although the match was entertaining to watch. The Germans took more control of the midfield in the second half and dominated play more as the Italians seemed to fade down the stretch. However, their approach play was rather dull and they were unable to break down the strong Italian defence. Klinsmann resorted to his usual substitutes Odonkor and Neuville in an attempt to rejuvenate his side. Italy also brought on fresh legs, Gilardino for Toni, and Iaquinta for Camoranesi. After the substitutions were made, the game got more open as both sides pressed for the winning goal with time running out. However, neither side were able to break through, and the game went into extra-time. The first period of extra-time was also cagey stuff, but Italy coach Marcello Lippi made a bold substitution by bringing on Alessandro Del Piero for Simone Perrotta towards the end of the first period of extra-time. The second extra-time period started feverishly, with Gilardino striking the post after a terrific run through the German penalty area and Zambrotta smashing the woodwork soon after from outside the box. It was the Germans who were fading now as they struggled to get their wing players involved. The signs were pointing to a penalty shoot-out despite all the efforts of both sides. However, the never-say-die Italians had other ideas! Off a poor corner kick clearance, Andrea Pirlo collected the ball at the edge of the area, but instead of shooting on goal, slipped through a delightful ball to Fabio Grosso who curled home a superb first-time left footed shot to put Italy ahead in the 119th minute!!!! Fantastic strike from the left-back that left Lehmann with no chance of saving it whatsoever! The Germans were distraught, but poured forward in the dying minutes of the game in search of the vital equaliser. However, Italy broke on the counterattack in the 121st minute and Del Piero sealed the result for the Italians with a clinical finish from 12 yards after being played through brilliantly by Iaquinta! 2-0 Italy with the last kick of the game! Germany was ousted and the jubilant Italians celebrated a fine team performance!

The second semi-final saw Portugal v France. The Portuguese were hoping to beat France for the first time in 30 years and reach their first-ever World Cup final. France were hoping to give a fitting farewell to their great superstar Zinedine Zidane by competing in the final as well. Both sides played with their usual lineups, and the game started with France as the aggressor. Malouda had an early chance on goal but missed it after being played through by Zidane. Portugal took a while to find their rhythm but came back into the game as the half wore on. Deco pulling the strings from midfield and Cristiano Ronaldo taking on the French defenders with pace and skill. Maniche had a couple of long range efforts well saved by French keeper Fabien Barthez. Then on 35 minutes, Zidane played a ball into Thierry Henry inside the box, and the French striker was tripped by Ricardo Carvalho as he tried to turn on goal. PENALTY! Zidane stepped up to take the kick and buried it into the left corner despite the best efforts of Portuguese keeper Ricardo. 1-0 France! That's how they went into the halftime break. Portugal were remarkably subdued at the start of the second half as they struggled to get any offense going against the strong French defence. Instead, France's Franck Ribery looked lively as he tried to put the game beyond Portugal's reach. Portugal coach Luis Felipe Scolari brought on Simao, Helder Postiga and Paulo Ferreira in an attempt to find the equaliser. Fernando Meira went close in the dying minutes of the game after the knockdown from Postiga, but he blazed his shot high and wide. Barthez fumbled Cristiano Ronaldo's long range free-kick as well, but Luis Figo could not direct his header on target from the rebound. Portuguese keeper Ricardo came up in the final minute as they won a corner kick, but France held on to their slender lead to reach their second World Cup final in 3 attempts!!! Zidane will now play the final with a chance to bow out of football with the greatest prize in the sport!! Truly fairy-tale stuff from a side that was written off by many experts before the tournament began.

So, Germany will play Portugal in the meaningless third place match in Stuttgart on Saturday, and Italy will take on France on Sunday for the 2006 World Cup trophy! A wonderful tournament comes to a close with the greatest player of the last two decades captaining his side in their quest for the ultimate prize in football! And they will play against one of the most impressive and consistent teams in the tournament, Italy. A fitting finale, indeed, for the world's greatest tournament!

