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.     

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.  

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.

Holland beat Chile 2-0 in 2014 Fifa World Cup

The match was dull for most of the first half. Holland won a few balls midfield and failed to utilise them. They could not capitalise on loose balls, and their counter attacks proved fruitless and the Chileans were content to deal with the blunt attacks.

Chile injected some pace into attack but the final pass disappointed. They occasionally penetrated the Dutch defence and claimed a few penalties that were not given. There match lacked creativity from both sides and the entertainment value was minimum.  

Two late, one very late, goals ensured Holland recorded a win that took them to the top of the group. A ball from the right was delivered to the penalty area. Frei was unattended as he jumped and headed the cross home. No one pressed the man on the ball as the ball was crossed. There was lack of marking as the Chileans ball-watched.

Holland defended a corner and quickly set up a counter attack when De Jongh’s clearance fell to Arjen Robben who sprinted towards the penalty box and played the ball square to Depay to score at the far post.

The win placed Holland on the summit of Group B

Brave Australia lose 3-2 to Holland in the 2014 Fifa World Cup

 

This was cracker of a match, more so that the unfancied Australians took the game to the 2010 South Africa World Cup finalists. The Dutch looked very ordinary as they wondered what had hit them. It was one Tim Cahill. However, the former Everton kingpin's troops were brave in the fight but very naïve to let it slip.

After being guilty of a mistake in midfield, Australia presented Arjen Robben with a chance to run at their defence. The striker had to shrug off a very physical challenge and stay on his feet, run with the ball from the centre line creating a three versus one situation against a back paddling defence. Robben still had work to do as he contended with the approach of a sprinting defender who dived in desperately in vain. The Bayern Munich striker tucked the ball into the right of the net with the goalkeeper on his knees.

It was the response of the Socceroos that lit the stadium. After winning the ball in midfield as well, the ball was played to the left past a failing attempt to retrieve it. A diagonal ball was ferociously volleyed past the keeper by Cahill. The Australian’s lining up of the volley complemented the run as he ticked all the boxes of the key factors of volleying on the run. He kept his eyes on the flight of the ball, kept excellent concentration, arms wide for balance and struck the ball at the mid-point below the centre of the ball. The ball flew over the bemused goalkeeper into the roof of the net.

Australia had obvious goal-scoring opportunities that they squandered before half time. Both teams began to press each other up field and opened the game for each other. The seesaw affair continued to entertain. The Dutch were caught napping once more, failing to clear their lines and committing a handball by Janmaat in the penalty box. Wesley Sneider fouled his man in midfield and the resultant free kick ended with the ball in the penalty box. Up stepped Jedinak to send the goalkeeper the wrong way for a rare lead.

The Netherlands’ response was just as swift. Australia fluffed a glorious chance, the chance of the tournament so far, when they failed to utilise one of the three-versus-ones they had; one being overplayed by Cahill to his left when he could have reduced the weight of the pass or opted to passed to his right and the other where they passed over the responsibility and passed square. The bizarre choice to chest the ball goal wards summed up the day for the Socceroos, as they paid for it directly from that counter attack.

The Netherlands swiftly moved forward in numbers and with pace. They found the Australia defence flat footed and square. The threaded ball found its way to Robin van Persie who stabbed the ball home with Jason Davidson covering the offside against three attacking Dutch players. The marking was extremely bad and there was no man charging towards the passer and the scorer.

After several easy chances by Australia, Depay took a ball in midfield and glided across the central defence to crack a speculative long-range effort that swerved to the right and bounced in front of the goalkeeper who made a meal of it and paid dearly. The ball nestled at the right bottom corner of the net. Again, there was no pressing from the Australian midfield and no one charged towards the ball. Depay savoured the space and a free and perfect hit.

For their effort, it was such a disappointing result for Australia who should have won the match by a wide margin, against their fancied opponents. For that kind of display, they did not really deserve to go home this early. They were very clever in dealing with Robben’s right to left inward runs as they screened him eternally, however they were naïve enough to boot themselves out of the 2014 Brazil Fifa World Cup.   

How Holland beat Spain 5-1 at the Fifa 2014 World Cup

It turned out to be an extremely entertaining and tactical battle of the giants when the Spanish played the Dutch in their opening group match. Despite the numerical systems employed by each team, what dominated their display were the functions of the players in their units. The quest to dominate play in midfield and neutralise the power of the other made the match not so easy to the eye until Spain got their grove back and stitched a few passes and moves together through Iniesta and Xavi, but Holland got the goals from the evergreen Robin van Persie.

The reigning champions had an extra edge in midfield as they operated what appeared to be an odd 1-4-6 while the Dutch retaliated with their unconventional 1-5-5. Spain struggled with the final pass as Diego Costa seemed out of sync with his mates. The interplay in midfield was thwarted but tight marking, though the closing down by the Dutch was a little slow and the West Europeans did not capitalise.

For their part, The Netherlands had few players behind the ball at the beginning and gave possession quite easily. It was at one of those occasions that they gave away the ball, failed to close down the opposition and never pressurised the man with the ball that a splitting pass beat seven defenders to Costa who was given room to turn and his trailing leg was caught by a defender, earning him a penalty.

As a rule of thump, the defender was supposed to stay on his feet, keep Costa facing away from the goal on his weaker foot, but the rush of blood in the head saw a rushed decision that resulted in a converted penalty kick by Xavi Alonso. The Spanish were guilty of losing possession easily. A long pass from the D-zone to the left midfield position was played on two touches, as a long searching ball to Robin van Persie who timed his run perfectly, executed a spectacular diving header that looped over Ike Casillas for an equaliser. There was no pressure on the man on the ball, no marking in midfield and the central defenders were far apart. The man nearest to RVP did not see the man and the ball, but just ball watched.

The second half saw the Dutch taking command of proceedings, causing a few concerns for the Spanish. The later easily lost possession in the middle of the park as the former knitted five passes before sending a long ball into the box where the Spanish central defenders were again found way separate. Arjen Robben had to bring the ball down, turn Pique inside out, showing AR his shirt number. Robben had to deal with a stretching defender and beat Casillas with a hard and low shot.

There was a tussle on the left as Robben had a fantastic run on the left and fought for the ball hard, which resulted in the free-kick. A flighted ball to the far-post was missed by the goalkeeper and there was no defender on the far post and the challenge offered was just token.

Casillas failed to deal with a back-pass and gifted RVP with a goal. He had to fight for the ball, compete to get to the ball and toe-poke it before the recovering defender got close. Jose Mourinho should be justifying his lack of trust on the Spain number one goalkeeper while at Real Madrid.

