Monthly Archives: June 2010

Argentina’s World Cup chaos

“Much has been written of late already about the sanity, or lack thereof, to be found in the mind of the manager of the Argentine national football team. WSC has also asked at times this year whether the security authorities have entirely the right idea about how to deal with the violent elements within Argentina’s football supporters. So it should come as no surprise to learn that, when the selección flew from Buenos Aires to Johannesburg last Friday on a public South African Airways flight, 22 ‘official’ barra bravas were on the same aeroplane.” (WSC)

World Cup 2010: Matthew Booth the perfect advertisement for integrated South Africa

“So when some members of the Spanish press thought they heard him being booed by black fans at the Confederations Cup last summer they thought they had a great story about racial disharmony in the new South Africa and filed their copy to Madrid. They got it excruciatingly, embarrassingly wrong. The fans were celebrating their cult hero, launching into a resonant chant of “Booth!” every time the 6″6 centre-half met the ball with one of his thumping defensive headers.” (Telegraph)

Ivory Coast’s uphill task just got even steeper

“Ivory Coast were been labelled the dark horses of this tournament by many, presumably all of whom were fortunate enough to miss their pathetic display at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, where they recorded a 0-0 draw with Burkina Faso in the group stage, and were eventually knocked out by an average Algeria side.” (Zonal Marking)

Target Anxiety: the Penalty Shootout Reconsidered

“The penalty shootout is the monster under soccer’s bed. There are good reasons for this. Well, there are reasons, anyway, and they grow knotted and blighted from the nature of the penalty kick itself. The sport we quaint Old Worlders call American football is one of micro-management. An American football game is divided into dozens of short bursts of activity – a huddle in which a play is called, followed by the play in action, followed by another huddle, and so forth. This sequence of packets of time facilitates discipline and intra-team order. Each play call is a precise, unyielding instruction. Executive power thus largely resides in the coach making the call rather than in the foot soldier.” (Norman Einstein’s), (Must Read Soccer)

…And then I booked my flight

“It was a Wednesday. The Copa del Rey final had just finished. Sevilla beat Atletico Madrid in a pulsating game at Camp Nou in front of a packed crowd. I’ve always thought Atletico Madrid had rowdy fans, though I’ve never seen them live. Now I’m sure of it. Someone on Twitter in Barcelona said the Atletico fans outnumbered the Sevillistas down Las Ramblas by eight to one. Given the noise they made inside the stadium, I believe it.” (Just Football)

From Pastime to Industry: How Nineties Design Made the Sport

Adam Beebee, “Ultras”
“‘There’s no formula; (the concepts) just have to be emotionally loaded. It may be something I hear on the radio, or a lyric from a song… It’s a simple thing.’ Ed Ruscha (primarily noted as an artist) distills his methodology in this straightforward description, and Michael Beirut (a graphic designer) co-opts it in his collection of essays on design, chiefly to frame artistic process in terms of Beirut’s own profession. For creative endeavors related to the sport of association football, Ruscha’s words ring favorably.” (Pitch Invasion)

World Cup scouting: Fábio Coentrão (Portugal)

“Even by modern standards, Fábio Coentrão is frighteningly skilful for a full-back. The blond left-sided player began his career as a fleet-footed winger at hometown club Rio Ave, with whom he spent three years prior to joining Benfica in July 2007. He had to bide his time before making his first-team breakthrough though, enduring largely unfulfilling loan spells at Nacional and Real Zaragoza before returning to Rio Ave on another loan deal in January 2009, and it wasn’t until this season that he managed to pin down a starting place at the Estádio da Luz.” (Football Further)

It’s Going To End Badly For Both Of Us: a Conversation With Brian Phillips

“The favors I owe Brian Phillips are beginning to stack up. First, he wrote an excellent piece comparing FIFA and FIBA for my blog, 48 Minutes of Hell. Now he has taken time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions about Brooklyn Asylum F.C., a serial novel about American soccer in the 1920s he is steadily publishing at his site the Run Of Play. If you’re new to the Run Of Play, it’s a bit like getting drunk with Lionel Messi in a bookstore in Nuevo Laredo, only to wake up, roll over, and say, ‘Oh my God, I wasn’t dreaming. That’s Lionel Messi. And he’s wearing nothing but briefs.'” (Norman Einstein’s), (Must Read Soccer)

