World Soccer Blogger

And I'm spent!

2007-01-09T19:34:00.000-05:00

In recent months thousands of you have noticed a pretty dramatic drop-off in the number of posts to this site. Well, actually it's more like hundreds. Okay, fine, a dozen or so. Alright, I admit it - no one said a damn thing. Anyway, a steady run of six-day work weeks and a two-week trip to South America can take the blame for the lack of activity. Unfortunately, there appears to be no let-up in sight (but alas, no more trips to Argentina). The good ole days of posting at least a few times every week seem like a long, long time ago. So, despite the fact that I still enjoy being able to indulge my love for soccer and writing on this site, I've decided it's the end of the road for this here blog.

But hey, it was a good run. I started this site at a great time in the history of soccer - in the midst of the best World Cup in recent memory - and in a short time span we saw one of the world's greatest players in decades at his best, as well as Zidane's dramatic fall from grace; we witnessed one of the most shocking scandals in soccer history as Serie A was brought down to its knees; we watched as one of the world's great clubs, Real Madrid, endured one of the most tumultuous times in its storied existence; we saw an upset for the ages in the World Club Cup as Barcelona, one of the best teams of the past ten years, crashed to defeat at the hands of unfancied Internacional from Brazil; and we watched in amazement as the biggest soccer superstar in the world make an unprecedented move to America - not as a 40-year old has-been out for one more payday, but rather a 32-year old who's still got some good games in him looking to do what has never been done and make soccer a big-time sport in America. Here's hoping it works. All in all, it was a brief but exciting run. I'm glad I gave it a shot. And I'm glad you guys made it work.

For now, enjoy the rest of the 2007 season. It should be a good one - for the first time in a long time, we've got a real race on our hands in the Premiership as ManU looks ready to test Chelsea's mettle. In Spain, Barca will have to contend with a challenge from Sevilla, and maybe - if they can ever get it together - a good scare from Real Madrid. Germany has provided us some of the season's most entertaining games so far, in no small part to Werder Bremen's offensive-minded brand of footie and Bayern Munich's star-studded attack. Although Inter looks poised to run away with the Serie A title, there should be plenty of action in Italy as Milan are fighting for their lives and Roma are as entertaining a team as you'll find anywhere. And of course, the Champions League is a wide-open affair: Can Barca repeat despite their near-elimination in the group stage? Will Jose Mourinho lead Chelski past his old buddies in Porto and finally get Abramovich the title that he paid for? Can Lyon finally break through in Europe? Or will Inter or Real or ManU or Bayern surprise us all? It's all set up for a thrilling few months of soccer. I wish I had the time to write about it, but as much as I earn from this here blog (a whole lot of zeros - and I don't mean that in a good way), it doesn't pay the bills (especially not the cable one - watching live soccer from around the world doesn't come cheap). So to all you three or four readers out there, thanks for tuning in, take care, and maybe somewhere down the line you'll see me writing somewhere else. Until next time...

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Thank God for England

2006-12-24T14:22:00.000-05:00

Forty games in eleven days! Now that's my kind of country. Good to see the Premiership folks have their priorities in order. Some leagues (read: Germany) stop for six weeks. And some leagues step it up and cram a ton of games into a week and a half. And seeing as this is the time of year when most people are home for the holidays, lounging around their living rooms, lapsing into food comas...and in desperate need of some good quality sports entertainment...I'd say they've got the right idea in dear ole En-ga-land. So for all you fine readers out there, wherever you may be, I hope the holidays find you healthy, happy, and somewhere near some good soccer. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Tragedy, Controversy, and Inspired Supremacy (just another day in Spain)

2006-12-21T10:19:00.000-05:00

On paper, it was a mismatch. And that might be an understatement. But, as they say, that's why they play the games. Except this one was almost not even played. After four of Recreativo Huelva's fans were killed in a car accident as their tour bus headed to Madrid, Recreativo appealed to the Spanish league to call off Wednesday's game against Real. Of course, the league - clearly taking the mindset that there are in fact NOT more important things in life (or death) than soccer - controversially said the game must go on. To their credit, Real, after promising to abide by whatever the federation decided, then said it would donate all of the game's ticket profits to Recreativo in honor of their deceased fans. A classy move, but unfortunately in the midst of all this commotion no one bothered to tell Real's players that, yes, they had one more game to play before their holiday break.

You see, this is a common problem at Real. Last year their 'galactico' squad crashed to a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of...Racing Santander. Live and learn, right? Um, right??? Not in Madrid. See, you can buy all of the talent in the world, but if you can't motivate the boys to play - well, you should've just saved your money. And when Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, and Emerson already have their bags packed - loaded with bathing suits, sun-tan lotion, and the like - all set for a splendid week on the beaches of Rio, it's not easy to see why they might not have had the same motivation as, say,...Recreativo's Sinama Pongolle. Remember him? Yep, that little French kid from Liverpool. It was Sinama who banged in a deserved goal for Recre just a half hour into the game, prompting Recre's grieving players to point skyward in memory of their late 'aficionados'. Talk about motivation. And they were just getting warmed up. Although Real frequently falls behind at home (they wrote the book on 'underestimating opponents') only to wake up and then obliterate their inferior competitors by two or three or four goals, today there would be none of that. Ten minutes into the second stanza, a talented Nigerian chap named Uche pulled a Ronaldinho, taking the ball from the halfway line, running at pace at defenders, blowing past Guti, then Cannavaro (worst game I've ever seen him play), and ripping the ball past a helpless Casillas. A la 'Dinho, Uche was treated to thunderous applause from the Madridista faithful. And even then, two-nil down and getting whistled by their own fans, Real couldn't react. Today was Recre's day. A third goal put the icing on the cake, albeit in a mostly empty Bernabeu. But there were other fans watching, four in particular, and maybe it was some divine intervention that helped Recre pull off this stunning upset. Or maybe it was simply a testament to the importance of motivation. Whatever it was, this game was a mismatch from the start.

Award Tour

2006-12-17T12:25:00.000-05:00

As we cruise into the Christmas break in Europe, it seems like a good time to dish out some awards. It's been one heck of a year so far. Here's wishing everyone a happy holidays wherever you are and hoping for an even better year to come!

PREMIERSHIP:

PLAYER OF THE MID-YEAR: LOUIS SAHA
- Dubbed by some as a bust heading into this season, Saha has not only been good...he's been better than Rooney. And Henry. And Sheva. And Kuyt. And Martins...
COACH OF THE MID-YEAR: ALEX FERGUSON
- ManU might be one of the biggest clubs in the world, but raise your hand if you had them in first place heading into the holiday break. I see no hands raised.
BEST SIGNING OF THE MID-YEAR: JONATHAN WOODGATE
- Yeah, so maybe he had two injury-riddled seasons in Madrid, but what on earth were Real's directors thinking when they off-loaded him to 'Boro? Woody had a great pre-season, Real desperately needed help at center-back, their defense is already short on size...so they ship Woody off to the Riverside? Muy no inteligente.
BUST SIGNING OF THE MID-YEAR: ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO
- You can make the argument that Sheva has been instrumental in attracting the attention of defenders and freeing up Didier Drogba to score loads of goals, but let's face it - the Blues expected way more from the Ukranian than what they've seen so far.
OVERACHIEVER OF THE MID-YEAR: READING
- After spending years in the First Division, they're now sixth in the Prem. I rest my case.
UNDERACHIEVER OF THE MID-YEAR: NEWCASTLE
- They've been racked by injuries (again), but there's way too much talent on Tyneside to be stuck in a relegation battle. Another disappointing year at St. James.

LA LIGA:

PLAYER OF THE MID-YEAR: GUTI
- A month ago I had pencilled David Villa into this slot. Two weeks ago it was Van Nistelrooy. Last week Ronaldinho. A few days ago, Sergio Ramos. Today, it's Guti. If you look at the player of the mid-year award as an MVP-type deal, then I don't know what player is more valuable to their team than Guti. No player in la Liga has suffered more fouls than him. No player on Real has the vision, composure, and . In a league that is home to some great playmakers (Ronaldinho, Aimar, Riquelme, De la Pena), I am not saying that Guti is the best. But I am saying that he is having the best season of his career, having finally been given the reins of the team, and that Real would be nowhere near the top-3 were it not for his amazing talents. Case in point: his sublime pass to Ruud Van Nistelrooy in Saturday's duel with Espanyol.
COACH OF THE MID-YEAR: JUANDE RAMOS
- As good as they were last year, they're even better this year. I've gushed on this site before about how impressed I am with the boys from Andalucia and something tells me Real & Barca are, too - both Spanish giants have already crashed to defeat at the hands of Juande's squad.
BEST SIGNING OF THE MID-YEAR: TIE - EIDUR GUDJOHNSEN & PABLO AIMAR
- Ruud has been excellent, but Eidur has come up huge in the absence of Etoo (despite a horror-show display in the game against Real) and 'El Payasito' has been superb in leading Zaragoza into the top-5 in Spain.
BUST SIGNING OF THE MID-YEAR: MAHAMADOU DIARRA
- Emerson would have walked away with this award after the season's first month, but he has improved since then. However, his counterpart in midfield continues to disappoint and was even left on the bench in Sunday's game. Yeah, they shouldn't be playing together in the first place, but that's another story.
OVERACHIEVER OF THE MID-YEAR: REAL ZARAGOZA
- The Argentine contingent of Aimar, D'Alessandro, Zapater, Ponzio, and the brothers Milito have been immense in catapulting this club into the top-5. Sure, I predicted this, but most didn't - so, they're my overachiever of the mid-year.
UNDERACHIEVER OF THE MID-YEAR: VILLAREAL
- Valencia almost captured the honor but they avoided this dubious distinction by defeating my overachiever of the mid-year this past weekend, so they're in the clear & we have to give it to another team on the East Coast. After Villareal's semifinal run in last year's Champions League, one would have expected better than a mid-table showing this year.

SERIE A:

PLAYER OF THE MID-YEAR: JAVIER ZANETTI
- Arguably the best player on the best team in the league. Zanetti has rebounded from being left off of Jose Pekerman's World Cup squad by showing all of his versatility, experience, and leadership for the Nerazzurri. Mancini has deployed Zanetti at rightback, leftback, center-mid, left-mid, right-mid and everywhere he's played, 'El Pupi' has impressed.
COACH OF THE MID-YEAR: LUCIANO SPALLETTI
- The only team that can threaten Inter, Spalletti has helped make Roma the Barca of Italy. No titles to show for it yet, but where else have you seen a striker-less 4-3-3 side play a possession-oriented, pass-you-to-death game that scores loads of goals, is fun as heck to watch, and has one of the best #10s in the world? Grazie mille, Luciano.
BEST SIGNING OF THE MID-YEAR: HERNAN CRESPO
- Inter went nuts again this off-season with a flood of high-profile signings. Stop me if you've heard this before. But wait - this year they've actually come good. Vieira has been great. Dacourt solid. Ibrahimovic excellent. But no one's been better than Crespo, a player who's always been one of the best in Italy.
BUST SIGNING OF THE MID-YEAR: RICARDO OLIVEIRA
- Ain't it funny how Sheva is a bust at Chelsea? And Oliveira replaces him at Milan and is a bust? And even Rafael Sobis, brought to Betis to replace Oliveira, has been a disappointment, too. Moral of the story: the grass ain't always greener...
OVERACHIEVER OF THE MID-YEAR: PALERMO
- The magic may be wearing off for the boys in pink, since their season has hit some roadblocks in the last few weeks. Still, they've spent most of the season in the top-3 in Italy. Not too shabby.
UNDERACHIEVER OF THE MID-YEAR: AC MILAN
- No explanation needed here. Just a disastrous year all around for the Rossoneri.

BUNDESLIGA:

PLAYER OF THE MID-YEAR: DIEGO
- Easiest award of the bunch. Signed from Porto in the off-season, Diego has been simply magnificent, injecting a dose of Brazilian magic and flair into the cold, hard Bundesliga. Playing as a traditional #10 ahead of Frings & Borowski but behind Klose, the latest Carioca wunderkind has been phenomenal, picking apart defenses and catapulting Bremen to the top spot in the land.
COACH OF THE MID-YEAR: THOMAS SCHAAF
- Look, I know this becoming the Werder Bremen show here, but not only is Schaaf's squad winter champions of the Bundesliga, but they also play the most entertaining, attack-oriented style of any team in the country. Stay classy, Bremen.
BEST SIGNING OF THE MID-YEAR: DIEGO
- See above. And speaking of good signings, Real should stop wasting their time with Kaka and pluck this gem to replace Guti in a year or two. He could get re-acquainted with his ole buddy Robinho from Santos and guarantee the Bernabeu faithful years of 'jogo bonito'. You listening, Pedja? Fabio? Ramon? Anyone? Bueller?
BUST SIGNING OF THE MID-YEAR: LUKAS PODOLSKI
- Have you heard anything about Prince Podo this year? Me neither.
OVERACHIEVER OF THE MID-YEAR: SCHALKE 04
- I realize that they're a big club and it's no surprise that they're a force to be reckoned with in the Bundlesliga, but tied with Bremen for top spot? Now try to tell me that you saw that coming.
UNDERACHIEVER OF THE MID-YEAR: BAYERN MUNICH & HAMBURG
- They've been better in recent weeks and my money would still be on the Bavarians to take the title, but at the moment, that's still just a prediction. Based on what we've seen so far, the evidence on hand says that Bayern, a team that routinely blows away all comers in Germany, should be doing better than barely scraping by to finish the first half in third spot in the league. Hamburg, who qualified for this year's edition of the Champions League on the strength of their top-4 finish last year, have already been bounced from the competition and currently sit next to last with only 13 points thus far. Ugh.