Spain tried to fight back and took the fight to the Dutch. In their quest to penetrate from the right with interplay, they lost the ball almost at the corner flag. The Dutch sent a long ball to the centre and AR chased and ran the entire half of the field, found the energy to control the ball after drawing the goalkeeper. Casillas was flattened on his bums as Robben swept to his left as he hooked the ball, dummied the two defenders and fired a powerful pile driver into the net. It became a clinical Dutch masterpiece as the match ended 5-1, a record score-line against reigning Fifa World Cup champions.

Statistics - 2010 FIFA World Cup Technical Report.

Further to previous reports of the TSG about the beautiful game's world show, this statistics supplied in the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup Technical Report are of a general nature for a technical report. For starters, it does not detail the condition and composition of teams that scored in the first and last 5 minutes of each half. The scoring data has been classified in 15 minute blocks which are less relevant to technical people like myself. General observation overtime proved that technically gifted and tactically sound teams scored in the first 3rd of the matches, while physically conditions sides with higher technical ability took control of the matches in the middle 3rd of any match. The last 30 minutes of matches are usually controlled by psychologically strong and mature teams than the physically strong.   

The TSG came with data to tell us how it all went. They said that there 35 from set pieces. Overall, in the 64 matches played, 145 goals were scored compared to the 147 scored in the Germany 2006 FIFA World Cup. This is a result of bad decisions by referees, who denied several legitimate efforts including the famous Frank Lampard 'no goal'. 110 of these were from open play, while combination play produced 29, the same as wing play with 15 coming from the left. Defence splitting passes into the penalty area produced 6 goals compared to solo effort that had 7. According to these guys, 4 were a result of defensive errors, and personally, I think that is relative.

This information can be interpreted in various ways. What is of interest for me, is that teams are still generally impenetrable in the middle. The spine of the teams remained a fortified guard that must be circumvented by use of wingers to turn defenders to face their goalkeeper. It also proves that the goalkeepers get pressurised in the confusion of making snappy decisions as to whether to wait for the defenders get rid of the ball or them coming out to cut out the crosses. This further requires risk assessment in a split second so as to avoid collision with the attacking player as well as the defending team-mate.

Of interest though, 15 goals were a result of rebounds. There were just 2 own goals recorded. Set pieces produced 35 goals of which 10 were scored after corner-kicks, 7 of those from the right. Direct kicks resulted in 5 goals. Penalties were not recorded as direct kicks as 9 were a separate count, but please note that they are actually direct free-kicks. They report a goal that was a result of a throw in. If you remember this one, please let me know. Generally, the TSG has classified 108 goals as scored from shots and 26 as headers. Strikers, midfielders and defenders netted 77, 50 and 16 goals respectively. It has been a while since we had goalkeepers scoring in the World Cups. The last I remember was Jose Chilavert, who was a dead ball specialist.

Shooting remains key in football. Lack of courage in taking shots becomes the weakness of tactically aware teams who will continue to pass the ball around, hence over elaborating their attacks and allowing the opposition to take good defensive positions to neutralise the attacks. The 26 headed goals proves that this technique remains a big challenge even for high level professionals. O further interest in goal distribution by departments, is the fact that teams played 1-4-2-3-1 formation variables, meaning a solo striker or in some cases, 2 strikers playing in tandem, ie one in front of another. With these solo strikers, 4 defenders were assigned to deal with their threats, yet they had a combined goal tally of 77. Of course the midfielders beefed up attacks at every opportunity, coming up with the 50 goals. Defenders usually got their goals from set-pieces, usually headers as they have the courage to jump and head, which is a common job description to deal with the aerial prowess of players like Peter Crouch and Fernando Torres.

Between kick-off and the 15th minute, the goalkeeper were beaten 14 times, and 23 times in the next quarter of an hour. These statistics are some of the more useful in coaching. It is essential to know the probability of conceding in the 31st - 45th minutes, as 22 goals were netted.  The 46 to 60 minute mark produced 22 goals and the next 15 minutes saw 27 being scored compared to an even bigger figure of 35 scored in the 76th - 90th minute range. Each half of extra time produced a single goal. You will remember that psychologically stronger teams perform better for longer, you will see how mind power is more relevant than previously thought. Personally, I think this is the weakest point of African teams. For example, South Africa conceded the silliest 2 goals in the last 5 minutes against Uruguay. These made the difference between 2nd round and early elimination for the hosts. Ghana missed a crucial penalty with virtually the last kick of the match against, again, Uruguay.

The obvious case here is the figures after half-time. It shows how football education is essential because a good coach must be able to read the game, exploit the weakness of the opposition. The importance of impact players cannot be over emphasised. A lot of coaches introduced substitutes in the last 30 minutes and most of them changed the complexion of the matches positively, as proven by the 64 (27 + 35 + 2) compared to 81 goals scored in the first 60 minutes. The other way to look at it is the way teams were over-cautious at the beginning and then throwing everything into attack either after conceding or racing against time.

Additional time of the first half saw a single goal while there were 6 goals after the 90th minute additional time. There were 31 goals that were scored from inside the goal area, 79 inside penalty area and 26 from outside the penalty area. We already mentioned 9 from the spot.  As I mentioned earlier, I was hoping to see the effect that the loss of concentration in the first 5 minutes compares to the last 5 of the same half, and then how the first 5 minutes of the second half differs from that of the first, and so on. This data is not available.

When I looked at match attendance list, the lowest figures were 27967 for the Denmark vs Japan first round match. It is a figure bigger than any ordinary match that does not feature Bloemfontein Celtic, Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates in South Africa. In most matches like this one, locals would still be looking for tickets while international associations were hording the quota they did not sell. It was easier for vuvuzela haters to turn around and point at the empty stadia, while records proved these games were the top 5 attended in the history of the tournament, despite the anti-Africa propaganda in the world media.

What football data would you call useful and why? Please check out for more and detailed list of data on www.fifa.com

Statistics - 2010 FIFA World Cup Technical Report.

Further to previous reports of the TSG about the beautiful game's world show, this statistics supplied in the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup Technical Report are of a general nature for a technical report. For starters, it does not detail the condition and composition of teams that scored in the first and last 5 minutes of each half. The scoring data has been classified in 15 minute blocks which are less relevant to technical people like myself. General observation overtime proved that technically gifted and tactically sound teams scored in the first 3rd of the matches, while physically conditions sides with higher technical ability took control of the matches in the middle 3rd of any match. The last 30 minutes of matches are usually controlled by psychologically strong and mature teams than the physically strong.   

The TSG came with data to tell us how it all went. They said that there 35 from set pieces. Overall, in the 64 matches played, 145 goals were scored compared to the 147 scored in the Germany 2006 FIFA World Cup. This is a result of bad decisions by referees, who denied several legitimate efforts including the famous Frank Lampard 'no goal'. 110 of these were from open play, while combination play produced 29, the same as wing play with 15 coming from the left. Defence splitting passes into the penalty area produced 6 goals compared to solo effort that had 7. According to these guys, 4 were a result of defensive errors, and personally, I think that is relative.

