“Rebellion in society may be an unusual source for change in football, but after looking at the Dutch ‘Total’ revolution & the Provo movement, Paul Gleeson wonders how a little anarchy might just help the English game” In Bed With Maradona
“John Keep takes a look at one of the finest goals in World Cup history. You can follow John on Twitter” Ghost Goal.
“The winter break in the Dutch football season is still in full effect. The downside of this is that for at least another week there are none of the usual match reports to bring here. But the advantage may be that such a period offers an opportunity to sit back and contemplate on the process of analyzing football matches.” 11 tegen 11
“The transition from a player to a coach is not always easy and can take time, some will make it and some will not, they say a successful player doesn’t always make a great coach, but there is an exception to the rule and a prime example being Johan Cruijff.” La Croqueta
“The first week of 2011 isn’t a over yet and quite a lot happened already. A short update. First, and most important: Frank de Boer has signed a long term deal with Ajax. His contract runs until the summer of 2014. It’s no surprise for anyone De Boer is now officially the manager of Ajax. It was only a matter of time. General manager Rik van den Boog has admit Frank de Boer had the best profile to replace Martin Jol even though he said there was a very short shortlist.” World of Ajax
“Football and chess are two games that have caught my fascination at a very early age. Not that I’m particularly good at one or the other, but the amount of depth available in interpreting, analyzing and enjoying these games has fascinated me from an early age on. Therefore, as a closing post to the year 2010, in contrast to the usual 11tegen11 match reports, I’ve decided to share my view on the parallels and differences between football journalism and chess journalism.” 11tegen11
“In their ultimate match before the winter break PSV faced Harm van Veldhoven’s Roda at home. On match day six both teams met each other before and the 0-0 draw proved that Roda’s 4-4-2 diamond was capable of posing PSV some difficulties. In this match, however, PSV manager Rutten managed to find the solution during the first half, as was illustrated by the day and night difference of both halves of the match.” 11 tegen 11
“FC Copenhagen’s rise & domestic dominance has been down to a number of different factors & it could be argued, it’s benefiting Danish football as a whole. Stuart Fuller explains.” In Bed With Maradona
“Eredivisie champions Twente succumbed to a painful defeat at the hands of Heerenveen, where Oussama Assaidi ran the show, scoring three and assisting the other three goals. A four goal loss for the reigning champions is not unique in Eredivisie history – it has happened two times before – but it illustrates the cropping together of the Eredivisie teams, where, as it seems, any team can beat anyone at present…” 11 tegen 11
Giulio Romano, The Battle of Zama
“Goals from Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and Andy Carroll meant Newcastle leapfrogged Liverpool in the table. Alan Pardew’s intention was clear – change as little as possible. Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan returned to the side after being unavailable for last week’s defeat to West Brom, but the other nine players remained.” Zonal Marking
Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea: Drogba changes game, then misses crucial penalty
“Roman Pavlyuchenko’s opener was cancelled out by Didier Drogba’s powerful drive, before a frenetic finish. Harry Redknapp chose Roman Pavlyuchenko over Peter Crouch, and was without William Gallas, so Michael Dawson returned. Carlo Ancelotti left out Didier Drogba but maintained the 4-3-3 shape. Paulo Ferreira started at right-back with Branislav Ivanovic playing in the centre. Frank Lampard was on the bench.” Zonal Marking
Genoa 0-1 Napoli: Hamsik header decides match
“An intriguing game rather than an exciting one, as Napoli go up to second for the time being. Davide Ballardini seems to have settled on a four-man defence after preferring three at the back last seasonand in the opening games of this campaign. He shuffled his side with the return of Omar Milanetto. Marco Rossi played on the right, with Rafinha moving to right-back in place of Giandomenico Mesto.” Zonal Marking
Roda 1 – 1 ADO: The 4-4-2 diamond doesn’t help Roda at home
“Roda remain unbeaten at home, but fail to win a home game again. Difficulties to convert their possession into chances which seem connected to their formation and playing style seem related to their 3-6-0 home series. ADO replaced missing winger Kubik with Vicento, a similar type of player, rather than making adjustments to their system like in the away loss at AZ and came away with a point in a game they might just have been able to win.” 11 tegen 11
Heracles 2 – 2 VVV: Bad pitch, bad weather, bad footb….
