World Cup 2010 Blog: “Liveblog: Netherlands vs Brazil, Quarterfinal” plus 9 more |  |
- Liveblog: Netherlands vs Brazil, Quarterfinal
- Soundoff: Who’s Your Hero of World Cup 2010 So Far?
- Preview: Uruguay vs. Ghana, Quarterfinal
- The World Cup Awards: Second Round. (Or: Round #16)
- Preview: Netherlands vs. Brazil, Quarterfinal
- Preview: Paraguay v Spain, Quarterfinal.
- Preview: Argentina v Germany, Quarterfinal.
- World Cup Podcasts: England/USA Postmortems, Round of 16 Review, Quarter-Finals Preview
- World Cup Players Gone Emo
- Reliving The Best Goals Of The World Cup
| Liveblog: Netherlands vs Brazil, Quarterfinal Posted: 02 Jul 2010 04:00 AM PDT
Read up on the match with our Netherlands vs Brazil preview, and then get yourself settled to enjoy what promises to be an excellent game of football. Kickoff is 4pm local time in Port Elizabeth, 10am eastern time in the US. Liveblog should start rolling about an hour before kickoff. Make your comments before, during and after the match in the liveblog window below, and be sure to click the Facebook and Twitter buttons above right to help us spread the word. Don’t just take our word on the match. Check out match comments from carefully selected Twitter accounts: For more, read our guide to the World Cup 2010 Quarter Finals FAN RESOURCES
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| Soundoff: Who’s Your Hero of World Cup 2010 So Far? Posted: 01 Jul 2010 09:18 PM PDT
There have been some impressive performances though. So I’m wondering, if Nike had waited until this point of the tournament to make their Write the Future commercial, and could only cast one player, who would it be? Or to put it in a less annoying way: Who’s been the big hero of World Cup 2010 so far? Gonzalo Higuain, Robert Vittek and David Villa spring to mind, mostly because they’re the three joint top scorers with four goals each. But Vittek is out, Higuain scored three of those four goals in the rout against South Korea, and David Villa is being fed by the fearsome Spanish midfield. Leo Messi has been thrilling to watch, but has so far failed to score. It’s not a huge problem, since Messi’s doing plenty of creating, but it takes a little away from the hero narrative. Maybe USA’s Landon Donovan? He had genuine hero moments against Slovenia and Algeria, moments that might have a long-term positive impact on soccer in America, but on the other hand couldn’t take his team beyond the Round of 16. Same can be said of Japan’s Keisuke Honda, whose lone forward exploits changed Japan from no-hopers to Second Rounders, but took them no further that that. There are plenty of others who deserve a mention too, like Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan and Uruguay’s Luis Suarez, and many others, but it’s still not clear who the big hero from 2010 is going to be. Obviously that’s because we still have the seven most important games to go, but by then the hero may be so obvious that it won’t be worth discussing his identity. So let us know: Who’s your hero of World Cup 2010 so far?
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| Preview: Uruguay vs. Ghana, Quarterfinal Posted: 01 Jul 2010 07:35 PM PDT
THE BIG PICTURE Uruguay has been a bit of a surprise too. They came into 2010 as theoretically the weakest South American representative, having to win a playoff against WHAT’S AT STAKE Uruguay won the first World Cup in 1930, and repeated that feat in 1950, but haven’t been this deep into the World Cup since a semi-final appearance in 1970. Winning this game and reaching the final four once more would represent something of a return to the big boy club for Uruguay. OUR PREDICTION Also check out our preview of today’s other big quarterfinal, Netherlands vs. Brazil FAN RESOURCES
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| The World Cup Awards: Second Round. (Or: Round #16) Posted: 01 Jul 2010 05:51 PM PDT
National Team of Round #16: Brazil looks like the strongest team, with Argentina a hair or two behind – Brazil has Julio Ceasar, Argentina has, err, Sergio Romero – but perhaps the best performance was Uruguay’s multiple personality disorder. Attack, score, change philosophy, sit back, concede, chance philosophy, attack, score goal, win. Everyone else is clearly making this whole “football” business more difficult than it needs to be. Team of Round #16: Throwing some names at the board: Tulio Tanaka, Thomas Mueller, Juan, Fabio Coentrao, Mesut Ozil, Carlos Tevez, Ramires, Eduardo, Xavi, Luis Suarez, Paulo da Silva. Well fancy that: Eduardo And in 30 seconds, we’re outcoached Marcello Lippi and Raymond Domenech combined. (Ignore having the retrospective and all players at our disposal – as well as the square peg in round hole of a couple of players.)
i. Brazil
i. Presumably it was just a bit hot out and that drop isn’t killing anybody. Still, this was probably a bit of an overreaction.