World Cup 2006: The Quarter-finals

Germany v Argentina kicked off the quarter-final round of the World Cup, and what a game it promised to be. The hosts had been playing some wonderful attacking football through the group stages of the tournament, and the South Americans were at their fluid best, especially when thrashing Serbia & Montenegro 6-0. The Argentines made three changes to their usual starting lineup, Fabricio Coloccini stepping in at rightback, Luis Gonzalez replacing Esteban Cambiasso in midfield, and Carlos Tevez getting the nod ahead of Javier Saviola to partner Hernan Crespo up front. The game began in typical fashion, with the Argentines controlling the ball in midfield against a hardworking German defence. It was the Albiceleste that struck the first blow, albeit from an unexpected source, as Roberto Ayala leaped high above the German defence to nod home Riquelme's corner kick. 1-0 Argentina, and the hosts had to chase the game for the first time this tournament! Germany worked themselves into the game slowly but weren't able to equalise in the first half. On 63 minutes, Argentina coach Jose Pekerman inexplicably chose to substitute his star playmaker Riquelme with defensive midfielder Esteban Cambiasso. Sensing that Argentina were afraid to lose their slender lead, German coach Klinsmann threw on speedy winger David Odonkor and super-sub Oliver Neuville along with midfielder Tim Borowski to add some more bite up front. On 80 minutes, the Germans earned the just reward for their pressure, as Borowski flicked on a Ballack cross, and topscorer Miroslav Klose was on hand at the far post to direct a firm header into the far corner! 1-1 with 10 minutes to go! The crowd went berserk as they rejoiced the German equaliser and urged their heroes to add a winning goal. That didn't come, however, and 30 minutes of boring, tired football ensued from two sides who were simply too afraid to lose the game in extra-time! Hence, we had penalties! German keeper Jens Lehmann came up huge as he saved penalties from Roberto Ayala and Esteban Cambiasso to lead the Germans to a 4-2 win on penalties!! Pekerman resigned immediately after the game, thankfully, as nobody could legitimately explain his horrendous decision to take out Riquelme with 30 minutes left in the game!

Italy played Ukraine in the second game of the quarterfinals, and this one went totally according to the World Cup formbook. 3-time champions Italy took the lead in 5th minute through Gianluca Zambrotta and never relinquished their control over an average but hardworking Ukraine side. Luca Toni added two further second-half strikes as the mighty Azzurri made light work of the World Cup debutants. Kudos to Ukraine and their classy skipper Andriy Shevchenko for making the last 8 in their first ever attempt, but the difference in class was evident in this game.

QF #3 featured England v Portugal in a rematch of the Euro 2004 semi-final encounter, which the Portuguese won on penalties. England played a 4-5-1 formation with Owen Hargreaves as holding midfielder and Wayne Rooney as the lone striker. Both teams started out sluggishly, though England had the better of the run-of-play in the first half. It ended 0-0 with neither side able to significantly test the two keepers. Then, it all changed in the second half. First, England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson replaced captain David Beckham with Spurs teenager Aaron Lennon for what seemed like a leg injury picked up by the England skipper. On 53 minutes, Wayne Rooney went into a full-blooded tackle on Ricardo Carvalho and seemed to stamp on the defender's groin. The referee blew for the free-kick immediately, and a small melee ensued where Rooney seemed to shove, albeit gently, Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo. England were then reduced to 10 men as Wayne Rooney was sent off, perhaps for the cumulative mistakes he had just made on the field! Eriksson responded bravely by replacing Joe Cole with beanpole striker Peter Crouch. Despite being down to 10 men, England were able to create some good chances for Lennon, Crouch and Lampard, though none of them were able to put the ball in the back of the net! Portugal seemed to be tiring fast and were hardly able to make their 1-man advantage count. 0-0 it ended after 90 minutes. In extra time, Portugal finally dominated possession and laid siege to the England goal. However, the English defence remained resolute and some excellent work from Owen Hargreaves and Steven Gerrard even helped them create a couple of chances on the break that went to waste. Owen Hargreaves, in particular, showed super-human stamina and fitness as he motored constantly from offense to defence, helping England stay in the game. Portuguese substitute Helder Postiga had the ball in the net late on but was ruled offside. To penalties, it went, and England's bad luck with the shoot-out continued! Portgual keeper Ricardo was superb as he saved 3 penalties to lead his side to a 3-1 win on penalties! Man Utd winger Ronaldo scored the final penalty for the Portuguese to condemn England to yet another loss on penalties!

