German supremacy vs Africa demise

(Is Germany willing to share success recipe?)

This is a game of football, simplified by playing and complicated by coaches. In Africa, this is not true. Football administrators stuff things up, big time.

Are Africans football bosses "dataproof" or just allergic to information? Maybe simply put, they are dead dumb. Their vision is extremely blurred.

This is not surprising given the civil war on the continent. As long as wallets are lined up, all can suffer all they want. 

Football can rot to its satisfaction, to its heart's content. No wonder the game of talented players is a laughing stock to the world. It is no coincidence.

This calamity is a grand design perpetuated by the greedy and unscrupulous leaders with little or no fibre or bone of shame in their frames.

Remember the tired and wasted government to government agreements to develop football in Africa by Germany? Where is Germany today (2014 Fifa World Champions and 2017 Fifa Confederation Cup finalists) and where is Africa (turmoil and developmental regression)?

South Africa got Horste Kriete  and Zimbabwe got Reinhard Fabisch in the mid and late 1990s. Namibia had Jochen Pigge and Klaus Starke. This is an example of many in Africa.

What was the role and importance of these characters? To make Africa great again. Look at the Germany national team, then and now. Look at their development structures and the coach education.

Either they have fake things or Africans are utterly stupid. If not, Cameroon or any other African team was supposed to face Germany in the 2017 Confed Cup this weekend.

Go to Germany schools and see the qualifications of those who coach the children. They all play the same way as the national team. Compare that to the South Africans.

How many Germans have UEFA A and South Africans with CAF A? Enough of that. We will discuss another day.

I do not believe an adversary can prepare another for their benefit. Let us assume the Germans had Africa interests at heart. They gave their manpower and resources for free. 

Why did Africans fail to learn? We are assuming they got super education and means. I have no doubt of the ability of African players and coaches. I mention coaches because African coaches go to Europe and excel in UEFA C, B, A and Pro courses and even better their counterparts performances.

It may have seemed harsh to say our administrators have thick skulls, but how else can one explain it? Please enlighten us if you can. And can football superpowers really share relevant fresh up to date information with Africans because they know Africans are harmless mentally?

Let us use my theory that Europeans are out to murder African football by feeding the coaches and players with poisonous tactics and knowledge. How else would they approach this? Sponsor a detrimental and outdated obsolete program and keep plummeting the opponents to a football pulp.

African players possess the potential to undo any science and artificial tactics and plans. African coaches have not been given enough chance, resources or salaries to execute their duties as much as European counterparts. 

Until that happens, judging them is extremely unfair. In any case, less brainy or less qualified coaches are preferred by the big fish because they can manipulate them and give them less money.

That cycle can be repeated until another leader with a strong appetite for corruption takes office. 

Meanwhile, let us acknowledge the great development structures the Germans put in place. One can see the fruits of this young team at the 2017 Russia Confederation Cup. This team, besides the results, is dynamic, full of oomph, tearing down teams and going places.

All the best Die Mannschaft.

Did Pep Guardiola have anything to do with Germany’s World Cup triumph?

To confuse you further in the debate of the success of Germany in the 2014 Fifa World Cup, I throw doubts in your beliefs about the greatness of one Pep Guardiola. Sunday Oliseh even says that Tiki Taka is alive and sound., a point I greatly dispute. Few claim Die Mannshcaft went through the back door to have Beyern Munich hire Guardiola so he can coach the nine players in their squad to play the Barcelona way.  The theory is noble given that 2010 Fifa World Cup champions, Spain had Pep’s nine players from Barcelona. To the preachers of that gospel, that is not coincidence.

I will take you to the days before the Backlays English Premier League. Nottingham Forest was coached by Brian Clough. Many dubbed him useless as a coach and manager. His team ran on a shoestring budget. He relegated and promoted that team perpetually for over half a decade. He built a team and destroyed it. Built it up and destroyed over and over.

Pepe inherited a Frank Rikjaard Barcelona that was already playing a philosophy set up by Johan Cryuff of Holland. Cryuff introduced the system earlier, the Dutch football that Ruud Gullit tried to employ at Chelsea when he prescribed it as ‘sexy football’. Guardiola did a great job in maintaining a legacy that had lived and will live for many years longer. Those players had been doing the same thing, with a few more foreign contingent than they did with Pep. Rikjaard and Guardiola both played for Barcelona previously.

The former Barca captain took over treble winning Jupp Henynckes Bayern Munich side. The later coached a team left by both Andreas Jonker and Loius van Gaal. The influence of Pep was visible in many Munich matches, and some Germany matches. Prior to Guardiola’s arrival, Bayern dismembered the Spanish giants in the UEFA Champions League, proving their superiority and fluidity. How easy it is to say he brought a wholesome change to the squad and to Germany national as a whole. Both these clubs, Barca and Munich, had funds to buy anyone they wanted, anyone who played the way they loved.

