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Tournament Observations: June 14th 2002

- Germany-Cameroon was one of the ugliest matches I've ever seen. Sixteen yellow cards and two reds says all you need to know about how ill-tempered both sides were in this match. Cameroon has only itself to blame for bowing out as early as they did. Germany and Ireland were able to put multiple goals on the hapless Saudis -- what the hell was wrong with Cameroon against them? Still, the three-back alignment has done well for Germany, and Thomas Linke, one of the few not cautioned, came up big, keeping his cool, reorganizing the defense after the Ramelow expulsion and clogging up the middle by ensuring Patrick Mboma and Samuel Eto'o had damn few chances. Miroslav Klose is going to get an obscene amount of transfer inquiries this summer after this tournament.

- So I was right the first time. Ireland make it through to a second round date with Spain -- and this without Roy Keane. This is a testament to Mick McCarthy's organizational skills. No creative flair, just technically sound soccer and damn few mistakes. If I were to go by what I had originally written, then Ireland has a shot against Spain. The defense has come up huge, with Gary Breen coming up huge throughout. A three-goal victory against the Saudis certainly wasn't unexpected. If Saudi Arabia plans on making even a token presence on the international stage, they are going to have to let some of their players go to foreign clubs to gain much-needed experience.

- Could you have ever fathomed that France would be this bad? The supposed scariest team on the planet did not score a single goal. The only thing keeping them from being the worst team at the tournament is that Poland and Saudi Arabia are much worse. Hell, the USA scored at least one goal four years ago. Its hard to imagine that France was on the offensive for their entire 2-0 loss to Denmark. But Denmark collapsed into the middle of the field and never let the French stretch them out. I'm looking really good with my assessment of Dennis Rommedahl; his and Jesper Gronkjaer's wing play has been a huge key for the Danes throughout.

- I was pretty high on Senegal for two and a half matches -- then their defense absolutely collapsed the last 45 minutes against Uruguay. Lets not kid ourselves: Luck kept Senegal from losing the points and a trip to the second round because Uruguay had them under siege. If Senegal is going to make any noise in the knockout stage their defense had better play the sound disciplined football it played for 2 1/2 matches and not this epically confused mess it played for 45 minutes.

- While not the most exciting match of the tournament, England's 1-1 draw with Nigeria was a prime example of just how good of a tournament defender Rio Ferdinand and defensive midfielder Nicky Butt are having. Both have anticipated well and read the game brilliantly. The England attack still leaves something to be desired, though. Paul Scholes is getting better chances in advance, Michael Owen is making those inspired individual runs into the box, and Teddy Sheringham off the bench is certainly the find of the tournament. But with only two goals in three games all three attacking players are going to have to start finishing their chances.

- Argentina -- who knew?! They attack and attacked and attacked -- possessing the ball 2/3rds of the time -- and still couldn't finish their chances. Sweden just clogged up the middle and withstood the Argentine offensive, and unlike their South American counterparts, counterattacked quickly and were at least able to finish what few scoring chances they had (Re: Anders Svensson). This is much more of a shocking development than France crashing out of the tournament because for four years Argentina had won everything and done everything well. Juan Veron was surprisingly ineffectual this tournament; maybe his just-completed season with Manchester United really was a truer indication of his abilities on the world stage.

- One of the more entertaining matches of the tournament -- and certainly a revelation -- was Spain's 3-2 victory over South Africa. The wing play on both sides was spectacular. Joaquin Sanchez and Gaizka Mendieta made their tournament debuts and made up for lost time, with crisp through balls, beautiful crosses and creative service to Raul in the box. But no less inspirational was Quinton Fortune, who was the primary reason South Africa stayed in this game in particular and the tournament in general. Even though they were eliminated in the last moments, South Africa put up one helluva fight -- more than I had given them credit for. I hope Mendieta stays in the starting XI the rest of the tournament, and I certainly hope that Alex Fergusen realizes how good a player Fortune is for Manchester United (he can clearly do more than Veron can).

- For two games and sixty minutes Paraguay looked dead and buried. Then Nelson Cuevas and Jorge Campos came on -- and they scored three goals against Slovenia to get into the second round (with a lot of help from Spain). Quite frankly I'm still not impressed with Paraguay, which managed these three goals against a Slovenia side that was clearly "undermanned" in the metaphorical sense despite having a man advantage in reality. While I thought South Africa wouldn't make it I think that their workrate at least viscerally made them a more appropriate second round participant. Nonetheless, I hope Slovenia enjoyed the food and the sights.

- Costa Rica thought they were good -- then they ran into Brazil's reserves. Brazil didn't even try to play defensive football and allowed two goals. Thing is, though, they scored five. Rivaldo is finally playing the east-west kind of football were used to seeing him play with Barcelona. And if after four years of injuries you thought Ronaldo wasn't the world-class player he once was -- HE'S BAAAAAAAACK!!! If Rivaldo, Ronaldo and eleven reserves can do this to a pretty good Costa Rican team, things don't bode well for the rest of the draw in the knockout stages. Brazil is finally playing the kind of soccer we've become accustomed to seeing in years back. The Beautiful Game has Returned.