This information can be interpreted in various ways. What is of interest for me, is that teams are still generally impenetrable in the middle. The spine of the teams remained a fortified guard that must be circumvented by use of wingers to turn defenders to face their goalkeeper. It also proves that the goalkeepers get pressurised in the confusion of making snappy decisions as to whether to wait for the defenders get rid of the ball or them coming out to cut out the crosses. This further requires risk assessment in a split second so as to avoid collision with the attacking player as well as the defending team-mate.

Of interest though, 15 goals were a result of rebounds. There were just 2 own goals recorded. Set pieces produced 35 goals of which 10 were scored after corner-kicks, 7 of those from the right. Direct kicks resulted in 5 goals. Penalties were not recorded as direct kicks as 9 were a separate count, but please note that they are actually direct free-kicks. They report a goal that was a result of a throw in. If you remember this one, please let me know. Generally, the TSG has classified 108 goals as scored from shots and 26 as headers. Strikers, midfielders and defenders netted 77, 50 and 16 goals respectively. It has been a while since we had goalkeepers scoring in the World Cups. The last I remember was Jose Chilavert, who was a dead ball specialist.

Shooting remains key in football. Lack of courage in taking shots becomes the weakness of tactically aware teams who will continue to pass the ball around, hence over elaborating their attacks and allowing the opposition to take good defensive positions to neutralise the attacks. The 26 headed goals proves that this technique remains a big challenge even for high level professionals. O further interest in goal distribution by departments, is the fact that teams played 1-4-2-3-1 formation variables, meaning a solo striker or in some cases, 2 strikers playing in tandem, ie one in front of another. With these solo strikers, 4 defenders were assigned to deal with their threats, yet they had a combined goal tally of 77. Of course the midfielders beefed up attacks at every opportunity, coming up with the 50 goals. Defenders usually got their goals from set-pieces, usually headers as they have the courage to jump and head, which is a common job description to deal with the aerial prowess of players like Peter Crouch and Fernando Torres.

Between kick-off and the 15th minute, the goalkeeper were beaten 14 times, and 23 times in the next quarter of an hour. These statistics are some of the more useful in coaching. It is essential to know the probability of conceding in the 31st - 45th minutes, as 22 goals were netted.  The 46 to 60 minute mark produced 22 goals and the next 15 minutes saw 27 being scored compared to an even bigger figure of 35 scored in the 76th - 90th minute range. Each half of extra time produced a single goal. You will remember that psychologically stronger teams perform better for longer, you will see how mind power is more relevant than previously thought. Personally, I think this is the weakest point of African teams. For example, South Africa conceded the silliest 2 goals in the last 5 minutes against Uruguay. These made the difference between 2nd round and early elimination for the hosts. Ghana missed a crucial penalty with virtually the last kick of the match against, again, Uruguay.

The obvious case here is the figures after half-time. It shows how football education is essential because a good coach must be able to read the game, exploit the weakness of the opposition. The importance of impact players cannot be over emphasised. A lot of coaches introduced substitutes in the last 30 minutes and most of them changed the complexion of the matches positively, as proven by the 64 (27 + 35 + 2) compared to 81 goals scored in the first 60 minutes. The other way to look at it is the way teams were over-cautious at the beginning and then throwing everything into attack either after conceding or racing against time.

Additional time of the first half saw a single goal while there were 6 goals after the 90th minute additional time. There were 31 goals that were scored from inside the goal area, 79 inside penalty area and 26 from outside the penalty area. We already mentioned 9 from the spot.  As I mentioned earlier, I was hoping to see the effect that the loss of concentration in the first 5 minutes compares to the last 5 of the same half, and then how the first 5 minutes of the second half differs from that of the first, and so on. This data is not available.

When I looked at match attendance list, the lowest figures were 27967 for the Denmark vs Japan first round match. It is a figure bigger than any ordinary match that does not feature Bloemfontein Celtic, Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates in South Africa. In most matches like this one, locals would still be looking for tickets while international associations were hording the quota they did not sell. It was easier for vuvuzela haters to turn around and point at the empty stadia, while records proved these games were the top 5 attended in the history of the tournament, despite the anti-Africa propaganda in the world media.

What football data would you call useful and why? Please check out for more and detailed list of data on www.fifa.com

Statistics - 2010 FIFA World Cup Technical Report.

Further to previous reports of the TSG about the beautiful game's world show, this statistics supplied in the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup Technical Report are of a general nature for a technical report. For starters, it does not detail the condition and composition of teams that scored in the first and last 5 minutes of each half. The scoring data has been classified in 15 minute blocks which are less relevant to technical people like myself. General observation overtime proved that technically gifted and tactically sound teams scored in the first 3rd of the matches, while physically conditions sides with higher technical ability took control of the matches in the middle 3rd of any match. The last 30 minutes of matches are usually controlled by psychologically strong and mature teams than the physically strong.   

The TSG came with data to tell us how it all went. They said that there 35 from set pieces. Overall, in the 64 matches played, 145 goals were scored compared to the 147 scored in the Germany 2006 FIFA World Cup. This is a result of bad decisions by referees, who denied several legitimate efforts including the famous Frank Lampard 'no goal'. 110 of these were from open play, while combination play produced 29, the same as wing play with 15 coming from the left. Defence splitting passes into the penalty area produced 6 goals compared to solo effort that had 7. According to these guys, 4 were a result of defensive errors, and personally, I think that is relative.

This information can be interpreted in various ways. What is of interest for me, is that teams are still generally impenetrable in the middle. The spine of the teams remained a fortified guard that must be circumvented by use of wingers to turn defenders to face their goalkeeper. It also proves that the goalkeepers get pressurised in the confusion of making snappy decisions as to whether to wait for the defenders get rid of the ball or them coming out to cut out the crosses. This further requires risk assessment in a split second so as to avoid collision with the attacking player as well as the defending team-mate.

Of interest though, 15 goals were a result of rebounds. There were just 2 own goals recorded. Set pieces produced 35 goals of which 10 were scored after corner-kicks, 7 of those from the right. Direct kicks resulted in 5 goals. Penalties were not recorded as direct kicks as 9 were a separate count, but please note that they are actually direct free-kicks. They report a goal that was a result of a throw in. If you remember this one, please let me know. Generally, the TSG has classified 108 goals as scored from shots and 26 as headers. Strikers, midfielders and defenders netted 77, 50 and 16 goals respectively. It has been a while since we had goalkeepers scoring in the World Cups. The last I remember was Jose Chilavert, who was a dead ball specialist.