“It may not have been the best of matches to watch, but VVV will definitely be happy coming away with a point after being 2-0 down at half time. Heracles easily dealt with VVV’s split 4-4-2 team in the first half, as they simply regained possession every time the ball was played up to VVV’s strikers who missed any connecting midfielders. In the second half VVV did connect to their forwards and imposed a physical direct game that proved too much for Heracles to deal with in the end.” 11 tegen 11
Freiburg 3-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach
“Papiss Cissé continued to show why Wolfsburg are intent on buying him to replace Edin Džeko as his brace and fantastic performance helped Freiburg defeat Mönchengladbach. Gladbach remain rooted in relegation trouble, but had they taken some of the numerous chances that came their way in the first half, the result could have been different.” Defensive Midfielder
“New Ajax manager Frank de Boer succeeded in installing hope in the heart of the Ajax fans in this match against, it must be said, an uninspired Milan side where no less than seven regular players were rested. Milan either preferred to sit back of were forced back by Ajax (presumably the first) as Ajax combined along the flank and create a significantly higher amount of goal attempts. In the second half Ajax succeeded in converting chances into goals to win a game that might be categorized as a dead rubber in terms of the Champions League competition. But, in terms of installing new found self-confidence and providing hope for their fans, Ajax did a very good job tonight.” 11 tegen 11
Johan Cruyff
“Nearly 40 years after Netherlands legends Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff unleashed Total Football on an unexpecting world, along comes a Dutchman espousing a new philosophy – periodisation.” BBC
“PSV went into this fifth Europa League match knowing that a draw would be enough to secure a place among the final 32 teams. Sampdoria, on the other hand, were in need of a win to keep their hopes of qualifying alive.” 11 tegen 11
“Groningen went into this away match at Roda knowing that a victory would take them to the second place in the Eredivisie. Roda, on the other hand, defended their unbeaten-at-home status. A match between two clubs with fairly different formations was certain to be among the more tactically interesting of the weekend. Roda’s 4-4-2 diamond is unique in the Eredivisie and even playing two strikers is unique in itself. Once completely neutralized by NEC’s three man defense, Roda may be happy that most Eredivisie managers do not show the flexibility to install this system for their Roda games.” (11 tegen 11)
“If not for the UEFA millions of the Champions League, Ajax won’t have anything to look back on once these group stage games are done with. Their game against Real Madrid saw them outclassed in every department, highlighted to the extreme by the unique fact of two Madrid players purposefully upgrading their yellow cards to reds by delaying taking a free kick and a goal kick. The video of this sequence of events might serve to illustrate the gap between Europe’s top teams and a struggling Dutch top team at the moment. Tactics hardly played a role in the game, such was the difference in sheer player quality.” (11 tegen 11)
“On the 29th November it will be 5 years since FC Utrecht and Dutch football lost one of their most promising players. A central defender who could play in the midfield, Frenchman David Di Tommaso, or DiTo as he was affectionately known to team-mates and fans, won the ‘FC Utrecht Supporters Player of the Season Award’ for his performances in his first season at the club, and quickly became a firm fans’ favorite in the Domstad.” (In Bed With Maradona)
“For football fans of a certain age, the name Ajax resonates with history, bringing back memories of the early 70s when the famous club from Amsterdam won the European Cup three years in a row, displaying a brand of ‘total football’ that also inspired the Dutch national team in its dazzling run to two World Cup finals.” (Swiss Ramble)
“NEC Nijmegen might only be sitting in a mid table Eredivisie position right now, but their pin-up striker Björn Vleminckx is emerging as something of a cult hero. Ajax lost at home to ADO too. With a review of the latest games from Holland’s top flight, here’s John Dobson.” (In Bed With Maradona)
“This week might well prove a turning point for Ajax’ season. Losing away at Auxerre saw the club effectively eliminated from the Champions League and losing a second Eredivisie home match this early in the season has put the club three and four points behind PSV and Twente, respectively, in the race for the title. ADO, meanwhile, will definitely take this. They’ve managed to defeat Ajax with their open, direct 4-3-3 game. Even without top scorer Bulykin, ADO showed that they belong among the clubs competing for the play-off places should they be able to keep this strong run of form going.” (11 tegen 11)