REST OF EUROPE:

PLAYER OF THE MID-YEAR: ALEX
- The big centerback has been the leader of a PSV back-line that's helped the Eindhoven boys vault to the top of the Eredivisie. I know, I know, that's now the second defender that's won the player of the mid-year award, but hey, they've earned it. I just work here.
COACH OF THE MID-YEAR: JESUALDO FERREIRA
- Imagine taking over a team on August 18, after having spent all summer preparing to coach a rival club, with pre-season long-gone, having had no say in the creation of the squad, and with no time to get anything done before the season kicks off. Now imagine leading that same team to the top spot in the league and a Champions League quarterfinal date with Chelsea. Now imagine winning the coach of the mid-year award on worldsoccerblogger. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Jesualdo Ferreira of Porto!
BEST SIGNING OF THE MID-YEAR: JEREMY TOULALAN, KIM KALLSTROM, SEBASTIEN SQUILLACI & ALOU DIARRA
- When you sell Mahamadou Diarra for around $40 million...and then spend way less than half that to get this array of talent...and you don't miss a beat...still 14 points up in France and cruising along in the Champions League...well, you're the best.
BUST SIGNING OF THE MID-YEAR: RUI COSTA
- A member of Portugal's Golden Generation, Rui Costa enjoyed a fantastic career in Serie A with Fiorentina and Milan. When he returned home to Benfica to joing up with the likes of Nuno Gomes, Simao, Miccoli, and Luisao, big things were expected. But he's missed a large chunk of the season due to injury and now they're out of the Champions League and 11 points behind Porto in the domestic competition. Need I go on?
OVERACHIEVER OF THE MID-YEAR: ST ETIENNE
- No, not the band. I'm talking about the club that only three years ago was mired down in the lower divisions of French footie. Today, they're third in the country, just a point out of second place. In a league with big-money clubs like Marseille and PSG and Bordeaux, that's no small feat.
UNDERACHIEVER OF THE MID-YEAR: AJAX
- Henk Ten Cate's boys have flattered to deceive, both in Europe and Holland. Booted out of the Champions League by FC freakin Copenhagen and languishing eight points off the pace in the Eredivisie, Ajax have achieved something this year - they've won this dubious distinction. Feyenoord's ugly first half warrants mentioning, too, as does PSG's 15th-place effort (or lack thereof) in France's Ligue 1.

World Soccer Blogger Top 20

2006-12-15T12:16:00.000-05:00

Back with another edition of the Top 20, but first a comment on rankings in general. Let's not mince words here: some of the rankings printed in prominent publications (Sports Illustrated, I'm talking to you) are downright idiotic. I know that in theory it makes sense for 'world' rankings to favor leaders of leagues around the world rather than second, third, and fourth-place teams in the major European leagues, but it's just stupid to rank a team such as Sao Paolo at #6 ahead of Real Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal, Sevilla, etc. Does anyone really think that Sao Paolo is better than all of those teams? Would the writer of those rankings really be willing to bet his own money that Sao Paolo would beat those teams more often than not? Of course not. It's nothing more than a way of trying to give equal time to leagues around the world, but if you're doing that at the expense of accuracy and honesty, then it trivializes the rankings in general. Look at my top 10 - do you see any South American teams? No, you don't, but does that mean that they're not taken into consideration? Hardly. It's just that, while I give credit where it's due to teams such as Sao Paolo and Estudiantes, I'm not about to vault them into my top 10 just because they're doing well in second-tier leagues such as the Brasileirao and the Apertura. Now the counter-argument is the fact that teams from these leagues have beaten the European powers - Boca Juniors' wins over AC Milan and Real Madrid in the Intercontinental Cup come to mind. But let's be real - those instances tend to be one-offs, games where on that given day...in a stadium far far away...playing for a trophy that the Europeans may or may not care about...anyone can win. And if you still need proof, if teams such as Sao Paolo are so good, how come when their best players (like Cicinho at Real Madrid or Luis Fabiano at Sevilla) move to the bigger European clubs they instantly struggle to get into the squad and more often than not fail to duplicate their success in Latin America? Gee, I dunno.

But enough of that, I'll come down off the ole soapbox now...mainly because I've exceeded my allowance of rhetorical questions, but also because today is not a day when I really want to take the luster off of the achievements of Latin American teams. Of course, I'm talking about Estudiantes de La Plata. Diego Simeone's boys have done the impossible. Trailing almighty Boca by 7 points with three games to play, Estudiantes forced a playoff and then, to everyone's surprise, won the title, defeating los Xeneixes 2-1. It was an epic comeback, one that will live on in the memory for years to come. Just three weeks ago, all the talk in Buenos Aires was about Boca's three-peat. Their new coach Ricardo LaVolpe was promising to shave off his famous 'bigote' (mustache) if (he meant 'when') Boca won it all. If there were any concerns, it was over whether or not LaVolpe or his predecessor Alfio Basile (now coaching the national team) would get credit for the famous three-peat. Well, not so fast, mis amigos. A Boca loss and Estudiantes win cut the margin to four. Then Boca went to Cordoba and lost, but no need to worry because Estudiantes gave up a late equalizer to Gimnasia - the gap was still three, so all Boca needed was a draw in the finale, a home game against Lanus, a team everyone pegged as a hopeless case heading into the inferno of La Bombonera. After Boca went up 1-0 on a penalty by Martin Palermo, the celebrations were on. Shame no one told Lanus. Two second-half goals silenced the home crowd and, when word came that Estudiantes was winning 1-0, shockwaves could be felt all around Argentina. It was on to a playoff game. Even then, no one thought that the team captained by Juan Sebastian Veron could pull it off...especially not after Palermo again put Boca a goal up with an easy finish in the 3rd minute. That scoreline held until the second-half when Estudiantes finally stopped squandering the chances that they'd had all game long. Two goals by the Students and all of a sudden it was 2-1 with 15 minutes to play. Could the underdogs hold on? Damn straight - and just to rub it in, they were never pressured in the final minutes, coming far closer to scoring an insurance goal than giving up an equalizer. And just like that - Estudiantes campeones! The post-game scenes are hard to put into words, but suffice to say that that's why soccer is the best game on earth - fans and players sobbing with joy, unrestrained emotion everywhere you looked, downright disbelief on the faces of even the winning fans much less the losing Boca supporters (who to their credit stayed in the stadium to applaud the Estudiantes players)...it was truly an amazing sight to behold. Now does that mean that Estudiantes will be cracking the top-5 in the rankings anytime soon? Puhleeze, don't be ridiculous.

1. Chelsea - No matter what Fergie says, they're not at their best but they're still right in the thick of it in the Premiership and Champions League. Would be favored against anyone in the world.
2. Barcelona - Nothing like a round-the-world trip to Japan when you're trying to defend your titles in Spain and Europe. Please send all postcards to Sepp Blatter.
3. Olympique Lyon - They just keep rolling along, beating everyone in their path.
4. Inter Milan - Mancini's got all systems go at the San Siro. And there's enough talent there to...(gulp)...make a run at the Champions League title. Nah, who am I kidding? They'll find a way to screw it up.
5. Manchester United - They could be higher and maybe they should be. Right now they can play with anybody, although my money's still on Chelski to steal the title come May.
6. Sevilla - They've lost Reyes, Baptista, Sergio Ramos, Saviola, but they're still second in la Liga and they've beaten both Real and Barca (in the European SuperCup) in the past four months. Don't sleep on the boys from the south.
7. Real Madrid - It's under-20 night at the Bernabeu: Marcelo, left-back from Fluminense - signed. Higuain, striker from River Plate - signed. Gago, midfielder from Boca Juniors, signed. So I'm guessing we can now officially lay to rest that whole 'Zidanes y Pavones' policy now, huh?
8. Arsenal - No Henry. No Gallas. No problem - the Gunners have climbed to third in the Premiership.
9. Roma - Love watching this team, but wow did they get destroyed by Lazio in the latest edition of the Roma derby.
10. Werder Bremen - Just when you think they might be for real, they get shellacked by Barca and bounced out of Europe. But hey, it was fun while it lasted.
11. Bayern Munich - They're only ranked this high because they won their European group that included Inter Milan and they're hanging tough (New Kids-like) in the Bundesliga despite being far far far from their best.
12. Liverpool - Not having a good year, so why do I think they'll still play Barca tight in the Champions League?
13. Porto - Oh, it'll be a special night in the Dragao stadium when they get to welcome back ole buddy Jose Mourinho when the Champions League resumes in February...
14. PSV Eindhoven - Best in the Eredivisie. Now let's see if they keep Alex from moving to Real Madrid. But hey, how many players can one team sign?
15. Sao Paolo - Don't get me wrong - they're good. Just not #6 in the world good.
16. AC Milan - Serious issues for the Rossoneri. When the three major talking points of the season are 1- A courtcase resulting in a massive points penalty for match-fixing, 2- Kaka's possible move to Real, and 3- An unexpected battle with relegation...well, you know it's a bad year for the red half of Milano.
17. Celtic - Cruising along in Scotland. Blah blah blah.
18. Internacional - Play Barca tonight for the World Club Cup title. Thanks for coming guys. Enjoy the trip home.
19. Zaragoza - Fourth in la Liga, with talent like Aimar, Ewerthon, the brothers Milito...don't say I didn't warn you.
20. Estudiantes - Cinderella story.

On the Bubble - Bolton (good time to be a Wanderers fan), Schalke 04 (top-3 in Deutschland), Lille (advanced in Champions, now they get Milan...), Palermo (fallen off the pace in Serie A), Valencia (injuries, in-fighting, and controversies have de-railed the season for los Ches)

If absence makes the heart grow fonder...

2006-12-10T17:54:00.000-05:00

...then all 10 of my readers really really love me right about now. Nothing like a month spent traveling in Argentina and working long hours to put a stop to the ole blog. Sorry bout that, but now we're back. And after a month off, we've got a lot to talk about:

1. If there's a more soccer-mad country than Argentina, I haven't seen it. That place loves the futbol. Heck, they even kill over it. Nuff said. Fortunately yours truly managed to catch a River Plate game down in Mendoza. Aside from the nagging feeling that a riot could start at any time and leave you trampled to the seat-less cement bleachers, it's a helluva way to spend a Sunday afternoon. When the week before saw all visiting fans banned from games...and a game called off beacause angry fans wouldn't let the teams leave their hotels...well, you know you're not exactly attending a figure skating exhibition. Fortunately we lived to tell about it. Oh, and River won 1-0. Goal by Belluschi (remember that name - trust me).

2. Real Madrid crashed to a 2-1 loss at Sevilla over the weekend, confirming two theories: 1 - Sevilla is for real. Like top-5 in Europe for real. 2 - Real is on the right track, despite the scoreline. Capello has them playing well, Guti is healthy again, and Raul & Ronaldo are back scoring loads of goals. The funny thing is that, other than a handful of good Van Nistelrooy outings, Real's success this year has NOT been the result of any of the new players. Cannavaro, Emerson, Reyes, and even Diarra have all been disappointing. While one could've predicted the struggles of the first three (Cannavaro & Emerson, as defensive players, will always look better in a defense-oriented league like Serie A, where they won't be exposed at the back; Reyes has never really lived up to the hype), Diarra looked to be a solid signing, but he's been no better than mediocre. Look for la Liga to come down to Real, Sevilla, and Barca, who are doing one heck of a job overcoming all their injury struggles. What a deep, deep squad.

3. Just weeks after a try-out with Man Utd, Freddy Adu is off to, uh, Salt Lake. The Next Great American Hope never really delivered at DC United, but to be fair that has more to do with the coaching than with any lack of talent. He's young as heck and making a huge jump going from a high school freshman to an MLS professional. To make matters worse, Peter Nowak played him as a right wing-back in a 3-4-1-2. Not exactly where you'd expect a young, raw, small, lightning-fast striker to succeed. Here's hoping it goes better for Adu in Utah. I, for one, think it will.

4. Say what you want about Italy or Spain, but it really doesn't get any better than the Premiership. The fans, the stadia, the players, the coaches... - you just can't beat it. Watching Chelsea-ManU or Chelsea-Arsenal, it's just amazing what a great league that is. The pace of play is electric, the quality is superb, the fans never sit down or stop buzzing, the stadiums are these old-school, close-to-the-action cathedrals, and the coaches are as good as it gets. You tell me what's better in club soccer than a Saturday afternoon watching the Premiership's best go at it.