Shooting remains key in football. Lack of courage in taking shots becomes the weakness of tactically aware teams who will continue to pass the ball around, hence over elaborating their attacks and allowing the opposition to take good defensive positions to neutralise the attacks. The 26 headed goals proves that this technique remains a big challenge even for high level professionals. O further interest in goal distribution by departments, is the fact that teams played 1-4-2-3-1 formation variables, meaning a solo striker or in some cases, 2 strikers playing in tandem, ie one in front of another. With these solo strikers, 4 defenders were assigned to deal with their threats, yet they had a combined goal tally of 77. Of course the midfielders beefed up attacks at every opportunity, coming up with the 50 goals. Defenders usually got their goals from set-pieces, usually headers as they have the courage to jump and head, which is a common job description to deal with the aerial prowess of players like Peter Crouch and Fernando Torres.

Between kick-off and the 15th minute, the goalkeeper were beaten 14 times, and 23 times in the next quarter of an hour. These statistics are some of the more useful in coaching. It is essential to know the probability of conceding in the 31st - 45th minutes, as 22 goals were netted.  The 46 to 60 minute mark produced 22 goals and the next 15 minutes saw 27 being scored compared to an even bigger figure of 35 scored in the 76th - 90th minute range. Each half of extra time produced a single goal. You will remember that psychologically stronger teams perform better for longer, you will see how mind power is more relevant than previously thought. Personally, I think this is the weakest point of African teams. For example, South Africa conceded the silliest 2 goals in the last 5 minutes against Uruguay. These made the difference between 2nd round and early elimination for the hosts. Ghana missed a crucial penalty with virtually the last kick of the match against, again, Uruguay.

The obvious case here is the figures after half-time. It shows how football education is essential because a good coach must be able to read the game, exploit the weakness of the opposition. The importance of impact players cannot be over emphasised. A lot of coaches introduced substitutes in the last 30 minutes and most of them changed the complexion of the matches positively, as proven by the 64 (27 + 35 + 2) compared to 81 goals scored in the first 60 minutes. The other way to look at it is the way teams were over-cautious at the beginning and then throwing everything into attack either after conceding or racing against time.

Additional time of the first half saw a single goal while there were 6 goals after the 90th minute additional time. There were 31 goals that were scored from inside the goal area, 79 inside penalty area and 26 from outside the penalty area. We already mentioned 9 from the spot.  As I mentioned earlier, I was hoping to see the effect that the loss of concentration in the first 5 minutes compares to the last 5 of the same half, and then how the first 5 minutes of the second half differs from that of the first, and so on. This data is not available.

When I looked at match attendance list, the lowest figures were 27967 for the Denmark vs Japan first round match. It is a figure bigger than any ordinary match that does not feature Bloemfontein Celtic, Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates in South Africa. In most matches like this one, locals would still be looking for tickets while international associations were hording the quota they did not sell. It was easier for vuvuzela haters to turn around and point at the empty stadia, while records proved these games were the top 5 attended in the history of the tournament, despite the anti-Africa propaganda in the world media.

What football data would you call useful and why? Please check out for more and detailed list of data on www.fifa.com

Statistics - 2010 FIFA World Cup Technical Report.

Further to previous reports of the TSG about the beautiful game's world show, this statistics supplied in the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup Technical Report are of a general nature for a technical report. For starters, it does not detail the condition and composition of teams that scored in the first and last 5 minutes of each half. The scoring data has been classified in 15 minute blocks which are less relevant to technical people like myself. General observation overtime proved that technically gifted and tactically sound teams scored in the first 3rd of the matches, while physically conditions sides with higher technical ability took control of the matches in the middle 3rd of any match. The last 30 minutes of matches are usually controlled by psychologically strong and mature teams than the physically strong.   

The TSG came with data to tell us how it all went. They said that there 35 from set pieces. Overall, in the 64 matches played, 145 goals were scored compared to the 147 scored in the Germany 2006 FIFA World Cup. This is a result of bad decisions by referees, who denied several legitimate efforts including the famous Frank Lampard 'no goal'. 110 of these were from open play, while combination play produced 29, the same as wing play with 15 coming from the left. Defence splitting passes into the penalty area produced 6 goals compared to solo effort that had 7. According to these guys, 4 were a result of defensive errors, and personally, I think that is relative.

This information can be interpreted in various ways. What is of interest for me, is that teams are still generally impenetrable in the middle. The spine of the teams remained a fortified guard that must be circumvented by use of wingers to turn defenders to face their goalkeeper. It also proves that the goalkeepers get pressurised in the confusion of making snappy decisions as to whether to wait for the defenders get rid of the ball or them coming out to cut out the crosses. This further requires risk assessment in a split second so as to avoid collision with the attacking player as well as the defending team-mate.

Of interest though, 15 goals were a result of rebounds. There were just 2 own goals recorded. Set pieces produced 35 goals of which 10 were scored after corner-kicks, 7 of those from the right. Direct kicks resulted in 5 goals. Penalties were not recorded as direct kicks as 9 were a separate count, but please note that they are actually direct free-kicks. They report a goal that was a result of a throw in. If you remember this one, please let me know. Generally, the TSG has classified 108 goals as scored from shots and 26 as headers. Strikers, midfielders and defenders netted 77, 50 and 16 goals respectively. It has been a while since we had goalkeepers scoring in the World Cups. The last I remember was Jose Chilavert, who was a dead ball specialist.

Shooting remains key in football. Lack of courage in taking shots becomes the weakness of tactically aware teams who will continue to pass the ball around, hence over elaborating their attacks and allowing the opposition to take good defensive positions to neutralise the attacks. The 26 headed goals proves that this technique remains a big challenge even for high level professionals. O further interest in goal distribution by departments, is the fact that teams played 1-4-2-3-1 formation variables, meaning a solo striker or in some cases, 2 strikers playing in tandem, ie one in front of another. With these solo strikers, 4 defenders were assigned to deal with their threats, yet they had a combined goal tally of 77. Of course the midfielders beefed up attacks at every opportunity, coming up with the 50 goals. Defenders usually got their goals from set-pieces, usually headers as they have the courage to jump and head, which is a common job description to deal with the aerial prowess of players like Peter Crouch and Fernando Torres.

Between kick-off and the 15th minute, the goalkeeper were beaten 14 times, and 23 times in the next quarter of an hour. These statistics are some of the more useful in coaching. It is essential to know the probability of conceding in the 31st - 45th minutes, as 22 goals were netted.  The 46 to 60 minute mark produced 22 goals and the next 15 minutes saw 27 being scored compared to an even bigger figure of 35 scored in the 76th - 90th minute range. Each half of extra time produced a single goal. You will remember that psychologically stronger teams perform better for longer, you will see how mind power is more relevant than previously thought. Personally, I think this is the weakest point of African teams. For example, South Africa conceded the silliest 2 goals in the last 5 minutes against Uruguay. These made the difference between 2nd round and early elimination for the hosts. Ghana missed a crucial penalty with virtually the last kick of the match against, again, Uruguay.

