Daily Archives: July 6, 2010

Uruguay 2 – 3 Netherlands

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Cape Town
“Arjen Robben emerged from the bottom of an Oranje mosh pit, mud on his brow and a smile on his face. For good measure, he threw kisses at his teammates and fans. His goal gave the Netherlands a 3-2 victory over Uruguay and a spot in the World Cup final. Now that’s a Dutch treat!” (ESPN)

Uruguay 2-3 Netherlands – Video Highlights, Recap, Match Stats – World Cup – 6 July 2010
“The first semifinal of the 2010 FIFA World Cup took place on Tuesday, July 6, 2010 with the Netherlands taking on Uruguay. The Dutch would be favored in the match but Uruguay have had one of the best players in the World Cup, Diego Forlan.” (The 90th Minute)

World Cup 2010: Uruguay 2-3 Netherlands
“At times they looked like making heavy weather of it, particularly in the last couple of minutes of stoppage time. Indeed, for the first twenty minutes of the second half it looked as if both teams playing in this World Cup semi-final were going to sleepwalk their way into extra-time, but eventually the Netherlands out-muscled Uruguay to book themselves a place in the World Cup final for the first time since disco was in vogue. The question now is whether they will be set up for a Central European derby match against their biggest rivals, Germany, or a match against the World Cup semi-final debutants, Spain.” (twohundredpercent)

The Forgotten Film of the 1938 World Cup in France

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“Many of the official World Cup films are well-known and widely available, such as the classic 1966 movie Goal! and the Michael Caine narrated Hero from 1986. The official FIFA Films page lists 15 World Cup films from 1930 to 2006, all available on DVD. The first World Cup in 1930 has retroactively been given an official film recently made from archive footage, but there is nothing listed for 1934, 1938 or 1950, so we presume the first official World Cup film was commissioned in 1954.” (Pitch Invasion)

I tipped Spain but Germany’s pace could expose them

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“Everyone wanted the FA to build its own version of Clairefontaine when France won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship and they had a consistent production line of young talent. Now the talk is of copying the coaching system that produced the young Germany team that has excelled in South Africa. The debate is cyclical but what is constant is Germany’s ability as a tournament team. Eleven World Cup semi-finals since 1954 says this isn’t a recent phenomenon. It says they’ve had it right for over 60 years.” (Guardian)

Criticism of a more defensive approach by the Dutch is misplaced

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Pretoria
“The Dutch have won every World Cup game so far, but their progress to the semifinal has been accompanied by very somber tones in the international media. Many pieces have read like full-blown obituaries: ‘Total Football,’ the famous free-flowing, attacking philosophy of the Oranjes, is dead, they say, replaced by an ugly, win-at-all-costs mentality epitomized by serial agitator and all-around bad guy Mark van Bommel.” (SI)

Holland v Uruguay: tactical preview

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“Holland have so far used the same 4-2-3-1 shape in every game, whilst Uruguay have used at least three different formations. Oscar Tabarez is the man with more dilemmas ahead of this contest. So how will he approach this one? Firstly, we must note that he is without two players who would have started. Luis Suarez will be absent after his handball against Ghana, whilst Jorge Fucile, the left-back who has had an excellent tournament, is also suspended. Tabarez has again named his side a day before kick-off – but with slight injury doubts over a couple of key players, there could be late changes.” (Zonal Marking)

Tackling The Absurd Ascent Of The Manager

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“With The Manager: The Absurd Ascent of the Most Important Man in Football, Barney Ronay has put together what should be a very interesting book on the evolution of the role of the manager in football. Well, English football anyway: Johnny Foreigner doesn’t really get a look-in unless he’s followed Arsene Wenger and washed up on England’s shores. However, because there is so much interesting material here, the monocultural perspective is disappointing, but ultimately forgivable.” (Pitch Invasion)

The England Obituary, Part 1: Do England Need An English Manager?

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“To fill the void caused by the World Cup rest days before the quarter-finals (I’ve never fully worked out if the rest is for us or them), over the next two days here on Twohundredpercent our writers have been looking at where they thought it all went wrong for England this summer. This will be immediately followed by our shooting some fish in a barrel. First up to weigh in with his (no doubt) in-depth analysis is Dotmund, wondering whether or not things would or could have been better with an English coach.” (twohundredpercent – The England Obituary, Part 1: Do England Need An English Manager?, The England Obituary, Part Two: What The Papers Said (And Didn’t Say), The England Obituary, Part 3: “Ha Ha Ha!”, Or “Bloody Hell!”?, The England Obituary, Part Four: Where Do We Go From Here?, The England Obituary, Part Five: A View From North of the Border

Europe is still football’s dominant force

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“Wasn’t it just a few glasses of Chardonnay ago that European soccer was melting faster than a wedge of warm Brie? France, Italy and England — three of the continent’s soccer superpowers — had gone home in various levels of disgrace. To make matters worse, all five of South America’s entrants had moved on to the knockout round, with all but Chile winning its group.” (ESPN)

The Reason Behind Germany’s Success: They’ve Got 13 Men!

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“It’s hard not to resort to cliche when looking at the intricate preparations undertaken by Germany when it comes to World Cup’s, or indeed anything they do in relation to football. But if they do go on to lift their fourth trophy next Sunday night at Soccer City, FIFA may well need to make some extra medals.” (TIME)

Argentina’s Gaping Holes (Part 1/2)

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“Argentina’s and of course their manager Diego Maradona’s dreams to join Franz Beckenbauer to have won the World Cup both as his country’s captain and manager ended unceremoniously as they were utterly obliterated and generally capitulated ironically against an extra terrestrial Germany that is sure to be on a different time frame (faster) than their hapless opponents and simply thrash them one by one like pathetic mosquitoes facing the electric mosquito racket. As many people within the footballing universe have now grown accustomed to, even prior to this World Cup campaign, fans around the world, mainly Interistas and people who suddenly become Interistas after their marvelous Treble winning campaign have been constantly voicing out their utter discontent over Maradona’s decision to exclude both the defensive midfielder Esteban Cambiasso and right back Javier Zanetti.” (Beopedia)

Who Said Cheating Doesn’t Pay Off?

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“Uruguay is back in the World Cup semifinals. The little country had to cheat big-time to get there, but that’s another matter. In an epic quarterfinal Friday night, Uruguay defeated Ghana on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw to reach the semifinals, improbably returning to the sport’s biggest stage despite being one of its smallest countries.” (WSJ)