What the 2014 Fifa World Cup tells the world - Tiki Taka, Samba are dead and buried.

The 2014 Brazil Fifa World Cup came and went. Germany vanquished all and sundry and made history by becoming the first European country to do in South America. Amongst many firsts and surprises you already know, there was a question of the death of Samba football. Many think it never existed. The claim is that Brazil ever thrived on one many talents (once in a while two or three). The truth of that could be the hosts’ failure to perform without Neymar. The famous 7-1 loss is the tip of that iceberg.  That was supported by Argentina’s lack of sting if Messi got eliminated tactically. In truth, that Argentinian team was below par given an array of talent within the squad. All Germany did, was to eradicate his influence and then pounced and snatched the 2014 World Cup title from under their nose. Enough of the South American disaster.

In this exceptional extravaganza, Tiki Taka football proved dead and buried. When Barcelona failed in the UEFA Champions League and flunked in the L Liga race, alarm bells rang and the flashing lights beaconed. It never made headlines for sentimental reasons, until Spain came and proved the fact. The converted, the believers in the philosophy still think there is life, that it can still be taken to the intensive care unit and be resuscitated. One can be hopeful and claim that Spain were just ‘victory fatigued’.

Barcelona won too much in the last few years, so did Spain. Basically, the two (Barca and Spain) are more or less the same thing. Vicente Del a Bosque lacked motivation. After the 2-10 South Africa Fifa World Cup victory, he should have resigned. The new coach would have inspired the old warhorses. For the glory and employment reasons, he must have stayed, a noble idea. In that case, he should have overhauled that team. Having the World Cup medal, European championship medal, the UEFA Champions League and Club World Cup medal, I would never break a sweat, let alone a leg. Only the foolish would expect that anyway, that is why Spain left early for home.

Italy always present themselves as tough customers in any situation. After the horrible 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa were they were eliminated on the first round, few would bet against their resurgence. They have the quality of Andre Pirlo and Mario Balotelli to name just two. The former champions became the centre of attraction with their football and the discipline and defensive behaviour and pressing of their football godfather, Arrigo Sacchi. The 3-1 loss to Costa Rica embarrassed them, ushering the Azzuri through the shameful exit door for the second World Cup on the trot. It could have been they dwelt much on that, forgot to mould forward movements associated with modern football.

One could argue that Pirlo’s age had adverse effects, but he stood between the Italians and bad defeats many times. One thing best left alone, is the racist Italian football community. Balotelli never got the support of the ball supply needed to make an impact. This is not to say that his blackness had anything to do with it, but with a single quality pass, fortunes could have been changed. One must note that a record equalling 171 goals were scored in Brazil, proving the offensive modern game. Pressing remains the single most important tactic as proven by the champions, Germany.   

English football organisation and preparation proved insufficient. Talent and experience in imbalanced proportions became their downfall. The English Premier League quality came under the microscope. Given the touting as the best league, the team never measured up, neither did any team with a good measure of players plying their trade there. Belgium were one example of a team littered with talent gracing the Backlays English Premier League. They flattered to deceive. Few teams would relish the prospects of facing the team with Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling, Buckley, Lallana, Bailey and the like. Friendly matches do not demand the best of the teams.

Based on that fact alone, misjudging the capabilities of performance is the biggest setback. That team needed to go through the mill and face adversaries and adversities to mature. Until then, with all the razz mataz of the most watched league in the world, England will remain the laughing stock of the World Cups. Roy Hodgson started an excellent project which I think some else need to take to the next level, and now. One of the best qualities of the Englsih Football Association, is their poor choice of managers. From where I am sitting, they will let Hodgson stick it out, fatally blowing their chances away. As good as he is, he may not have the energy to transmit to the young Three Lions.

African talent counts for nought as maladministration reigns. The worst part of it is that the continent is proud of it. The way the football associations compete to display their folly is mind-boggling. As if that, the duels to portray the incompetence at top level had top prize money, the single mindedness and total focus on self-destruction, generation after generation, cannot be compared with anything in hell or earth. The continent boasts of top athletes in top leagues. These players trade with the best, they compete against the best. To leave their home leagues, they prove to be a cut over the rest. They get exposed to top training methods by the greatest managers of the game. Time and time again, they provide evidence that they can never be intimidated or under-estimated.

All the organisations do, is to prove to them that their overseas statuses mean nothing, that in Africa it is dog eat dog, and if one does not like the heat, they should leave the kitchen. No one is greater than a village donkey and the team listens to one army general, usually the receptionist at the national offices of the association. The lack of understanding that these players need huge insurances in case their careers are compromised, that they need a back-up system to enable them to afford medical treatment and surgery if need be, cause the unnecessary squabbles and in-fighting. The experienced players begin to bully the inexperienced and they pull their weight around. In retaliatory fashion, the young players begin to be selfish for the benefit of their future contracts. The tug-of-war, World Cup after World Cup, leads to one thing and one thing only – embarrassment.

How Fifa does not intervene, I do not know. I guess they do not care as long as Africans skin each other. What should happen, is the sanctions against teams behaving in that manner, for bringing the beautiful game into disrepute. In other words, ban the associations, the leadership and the countries from participating in the next two or three World Cups. By the same token, the ill-disciplined players holding the countries at ransom, should never have their big team contracts sanctioned. Such moves would be serious food for thought, if they affected big brothers in Europe and less so in South America. Probably you could be asking where they would get money and insurance to pay the mega stars. If one leads an organisation and they have no plan, they should leave their jobs. What does it profit an organisation to have a blind tour guide?

Many should have shared the revered blueprint of Germany success. The youth policy whose philosophy leads to national team football, is actually inverse. The national team philosophy is played throughout Bundesliga 6-9 (amateurs) as, of course from Bundesliga 1-5 (professionals). The schools follow the same. Actually, all football is played to produce the cup won on the 13^th of July 2014 in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium. Many countries try to do that, but the quantity of perfection is the difference. Few elements add up and the end product is there to see.