The last quarterfinal saw Brazil take on France in a rematch of the 1998 final. Brazil, surprisingly, changed their starting lineup as Juninho replaced Adriano in the XI. Both teams started slowly and it figured to be a tactical battle, with neither side wanting to make mistakes. French captain Zinedine Zidane appeared to be in fine form as he controlled the midfield brilliantly. The first half ended 0-0 with really not many chances of note created by either side. In the second half, France struck first! Zidane delivered a cross from the left wing and Thierry Henry, left unmarked at the far post, sidefooted a volley past Dida in the Brazilian goal. 1-0 France! Brazil weren't playing well at all and began to panic as they chased the game against a well-organized French defence. Cicinho, Robinho and Adriano were all introduced late in the second half and Brazil finally pressed hard for the equaliser in the last 10 minutes of the game. It wasn't forthcoming as Lilian Thuram and William Gallas held firm at the back, and the French caused a major upset by dethroning the reigning World Champions in the last 8! Zidane prolonged his career with a vintage performance and Henry gave the French reason to celebrate!

So, the semi-finals were set......Germany v Italy and France v Portugal! Unbelievable stuff, but then again, that's what makes the World Cup so special!

World Cup 2006: Day 19

In the final round of 16 matches played today, Brazil played Ghana first, followed by Spain v France. Two absolutely mouthwatering clashes and both the games did not disappoint!!

Brazil started their regular first choice XI and got off to a flying start when Ronaldo put them ahead after just 5 minutes! Kaka's through-ball dissected the Ghana defence, and Ronaldo dribbled past the helpless keeper Richard Kingson with a sensational step-over move before tapping the ball home. 1-0 and the fans had barely gotten into their seats! Ghana, to their credit, regained their composure and played some really impressive football in the midfield and created a number of good chances. However, their finishing in front of goal let them down as most of their shots went off target or straight to Dida in the Brazilian goal. Defender John Mensah was incredibly unlucky to see his powerful downward header stopped by Dida's flailing leg on the goalline! Then, right on the stroke of halftime, Brazil made Ghana pay dearly for their profligacy. A lightning quick counter-attack saw the ball played out wide to Cafu, who sent in a first-time cross to the far post where Adriano had the simplest of tap-ins! The linesman had crucially missed Adriano being in an offside position, and the Ghanians protested vehemently, so much so that the Ghana coach Ratomir Dujkovic was sent off from the dugout for dissent! 2-0 at the break, and really hard luck for the excellentt Ghanians. It was more of the same story in the second half, as Ghana dominated play in the midfield and created numerous chances, but Stephen Appiah's side were just not able to beat Dida in the Brazilian goal. The game was then finally settled for good 5 minutes before fulltime, when Ze Roberto beat Ghana's offside trap and rounded the keeper before slotting home Brazil's third goal. 3-0 it ended, with the scoreline doing no justice at all to the excellent play produced by Ghana. Unfortunately, their forwards just didn't have their shooting boots on and they are left to rue what might have been a great upset.

Spain took France next, aiming to end the international career of France star and captain Zinedine Zidane. They were the more aggressive team at the start and the midfield trio of Xabi Alonso, Xavi and Fabregas ensured that Spain had plenty of early possession. They made it count in the 28th minute when defender Pablo Ibanez was tripped inside the penalty box. David Villa stepped up to take the penalty and coolly slotted home despite French keeper Barthez guessing the right direction. The goal seemed to awaken the French and they started to get more possession later in the half. Patrick Vieira then played a terrific defence-splitting pass to Franck Ribery and the Marseille playmaker kept his composure to round the keeper before scoring France's equalising goal! 1-1 at the half, and it was a thoroughly entertaining match. The Spaniards brought on winger Joaquin and forward Luis Garcia early in the second half to replace captain Raul and goalscorer Villa. The game then went through a period where petty fouls broke up the rhythm of play and neither side could string together passes to create good chances. In the 81st minute, Italian referee Roberto Rosetti, who had excellent game till then, awarded a dubious free-kick to the French for a non-existent foul on Thierry Henry. This proved to be crucial, as France went ahead from the resultant free-kick. Patrick Vieira headed Zidane's long cross towards goal and rightback Sergio Ramos inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net with Casillas in position to save Vieira's initial effort!! 2-1 to France with just minutes remaining, and the Spanish were hard done by some play-acting from France's great goalscorer. Spain poured men forward in the dying minutes but were unable to level the game late on. Instead, the French were able to extend their lead in the 92nd minute as Zizou led a counterattack and beat his marker before firing home from 15 yards. Fitting in some respects for Zidane to cap his final international tournament with a goal. The French managed to extend Zidane's career by one more game, as they will now take on world champions Brazil in the quarterfinals!

