Finale Espagne-Pays Bas et l'avenir de ces deux equipes

Cette finale n'etait pas en effet une des plus belles a voir. Les violentes fautes commises par les neerlandais (et espagnols) en premiere periode montraient les intentions hollandaises de casser le jeu espagnol, de provoquer l'adversaire, ce qui n'est pas, malgré tout ce que j'ai entendu un crime footballistique. Pour etre honnete, le football ce n'est pas uniquement de jouer de belle maniere, pour moi c'est aussi de jouer intelligement, de facon pragmatique. Mais oui, certes, pas de facon violente. Les hollandais ne voulaient pas repeter l'erreur portugaise, celle de defendre tout le match avant de finalement craquer en fin de match face a la pression incessante de Villa, Xavi et consorts. Les Pays-Bas savent que leur vraie force se trouve devant, et non pas derriere. Pourtant, les hollandais savaient que jouer contre l'Espagne c'est une chose particulière, il faut peut-etre changer son style de jeu. Ils ne voulaient pas non plus repeter l'erreur allemande, celle d'essayer de developper son talent offensif, sans succes, se faisant surprendre et ettouffer par la possession de balle espagnole. Les hollandais ont fait une toute autre chose, ils ont cassé le jeu, ont mis beaucoup l'impact physique grace particulieremet aux monstres De Jong et Van Bommel. Cela, bien que n'offrant un spectacle exceptionnel, a fonctionné pour les néerlandais... jusqu'a la toute fin. Dans cette coupe du monde, toute equipe s'etant incliné contre l'Espagne a craqué pendant le temps reglementaire (depuis les matches a elimination directe, autour de la 75eme minute). Grace notemment aux fautes et à l'impact physique hollandais qui s'est accentué vers la 20-25eme minute, la domination Espagnole est devenue plus sterile. En seconde periode par exemple, ils n'avaient plus toujours le ballon, et les hollandais se sont procurés autant d'occasions dangereuses. Pour ceux qui disent que l'Espagne a dominé tout le match, c'est franchement faux, les espagnols ont dominé la premier moitié de la première periode et la deuxieme periode de prolongation. Le reste du temps, c'etait jeu egal, avec des occasions de part et d'autre, et un pressing hollandais au milieu de terrain très efficace.

Le sacre mondial espagnol est largement mérité, leur beau jeu et leur force collective l'a emporté sur le reste du monde. Les individualités Xavi, Villa, Iniesta, Puyol, Casillas, voire Ramos, Alonso, Pedro ont brillé. Cependant, les hollandais ont disputé une bonne partie, pas toujours propre, mais intelligente, stérilisant l'adversaire, repoussant le délai. Les Pays-Bas méritent cette deuxième place mondiale, leur force mentale a toujours été impressionante, leur talent offensif également, avec des Robben, Sneijder, Kuyt étincelents pendant cette coupe du monde (sauf en finale). Van der Vaart, bien que non-titulaire, et Van Persie, bien que souvent muet devant le but, ont été precieux offensivement. Que dire de De Jong et Van Bommel de veritables poisons pour l'adversaire, tant au niveau physique que au niveau des nerfs? La victoire face au Bresil en quarts, leur revient presque à eux seuls (avec Sneijder et Robben), dans cette optique, ayant fait craquer Robinho, Melo, Kaka et consorts. Stekelenburg, a l'image de sa finale a disputé une coupe du monde exceptionelle. Mathijsen, Heitinga et surtout Van der Wiel ont confirmé defensivement. Van Bronckhorst, malgré sa défaite finale avant sa retraite, peut etre fier du parcours de son equipe.

Les Pays-Bas ont encore un grand avenir devant eux, avec les prometteurs Van Der Wiel, Elia, Affelay. Sneijder, Robben, VDV, Van Persie, De Jong, Heitina, Stekelenburg, Huntelaar seront a l'apogée de leur carriere au prochain Euro. L'ossature de cette equipe devrait rester la même.

