This tournament has been historic. It will always be remembered as the first World Cup to go to Africa, in particular, to South Africa – a country that has suffered so much oppression, that has fought to show the world that it is safe and that has shown the world that white people and black people are co-existing in peace.
Holland have beaten Uruguay 3-2 in the first World Cup semi final. The result means that the World Cup final will be an all-European affair as it was in 2006. This is only the second time in World Cup history that consecutive finals have been all-European; the last time it happened was in the 1934 and 1938 finals.
The semi finals start tomorrow and are heavily dominated by Europe. Having suggested only a week ago that the South American teams were doing so well the dominance by one continent at the World Cup has again shifted.
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.
Cameroon have become the first nation to be knocked out of the World Cup. Boasting a strong squad made up of a lot of European-based players more was expected of Paul Le Guen’s side. After a 1-0 loss to Japan they lost 2-1 to Denmark yesterday to sit rock bottom of Group E. They will play merely for pride in their final group match against the Netherlands later this week.
Following England’s draw with the USA last Saturday, WCS blogger Doron has put together a number of player ratings, where 1 is the worst, 10 is the best and 6 is your average solid performance. England will be hoping to get their World Cup hopes back on track when they play Algeria this Friday.
Three times World Cup winners Germany prepared for the World Cup by beating a selection local players aged under 20 from Eppan in South Tirol by 24 goals to nil. The Germans, who beat Hungary in the 1954 final, Holland in the 1974 final and Argentina in the 1990 final – have thumped a few sides in their time, however the biggest World Cup victory remains the 8-0 win over Saudi Arabia in 2002.
Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi shone in Barcelona’s 1-0 victory over arch rivals Real Madrid, which was settled eleven minutes after half time with a Zlatan Ibraminovic goal. The Swede might not be going to South Africa next summer, but the talented forward volleyed home a left footed shot after good work down the right by Daniel Alves.
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