Alhaji Righteous De Ambitious: Aug 12, 2010

Thursday, August 12, 2010

World Cup 2010 Blog: “England v The White Line: The Rematch.” plus 1 more

Posted: 11 Aug 2010 02:48 PM PDT

These friendlies mean nothing, the goals even less and there is certainly no real ‘controversy’, but the nature of the one goal England conceded can only conjure up a laugh the very same day Sepp Blatter confirmed FIFA’s curious eye towards goal-line technology.

It certainly looks as though the whole ball never crossed the line entirely, unlike six weeks or so ago.

The gods must not be done throwing down a bit of retribution for ‘66. (Though Stevie G was throwing down himself. Twice.)

[TV Golo]

Brazil 2-0 USA: Say Hallo to Neymar

Posted: 11 Aug 2010 07:20 AM PDT

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the new Brazil. After the more pragmatic and less exciting Dunga years (an approach which won the Copa America and Confederations Cup, but failed at World Cup 2010) new coach Mano Menezes seems to have his team playing the way we all – rightly or wrongly – expect Brazil to play. Even better, he’s doing it with kids.

This new look Brazil beat the USA 2-0 in New Jersey last night. No more Gilberto Silva playing defensive mid in this team, no more workhorses. Just lots of passing, moving and dribbling.

Even established stars like Kaka were not called for this game (though I’m sure he’ll be back). Instead we had the youth and exuberance of international debutant Neymar, who scored the first goal with his head but mostly impressed by playing wide left and terrorizing American defenders. I’ll bet good money that Jonathan Spector had nightmares about little men with mohawks. Alexandre Pato got Brazil’s second, rounding Tim Howard after Ramires had split the US defence with one pass. Ganso did the playmaking, and was unlucky not to score when his shot bounced back off the post towards the end of the game.

Robinho wore the captain’s armband, which may have been because Menezes wanted to send a message about what his team will be like, but is more likely because Robinho was the most experienced player on an inexperienced team. But still: Robinho wore the captain’s armband. I’m going to keep typing that until it makes sense.

Of course this was only one game, and it was a semi-experimental friendly. But the way Brazil passed the ball, dominated play, and made fools of US defenders means that Brazil will at the very least be fun to watch again under Menenez. Roll on Copa America 2011.