The final 8 are decided now, and what a sensational lineup we have - Germany v Argentina, Italy v Ukraine, England v Portugal, Brazil v France!!! Can't wait for Friday now...

World Cup 2006: Day 18

The round of 16 continued today with Italy v Australia first followed by Switzerland v Ukraine. After the farcical refereeing of yesterday, everyone was simply hoping for the game of football to take centerstage instead of the men in black!

The Italians got off to a good start against the Australians and created a number of good chances in the first half. Alberto Gilardino and Luca Toni were denied by a couple of excellent stops by Aussie keeper Mark Schwarzer. Australia were content to put men behind the ball and try to catch the Italians on the counterattack. With Harry Kewell injured, Australia were forced to play with just Mark Viduka as the lone striker in a 4-5-1 formation. It remained 0-0 at the interval with the Italians just having the better run of play in a tight contest. Italy coach Marcello Lippi chose to replace Gilardino with Vincenzo Iaquinta after the break and he immediately set up Luca Toni with a great cross but the big striker fired well over the bar from 12 yards out! Then, on 51 minutes, Italy were reduced to 10 men when Marco Materazzi was shown a straight red card for a two footed, studs-up tackle on Australia's Marco Bresciano. The Aussies sensed the momentum shifting and had much of the ball for the remainder of the second half, but were unable to break down a well-organized Italian defence marshalled by the excellent Fabio Cannavaro. Lippi then put on star forward Francesco Totti, who was surprisingly omitted from the starting lineup, for Alessandro Del Piero. This proved to be a masterstroke from Lippi, as leftback Fabio Grosso went charging up the field in the 92nd minute and was brought down, albeit rather unfortunately, by Lucas Neill. The referee awarded the Italians a penalty, and Totti stepped up and coolly fired Italy into the quarterfinals with the last kick of the game!!! Utter disappointment for the game Australians, though the final result was fair since the Australians hardly managed a dangerous shot attempt on goal even after gaining the numerical advantage early in the second half.

The Swiss and Ukrainians came out in their game in exactly the same 4-4-1-1 formation, and produced a lively first half with chances for both sides. The game was played at a high tempo and there was plenty of passion and hard work from both sets of players. Ukraine captain Andriy Shevchenko hit the crossbar with a diving header off a Kalinichenko free kick, and Swiss star Alexander Frei also rattled the woodwork with a superb 30 yard free kick. 0-0 at the break but there was plenty of action in the game which suggested that it was only a matter of time before the goals came. Unfortunately, it was not to be so! The tempo slowed down in the second half, and although there was plenty of guts and fighting spirit displayed by both sides, there was a distinct lack of quality from both teams in the final third of the field. The result was a drab 0-0 scoreline at the end of regulation time, and sadly, neither team really dared to venture forward in the extra time periods as well. So, we had the first penalty shoot-out of the 2006 World Cup! Shevchenko was the first man to take a penalty kick, but his shot was well saved by the Swiss keeper Zuberbuhler! However, the luckless Swiss were even worse from the spot as they missed their first 3 penalty kicks. Rebrov, Milevskiy and Gusev converted for the Ukrainians to send them through to the quarterfinals 3-0 on penalties!! It was a rare penalty shootout shut-out for the Ukrainians as well! They will now face the Italians, who will be heavy favorites to progress to the semifinal stage based on current form at least.

Tomorrow, the final round of 16 clashes feature Brazil v Ghana and France v Spain in two sensational matches!! Until then,.....

World Cup 2006: Day 17

Today's action saw England take on Ecuador in the first match, and Portugal v Holland in the second game.

