14-Jul-2014

The World Cup Diaries

Germany 1 : 0 Argentina

What a game, a worthy final to an amazing tournament! Exciting, beautiful, heated game between two truly great teams. And in the end, Germany won!

The German machine played as it always plays - strictly, organised, planning ahead, punctual and rational. An organised team of a number of extremely talented professionals, that know each other, their strengths and weaknesses.

And then there is Argentina, a team known as Messi and the other 10 players. They played in the typical South American style - with plenty of pointless passes, a lot of showing off. They also did their best to lead Messi to the wining goal, alas unsuccessfully so.

Before I go further, may I just say - What a goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is! Amazing! A true successor of Oliver Kahn's style and immortal glory. Even Kahn himself acknowledges that, so this should mean something, right?

The game itself was intense and nerve-breaking. Not a lot of good goal positions, neither in the first part nor in the second. The goalkeepers, both German and Argentinian, did their very best to keep their teams in the game and with chances to win. It was Mario Gotze in the 23 minute of the extra time who scored the winning goal. A beautiful German styled goal. And this was it. Messi, the famous, glorious Messi, know for his amazing skills to score impossible goals, missed a few very good ones. He seemed a bit scared of his own shadow, he didn't look like himself last night. And his self-consciousnesses took its tool - who knows if he'll ever have the chance to play at a World Cup final ever again.

Germany won. This is it. They deserved it, they went for the trophy and they took it. They fought fair and share and never gave up. And this is what is worth to win.

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

9-Jul-2014

The World Cup Diaries

Brazil 1 : 7 Germany

Oh, boy, what a game! Now this is what one expects to see when they are watching the World Cup. Not players showing their impressive scuba diving skills or crazy biting skills, but two of the best national teams in the world playing a game, winning and loosing because of how they play, without the help of the referee. Pure, beautiful football, just like we all like it.

Before this game everyone assumed that the Brazilian team will play on the Big Final this Sunday. It seemed completely reasonable and more than possible. After all, they are playing at home.

On the other hand we have Germany - an old dog when it comes to playing in the World Cup. However, the World Cups since the beginning of the Millennium haven't been too successful for them - the came second in the 2002 Mondial, and third in the 2006 and 2010 ones. This year it seems they are in it to win it.

The Brazilians seemed rather disorganised and disconnected without their stars - Thiago Silva and Neymar. The former was out due to two yellow cards in previous games, and the latter is suffering a pretty nasty back injury. So far the team has relied on these two players pretty heavily and had based their tactics on the old motto - "Attack is the best form of defense". With them out for this game this tactic has proofed to be unsuccessful.

Before they knew it, the results escalated from 0:0 to the impressive 5:0 by the end of the first half. The magical German machine did what it does best - score, with four consecutive goals in the 23', 24', 26' and 29'.  Oh, and did I mention that they already had one in the 10'? After the break, Brazil, the fans and anyone watching that Brazilian team had lost their joy and passion for the game. They were like victims of a rather sad storm that blew away all their hopes and dreams of winning this Championship. This resulted in two more goals for Germany, as it was possible for the team to be any more humiliated at Bello Horizonte's stadium.

Finaly, in the 90' minute Oscar managed to score one goal for Brazil. Not that this changes anything but at least it might bring some solace to the team and their faithful crowd.

I'm not expert on tactics but I can say this - the Brazilians like to make a show, to play around with the ball, to pass to each other sever times, to fool around, and to try to shine as bright as possible. They are playing like birds - trying to show each and every of their bright colours. On the other hand, Germany is playing as one might expect Germany to play -well organised, visible structure, very much to the point. It's a well working machine, that does not play to make a show but plays to win. And it works, it bloody damn works!

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

30-June-2014

The World Cup Diaries: The Mexican Curse

Mexico 1 : 2 Netherlands

Last night Netherlands made one thing one thong clear - they are willing to do almost anything to go forward. They will dive, they will hit, they will cheat, they will do the absolute maximum of everything in order to win. And Mexico knows this better than anyone else.

For good 75 minutes Mexico thought that this time they made it to the Quarterfinals, for the first time in 6 World Cups. They had the victory in their hands, until the referee decided to take it away from them. The Mexican team played with their hearts and souls, they had the best goalkeeper in the championship by now, they were almost tasting their glorious win. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Giovani dos Santos opened the scoring with a goal in the 48 minute and that gave the Mexicans the inspiration they needed. They pressed the Dutch team back into their side of the field and made everything they could to score a second goal. The picture did not loook good for van Persie and company, especially with Guillermo Ochoa as a goalie. Did I mention how exceptional Ochoa was? 