- China -- RIIIGHT!!!

- At the 1980 Olympics, two days after the USA hockey team stunned the Soviets in the semi-finals and just prior to facing Finland for the gold medal, USA coach Herb Brooks didn't give an impassioned speech to his players before taking the ice. Instead he just turned to them and hissed: IF YOU LOSE THIS GAME YOU WILL TAKE IT WITH YOU TO YOUR FUCKING GRAVES!... Somebody should have said that to Croatia prior to their match with Ecuador, because they sure as hell didn't play like they had any sense of purpose. Let me see if I've got this straight: Croatia goes through the trouble of upsetting tournament favorite Italy only to crash out to Ecuador?! Not to take anything away from Ecuador, but the Croats should have been attacking mercilessly from the beginning. Instead they take the field like deer in the headlights, with only two out-and-out attackers and two midfielders (no this is not a type) while flooding the defensive end with six -- that's right, SIX, defenders. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to know that that is a recipe for disaster. What makes this strategy even more ludicrous is that six defenders still wasn't enough to keep Ecuador from scoring their first tournament goal. I haven't a clue what Mirko Jozic was thinking.

- Taking out Francesco Totti for Alessandro Del Piero in the 75th minute in Italy's final group tie with Mexico was in retrospect inspired coaching by Giovanni Trapattoni only because it worked (if it hadn't Trapattoni would have had to go in exile; I'm sure busybody buttinski Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi wouldn't have let him back in the country, or failing that put a price on his head). Totti was just not finding any space to operate for two games now. That said, Italy found many more opportunities to score than Mexico -- they just weren't finishing them until Del Piero's header in the 86th minute. Which has been the story for much of Italy's tournament so far. Four goals in three matches isn't exactly scaring anybody. My guess is that Del Piero would make a much better strike partner with Vieri up front than Filippo Inzaghi, who just can't seem to get on the end of a ball without going offside. Italy made it by the skin of their teeth, but they had better figure out how to finish their chances if they are going to warrant their pre-tournament status.

- Belgium's 3-2 win over Russia is the kind of nail-biting match that is suppose to take place on the last day of pool play. This was a case of neither team giving up and both sides shooting the lights out. What made the difference for Belgium is that they finally got somebody other than Marc Wilmots to score for them. Definitely some mistakes in the back for Russia cost them a place in the second round. That said, you have to give it to the Russian attack; they kept coming and did their damnedest to try to win this one. Wilmots is definitely the best thing going for Belgium, but if they plan on getting past Brazil they had better keep the up-front scoring going.

- That Japan won this dog of a group should come as no surprise. Tunisia was never a threat to anybody, much less Japan. Hidetoshi Nakata came through in spades in this match, distributing and passing the ball well and finding the open man in attack with uncanny ease. No real concerted attack from Tunisia, and with the half-backs making forays into the offensive end the Japanese were able to take advantage of that on the counter in the second half. Clearly Japan has some speed to burn on the wings, where Shinji Ono was making some nice penetrating runs and set up Nakata's goal late. They will have to mark better on the defensive end if they want to beat Turkey.

- God do I hate Jeff Agoos. He clearly is the worst defender in this tournament, but Bruce Arena continues to put him on the pitch. It took all of 5 minutes for the USA back-line to screw up their hopes. When I was watching the introductions before the match and saw how the Polish had replaced virtually every starter with their reserves -- and saw how tall they were compared the the USA players -- I knew that the one key weapon the USA had been taking advantage of throughout the entire tournament -- their ability to win headers and dominate in the air -- had been taken away from them. It only took five minutes for this to manifest itself. I don't think the USA won a single ball in the air, and the were especially impotent on set pieces and corner kicks. Poland, already eliminated, played like they had nothing to lose. Thank God South Korea bailed the USA out...

- ...Because they sure as hell did not need to win their match with Portugal. But when bad behavior gets you a two-man advantage its hard not to find space and opportunities to finish scoring chances. I don't know what Portugal was thinking, but if they had just been able to keep their cool they could have waltz into the next round with a scoreless draw. As it was, Joao Pinto and Beto lost it -- and it mattered. Neither side was playing for a win until Portugal went two men down. South Korea, smelling its prey like a raptor and edged on by the partisan Korean crowd, could do no less than go in for the kill. That said, after Park Ji Sung netted a goal in the 71st minute, Portugal went of a furious quest to get that evading goal they needed to get to the next round. Fortunately for the USA, South Korea was able to withstand the onslaught, even though they had the advantage. It is a credit to the integrity of this tournament that the Koreans didn't just hold on to the ball early and settle for a draw. This match personifies why the World Cup is the best tournament in the world.