Football fans around the world have been taken a stronger-than-usual interest in the King’s Cup in Spain this season as the first El Clasico final in 21 years has been a real possibility and thanks to Real Madrid’s defeat of Sevilla in the semi-final, Los Merengues will finally have a chance to exact revenge on their rivals for their 2-0 defeat back in 1990.
Lionel Messi has won the 2010 Ballon d’or award, beating team mates Xavi and Andres Iniesta. The last player to win two awards was Brazilian Ronaldo in 1997 and 2002, but you have to go as far back as the late 80′s when Marco Van Basten won back to back awards (he actually won three all in all). Messi scored a remarkable 60 goals for club and country in 2010 and is widely regarded as a genius and one of the most gifted footballers of his generation.
I was born early in the morning on the 9th July 1982, the morning after the epic 3-3 semi final between France and West Germany, which saw the infamous Harald Schumacher ‘attack’ on Patrick Battiston after a glorious Michel Platini pass. I always credit this match as one of the reasons as to why football runs through my veins, considering I was born a few hours after the final whistle. However, looking at the whole 1982 tournament, Platini nor France nor West Germany were the stars of the show.
On the 5th July 1982, Brazil lost 3-2 to Italy in the quarter final of the World Cup. This Brazilian side is often credited as the greatest football side not to lift the World Cup (probably along with the 1974 Dutch side), which is no doubt a massive compliment to Paulo Rossi’s Italy – led by legendary manager Enzo Bearzot.
USA coach Bob Bradley has agreed to stay on as national team coach for another four years, which includes the 2014 World Cup, U.S. Soccer said this week. The 52-year-old, who steered the U.S. to the last sixteen at this year’s World Cup finals in South Africa where they were eliminated by Ghana, will retain the job until the end of 2014 after agreeing to a four-year contract extension. This announcement puts an end to the widespread rumours linking Bradley with the vacant position at Aston Villa.
Once again, the result of Germany vs. Argentina has sided with modern history. I eluded briefly to the history behind this fixture in a preview to the quarter finals and like in 1990 and 2006 it’s the Germans who have emerged victorious. Germany continued their superb form through to the quarter final match and won 4-0 with goals from Muller, Klose (x2) and Friedrich. Germany seem to have the game one in every area of the pitch.
This assessment comes in three parts: vs. Germany; the tournament as a whole; and the future. As with my last post, I am very keen to get a discussion going at the bottom of the article. As I have experienced this afternoon, everyone has an opinion on what has happened and where to go – there is no right answer, so have a read of what I think and then I want to see what the World Cup Statistic’s readers think. We’ve been accustomed to England Football Jokes over the years, now we want to know what you think!
That weekend felt draining. I don’t think I’ve experienced so much footballing information in such a short space of time. Saturday started with the England hangover. Everyone has their own opinion as to why England continued their poor form with another failure. England fans weren’t the only ones feeling angry. The USA’s fans awoke to their own frustrations. They felt, quite rightly, that their side had been denied a 3-2 victory against Slovenia which would have capped an excellent turnaround having been two goals behind. Maurice Edu’s late goal was harshly ruled out by the referee.
As the World Cup started I agreed on a (slightly bold and rushed) statement with my housemate: ‘if England don’t win the World Cup it’ll be down to the players and not the coach’ – that statement doesn’t stand so true anymore. After the USA game I attacked the England players individually with some player ratings. Post-Algeria I don’t see any point to individual assessment. Everyone was poor. The team must be examined as just that – a team.
Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuaín scored the first hat-trick of the World Cup as Diego Maradona’s Argentina overcame South Korea in Soccer City today. Argentina went 2-0 with goals through Higuaín and an own goal from Park, CY. However Argentina notched their first goal from open play as Higuaín scored his second and third from moves inspired by Ballon D’Or winner Lionel Messi and Maradona’s son in law Sergio Agüero.
World cup winner and Brazilian coach Dunga believes his side are capable of so much more after a nervy 2-1 victory of minnows North Korea. The five times World Champions found it tough going against a side that have only qualified for one finals before, over forty years ago. Korea lined up in a 5-4-1 formation, although did counter attack well at times in the first half.
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