5. Count me among the legions of American fans that were shocked and disappointed at the US Federation's failure to land Jurgen Klinsmann. After months of talks, it all fell through and we were left with...(drum roll please)...Bob Bradley! Um, right. Look, I know that Bradley is an American, who knows and understands American players, who has had MLS success...but please, he didn't lead a team to the World Cup semis last summer. Nuff said. Bradley is a perfectly decent coach, but somehow I don't see how he's going to take the US team to the next level. And that's the goal, isn't it?

6. Whatever this World Club Cup Championship or whatever it's called...I don't get it. Seems like one more pointless tournament to me, one more way FIFA can make money. And hey, the only downside is that it's more unnecessary fixture in an already-overpacked world soccer schedule. But who cares about exhausting the players? I mean, sign me up for watching a jet-lagged Ronaldinho suit up in his 90th game this year to battle it out against some random Latin American team in some cavernous Japanese stadium. Blah blah blah.

7. Speaking of Ronaldinho, before his trek to the Land of the Rising Sun, he was just starting to get back to his pre-World Cup best. His goal against Villareal was...well, if you haven't seen it, find a way to watch it. It's a dandy. Best of the year so far. And he came up clutch the next week against Werder Bremen in a must-win Champions League affair. Somewhere in South Africa, Carlos Alberto Parreira is slamming his head against a brick wall...

8. Not to jinx them or anything, but this looks like the year for Inter Milan. I know, I know - they won the title last year. But hey, I don't think winning a title in a courtroom is quite the same as winning one on the pitch. This year it's all setting up nicely for them. No one plays a prettier game than Roma (more on them later), but Inter's the one building a nice, solid Serie A lead as we head into the Christmas break. Mancini has settled in on a regular line-up, Crespo and Ibrahimovic have been deadly up front, and all of a sudden, everything Nerazzurri seems to be coming up golden. Need any more proof? Well, AC Milan is stuck in a relegation battle. I rest my case.

9. Ahh yes, Roma. This might not be the ideal time to sing their praises, since they're coming off a 0-3 thrashing in the Rome derby at the hands of arch-rivals Lazio. Whatever, I can't resist. There is nothing more impressive than what clubs like Roma, Sevilla, Lyon, and Arsenal have been doing for the last decade - and that is churning out young talent year after year. And even when they lose that talent, they just bring in another wave of top-notch players. Take a look at their line-up: Mexes, Chivu, Ferrari, De Rossi, Taddei, Mancini...the list goes on. I will never understand why a struggling big club doesn't start throwing boatloads of money at Roma's scouts...and the scouts for Lyon, Sevilla, and Arsenal, too. These clubs clearly have a knack for spotting great youngsters, so why not spend some money on the scouts who can spot them rather than waiting a few years until you've got to spend millions & millions more to get the same player? Look at Arsene Wenger in north London - deprived of the services of Henry and Gallas, Wenger trotted out a line-up featuring the likes of Djourou, Fabregas, Eboue, Senderos, Hleb, Adebayor and watched as they shut down Chelski for 85 minutes, almost stealing a victory in the process. Bottom line: you can't put a price on an eye for talent.

10. Champions League draw this Friday. Should be a dandy. Almost all the big guns made it through to the next round with a pretty good split between 1st and 2nd place finishers (who get drawn against each other), so just sit back, relax, and watch as these heavyweights line up to face one another when the tourney resumes in the New Year. Just imagine what it could be like to watch Lyon-Barca, Chelsea-Real, ManU-Inter, Arsenal-Roma (you know I'd love to see that), Bayern-PSV...the list goes on and on.

11. And just because I was gone, I'll include a little bonus note. Set your TiVOs, set your VCRs (gosh, that is SO 1994), play hookie from class, leave work early...do what you got to do, but whatever you do - plant your ass in front of a TV for tonight's Boca-Estudiantes showdown for the Argentine title. When I left Buenos Aires last month, Boca had a 4-point lead with two to play and the bubbly was all set to go. Now it looks like a little too much time was spent planning celebrations instead of working on the ole game-plan. So tonight, to decide the title of a championship that has been almost ruined by violence and hooligans, Boca has to play Diego Simeone's Estudiantes (captained by Juan Veron - remember him?) for the Apertura title. Don't miss it. (Damn, it's good to be back...)

Man of the Hour

2006-11-03T19:42:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week, a reader chimed in with a comment about his dislike for Jose Mourinho. Can't blame him, since Mourinho can be an insufferable jerk half the time. Either way, he's a polarizing figure - ya love him or ya hate him and there's no in-between. I, for one, think that the Portuguese coach is a brilliant tactician, an amazing success-story, and an outspoken, opionated breath of fresh air. Oh, and he's an asshole, too. I'm sure that the man himself wouldn't claim otherwise.

Mourinho's rise to prominence is a stunning one. Not too long ago, the present-day coach of one of the world's biggest and best club teams was nothing more than an assistant to Bobby Robson at Barcelona, a guy employed more for his translating abilities than for any soccer knowledge. Fast forward to today and he's already won domestic titles in Portugal and England and collected European soccer's crown jewel, the Champions League trophy. He has out-coached some of the world's best coaches. He has found a way to motivate a group of 'galactico' players at Chelsea, keeping them hungry for more & more success. He has spent owner Roman Abramovich's millions wisely, investing in an intelligent mix of up & coming youngters and established superstars. He has molded these playaers into a cohesive unit, one with its own identity. No one can doubt this man's soccer IQ. But to do so, to be so successful, he has employed his own unique - borderline unfair - methods. Chelsea's dealings in the transfer market are questionable to say the least; at best, they overspend by such a wide margin that they unnaturally distort the market, hurting a wide variety of clubs; at worst, they are flat-out breaking the rules, employing any means necessary to throw their weight around & acquire any player they damn well please. As a coach, Mourinho consistently motivates his players by making them believe that everyone is out to get them. From the refs to the opposing team's medical staffs, everyone hates Chelsea and wants to knock them off their perch atop the soccer world. Before his players can be lulled into complacency, Mourinho ratchets up the tension of any match by ripping the other team, the other coach, the other fans...whatever it takes. The man is a motivational genius.

Of course, he's also a poisonous element. Any soccer fan knows that there's already enough of that in the sport already. Whatever the situation may be, Mourinho will inflame it, injecting it with all sorts of controversy and ill-will. Half of the time, this is just not fair - almost all of the time, this is just bad for the game. Case in point: this week Mourinho ripped Barcelona's players, claiming that most of them were divers; he questioned the ref, saying that he didn't know if the match could be officiated fairly with so much cheating from the other team; he even criticized the host country, proclaiming that the Spanish league was a country full of divers and cheaters. What would have otherwise been a showcase of two of the world's best teams battling in a crucial match was suddenly a tense, hostile affair. And the match played out just like Mourinho would have planned. His squad, already well on its way to clinching qualification in the next round, stormed out of the gates, matching the intensity of a Barca team that had much more to play for. The match boiled over on numerous occasions, with players constantly at each other's throats and in the referee's face. When Drogba scored an equalizer in injury time, Mourinho showed more excitement than Marcello Lippi at the end of the World Cup final. All of the passion proved contagious, even prompting the normally mild-mannered Frank Rijkaard to confront the ref at the final whistle. Mourinho had done it again.

For all of his motivational tricks and on-field success, Mourinho has done a great deal of damage off the field. Just last month, he claimed that a Reading player intended to hurt Petr Cech by leaving his foot in as he barged in on goal, then blamed Reading for not getting medical care to the injured keeper quickly enough. The situation was already bad enough as it was - Cech had a depressed skull fracture. The Reading player was clearly shaken; it is hard to imagine that he had meant to hurt Cech, even harder to imagine that he ever could have imagined that he would hurt him so badly. And to think that an opposing Premiership club either didn't have adequate medical services or didn't make enough of an effort to aid an injured player is just plain ludicrous. For someone who's had the success and good fortune that he has enjoyed, Mourinho has more ill-will than can be explained in one column, but suffice to say that he is one bitter, bitter man.

What happens in the future is anyone's guess. On the one hand, it's only a matter of time before Mourinho lands himself in some serious trouble. UEFA is looking into the various incidents during the Barca match, but investigations are becoming routine for Chelsea. As for the coach himself, one wonders if he really enjoys what he's doing. Maybe he has to stay bitter to stay motivated, but that can only go on so long. It is hard to imagine that he can keep up at this pace, with so many controversies and problems and incidents, for many more years. With so many feuds brewing, you have to think that before too long it'll all blow up in his face. If he doesn't burn out or get himself into loads of trouble, then you have to think that eventually his act will get old. Sure, all anyone cares about in sports is titles. If you've got talent, then that's what counts. But after that trophy case is good and stocked, fans and executives start to get greedy - eventually, they'll want to see beautiful soccer, likable coaches, classy players, and personable executives. And what will happen to good ole Jose then? Stay tuned...

In the meantime, get used to seeing Mourinho on your tele and in the news. He's everywhere. Of course, outside of the friendly confines of Stamford Bridge, he is well-liked just about nowhere. But hey, since when was sports a popularity contest?

Talking Points

2006-10-30T20:34:00.000-05:00

Lots to discuss after another pulsating weekend of world soccer action. Italy was all over the news, this time for some good reasons. Well, mostly good ones. An enticing Milan derby had all Serie A fans tuned in and, thankfully, a final verdict in the Moggigate scandals was dished out earlier in the week so fans could concentrate on the on-field action once again. Across the Mediterranean, one of Italy's young stars plying their trade in Spain was in the news for the wrong reasons - Antonio Cassano, full of talent but short on smarts, was suspended indefinitely by Real Madrid. A coach who's fairy-tale World Cup was ended by Italy's national team also made headlines - Jurgen Klinsmann is in talks with United States soccer federation officials. And finally, an issue that everyone always seems to be talking about - diving - is on the tongues of many a soccer fan this week after Eidur Gudjohnsen's flop in the Nou Camp this weekend. Jose Mourinho, who always has something to say about damn near everything, weighed in on the subject - no surprise there. Enough previews - let's get on to the action.

Big games have a way of getting weighed down by expectations. Derbies have a habit of getting ruined by overwhelming passion and massive tension. Italian soccer frequently is marred by ultra-defensive play and boring 'catenaccio'. So, what happened on Saturday at the San Siro but the season's best match thus far, an offensive feast of some of the world's best attackers battling back and forth, with little to no defense to note. Catenaccio? What's that, some type of pasta? Inter, disappointing in Europe but excellent domestically, came in to the match hoping to complete an impressive trifecta of three away wins against their main rivals for the title. The Nerazzurri had already defeated Fiorentina and Roma; now it was Milan's turn. The Rossoneri sprung some surprises with their line-up, choosing to employ Chelsea's tactic of fielding a team heavy on central midfielders: Gattuso, Ambrosini, Pirlo and Seedorf all made the starting 11, with only Kaka and Inzaghi up front. Right from the start, the strategy backfired. Pippo was isolated up front and the Brazilian playmaker was unable to make his mark on the match. At the other end, Inter was scoring the types of back-breaking goals that Milan used to specialize in. First, a header by Crespo from a free-kick gave them the lead. Minutes later, a long-range wonder-goal by Stankovic doubled their advantage, followed by the Serb nearly ripping Mancini's head off his neck with an unrestrained goal celebration (seriously, you could see the fear of God in Mancini's eyes as Stankovic was shaking him like a naughty little kid). Milan was reeling as the match headed to the half. A triple-change at the interval by Ancelotti was a bold move, but when Ibrahimovic scored on a counter to make it 3-0 it also appeared to be a futile one. Not so fast. Inter has shown a bad habit this year of being unable to close out matches, such as when they let Fiorentina rally from three goals down to make it a nervous one-goal nail-biter. So, cue the Milan rally. Goal off a deflected Seedorf shot. Here come Milan. The onslaught is on...wait, nope, Materazzi rams in a header and it's back to a three-goal cushion. But the big Italian gets sent off for his goal celebration (weren't we just discussing that last week?) and Milan are a man up for the final half-hour. A header by Gilardino makes it 4-2. Then in the 90th minute Kaka lobs Julio Cesar for to cut it to 4-3. Wow. At this point, the match was no more than an offense-defense drill, with wave after wave of Milan attacks raining down on Inter's exhausted, shell-shocked backline. Oliveira had a close-range header to score an improbable equalizer, but it trickled just wide. Inter, despite their second-half woes, had held on. In the sports world, there's a tendency for hyperbole. Every match has to be the greatest this or the best that or the most intense or...it's always something, but in fact it really rarely is. Well, you'll have to forgive me for saying that this is the best match I've seen all year, the most attack-minded Serie A game in recent memory, and the most entertaining derby in years. If you don't believe me, look no further than the outpouring of joy and unbridled expression of happiness and elation seen from the Inter places at the final whistle. Guys like Zanetti, Maicon, and Ibrahimovic acted like they'd just won the World Cup. Not quite, but it was a massive hammer blow to the hopes of Inter's title rivals, as well as the perfect way to head into this week's big Champions League showdown with Spartak. Oh, and I'll take the catenaccio with bolognese sauce.