L'Espagne, elle, a un avenir encore plus prometteur, avec les jeunes Fabregas, Pedro, Busquets, Piqué, Ramos qui devraient avec les plus agés Xabi Alonso, Iniesta, Casillas, Villa, Torres former le noyau dur de cette equipe. L'avenir reste incertain pour Capdevila et Puyol, déjà agés. Xavi pourrait encore être là a l'euro, mais Fabregas pourrait lui prendre sa place de chef d'orchestre titulaire. L'Espagne peut encore aller très loin.

Bravo à l'Espagne pour ce sacre mondial mérité et bravo aux Pays-Bas pour un très beau parcours en coupe du Monde!

Denmark vs Cameroon

This was probably my favorite game so far. Both sides really wanted/needed the win, giving way to a very open game. Denmark's victory 2-1 shows the team has both the qualities and the character to come back and win a game. And it wasn't easy for the Danes: Cameroon scored early with Eto'o and remained quite solid in the midfield, but not for long enough. With simple yet smart quick plays, Danemark was able to outshine Cameroon. Dennis Rommedahl was the main orchestrator of his side's victory. A perfect pass to Bendtner and a splendid goal in the second half were just enough to give Denmark the 3 points. Very disappointing performance for Cameroon: knowing the importance of the game, the team should have worked harder to preserve the 1-0 advantage. Instead, Cameroon was cruelly defeated and eliminated with a second consecutive loss.
Bravo to Denmark which showed great courage and character to win the game, preserving all chances to qualify to the next round. I see Denmark going far.
Cameroon has one more game left against the Netherlands. While the Oranje will be playing to preserve their first place in the group, Cameroon will only be playing to honor African football.

USA vs Slovenia

What a beautiful game! Out of all matches so far, this USA-Slovenia was my favorite (along with today's Denmark-Cameroon). The US team is really having some trouble with the beginning of matches: 2 goals in the first half, both coming from stupid defensive errors. Coach Bradley and the defense really need to fix that. Despite a terrible first half from the US, I witnessed a thrilling second half. This team really believed in it. A beautiful shot from Donovan and a goal from Bradley after a great job from Altidore in the penalty area were enough to tie the game: 2-2. The referee's call after Edu's goal was absolutely scandalous: there was neither offside nor an American foul. What I liked though is how effective the Americans are on free-kicks and corners. Donovan always kicks them perfectly and we always manage to make something out of them. It should have been 3-2 USA (most likely sending us through to the next round) but I am convinced that with this same team spirit and with a little more concentration in defense early in the game, we can absolutely beat Algeria and move on to the next round. Great game from Slovenia as well, though its true that they were constantly under pressure in the second half. I like this Slovenia team a lot: they play a simple football that's nice to watch and that's efficient: 3 goals in two games from the Slovenians: who would have thought? I see an English victory in the last game however, since they absolutely need it to go through and since England is England. The US should beat Algeria as well, if everything goes well, but lets watch out for that solid Algerian team.

France vs. Mexico

A french fan, I can only be really bitter and frustrated at France's performance against Mexico (0-2). I was very sad watching my team completely fall apart in the last 25 minutes of the game and seeing the shock and despair on the faces of players like Thierry Henry, watching the game from the bench.
What a poor game from France! There were some interesting plays and nice construction in the beginning of the first half, but the Mexicans were just better. When we had the ball, Mexico exercised very strong pressure, blocking us from developing a coherent, fluid game. We sometimes rushed our construction, and thus easily lost the ball. Mexico's first goal by Hernandez revealed a very passive french defense and Blanco's penalty came from a stupid foul from Abidal.

Except for Diaby, Toulalan, and Lloris, every starting french player played poorly. In front, Anelka, Ribery, and Govou did nothing interesting, nothing intelligent and the three of them maybe collected 1 shot on goal. Pathetic! Evra and Malouda were quite disappointing as well. Coach Domenech shouldn't have given in to the pressure to leave Gourcuff on the bench. Domenech instead gave the role of attacking midfielder to a very disappointing Franck Ribery. Gourcuff is a necessary element of the french team and should have started against Mexico. I really think this defeat is in large part due to his absence. Gourcuff is a big 'winner' of this defeat to Mexico: the french team, without him, lost miserably.