We wish to hear your thoughts and we next check on the football trends observed in Brazil.

It never rains for Brazil and they are whitewashe 3-0 by Holland

 

Brazil were unlucky to concede a penalty and not to be awarded a few of their own throughout the match to determine who receives the bronze medals and wooden spoons. The yawning gaps in midfield from the semi-final match against Germany remained visible. From the onset, Thiago Silva and David Luiz played too far apart, a situation worsened by Luiz Gustavo who played further ahead of the pair, including the opposing lethal pair of Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie.

This was tactical suicide as the two Dutch strikers had plenty of time and space to receive the ball and ride their bikes. On each of those occasions, they had the opportunity to create dangerous one versus one situations as well as two versus one against each central defender. The recovering runs from the midfielders came too late and were ineffective given the pace of Robben. Thiago lost the ball and his man passed the ball to the speeding Bayern Munich striker, and had to make a run to cover himself up as his partner tried to run back and cover him up, fouling the bald flying Robben just outside the penalty box. The referee pointed at the whitewash.

RVP stepped up and blasted the penalty kick past Julio Cesar for one of the earliest goals of the tournament. The central midfield position continued to be exposed and loaded the back two heavily. Brazil failed to take up defensive positions quickly enough as they tried a little too hard to be on the score sheet. Luiz played a little ahead of the natural defensive position while Oscar came to the central midfield position to pick up the balls and sprint forward. Maicon found spaces on his flank, but his position always provided a pathway for attacks and counter attacks.

Robben played Deguzeman on the right to cross the ball into the prime target area. David Luiz headed to the penalty spot for Blind to control and hit the roof of the inside netting. The hosts began to throw caution to the wind, with Oscar, Willian and Ramirez looking to right the result. Their urgency became an Archilles’ heel as they committed numerous unforced errors in their rushed attacks.

AR and RVP played a little wide of each other, staying between the central defenders and the touch-line. This resulted in Luiz and Silva being drawn uncomfortably wide. Gustavo should have played in between the two strikers at minimum. Ideally, he needed to stay between his defenders to shorten the recovery distance to either defender. Upon receiving the balls wide on the centre line, there was no stopping for the Dutch, as they sprinted centrally and support came from their wings. Their midfield took off faster and were ever quick off the blocks. There was never much attacking options for the South Americans as soon as they won the ball under these circumstances.

As much as the South Americans fought a better fight in the second half, they failed to penetrate a resolute Holland defence. The downfall of the Brazilian attack was going through the solid middle. When the wing play was involved, the attacks threatened the Europeans but the crosses became horrible. In most cases, cutback options saw the ball over the second post or too close at the near post, usually intercepted or played out for a corner-kick. Under all circumstances, each Dutch attack looked like it would produce a goal.

It was concluded at the right flank at the dearth when Robben checked over his shoulder and picked up a run from deep to tuck a timed third man run. The cross was met by Wilnadum to side foot a first time shot. In the last two goals, the crossers of the ball were not pressurised and the charging towards the scorers came at a snail’s pace, giving too much space and time to calmly finish. Cesar needed to firmly push the last attempt strongly past the post.

Brazil concluded a miserable 2014 Fifa World Cup with their tails between their legs. An embarrassing 3-0 defeat looked better than the 7-1 drubbing, but that would never appease the fanatic crowd that booed their villains with no end. For the record World Cup champions, it proved how much they regressed over the years since their last victory in 2006. There would be little doubt that the honourable thing to do for the technical team would be throwing in the towel.

Holland scored their own record equalling 15 goals in their conquest for third place, and all members of their squad at least tasted some action.     

2014 Brazil Fifa World Cup: The best form of defence is.......?

How often do you hear that practice makes perfect? In truth, it makes permanent. Attack is the best form of attack and defence is the best form of defence. Nothing less and nothing more. Never ever confuse the two.

There was clearly plenty to do in Brazil on that fateful night when Brazil lost a record 7-1 to Germany, starting at the stadium as this busy man proves.

 

This is how it happened in pictures; Marcelo entirely forgot he was a defender as soon as the 4^th minute after a Brazilian scoring chance, as seen here with the ball out of play. He was too far up the pitch and had the ball thrown over him.

So advanced were Brazil that Dante sprinted back to cover the damage done on that gap attack by Germany. David Luiz managed to invest in a successful tackle on Miroslav Klose.

After five minutes Brazil were so far forward that there was no one around an under-pressure Fernandinho to receive a pass other than five Germans. He gave the ball away.

There was total lack of protection for defence as seen here. Three Germans were completely free in the middle after four minutes.

Brazil were caught on the break and gave their opponents a ridiculous amount of space after just eight minutes. Hulk and Marcelo provided Germany with an attacking corridor on that flank, as the former never defended and the later played off-position.

 

The ultimate defensive chaos was highlighted in the seventh minute as the entire Brazil team desperately ran backwards after a neat but unremarkable Sami Khedira turn in the centre circle.

The left-back area was completely exposed as everyone else ran towards Julio Cesar and looking over their shoulders in blind panic in the 9^th minute. Germany players were in twos and sometimes in threes. This made them receive the ball and suddenly outnumber the Brazilians at that point, which was always around the edge of the penalty area. Brazil conceded a corner shortly afterwards, then sloppy marking allowed Thomas Muller to score the game’s first goal.

Klose made it 2-0 twelve minutes later. It took 108 seconds for another goal to make it 3-0. Thereafter, the hosts lost rhythm and concentration, becoming ever more vulnerable and clueless. Germany made it 4-0 just 50 seconds after making it 3-0.

There was something frighteningly predatory and calculated about that goal, Toni Kroos and Samir Khedira trading passes again and again, all the time reducing the percentage chance that a goal wasn’t about to happen. The midfield trio were clearly instructed to stay tight to each other as shown by the blue triangle, and very importantly, for the some of the half, the central defenders stayed where defenders are supposed to be, as seen pointed by the red arrows.