In Spain, Real Madrid is continuing their impressive resurgence under Capello (who, in turn, should thank Robinho), but leave it to their little headcase Antonio Cassano to ruin the good vibes at the Bernabeu. After being granted a new lease on life in Madrid and the chance to play under his father figure Capello, you'd think that the boy would've learned. Um, no. Cassano went ballistic after Real's 3-1 win over Gimnastic, insulting Capello and demanding more playing time (despite the fact that the team has been infinitely better with him on the bench and Guti and Raul playing just behind Van Nistelrooy). On Monday, Real suspended him indefinitely while they conduct an investigation, whatever that means.

Real's main rivals, Barcelona, won in part thanks to a con-job on the ref by Eidur Gudjohnsen. The former Chelsea man took a dive in the box and won a penalty, prompting his former coach Jose Mourinho, speaking ahead of this week's Barcelona-Chelsea rematch, to say that the Icelandic striker has apparently learned how to dive in Barcelona, a city renowned for its theater scene and acting talent. More on Mourinho in a sec, but first let's touch on the issue of diving. We've said it before, but if players can't police themselves to stamp diving out of the game, then it's up to the authorities to start handing down harsh penalties (suspensions, etc) against the offending parties. As for the controversial Portuguese coach, whether you love him or hate him, he's right that diving has to be stopped. Mourinho is a shockingly polarizing figure, one who is always at the center of controversy, but he has succeeded in creating a 'us-against-the-world' atmosphere at Chelsea. So far, it's worked. Whether it's taking shots at former players or criticizing the medical services at Reading or claiming conspiracies in the refereeing...Mourinho has his players thinking that the world is out to get them. Of course, he's wrong, but he's made a team that's already tasted success in recent years only hungrier and hungrier for more. The Barca match should be a dandy - let's just hope that the actors stay in the theaters, not on the pitch.

Speaking of Hollywood, the U.S. soccer federation appears ever closer to naming Jurgen "Tinkerbell" Klinsmann their new head coach. It would be a fantastic move for the Americans, as well as a match-made-in-heaven for Klinsi, who now lives in southern California. Now whether or not he can find an American Ballack and an American Klose is another story...

That's all for now. Back later in the week for full Champions League analysis...

Ten Things I Think I Think

2006-10-24T10:35:00.000-05:00

With so many different countries and teams and topics to cover, I've decided to continue ripping off Sports Illustrated's Peter King's 'Ten Things I Think I Think' format from his Monday Morning Quarterback column. Without further ado, here are this week's thoughts:

1. That Liverpool is a team in disarray. November is only just around the corner, but one of the Premiership's most promising squads is already seeing their title hopes vanish into thin air. The boys from Anfield are languishing in mid-table, have fallen 11 points off the leaders, and astonishingly, despite an attack with the talents of Gerrard, Garcia, Alonso, Crouch, Bellamy, Pennant, Fowler, Gonzalez and Kuyt, have failed to score a goal away from home in the Premiership for over five hours. Knowing that big games tend to bring out the best in top-notch teams, I thought that Liverpool's match-up with Man Utd this weekend could be just what the doctor ordered. Maybe if it's Dr. Kevorkian. Liverpool stunk up the joint at Old Trafford. Simple as that. A first-half strike from Scholes put them on their heels - the Englishman could've pitched a tent on the penalty spot he had so much time - and in the second half the Reds were just lifeless. A wonderfully-taken goal from Ferdinand, who looked nothing like a centerback as he trapped a cross in the box, cut the ball back across the face of goal away from the pressure of Riise, and laced a fierce drive into the top side netting leaving a sliding Carragher and a stunned Reina no chance whatsoever. Game, set, match (and to think that ManU cruised to victory with a poor performance from Rooney and Ronaldo and Heinze on the bench). The frustration was visible from the Liverpool players' faces to their body language. An errant pass from Alonso. Gerrard screams in anger. Pennant dribbles off his foot. Sissoko slumps his shoulders. Gerrard smacks a shot well wide. Crouch looks on in disbelief. It was a Liverpool nightmare at the Theater of Dreams. And worse still, with no real injuries or other problems to note, there are no easy answers or simple solutions in sight. This is a good team, stocked with great players, that is playing like a bunch of strangers. The Champions League title in Istanbul seems like a decade ago. Now it's time for Rafa the Gaffa to earn his money. And fast.

2. That Real Zaragoza is the new Villareal. As predicted in this year's la Liga preview, Zaragoza has employed Villareal's successful policy of acquiring big-name South American cast-offs from other, larger clubs. This shrewd tactic brought superstars like Juan Roman Riquelme, Juan Pablo Sorin, and Diego Forlan to El Madrigal and catapulted the Yellow Submarine all the way to the Champions League semis last year. Now it's Zaragoza's turn to make some noise in la Liga. The Aragon club already counted among its ranks the likes of Argentinian Leandro Ponzio and brothers Diego and Gabriel Milito, as well as Brazilians Ewerthon and Savio. This summer, they added midfield maestros Pablo Aimar and Andres D'Alessandro. Today, Zaragoza sit in the top five of the table and look poised to make a serious run at Spain's fourth Champions League spot. For anyone who doubted their quality, look no further than Aimar's scintillating run to set up Diego Milito for the game-winning goal against Betis this weekend. Pure quality. Made in South America. Somewhere down in the standings, Villareal can relate.

3. That Middlesborough's 1-0 Tyneside derby win over Newcastle is not exactly a match I'll remember forever. A few things did leave a mark, though: Stuart Downing, Boro's much-balleyhooed winger, appeared to me to be an over-rated, over-hyped player, but in this game he was Boro's best threat. I still don't think he's the answer to England's left-wing problems, but he was man-of-the-match at the Riverside. On Boro's other wing, right-back Andrew Davis won't be winning any such honors. In fact, the only prize he gets is the dubious one of worst-haircut ever seen. Imagine an Albino boy with a shock of bleached blond hair that appears to have been scalped on one side. Poor kid. Davis also doesn't seem like a very competent defender, so it's a good thing that he's got Real cast-off Jonathan Woodgate alongside him. Say what you want about Real's ill-advised decision to pass on the aforementioned Gabriel Milito to sign the oft-injured Woody, but when healthy, few can argue that the Englishman is one of the top five centerbacks in the Premership. Unfortunately for Woody, "when healthy" means "one month over the past two years". Oh, and speaking of quality defenders in the Premier, there's a great article on Watford's Jay DeMerit in last week's Sports Illustrated. It'd be quality reading for Landon Donovan and a number of other MLS stars who could learn a thing or two about how much American footballers can benefit from plying their trade in Europe.

4. That the MLS playoffs got underway this weekend. For those not in the know, eight out of the twelve teams in the league qualify, so really all you have to do is show up for the games and not suck. And when the playoffs roll around, fans are treated to a bunch of mismatches involving crappy teams. Case in point: the atrocious New York Red Bulls got to play a home-and-home against regular season champs DC United. Gee, I think I'll take the boys from the capital city. But I won't take them to win it all. That honor will go to the winner of the other Eastern Conference first-round series between the New England Revolution and the Chicago Fire. No predictions as to who that might be, but I'll take the victor to go on to beat United and then FC Dallas in the final. Ya heard it here first.

5. That the Galactico Era at Barcelona may be underway. A squad of high-profile superstars. Loads of success and praise for a few years running. A power-hungry president prone to ego-tripping. Energy-sapping worldwide pre-season tours. Constant emphasis on advertising and expansion. Sound familiar? So it goes with Barca 2006. Maybe we should've seen the warning signs with their loss to Sevilla in the Spanish Supercopa. Maybe we should've known when most of Barca's big stars underperformed during the World Cup. Heck, maybe Ronaldinho's ill-fated headband idea should've clued us in. But if it didn't, then this week's back-to-back losses to Chelsea and Real Madrid - followed in quick succession by Ronaldinho's trip on Monday to appear in a TV ad with Michael Jordan - sure indicate that all is far from well at the Camp Nou. Now no one should overreact just because the Blaugrana lost two away matches to two of the world's best teams - they were still ranked #1 in the most recent edition of WSB's Top 20. But let's just say that that aura of invincibility is fading fast up in Catalunya.

6. That even with this summer's World Cup debacle, I'll still rank Brazil's B-team right up there with the best national sides in the world. Being the most talented soccer nation in the world doesn't always translate into international trophies, since of course you can only play 11-on-11 and not 150-on-150, but man, it is just amazing to see the guys that new coach Dunga has at his disposal. The newest star? Werder Bremen's Diego. His man-of-the-match showing in their 3-1 demolition of Bayern Munich is the latest indication that no one produces artistic playmakers quite the way they do it down in Brazil. And to think that Diego, the player of the year thus far in the Bundesliga, will be hard-pressed to break into a national team where Ronaldinho and Kaka are already laying claim to the #10 shirt...just amazing. Here's a thought - anyone want to take odds on Diego joining up with his former Santos buddy Robinho at Real Madrid next year? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

7. That we've said it before, but we'll say it again. As much as we love the veritable plethora of soccer games throughout the year, the schedule-makers need to chill. For the good of the game. It's clear that Ronaldinho is burnt-out. So is Lampard. So are countless others. These guys aren't machines. They can't play forever. Throw in all of the pressure and stress and non-stop media attention and it's no wonder that they struggle to perform the way up to their capabilities. Until there are fewer international friendlies and pre-season tours and meaningless club tournaments, soccer fans will continue to watch the best players in the game play at a level well below their best. And that, my friends, is a crying shame.

8. That all of the goalie injuries of the past month, especially the doubleheader of Chelsea knock-outs in their game against Reading, are starting to mess with the heads of these net-minders. And I don't just mean in the physical sense. Check out Victor Valdes' half-hearted attempt to stop an onrushing Van Nistelrooy as the Dutchman scored Real's second goal in Sunday's clash at the Bernabeu. Something tells me that the sight of Petr Cech nearly getting decapitated was fresh in the Spaniard's mind. And I can't say I blame him.

9. That poor Atleti just can't catch a break. Or maybe they catch too many? After we wrote about how unfortunate it was that their star winger Maxi Rodriguez went down with a season-ending ACL injury in Argentina's friendly against Spain (see point #7), what happened in their next game against Recreativo but another ACL injury to their other winger Martin Petrov. And just when everything was going so well for Atleti, as they had just outplayed Real in a 1-1 derby draw and leapt to a top-five spot in the la Liga table. The sight of Maxi and Petrov both laid up in the hospital after surgery was not a pretty one. Not many teams can afford to lose both of their wingers for the season in the span of one week. With Torres and Mista struggling up front, Jurado a disappointment, and Galletti nowhere near as good as Maxi or Petrov, it's hard to see how Atleti will cope. On the basis of their loss at Deportivo this weekend, I'd say that Javier Aguirre has his work cut out for him to avoid another season of underachievement for the boys from the Calderon.

10. That Bayern Munich might be the most dislikable team ever. Not that they used to be any better, with the despicable Stefan Effenberg patroling their midfield and the petrifying Carsten Jancker up front, but this team is something special. Mark Van Bommel, for my money the dirtiest player around, was one of their summer signings - George W will win the Nobel Peace Prize long before Van Bommel ever takes home a Fair Play award. The Dutchman joins the likes of Hasan Salihamdzic, who's just a dreadful little devil. Oliver "Chewbacca" Kahn still mans the goalposts, causing wayward shots simply by looking into the stunned of eyes of opposing strikers. Roy Makaay and Willy Sagnol are the type of annoying players that Bayern seems to love for some reason. So it is with great dread that I hereby set the over/under at one year before they sign Marco Materazzi, Thomas Gravesen, and possibly even the reigning five-time winner of world's most dislikable player...Robbie Savage.

(Un)common sense

2006-10-23T19:21:00.000-05:00

There are few certainties in life, even fewer in sports. One is that Fabio Capello's teams hardly ever allow any goals. Another is that my predictions are almost always wrong. Hopefully this lethal combination meant that most of you weren't in the least bit surprised by Real Madrid's 2-0 win over Barcelona.

It was a game that gave us a lot of talking points, but to fully appreciate what happened on Sunday at the Bernabeu all it takes is a good understanding of the importance of common (or is it uncommon?) sense. Capello has struggled mightily to mold this team in the image of his successful Juventus sides. Past history tells us that he will eventually turn Real into an ultra-defensive team full of veteran superstars that will find a way to win titles while never winning any beauty contests for impressive play.