“Groningen managed to beat NAC Breda, two teams separated by only three points in last year’s final standings, but having quite different season starts this year. Young manager Pieter Huistra continues to impress with a 4-2-3-1 that suits the Groningen players very well. Against NAC they dominated the match, although the score line suggested otherwise, but creating 11 shots on target while allowing only one sums up the story here.” (11 tegen 11)
“Ajax adapted their formation to finally find the right solution to the problems that Auxerre’s 4-4-1-1 caused them. Unfortunately it was too little too late for Ajax, as Auxerre managed to win through a deflected shot and a debatable offside situation in a quickly taken free-kick.” (11 tegen 11)
“Barcelona will have to wait to book their spot in the last 16 of the Champions League after being held by FC Copenhagen at the Parken Stadion this evening. Barca knew a victory in Denmark would guarantee themselves a place in the knock-out stages and the two-time reigning Spanish champions looked on course to achieve that after taking a 31st-minute lead through Lionel Messi.” (ESPN)
Mou given warm homecoming as Pep’s boys struggle away again
“The Barcelona players are single-handedly destroying the notion that footballers are more than comfortable playing away from home, as it has been almost a year since Pep’s Dream Boys managed to get their metaphorical legs over by winning on their travels in the Champions League.” (FourFourTwo)
FC Copenhagen 1-1 FC Barcelona – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Champions League
(The 90th Minute)
“This week’s top clash in the Eredivisie was without a doubt the match between the first and second ranked teams. And PSV – Twente did not disappoint at all. Both teams played a very open match and the high amount of midfield pressing in the first half did the game a lot of good. Not for the first time this season Twente converted a 0-0 half-time score into a win.” (11 tegen 11)
“Feyenoord managed to recover from their historical 10-0 defeat at the hands of PSV last weekend. At least in the sense that they managed to get the three points playing VVV at home. Despite this positive result, their performance did not provide the sparks of light that may have been hoped for.” (11 tegen 11)
“Some goals Werder Bremen conceded in the 4-0 drubbing at Internazionale last month were so soft that Italian football paper Gazzetta dello Sport rechristened the team ‘Werder Crema.’ It was a charitable assessment; Gazzetta easily could have reached for a stronger Italian word.” (SI)
Panathinaikos 0-0 Rubin Kazan: little invention from attackers and a good result for neither
“A disappointing match in which both sides’ shooting ability deserted them.
Panathinaikos lined up with their now customary 4-2-3-1 system. Simao sat infront of the defence with Kostas Katsouranis playing a more energetic role, and linking up with Giorgos Karagonis. Luis Garcia started from the left and drifted into the centre, whilst on the other side, Stergos Marinos linked up with with Loukas Vyntra, the right-back.” (Zonal Marking)
Inter Milan 4-3 Tottenham Hotspur – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats
(The 90th Minute)
Twente 1 – 1 Werder Bremen: A self fulfilling prophecy for defensively tuned Twente
“Dutch champions FC Twente faced Werder Bremen at home for their third Champions League Group stage match tonight. This offered them a chance at revenge for both team’s match-up last season when the Germans knocked Twente out of the Europa League competition in the first knock-out stage. After winning 1-0 at home, Twente went on to lose the second tie 1-4.” (11 tegen 11)
UEFA Champions League Power Rankings After Matchday 3
“The Champions League is halfway through the group stage and the contenders to win the title have not really changed. Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern, and Real Madrid remain at the top. Other teams showing great form are Arsenal and Lyon who are both 3-0-0. The rankings are below and through October 21, 2010 and only include the top 8 (along with teams just missing the cut).” (The 90th Minute)
“An enjoyable contest between the two most successful sides in the history of the European Cup ended in a comfortable won for Real. Real set out in a fairly standard 4-2-3-1 system. Cristiano Ronaldo played higher up the pitch on the left than Angel di Maria on the right, whilst Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira alternated position, with Alonso generally further forward.” (Zonal Marking)