The obvious case here is the figures after half-time. It shows how football education is essential because a good coach must be able to read the game, exploit the weakness of the opposition. The importance of impact players cannot be over emphasised. A lot of coaches introduced substitutes in the last 30 minutes and most of them changed the complexion of the matches positively, as proven by the 64 (27 + 35 + 2) compared to 81 goals scored in the first 60 minutes. The other way to look at it is the way teams were over-cautious at the beginning and then throwing everything into attack either after conceding or racing against time.

Additional time of the first half saw a single goal while there were 6 goals after the 90th minute additional time. There were 31 goals that were scored from inside the goal area, 79 inside penalty area and 26 from outside the penalty area. We already mentioned 9 from the spot.  As I mentioned earlier, I was hoping to see the effect that the loss of concentration in the first 5 minutes compares to the last 5 of the same half, and then how the first 5 minutes of the second half differs from that of the first, and so on. This data is not available.

When I looked at match attendance list, the lowest figures were 27967 for the Denmark vs Japan first round match. It is a figure bigger than any ordinary match that does not feature Bloemfontein Celtic, Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates in South Africa. In most matches like this one, locals would still be looking for tickets while international associations were hording the quota they did not sell. It was easier for vuvuzela haters to turn around and point at the empty stadia, while records proved these games were the top 5 attended in the history of the tournament, despite the anti-Africa propaganda in the world media.

What football data would you call useful and why? Please check out for more and detailed list of data on www.fifa.com

Formations - 2010 FIFA World Cup Technical Report.

Previously, I looked at the 2010 FIFA World Cup report with a little disappointment. At least as far as formations are concerned, the reports correctly notes that a lot of teams played first round matches not to lose. A few varieties of formations from match to match was observed. Some of these were a variation of the same formation depending on individuals, coach tactics, and the stage of the World Cup.

 Brazil, Germany, Netherlands and Spain played with 2 anchor men, or defensive midfielders who fortified the defence and helped their teams unfold forward to beef attacks. It notes that there were traditional 1-4-4 2 and 1-4-3-3 was played with essential variations. The modern 1-4-2-3-1 was used by a few team with different interpretation. Less goals were scored. Personally, formations are over-rated, especially by those who know little about the game.

All coaches have a taste of how to play different players depending on their qualities, who in turn will react depending on the situation. The truth about any situation is, teams build around defensively sound tactics that give players freedom to express themselves. This was a little successful given that the finalist, Spain and Holland used these tactics throughout. Brazil were the other team which was not smart enough to use this fruitfully against Holland in the quarter-final. The report says there were teams that used 4 defenders, except Algeria, New Zealand and Chile who used 3.

There is a look at the confederations performances Of note is the progress of Asian football. There were 2 Asian teams for 2nd round matches, Japan  and Korea Republic. This was seen as a big way forward as it was a first, disregarding the Korea/Japan 2002. While the report does not highlight  good youth development as responsible, but surely, the J-League has been serious in getting youths to Brazil and bringing coaches for their development. Asia went a step up as 3 out of 4 of their teams had home-grown coaches.

An obvious fact that was never going to escape any analysis, that is, how amid pregnant expectation, Africa disappointed. Ghana youth development came tops and 5 players came from Under 20 FIFA World Cup winners of 2009. All African nations, except for Algeria, had foreign coaches. Most of these had no clue about the African culture and ways of football and hired on short notice. Some were brought in just for the World Cup. African teams have something to learn from Asian teams.

The other points of note was that 85% of African footballers in the 2010 FIFA World Cup were contracted to Europeans clubs. One point I liked is the inclusion of the fact of 2 major tournaments in a row, AFCON and the World Cup. This weighed heavily against players and a burn-out both physically and psychologically. There were a good this of note, especially with the fact of few injuries and even less injuries with less severity.

Does the 15% locally based African players justify the bad performance of African teams in the World Cup?

Formations - 2010 FIFA World Cup Technical Report.

Previously, I looked at the 2010 FIFA World Cup report with a little disappointment. At least as far as formations are concerned, the reports correctly notes that a lot of teams played first round matches not to lose. A few varieties of formations from match to match was observed. Some of these were a variation of the same formation depending on individuals, coach tactics, and the stage of the World Cup.

 Brazil, Germany, Netherlands and Spain played with 2 anchor men, or defensive midfielders who fortified the defence and helped their teams unfold forward to beef attacks. It notes that there were traditional 1-4-4 2 and 1-4-3-3 was played with essential variations. The modern 1-4-2-3-1 was used by a few team with different interpretation. Less goals were scored. Personally, formations are over-rated, especially by those who know little about the game.

All coaches have a taste of how to play different players depending on their qualities, who in turn will react depending on the situation. The truth about any situation is, teams build around defensively sound tactics that give players freedom to express themselves. This was a little successful given that the finalist, Spain and Holland used these tactics throughout. Brazil were the other team which was not smart enough to use this fruitfully against Holland in the quarter-final. The report says there were teams that used 4 defenders, except Algeria, New Zealand and Chile who used 3.

There is a look at the confederations performances Of note is the progress of Asian football. There were 2 Asian teams for 2nd round matches, Japan  and Korea Republic. This was seen as a big way forward as it was a first, disregarding the Korea/Japan 2002. While the report does not highlight  good youth development as responsible, but surely, the J-League has been serious in getting youths to Brazil and bringing coaches for their development. Asia went a step up as 3 out of 4 of their teams had home-grown coaches.

An obvious fact that was never going to escape any analysis, that is, how amid pregnant expectation, Africa disappointed. Ghana youth development came tops and 5 players came from Under 20 FIFA World Cup winners of 2009. All African nations, except for Algeria, had foreign coaches. Most of these had no clue about the African culture and ways of football and hired on short notice. Some were brought in just for the World Cup. African teams have something to learn from Asian teams.

The other points of note was that 85% of African footballers in the 2010 FIFA World Cup were contracted to Europeans clubs. One point I liked is the inclusion of the fact of 2 major tournaments in a row, AFCON and the World Cup. This weighed heavily against players and a burn-out both physically and psychologically. There were a good this of note, especially with the fact of few injuries and even less injuries with less severity.

Does the 15% locally based African players justify the bad performance of African teams in the World Cup?

Formations - 2010 FIFA World Cup Technical Report.

Previously, I looked at the 2010 FIFA World Cup report with a little disappointment. At least as far as formations are concerned, the reports correctly notes that a lot of teams played first round matches not to lose. A few varieties of formations from match to match was observed. Some of these were a variation of the same formation depending on individuals, coach tactics, and the stage of the World Cup.

 Brazil, Germany, Netherlands and Spain played with 2 anchor men, or defensive midfielders who fortified the defence and helped their teams unfold forward to beef attacks. It notes that there were traditional 1-4-4 2 and 1-4-3-3 was played with essential variations. The modern 1-4-2-3-1 was used by a few team with different interpretation. Less goals were scored. Personally, formations are over-rated, especially by those who know little about the game.