Little Slovenia Hopes to Make Big Impression at World Cup

“Roam the mountains and vineyards of Slovenia, and its citizens and soccer players will regularly remind a foreign visitor of two verities. This is not Slovakia (a very touchy subject). This is a very small country: about the size of New Jersey and home to about 300 million fewer inhabitants than its future World Cup opponent, the United States.” (NYT)

Barring Disaster, United States Will Proceed With Confidence

“United States forward Jozy Altidore’s right ankle will be evaluated later Friday while his teammates continue their preparations for the World Cup. With only a week before the start of the tournament, players and coaches are especially wary of new injuries, or the danger of aggravating old ones.” (NYT)

World Cup Moments

Johan Does the Cruyff Turn in 1974
“World Cups aren’t just about who lifts the trophy at the end. They’re also about the incredible moments that are shared by a global audience. In this series of feature posts, we focus in on such moments so football fans everywhere can relive (or maybe even learn about) the events of World Cups past. This is a menu of all our World Cup Moments feature posts. Simply click the title to read the full post.” (World Cup Blog)

Netherlands 4-1 Ghana – Video Highlights and Recap – Friendly – 1 June 2010

“The Netherlands hosted Ghana in a friendly match as the two sides continued to prepare for the 2010 World Cup. Ghana recently received the news that Chelsea’s Michael Essien would be unavailable for the tournament is a major blow to their chances. Essien is regarded as a top class player and will be hard to replace. The Dutch are always a threat in the tournament and have a very tough team.” (The 90th Minute)

World Cup Host Needs To Live Up To Its Promise Of Better Housing For The Poor

“Since the fall of apartheid, the South African government has initiated a massive effort to improve the housing situation of millions of its marginalized citizens. South Africa’s commitment to housing was presumably such a priority that the Bill of Rights in the South African Constitution (1996) embodies this commitment…” (Nutmeg Radio)

How a Soccer Star Is Made

“The youth academy of the famed dutch soccer club Ajax is grandiosely called De Toekomst — The Future. Set down beside a highway in an unprepossessing district of Amsterdam, it consists of eight well-kept playing fields and a two-story building that houses locker rooms, classrooms, workout facilities and offices for coaches and sports scientists. In an airy cafe and bar, players are served meals and visitors can have a glass of beer or a cappuccino while looking out over the training grounds.” (NYT)

4-4-2 and no surprises from Switzerland

“This is the fourth consecutive major international tournament the Swiss have been at, and yet they still seem something of an unknown quantity. Now managed by double Champions League winner Ottmar Hitzfeld, they won their qualification group and appear to have a talented, settled team.” (Zonal Marking)

World Cup 2010: Howard Webb striving for perfection in South Africa

“Arriving for his next game in Salzburg, Webb was greeted by the chief of police. ‘Mr Webb, you will not be killed in Salzburg,’’ promised the policeman. How reassuring. Webb can smile about it now, particularly as the Poles have calmed down, realising that the Rotherham referee was correct to penalise Mariusz Lewandowski for pulling Sebastian Prodl’s shirt on 13 June. For a while, he endured all manner of threats.” (Telegraph – Henry Winter)

World Cup Tales: Reflections Upon England In Italy, 1990

“The concept of England having a high level of expectation at the time of a World Cup finals is a comparatively recent one. As recently as 1990, most adults could remember their two successive failures to qualify for the whole event and, once there, they only seldom lit the tournament up. In 1982, a good performance in the opening match against France was followed by an almost linear deterioration in performance, which ended in their elimination in the second group round after two goalless draws against West Germany and Spain. Much was made of the fact that they were eliminated, due to the peculiar tournament structure, unbeaten, but they only scored one goal in their final three matches. Four years later, Diego Maradona’s various antics overshadowed a slow start that saw them lose to Portugal and draw with Morocco before Gary Lineker’s goals breathed some life into them.” (twohundredpercent)

Scotland supporters face an English dilemma

“Should Scotland fans support England? That question has become a tedious by-product of the national team’s recent inability to qualify for major tournaments. In the build-up to Germany 2006 it cropped up on BBC Question Time, and this time around it has formed the basis of a YouGov poll, with 21 per cent of Scots saying they could bring themselves to get behind the UK’s sole representatives at South Africa 2010. Scotland manager Craig Levein and political leaders of all hues have also been asked for their opinions, responding with diplomatic messages of goodwill for Fabio Capello’s side. Just as well, then, that Denis Law is still with us.” (WSC)