Real Madrid 2-0 AC Milan – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Champions League
(The 90th Minute)
Arsenal 5-1 Shakhtar: stalemate turns into a rout
“Arsenal started slowly but ended up thrashing a Shakhtar Donetsk side who offered no attacking threat until the final ten minutes. Arsene Wenger recalled Cesc Fabregas and played him alongside Jack Wilshere and Alex Song, whilst Samir Nasri and Tomas Rosicky were preferred to Andrei Arshavin.” (Zonal Marking)
Arsenal 5-1 Shakhtar Donetsk – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Champions League
(The 90th Minute)
Ajax 2 – 1 Auxerre: A false nine and a false nr. 10, but a true victory for Ajax
“The double confrontation with AJ Auxerre from France will be decisive on Ajax’ European Football campaign this season. Having faced world class teams Real Madrid and AC Milan in the first two matches, Ajax will have to defend a one point lead over Auxerre to hold onto the third place in Group G of the UEFA Champions League, and to qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League.” (11 tegen 11)
Spartak Moscow 0-2 Chelsea: usual professional display from Ancelotti’s side
“Yuri Zhirkov’s stunning goal put Chelsea into a lead they never looked like giving up. Spartak fielded a 4-2-3-1 system, with Ari playing close to the main striker, Welliton. The two wide players stayed on their respective flanks for most of the first half but switched in the second. Ibson and Aleksandr Sheshukov played a loose double pivot, with a good understanding allowing each other to move across the pitch.” (Zonal Marking)
UEFA Champions League Video Highlights For Tuesday, October 19, 2010(The 90th Minute)
“The first half of this season’s first ‘Derby of the North’ was a tame affair, as reflected by the 0-0 half-time score. In the second half the game came to life, with Heerenveen passionately chasing the game after conceding the opening goal immediately after half-time.” (11 tegen 11)
“The words are those of Carlos Alberto, captain of Brazil’s 1970 World Cup-winning team, and they come from an interview published in the 50th anniversary issue of World Soccer magazine. The former Santos right-back is one of a number of greats – including Pelé, Bobby Charlton, Franz Beckenbauer and Diego Maradona – to have granted interviews to the magazine about the changes in the game over the last 50 years and their answers repeatedly return to the same complaints: that in becoming faster and more athletic, football has lost some of the artistry that was once central to its raison d’être.” (Football Further)
“Rinus Michels’ association with Ajax was a truly lifelong one. Born in February 1928 just a stone’s throw from the Olympisch Stadion, Michels began playing in the club’s junior ranks in 1940 aged 12 and quickly marked himself out as an industrious young forward. Having had his career put on hold by the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during World War Two, Michels eventually broke into the Ajax first team in 1946.” (Equaliser Football)
“A clear victory in a match that Holland dominated. By exploiting Sweden’s high defensive line ‘Oranje’ managed to score an early goal and an in-form Afellay and Huntelaar built upon this to achieve a comfortable 4-1 margin.” (11 tegen 11)
“The runners up of the past World Cup have started their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign well. Holland is grouped with Sweden, Hungary, Finland and Moldova, San Marino. The Dutch and the Swedes were expected to battle for first place, and indeed so far these two team managed to win all of their matches. Compared to the team that finished second in the past World Cup, Holland has been changed on several positions. In discussing the 0-5 away victory at San Marino, the positional changes have been explained in detail. Of the team playing the final against Spain three months ago, seven players featured again in the match against Moldova.” (11 tegen 11)
“Back from a short holiday! Totally refreshed and ready to pick up the pace of a determining phase of the season. The coming months will see which jump starts will turn out to be true overachievers and which slow starts will prove a lost year to the club. Picking up the action I’ve missed starts with last week’s midweek UEFA Champions League (UCL) action. Match day 2 of the UCL saw Ajax face AC Milan at home, with the hosts aiming for their first points after a disappointing performance away at Real Madrid in their first UCL match in four years. Milan did win their UCL opening match against Auxerre, albeit trough a rather narrow 2-0 victory with two Ibrahimovic goals shortly after the hour-mark.” (11 tegen 11)