Cesar shoulders some blame for  pushing the ball back to Klose to get a second bite of the cherry. He was beaten at the near post by and André Schürrle. 

Phil Scolari did not change anything until the second half, swapping Bernard and Hulk on the right and left wings, meaning Marcelo had a more disciplined wide player in front of him who was not going to give the ball away every time he got it.

 

David Luiz passed the ball horribly wrong. He made one absolutely brilliant 70-yard cross field pass in the early stages of the game, but all this seemed to do was give Luiz false confidence. Later, Luiz even managed to make five yard passes difficult for his team-mates, as seen here.

Without the centre back, Thiago Silva, telling his team-mates to wise up and stop being disorganised, the defence and midfield completely fell apart, and the strikers, and the goalkeeper. It was a disastrous calamity where a footballing super power tumbled like a deck of cards. A catastrophe; a team that lacked leadership and one that failed to look beyond the first goal. Their body language was that of frightened boys and they coiled into their shells and stayed retracted the entire match.
 
(Special thanks to T. Gibbs)

Argentina will win the 2014 Brazil Fifa World Cup

Arjen Robben is the player of the tournament. With two matches of the 2014 Brazil Fifa World Cup to go, it is safe to say that a player who was almost retiring at Chelsea around a decade ago is the player of the tournament. That is barring an expected huge Lionel Messi performance on Sunday. Robben moved from the English Premier League to Real Madrid and carried the ‘bad boy’ tag with him until his Bayern Munich destination a few seasons back. He left Spain again on the verge of collapse but found room and warmth to grow. That resuscitation in Germany moulded him into a great player the world is witnessing today. He is wiser with less hair, truly a revelation for the Dutch in this Fifa World Cup.

The Netherlands hoped to play the final and many fancied them to do so, and even win it, but they have been too good from start until a match ago. The problem was that they had been at their peak far too early as their performance and winning huge in earlier matches proves. They played attractive football and, reached the ceiling by the quarter-final stage. Louis van Gaal is well aware of this fact and his expression of his dislike of their fixture against the hosts is proof of the fact. I personally believe Brazil are more beatable now than they were against Germany. Their dilemma around who to play and restore pride and whether to exclude the tried and tested to give new blood a chance to have a run is real. Van Gaal stares the prospects of failing to win what he feels is a dead rubber or the humiliation of the resurgent Brazil in the face.

As for Argentina, they always raised their game just enough to scrap the result. Save for their encounter with the Dutch, they did enough to get what they wanted. While it was a difficult match physically and mentally, they will be expected to hit top gear against Germany in the final. To make their case harder though, they have a day less to both recover and to prepare for that final. They endured a 120-minute long extremely competitive energy-supping match plus the emotional wrecking penalty shoot-out in tough weather conditions.

In comparison, Germany did stroll past Brazil and literally had a field day. Their recuperation and preparations will be longer and better, naturally. What makes this music to their ears is the fact that they had the same Dutch ‘early peak’ and scrapped through when Ghana let it slip. The United States stretched them to the limit and so did the Algerians. They hit the ceiling as they reached top gear to get past the Africans. It was a welcome relief that Brazil did not turn up on Tuesday. That luxury afforded by the hosts has more physical benefits than mental. After that stroll, concentration levels may drop a degree. Argentina will be sharper mentally but a notch low physically.

At this high level of the game, there are very fine margins in the football factors of performance. The obvious cases of altitude, weather, nutrition, motivation and all that jazz do count. Of course, the majority of the players who will take it to the turf on the 13^th of July are Europe based. So, the altitude and weather will count for little. The managers and players know each other pretty well, but something will have to give. There can never be an doubt of proper and professional preparation in the field of play.

Football is such that the team that will walk away victorious, needs to create one opportunity and utilise it. Given this line alone, this is a huge ask and a burden whose solution eludes many. In the German Bundesliga, Under-9 to Under-17 teams are taught at least nine patterns of attack to create that one opportunity. Congruently, it means with this knowledge, one has to learn how to stop nine attacks, or know nine defending ways. There are a lot more at higher levels of the leagues, and it is a project that goes through to the national team. It has to start with recognising each and every one of them and the variants, and then deal with it effectively and ruthlessly.

As humans, it takes several attempts to be precise even on something we are expects in. The match may not provide such opulence to try and try again. This is when a team needs one moment of brilliance from its top player. It may be any player for that matter but chances can never be taken. Argentina will have to dig in deeper and pull off a stance to utilise Messi more than they did against Holland. It would have been very painful for him to have been anonymous in most of extra time and then fail to have an opportunity at the highest level, in the final. Germany on their part, are a well-orchestrated choir driven by the mentality to be exceptional in both attacking and defensive jobs. That roundedness of their structure makes it harder to single out individuals. Each has a role to play, basically, to be efficient in their area of operation. Many depend on doing simple things right all the time. It can be just once.

Defenders have to be technically disciplined and tactically sound in decision-making. This means winning all balls all the time without making any errors. The same goes for the midfield, whose other concerns includes top quality passing of the ball forward with minimum loss of time. The ball played early and fast on the ground makes it easier for the strikers to score. That is how they effectively scored seven goals out of a mere thirteen attempts at goal against Brazil. Most of the opportunities were very easy to convert. Given that supply, the strikers' clinical finishing would be top priority. Thomas Muller is known for his inferior natural technique, but what he was taught in his adolescence, he will execute with perfection and with ease.

Joachim Low and Alejandro Sabella have tasks in their hands, but one can be assured they started that many years back. It becomes a different kettle of fish when one realises they have a World Cup finals within days. Coaching is about shaping a team to create the opportunities to score and psyche the players to execute well as efficiently as possible when that moment of truth comes. The same goes, as he has to work with the same team to deal with those moments coming from the opposition in the same match. They have to manufacture a great moment in attack and then deny the star players any room for their moment of brilliance.

