Spain or Netherlands?

This is the million-dollar question (literally) at the moment. And probably, by the time you would read this, most of you would know the answer to this big question. But, one thing is certain - we will have a new name on the trophy this time. Here I make another attempt to remember somethings worth remembering about the knockout stage mainly of the biggest sporting event, which reaches climax today (the earlier one is here).

Round of 16:

Germany playing England, and Spain playing Portugal so early in the Cup race were the highlights of this round. While Germany truly slaughtered the English side, Spain stepped ahead quietly with a single-goal victory. While, Argentina and Brazil continued looking good to strengthen their claim for the cup, Ghana ended the American Dream to keep the host continent's hope alive. Two big faults by referees which went against England (for Germany) and Mexico (for Argentina) led to resurfacing of the old debate of inclusion of more technology in the game. Though FIFA President went on to apologise to English and Mexican team, governments and people, the question of the extent of damage these errors caused to the fairness of a tournament as big as FIFA World Cup remains open to debate and discussion.

Quarter Finals:

4 matches, 4 South American teams - 1 in each. And the one team that went through was not expected to reach the Semis before the kick-off of the World Cup. The giants - Brazil and Argentina subsided to let Netherlands and Germany to go through. While the Dutch team impressed with consistent passing and constant attacking to perforate the Brazilian defence, German team continued to crush their worthy opponents mercilessly to rise to the title of World Cup favourites. Ghana failed to become the first African team to end up in the last 4 due to 'Hand of God', first and 'Bar of God', later. Gyan is going to regret that missed penalty all his life for sure. But the early exits of Argentina and Paraguay at this stage denied some naked runs (Paraguan defeat came as a disappointment for many excited males) [1], [2]

Semi Finals:

Diego Forlan led the brave Uruguan side so far with his skilled gameplay, but a short lapse in concentration of defense gave the Dutch team an opportunity to break-in twice in 3 minutes. Many people wished the other semi-finalists (Germany vs Spain) to clash in the Grand Finale instead. The star-studded line-up on both sides raised the expectations to a heated competition. But as the game kicked off, Spain took lead and played their game of passing in the mid-field and waiting for the opportune moment. They never allowed Germans to take control and raise the pace of the game to their advantage. Spaniards succeeded in getting to the Finals with another low-scoring victory.

Third-place Playoff:

I missed the first half of the match as I failed to get back to MSR from Mysore in time, but according to a friend (Apoorv Gupta):

"Yesterday's match was awesome... lots of aggressiveness, and a lot of bad passes etc. combined to make it one of the most entertaining so far." But, surely Uruguay deserved the extra-time, which Forlan had almost won with his almost-perfect free kick as the last shot of the match.

Now, its time to enjoy the colourful closing ceremony put up to mark the culmination of another edition of World Cup! I'm going to miss the World Cup so much, so many memories in the '3rd floor collaboration room' of MSR! My intern experience would remain incomplete without the mention of these football matches. :)

World Cup - the First 10 Days!

First two rounds of the group stages are almost over, and most groups are now standing at a very interesting point where it looks almost impossible to predict which 2 teams would go through. Many predictions have failed and some of the biggies are struggling to qualify. Some minnows which everyone expected to be beaten have shown great resilience and brought down super powers to their feet. So, here I present an account of the first one-third of this huge tournament.

Group A (South Africa, Mexico, France, Uruguay):

The runners up of last world cup are struggling very hard to get through to the next round. Their qualification requires a win in their last group match supported by some goal difference equations in the other game. It looks like France is bowing out as they did in 2002 WC, where they were defending champions.

Mexico made a major upset by beating France 2-0 and are now prepared to book their next round ticket. Uruguay looks good too with a 3-0 victory over the host and are cheered by their coach's claim that the team is capable enough to lift the trophy again this time. The journey of the hosts also appears to end in the Group stages itself.

Probable qualifiers: Uruguay, Mexico

Group B (Argentina, S. Korea, Greece, Nigeria):

Argentina has made a strong statement of their current form with victories in both the games, one of them being an emphatic 4-1 over Korea when they dismantled Korean defence completely and this WC saw its first hat-trick. The team looks in great touch with good coordination. Messi has been a bit unlucky with scoring, even after having the highest number of total shots in the tournament. Maradona's boys are doing wonders on the pitch, and the legend could be seen kicking the ball once or twice in the manager's box too.

The fate of other teams is largely dependent on the last set of matches, with no clear predictions possible.

Group C (England, USA, Slovenia, Algeria):

The team looking the best on paper - England has been a huge disappointment with 2 dull draws. With the first one to be blamed on the shameful miss by Goal-Keeper Green, the second one showed lack of motivation in their attack with a frustrated Rooney in the front. Slovenia and USA played a very entertaining match with the first half dominated by the former and USA making a great comeback to end the game in a draw, though USA were denied a valid goal by a panicky referee. Any two of England, USA and Slovenia have equal chances to get through.