“Dame N’Doye scored the first, created the second, and Gilberto Silva received two yellow cards for fouling him twice. Nikos Nioplias selected his usual 4-2-3-1 formation. Gilberto Silva dropped into a centre-back position alongside Josu Sarriegi, leaving Kostas Katsouranis playing just ahead of Simao in the centre of midfield. Luis Garcia started in a central playmaker position.” (Zonal Marking)
“11tegen11 is enjoying a well-deserved, but short holiday break. In the meantime, here’s an overview of the Eredivisie so far, updated to include match day 7, finishing off with part three.” (11 tegen 11)
“An entertaining first half, a much less interesting second half, and a point apiece. Ajax maintained the 4-3-3 shape they used in the 2-2 draw with Twente, making one change – Demy de Zeeuw replaced the ineffectual Rasmus Lindgren, with Eyong Enoh dropping into a deeper midfield position.” (Zonal Marking)
“11tegen11 is enjoying a well-deserved, but short holiday break. In the meantime, here’s an overview of the Eredivisie so far, updated to include match day 7, and here is part two.” (11 tegen 11)
“11tegen11 is enjoying a well-deserved, but short holiday break. In the meantime, here’s an overview of the Eredivisie so far, updated to include match day 7, kicking off with part one.” (11 tegen 11)
“Last year’s Eredivisie top two share the points in an open, attacking game. Michel Preud’homme played a 4-3-3 system that was basically similar in nature to the formation Steve McClaren used at the club last year, even if there have been numerous changes in personnel. Luuk de Jong started upfront in the absence of Mark Janko, and Nacer Chadli returned on the left wing.” (Zonal Marking)
“This weekend saw the first clash of last year’s Eredivisie’s top two sides. Both clubs managed to win an impressive 16 out of 17 home games last season . Ajax’ only draw was, ironically against to-be-relegated Sparta (0-0), in the second home game of the season and Twente’s against PSV in their first home game of the season. Ajax managed to win their final 14 games of the season, scoring a magnificent 50 goals while conceding only 4 in these series. In spite of that, Twente managed to just hold on to their early season lead, keeping a one point margin intact over the final six matches, ensuring a thrilling end to the 2009/10 Eredivisie season and claiming their first ever title.” (11 tegen 11)
“Seven games into the new season and not a word spent on Vitesse yet in 11tegen11. And yet, in some regards Vitesse has been one of the most dynamic teams so far. Disappointingly, however, this only held true for the off-pitch events so far. A change of ownership last August meant that Vitesse is the first, and so far only, foreign owned club in Holland. Georgian Merab Jordania took over the club, speaking of title challenges within three years and building the club into a stable force in European club football. Not the smallest of ambitions for last year’s number 14 of the Eredivisie, is it?” (11 tegen 11)
“Willem II and ADO Den Haag are amongst the teams that expected to battle against relegation this year. The ‘Tilburg Tricolores’ avoided relegation only in the play-offs of the past season after finishing in 17th place, while ADO only just avoided these play-offs by grabbing six points from the final four games of the season.” (11 tegen 11)
“Feyenoord and Ajax contested each other in the 164th edition of ‘The Classic’ today. Regardless of actual rankings and present from, this Classic encounter remains one of the high-points of the year for both teams. The fierce rivalry between these clubs tends to bring out the best of games on the pitch ,but unfortunately also the worst of ‘supporters’ behaviour outside of it. In an effort to control this violence, until 2014 the Eredivisie matches between Ajax and Feyenoord are to be played without any attending away fans, taking away much of the stadium atmosphere.” (11 tegen 11)
“Ajax’much awaited return to the Champions League turned out to be a big deception in their first Group Stage match against the stars of Real Madrid. Although the final 2-0 score-line made it look like a football match, it was in fact a very one-sided affair. Real dominated all areas of the pitch, creating an impressive number of 33 goal-scoring chances and if it was not for Maarten Stekelenburg’s excellent goalkeeping, Ajax would never have come away with only two goals conceded.” (11 tegen 11)
“For the first time in 18 years, PSV has to settle for Europa League (former UEFA Cup) football for two consecutive seasons. And despite 12 Champions League participations in these 18 years, they’ve only passed the group stage three times, with a Hiddink-managed side reaching the semi-finals of 2004/05 as their best result.” (11 tegen 11)