Both cases can be successfully achieved by the same team on Sunday, or one team gets one aspect right and the other team win the other option. The two teams can have it both ways in the same match in varying degrees and portions. Once in a while, due to bad team preparation or excellent tactical work by opposition, none of this happens. This explains the woeful Brazilian night at the hands of the Germans and the following day’s draw between the Netherlands and Argentina.

All said and done, the Germans’ excellent group work becomes harder to deal with. They had time to chillax before the big day. Argentina over-relies on Messi and as a collective, have not really wowed anybody, but they will welcome back injured Angel Di Maria, in which case they may not need a great team performance. After all, they have Javier Mascherano who officially has the most passes in the tournament so far. Unofficially, he has the most interceptions and the highest ball retrieval rate. The 2014 Fifa World Cup final is the day they may step up into the plate and be counted, the day Lionel Messi will prove he is the greatest player in the world ever. With all due pressure on him, that is the moment to deliver as developing cold feet can only prove he is a sissy, to the delight of both Pele and his country man, Diego Maradona. The two are wrestling over the title they impose on themselves and Messi is here to end that war on Sunday. Cometh the moment, cometh the Messi!!

How Germany put Brazil through a shredder.

In all social networks, there was never a serious opinion about the possibility of Brazil playing on Sunday. Save for the Brazilians themselves, there was nothing championship material about them. Few remained neutral given they had their backs covered by the fans. The ruthless went on to say they have been lucky to be in the semi-final. Their player of the tournament so far has been referred to as Refereedinho. On the lighter side, the German Cut prevailed over Brazilian Hair. German Shepherds became dogs of choice too.

Is it the Samba football is extinct? Many think it never existed. The argument borders around their ability to unearth rough diamonds, often more than one at a time. In this particular case, Neymar’s performance captivated the country and the world and at that tender age, he is a cult hero. The same can be said about the generation of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Romario and Bebeto. The team operated on individual brilliance without any cutting edge. As many pundits and the expecrts of the game will tell you, there is little any individual genius could have done against Germany.

After a record three title by the 1974 Fifa World Cup, Brazil looked cast with a spell and their drought of the Cup worried professors in many of their universities. Despite the flamboyant characters like Socrates and Zico, the Brazilian hopes crushed from World Cup to World Cup. It became less of a priority to the nation as each coach came in and went. The coaching job of the Celestiao became ordinary and less interesting. After the Italia ’90, Brazil had to look closely at their case and prescribe the best medicine but the problem was the diagnosis.  

It came to an appointment of Carlos Alberto Perreira to make inroads into the thorny issue. Perreira faced the truth head on and became realistic with the situation on the ground. His findings did not seem real to many and he began to lose a few friends straight away. Brazilian football lacked the leadership qualities that Perreira had seem in his days as a physical trainer during the last championship Brazil won in 1970.

Perreira used all resources all coaches used since 1979, especially documentation regarding the play and styles of the national teams. The technical and tactical information compiled by a top coach who was a journalist, included photographs, video and audio files and studied thoroughly. Many coaches prior to that period had done that, but it came to the choice of players and Perreira had to put his balls on the vice. The biggest fallout with the football fathers was Dunga. Dunga had neither style nor flair. No one expected him near the field of play. Carlos Alberto Perreira made him the chief cornerstone of his operation.

All that followed was the beautiful game dubbed a failure and unattractive. Save for the brilliance of Romario and Bebeto, the game played by Perreira’s team went against everything Brazilian. His employers and fans disowned them as they headed to the USA ’94. That unattractive team, as far as the Brazilians were concerned, won the Fifa World Cup 24 years after their 1970 glory during the days of Pele. That team had leaders in Cesar Sampiao, Junior Baiano, Leonardo and Tafarrel among others.

Many forgave Perreira and accepted him as a hero. That moment changed Brazilian football as they began to Europeanise their game. In my class in Brazil, one great player who played the 1958 final with Mario Zagallo and Pele, Sebastao Araujo, addressed the class to sing praises for Perreira. Between that World Cup and the 1970 victory, they had played against European opposition and came unstuck. The players came out of the field complaining, “They can’t let us play, they don’t let us play”. Those aware of the story in Brazil, understood Perreira after the victory, even though they did not agree with him. The man took a huge gamble and risked his job and future and it paid off. That is why he will ever be their greatest coach ever.

Luiz Filipe Scolari romped in Perreira for this reason when the country won the right to host the 2014 Fifa World Cup. Big Phil had the luxury of many players plying their trade in Europe. The team he assembled comprised the talismanic Neymar. The idea of discounting Fabiano and trusting Fred might be inspired by the choice Perreira made with Dunga. Many fail to understand that out of over 16 million registered professionals, Fred and Joe rank the highest. With modern trends in the game, Willian, Paulinho, Ramirez and Fernandinho, one sees a solid midfield shield that can withstand any push in world. The offensive job of Oscar would be obvious to fully complement Neymar’s genius.  

The Brazil defence always looked porous for most of their lives, and that weakness got concealed by the single-handed attacking power of Neymar Jr. It is Joachim Louw looked at that and worked a plan to stop Brazil from playing. The hosts always thought of causing pain in the opposition defence. As soon as questions were asked of his defence, there were no answers. German’s attitude revolved around pushing higher up and playing the game in the defensive half of their opposition. The game being played that high up in the field, a few Brazilians were made redundant as they played the game ahead of the ball.

One thing any team needs is numerical disadvantage, and if you are playing Germany or Italy, your troubles are tripled. The field being over 105 yards long, the Europeans cut that distance by over 50% and already being a man or two and at times even three players over the Brazilians, it turned out to the a training on phases of play in the attacking third. In those circumstances, all players became drawn off positions and German players picked and chose who would score next. Despite the already erratic shape that the team was in, David Luiz and Marcelo tried to go forward, further thinning the already diluted defence. With more men in half the field of play, the quality of attack would tear to shreds any principles of defending.