Benitez leaves Liverpool by mutual consent

“Rafael Benitez has left Liverpool by mutual consent. Benitez, who took over from Gerard Houllier in 2004, found his position untenable after a disappointing season which saw Liverpool finish seventh in the Premier League, just 12 months after being runners-up to Manchester United.” (ESPN)

Soccer Conquers the World

“Why are the Ivory Coast soccer player Didier Drogba and the Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo featured in underpants on a recent cover of Vanity Fair? Why was Drogba just named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine? The answer is that the men’s World Cup tournament, in South Africa, is imminent. Vanity Fair is running a blog, Fair Play, and the magazine’s cover story has even taken a baby step toward maturity: In best deconstructive style, it presents the word ‘soccer’ with a line through it—put under erasure by the big word used globally, ‘football’.” (The Chronicle Review), (Must Read Soccer)

Holland consider playing the fab four together

“There would surely be no more popular World Cup winners than the Netherlands. The country that has produced so many great footballers and such a distinct, wonderful way of playing the game is still without a World Cup win. Discussing the tactics of the Dutch side is not possible without a brief look at the history and culture surrounding the way they play their football. Attempting to sum up why the Dutch have underachieved is not possible within one article; David Winner has essentially written an entire book on that very subject. He begins a chapter by asking.” (Zonal Marking)

Champions of Kallendor

“Rumor is abroad throughout the Western Kingdoms. Men whisper of trouble in the East, of death upon the great roads, of armies massing for war. It is even said that the worm Drakorath, the dragon of the Rivening, has awakened in the Valley of Bal-Sharom and been seen in the skies over the villages to the south. But fear not, brave warden of the flame. Hope yet survives in the Kingdoms. Wayne Rooney has a 20-sided die.” (Run of Play)

Tactics: France re-shaped, but rough edges remain

Halt of a Hunting Party 1665, Philips Wouwerman
“A matter of weeks before the start of the 2010 World Cup, Raymond Domenech made perhaps the most radical move of his four-year tenure as France coach by completely altering the team’s shape. When first-choice defensive midfielder Lassana Diarra was forced out of the squad by a stomach complaint linked to a genetic blood condition, Domenech scrapped the 4-2-3-1 that has been France’s default tactical system since the beginning of the last World Cup and began to experiment with a 4-3-3.” (Football Further)

USA or England? It’s Time to Show Which Side You’re On

“When I wrote a recent post entitled 8 Rules of World Cup ‘Fight Club,’ I encouraged soccer fans to rise up, begin talking the World Cup up to non-believers and to stand firm against the sports fans who laugh and joke at the sport we love.” (EPL Talk)

Why You Hate Landon Donovan, You May Ask

“So, Landon Donovan. He does hysterical commercials. He wins MLS championships. He scores goals on loan in the Premiership. He scores goals against Brazil in championship games. He sets up goals for teammates in international play. He leads the US national team in all-time scoring. Yet, despite this lofty CV and his best years (28-32) still ahead of him, despite being your fellow countrymen, you hate him. Why? Let’s examine…” (futfanatico)

An Ageing England Squad

“Mike Adamson, writing in the Guardian, points out that this is the oldest England squad to travel to a finals. It surprises Rob Marrs too. The squad’s average age is 28.7, older than England’s awful nadir squad of 1954. It could have been older. Over at Attacking Soccer, Anthony reminds us that Joe Hart has a real chance to become the youngest keeper to turn out for England at the World Cup.” (More Than Mind Games)

The Conductor

José Torres
“Every good orchestra needs a conductor to ensure that its woodwinds, percussion, brass and strings play in unison. Soccer is no different. To make the disjointed jointed is an art. At times, individual performances can stand out; at times, they can even transcend the collective. But the art of joinder can make the unexceptional exceptional, which is why a gifted conductor creating a masterpiece with seemingly simplistic movements can be so mesmerizing.” (Nutmeg Radio)

The World Cup For Everyone Else

“If you’re eager for the latest match analysis from the World Cup, which just got under way Monday in Malta, you’ve come to the right place. Provence kicked off the tournament with a stirring performance against Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Iraqi Kurdistan, which hopes to host the tournament someday, looks like a fairly decent side, while the local Gozo team may have its hands full if it has to tangle with Padania.” (WSJ)