Group D (Germany, Ghana, Serbia, Australia):
The group started off with a crushing 4-0 victory over Australians, but the same side was brought down by Serbia a few days later in a major upset. Germany vs Serbia saw some rough refereeing with a total of 9 cards, two of them leading to dismissal of Klose. Another group with no clear qualifiers, we have to wait for a couple more matches to finish.

Group E (Netherlands, Japan, Denmark, Cameroon):
Netherlands have put up an impressive show with two wins and a sure qualification. Cameroon, even after playing some motivated football, are out of the cup race.

Group F (Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia):
Except the defending Champions playing in the group, nothing interested me particularly. But, Italy are playing like a team of old men, with no spark.

Group G (Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast, N. Korea):
I'm watching a very happening match in this group right now. Kaka has been sent off with some random pushing and shoving. North Korea played a brave game against Brazil, entertaining with their super-defensive gameplay and still managing to score once. Brazil have qualified with a formidable win over Ivory Coast. Which team among Ronaldo's Portugal and Drogba's Ivory Coast will be ousted in the Group of Death, is yet to be decided!

Group H (Spain, Chile, Switzerland, Honduras):
Personally supporting Spain for World Cup favourites, it was a disappointment to see them lose against Swiss side. Even after making so many efforts on goal, they failed to score due to poor misses by Torres at times. Swiss took advantage of the few attacks they created and scored to win the game.

Disclaimer: The post was written during the Brazil vs Ivory Coast match (Group G, 21 June, 12 AM). All the predictions and possibilities hold for that exact state of world cup only. No updates will be made as the Group stage progresses further. The next account is awaited after completion of another set of 10 days.

World Cup Fever

32 Nations - 1 Cup!
The biggest extravaganza in the sporting world is about to begin. As the countdown timer moves from 'Days' to 'Hours', the excitement is mounting to higher levels.

A tournament bringing together the best players of the most-played sport in the world is all set to make new records this time. To list a few, this is the first time the Cup Finals is being played on African soil. 2010 World Cup offers $ 420 million as the total prize money, a 60% increase on its 2006 version [Source: Wiki]. WC 2010 is expected to become the most viewed sporting event in the world, exceeding the Olympic Games also. The cumulative audience of 2006 version is estimated to be over 26 billion, which is bound to rise this time [Source: Wiki].

The first part of the '2-day' opening ceremony has just wrapped up, featuring a list of musical bands, Shakira, K'naan and Black Eyed Peas being the most known (to me). Personally, the opening ceremony failed to impress me as it kept everybody waiting for K'Naan and Shakira. The earlier performances became monotonous and the short speeches in the changeover time felt useless and redundant. A better finish could be given by putting in more technology and mixing the tradition and culture intelligently. (Compare: Beijing Olympics opening ceremony)

Okay, now let me stop the critical part of me, and let the excited part take over. As the world went frenzy over the last month with countdowns and analysis running across all media, expectations and speculations building up, claims and quotes from the people who matter (coaches and players), the D-day is here. Even the internet giants - Google and Twitter have coloured themselves in the festival.

Why it has aroused so much interest into me, I accredit it to my growing interest in Football (with Cricket growing boring than ever) over the last year. Having followed the EPL and Champions League last season, I'm now aware of the big names in the sport. Football, being a club game largely, doesn't feature many International matches (compare to cricket). But, thats what makes the World Cup more exciting - to see the best fighting their way to glory with their club teammates (e.g. Kaka & Ronaldo) turning to opponents, and arch rivals turning to teammates (e.g. Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney). Unfortunately, many big names would be missing the competition due to injuries; Beckham, Ballack, Essien, Ferdinand, Nani, Obi Mikel, to name a few with doubts hovering over the fitness of Drogba, Robben and Pirlo. Some of them form the backbone of every team they play for, and their absence certainly would mean a loss in the quality of game we're expecting.

Now, coming to my personal favourites, I consider Spanish team to be the strongest contender. Not only is the team star-studded with a line-up with all of the players playing in the top European Clubs (Barcelona, Real Mardid owning most of them), but their strongest advantage is their understanding of each other's game due to their sticking together in the club football either as teammates or opponents (Leaving the exception of Torres, Fabregas and Reina, all of the team plays in Spanish League). But, the South American giants - Brazil (FIFA ranking 1) and Argentina (the duo of Messi and Maradona) have all the caliber to lift the world-cup again. (Brazil already holds the record with 5 cups).

Among the players, Messi has been my favourite, due to his skills on the ball and movement off the ball. This short man has spearheaded Barcelona's attack for long now, but has been criticized for not-so-good performance on Argentina's side. I hope he changes history with some clinical finishes, spectacular dribbling and accurate crosses in this World Cup.

But, all this is on paper and champions are created on the field. What matters is the 90 minutes of game-play.   All predictions may fail as some magical moments of brilliance strike or luck plays hide-n-seek with talent.

Sorry for the loooong post. More to come as the tournament progresses and the champion gets crowned a month later (11 July). Meanwhile, enjoy the videos as we approach the kickoff of the inaugural match in a few hours (strongly advised for those who are still not pumped up with energy, excitement and enthusiasm).