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson sprung his customary starting lineup surprise yet again by naming Owen Hargreaves at rightback, Michael Carrick as a holding midfielder and Wayne Rooney as the lone striker in a 4-1-4-1 formation. Ecuador retained the same lineup that had started their first game against Poland. From the very outset, this had all the makings of a defensive battle, and that is exactly what transpired. Both sides struggled to come up with attacking moves of any real danger and the first real chance fell to the South Americans when John Terry miscued his defensive header and Carlos Tenorio was clean through on goal. However, a fantastic saving tackle from Ashley Cole deflected the striker's shot onto the crossbar and out of play!! A superb chance squandered by the South Americans. They would not create another chance of note throughout the whole game as well. England also labored to break down the stubborn Ecuadorean defence as Rooney was often left all alone up front to fight against 4 defenders. The sweltering heat of 92 F in Stuttgart seemed to sap the energy of the English in particular. The mindnumbingly boring game finally sparked to life when David Beckham curled home a perfect free kick on the hour mark to put England ahead. You could argue they deserved it because of their possession advantage. Beckham himself struggled severely with dehydration before being taken off with 10 minutes to go for Aaron Lennon. The diminutive Spurs winger injected some energy into the game and Frank Lampard squandered a pair of golden chances to wrap the game up for England. However, with the Ecuadoreans barely managing an attack, Eriksson threw on Jamie Carragher for Joe Cole and effectively killed the game for the remainder of the time. A horrendous game for spectators to watch, sadly, but England go through courtesy of their captain's deadball expertise.

In contrast, the flair and attacking endeavor of Portugal and Holland promised a far more entertaining matchup, and both teams came out playing some good football which was pleasant on the eye, especially after enduring the torture of the morning. Dutch coach van Basten caused major headlines by omitting star striker Ruud van Nistelrooy from the side, he would not play any part in this game! Portugal struck first in the 23rd minute as Maniche displayed terrific close control inside the box before smashing home a fierce shot which left Dutch keeper van der Sar with no chance. The Dutch seemed to get a little energy out of this goal and pressed forward in search of an equaliser. This is where Russian referee Valentin Ivanov stepped to the fore! The game was being played at a fast and physical pace, but the referee seemed to be card-happy and intent on punishing the merest of challenges. Several yellow cards, some genuine some unnecessary, were shown to both sets of players, and when Costinha inexplicably chose to handle the ball in the middle of the park, he became the first casualty of the game. He was correctly shown his second yellow card of the day and sent off for an early bath! The Dutch had the numerical advantage and created several great chances in the second half. Philip Cocu was desperately unlucky to volley his shot onto the crossbar from 5 yards! The action got a little testy out on the field and the referee persisted with his card-happy behavior. Soon, the game turned into a farce as Holland had Bouhlarouz and van Bronckhorst sent off while Portugal's Deco also joined the growing contingent of players watching from the sidelines!! A potentially intriguing match was destroyed by the referee and by the time the final whistle was blown, there had been 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards shown, a new record for the World Cup! Unbelievable officiating!! Portugal displayed great defensive intensity to hang on to a 1-0 win, but will surely rue the suspensions to Deco and Costinha as they face England next in the quarter finals! What a game! Loads of drama, but most of it unrelated to real footballing matters!

England must consider themselves fortunate. They are playing terribly but are in the quarter finals and will face a side without its best offensive player and a key defensive midfielder! Lady Luck seems to be smiling at them, but can they make it count by upping the quality of their own play?...

World Cup 2006: Day 16

Back in Nashville now! I did miss the live telecast of the Germany v Sweden game but I did arrive in time to catch the second half of the Argentina v Mexico clash. Nevertheless, let's start with the World Cup hosts.

Germany came out as firm favorites in their game against Sweden, and started game exactly like that! Slick passing and impressive movement off the ball had the Swedish defence in all kinds of trouble early. 20 year old phenom Lukas Podolski ensured that the early German pressure would not go unrewarded as he struck twice inside the first 20 minutes! A left footed blast from 25 yards being the highlight of his two strikes! Sensational finishing from the German prodigy and the hosts were up 2-0. Sweden were up against it from the beginning, but surely this was too much of a mountain for them to climb. To compound Sweden's troubles, defender Teddy Lucic was sent off in the 35th minute for his second bookable offence. The Germans controlled the rest of the game, without unnecessary fuss and finished off the game with customary efficiency. Sweden had their best chance in the 53rd minute when Henrik Larsson was unable to convert a penalty kick, but apart from that, did not largely trouble the German goal. The hosts cruise into the second round with another impressive performance and have sounded a warning to all the other title contenders with this demolition of Sweden. They will now face the winner of the second game of the day, Argentina v Mexico, in the quarter finals.