Happy Feet or Kicking It New School

“Imelda Marcos is unlikely to attend any matches of the 2010 World Cup, but she (and her prodigious collection of quality footwear) will find some kindred spirits gallivanting across the green soccer fields of South Africa in the latest high-fashion (and high-priced) kicks (or boots, or cleats). Few could rival the collection of the former first lady of the Philippines, but when it comes to soccer cleats players can never have too many shoes. In fact, they probably need more feet!” (NYT)

Video Of The Week: G’ole, The Official Film Of The 1982 World Cup

“The Official World Cup Film is a film genre in its own right. It still exists, although FIFA tends to prefer to peddle goal compilations in the market place these days and its powers are now much diminished. A quarter of a century, though, they still mattered. “G’Olé”, the official film of the 1982 World Cup finals, is a classic of the genre. Narrated by Sean Connery, it is in turn fascinating, excrutiating and pretentious beyond belief, to the extent of having a soundtrack by… Rick Wakeman. When it hits its stride, though, it is stunning. The slow-motion footage of Marco Tardelli losing his mind is quite a thing to behold.” (twohundredpercent)

World Cup Group E Preview: World Cup Buzz Podcast

“In the first of eight group previews, I am joined by Laurence McKenna and Kartik Krishnaiyer to – with a little help of Andy Brassel, Simon Hill, and Simon Kuper – look at Group E. The Netherlands are the seeded nation in a group with no easy points. Denmark won its UEFA qualifying group. Cameroon is one of the nations expected to reap an advantage from the World Cup going to Africa for the first time. Japan’s talented midfield is poised to take advantage of any team that may slip. Your three analysts discuss each team and, going match-by-match, give their picks for the two teams that will come out of the group.” (EPL Talk), (World Cup Group H Preview: World Cup Buzz Podcast)

Three strikers is a risky tactic for New Zealand

“New Zealand are the rank outsiders for this tournament – or 32nd favourites, if you like – available at up to 2000/1. They would see a single point as an achievement in South Africa, and their saving grace is that they are in a relatively weak group, alongside three fairly defensive sides.” (Zonal Marking)

Mediating South Africa 2010: Parting Thoughts and Sources

“Note: The second half of this post is a set of suggested links and sources for context and culture around the coming World Cup; anyone interested in that more than my own thoughts on context—or anyone with suggestions of your own—should feel free to skip ahead. (Pitch Invasion)

Top 10 teams never to win the WC

“The former Notts County manager Jimmy Sirrel once said, “The best teams wins, the rest is gossip.” If that’s the case, there’s been an awful lot of idle talk during World Cups. Some of the greatest teams to play the game did not lift the trophy; here’s a subjective list of the top 10…” (SI)

My Roma: Serie A’s First Supporters’ Trust Is Established

“On 27 May, the first ever Supporters’ Trust in Serie A was formally established in Rome, with a ‘Constitutional Assembly’ convened to agree the structures and purpose of the new association whose ultimate objective is fan ownership at AS Roma. After the morning meeting, where 83 supporters symbolically assembled to approve the Statute, the paperwork for the ‘MyRoma’ association was registered with the notary and the organisation was finally operational. Months of hard-work, planning, publicity and dialogue have led up to this point: now it’s time to see how fans will react.” (Pitch Invasion)

World Cup Q&A

Alexis Sanchez
“This week some of our regular bloggers will be answering your World Cup questions. South American expert Tim Vickery is first to put his neck on the block.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)

The kids are coming

“Andy Najar, 17, runs cuts and curls, darts off and comes to a sudden stop. He drifts to the right wing, collects the ball with his right foot, controls it with his left and flips it into space with his right again, sending D.C. United teammate Adam Cristman on a clear path to goal. Three touches. Cristman only has to tap the ball over the goalkeeper to put his team ahead. Najar whizzes past a man and sends in a dangerous cross.” (ESPN)

Group D – The Germans

“Nobody can deny that in international history, Germany are always among the front-runners. The Germans hold an impressive pedigree having won the World Cup three times, finishing runners-up on four occasions and having made the Quarter Finals in 14 of 16 appearances. The reason for this winning mentality: belief and efficiency. Even when critics have written them off, Germany manages to produce the goods.” (Six Pointer)