Capello's work began this summer when new president Ramon Calderon hired him away from the disgraced Italian champs. Capello had some tough decisions to make when he arrived at the Bernabeu. However, he had carte blanche to do as he pleased. He quickly jettisoned the youth policy adopted by Real in 2005 (Robinho, Julio Baptista, Cicinho, Cassano & Diogo all came to Madrid last year) in favor of the old guard - in his first month, he had signed Cannavaro, Emerson, and Van Nistelrooy, three superstars all on the wrong side of 30. Such a preference for seasoned veterans served Capello well at Juve, but then again so did paying off the refs. Capello did bring in some youngsters in Reyes and Diarra, but he also made it clear that Baptista and Diogo were surplus to requirements, while Robinho would have to start on the bench. He promised that in 50 days, the demanding Bernabeu faithful would finally see his new-look Real side. On paper, it looked good, but then again so did the Real sides of the last three years and we all know how many trophies they won (here's a hint: one fewer than Espanyol). No one expected Capello's side to entertain, but for all the talk otherwise, everyone knows that if the team is winning titles, no one will be complaining. And heck, even wonderful squads like the present Barca team have to grind out countless results during the season - not every game can be a 5-2 romp with dozens of Ronaldinho highlights. So when the season began with a couple of low-scoring wins and draws, no one was too surprised, although the 0-3 thrashing at the hands of Lyon was cause for concern. Still, the team was gelling, right? Um, right?

Well, the 50 day mark came and went a few weeks ago. In fact, it was marked by one of the worst Madrid performances in recent memory; worse still, Real's 1-0 loss at Getafe came on the heels of a break for international play that saw only 3 of Real's players suit up for their respective national teams. With a squad chock-full of over-the-hill players, only Casillas, Sergio Ramos, and Cannavaro turned up for international duty. Raul, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Emerson, Van Nistelrooy and Beckham were all left out by their national teams. Robinho and Cassano would probably have been included for Brazil and Italy had they not been riding the pine at Real, and Reyes joined up with Spain but soon got hurt. So, while Barca's squad was all over the world playing for their national teams, Real had fewer players called up than their crosstown rivals Atletico. The message was clear: no one wanted them. But maybe the time spent at training in Madrid would help them come together as a unit? Not so fast. The loss at Getafe came on the heels of a 1-1 draw with their cross-town rivals Atletico in which Real was dominated for long stretches of the game and had all of their flaws cruelly exposed.

The problems start with Capello's lineup. After injuries to Salgado and his back-up Cicinho, the Italian opted to play Alvaro Mejia, a centerback who came up through the Real youth team, at right-back. Sergio Ramos is a natural right-back and starts there for Spain, but for some reason Real has insisted on making him a centerback. Huh? Why play a natural right-back in the center and a center-back at right-back? And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Aside from the keeper Casillas, only one player had logged more minutes this year than Emerson, undoubtedly Real's worst player so far. Capello's loyalty to the Brazilian symbolizes a larger problem: a preference for defensive workhorses over attackers. Check out the domino effect that Emerson's inclusion in the lineup causes: Guti, who has played superbly in a two-man center midfield pairing in the past and would surely be a nice complement to the more defensive Diarra, is pushed out to the left; this makes Raul play as a withdrawn forward, which relegates Robinho, Reyes or Cassano to the bench. So not only does it rob the team of one or more of its best attackers, but it makes the team's top playmaker play out of position. Just as happened in years past with Thomas Gravesen (offensive-mid-made-defensive-destroyer), so it goes this year with Ramos, Mejia, and Guti. Why a club with the financial resources of Real continues to try to make a square peg fit into a round hole I will never know. And Capello, unlike some of his predecessors, can't pin the blame on a previous coach. These are his guys. He could've signed William Gallas, a versatile defender. He could've brought in Lilian Thuram, a true centerback. He could've signed Ashley Cole, a natural left-back. Instead, there are still numerous indications that the current Real squad was constructed without enough attention paid to establishing a balance between the offensive firepower and defensive vulnerability. Not only did Capello take a pass on other defensive stars who changed teams this off-season and not only did he loan out the fit-again Jonathan Woodgate to Middlesborough, but he was so desperate to get rid of Ivan Helguera that he handed his #6 shirt to Diarra. But who was it that, wearing the #21 shirt, was called into duty to take the place of the suspended Ramos against Getafe? Yep, Helguera (he was the best defender on the night by the way). Alongside Helguera in the center of defense was Raul Bravo - a career-long left-back of course. Only Real would start a center-back at right back and a left-back at centerback and then cry "woe is me". Folks, you have more money than any club in the world - try spending it wisely. Because as the likes of Mejia, Helguera, and Bravo were trotting out onto the pitch, the camera panned to the most star-studded bench seen in years: Ronaldo, Raul, Cannavaro, and Robinho all being treated to one of the worst Merengue performance in years. So much for equilibrium.

Here's a quick solution: play guys where they're at their best. If you paid tens of millions to bring in Sergio Ramos because he was such a great right-back, well then you might want to play him there. If Ivan Helguera has been one of the club's most consistent defenders over recent years, you might not want to axe him from the squad before you've brought in a competent replacement. If Roberto Carlos is on the decline, you might want to bring in a left-back. If your best ball distributor operates best when he's in the center of the park, you might want to let Guti use his vision in the center of the pitch and not banish him to the wing. If your team is lacking speed and the element of surprise, then tricky attackers like Robinho and Reyes should always be preferred to slow, plodding wingers like Beckham (a starter against Getafe). None of these suggestions are innovative or earth-shattering or in any way unorthodox. They are simply the result of common sense. At a club with all of the resources in the world, it's ironic that the one thing in such short supply is such a basic trait.

After a tumultuous week following the Getafe debacle, Capello supposedly told his players that he would resign if they didn't believe in his system and his plan. No one could've blamed them if they'd taken him up on his offer, but with the disastrous reign of Vanderlei Luxemburgo so fresh in their minds, they thought better of it. Not only did that team meeting inspire the players to play harder and work as a unit, but it also spurred Capello to make some very important line-up changes. In last week's Champions League game against Steaua Bucharest, Capello moved Ramos to right-back, played Helguera at centerback, moved Guti to a more central playmaking spot, and inserted Robinho into the lineup to play on the wing opposite Raul (they swapped sides frequently). And wouldn't ya know it? 4-1 to Real!

On Sunday, Capello kept faith with the same starting 11. Your fearless predictor thought Barca would shake off the after-effects of their loss at Chelsea and bounce back versus Real, who would have a much harder time than they did in Romania. But no. In the rainy cauldron of the Bernabeu, 80,000 fans watched Real dominate Barca from the start. Raul, who is more fired-up than ever before and almost back to his old self, smashed in a header in just the second minute. Who gave him the assist? Real's new right-back, Sergio Ramos. A little over ten minutes later, Raul whacked another shot off the cross-bar after taking a beautiful feed from the left wing. After Valdes chopped down Van Nistelrooy in the box and ref Perez Burrull failed to call a penalty (shocking, I know - where's Medina Cantalejo when ya need him?), one couldn't help but get the feeling that maybe Real had let Barca off the hook by only having a one-goal lead to show for 20 minutes of virtual siege. When Leo Messi then started shredding the Real backline, at one point slicing between Cannavaro and Roberto Carlos to create a clear-cut chance for Gudjohnsen, Real's fears were being realized. Thank God Gudjohnsen is no Etoo. Minutes later it was Messi himself who blew a fantastic chance set up for him by la Liga's flavor of the month Andres Iniesta. In fact, it was the very presence of Iniesta alongside Xavi and Deco that was one of Saturday's big surprises. While Capello had finally figured out his lineup confusion, in the opposing dug-out Rijkaard had made a number of huge mistakes. He had deprived his team of a midfield destroyer, leaving out both Edmilson and Motta. Perhaps because of this lack of steel, Barca never seemed to get a grip on the game in midfield, as they were clearly outplayed by Guti, Diarra, and even Emerson (lucky though he was not to be sent off). At the back, Rijkaard played Sylvinho on the left over Van Bronckhorst, a huge mistake as the Brazilian was given a torrid time by Raul and Robinho. In the center of defense, Thuram was nowhere near as strong as Marquez. Even up front, Gudjohnsen squandered numerous chances that Saviola would likely have put away. Despite all signs of the season's first month suggesting otherwise, Capello outcoached Rijkaard.

Although the Blaugrana controlled the last 25 minutes of the first half and had Real Madrid on their heels, they couldn't grab the equalizer. In the second stanza, another early goal, this one from Van Nistelrooy off a feed from man-of-the-match Robinho, put the game out of reach. Barca threatened intermittently, but to be fair Real never looked to be in too much trouble. They can thank a backline that was simply superb. Roberto Carlos looked rejuvenated. Helguera and Cannavaro have already formed a fantastic partnership, making Real the best defensive team in la Liga. But it was the young boy on the right, Sergio Ramos, who stole the show. A few years ago, with Real at the peak of their galactico powers, los Blancos were shocked by an upstart Barca team mainly because of Barca's up-and-coming right-back who shut down Real's superstar winger. In that game, it was the young Carles Puyol who single-handedly nullified Luis Figo. On Sunday, Ramos did the same to Ronaldinho. It is now officially time for the Blaugrana to start seriously worrying about the burn-out that Ronaldinho is clearly suffering from. He has played far-too many big games over the past few years, games in which his team depended on him & him alone for victory, games with the high pressure and worldwide spotlight that can drain a player so so quickly. It was obvious at the World Cup that Ronaldinho was a shadow of himself. Despite showing signs, like in the game against Sevilla a few weeks ago, that he was getting his form back, Ronaldinho is just not himself. He needs a break, but with the young season just beginning, there is no end in sight. With Etoo out, Barca needs Ronaldinho more than ever, but he appears in no shape to help them. It's hardly time for panic at the Camp Nou, but maybe it is time to give Iniesta a more forward position and let 'Dinho recharge the old battery. And give Saviola a run-out at striker, too. Whatever, giving one world-class coach advice is enough for one day.

In last week's preview of these games, we remarked about what a difference a week makes in the soccer world. So true. Real now look like a genuine contender in la Liga and the Champions League, while Barca are reeling from back-to-back defeats that have given their Spanish rivals renewed confidence and jeopardized the Blaugrana's qualification for the next round of Europe's top competition. If only we'd seen it coming...

Weekend Picks (Or "Futile, even embarassing, attempts to predict the results of this week's games")

2006-10-18T18:49:00.000-05:00

I am not one for predictions. You know this, I know this. If you don't - or didn't - know this, look no further than my shocking and appalling predictions during this summer's World Cup. Brazil was my pick to win it all. I may or may not have called them "unstoppable", but I've blacked that out of my memory. I rated Argentina and Spain as two of the best teams in the world and stated confidently that both would reach the semifinals. My other semifinal pick, Germany, proved to be correct, but that was about it. On the flip side, I couldn't have been more wrong about Italy and France, two teams I called "crap" and "lucky to advance". Yep, I'm a genius. So for more enlightenment into what to expect in the near future, stop reading now. But if you're in the mood for a good joke...or maybe you want to use my picks to put money on my predicted losers...or maybe you just couldn't afford another visit to that crack-head psychic down the street that claims that the apocalypse will hit tonight...whatever your motives might be, here are my picks for what should be a thrilling weekend in of top-notch soccer with major showdowns in Germany, England and Spain:

Werder Bremen vs Bayern Munich

I'm a big Werder fan, not in the sense of a true fan but more of an admirer of how they play the game, so I'm tempted to pick them to beat Bayern. In my Bundesliga season preview, I said that these two teams would finish top of the league and, despite underwhelming starts to the season for both of them, I'm not ready to bail on that pick. Werder has the best forward in Germany, Miroslav Klose, and the best midfielder, Torsten Frings, and this season's surprise budding superstar, the Brazilian Diego. Bayern has a far superior team on paper, but we all know that's why they play the games. And even though I think that Pizarro can wreak havoc against a weak Werder backline...and even though I think Bayern is going to win the title come spring...I am a weak man...given to temptation...and I like Werder to win in a shoot-out:

Werder 4
Bayern 3

Manchester United vs Liverpool

Speaking of ill-advised predictions, I thought ManU would slump to a 4th-place finish this year. Boy, was I wrong. They've played some of the best footie seen in the Premiership this season. The fact that they've done so with a sub-par Wayne Rooney and an injured Gabriel Heinze is nothing short of scary. Meanwhile, their Northwest rivals have been one of the real disappointments. Benitez's boys just can't get rolling this year. What was once a stellar defense is now a weakness. Even Reina, normally a reliable keeper, has looked shaky at times. Were this game at Anfield, I'd pick the Reds to snap out of their funk and beat ManU. But the action will take place at Old Trafford, where Rooney should get back to his goalscoring ways and Ronaldo should cement his place as one of the world's most exciting players. But wait! What's this? Liverpool is a desperate team, you say? And Arsenal already went into ManU and saved their season with a big win? And doesn't the more desperate team usually win? Yes, yes, and yes. So I'll predict a draw, with ManU goals from Rooney and Ronaldo but Liverpool answering with strikes from Alonso and Riise. Honors even at the Theater of Dreams.