Without much need to compare Jose Mourinho, who won the Portuguese championship and UEFA Champions League with little known Porto, Brian Clough who yo-yoed Nottingham Forest, Harry Redknapp who saved Tottenham Hotspur from relegation and took them to UEFA Champions League pinnacle in a couple seasons, one has to look at the margins of success and the resources. Keeping firm on what is there is a lot easier than building anything from the ground.

As for Germany playing Tiki Taka football, I am not yet converted. The Chileans put to death Spain. If Spain come back anytime soon, it could be a different story, but to say Germany Tiki Taka-ed, is a little bit over the top. They moved and passed the ball well. They had a plan in place before Pep arrived. Their game revolved around the quick recovery and long retention of the ball. The crisp one touch passing to open defences was never their strength. The biggest weapon in their arsenal was the mentality of stay strong and focused. The aggression in combats and transition was complemented by the precision passing and efficient goal scoring.

The table below will illustrate how playing too many needless passes was almost fatal for Germany. The Germany struggled against Ghana, only benefitting from the Africans’ naïve play. They survived the Algerian scare as the fasting Arabs succumbed to their nutritional demands of extra time. As for Italy and Spain, we all know their fate. They were not so fortunate.

GROUPS STAGE TEAM STATISTICS

#	NUMBER OF PASSES BY TEAMS	TOTAL	AVERAGE
1	Germany	1934	645
2	Spain	1913	638
3	Italy	1735	578
4	Argentina	1694	565
5	France	1576	525

 

Given these first-round statistics, France, Argentina and Germany benefited by going through to the next round. At a later stage, one can guess the champions had a field day of passing against a pedestrian Brazilian side. If one uses that data to claim Tiki Taka is alive, there can never be a misleading statistic. For the propagation and perpetuation of the name, and not concept, what Germany played can be accepted as a positive variant of Tiki Taka, the game both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund played to reach the 2013 UEFA Champions League final.

Remember that Tiki-Taka is football characterised by short passing and movement, working the ball through various channels and, most importantly, maintaining possession. Germany maintained possession well without moving the ball with short quick passes through various channels. They made efficient use of that possession and made it count, sometimes against all odds.

The Barcelona type of football would equal to walking the ball into the net as they intrinsically weaved the passes in the 12-yard box until the goal-line. Save for corner-kicks and goal melee scrambles, that did not characterise the Germany goals in the 2014 Brazil Fifa World Cup. A little more similar aspect of their game was winning the ball as high as possible, especially where they lost it. This made them dangerously pounce vehemently and attack simultaneously before the opposition defence organised themselves.

Many coaches and managers find teams like Barcelona and Bayern Munich and take them to the doldrums. The genius of Guardiola made sure such never happened. To credit Spanish and Germany titles to the man is a little too generous. If there are coaches worthy of Fifa World Cup praise, can’t we look at Joachim Loew, Alejandro Pasella, Louis van Gaal and Jurgen Klinsman? also in their successful 2012/2013 treble run. There could be some truth in that but then they were more defensive-conscious and played most of the passes in their own half.

It his analysis, Oliseh noted that German goalkeeper ‘Manuel Neuer and central defenders Hummels and Boateng were the initiators of most attacks and a passing game that averaged 645 passes in a game’, scoring 17 goals in six games (a goal every 34 minutes), with 64 attempts at goal. All Germany reaped was fruits of a work that began with the squad which campaigned in 2010 South Africa Fifa World Cup, when Diego Maradona asked Muller if he was a ball boy. It was their grand plan after the failure to deliver in 24 years, not the mastermind of the great Pep Guardiola.

As for Tiki Taka, until its revival in the future, it is gone. We welcome the trend of the new world order in football, a fast paced forward moving game based on quick transition by fore-checking and crossing into the prime target areas. The Spanish football has proved it passed its usefulness, being nothing more that romance in the child-bearing process.

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.

Viva the Fifa 2014 World Cup Champions - Germany beats Argentina 1-0

Germany, Die Mannschaft, are the 2014 Fifa World Cup champions. The match started with a very good composed possession football by Germany while Argentina kept compact in their defensive shape. The Europeans’ build-ups with Kroos and Ozil, who pressed in midfield, ended up with Mascherano, who gave good cover in front of Demicheles and Garay. Lionel Messi and Lavezzi found small pockets of spaces on the right flank and ran at defenders. Hummels had to be at his best while Neuer pulled out saves as he came off his line and made his threatening presence unsettle the attackers.

The South Americans’ two units of four across (midfield and defence) shifted well across the field as they retained their shape. The midfield got attracted and were sucked into the game as Germany stroked the ball around. They needed to stay solid and maintain the tactical discipline as the Germans pried for crevices.

