for those of you still interested in that “minor” sporting event going on “over there” in germany, let’s look at the tonight’s two quarterfinal matchups as i hope the symptoms of my two-day football withdrawal don’t get worse before kickoff tonight at 11:59.
germany v. argentina: from a neutral standpoint, this is, in my opinion, the glamour fixture of the quarterfinals. yes, my heartrate will be that of a dog’s after eating a box of chocolates when england play tomorrow night v. portugal; yes, there are more world cup titles, combined, on display in the brasil-france fixture–but that’s skewed because five of ‘em belong to the banana-clad, samba-dancing south americans; and, yes, outside the nation of italy, most neutrals will be pulling for ukraine to see off the panty-waisted thespians that are the azzurri. still, this opening quarterfinal is a dandy.
this wc2006 edition of the germans is not the germans we all grew up (except those of us who are german) cheering against because of their dull, boring, boorish style of play and on-pitch demeanour. in fact, this isn’t the same germany that, before the cup started, most germans were decrying as unfit to wear the famous kit because of their poor form in the months leading up to the competition.
they’ve played with flair, with gusto, with verve, with swerve (as evidenced by the phillip lahm and torsten frings goals against costa rica in their opening match) in their four impressive wins to get to this stage. however, it can be argued that these “impressive” wins have come against nowt competition: an overmatched costa rica, a poor poland, a second-string ecuador, and a ten-man and disappointing sweden.
whatever. regardless of the level of competition, just taking the german squad on its own merit, they’ve not been your usual german team. klose has been deadly in front of goal, as has podolski. ballack is rounding into stellar form after missing the opener to injury. the back line hasn’t allowed a goal since the opener to costa rica, though goalkeeper jens lehmann has yet to let in a howler and the further germany go, the more likely it will be to happen. add to this some of the youngsters on the bench whom coach jurgen klinsmann substitutes for an already young starting XI, and there is genuine reason for hope to win the cup now, as well as in four years down on the forgotten continent.
as for argentina, they’ve been classy for most of the tournament, though they weren’t always the definitely better side in the round of 16 clash with mexico. they’ve played the “beautiful game” well, beautifully, for large stretches of the tournament–and against competition that, save for serbinegro, wasn’t too shabby.
to most non-argentinian observers, midfielder juan roman riquelme has played outstanding football–but the grapevine vibrates from down patagonia way with grumblings that riquelme has been subpar. typical south american football aristrocracy: excellent footie isn’t enough; it has to be exquisite, effervescent, and as sharp as a stepmother’s tongue.
another gripe from the folks back home (there certainly don’t look to be any gripes amongst the mob of argentinian supporters in the stands who have enlivened every argentina match with their incessant dancing, singing, and general merrymaking), apparently, is that coach jose perkerman is not playing his youngsters enough, letting the likes of lionel messi, pablo aimar, and carlos tevez languish on the bench.
while it is true that neither of the three wonderkids has played too much, it’s because the starting XI isn’t all that shabby; perkerman’s is a luxury that any gaffer would gladly enjoy being criticised for having.
last year, germany and argentina saw each other twice, with each ending in a 2-2 draw. if we’re lucky, we’ll have another four goals scored, at least, as well as extra time to watch these two battle. extra football in such a glamourous quarterfinal match would be the least we fans deserve.
my take: germany’s path to this point has been as soft as downy fleece and it’s only a matter of time before disgruntled former number 1 goalkeeper oliver kahn’s bitterness at being replaced by the irritating lehmann begins to take its toll on team chemistry.
for the first time in the tournament, germany will be going against a side that has every bit the talent in midfield, and even more talent up front, than it does. the backlines of both sides have been exposed as being shaky at times–and very easily could (should) have been denuded even more with more expert finishing from opponents when there were chances.
in the end, though, i see a deeper argentinian side sending 80 million germans into a state of mourning as the south americans push through to the semifinals.
italy v. ukraine: not a very sexy matchup, unless you like prancing drama majors diving all over the pitch (okay, in all fairness, ukraine have no history of being silly corset-wearing pansies on the pitch, but the italian side have enough for two teams, if not more).
italy haven’t conceded a goal scored by an opponent yet (the one goal to blemish their “goals against” sheet was an own goal by cristian ziccardo against the u.s.) and have looked, aside from their opening match against ghana, as boring as italy usually look.
it’s a shame, really, with all their alleged attacking talent in midfield and upfront that they play such shit football, but it does produce results. that, and their aformentioned penchant for going to the ground at the slightest touch (or glance) from an opponent or opposing supporter.
unfortunately for us all, ukraine, while not diving like their quarterfinal opponents, have also played boring football while advancing to this stage. okay, their match against spain wasn’t so boring, but giving up four goals doesn’t boring football offset.
to their credit, though, the ukrainians have rebounded quite nicely from that opening debacle and sit a victory away from progressing further than any of the former soviet republics have done on the international footballing scene since the breakup of the communist entity a decade and a half ago.
