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.

Spain beat Australia 3-0 in 2014 Fifa World Cup

Goals from David Villa, Fernando Torres and Mata secured a victory for the faded Fifa World Cup champions, Spain, who were largely a second string team. To underline the insignificance of the fixture, the Socceroos looked disinterested anyway.

There was some measure of commitment and a degree of urgency from the Spanish attack, probably for the goal tally and future statistics. It might have been that the fringe players were trying to prove that they were supposed to have been the main actors in a romantic movie that turned into horror.

Play started in midfield and played to the right. Juanfran received the threaded ball, took it to the by-line, and cut it back for Villa who faced the ball, let his leading left football pass in front of the coming ball. As the ball went through his wide-open legs, he dragged the trailing one to score a cheeky goal past a guessing goalkeeper.

Iniesta, from the central position in midfield, found Torres on the left with a through ball inside the penalty area. The Chelsea striker took his time to control and tuck in the ball past a diving Matthew Ryan.

Play on the left side of the midfield was played across the box by Cesc Fabregas to Mata who received it at the far post and pushed it between the goalkeeper’s legs. Spain kept looking for easy goals and wasted many opportunities as they began to be selfish. That performance did not stop the embarrassment of their failure to make a better impression as the defending champions as they left with their tails between their legs.

Chile beat Spain 2-0 in 2014 Fifa World Cup

Chile started their encounter against the reigning champions like a house on fire. There was an early chance, early corner-kick and an early free header with a clear sight on goal, all wasted. Spain nervously tried to fight the flames and cool down the embers until they finally regrouped and took the game to the Chileans, who seemed to chill a little.

The Europeans attacked with a lot of pace through the middle with David Silva calling the shots in the middle trying to pry an opening for the killer pass to Diego Costa. Both teams began to press each other harder up-front being quick in the middle and final thirds of the pitch. Chile was forced to play the ball early or long, but they kept their shape and composure whenever the ball crossed the centre line.

Upon winning a fierce midfield battle around the right side of the centre circle, the South Americans swiftly inter-passed the ball intricately with Alexis Sanchez, Aranguiz and Vargas involved. It was Sanchez’s ball into the box that was squared by Aranguiz to Vargas to touch it across a recovering Ike Casillas who had tried to narrow the angle on Aranguiz. Vargas’s second touch was a toe-poke as he competed with Xavi Alonso for the ball. Spain’s central defence and midfield was guilty of being sucked into play to their left and exposed their centre and their right. Casillas should not have tried to come off his line until the first touch was made by an attacker.

As play progressed, Silva was neutralised by Vidal as Mendel suffocated Costa. In trying to make amends, Spain composed their play and effectively put Pedro into good use on the right. Chile began to chase each and every ball, engaging in combative duels with Alonso, Busquets and Ramos. The Chilean game plan revolved around doubling up on the Spanish engine room, Iniesta, whom they made sure he drifted wide with each drive into the attacking zones.

Sanchez won two consecutive free kicks on the right side edge of the penalty box. He took the later around the wall, attracting a poor punched effort by Spain’s number one. The ricochet generously fell to Aranguiz who controlled and stabbed the ball past the diving Real Madrid keeper. Casillas was the chief culprit punching the ball directly into play rather than fist it long and wide.

Spain put in a man-sized performance at the beginning of the second half, winning the free-kicks outside the penalty area. Sergio Ramos took one pile driver that Bravo badly dealt with. He double-fisted the ball high to his left, where it was bicycle-kicked across the goalmouth to a free Busquets. The midfielder mysteriously squandered the opportunity with a yawning net at his nose.

With less than two thirds of the match left, Chile were coasting to a famous win and could have doubled the first half score line but they wasted two beautiful chances after counter attacking moves. They played with confidence and authority as the champions faded quietly and softly.