All coaches have a taste of how to play different players depending on their qualities, who in turn will react depending on the situation. The truth about any situation is, teams build around defensively sound tactics that give players freedom to express themselves. This was a little successful given that the finalist, Spain and Holland used these tactics throughout. Brazil were the other team which was not smart enough to use this fruitfully against Holland in the quarter-final. The report says there were teams that used 4 defenders, except Algeria, New Zealand and Chile who used 3.

There is a look at the confederations performances Of note is the progress of Asian football. There were 2 Asian teams for 2nd round matches, Japan  and Korea Republic. This was seen as a big way forward as it was a first, disregarding the Korea/Japan 2002. While the report does not highlight  good youth development as responsible, but surely, the J-League has been serious in getting youths to Brazil and bringing coaches for their development. Asia went a step up as 3 out of 4 of their teams had home-grown coaches.

An obvious fact that was never going to escape any analysis, that is, how amid pregnant expectation, Africa disappointed. Ghana youth development came tops and 5 players came from Under 20 FIFA World Cup winners of 2009. All African nations, except for Algeria, had foreign coaches. Most of these had no clue about the African culture and ways of football and hired on short notice. Some were brought in just for the World Cup. African teams have something to learn from Asian teams.

The other points of note was that 85% of African footballers in the 2010 FIFA World Cup were contracted to Europeans clubs. One point I liked is the inclusion of the fact of 2 major tournaments in a row, AFCON and the World Cup. This weighed heavily against players and a burn-out both physically and psychologically. There were a good this of note, especially with the fact of few injuries and even less injuries with less severity.

Does the 15% locally based African players justify the bad performance of African teams in the World Cup?

Formations - 2010 FIFA World Cup Technical Report.

Previously, I looked at the 2010 FIFA World Cup report with a little disappointment. At least as far as formations are concerned, the reports correctly notes that a lot of teams played first round matches not to lose. A few varieties of formations from match to match was observed. Some of these were a variation of the same formation depending on individuals, coach tactics, and the stage of the World Cup.

 Brazil, Germany, Netherlands and Spain played with 2 anchor men, or defensive midfielders who fortified the defence and helped their teams unfold forward to beef attacks. It notes that there were traditional 1-4-4 2 and 1-4-3-3 was played with essential variations. The modern 1-4-2-3-1 was used by a few team with different interpretation. Less goals were scored. Personally, formations are over-rated, especially by those who know little about the game.

All coaches have a taste of how to play different players depending on their qualities, who in turn will react depending on the situation. The truth about any situation is, teams build around defensively sound tactics that give players freedom to express themselves. This was a little successful given that the finalist, Spain and Holland used these tactics throughout. Brazil were the other team which was not smart enough to use this fruitfully against Holland in the quarter-final. The report says there were teams that used 4 defenders, except Algeria, New Zealand and Chile who used 3.

There is a look at the confederations performances Of note is the progress of Asian football. There were 2 Asian teams for 2nd round matches, Japan  and Korea Republic. This was seen as a big way forward as it was a first, disregarding the Korea/Japan 2002. While the report does not highlight  good youth development as responsible, but surely, the J-League has been serious in getting youths to Brazil and bringing coaches for their development. Asia went a step up as 3 out of 4 of their teams had home-grown coaches.

An obvious fact that was never going to escape any analysis, that is, how amid pregnant expectation, Africa disappointed. Ghana youth development came tops and 5 players came from Under 20 FIFA World Cup winners of 2009. All African nations, except for Algeria, had foreign coaches. Most of these had no clue about the African culture and ways of football and hired on short notice. Some were brought in just for the World Cup. African teams have something to learn from Asian teams.

The other points of note was that 85% of African footballers in the 2010 FIFA World Cup were contracted to Europeans clubs. One point I liked is the inclusion of the fact of 2 major tournaments in a row, AFCON and the World Cup. This weighed heavily against players and a burn-out both physically and psychologically. There were a good this of note, especially with the fact of few injuries and even less injuries with less severity.

Does the 15% locally based African players justify the bad performance of African teams in the World Cup?

World Cup Final Post-Mortem: Why Spain Became Champions.

Introduction.

To those who are not Spanish or indeed Barcelona fans, Spain stole this one.

[caption id="attachment_910" align="aligncenter" width="392" caption=""Spain; 'Catch Thief'.""][/caption]Spain became the first European country to win the World Cup outside Europe and  the third to hold both the European Championship and the World Cup. It was the first nation to lose the first match and win the Cup.  

Statistics.

Holland does not feature mutch in the data that matter. Germany seem to have strong claims in useful statistics provided by FIFA and Castrol.

Spain scored 8 goals and conceded 2, goals coming from 3 scorers, Villa, Iniesta (2) and Puyol (1) and the Netherlands netted the ball 12 times against 6. The Spaniards ran a total of over  767 kilometres passing the ball 4782 passes with an 82% pass completion rate compared to Germany's total 3948 with 2865 passes completed. Averagely, each player ran 9.9 km and touched the ball 62 times a game and an average ball possession of 58% a match. Uruguay were second here clocking 763 km.

Spain were the second least attacked team, for the teams that played 7 games. Germany were the least. However, Spain launched 107 attackes firing 121 shots at goal, 32 of them by David Villa. Torres did not manage even 5 shots though. Germany attacked 91 times and fired 102 shots.

Organisation.

Spain comes as an organised and efficient unit that fight tooth and nail for each component of their well oil machine. The disciplinary levels in terms of stategy were high, players keeping their positions and operating within strict tactical peripheries. They respected their roles and did not get attracted out of their comfort zones as did the Brazilians against the Netherlands.

Technique.

Spain's tactics were based on excellent technique of ball passing and reception. They trapped the ball dead at their feet in tight positions and played the ball off their feet with the first touch if given space. They did not lose possession cheaply and they kept on their feet when defending, without diving into tackles.

Tactics.

Their tactics were simply based on taking the game to their opponents, reducing the risk of attack by other teams. They moved the ball well and almost every time, moving left to right, back and forth probing for cracks in the opposition. The fact that they did not have to score lots of goals or have a lot of players on the score-sheet or taking shots other than than David Villa, shows that Villa was the only player assigned to attacking duties while the midfield was entrusted with clean supply of ammunition.

Opposition.

The World Champions were not convincing in the way they dispatched their victims on the way to the final. Honduras stood by to give Spain hope of going to the second round while Portugal froze in the quarter-final match. Paraguay were unlucky to fall to a last minute sucker-punch. Spain came to life in their semi-final game with Germany. The Dutch imploded in extra time when reduced to 10 men in the final, showing heavy legs just before the goal. One reason for this, was their high tempo matches from the first round till the end compared to Spain's several pedestrian performances. The 1-0 wins with last minute goals tells one simple story. Spain were the strongest mentally and psychologically, and that wins games above all else.