(Highlight….delete….there you go.)
v.
v.
v.
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| Preview: Netherlands vs. Brazil, Quarterfinal Posted: 01 Jul 2010 03:30 PM PDT
THE BIG PICTURE Not sure I 100% agree with Dunga there, as both teams have looked very solid defensively so far, and both teams will line up 4-2-3-1. The Dutch defensive names may not be as familiar as Brazilian counterparts like Lucio and Maicon, but just two goals conceded in four games speaks for itself. What the two teams have in common is a torch-under-your-chin scary level of talent going forward. Netherlands possess Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder, and Arjen “don’t let him shoot with his left!” Robben, while Brazil boast Kaka, Robinho, and Luis “the handball rule doesn’t apply to me” Fabiano. Bring it on. For more in depth and knowledgeable previews, I highly recommend reading Jan at the Netherlands blog, and Duvel at the Brazil blog. WHAT’S AT STAKE I’d also argue that both these teams have so far semi-coasted through the World Cup, and are yet to face a genuine threat. So both teams are each other’s first serious opposition. Whichever team emerges victorious from this game will likely have people talking about them as World Cup favourites, at least until we have a winner from the Germany vs Argentina game. KICKOFF OUR PREDICTION Also check out our preview of today’s other World Cup quarterfinal, Uruguay vs. Ghana FAN RESOURCES
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| Preview: Paraguay v Spain, Quarterfinal. Posted: 01 Jul 2010 03:23 PM PDT THE BIG PICTURE Scratch that. Two pictures: one big, one small. This is easily the mismatch of the quarterfinals on paper, with Spain looking more and more assured with each game and Paraguay…well, they haven’t really been tested yet. Their group was shown to be weak – Italy and Slovakia played very poorly even if Paraguay did their job in both games – and Japan did what it does: defends exceptionally well without being able to score goals. So while a quarterfinal spot is deserved and shouldn’t be cheapened, they’re still awaiting a properly good team in all phases of the game. Spain is that team, even if the attacking dwarfs dwarf all other facets of the side. They’ve looked much better since that unfortunate showing against Switzerland, and it appears Xavi may finally be channeling his inner Xavi, which is dangerous not only for Paraguay, but any team which fancies winning this thing. Therefore Paraguay may be forced into channeling their inner Switzerland for the game, which shouldn’t be tremendously difficult: they haven’t conceded in the last 300+ World Cup minutes. A record they might need to keep in order to have a chance at making it to a historic semifinal. Because if Spain opens up the scoring early, Paraguay is in a great deal of trouble. The first semifinal spot in either team’s history, you’ll be happy to know – and possibly surprised to know if you’ve only seen Spain since May ‘08 or so. Either way, somebody’s coming out having made history. The winner will get either Argentina or Germany, which means someone’s defense will need to be on its game.
A mismatch on paper will probably translate to one on the pitch, similar to Brazil & Chile. We’ll be a bit kinder to Paraguay and only call it a 2-0 loss, though. (Not that kind when you think about it.)