There was nothing tactical or shrewd about how Brazil had taken to the field in this Fifa World Cup, except that at the start, they showed the will to win more than the fear to lose and they lost badly. Many teams employed interesting playing patterns and substitutions, especially the Dutch, Luis van Gaal with his famous Krul gamble against Costa Rica. It was a decision that could make or break him, not that he needed the making, but it could have backfired badly. In that match, Costa Rica started worse off than Brazil did against Germany. The Ticos reacted and resolved an issue that could have led to a football catastrophe.

German’s Joachim Louw had the gallows ready for him when they played against Portugal. The German schemer toyed around with the team tactics as he deployed Mezuit Ozil in an unfamiliar role. The Germany football think tank watched closely at the crazy idea. His plan was to keep check on Cristaino Ronaldo’s defensive duties. Germany did not want the Real Madrid kingpin to be just focussed on attack, but to have a concern of Ozil. That worked and Germany won. Had he lost, he would have been jobless by now and Brazil would still be in the Fifa World Cup. For a team of Brazil’s stature, there are many things not expected to happen, no matter how wrong the setup. On that night, they did happen to when it mattered most.

Scolari set up a team ready for slaughter and the executioner happened to be clinical and on top of his game. Even in his slumber, he could have lethal, given the naivety of the blindfolded Brazil. At this point, Brazil will have to wait for the next generation of magicians to aid Neymar, and a coach to match. Perreira and Scolari have won their glory and passed their ‘use by’ dates. They are good in what they do and should mentor the young and hungry. If there is one thing to learn from that embarrassment, pass the button for success. Do not fail and be reactionary. Coaches always encourage players to be proactive, and that is one thing the Brazilian contingent did not do; from the appointment of the coaches to the disaster on the night.

Argentina needed penalties (4-2) to dump the Dutch in 2014 Fifa World Cup

 

Playing for a finals berth, Argentina and Holland began the encounter in a cagey manner, probably with the 7-1 result of the other semi-final in mind. The South Americans patiently waited for the Dutch to come at them, but with both teams employing the same tactic, the Netherlands decided to press in midfield around the centre line.

They choked the supply line to Lionel Messi and avoided fouls around the edge of the penalty area and blocked the Zabaleta path on the right. They narrowed the playing field and squeezed the match into their comfort zone. On transition, they looked to pick a long ball into the pockets occupied by Robin van Persie.

Argentina insisted on playing on the right involving Zabaleta and Messi tried central runs towards goal. The Dutch had a plan of tripling up on him. Mascherano performed at the highest level as he anticipated each move and intercepted every ball played through and across midfield. He sprayed the passes to the front-runners and took charge of the middle of the park. His authority was complemented by the unexpected work-rate of Perez.

Perez worked well and hard and took the weight off the shoulders of Messi. This enabled the South Americans to take grip of the match in the second half as their attacks became more meaningful and threatening. Argentina pressed a little higher with the front players fore-checking and winning the ball as soon as it was lost. The longer the match progressed without the goal, matters changed and the match swung to the Dutch.

They took the match by the scruff of its neck with controlled forward movement. Both sides took single long-range shots and went to reserve mode. Arjen Robben got control of the ball and ran at the defenders, touching and keeping the ball for a little too long. Mascherano recovered and tapped the ball for a corner kick.

Substitutes, Palacious and Maxi Rodriguez had clear-cut chances to put the match away. The former got himself into the box after chasing a looping ball from midfield. Face to face with Cillisen, he rushed his headed attempt over the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper had fainted to comeout and forced the striker’s action, making it easy for himself to collect the weak header.

Messi had been quiet for a while as he suddenly appeared with a strong run from the right flank. His cross eluded all but Rodriguez tried a side-footed volley, an action that showed some indecision on his part. He could have controlled the ball and tucked it past the keeper.

While Messi spent most of the extra time marked out of the match, Robben created himself room by his mobility to various positions in front and midfield. He shifted to either wing and touched the ball as often as he liked. This made his threat real with every touch.

The penalty shootout failed to supply the Dutch drama as Romero stole the show with acrobatic saves of Vlaar and Sneijder penalty kicks. Although Robben and Kuyt converted, it was the clinical Argentinians who tucked in theirs successfully.Messi, Lavezzi, Aguero and Maxi Rodriguez converted to book a date with Germany in Maracana on the 13^th of July 2014.  

Brazil massacred 7-1 by Germany in 2014 Fifa World Cup semis

It was an amazing shapeless team set-up and the uninspiring team performance ever as Brazil started the match with several players ahead of the ball, and the tactics seemed to border around playing the long ball to by-pass the midfield. It seems Fillipe Scolari tried to deal with the absence of Neymar and Thiago Silva by introducing a new playing style. The probable understanding could have been that the firepower of Die Mannschaft engine room could not be overcome by playing through midfield. The other line of thought would include scoring that early goal through those means and then play the beautiful game the Samba way later. It never was.  

Brazil suffered the most humiliating defeat ever by Germany as they suffered an embarrassing 7-1 massacre. The emphatic win proved a ruthless German side fancied themselves to lift the Cup. As much as Brazil defended horribly and despite all that can be said about the absence Thiago Silva. The shape was so bad in the offensive movement that even Neymar could not have kept the team together.

Before the avalanche started, the record world champions looked threatening with all balls falling into the penalty box, but Germany were content to contain the missile launch and mount their own counter attacks. It became obvious that the longer the fans waited for the goals, the more frustrated Brazil grew. The impatience of the hosts led to the indiscipline as the team’s tactical behaviour got deformed by the minute. Dnte and David Luiz were guilty of roaming astray outside the bounderies of central defenders and played too far ahead and too wide of each other. They kept outside between the four upright goal posts, either on the same side or wide. Germany played some part in that as they worked on stretching the pair, as well as working on opening the wing backs and drawing them away from the central defenders.