both defenses are solid, and, under normal circumstances, the midfield and striking edge would seemingly go to italy; however, with injuries and suspensions haunting the italians (and giving them plenty to whinge about when they lose), the midfield battle becomes more of a tossup and ukraine might even edge the azzurri up front, on the simple talent of andriy shevchenko alone.
there is very little reason, however, to believe italy won’t slip past less-fancied ukraine; italy have the history, they’ve been on the big stage before, and they will grind opponents and fans alike to tears in order to hoist their 4th cup.
in the end, this matchup will not be decided conventionally; it will come down to this: the mediterranean sea (italy) v. the black sea (ukraine). and here are the key breakdowns of these two areas of contention:
- the med borders three continents; the black only crashes upon two. advantage: med
- the med is bigger, more famous, and shakes hands with the atlantic ocean; the black is landlocked, underappreciated, and shakes hands with the sea of azov. adv: med
- the med has a chain of upper-class, obnoxious, haughty resorts named after it; the black is a huge link in the chain of pipelines that funnel oil all over europe. adv: push
- the med is polluted by holiday merrymakers; the black still suffers from chernobyl. adv: push
- the med is hard to spell or pronounce; the black is linguistically pleasing. adv: black
- the med has sambuca and red wine; the black has vodka. adv: black
- the med has made-to-order mafia; the black has mail-order brides adv: black
- the med is home to, among others, italian football; the black isn’t. adv: black
well, there it is. it’s hard to argue with the numbers. the advantage for this fixture goes to the ruffians from the black sea. it’s not always about what happens on the pitch or at the stadium because, in a battle of aesthetically-displeasing footballing squads, one must throw out conventional footballing wisdom or analysis and look elsewhere for prescient inspiration.
victory to the ukrainians! vodka for everyone!
29 Comments
Own Goals
I’d like to bring my dissatisfaction over the number of strikers claiming own goals in this tournament.
Crespo is credited with having scored three goals at this World Cup and is well in contention for the golden boot. Yet replays clearly show that in two his ‘goals’ he failed to make contact with the ball.
The norm is that when a striker kicks a ball, even if it deflects off a defender, it is given to the striker because the striker has the intention to score.
As such, when a shot (on/off target irrelevent) takes a delection and ends up crossing the line a goal my be claimed by the ball striking playing. Park Jisung debut oal for united is a perfect example of this.
Crespo and co… if you didn’t touch the ball don’t claim the goal. It’s just not football.
Good stuff, Dave. I’ve enjoyed your World Cup Blog here. But why the lower case letters to start off sentences? I apologize if you’ve given an explanations before.
Also, Aimar is hardly a young ‘un, as he turns 27 later this year.
The Germans are going to break Argentina’s and Maradona’s heart. Right know, I can smell victory. 80 million fellas will pitch the German team to final glory. SIEG!
Argetinians look small this year. Expect German players centering long balls for header.
Germany 2 - Argentina 1
Hah hah…this is a bit off on a tangent, but someone speculated on the previous WC thread about what would happen if the final were between the UK and Argentina and the game was decided on a controversial goal/call. Little did I realize that—quite apart from the whole Falklands War—there’s quite a bit of World Cup history between those two teams: Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal is exhibit # 1, but their history goes as far back as 1966. The Korea-Italy-Oz saga has nothing on this one!
Ryan wrote:
“Crespo and co… if you didn’t touch the ball don’t claim the goal. It’s just not football.”
It’s just not cricket, either! (Har har)
won-joon, i have explained before my affinity for lower-case writing and it’s as simple as this: i’m a lazy git who can’t be bothered to hit the “shift” key every time there’s a letter to capitalise…
Ah, I see, Dave. You must be even lazier than me–and that’s purty hard to pull off!
That was one of the funniest posts I’ve read on my blog. Thanks Dave.
Sewing
There is no UK team. Through a twist of history, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England all field “national” teams even though they are all part of the UK. But if there were one, it would, on current levels of ability, consist entirely of England players anyway.
Dave
Very amusing post.
Regarding tonight’s game, I passionately want both sides to lose. But I want Germany to lose slightly more. Argentina 3, Germany 2.
FUUUUUUUCK!!! 1:0 for Argentina. A perfect heading goal by Crespo after a corner. No,no,no I’m totally wasted.
JAAAAAAAAAAA!!! 1:1, the draw. A goal by Klose! Still totally wasted.
Danger Mouse: What was I thinking!? I stand corrected. I guess I’m persnickety enough to always write “UK” when I mean the entire country (rather than England, GB, etc.) that I, um, overcorrected myself. Yes, England, England all the way!
Dave, that was an excellent, top-notch, spot-on analysis of the strengths of Italy vs. Ukraine. …But would Ukrainians call Vodka their drink? Or would they see it as a Russian import? Just wondering what kind of strong national liquor they have instead that we should all rush out and buy….