Argentina were easily the best side of the group stages, and Mexico the clear underdogs in this clash between two Latin-styled teams. Mexico were the brighter team at the start, and captain Rafael Marquez gave them a dream start when he bundled in from close range after just 5 minutes! Stunning! The Argentines trailed for the first time in this competition. However, they bounced back within 5 minutes as Hernan Crespo got on the end of a Riquelme corner and the ball ended up in the Mexico net after taking a deflection of a Mexican defender. 1-1 and only 10 minutes gone in the match! This game had classic written all over it and did not disappoint. Both teams passed the ball around nicely, though neither set of forwards were able to get clear-cut chances as the defences tightened up after the loose beginning. Argenitna brought on impressive substitutes Carlos Tevez, Pablo Aimar and teenage star Lionel Messi in the second half as the looked to push for the winning goal. Tevez had a terrific goal disallowed incorrectly for the linesman in the 85th minute, and extra time was forced. 8 minutes into the first period of extra time, Argentina's Maxi Rodriguez chested a ball down on the right edge of the penalty area and unleashed an unstoppable left-footed volley that crashed into the far corner of Mexico's goal!!! Best goal of the tournament by far!!!! The wonder strike gave Argentina the crucial edge, and they were able to hang on to it as the Mexicans were visibly disheartened by the Argentine goal. 2-1 it ended and heartbreak for a gutsy Mexican team but they were beaten by an absolute beauty of a goal and can take heart from their overall performance. Argentina will move on to face Germany in the quarterfinals in what will surely be a mouthwatering clash!! The absolutely massive games are truly underway now!

World Cup 2006: Day 15

This will be my last blog entry from Ireland! It's back to the warmth and sunshine of Nashville tomorrow for me, sadly. Amidst doing some sightseeing, I still managed to catch some of the World Cup action today.

In the early games, Spain played Saudi Arabia and Ukraine took on Tunisia. As has been characteristic of play in this group, the football was of the mind-numbing variety! After a brief glimpse at some of the football being played in these games, I chose to spend my afternoon exploring Limerick city instead!! Spain fielded their entire reserve team and played a very dull game against the hapless Saudis, winning 1-0 in the end. Ukraine and Tunisia also played out a horrific game, from an entertainment standpoint, which Ukraine won 1-0 courtesy of an Andriy Shevchenko penalty. As a result, Spain comfortably topped the group and Ukraine finished second.

The last two games of the group stages represented World Cup drama at its best. France took on Togo needing at least a 2 goal win to put them into the next round, and Switzerland took on South Korea needing just a draw, but with the Koreans desperate for a win to knock out the French! The Swiss did the French a huge favor in their game, which was of course played simultaneously, by knocking home two goals from Philippe Senderos and Alex Frei to beat a very hardworking Korean side. Both sides had numerous chances to score in a very entertaining and open game, but the Swiss just managed to nick two goals halfway through either half.

The French opened strongly against Togo and created a whole host of chances. Some pathetic finishing from Ribery and Trezeguet and some inspired goalkeeping from Kossi Agassa in the Togo goal kept the score 0-0 at the break. The tension was mounting palpably amongst the French, and BBC commentato/analyst, ex-French international defender Marcel Desailly expressed his and his countrymen's frustration and nervousness at the fact that France were unable to score goals! Togo, for their part, put on a decent effort in the first half and did their best to thwart the French attacks. However, in the second half, they simply ran out of steam again! France captain Patrick Vieira swivelled beautifully in the penalty box before driving home a clinical finish to finally put the French ahead after 55 minutes. A tremendous effort from the skipper who was celebrating his 30th birthday today. 6 minutes later, it was all over as star striker Thierry Henry collected a Vieira flick-on with a superb first touch before placing the ball into the bottom right corner of the Togo net. 2-0 to the French and exactly what they had required at the start of the game! The rest of the game was a very careless affair as both teams settled for the scoreline and slowed down the tempo to almost a standstill. Switzerland go through as group leaders and France qualify in second spot, as a result.

And this completes our round of 16 matchups as Switzerland will face Ukraine next, and France faces a very talented Spain squad that will certainly test them much more than their first round opponents did!! Fantastic lineup of matches coming and it is quite unbelievable to think that 48 of the 64 World Cup games have come and gone already! I will miss the live telecast of the second round matches tomorrow since I'll be on the plane but I will catch them recorded in some form, and put up further commentary perhaps on Sunday. Cheeri-O from Ireland....