Why does Domenech keep persisting on Anelka and Govou? They were simply bad in the preparation matches and in the Uruguay game (0-0). Forwards are meant to score or deliver passes and they visibly couldn't do any of that before, so why insist? The choice of taking Anelka off at half time was good, but he shouldn't even have started the game. Same goes for Govou.

Incredibly frustrating game for France overall, at the individual level as much as at the collective level: there was a lack of collective envy and real motivation. Just like Toulalan and Diaby, Matthieu Valbuena (replaced Govou) really showed envy, but a whole team needs it to go anywhere.

France still has an extremely slim chance of passing, but honestly, I don't see it happening.

For Mexico, Dos Santos and Salcido had excellent games, especially the latter always making intelligent runs down the left wing. Marquez also had a very solid game in his defensive midfield position. I really applaud Mexico for this success and a very solid game. They really deserve it, the best team won.

Brazil: disappointing?

Was Brazil's first half pathetic or was North Korea defending really well? A little bit of both of course, but you should expect a team like Brazil to be able to penetrate any defense. Kaka, Robinho and Luis Fabiano wer particularly uninspired in front of two rock solid defensive lines.
This lack of inspiration may come from the pressure of the first match: the Brazilians on the field seemed nervous. Other big teams like Portugal or Netherlands exhibited similar nervousness when playing their first match (against Ivory Coast and Denmark respectively).

Brazil had a much better second half: Maicon and Bastos became more involved in Brazil's offensive game. Once Maicon scored, Brazil was liberated and played much more at ease.

Despite a disappointing game overall, Brazil was still able to score and win the game, which is always a good sign. Only big teams can win when not playing great. Brazil didn't score 4 goals and didn't show us 'jogo bonito' but won an important victory. This game doesn't undermine Brazil's chances of being crowned a 6th time. Brazil should go very far, as usual.

Portugal vs. Ivory Coast

I witnessed a disappointing game today. It was goalless, closed, and both teams weren't taking risks. Both Portugal and Ivory Coast were so scared of losing that they played a nervous and conservative game. Both focused more on defending than attacking.

Portugal didn't live up to its reputation; it didn't play with the fluidity, enthusiasm and animosity it usually has. Portugal, just like the Netherlands in its first half against Denmark, didn't play with its usual ease due to some nervousness (first match), and fear of the opponent's possible counter-attacks.

C. Ronaldo had a decent game with a great shot that landed on the left post; he was also fouled many times by the Ivorians. But Ronaldo falls too easily. Liedson was transparent in attack, probably due to Didier Zokora's solid defending. For Ivory Coast, Kalou and Gervinho had solid games, making some dangerous runs, while Aruna played too selfish. Substitute Kader Keita made some interesting runs and passes. Drogba missed a golden opportunity to give his country the lead at the very end of the game.

This much anticipated game really wasn't what people expected: it was a closed game with a big battle in the midfield and no winner. We'll have to wait for the Portugal-Brazil and Ivory Coast-Brazil games to perhaps see some beautiful soccer in this Group of Death.

Brazil vs. North Korea

Brazil finally takes the lead against North Korea in the second half with goals from Maicon and Elano. Brazil was having a tough time in the first half (goalless): Kaka and the whole offensive line was uninspired, unable to penetrate the Korean defense, taking many shots from far instead.
North Korea shocks Brazil late in the game with a beautiful goal from Ji who tears apart the right side of the Brazilian defense: North Korea comes back to 1-2.
On the Brazil side, great second half from Michel Bastos and Maicon, very active on their respective sides, creating many opportunities for the strikers. Good game from Robinho and Elano as well, Kaka and Fabiano were disappointing.