Referee.

Howard Webb was terrible. While the game was tense and physical, he went on to set the wrong tone in a bid to stamp his authority. Instead of taking control, things spiralled out of control, udoing his noble intenstions. Iniesta was not supposed to have lasted 90 minutes intha game. He finally got a yellow card though, for removing the shirt while celebrating the goal he should n't have scored.

Conclusion.

In football, a win is a win. Viva the Champions. Viva Espan'a.

World Cup Final Post-Mortem: Why Spain Became Champions.

Introduction.

To those who are not Spanish or indeed Barcelona fans, Spain stole this one.

[caption id="attachment_910" align="aligncenter" width="392" caption=""Spain; 'Catch Thief'.""][/caption]Spain became the first European country to win the World Cup outside Europe and  the third to hold both the European Championship and the World Cup. It was the first nation to lose the first match and win the Cup.  

Statistics.

Holland does not feature mutch in the data that matter. Germany seem to have strong claims in useful statistics provided by FIFA and Castrol.

Spain scored 8 goals and conceded 2, goals coming from 3 scorers, Villa, Iniesta (2) and Puyol (1) and the Netherlands netted the ball 12 times against 6. The Spaniards ran a total of over  767 kilometres passing the ball 4782 passes with an 82% pass completion rate compared to Germany's total 3948 with 2865 passes completed. Averagely, each player ran 9.9 km and touched the ball 62 times a game and an average ball possession of 58% a match. Uruguay were second here clocking 763 km.

Spain were the second least attacked team, for the teams that played 7 games. Germany were the least. However, Spain launched 107 attackes firing 121 shots at goal, 32 of them by David Villa. Torres did not manage even 5 shots though. Germany attacked 91 times and fired 102 shots.

Organisation.

Spain comes as an organised and efficient unit that fight tooth and nail for each component of their well oil machine. The disciplinary levels in terms of stategy were high, players keeping their positions and operating within strict tactical peripheries. They respected their roles and did not get attracted out of their comfort zones as did the Brazilians against the Netherlands.

Technique.

Spain's tactics were based on excellent technique of ball passing and reception. They trapped the ball dead at their feet in tight positions and played the ball off their feet with the first touch if given space. They did not lose possession cheaply and they kept on their feet when defending, without diving into tackles.

Tactics.

Their tactics were simply based on taking the game to their opponents, reducing the risk of attack by other teams. They moved the ball well and almost every time, moving left to right, back and forth probing for cracks in the opposition. The fact that they did not have to score lots of goals or have a lot of players on the score-sheet or taking shots other than than David Villa, shows that Villa was the only player assigned to attacking duties while the midfield was entrusted with clean supply of ammunition.

Opposition.

The World Champions were not convincing in the way they dispatched their victims on the way to the final. Honduras stood by to give Spain hope of going to the second round while Portugal froze in the quarter-final match. Paraguay were unlucky to fall to a last minute sucker-punch. Spain came to life in their semi-final game with Germany. The Dutch imploded in extra time when reduced to 10 men in the final, showing heavy legs just before the goal. One reason for this, was their high tempo matches from the first round till the end compared to Spain's several pedestrian performances. The 1-0 wins with last minute goals tells one simple story. Spain were the strongest mentally and psychologically, and that wins games above all else.

Referee.

Howard Webb was terrible. While the game was tense and physical, he went on to set the wrong tone in a bid to stamp his authority. Instead of taking control, things spiralled out of control, udoing his noble intenstions. Iniesta was not supposed to have lasted 90 minutes intha game. He finally got a yellow card though, for removing the shirt while celebrating the goal he should n't have scored.

Conclusion.

In football, a win is a win. Viva the Champions. Viva Espan'a.

FIFA World Cup Game 64: The World Has New Champions.

(Pic from Yahoo Sport)

European champions, Spain, are World Champions. The South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup Final between Spain and Holland in Johannesburg's Soccer City Stadium closed down curtains to the World's best show. Spain who won 1-0, dominated the beginning of the match, David Villa drawing a fine save from Stekelenburg after only 4 minutes. England referee,  Howard Webb, dished about 15 yellow cards for a foul-littered match.

Sergio Ramos curved a way on the left of the Dutch defence, his cross-cum-shot being cleared to safety for a corner with 10 minutes played. Except for a Mathijsen miss after a Robben corner-kick from 12 yards out in the later part of the half, and a Robben low shot that made Cassilas make his first save of the final, there was not much to talk about.

The start of the 2nd half was a Spanish affair, Puyol miss-timing his jump from a corner-kick. Capdevilla should have complemented him by converting the his hit header, but he was completely flat-footed.  With 2/3 rd of the game played, Arjen Robben's free-kick was headed just wide by Heitinga. He had his best chance of the game 3 minutes later in a 1 v 1 with Cassilas, with the later stretching his right foot to save a sure goal.

David Villa failed to convert a simple tap-in from close-range in the 70th minute. Iniesta was always lucky to survive Howard Webb's free yellow cards a million times in the match. Spain began calling the shots, coming close with Villa and Ramos.

Robben wrestled with Puyol bulldozing his way out to another 1 v 1 with the goalkeeper with about 5 minutes to the normal 90. That was about it in regulation time of a typical final: boring without much flair or offence.

Spain were first off the block in Extra-time, penetrating in the middle and claiming a penalty, Cesc Fabregas coming face to face with the goalie who saved by his right boot and Iniesta taking his sweet time on the ball when he had a goalkeeper to beat. Van Bommel came all the way from the North Pole to dispossess him. Navas also came close bot found the side netting.

The Dutch showed signs of fatigue going forward as the match went on. Frankly, I expected Spain to show heavy legs, but they were pushing for a winner. 

Heitinga held back Iniesta, inviting the wrath of Webb who obliged with a second yellow for the defender who went for an early shower with 11 minutes of play remaining. Sniejder's free-kick deflected off Fabregas but the referee gave a goal-kick.

Spain won it through Iniesta  with 5 minutes of the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup final remaining. Iniesta will be the talking point of the final forever, many thinking he should not have been in the game after horrendous fouls committed in regulation time. There were tears of joy and tears of pain the world over as the finest show finally came to an end.

VIVA ESPANA.

FIFA World Cup Game 64: The World Has New Champions.

(Pic from Yahoo Sport)

European champions, Spain, are World Champions. The South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup Final between Spain and Holland in Johannesburg's Soccer City Stadium closed down curtains to the World's best show. Spain who won 1-0, dominated the beginning of the match, David Villa drawing a fine save from Stekelenburg after only 4 minutes. England referee,  Howard Webb, dished about 15 yellow cards for a foul-littered match.