World Cup 2006: Day 15 (Special Edition)

Over the past 24 hours, I've read various articles online about USA's failure to get past the group stages and all kinds of reactions to that ranging from slandering of USA coach Bruce Arena, to conspiracy theories involving George Bush, and disgust at the supposed "cheaters" in soccer (read Ghana forwards) who feign injury and manipulate referees to aid their team's cause. I'd just like to weigh in with my two cents on USA's World Cup performance as well.

Eric Wynalda has been particularly critical of Bruce Arena, his tactics, roster selection etc. and blamed him squarely for the USA's early exit from the World Cup. Admittedly, Arena didn't have the best of tournaments and especially blundered tactically against the Czechs in the first game. However, this is the same Eric Wynalda who, in a World Cup preview show about three weeks ago on ABC, predicted that USA had a good chance of making the World Cup final and even winning it!! For almost any soccer fan (excepting certain misguiding ones in America), this was clearly a case of overhype!! As I far as I can recall, only Alexi Lalas expressed that qualifying for the second round from their group would be a major success for the US.

Thanks to USA's rather remarkable run to the quarterfinals in 2002, expectations had just risen sky high for this year's tournament. Progress at the World Cup is never straightforward and we have seen several powerhouse nations drop out in the first round of the Cup, a la France in 2002! The Americans only needed to look at their roster to realize the true strength of their team. Whereas, almost all of the 23 players on the roster for the top teams like England, Spain, Brazil etc. ply their trade in one of the top professional leagues of the world. In stark contrast, almost half of the USA starting lineup and roster played in the MLS! Of course, individual players do not make a team, but it is just a case of exposure to top-level tactics and gameplay that eventually makes the difference in the World Cup. MLS players simply never encounter top-flight tactics employed by top international coaches, and rarely face the kind of quality they face at the World Cup. So, it does not make sense to expect them to world beaters, just because they happened to do so last time around!

The US has improved significantly in soccer over the last 5-7 years. There's no doubting that. However, for them to become a world power in soccer is going to take another 5-10 years of development. The MLS system needs to get better with quality management and players, and this will obviously take time to happen. The Americans cannot expect instant gratification in soccer, simply because the competition in the rest of the world is so strong. US Soccer needs to go back to the drawing board, revisit their expectations and goals for the near future, and focus on a plan that will enable them to compete on a regular basis against the likes of Italy, England, Spain and Brazil. Blaming Bruce Arena and his staff, even though they deserve a fair amount of criticism, is not going to help the US. And replacing Arena with a top coach like Guus Hiddink isn't going give them instant results either. They have 4 years in front of them now before their next shot at the World Cup, and hopefully, the next time around, we'll see a lot more US players playing for some of the top teams in Europe and/or South America. US soccer fans and the media need to clamour for the development of MLS and the young players in the US, instead of sulking and whining about the failures of 2006!

World Cup 2006: Day 14

I actually had the schedule of games for today mixed up! I thought the USA game was going to be played at 8 pm Irish time, and so, went on a day tour along the western coast of Ireland! Which, by the way, is extremely beautiful and especially so, since this was the first absolutely gorgeous, sunny day of the week I've been here. Still only 18 deg C for the high though. Anyhow, as a result of my tourist adventures, I ended up missing all the drama of the USA v Ghana game and had to rely on just highlights to get a flavor for it!

With a win absolutely necessary for their survival, the Americans started well against Ghana but went down 1-0 in the 22nd minute when USA captain Claudio Reyna made an uncharacteristic error, losing the ball in his own half. Good finish from the Ghanian forward nevertheless. The USA came back strongly and equalised in the 41st minute when Clint Dempsey thumped the ball home from close range after a neat buildup down the left flank involving the much-maligned DaMarcus Beasley! 1-1 and there appeared hope for the US! However, a dubious penalty decision on the stroke of halftime for a foul by Oguchi Onyewu gave Ghana the perfect chance to ahead again before the break. They did that emphatically. In the second half, Ghana were content to play on the break, and the USA pressed forward in search of more goals. They came close several times, especially when Brian McBride hit the post with a firm header, but were unable to breach the Ghana goal. A good performance from the Ghanian keeper also ensured that the scoreline remained 2-1 in favor of the Africans. The USA were knocked out of the Cup, and they can blame only themselves for putting on a terrible showing in their first game against the Czechs! In a group this tight, they knew every game would be crucial and yet, failed to even put on a spirited display against the Czechs. Recovering from that blow was always going to be hard, and though the Americans improved their performance tremendously in their next two games, they were simply unable to catch up the ground lost. The Ghanians now waited with bated breath for the result of the simultaneously-played Italy v Czech Republic game.