ManU 2
Liverpool 2

Real Madrid vs Barcelona

As mentioned here before, I think that Fabio Capello is having real problems in his first few months at Real. He is loyal to off-form players like Emerson, plays a far too defensive system, deprives his team of the speed and unpredictability that it desperately needs (and that he has in abundance with Robinho, Reyes, Cassano and Guti). But maybe the 4-1 win over Steaua is the start of a new era. Robinho was in the lineup, Guti was in the center of the attack, and Ramos moved over to right-back. Even Emerson played better in the center of defensive midfield. Raul appears to have re-gained some of the form that made him one of the world's best forwards. Cannavaro and Helguera appear to be gelling into a solid backline. And even Roberto Carlos looked rejuventated on the left wing. It's unfortunate for Real that Ronaldo is suspended thanks to a stupid red card picked up last week against Getafe, but now Van Nistelrooy is playing well up front. What a difference a week makes, but Real looks like a team re-born. Only one small detail: Barcelona isn't Steaua Freakin Bucharest. The Blaugrana are the best team in the world, Ronaldinho is showing signs of getting back to his best, and Andres Iniesta is emerging as la Liga's new star midfielder. And oh yeah, that Messi kid ain't bad either. It won't be a cakewalk for Barca like last year's 3-0 romp, but even though Real is a team that could develop into a great one, Barca already is great. A victory for los Merengues would be better for the title chase in la Liga, but something tells me that's no concern to Barca as they head in to the inferno that will be the Bernabeu come Sunday.

Real 1
Barca 3

p.s. As bad as we are with predictions here at WSB, we were right about one thing in a recent post: Fernando Belluschi's man-of-the-match performance in the superclasico against Boca instantly transformed the River middie into a hot commodity, the latest in a long line of sensational Argentine midfielders (none finer than Fernando Redondo, but that's another story). We predicted that it wouldn't take long for the vultures...er, I mean, the top European clubs, to pounce on the latest prodigy. Well, you heard it here first. A few days ago, the Argentinian paper Ole reported that Atletico Madrid, already the home of Sergio Aguero & Maxi Rodriguez, has come in with a big-money offer to acquire Belluschi during the winter transfer market. Watch this space...

World Soccer Blogger Top 20

2006-10-14T12:22:00.000-05:00

Albino wunderkind Andres Iniesta celebrates. Get used to it.

Not a lot of movement at the top of October's installment of the Top 20, as the first three teams stay in the same spots. ManU jumps into the the fourth spot, a rise all the more surprising considering Rooney's poor form over the past month. Valencia round out the top five, thanks to their impressive draw at the Camp Nou. The big drop of the month goes to Inter Milan, who plunge from fourth all the way out of the top 10. It's been a tough time for the Nerazzurri, a slump that can chalked up to injuries, discipline problems, and Mancini's constant tinkering with his lineup and formation. The honor of the month's biggest rise goes to Atletico Madrid, who outplayed city rivals Real at the Bernabeu; of course, Atleti will now have to overcome the loss of Maxi Rodriguez, injured in a mid-week friendly vs Spain. Speaking of la Furia Roja, a new star has emerged: Andres Iniesta. The kid who looks like he just saw a ghost - or maybe he just is a ghost - has been the best player for the national team in their games against Sweden and Argentina and has emerged as the natural successor to Xavi at Barca. One indication of his amazing grace, skill, and vision is that Lilian Thuram, after his first few weeks at Barca this summer, said that the one player that had really impressed him was not Ronaldinho, Etoo, or Deco, but was the little, unassuming Iniesta. As they say, the rich get richer. Enough of that -it's onto the rankings...

1. Barcelona (Etoo's absence will hurt, but Iniesta is emerging as the latest great Spanish middie)
2. Chelsea (Sheva's off-form, Lampard's slumping, Cole's hurt, Ballack's still getting acclimated to life in England...and they're still top of the league)
3. Lyon (Fred, whose name would make you think otherwise, is as good a Brazilian striker as any in the world right now)
4. Man Utd (Ronaldo is one of the top 5 players in the world. Period)
5. Valencia (Villa is the best Spanish striker at the moment, even ahead of Torres & Raul)
6. Arsenal
7. Sevilla
8. Real Madrid (better hope those defensive injuries heal up before Barca comes to town)
9. Bayern (huge win on Saturday over league leaders Hertha)
10. Roma
11. Inter (if they don't get it together soon, they'll be out of the Champions League before Christmas - and Mancini will be out of a job)
12. Milan (after Kaka, Pirlo, and Nesta, they're just a bunch of aging, slumping superstars)
13. Liverpool (underwhelming start to the season for the Reds)
14. Atletico (maybe too high for them, but they looked great vs Real - Maxi's loss is a big one)
15. Ajax (best in Holland - Klaas Jan Huntelaar is the newest Dutch #9)
16. Celtic
17. Marseille (hanging around in France)
18. Sao Paolo
19. River (Belluschi and Higuain were absolutely superb in win over Boca)
20. Boca (huge drop-off since Lavolpe took over from Basile)

On the bubble: Palermo, Bolton, Hertha Berlin

"Superclasico" is right!

2006-10-12T13:05:00.000-05:00

Boca's Gago employs a rarely-used airborne scissors tackle on River's Belluschi. But it was the River man - nappy haircut notwithstanding - who stole the show.

On Sunday afternoon, one of the world's great derbies was played down in Buenos Aires. At the cavernous Estadio Monumental, River Plate took on Boca Juniors. River had to win, not just because they were up against their arch-enemy, but because Boca was already four points ahead in the Apertura standings and had a game in hand. It wasn't looking good for River when their two stars were forced out of the match; Marcelo "El Muneco" Gallardo missed with an injury, while Ariel "El Burrito" Ortega was mentally unfit to play (By that logic, wouldn't Terrell Owens miss every game? But I digress). To make matters worse, Boca's two stars, Rodrigo Palacio & Fernando Gago, were in such fine form that the president of Barcelona was in town to sign one or both of them, with a Real Madrid representative hot on his heels to try to close a deal for los Merengues. As it happened, a young striker/midfielder duo did indeed steal the show, but they were wearing white shirts with a red stripe, not blue ones with a yellow stripe. River's Gonzalo Higuain and Fernando Belluschi were simply unbeatable on the day. Higuain bagged a brace, but Belluschi had a hand (or foot) in all three River goals. It was Belluschi's free-kick that led to the first goal, he provided the through-ball for the second one, and he led a lethal counter-attack right down route 1 to put the finishing touches on River's 3-1 demolition. Palacio scored for Boca, Gago acquitted himself well, but the day belonged to Belluschi. In fact, none of his assists even qualified as his most important contributions to River's victory. With his team up 2-1, Belluschi cleared a ball of the line with his knee, denying Boca the equalizer and helping his team keep a lead that they would never relinquish. For a worldwide audience, including the top European club scouts, it was a performance that will surely springboard Belluschi - and Higuain - over to the Continent someday soon. And even though these much-hyped derbies rarely deliver the goods, as games get bogged down by the tension, pressure, and sheer overwhelming weight of the occassion, this year's Superclasico proved to be just that: super.

With friendlies like these...

2006-10-12T11:16:00.000-05:00

Argentina's Leandro Somoza wonders why the hell they're even playing. Ask Villar - he'll tell ya.

Few things in world soccer stir up as much trouble as international friendly matches. With the jam-packed calendar already exhausting players, the last thing that either the players or their club team coaches need are a bunch of exhibition matches to make matters worse. So you can imagine that when Spain and Argentina announced a friendly match in Murcia, no one was all that pleased. Sure, it's a mouth-watering match-up, especially with both teams going through a difficult phase; the former coming off back-to-back losses in Euro 2008 qualifying, first to Northern Ireland and then to Sweden; the latter adapting to a new coach Alfio Basile and Juan Roman Riquelme's surprise retirement. But for the most part, friendlies fail to live up to their billing (last year's England-Argentina match in Geneva stands out as a recent exception). All any fan can hope for is a decent game, some attacking soccer, and no major injuries. Unfortunately, none of the above were the case yesterday. Spain won 2-1 and outplayed the Albiceleste for much of the match, but no one really cared. The victors' coach, Luis Aragones is still under fire (funny how pre & post-World Cup he was full of promises about stepping down if that was what the public wanted...and now, when 90% of the country agrees that he must go, he steadfastly refuses to leave). The losers really learned nothing about what their new squad, save that Pablo Aimar needs to be included. What stole all the headlines is the long-term knee injury suffered by Argentina's Maxi Rodriguez. The man who scored the golazo to beat Mexico this summer went down in the first 20 minutes, no surprise because of the atrocious state of the pitch. See, the match was the inauguration of Murcia's new stadium, the Nuevo Colombino, and the pitch was by no means ready for action. In fact, it was so bad that both coaches agreed that it'd be better not to play at all. But no, not when the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) is involved. Angel Maria Villar's administration makes Bush's look competent by comparison. Not only does Villar oversee the worst group of referees in Europe (seriously, for all their corruption, I'd sooner trust Italy's refs), not only does he clearly favor Barca's Joan Laporta in every way imaginable, but he also has totally botched his handling of the national team by failing to accept Aragones' resignations or force the ole man out of his post, despite three losses in their last five matches, a totally unacceptable losing streak for such a star-studded selection. Now he's even found a way to screw up Argentina's national team. Maxi will be out for six months, leaving Atletico Madrid without their star winger and Javier Aguirre without a key cog in his lineup as Atleti look to make a run at the la Liga title. Just the other week, they outplayed Real in the Bernabeu, but they will be hardpressed to duplicate that form without the talented Maxi. All because of one meaningless match that no one really cared about. But no matter - rumor has it that Villar is in talks to schedule another Spain-Argentina friendly next month...

Of Cheats And Crooks

2006-10-02T14:16:00.000-05:00

Guti hacked to the ground - a familiar sight on Sunday at the Bernabeu, but it was Real that finished with 10. As for Barca...

Never a dull moment in the soccer world and this weekend proved to be no exception. All eyes were on Spain to see how Barca would respond to Etoo's absence in Bilbao and what fireworks would be seen in the Madrid derby at the Bernabeu, with a Premiership matinee mixed in with the Iberian showdowns. Sadly, cheating players and incompetent refs stole the show. And not for the first time.

Watching the Athletic-Barca game, I should've seen it all coming. Athletic got off to a stunning start when the fantastic Yeste laced a half-volley into the corner of Barca's net. All of a sudden, one could really imagine that maybe, just maybe, Barca would be unable to overcome Etoo's absence: Ronaldinho has been a shadow of his former self for the past five months, Xavi has yet to return to his pre-injury form, and the squad as a whole has shown signs of vulnerability. Cue the ref. As has happened all too often ever since Laporta became president of Barca and Zapatero took charge of Spain, a highly dubious (and by 'highly dubious' I mean 'so appallingly bad that one can't help but think that something is amiss') decision went Barca's way. Gudjohnsen broke free down the right and, although there were still two Athletic defenders in the middle of the pitch to block his path to goal, Athletic's Casas took him down and was given a straight red. It was completely inexplicable. As if the Basques wouldn't have had enough problems holding a 1-0 lead with 11 men on the pitch, their new task was nearly impossible. Well, actually, it was impossible. Barca ran riot and left San Mames 3-1 winners on the night.

On Sunday, Tottenham-Portsmouth kept with the theme of the weekend. Late in the first half, Spurs' Didier Zokora, a much-praised player on this here site, collapsed to the ground as he contested a ball with Portsmouth's Pedro Mendes in the box. The ref pointed to the spot, although all replays clearly showed that there was no contact whatsoever between the two. It put Spurs' second goal on the scoreboard and, despite the visitors' best efforts, effectively put the game out of reach. To his credit, the ref admitted at halftime to the victimized team's coach, Harry Redknapp, that he had made a big mistake. Still, what's done is done and Redknapp's boys headed back down to the south coast empty-handed, undeservingly so.

By the time the cameras focused on the Bernabeu late Sunday, I should have known that we would complete the trifecta. After Atletico dominated a scintillating first-half and took a 1-0 lead on a Mista goal, Real responded with a Raul goal (typical) just before intermission. It was an undeserved equalizer, but it showed just what Guti can do when given time and space to dissect a defense - it was his ball that lofted over Atletico's backline and came down straight at the feet of the onrushing Raul. Of course, Atletico knew all too well that Guti was Real's danger man and had set about from the start kicking the crap out of the Madrid man; literally, every time he got the ball, an Atletico player went for his ankles. The ref, using some unknown (read: help Barca, not Real) logic, only booked two Atletico boys, while giving Real's Mejia a yellow that looked far too harsh. It all got worse in the second half. Just as Real had started to dominate the game, cue the ref. Fernando Torres and Sergio Ramos were both after a loose ball when the former collapsed clutching his face (it was reminiscent of Henry's dive against Puyol and Spain the World Cup). Ramos hadn't thrown an elbow or done anything half as bad as some of Atleti's challenges on Guti, but the ref handed him a second yellow and an early trip to the showers. The game seemed to die after that, as the visitors were unable to grab a winner and Real were content to escape with a draw (as an aside, when in hell will Capello figure out that the Emerson-Diarra pairing just ain't working?). Once again, a promising afternoon of footie had been spoiled by diving players and incompetent (if not corrupt) refs.