Somehow, Ramos a red card for a clever kick of the opponent while retracting his foot after clearing a ball. Soon after, Chile let Spain off the hook yet again when three players took turns to waste chances in an embarrassing fashion. Mena, Isla and Gutierrez extravagantly spurned what could have supped the already depleted energy levels of the Spanish. It was more of mental fatigue than energy loss as the revered Europeans tucked their tails between their legs.

Spain became the first reigning champions to lose two consecutive matches in the Fifa World Cup. It was, however, the triumph of the Chilean master plan, which bordered around retention of the ball, quick recovery of possession, physical combating in midfield with many players around the ball, starving Iniesta of the ball, showing the Spanish wingers down the touchline, deny crosses and then choking the central position What a show by Chile and why don’t they go on and win this thing? If you can dismantle the champions like this, why not? Not even the Dutch could have survived this onslaught.    

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.

2010 FIFA World Cup: Before The Final

[caption id="attachment_878" align="aligncenter" width="570" caption="Johannesburg's Carlton Centre "][/caption]

There has been a sudden increase for backers of The Netherlands beating Spain in the World Cup Final, which is directly related to males applying for the Dutch citizenship recently. Holland guys get a free oral porn gift with a Dutch victory tomorrow. That will be a very long que and, while it is a noble gesture, more can be done about it though. OK, football.

Usually nobody remembers who came second, worse 3rd or 4th. For example, did you know Czechoslovakia played the FIFA World Cup final twice? It was in 1934 and 1962 losing to Italy and Brazil respectively.

Hungary, in 1938 and 1954 lost the FIFA World Cup to Italy and West Germany respectively. Sweden got there in 1958 against Brazil losing in a the finals they hosted.

One more sleep, the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup curtain comes down with Spain dating Holland in Jozi, but today, before final, there is 3rd/4th match - Uruguay vs Germany in Port Elizabeth. While it may be second-rate in competitive terms, it is a quarter a loaf. In Africa, it is better than nothing, it may not be the same in South America or Europe. I expect a committed input from both teams with Uruguay beating Germany.

Uruguay will make the Germany machine operate under unfavourable conditions. The Europeans usually exhibit mental strength, but I am not sure they have overcome the disaster of missing the final. We will have to wait to see how much is left in them. The coach will be hard pressed to shape them for the future.

The South Americas, by contrast,  will be relaxed in fulfilling just another fixture. The result will not be their concern and that will work in their favour.

2010 FIFA World Cup: Before The Final

[caption id="attachment_878" align="aligncenter" width="570" caption="Johannesburg's Carlton Centre "][/caption]

There has been a sudden increase for backers of The Netherlands beating Spain in the World Cup Final, which is directly related to males applying for the Dutch citizenship recently. Holland guys get a free oral porn gift with a Dutch victory tomorrow. That will be a very long que and, while it is a noble gesture, more can be done about it though. OK, football.

Usually nobody remembers who came second, worse 3rd or 4th. For example, did you know Czechoslovakia played the FIFA World Cup final twice? It was in 1934 and 1962 losing to Italy and Brazil respectively.

Hungary, in 1938 and 1954 lost the FIFA World Cup to Italy and West Germany respectively. Sweden got there in 1958 against Brazil losing in a the finals they hosted.

One more sleep, the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup curtain comes down with Spain dating Holland in Jozi, but today, before final, there is 3rd/4th match - Uruguay vs Germany in Port Elizabeth. While it may be second-rate in competitive terms, it is a quarter a loaf. In Africa, it is better than nothing, it may not be the same in South America or Europe. I expect a committed input from both teams with Uruguay beating Germany.

Uruguay will make the Germany machine operate under unfavourable conditions. The Europeans usually exhibit mental strength, but I am not sure they have overcome the disaster of missing the final. We will have to wait to see how much is left in them. The coach will be hard pressed to shape them for the future.

The South Americas, by contrast,  will be relaxed in fulfilling just another fixture. The result will not be their concern and that will work in their favour.