Messi kept menacing on the right flank and threatened with each great run into the box. Higuain failed to convert a back pass by Kroos, in one of the two rare Germany mistakes. He hit the target after Lavezzi set him up but he was offside.

Argentina came stronger from the break, with Messi slicing his left-footed shot past Neuer and upright post. They began to thread passes to the front-runners, often playing long balls for Higuain to run to. Neuer almost decapitated the Argentinian striker as he rushed out of his penalty area to punch the ball to safety. While air-borne, his knee caught Higuain on the neck as they both tumbled to the ground.

Biglia became aggressive in midfield while Sergio Aguero squandered possession numerous times. Palacio came in to miss the chance of the tournament. Germany defended strongly and efficiently absorbing all the pressure. The ball fell kindly to Muller and Schurle later in the half but rolled away to Romero. Lahm and Muller were a big concern for Argentina as they asked questions on the left side.

Then came the moment. Mario Gotze received the ball that was won in midfield on the left and played along the line to Schurle. The Chelsea man played a perfect cross to Gotze. The German striker had space and time to take it on his chest, cushioning it on his first touch by slightly withdrawing the contact surface area thereby setting himself for a shot. A step later, he raised his head to time the run of the onrushing Romero. He planted his non-kicking foot slightly behind the dropping ball, which he volleyed with the shoe laces in a controlled manner. He angled the boot appropriately to keep the contact on the ball in the middle so as to limit the height of the resultant kick.

The ball whistled past the diving Argentina goalkeeper and nestled into the net. That goal stood and shall ever stand as the one that stood between Messi and eternal glory. Sentiment aside, Argentina did not hit top gear until the match today, but it was not enough on the day. Messi tried to act as a team player in moments when he should have been selfish and single-handedly weaved his way past the Germany defence.

Manuel Neuer won the Golden Glove while Messi’s consolation was the Golden Ball.  James Rodriguez of Columbia was the Golden Boot winner with his six goals. Paul Pogba won the Young Player of the Tournament. 

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.

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.   

Ghana 2, Germany 2 in 2014 Fifa World Cup

Germany played with caution showing some tactical superiority by winning the midfield battles and taking the game to the Ghanaians. The Black Stars the game started well with good wing play and creating half chances. It was their defending that was not well defined as they gave much space for their opponents to play. The marking was not at its best and there were too many players in front of play. The midfield played very square and failed to press as much as they should.

The Africans stayed too long on the ball and did not release the balls early. Play was too causal and allowed Germany to go a little easy without suffering any losses. They let Ghana came at them with the hope of springing a counter attack as there were spaces in midfield and defence. There was not much effort by Ghana to get manpower behind the ball in the centre of the park. This loaded the defence as they found themselves stretched.

It was a different kettle of fish in the second half as Thomas Muller set Mario Gotze with a pass through the porous central defence. Gotze finished off that pass with a header to his knee and the ball tricked the Orlando Pirates goalkeeper into the net. The ball came from the right side of midfield could have been cleared by the first defender. Muller was not pressed as he supplied the ball and the central defenders were too far apart.

It became a tight match and Ghana threw everything at the Europeans. A few passes outside the penalty area and then a ball wide found Afful who crossed the ball for Andre Ayew. The Ghanaian out jumped the German substitute to head the ball past Neur. The marking was bad while the heading technique was superb as the ball was directed low and away from the central position away from the goalkeeper.

Ghana went for the kill. Sully Muntari intercepted the ball in midfield and quickly set Asamoah Gyan on his way. Gyan controlled the ball well, beat his marker and with the inside of the foot, played the ball past the diving Neur. From that point onwards, the Africans poured forward and fluffed chance after chance, Jordan Ayew making a good run on the left and his tame shot was save. There was a counter attack where the German defence could have conceded as the Ghana attack forced a five versus two, but the decision-making on the delivery of the final ball was horrible.

The marking by Africans became sloppy, that usual false sense of security resulted in loss of concentration. As much as the numbers behind the ball improved, there was lack of pressing in midfield. The German substitutes found spaces to run into, had time on the ball to pass and shoot. In one particular moment that mattered the most, Schwansteiger had room to do as he pleased. He found Ozil on the left and the Arsenal man crossed the ball without anyone charging. That ball was headed out for a corner by Jonathan Mensah. The resultant corner kick was flicked by Hummels to the far post for Miroslov Klose to score the vital equaliser with an outstretched right foot.   

The defence of the African team got stretched more and more as the midfield job worsened in performance. That caused the central defenders share the man-of-the-match performance, as they had to be on overdrive to cope with the marauding Germans. The pair threw their bodies on the line and conceded several corner kicks, the weakness of African teams. The German finishing was not at its best and the Africans were not going to complain about it.