All of the fuss after the matches was nothing more than the usual, standard-issue responses. The hard-done-by coaches and players railed against the crappy refs and cheating players, while the opposing coaches, per usual, saw nothing wrong with the ref's decisions and defended the player's actions. It will be a great day when a coach comes out and says, "You know, he might be my player, but his actions embarassed me today and just to show that I will not tolerate cheating on my team, I'll be suspending him for next week's match." Sadly, a blizzard will blow through Hell before that happens. Everyone is at fault here: the players for diving, the refs for falling for their hystrionics, and the coaches for not calling the players out and refusing to tolerate that sort of cheating. It will take a lot of effort across the board to stamp out that sort of behaviour, but it needs to happen for the good of the game. And fast. In the meantime, soccer fans are stuck watching idiot refs and unsporting players ruin the beautiful game. It happened this weekend, for neither the first nor the last time, and unless something drastic happens soon, it'll happen many, many times again. Sad but true.

Ten Things I Think I Think

2006-09-29T15:20:00.000-05:00

One of the best sports columns in the U.S. is Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback piece on the NFL that appears weekly (you can guess when...) on CNNSI.com. King has a segment in it called "Ten Things I Think I Think" and even though we can't do half as good a job as the original author, we can try to come close (plus, we won't mention you-know-who - hint: he's completely insane & loves painkillers). So, after a week off from this website, here's what I think:

1. That it's time for concern at Inter. Just last week we were chalking the Nerazzurri's loss to Sporting Lisbon down to an off day and applauding their impressive away win over Roma, but after Wednesday's 2-0 home loss to Bayern Munich, a third game in which Inter finished with fewer than 11 men (this time it was nine after Ibrahimovic & Grosso saw red), we're not so confident in Inter's prospects. Mancini was very confident after the game that Inter would win their next four Champions League group stage games and advance, but that's no small feat. They still have to go to Moscow to face Spartak & that is never an easy trip, plus the away match against Bayern won't be a cakewalk either. Inter still looks like the team to beat in the Serie A, but there is ample cause for concern. A month into the season, they've still yet to find a consistent style of play (4-3-1-2, 4-4-2, etc), they're playing guys out of position (Zanetti at left mid?), and they've got to get their discipline issues under control. If they don't find the solutions to these problems soon, it could get real ugly in Milan.

2. That I'm already counting down the days to the upcoming River-Boca clasico down in Buenos Aires. 10 days until October 8 and the kick-off of the best derby in the world. Can't wait!

3. That Friday's Dortmund-Hannover matinee was one of the most entertaining games I've seen all year. In front of a capacity crowd at Dortmund's phenomenal stadium (best in Germany hands down), the two teams battled back & forth for all 90 minutes. The hosts went ahead early, but were hanging on for dear life before a frenetic 4-minute stretch starting in minute 73. Hannover equalized, but Dortmund re-gained the lead with a second Smolarek goal, and then, to everyone's surprise, Hannover snatched a draw just seconds later. It was end-to-end stuff for the full 90, played before an outstanding group of fans, and a real treat for any footie fan. Hope you guys got to see some of it.

4. That Didier Drogba is about 1000 times better than Andriy Shevchenko right now. Same with Hernan Crespo.

5. That last weekend's Riquelme-Aimar match-up in the Villareal-Zaragoza game was yet another reason why the Primera Liga is the best in the world. Two brilliant playmakers, two attack-minded teams, a see-saw game that had a bit of everything: controversial refereeing decisions, brilliant goals, and a stirring second-half comeback. Now that Riquelme has retired from international play, can Aimar replace him and lead the Albiceleste to the top of the soccer world? If Basile gives him the chance, here's one vote that says yes, he can. And if that was the pick of the games in Spain last weekend, then this weekend's Madrid derby should be even better.

6. That it's about damn time that Scott Parker got called up to the England squad. He's just what that team needs: a tenacious defensive mid to free up Gerrard and Lampard to push forward. Everyone saw the improvements in the team when Eriksson finally inserted Hargreaves in that role. Well, for my money Parker is even better than the Bayern man. He has been a massive signing for the Geordies and there is no reason to think that he won't be just as good for the Three Lions.

7. That Barca will really miss Etoo, simply because he's one of the the top three strikers in the world right now, but they'll still be first in la Liga when he comes back in March. No thanks to Txiki Begiristain, Barca's director who wanted to sell Saviola this year and even threatened to make him sit out the year if he didn't accept a transfer, but the excellent Argentine striker could be a natural replacement for the Cameroon hit-man. The Blaugrana don't have any other natural #9 - new boy Gudjohnsen is not an out-and-out striker (he's better as a reserved forward) - so Saviola could be key for them in the upcoming months. And there is just way way too much talent at the Camp Nou to have the season unravel just because Etoo is out.

8. That the Homeless World Cup is taking place right now in South Africa. Actually, I don't think that - I know that. I just don't know what I think of that. Insert joke here.

9. That all of us should spare a thought for Uruguayan striker Dario Silva. Speeding along a Montevideo street on Saturday, Silva was involved in a horrific accident. He was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from his truck. When Silva came out of a medically-induced coma a few days later, he awoke to the news that his right leg had been amputated below the knee. While he is clearly lucky to be alive, for anyone to lose a leg must be absolutely devastating and even more so for a soccer player. Animo, Dario, animo!

10. That Luis Aragones made the right decision leaving Raul out of the latest Spain squad. If anything, he should have left him out a few months ago. Don't forget that Spain looked way better in the World Cup with Luis Garcia playing in the 'mediapunta' spot behind Torres & Villa than they looked with Raul there. When Raul started against France, the attack just wasn't the same. Of course, France has a way better back-line than the likes of the Ukraine or Tunisia, but still. Raul has gotten by for the last three years because he is Raul. He has done absolutely nothing on the pitch to justify his inclusion in the starting line-ups of Spain or Real Madrid. I have always been a big fan of him, following him ever since I donned his #7 jersey to attend Real's games at the Bernabeu when I lived there in '98. I'll never forget a Real-AC Milan Champions League game in 2003 when Raul scored two super goals to propel los Blancos into the next round. The next morning, the headlines of the Madrid sports daily read "Gracias a Dios que tenemos a Raul" ("Thank God we've got Raul") and "Que bueno eres, Raul!" ("You are so good, Raul!"). Unfortunately, times have changed. Sure, injuries have played a part in his decline, but after over a decade at the top level, he just doesn't have the speed or power that he once did. People say that Raul isn't even 30 yet, so how can he already be on the decline? But it's like a car: what makes a car go doesn't have nearly as much to do with the year the car was made as it has to do with the miles on the odometer. Would you rather drive a 2002 car with 150,000 miles or a 1999 model with 60,000? In recent years, Raul has been given a spot in the line-up because of his name, not because his performances warranted it. His supporters - and there are many - claim that it's not all about scoring goals, that Raul does so many other important things, such as running hard and leading the line and playing unselfishly and being an emblematic player for the team, that he deserves to play. Well, sacreligious though it might be to say, just because a guy runs a lot and sacrifices himself for the team doesn't mean that he should be guaranteed a spot. Now if Raul were a defensive mid, that's one thing - then those qualities would justify his selection, but as a striker, he's there to score goals. And the fact is, Raul hasn't been scoring. He finally found the back of the net (twice) against Dynamo Kyiv on Tuesday, but that's not good enough. Since he hasn't been scoring, some coaches have played him in a more withdrawn role, but he doesn't have the passing skills or the vision to warrant selection over players with the quality of Guti, Robinho or Cassano at Real or Garcia, Xavi, or Iniesta in la Seleccion. This is not to say that he should retire (Brett Favre should, but Raul shouldn't), but it is to say that his best days are behind him. I will be the first to say that Raul is everything that a soccer star should hope to be: humble, unselfish, devoted to club and country, a role model on & off the pitch...but he is no longer the Raul we all knew and loved a few years ago. That's how sports works: your time comes, you get your shot, and then someone comes along to take your place, and your time is up. Right now, Guti and Garcia are simply better than he is and, simply put, the fact that their jerseys don't say "Raul" on the back doesn't mean that they shouldn't be playing instead of him. One of the things that has always made Raul great is that for him, it's never been about the name on the back, but rather the crest on the front. It's time for his coaches, his fans, and his teammates to recognize that.

La Bella Vita: Inter shut down Roma

2006-09-22T12:51:00.000-05:00

All over bar the shouting: Vieira does not go quietly into the night against Roma.

If the Serie A season unfolds as predicted on this website a few weeks ago, the two teams to watch are Inter and Roma. This would represent a departure from the normal hierarchy of Juventus and Milan, both of whom were hit with point deductions (and in the case of the former, relegation, too) in the Moggigate scandal that shook the Boot this summer. On Wednesday night in Rome, Serie A fans got the first taste of what could be their two new powerhouses. The showdown did not disappoint.

Not a club accustomed to easy success or quiet off-seasons, Inter went out and signed a boatload of top-notch players, including Hernan Crespo, Patrick Vieira, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Fabio Grosso, Olivier Dacourt, and Maicon. All six were included in the starting 11 that travelled down to Roma to face the Giallorossi. Roberto Mancini, under fire at the San Siro since a Champions League loss to Sporting Lisbon and a home draw against Sampdoria, sprung a few surprises with his lineup. For starters, Luis Figo and Adriano were not. Javi Zanetti moved from right-back to a position on the center-left of midfield to replace the injured Cambiasso and let Maicon occupy the right-back spot. To the right of Zanetti was Dacourt and on his right was Vieira, playing a wider role than normal. As opposed to last year's 4-4-2, Mancini appears to have adopted a 4-3-1-2 approach. Figo usually plays in the hole behind the strikers, but Dejan Stankovic got the nod instead. Up front, Ibra and Crespo continued their fearsome partnership. It was an unusual lineup for sure, especially with two midfielders (Zanetti and Vieira) playing out of position and to superstars (Figo and Adriano) riding the pine.

Across the pitch, Luciano Spalletti fielded a Roma side near full-strength, save for the injured Taddei. As Roma is opt to do, Spalletti didn't field any true strikers. Any offensive firepower would have to come from Totti, Pizarro, Aquilani, and Mancini (no relation). It wasn't until Mancini hobbled off hurt that Spalletti had to field a true #9: Montella.

Despite the poor form of Inter and Roma's home-field advantage in front of a 65,000 crowd at the Olympic Stadium, the Giallorossi were dominated from start to finish. Inter looked fantastic, with Dacourt putting in an assured performance at defensive mid against his former team and Zanetti and Vieira always active on the flanks. Up front, Crespo and Ibra were as good as advertised. Around the 25-minute mark, Crespo made a run into the box from the left wing, faked a move to his right, and then cut back towards the end-line leaving De Rossi for dead. The Argentinian elected to cut the ball back across the face of goal, but no one could get on the other end of it to finish it. About 20 minutes later, it was deja vu all over again for the Nerazzurri. Crespo burst in from the left and this time his victim would be Mexes, normally an excellent defender. Crespo made the exact same Ronaldinho-style move, faking to the right but then almost toe-poking the ball back to the left. This time, he elected to shoot, blasting the ball through Doni's legs for a 1-0 Inter lead. It was as good a goal as Crespo has scored since last year's opening day strike for Chelsea against Wigan.

On the other side of halftime, the onslaught continued. Ibra won a penalty after Mexes hauled him down, the latest incident in a rough outing for the young Frenchman. Fortunately for him, Ibra's weak effort was saved by Doni. Still, one never got the feeling that Roma could really steal the points in this one. A Totti free-kick in the first half, saved by Julio Cesar, was their best chance. Mancini bolstered the defense by subbing in Walter Samuel, another former Roma man, but he need not have worried.

It was all over bar the shouting and by that I mean the diatribe that Vieira let loose at the referee after earning a well-deserved second yellow card. It was the second red card for Vieira after his expulsion in the loss to Sporting; to make matters worse, he was later hit with a three-match ban by the Italian federation for using abusive language. Without Vieira and Cambiasso, Mancini will really need to call on the depth of his massive Inter squad in the coming month. Still, that's why we picked them to win it all. And, on the heels of such an impressive display in Rome, preceeded by another huge away win on opening day against Fiorentina, no one should be hitting the panic button at the San Siro anytime soon.

World Soccer Blogger Top 20

2006-09-22T11:08:00.000-05:00

Easiest team to rank: Barca. Best team in the world. Period. End of story.