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| Preview: Argentina v Germany, Quarterfinal. Posted: 01 Jul 2010 03:20 PM PDT THE BIG PICTURE One of the premier games at this tournament, for one. On pure footballing levels, both teams are exceptionally good and there’s not too much between them, even if Argentina may have the slight edge. Both sides will feature properly good attacks with some of the players of the tournament thus far – Messi, Ozil, Tevez, Mueller – and this has the potential to blow up into a spectacular display of footballing fireworks with neither team infallible in the back. There also may be some fireworks off the ball too, since the two teams aren’t exactly good pals. The last time they met, in the quarterfinals of ‘06, Germany won on PKs and the pitch turned into a bar fight soon after. The barbs have commenced and the pregame handshakes will be watched with the anticipation of Terry – Bridge I back in the spring. On top of all that, the sideline showmen will be on full display. Will Diego play better than anyone else? Will he actually remain quiet for a game? Will Jogi eat it again? These are questions looming as large as the game itself. A proper World Cup knockout, where the teams on the pitch and the factors off are looking like a chemistry experiment about to explode. WHAT’S AT STAKE A bit of face for Argentina, since ‘06 clearly didn’t go down too well and the German verbal assault which has come down in the last couple days certainly won’t help. Maybe a bit of generational rivalry brewing? Tough to do when meeting, perhaps, only every four years being from different continents, but the winner will certainly have an extra feather in its cap. After that, it’s the small matter of still being alive in the World Cup, to play either Paraguay or Spain. Genuinely one of the most difficult games to predict thus far. Argentina are so good going forward with possession and Messi requires so much attention it’s the others, like Higuain and Tevez, who are getting the goals. But if Germany can take care of matters at the back – and Argentina hasn’t yet faced a keeper with the quality of Neuer, even if Enyeama and Tzorvas both put on shows – their attack, and particularly counterattack, can be positively lethal. Such a wonderful matchup so hard to predict, even if Argentina are slight favorites. On the limb….Germany 3-2.
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| World Cup Podcasts: England/USA Postmortems, Round of 16 Review, Quarter-Finals Preview Posted: 01 Jul 2010 02:30 PM PDT
Below you’ll find a selection of recent radio shows and podcasts, discussing first the mixture of success and failure that was the USA’s World Cup campaign, then the mixture of failure and failure that was England’s World Cup campaign. Once those dead horses have been severely beaten over the course of two shows, we move on to discuss the Round of 16 and to preview the upcoming World Cup quarter-finals. Simply click below to listen: Discussing the USA’s World Cup exit, with US fan Marty Wegbreit. Turns out Marty’s not a big fan of Bob Bradley… Recorded immediately after the above show, discussing the USA a little more, and then England a lot more… Reviewing our favourite moments from the Round of 16, and previewing the World Cup quarter-finals… If you like the show, you can subscribe to the Total Football Soccer Show via the magic of iTunes, or join our burgeoning TFSS Facebook page.
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| Posted: 01 Jul 2010 01:30 PM PDT
Seems the good people at the Globo website have been doing the same. Because today their blog Bola nas Costas presented a re-imagining of World Cup 2010, emo style. Titled, and I’m deadly serious here, the Fifemo World Cup complete with logo (pictured) featuring a very emo floppy fringe haircut. Globo have also doctored up a few images of what certain players would look like if they went emo, and I’ve picked a few of my favourites to share below.
Which of the above five looks best in their emo gear to you? I’m saying Fabio Capello. Nothing beats a 64 year old with facial piercings. More at Bola nas Costas.
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| Reliving The Best Goals Of The World Cup Posted: 01 Jul 2010 12:29 PM PDT This was spotted on 101GreatGoals this morning and it’s absolutely wonderful. A simple compilation of the tournament’s best goals without a suspect musical soundtrack, but rather the real time commentary, enjoying the goal as designed – with the backdrop of a jubilant fan. And the occasional swarm of locusts. It’s almost impossible to pick the best at this point, especially since the World Cup hasn’t even officially begun with Lionel Messi not yet on the scoreboard. But I will say give me Maicon’s angle, Villa’s slalom-cum-poke against Honduras, Mesut Ozil’s picture perfect technical form against Ghana and the curl on Luis Suarez’s second versus South Korea all rolled into one – while leaving Luis Fabiano’s second in the “cheaters” bin – and I’ll be able to die a very, very happy man.
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As we’ve already 
Regular WCB readers will know that we often feature podcasts from the 
Not sure about you, but I’ve been enjoying this two day break in World Cup action. Nineteen straight days of multiple matches is great in theory, but turns out you really can have too much of a good thing. Especially when it all happens in a bit of a blur. So I’ve been using the two days to sit and reflect on what’s happened so far, and to look forward to what’s about to happen, and also to indulge myself with a bit of 
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