“Yesterday evening saw the much awaited kick-off of the Dutch Eredivisie. And it was the defending champion’s honour to feature in the first match, away against last year’s number nine, Roda JC. A potentially tough fixture as Roda performed particularly well in the second half of last year’s competition and, in contrast to Twente, succeeded in keeping much of their squad together during the summer transfer window. Of their regularly featured players, only midfielder Marcel de Jong and central defender Jean-Paul Saeijs departed. New signing Jimmy Hempte from Belgian outfit KV Kortrijk was attracted as the new central defense partner to the athletic and passionate part-Norwegian, part-Gambian Pah-Modou Kah.” (11 tegen 11)
Hubert Robert, The Bridge
“Another slightly delayed post on our recent national team’s performance. And yet again, for future reference and for the message conveyed in this particular match, it still is important to review Holland’s performance against a stubborn and, apart from the first 20 minutes, well organized Finland side. Oranje, as always, lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with man-in-the-hole Sneijder given a high degree of positional freedom, looking to see a lot of the ball and being involved in a very high proportion of the attacking plays.” (11 tegen 11)
“This analysis of the Holland – San Marino game might come as a somewhat dated publication, which, in fact, it is… Although it’s been delayed due to busy times on several fronts, I’ve still decided to publish it, mainly for future reference. Last week saw the opening fixtures of the Euro 2012 qualification rounds with Holland kicking off against San Marino in the big-named, but small-sized Stadio Olimpico de Serravalle. The other teams in group E are Sweden, Finland, Moldova and Hungary and it looks like a two-horse race between Holland and Sweden for the qualification place with vice-World Champion Oranje being the big favorite of course.” (11 tegen 11)
“England opened their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with a 4-0 win over Bulgaria, but Laurent Blanc’s first competitive game as France manager ended in a shock 1-0 defeat to Belarus and Portugal were held by Cyprus in an eight-goal thriller. Meanwhile, Spain cruised to a 4-0 win in Liechtenstein and Italy came from behind to beat Estonia.” (ESPN)
“Soccer analysis focuses on particular moments of the game, usually highlights or events preceding a goal. Goals are nice to watch and few events preceding the goal keep it comprehensible. Advanced chess players might be able to do better, but in general we memorize around seven to nine events. In the short term, judging player performance is based on seven to nine actions. Let alone putting those actions back in to team perspective.” (Sport Analysis)
“We’ve seen a lot of European Football action this week. No less than six Dutch teams may reach the group stages of either the Champions League or the Europa League this year. Thing however, don’t look too good for Utrecht, having lost 2-0 away at Celtic and also PSV have some repair work to do after a clumsy 1-0 defeat at far far Siberia.” (11 tegen 11)
“Yesterday evening saw the much awaited kick-off of the Dutch Eredivisie. And it was the defending champion’s honour to feature in the first match, away against last year’s number nine, Roda JC. A potentially tough fixture as Roda performed particularly well in the second half of last year’s competition and, in contrast to Twente, succeeded in keeping much of their squad together during the summer transfer window.” (11 tegen 11)
“Spain or Barcelona? No contest. Week in, week out, Barcelona combine the midfield interplay of Xavi and Iniesta with the cutting edge of Lionel Messi, Daniel Alves and co. The comparison serves to confirm the impression that these days club football is of a much higher standard than international – as long as we restrict the debate to the major European leagues. The big clubs in Spain, England, Italy and Germany are in front of the national teams because of the time their players spend together and because they count on the best talent from all over the planet. When the World Cup stops and domestic football returns, the level of play goes up.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“The first sign that Andres Iniesta was the danger man came midway through the second half of normal time, when he found himself through on goal (pink), but took too long to get a shot away.” (Zonal Marking)