This task became easy courtesy of the attacking appetite of Maicon and Marcelo. Luiz Gustavo and Ferdinandinho failed to give cover to the erratic pair of Luiz and Dante. They were attracted off position easily and failed to link up efficiently with Oscar and Hulk. With the attacking power of the Germans and a team like Netherlands, the necessity of airtight midfield screening could never be over-emphasised. The midfield needed to be the first layer of obstacles and then each defender behind them would have formed a secondary barrier giving cover to the front shield. The most sensible thing should have been each midfielder having a sweeper, each defender closer to the next behind that line. The funnel shape could easily make entry into the box extremely difficult.

The South Americans conceded a soft corner kick in their forays to get a goal meant to cool the nerves when Germany attacked from the wing. All personnel got sucked into the near post and exposed the second post. David Luiz failed to track Muller as he German striker made a shallow pocket run to the far post. By the time his marker picked him up, Muller had timed the flight of the ball and angled his foot to tap the ball with the inside right part of his boot past Julio Cesar. The yawning gap could have been utilised by a supporting player a few steps further to Thomas Muller.

The Brazilian defence got exposed further when Luiz and Dante found themselves facing their goalkeeper while the second goal was scored. There was some inter-passing on the right and a perfect delivering of the low cross that was cut-back found Klose who took a second bite on the ball to score after a block by Cesar. The ball to the crossing position should have been punched away from traffic, be well-defended, and the cross should have been closed down and denied and that ball to the central position outside the D-zone was better intercepted.  The sequence errors complicated things further as the central defence conceded the goal while facing Julio Cesar.

Similar to the first goal, Cesar needed to command his defenders to watch the blind side and surround himself with quality security. Lack of tactical awareness by Brazil further damaged the campaign when the team shape worsened as the defence sought to make amends by going forward. Regardless of the forward marching of the defenders, Germany had a plan to keep the central defenders apart as well as keeping the wing defenders as far away from the central defenders as possible. Dante and Luiz found themselves on either side of the central channel or on the same channel at the same time. At that level of the game, it is criminal to leave the central channel, with at least one central defender expected to stay between the four upright post at any given time.  

The second goal gave the German attack the impetus to go forward. The quick exchange of passing and clinical finishing characterised a sweeping move that started from the back and flowed to the right. The cross was met the industrious Kroos who tripled the score. Brazil became nervous and gave away the cheapest goal of all. In trying to play themselves out of danger from the back, the ball was lost within metres of Cesar’s goal. The German forwards fore-checked and won the ball high and forced a five versus two, Mezuit Ozil laying the ball to Kroos to score his double. The defence static and ball-watched as the ball came across the box.

The defence was caught flat-footed when they tried to launch an attack from the back through a central position. Hummels picked up the ball, surged forward and eliminated a few Brazilians by a quality pass. The finish was exquisite and goal tally was five in a space of 6 minutes. Brazilian defence was always in sixes and sevens in the box with each wave of attack. There were six defenders and three attackers exposing the goalkeeper.

The loss of the ball in wrong area and then being caught off-guard and being out numbered outlined a disaster recipe Brazil may never make again. The rampant nature of the Europeans took a break as the teams walked into the dressing rooms. The introduction of Ramirez at half-time proved positive as the hosts took the game to the champions-in-waiting. Joachim Louw had a master-stroke in Andre Schurle as the substitute scored twice. He came after Neuer had to pull off stunning acrobatic saves from the marauding Samba Boys who looked to save face. It can be said the second half needed Neymar, but with all due credit, the Germans had their foot off the gas pedal for a moment.

There was time for Brazil to save face despite the ‘boo’s from the tearful followers and fans. A long ball from the back by Marcelo found Oscar who raced the entire half with the ball into the penalty box. He took the ball by his left foot to his right past a defender and set himself for a shot. He pulled the trigger, hammered a right-footed shot past a desperately diving Neuer.

Schurle got his goal courtesy of poor marking on the right flank. Lahm received the ball in the box and layed it on for the Chelsea player. His first time shot nestled in the net. Minutes later, the ball came from the midfield on the left. Muller touched it on for the substitute to take two touches and beat Cesar for the last time on the night. Oscar’s insignificant goal should have come, and it did, and it attained the title of ‘the most useless world cup goal’ as given by commentators and pundits.

It ended Brazil 1 Germany 7. Germany await Argentina or The Netherlands who meet 24 hours later.   

Netherlands needed penalties to beat Costa Rica 4-3 in 2014 Fifa WC

Costa Rica started very badly and on the back foot as they were exposed on the wings with their three defenders. They quickly sorted that and managed to have balance and depth at the back, especially the central position. They needed to get forward and be a threat to the Dutch defence a little bit more. Their compactness bothered them and the ‘General’ in Luis van Gaal pulled the Costa Ricans wider to enable penetrative movements forward.

Arjen Robben and Depay found the easy spaces to run into on both sides and the two changed sides occasionally. Despite the tactical adjustments, the Costa Rican defence had little solution to the pace of the Dutch pace when Robben, Depay, Sneijder and van Persie were in full flight. They found the resolute defending and goalkeeping of the South Americans unbreakable.

For all their trouble and toil, Costa Rica failed to make a telling pass out of the defensive area and gave away possession cheaply. The final pass into the final third was worse, resulting in the substitution of Joe Campbell. They fashioned a few moves into the penalty area but fluffed them.

Turning the 1-3-4-3 into a 1-4-5-1 seemed to keep the Dutch attack at bay effectively, but Holland responded by adding numbers upfront. Robben tried to win every free-kick possible, including one taken by Sneijder against the left upright post.

The best part of the night came in the last four minutes of extra time as The Netherlands attacked and Costa Rica counter attacked in basketball fast break fashion. Both teams were close to scoring thrice in that period of time, including a strike of the cross bar by Sneijder. Urena ran rings around the defence and his efforts were only blocked by Jasper Cillisen, who was replaced by Newcastle’s Krul in time for the penalty shoot-out.

