Friday, June 26, 2009

World Cup 2006 Blog

World Cup 2006 Blog

Link to World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010

South Africa 0-1 Brazil: Dani Alves is the Difference

Posted: 25 Jun 2009 03:05 PM PDT


South Africa went toe to toe with the Seleção for 88 minutes, which is no mean feat. But Dani Alves came off the bench, played out of position and buried the above free kick to put Brazil through to Sunday’s final.


In many ways this game was a lot more even that USA vs Spain semi-final. Possession in both matches was split 56% to 44% in favour of the higher ranked team, but Spain outshot the USA 29-9 yesterday. Today it was only 17-14 Brazil, and could have gone either way.

Bafana Bafana captain Aaron Mokoena was an absolute rock at the back. Portsmouth fans will have enjoyed his performance. And in many ways South Africa’s fullbacks Siboniso Gaxa (on the right) and Tsepo Masilela (on the left) were more Brazilian than the Brazilians in terms of bombing forward.

Hopes of a decent performance from the hosts in 2010 now seem realistic, and they were unlucky not to make the final today. Instead they play Spain for Third Place on Saturday (kick off is 3pm local, 2pm UK time, 9am US Eastern), which is still a respectable achievement. (If there are any South Africa fans reading this, we still have an opening on South Africa WCB. Click that link to represent your team in blog form).

The difference of course was Dani Alves’ 88th minute free kick. He was only on the pitch to end leftback Andre Santos’ miserable afternoon, but there was a strange air of inevitability when he stepped up to strike the ball. He didn’t bend it, he just hit it - hard - into the upper far corner.

So 1-0 to Brazil, and they’ll now play USA in the 2009 Confederations Cup Final on Sunday. Kick off is 8:30pm local, 7:30pm UK time, 2:30 pm US Eastern (LiveBlog here on WorldCupBlog of course).

Confederations Cup Semi: South Africa vs Brazil LiveBlog

Posted: 25 Jun 2009 11:09 AM PDT


Can South Africa vuvuzela Brazil out of the Confederations Cup? Who will face the USA in the 2009 final? Can vuvuzela be used as a verb?

Find out in the LiveBlog below…

What Next for Spain?

Posted: 25 Jun 2009 09:36 AM PDT


Much of the reaction to USA beating Spain 2-0 in yesterday’s Confederations Cup semi-final has focused on the winning team. And quite rightly too. Beating Spain was and is a huge result for the USA, and possibly a turning point in Bob Bradley’s regime.

But how will the loss affect Spain? They had wowed everyone in winning Euro 2008, changed coaches without skipping a beat and won six out of six in World Cup 2010 qualifying. Their unbeaten streak was a record-tying 35 games and they’ve been FIFA’s #1 ranked team for what feels like forever.

For most people, Spain’s Confederations Cup 2009 campaign was either going to end with another trophy, or maybe a narrow defeat to Brazil in the final.


Obviously a 2-0 defeat to a CONCACAF team doesn’t mean Spain are suddenly useless. Vicente del Bosque’s men had more possession and more shots at goal, and if not for the heroics of Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit and Tim Howard, they could easily have won yesterday’s game. But they didn’t. And so now that aura of invincibility is gone.

Spain are still the best team in the world. The team that’s really clicking at international level. And it wouldn’t surprise anyone if they go on to win their first World Cup when they return to South Africa in 2010. But that all depend on how the team handles yesterday’s surprise defeat.

Will there be questions about their style of play not being direct enough? Do we now believe that Spain aren’t the same without Andres Iniesta (injured for this tournament)? Does this 2-0 loss hint at a possible choke at the 2010 World Cup? Or will Spain just shrug this off and go back to crushing opposition teams?
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Thursday, June 25, 2009

World Cup 2006 Blog

World Cup 2006 Blog

Link to World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010

Condederations Cup Semi-Fina: USA 2-0 Spain (or: Why Every Team in the World Should Play 4-4-2)

Posted: 24 Jun 2009 02:13 PM PDT


First of all, stop rubbing your eyes. This really happened.

The USA (the team that looked all but mathematically out after losing their first two games) just beat Spain (you know, the team that won Euro 2008 and recently set the record for most consecutive international wins with fifteen and tied Brazil by going 35 games unbeaten) 2-0.


Here’s the proof:

In the 26th minute Jozy Altidore muscled/turned his Villarreal teammate Joan Capdevila and hit a shot that Iker Casillas could only parry onto the post and into the back of the net:

Link: Spain 0-1 USA

Then in the 74th minute Benny Feilhaber skipped through the Spanish defence and played Landon Donovan down the right hand channel. Donovan squared it, Puique deflected it, Sergio Ramso thought he had all the time in the world, Clint Dempsey disagreed.

Link: Spain 0-2 USA

Before, after and inbetween those goals it was all about Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit and Tim Howard. The USA’s central defensive duo made header after header and last dicth tackle after last ditch tackle to deny David Villa and Fernando Torres. And when Spain did managed a shot at goal, Tim Howard was there to keep it out.

The US lost central midfielder Michael Bradley to a red card for this foul in the final ten minutes:

[all three vids via 101GG]

A little harsh maybe? But seems like Bradley, Clark and Klejstan are making sure Bob Bradley rotates his central midfield by taking turns getting red carded. Michael Bradley will miss the final through suspension, so it will be someone else’s turn to play center mid and get sent off.

But the real story for me is the USA’s formation. Playing 4-5-1/4-4-1-1 in their first two games, the US were woeful and deserved the 3-1 and 3-0 beatings that Italy and Brazil handed to them. But bringing in Charlie Davies to partner Jozy Altidore in a 4-4-2, they’ve now beaten Egypt 3-0 and Spain 2-0.

Basically, 4-4-2 is magic. The #1 team in the world was using it, and the first team to beat them in 35 games did so by using it.

Yes, the US spent most of this game defending. But they showed that you can defend just as well with 4-4-2 as with 4-5-1, but also maintain a threat going forward at the same time.

So how about it every team in the world? What say we ditch the one up front, get as many men as we can in midfield approach, and everyone goes back to playing 4-4-2? That way even games where we all think we know the winner before kick-off can still be enjoyable to watch.

Speaking of which… it’s Brazil vs South Africa in the other semi-final tomorrow. Kickoff is 8:30pm local, 7:30pm UK time, 2:30pm US Eastern. We’ll be LiveBlogging the game here on the front page from about 30 minutes before kickoff.

Spain v USA Confederations Cup Liveblog

Posted: 24 Jun 2009 10:56 AM PDT

You know you’re good when things begin to orbit you.
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