And then Netherlands decided that that was it, they were going to whatever it take to win. Diving, not diving, anything. In the 88 minute, Sneijeder scored. It was obvious that this game is going to be decided in the extra time, and if it came to shooting penalties - Mexicon was going to win. Why? Well, because they have Ochoa. But it didn't took so long.

After van Persie's infamous dive, the referee decided it's time for him to step in and to let the Dutch win. In the 4th minute of the extra time Ochoa did not save the penalty. Mexico had the victory in their hands but it slipped away.

It seems that Netherlands are on a hunt for Spanish speaking teams. Next up against them will be the team of Costa Rica. There is a very slight chance that the Caribian team will manage to defeat the Fling Dutch and company. Or who knows, maybe they will knock them out and put them to shame. We can only hope!

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

14-Jun-2014

The World Cup Diaries: Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold

Spain 1 : 5 Netherlands

Let me start by saying that I love football, I have loved it all my life and I don't think I will ever fall out of love with it. Ever since I was a little girl I'll sit and watch the games with my Dad, getting all excited about two things: A) I was sharing something very special with my Dad, we were enjoying together an experience on our own and B) Watching something so special, global, amazing, breathtaking as a good football game. Over time I grew to like some teams more than others, some players I admired more than others, normally. Sometimes my Dad and I will root for different teams but that would never make it less fun. And when there was a big championship - we will always, always, always watch the important games together, no matter anything.

The 2014 World Cup is the first big championship in 20 years that we are not watching together. I would much rather watch it with him, if that was possible, comment the games and have our minor disputes over it. That is how I like my games, with him by my side. Well, not this year. Let's hope that we will be able to fix this for the next European Championship. Let's hope.

Spain vs Netherlands was a highly anticipated game among other reasons because the last time those two teams met was 4 years ago. On the 2010 World Cup. On the Final. It was a very specific game, Howard Webb gave his best and booked 14 yellow cards, one being second yellow card. I would say that Mr. Webb was the man of the game, he most definitely was the most important player on the field. In 2010 Spain won, 4 minutes before the end of the extra time Andres Iniesta won the game for the Spaniards. Spain won their very first World Cup, just two years after they won their European Cup. The latter they won again, in 2012. For the past 6 years Spain has dominated the world.

I sat on my sofa tonight with my friends by my side and we all knew we were in for a treat. But we never knew that it was going to be so big. I have always like the Spanish team, I like how they communicate between themselves, how well they all know each other, what a good working passionate machine they are. I like their dynamics and I also like their name - La furia roja. It suits them well, or at least it used to before tonight.

Xabi Alonso opened the score with a easy-breezy goal, shooting a penalty. It wasn't anything pretty nor special, but it was a goal and I guess this is all that counts. 1:0 is a classic result and the Spanish team seemed in good spirit and able to keep their lead, so I had no reason to believe that anything else would ever happen in this game. Oh, boy, weren't I wrong. The Netherlands smashed Spain, made it look small and pitiful. The defending World Champion seemed like a bunch of kids that somehow managed to get their hands on a ticket to the big boys game. 

Can we talk for a second abut this state of art head shot? Robin van Persie worked his magic, twice, on full speed, Arjen Robben scored as well, twice, and to top up all of the Stefan de Vrij scored as well. My heart was breaking while watching poor Iker Casillas, the best goalie in the world, miss a goal after goal. Three of those goals were completely his fault, because goal keepers should stay where their goal line, not out in the field. Pique and Ramos weren't particularly helpful either, letting the Dutch so dangerously close to our beloved San Iker.

But it wasn't simply and only Spain's fault. It was the way van Persie and the Dutch played. They knew why they were there and did their best to prove their point. And they did. Spain, on the other hand played as a defending Champion of (the) two important football achievements. They played as if they knew they are supposed to win this game. But football is a game far more important that one's personal expectation's and assumptions. Football is the game of those who are all-in in the game, without hesitations and without set standards of winning or loosing.

Although I support Spain, I cannot say anything bad about the way Netherlands played. The played well, extremely well, the played beautifully, they used all of the opportunities presented and did what they are payed to do - play good football. It was joy (with a sadistic taste of it) to watch them make fun of the Spanish team. We all knew that the team in orange will look for revenge, but they gave us a spectacular match and a very very very cold revenge, the best type.

Super Van Persie's Goal

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...