With all the drama, it had to come down to kicks from the penalty spot. Krul saved the two to send the Dutch to face Argentina with a 4-3 win.

Argentina through to semi-final beating Belgium 2-1 in 2014 Brazil World Cup

Argentina strolled into the semi-final courtesy of a pedestrian Belgian performance. While the Europeans had big names in their line-up but they played for their names rather than the flag. The biggest downfall was trying to penetrate the Argentinian defence through the middle and ignoring attacking through the wings to deliver crosses for Fellaini to head.

It took a deflected pass by Angel Di Maria to ricochet to Higuin who took a first time shot to the right hand side of Courtois. The Belgian defence had gained possession and tried to carry the ball through midfield. They were caught by a quick attack after an interception and the ball was played to the dynamic DiMaria. The goalkeeper was slightly unsighted as the surprise ball nestled to the left bottom corner.

The South Americans took a positive shape of barricading off their central position and then controlled the match professionally. The passed the ball efficiently and used it wisely from back to front, left to right. The offensive job revolved around the menacing Messi runs and the industrious Di Maria who injured his right thigh and retired.

Fellaini played behind Origi and his aerial usefulness was made void by lack of crosses from both wings. While Argentina did not make it easy by opening the wide area, the snail pace of the Belgians in transition made it easy for defending as they had time to regroup and organise their defensive shape.

The basic system made it easy for the central defence to deal with Belgium as the central midfielders covered the two solid men while giving freedom for the other two midfielders to execute their offensive duties without stress. As much as it looked easy for Argentina, Belgium stars were guilty for the sloppy show. Given their quality, they could have played the match at a high tempo with greater accuracy and efficiency. Mirallas, Hazard, Fellaini and De Bryun should be able to unlock any defensive door with either great tactical ability or brute force.

Mascherano had a field day spraying the passes and dominating the central position by simple accurate passing, releasing the other midfielders to engage in the finishing of the attacks. Argentina closed all passing lines and stayed ball-side as much as they could. They defended outside the penalty area. Belgium had one option, to shoot from distance and then work on the rebound. They failed to realise that despite taking one such shot that was badly dealt by Romano. A few more similar attempts could have made the former champions to shake up and probably get into a different defensive approach, possibly unlocking their rear-guard.

There was no variation in the Belgium tactics. Neither was there any rising of tempo nor versatility in the attacking pattern of the Europeans. They stayed on normal mode the entire minutes, only fluctuating slightly within the comfort zones of the Argentinians. The positive for the Belgians was their defending. They stayed solid and disciplined, winning all crucial duels and strangling the incisive runs of Messi. They doubled and tripled on him whenever possible inside the final third.

The actual goal was a result of loss of possession in midfield, too much space and time on the ball by Argentina. The Belgians were guilty of taking time to funnel in and staying compact around the D-zone. Di Maria was never pressurised as he attempted to pass wide to his right. The central defence momentarily lost concentration as they failed to stay tight on Higuin. While he took the shot early, there was no pressure within two metres of the striker. That is suicidal at that level of the game if there are players of that calibre.

Instead of charging towards Higuin, the defenders showed their backs to the striker as he took the fatal shot. Courtois’s view might have been obstructed, but he should have made an attempt despite seeing the shot late. He made a few telling saves to save the Belgians the blushes and embarrassing score-line.

Argentina joins hosts, Brazil and Germany in the semi-final, while Costa Rica or the Dutch will join the trio after the later fixture.  

2014 Brazil Fifa World Cup: Africans are failure magnets.

Cameroon boarded the plane to the 2014 Brazil Fifa World Cup late due to the issue of bonuses. Ghana bonuses were airlifted to South America late. Nigeria met over the bonuses until late and skipped training as a result. The Ghanaians hoped to be better than Cameroon in the way they handled the players and their grievances. The Nigerians are hoping to be way better than Cameroon and a little better than Ghana. What is the difference here, really? The administrations of these associations would argue that theirs would either be appearance fees and not bonuses, or allowances and the like. If that is where the difference lies, then we expect different results.

Cameroon were a disaster as they even fought amongst themselves on the field of play. Ghanaians fought at training and in the hotels. Nigerians fought in the bus as they failed to attend the scheduled training. Who is better here? Will the results differ? Ok, forget about about this World Cup. African administrators are skilled in this kind of behaviour. Give me one nation that has never been hit by the players’ strike and over and over again. We thrive in failure. We smell failure and get attracted to it. We are failure magnets. I am not even sure what the word Africa means. It could be something to do with folly. You may think this is being heartless but ‘who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?’ Moreover, how many hearts can one have only to be broken? I am just fed up about celebrating mediocrity and then nursing heartbreak after heartbreak. Leaders of our football just suck and big time. After that, they fire coaches and hire expats.

Let me change the subject. Twenty years ago, Italia ’90, many thought African football has come of age when Cameroon bamboozled the reigning world champions, Argentina, at the prime of one Diego Maradona. The performance led to the famous prophesy by Pele, that Africa will win the World Cup by the turn of the millennium. He had good reason and man of us believed. That team reached the quarterfinals and were in the semis until one referee decided that African participation was enough. England was the recipient of two penalties converted by Gary Lieneker for their 2-1 lead. From an African point of view, there was a cry of conspiracy.

In 1994, Nigeria had Africa’s greatest team of all time. Under the tutelage of Clemens Westerhof, they progressed through the USA ’94 tournament with authority. They attracted the world with their beautiful football. In the quarterfinal against Italy, they fell to a late penalty that took the match to extra time, which they eventually lost. The conspiracy theories flew everywhere, albeit a bit subdued to the excitement the Africans brought.

France ’98 went fairly well, but Nigeria could have had a case to cry foul. Senegal rose to the occasion in Korea/Japan ’02. Germany ’06 was modest and then came South Africa 2010. Ghana went all the way to face Uruguay in the quarterfinals. Before that point, there was already much cry about how Luis Suarez’s Uruguay beat South Africa. That was a huge glaring home-made victory over the hosts. Suarez blocked a last second goal by had to force the match into a penalty shoot-out. Ghana lost.