Ooooh, extra time for Deutschland and the Argies!
It’d be interesting to see Ukraine win against Italy. (If Italy wins, all power to them…it’ll make for an entertaining semi-final…if they go all the way to the final, could you imagine the antics of, say, Italy vs Brazil?). A commentator pointed out that Ukraine has let through only 4 goals, and those were all in the first match against Spain. Certainly, both they and the Swiss must have played a solid defense in their match-up (couldn’t watch it; only saw the penalty kicks)—and when it mattered, the Ukrainian strikers could do their job (except for Schevchenko (sp?)…). Gotta have at least one underdog into this stage of the tournament, right?
Wow
Now it goes to penalties, I think neither Argentina nor Germany has ever lost in PKs in World Cup… Who’s going to smile?..Really unpreditable.
Why are there 4 teams from the United Kingdom anyhow? Does it have something to do with national football organizations? Reminds me of how I also used to wonder why Ukraine and Byelorussia (as it was then called) each got a seat in the UN when they were constituent republics of the USSR (which of course already had a seat).
German won 4-2 over PK. Wow…Awesome saves by Jens Lehmann, he really guessed correctly.
Congratulations to the Germans!!
V for VICTORY! Whoa, awesome!
Germany plays like a SouthAmerican team. Short passes and possession game.
No long cross. It was an Argentian who headed the first goal in.
Germans made too many mistakes. Very stupid mistakes. Podolski blew a good set play chance. Other players messed up free kick chances.
I don’t think this German team can beat Brazillians. And, since they are worn out at this game, next opponent, be it Italy or Ukrain (I hope Ukrain beat the dirty Italians), will have an easy time beating Germany.
Auf Wiedersehen, Deutschland.
Ex-pat blogs from Argentina must be going wild-fire with comments on the Argentinians’ belligerent post-match behaviour . Classless!
Well, couldn’t watch the game, but I’ll catch it tonight on TV…means I have to stay up way too late just to see the penalty kicks that I know the Germans won on anyhow, though….
Okay, Italy vs. Ukraine, starting in T minus 3 minutes….
The “black” coach has interesting words about black players:
“The more Ukrainians that play in the national league the more examples for the young generation. Let them learn from Shevchenko or Blokhin and not from some Zumba-Bumba whom they took off a tree, gave him two bananas and now he plays in the Ukrainian league.”
That alone would make me root against him.
6th minute Zambrotta scores…
Ukraine is in for a long long game…
Correction: the first goal by the Argentinian side was headed by Ayala and not Crespo. But who cares now, Ayala couldn’t kick his penalty into the net.
The Ukrainian coach looks like a typical ex-Soviet-officer… I
suspect him of depositing a 7,62 mm Tokarev-pistol and a bottle of home-distilled vodka under his bench.
hi, I couldn’t watch the whole match, but at the end, the Argentinians seem to be complaining of officiating. Could anyone here explain why Argentina would have a complaint? From the body language at the end, they seem to be complaining of some sort of ref injustice.
This should be clearly noted, since most casual watchers are so adamant that South Korea was helped all the way to its 4th place finish, by clearly unusual ref favors.
No, a frustrated Argentinian player kicked after the lost match one German player in the ass at the sidelines. So the German team manager Bierhoff tried to conciliate, in this situation a scuffle broke out, when he was immediately attacked by them Gauchos. Another German player got hitted deliberately on the backhead from a Argentinian player.
Sorry losers they are.
I saw the game and I think the referee was on the German side. This is objective observation since I like the German team.
When an Argentinian player took a dive inside the penalty area, he got a yellow card. However, when Balak did the same thing, he didn’t get any. This was pointed out by ESPN commentator.
Home court advantage, I guess. See every game is controversial. That is just the way these World Cup matches are.
Wrong offside calls, penalty kicks given to a diving player, free kicks gotten through a flopping, hand violation that results in a goal, pushing, pulling, kicking, stepping, spiking, intentional maiming, etc..
Soccer is a dirty game. FIFA needs to clean up the game. However, there are many who want to see violence on the field and they want to keep the game as it is. They need to go watch wrestling instead of soccer.
” Home court advantage, I guess. See every game is controversial. That is just the way these World Cup matches are. Wrong offside calls, penalty kicks given to a diving player, free kicks gotten through a flopping, hand violation that results in a goal, pushing, pulling, kicking, stepping, spiking, intentional maiming, etc..”
Indeed, Mr. Baduk. Thanks for explaining what took place. Apparently, the Argentinians felt robbed enough to physically hit the German opponents, like SugarShin described. It wasn’t just sore losing. They felt they were scheduled to lose to the Germans on German grounds. Now, I’m sure some angry Argentinian wouldn’t make a giant photo collage of all the fouls the Germans committed during the match and make a website out of it. Or would they?