Sergio Ramos curved a way on the left of the Dutch defence, his cross-cum-shot being cleared to safety for a corner with 10 minutes played. Except for a Mathijsen miss after a Robben corner-kick from 12 yards out in the later part of the half, and a Robben low shot that made Cassilas make his first save of the final, there was not much to talk about.

The start of the 2nd half was a Spanish affair, Puyol miss-timing his jump from a corner-kick. Capdevilla should have complemented him by converting the his hit header, but he was completely flat-footed.  With 2/3 rd of the game played, Arjen Robben's free-kick was headed just wide by Heitinga. He had his best chance of the game 3 minutes later in a 1 v 1 with Cassilas, with the later stretching his right foot to save a sure goal.

David Villa failed to convert a simple tap-in from close-range in the 70th minute. Iniesta was always lucky to survive Howard Webb's free yellow cards a million times in the match. Spain began calling the shots, coming close with Villa and Ramos.

Robben wrestled with Puyol bulldozing his way out to another 1 v 1 with the goalkeeper with about 5 minutes to the normal 90. That was about it in regulation time of a typical final: boring without much flair or offence.

Spain were first off the block in Extra-time, penetrating in the middle and claiming a penalty, Cesc Fabregas coming face to face with the goalie who saved by his right boot and Iniesta taking his sweet time on the ball when he had a goalkeeper to beat. Van Bommel came all the way from the North Pole to dispossess him. Navas also came close bot found the side netting.

The Dutch showed signs of fatigue going forward as the match went on. Frankly, I expected Spain to show heavy legs, but they were pushing for a winner. 

Heitinga held back Iniesta, inviting the wrath of Webb who obliged with a second yellow for the defender who went for an early shower with 11 minutes of play remaining. Sniejder's free-kick deflected off Fabregas but the referee gave a goal-kick.

Spain won it through Iniesta  with 5 minutes of the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup final remaining. Iniesta will be the talking point of the final forever, many thinking he should not have been in the game after horrendous fouls committed in regulation time. There were tears of joy and tears of pain the world over as the finest show finally came to an end.

VIVA ESPANA.

D-Day, Spain vs Holland. 2010 FIFA WC Final.

[caption id="attachment_881" align="aligncenter" width="570" caption="Giant Ball Man and Ball at Johannesburg Carlton Centre."][/caption]

 

The South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup gets officially closed at about 23:00 hrs Central Africa Time. Spain and Holland will play off to see who is inferior in footballing terms, and thank God, we don't need to remember the worst one.    By now you must be as tired about Paul the Octopus as I am. You are surely aware of the Spanish business people and the Dutch porn star.  The Spanish are tabling EUR 30 000,00 for Paul the Octopus. The Dutch actor of sin movies offers her professional services to her Twitter followers in the event of a Dutch victory. 

I usually try to make a point of my bad writing skills with a simple excuse that I am not a journalist. I will not be one. I don't want to be one. So let's get technical.

 These two teams bring nothing much to the think tanks of the game. It will be entertainment value for people of various opinions, (POVO), period. The coaches are likely to give their shortest, least animated and most friendly team talks of their lives today. Basically, the message is, everyone in the world is watching. (They have no clue my wife doesn't care at all). They will be asking the players to relax and enjoy, expressing themselves within a team frame-work. That is it.

 Coaches are likely to ask players to play as they have always done to reach this far. They will then wait for half time to come up with a strategy after observing those who are overwhelmed by the occasion, theirs or the opposition. That is what these guys are paid for. Coaches are there to help players solve their own problems on the pitch. They need to have a special eye to identify the problems as the match goes on.

 You have to forgive me for not understanding the effect and role of the calamari source mollusc, Paul. Well, it's all about faith. I believe in the maker of octopuses, not the product; the octopus. The way the teams have reached the World Cup final, I would not back either of them to win anything. If I was FIFA, I was going to cancel the match and give both of them the trophy, and then ask Brazil to play Japan, Argentina against South Africa or better still, Ghana and Korea DPR to fulfil today's fixture. This gives us the opportunity to study football, checking technique levels versus psychological effects and so on.

 Anyway, being in my position, and with the upsets we have seen thus far, I can not say Holland will win because they won all their games until now, or that Spain passes the ball well therefore they will hide the ball away from the Dutch for 93 minutes. Football does not have 'therefores'. Such things did not count in a lot of matches. It will not depend on anything anyone has seen. It is a new game today. Only for the sake of PAUL the octopus, I will predict that Holland will win this 2010 FIFA World Cup.

D-Day, Spain vs Holland. 2010 FIFA WC Final.

[caption id="attachment_881" align="aligncenter" width="570" caption="Giant Ball Man and Ball at Johannesburg Carlton Centre."][/caption]

 

The South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup gets officially closed at about 23:00 hrs Central Africa Time. Spain and Holland will play off to see who is inferior in footballing terms, and thank God, we don't need to remember the worst one.    By now you must be as tired about Paul the Octopus as I am. You are surely aware of the Spanish business people and the Dutch porn star.  The Spanish are tabling EUR 30 000,00 for Paul the Octopus. The Dutch actor of sin movies offers her professional services to her Twitter followers in the event of a Dutch victory. 

I usually try to make a point of my bad writing skills with a simple excuse that I am not a journalist. I will not be one. I don't want to be one. So let's get technical.

 These two teams bring nothing much to the think tanks of the game. It will be entertainment value for people of various opinions, (POVO), period. The coaches are likely to give their shortest, least animated and most friendly team talks of their lives today. Basically, the message is, everyone in the world is watching. (They have no clue my wife doesn't care at all). They will be asking the players to relax and enjoy, expressing themselves within a team frame-work. That is it.

 Coaches are likely to ask players to play as they have always done to reach this far. They will then wait for half time to come up with a strategy after observing those who are overwhelmed by the occasion, theirs or the opposition. That is what these guys are paid for. Coaches are there to help players solve their own problems on the pitch. They need to have a special eye to identify the problems as the match goes on.

 You have to forgive me for not understanding the effect and role of the calamari source mollusc, Paul. Well, it's all about faith. I believe in the maker of octopuses, not the product; the octopus. The way the teams have reached the World Cup final, I would not back either of them to win anything. If I was FIFA, I was going to cancel the match and give both of them the trophy, and then ask Brazil to play Japan, Argentina against South Africa or better still, Ghana and Korea DPR to fulfil today's fixture. This gives us the opportunity to study football, checking technique levels versus psychological effects and so on.

 Anyway, being in my position, and with the upsets we have seen thus far, I can not say Holland will win because they won all their games until now, or that Spain passes the ball well therefore they will hide the ball away from the Dutch for 93 minutes. Football does not have 'therefores'. Such things did not count in a lot of matches. It will not depend on anything anyone has seen. It is a new game today. Only for the sake of PAUL the octopus, I will predict that Holland will win this 2010 FIFA World Cup.