This is Brazil 2014 and the game has evolved since, with Goal Line Technology ad all. The African demise is static. The continent has leant nothing over time about the game and officiating. This is despite the fact that the motherland saw the rise of its son to be the best player in the world since those days. George Weah remains the only player to win that accolade. However, the French triumph has since been dubbed Pele’s prophesy but I will not go there for now.

At this moment is time, we have the best players in the world as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. It would be unfair to actually compare anyone with the two. Do not mention Neymar yet. He is a new kid on the block and he still needs to show the world and Europe what he is made of. So far, he has given us an idea of football player ideality. Besides that, the best players in the world in the past five years are African. The best teams in the world over the past ten years depended on the African contingent. They grace the palaces and all high places representing their paymasters. They dine and wine with the kings and queens. Many have adopted countries that feed their families.

Playing in the elite leagues for these great clubs has a distinct advantage of plying their trade with the best and against the best in the world. It exposed them to the live the world envies. They win a lot of respect from peers and foes, referees and coaches. Their statuses remain a beacon of hope for many, but becomes their downfall at the World Cup when they come home to their national teams.

Referees will respect and protect Yaya Toure, Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o as long as they play for Manchester City, Chelsea or Barcelona respectively. As soon as they don the Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana or Cameroon shirts, they are on their own. The problem is that they do not see that. They carry their superstar tag on wrong ground. It may not be the will of the officials to act that way. African teams look strong and act robust when in tussles and duels. Their combats are physical and no matter how fair, they attract the wrath of the officials. Some of the referees feel like blowing the whistle just by looking at the muscles. The assistant referees find their hands up for offside even if the ball has not been played or is behind the centre line.

How do players deal with this? Common sense is not common. The referees compensate for these either before or after match-changing decisions. The officials drag the carrots by awarding questionable decisions lie throw-ins and free-kicks at points of the field and of the game where there is no advantage or benefit. They will caution useless opposition players to massage the minds of African players. After receiving those fringe benefits that do not count, they come with the big one. They will award a penalty against the teams where there is minimum contact; give a red-card without merit, well with little but no reasonable doubt.

Basically, the African players from the big leagues get frustrated when they cannot get away with what they normally get away with in European leagues. That naivety leads to basic errors, both in attack and in defence. In attack, a shove at the back when one plays for Chelsea, a penalty is awarded by the officials. In the World Cup, when representing the nation, one may have to be amputated by a tackle to get one. In defence, the speedy and strong tackle to clear the ball will see the officials set the ball on the whitewash, and a bonus red-card of course. It must be remembered that many African strikers have strength and try to stay on their feet despite heavy and brute tackling. Penalties are not awarded for falling, but for committed fouls. Non-Africans commit these fouls against Africans but the officials take it like, ‘You are an African, that shouldn’t hurt, no penalty for you. Play on’.

The conceived violence of these players make referees ignore protecting them. The African players never get the doubt of the benefit from officials. They seem not to appreciate that officials will never give favours in productive areas unless in glaring cases, and even then, once in a while usually before the centre line or in areas that do not threaten the opposition sensitive areas.

All said and done, in the Fifa World Cup, if you are an African, never play the ball square at the back. Short passes should be prohibited, cover and balance at the back are mandatory. It is always fatal to play without support. There is no defending nicely. The ball should stay as far away from the goalkeeper as possible, not some of the time, but all of the time. Iran parked the bus and maybe it is high time African teams parked one and let the world complain. Too much respect of non-African teams because one solicits for the jersey after the match does not work. Africans need to prove that under any coach, and anywhere in the universe, they are the master of the game. They should deliver without with African or European teammates.

As for the leadership of the game, the involved people mess up the spirit of the people, waste the money and hire white European expatriate whom they pay huge salaries to come and fail. For the record, all World Cup winners did so with indigenous coaches. Many African countries qualified or won continental success with local coaches, but none earned as much as the expats. There is still hope in Nigeria and Algeria, but otherwise Africa deserves to shed the tears of their own making at this 2014 Fifa World Cup.

Algeria draw 1-1 with Russia in 2014 Fifa World Cup

The high tempo possession football by Algeria dealt an early heavy blow when Feghouli received treatment for the head injury and Russia pounced from the left. Kokorin jumped to jerk-knife a header to the left top corner a perfect Kombarov cross. This should now be a boring line, that there was no pressing to the crosser and the marking on the header of the ball was very bad.

Algeria tried to crack the Russian defence by going through the middle to no avail. Russia was full of energy and hard running as they pressed high up in front. The strategy was to get as many players behind the ball as possible. They kept compact by quickly closing any gaps and options before the Africans could pounce.

The Africans played a patient game for the suitability of the occasion and that made them create less opportunities. There were a few possibilities that were not fully utilised, especially aerial balls. The Russians were content to let the Algerians shoot from way out. Their midfield job was superb as they took control of that department in terms of tight marking, intercepting, getting to the ball first and picking up the second ball. They dominated the duels and completed more quality forward passes.

The continued pacey game by Russia troubled the slow and calculative Algerians. Brute force of the Europeans team could not be matched by the desperate Africans tired their level best to wrestle the match. As they probed the right and then the left, the Russians showed some cracks as they could not cope with sleek skills, conceding free-kicks.

Feghouli won one free-kick on the right and Djabou won another on the left immediately afterwards. Brahimi took a nice right-footed delivery to the far post for Slimani to head past a sprawling Frei to level the score. There was no man to mark the scorer tight and the goalkeeper came off his line for the ball but he missed it completely.

It became an open match, action swinging from end to end. Algeria were resolute and solid closing all available spaces and clonking the balls away and Russia were committed to prying open that which stood between them and the next round. They starred directly into the barrel as the Africans pulled the trigger. Algerian passed through to join Nigeria as Africa’s representative in the last sixteen.