This is a hard pill to swallow. After months of feverish anticipation, which included the installing of various countdown clock as laptop screensavers, where one's hopes were kindled and then encouraged by the intermittently great performances from the perennial under-performers, the dreams of millions of England's football fans both in and outside that country were brought crashing down last weekend. The various controversies before, during and after the match notwithstanding, none that witnessed the match could say the result wasn't a fair one. Which makes the aforesaid pill even more icchhy to keep down.
Will not analyse England's performance, don't have the heart to. Ironically that was one body part that went missing from the English game. There were 14 red (or white) shirts that moved on the pitch with no great motive, no resolve, and ultimately no desire. I have never seen Wayne Rooney play like this. His lack of touch or goals was not even a smidgen part of the problem. The complete lack of want was something you don't expect from someone that puts in all in each and every performance. The man that hates to be substituted seemed, in these four games at least, to have an anywhere-but-here kind of look. The rest of the team seemed to be part of a very bad pantomime show directed by a somnambulist.
Whether it was the pressure of expectations or simply mass bad form striking at the wrong time, the team and their supporters were more relieved than sad when it was all over. There are now cries for many heads to roll, but all that is a sad epilogue. Of all the teams that failed to deliver this World Cup, England was the most disappointing to me. France, Italy, and the African nations all had pre-WC troubles, and were not really expected to do well for me. But the Englishmen had a good team. Never mind the comments of those that think that only Brazil and Argentina and the likes play football. These so-called purists can kiss my ***. Any team that has Gerrard, Rooney, Terry, Cole(s), and Lampard in their ranks deserved better.
That aside, what has the WC offered so far? A dull fare, if truth be told. Most of the early matches were low scoring ones, and though the second round seems to be full of goals, I think this tourney can be compared to the 1990 version in the US for the number of goalless draws. Wish someone would check and let me know? One of the teams that have made an impression on me this year for entirely the wrong reason is Uruguay. They along with teams like Switzerland and Japan are what is wrong with football. The Inter Milan-Rafa Benitez style of football where teams sit back with 2 layers of defence and frustrate the hell out of everybody else, enough to administer one quick counter-attack, and voila, we have a 1-0 victory. I mention Uruguay, because they have made this system their own, and even showed how it could be modified a little when the opposing team surprises you by getting one back. Against the enterprising Mexicans in the second round match, Uruguay sat on a 1-0 lead with Suarez staying marginally in the Mexican half to pounce on any wayward opportunity. When Mexico suddenly had the equalizer, the hitherto unemployed Suarez started seeing a lot more of the ball, courtesy some desperate football from the South Americans. I hope Ghana will take them out in the quarters, but the hopes are slim. The Uruguayan brand of football rarely fails, and when it does, it needs a team like Argentina on their best day. Ghana are, unfortunately not Argentina.
Which brings me to what hopefully should be the main piece-de-resistance of the quarter finals. The Argentines take on the Germans in what has the makings of a classic. If both play the free-flowing style that they have displayed thus far, it should be a humdinger of a game. I hope the Brazil-Netherlands match will be as entertaining, as it has the potential of being. I fear though that the Brazilians rely almost entirely on the whims of the fanciful Robinho, though their defence led by the grit-hard Lucio is un-Brazilain solid. The Dutch also have a good team. Unfortunately it has more of Sneijder and less of Robben these days, and we all know whose team won the champions Cup, don't we? So, not too much pure joy expected from that contest. Better surprised than sorry, I think.
So the quarter-finalists are ready to make war. 8 countries left, 4 of these are South American, which is consistent with the continent’s fortunes this time around. All 6 nations qualified for the knock outs, and now, there is a good possibility that we could have an all South-American final 4. Do I predict this? No, but then all my predictions have gone haywire this tournament, so all I will say, in addition to my prayer that Ghana makes it to the semis, is that I hope the Dutch will play in the fashion the Dutch are known to, and if so, they win. Argentina and Germany will be a toss up, for they are both playing a brand of football pleasant to the eye. Any one of these progressing to the final will make me happy, more so if one of them wins the ultimate prize. I will mourn for the other team as much as I did for the English. As for Spain, I think they will win too, provided they can unlock the Paraguayan defence. They are entirely capable of this of course, but the "form on the day" stories are far too many to be dismissed.
Thus it is the following line-up that I wish to see in the semis, and forward.
Netherlands V Ghana
Germany V Spain
Final: Netherlands v Germany
Winner: Germany.
A similarly satisfactory set of outcomes can be achieved if Argentina replaced Germany in the semis onwards.
Ah, well if wishes were horses...