“Two billion souls: One must begin with that. That’s how many people, or nearly so, sat or stood in view of television screens to watch twenty-two men kick a white ball around a green field on a warm July night in Berlin four years ago. The twenty-two men comprised the men’s national soccer teams of Italy and France. The occasion was the final game of the 2006 World Cup. The cagey match, as the world now knows, turned on an extraordinary event near its end when France’s captain and star, Zinedine Zidane, strode toward the Italian defender Marco Materazzi and, for reasons unknown, drove his bald pate into the taller man’s chest. The motion mimicked one he’d used a few minutes earlier to head a flighted ball inches over the Italians’ goal, coming ago nizingly close to winning the day for France. Now Zidane was expelled, his team was rattled, and a player in blue whose name few outside Umbria and Trieste recall darted inside a player in white and curled the ball inside the French goal with his left foot, cueing images, on countless flickering screens around the planet, of his countrymen celebrating Italy’s triumph in the floodlit waters of the Trevi fountain in Rome.” (Laphams Quarterly)
“As the game wore on, Arjen Robben took up even more advanced and central positions when Holland had the ball. Indeed, the shot below sees Robben (green) about to race through for his one-on-one with Iker Casillas, and the Spain defence temporarily looks like a back three up against two strikers, with two man-markers and Gerard Pique (yellow) as the sweeper.” (Zonal Marking)
“World Cup 2010 has been done and dusted, as we have found a champion out of the 32 teams competing for the biggest prize of all in footballing universe, Spain, as well as Thomas Muller, the winner of the Golden Boot award and also for the young German to officially announce his arrival in world football. However, there’s still one more award which drew quite a lot of criticisms and that’s the Golden Ball award, awarded to the best player in the tournament. In World Cup 2010, the winner is Uruguay’s Diego Forlan, and many pundits and fans, especially Internazionale fans out there feel that Forlan is not a deserving recipient of this award, as they feel that Wesley Sneijder, the runners-up for the award, or in other words the Silver Ball winner of this tournament who should have been the recipient of the Golden Ball.” (Beopedia)
Antonio Di Natale
“Starting with Nicolás Lodeiro back in December last year, Football Further selected 32 players to watch out for at the 2010 World Cup and then tracked their progress through the tournament via weekly scouting reports. Below is a full compilation of those reports, along with conclusions (and marks out of 10) on how each player performed.” (Football Further)
“Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll provide you with all the post-WC analysis you can handle, but for now, let’s talk about the final. As I was watching the game, I didn’t have a strong rooting interest either way, but I expected a great game. Both teams were stocked with All-Stars at virtually every position. The Spanish had won Euro; the Dutch were working on an undefeated tournament. Although the score line of a lot of the Spanish games this tournament were not as impressive as some of the other teams (Germany for example), anyone who watched a Spain game – watched the execution, understood their dominance on the ball, marveled at their ability to play ‘keep away’ after scoring a goal – knew that they were impressive. Meanwhile, the Dutch had seemingly rolled through the tournament and they managed to defeat mighty and heavily favored Brazil. This game was to be an epic showdown.” (Yanks are coming)
“As is customary after a Spain or Barcelona success, the performance of Sergio Busquets (two La Ligas, a Champions League and a World Cup after two seasons of professional football) has largely been ignored. In the World Cup final he was one of the key players for Spain – keeping Wesley Sneijder quiet, providing his usual solid, reliable passing from a deep midfield position, and dropping between his centre-backs to turn Spain’s 4-2-3-1 into something more like a 3-3-3-1 or 3-4-3 when in possession.” (Zonal Marking)
Mensaje de Eduardo Galeano para América Latina Cartagena de Indias, Julio de 1997
“Pacho Marturana, a man with vast experience in these battles, says that football is a magical realm where anything can happen. And this World Cup has confirmed his words: it was an unusual World Cup. The 10 stadiums where the Cup was played were unusual, beautiful, immense, and cost a fortune. Who knows how South Africa will be able to keep these cement behemoths operating amid pulverising poverty? The Adidas Jabulani ball was unusual, slippery and half mad, fled hands and disobeyed feet. It was introduced despite players not liking it at all. But from their castle in Zurich, the tsars of football impose, they don’t propose. …” (Dispatch)
Scissors Kick 