The heavily bruised Czechs started star striker Milan Baros against Italy, despite questions over his fitness. It didn't matter in the end, as the impressive Italians dominated the game for large portions, and ran out comfortable victors 2-0. The goals came from defender Marco Materazzi in the first half and substitute forward Pippo Inzaghi 4 minutes from the final whistle. A sad end to a tournament that began so well for the Czechs that some people expected them to reach the final! Unfortunately, they'll now have to watch the final on TV!! The Italians progressed to the next round as group leaders, and avoided a certain clash with Brazil, while Ghana went through in second place after winning their last two group games!

The night games, I was able to watch, and what sensational games they were! Brazil rested a number of key players in their final game against Japan, and yet their starting lineup boasted Ronaldo, Robinho, Juninho, Kaka and Ronaldinho! Unbelievable depth! The game started well, with both sides able to pass the ball around nicely. Brazil found their rhythm early on and tested Japanese keeper Kawaguchi several times in the first 20 minutes. Kawaguchi seemed to be in inspired form as he repelled shots from Robinho, Juninho et al. Shockingly, it was Japan that took the lead on 34 minutes! Keiji Tamada slammed home an impressive left-footer after being played through by Alex. Japan's Brazilian coach Zico could barely hide his delight on the touchline, and the world champions now had to come from a goal down for the first time in 5 World Cup games! They did so in typical Samba style, however! "Fat" Ronaldo got his World Cup tally off the mark just before halftime when he nodded home from close range after a terrific setup from Ronaldinho and Cicinho. 1-1 was still a scoreline that the Japanese would have loved to take home, but the mighty Brazilians came out strongly in the second half and took the lead on 53 minutes. The excellent Kawaguchi made a terrible blunder and let Juninho's long range effort go straight through his hands and into the goal! From then on, it was total domination from Brazil as they kept the ball with considerable ease and attacked the Japanese goal at will. Ronaldo missed a glorious chance after a sensational one-two with Ronaldinho but made amends for it by driving home in the 81st minute after another one-two, this time with defender Juan! In between, leftback Gilberto got his first ever goal for the Selecao when he finished sweetly after a delightful throughball from Ronaldinho. 4-1 it ended for the world champions, and "fat" Ronaldo equalled Gerd Muller's record of 14 World Cup goals! As every match goes on, the Selecao just seem to get a little bit better! The other teams better beware!

Australia v Croatia started out with Croatia needing a win and Australia a draw to progress. The Croatians struck first in just the 2nd minute when Darijo Srna curled home a superb free kick. Australia fought back and won a penalty when Croatian defender Tomas inexplicably handled the ball in the penalty box (this seems to be a recurring theme at this World Cup for some crazy reason!). 34 year old defender Craig Moore stepped up and calmly scored the penalty for the Socceroos. It was 1-1 at the break, and Croatia pressed forward again at the beginning of the second half. Another goalkeeping blunder, this time by Aussie reserve keeper Kalac, gifted Croatia the lead. He completely muffed a long range shot from Croatian skipper Niko Kovac! The gutsy Aussies fought back again, and managed to tie the game with 11 minutes to go when Harry Kewell netted from close range after some chaos in the Croatian penalty box. Then came some utterly farcical scenes. Referee Graham Poll showed Croatia's Josip Simunic his second yellow card, but failed to realise that it was indeed his second booking! So the defender played on!! Amazingly, Simunic then earned himself a third yellow card in the game in the dying minutes of the match, and this time referee Poll did show him the red card and sent him off!!! Totally nuts, but the game ended 2-2 and Australia made it to the second round for the first time in their history!!

4 more teams qualified for the round of 16 today amidst high drama. Australia will face Italy next, and the World Champions Brazil take on African flagbearers Ghana in what will surely be a fascinating clash of styles. Speed and power against skill and flair. Only 4 more spots remain in the round of 16, and powerhouse nations France and Spain will seek to book their places in that round tomorrow....