Even though I must admit that I don't really see the point to worldwide soccer rankings, a lot of other columnists and websites indulge in this little game, so I figured I'd throw in my two cents. The reason it seems like a futile activity is because of the subjectivity of it all - are you rating the teams based on reality or hypotheticals, ie. what happens on the field or what you would imagine would happen on the field if they ever played? For example, who's to say how Boca would fare against Hertha Berlin? The former leads the Argentine Apertura and the latter is in first place in the Bundesliga. Although few would argue that the Bundesliga is a far superior league to the Apertura, I've got Boca ahead of Hertha simply because they seem like a stronger team from what I've seen of them thus far. If they were to play on a neutral field, I'd pick Boca to win. It is simply a guess. Then again, I've got Lyon ranked 3rd after their demolition of Real Madrid, who sit 10th, so that is a ranking based on an actual performance. If the teams were to play 10 times on a neutral field, though, I'd guess that Real Madrid would win a few games, they would draw a few games, and Lyon would win a few games. In that sense, based on a hypothetical situation, I'd have the two teams ranked much closer together. Plus, how can you reflect factors like league schedules? When Lyon won 2-0 last week, the French side had already had a full month more of practice than Real - that was absolutely a factor. How much of these rankings is about real games? And how much about predictions? The bottom line is, when it comes to rankings, all columnists, from the ones who vote on the AP College Football Top 25 to the ones who rate the NFL's best teams, do so using their own formula - to each his own. What all this means is that although I don't really see the point in these rankings, it's clear that readers enjoy them. They're a source of constant debate, as well as interesting discussions about not only the quality of specific teams, but leagues in general. If for no other reason than that, here is the first edition of WSB's Top 20. Assuming you readers are interested, we'll make a monthly habit of this. So here you go, installment numero uno:

1. Barcelona (just when Barca couldn't be any more likable, they're now sponsored by Unicef - I mean, enough already)
2. Chelsea
3. Lyon
4. Inter
5. Arsenal (the more desperate team usually wins - last week, Arsenal was just more desperate than ManU)
6. ManU
7. Liverpool (Xabi Alonso = brilliant)
8. Milan (Seedorf's free kick last week was a thing of beauty - why is he not on the Dutch team?)
9. Valencia (must-see TV: los Ches play Barca on Sunday at the Camp Nou)
10. Sevilla (watch out, folks, these guys are for real)
11. Real Madrid (another poor display in a 2-0 win over Sociedad - up next: Betis away - yikes)
12. Bayern (from bad to worse: shocking loss to Arminia Bielefeld and Hargraves is out for six weeks)
13. Roma
14. Boca (can Lavolpe keep los Xeneixes in first now that Basile has moved on to la Seleccion?)
15. Marseille (with Cisse back next month, could these guys really challenge Lyon?)
16. Sao Paolo
17. Hertha Berlin
18. Porto
19. PSV (their Champions League game vs L'pool was the worst game of the year thus far)
20. Ajax

On the bubble: River Plate, Benfica, DC United

A Premiership Safari: Africans On Form In England

2006-09-19T13:45:00.000-05:00

Andriy who? Drogba celebrates his wonder strike. Elsewhere, Adebayor, Lua Lua, & Martins do the same.

Quite the showdown weekend in England. The four best teams in the land, although the standings say otherwise, squared off. Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez got to renew hostilities as Liverpool travelled to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea. Up north, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger did likewise at Old Trafford as Man Utd hosted Arsenal. There's no love lost between any of these four coaches, but something tells me that there is a healthy amount of respect. The latter two have been at it for years, but recently Mourinho and Benitez have bagged the Premiership and Champions League titles, respectively. And when the four giants of English footie do battle on the pitch, the games rarely disappoint.

This weekend was no exception. The doubleheader treated us to the goal and the save of the season thus far. The former came in London. When the Blues take on the Reds, their games always seem to be settled by one play here or there. It's a testament to the quality of the players and the tactics of the coaches that all of the talent on offer seems to cancel itself out. Case in point: it was literally a matter of inches when Luis Garcia's ball may or may not have crossed the goalline in 2005's Champions League semifinal at Anfield, giving Liverpool a 1-0 aggregate win and a trip to the title match in Istanbul. This time around, it was no different. One single play proved to be enough to decide matters at the Bridge: Didier Drogba's brilliance was all the Blues needed to win by the minimum. Standing outside the 18-yard box, the Ivory Coast striker, far and away more effective than new boy Sheva so far this year, trapped the ball beautifully on his chest and, in one glorious motion, swung around and rocketed the ball past a stunned Reina in the net. Game, set, and match, save a few fireworks when Ballack stomped on Sissoko. Stevie G should have equalized later on, but he smacked it straight at Cech, who knew nothing about it. After their poor start to the season, it was an away win over a close rival already running away from them in the standings that Liverpool sorely needed but couldn't get. Arsenal, in a similar predicament heading into an inferno at Old Trafford, had better luck.

Say what you want about Portsmouth's stunning start, but the team of the season thus far has been the Red Devils. Even without the services of two of their best players, Wayne Rooney and Gabriel Heinze, they've been fantastic. Some idiots picked them to finish as low as fourth this season, but who's laughing now? Arsenal, on the other hand, have looked a shadow of the team that they theoretically should be. With the likes of Fabregas, Gallas, Rosicky, Baptista, Van Persie, Gilberto, Toure and Henry, it is almost inconceivable that the Gunners have been reduced to draws and losses against mid-table sides like Middlesborough, Man City, and Aston Villa. Worst of all, there would be no Henry at Old Trafford. The Frenchman was out injured. Not that they needed another problem, but Henry's counterpart for the hosts, Rooney, was back from suspension. After Gilberto blew a penalty and Scholes cleared the ball off the line in the first 15 minutes, one wondered if Arsenal hadn't squandered their opportunities. It was a pulsating encounter, both teams attacking relentlessly throughout the opening half, roared on by a capacity crowd of 75,000 eager to see the hosts hammer the final nail into the coffin of one of their most hated rivals. Wenger's boys, though, would not go quietly. Their central midfield of Gilberto, Fabregas, and Rosicky appeared more lively than their counterparts of O'Shea, Fletcher and Scholes. Rooney was clearly off-form up front, leaving Saha to go it alone for most of the game. Ronaldo was active on the wings, but was never able to play the final ball or finish the attacks as well as he could have or should have. Across the pitch, the new Kanu, Adebayor, was not having much better luck against Ferdinand and Brown. The match was scoreless as it headed into its final 10 minutes, despite some very shaky goalkeeping from Van der Sar's sub Kucscak and the clinically insane Lehmann (I can't wait for the day when someone just clocks him for one of these nutty, unsportsmanlike stunts he pulls - it's a wonder that O'Shea didn't leave him on his arse like some drunk hooligan on the wrong end of a donnybrook at a Dublin bar). It was then that, as in the Chelsea-Liverpool game, an African striker finally put the bulge in de ole onion bag. Fabregas, man of the match in my mind, stole the ball off Ronaldo, scooted by a few ManU defenders, and slipped a wonderfully delicate through-ball through to Adebayor. The pass was weighted perfectly, soft enough to suck Kucscak out of his goal but not too hard so that the keeper would have a play on it. The Togo striker finished it with aplomb: 1-0 to the Arsenal. At the other end, Lehmann managed to keep his head straight long enough to make a stunning fingertip save on Solskjaer, denying the Gunnar a tying goal against the Gunners. And so the goal from Adebayor held up, giving Arsenal a surprising upset, but one that keeps them in the race for the title and keeps ManU from getting even further away from the pack.

And after the opening month, who's your Premiership leader? Portsmouth, believe it or not. It turns out that the boys from the south coast can play, but the real secret to their success must be that they've got the flavor of the month when it comes to in-form forwards. Who's been leading the line for Harry Redknapp's squad? It's two African strikers: the real Kanu & the wonderfully named Lomana Tresor Lua Lua - the Nigerian has bagged four goals thus far and the Congo frontman scored the game's only goal against Charlton. And, stop me if you've heard this one before, but who got the winner in the Monday night game? You guessed it, Newcastle's young Nigerian, Obafemi Martins. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go watch the highlights of Barcelona's dismantling of Racing: Cameroon's Samuel Etoo looks awfully dangerous up front...

Euro Trip: The Week That Was

2006-09-13T16:48:00.000-05:00

Real's Cannavaro after the 2-0 loss in Lyon. At least they gave him a jersey as a parting gift, but jockstrap not included.

There's a lot to like about European soccer, not the least of which is the sheer number of can't-miss games. For starters, you've got at least four top-notch leagues to choose from, including England's Premiership, Spain's Primera Liga, Italy's Serie A, and Germany's Bundesliga. The other leagues all have their own big-time match-ups, such as France's Olympique vs PSG, Portugal's Porto vs Benfica, Holland's Ajax vs PSV, and Scotland's Old Firm derby. By the time you throw in all of the Champions League and UEFA Cup games in mid-week and the soccer world really never stops spinning. I've never been a fan of this over-packed calendar, since it drains the players, worsens the quality of play, and creates endless conflicts between club teams and national selections. Still, how much can any fan complain about such a plethora of games to watch? Week-end or week-day, there are simply a smorgasborg of games, all of them involving world-class superstars and breathless soccer action. Speaking of which, here is a brief week in review.

The weekend got off to a bang with a cracker of a game between Inter and Fiorentina. The Serie A curtain-raiser looked to be turning into a snoozer when the Nerazzurri went up 3-0 thanks to two goals from Cambiasso (gee, you think Real Madrid could use him now?) and another from Ibrahimovic. However, as they did against Roma in the Italian Supercup, Inter got a bit too full of themselves, never a good idea with Luca Toni attacking your goal. Suddenly it was 3-2 and Mancini's boys had a nail-biting finish on their hands. Inter hung on for the three points, but trouble was brewing. Adriano, who rode the pine in Florence, will not stay quiet for long - we all know his relationship with Mancini makes William Gallas & Jose Mourinho seem like best friends. A midfield of Vieira, Dacourt, and Cambiasso - all starters in the Fiorentina game - seems a bit on the defensive side to me. And sorry, but Francesco Toldo and Julio Cesar might make for good competition for the keeper's gloves, but in a mediocre, who-makes-fewer-than-five-mistakes-a-game type of way. The other big Italian match saw Milan sneak by Lazio 2-1. Juve, you ask? Who dey?

Across the Mediterranean in Spain, the real prime-time game on Saturday saw Valencia travel down to take on Atletico by the banks of the Manzanares river in Madrid. Atletico, a la the Washington Redskins, stole all the offseason headlines and fared well in preseason predictions, but have now, per usual, flattered to deceive. In the Calderon stadium, Villa bagged an early goal off a beautiful feed from Vicente (a heck of a partnership for Luis Aragones to call on at some point, but he doesn't need my advice; the guy's only resigned twice in the last two months - he needs a career counselor). Atletico fought hard for the equalizer, but their star striker El Nino Torres acted like just that and got himself sent off for dissent. Sure, the ref (our favorite: Medina Cantalejo) once again acted petty and short-sighted, but players in Spain should expect nothing less from him by now. Torres barely made contact with Valencia's keeper Canizares, who went down like he'd been stabbed, and Torres got his first yellow, then protested, earning a second one and an early trip to the showers. What is it that makes star strikers a bunch of prima donnas? From Torres to Bellamy, Rooney to Etoo, Adriano to Drogba, these guys are all headcases. It must be the same phenomenon that makes most of the successful NFL wide receivers completely insane. Let me be the first to say that there is some sort of correlation there, as well as the first to say I don't know what exactly that is. Someone with more time can figure it out.

In England, ManU continued their fantastic start against Spurs, Chelsea kept pace with a win over Charlton, Arsenal were underwhelming again - this time in a draw with Middlesborough, and Liverpool fell to a nasty Merseyside defeat at the hands of Everton. It's far too early to tell, but we could be in for a very interesting Premiership if the Red Devils continue their torrid start. On Wednesday in the Champions League, ManU lined up against Celtic in the Battle of Britain. Um, not really. The Scottish Premier League is so far inferior to the English Premiership that I would venture to say that there's a smaller gap between Triple-AAA baseball and the major leagues, but I digress. At Old Trafford, Celtic grabbed a shock lead thanks to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, far & away the owner of the best name in the game. After that, though, the Thomas Gravesen Horror Show began and ManU strolled to a 3-2 win. I'm all for excusing Gravesen's unhappy stay at Real on the grounds of the Spaniards playing him out of position (he's an offensive midfielder, not a destroyer), but he was atrocious all night - no fewer than two goals came directly from his turnovers. Yikes. Elsewhere in Europe, Barca picked up where they left off, cruising to a 5-0 romp over some no-names from Bulgaria or Macedonia or somewhere, Chelsea were efficient if unimpressive in a win over Werder Bremen, and Bayern Munich and AC Milan enjoyed easy wins over Spartak Moscow and AEK Athens respectively.

The shocks of the mid-week action involved two teams that made so much news this summer but have hardly looked unbeatable in this young new season. First, Inter lost 1-0 to Sporting Lisbon in Luis Figo's homecoming. Patrick Vieira got himself sent off (shocking!) and Adriano looked disinterested and far from his best. How long 'til they start sharpening the knives for Mancini at the San Siro? Watch this space. Then, on Wednesday, it was deja vu all over again for Real Madrid, falling 2-0 away to Olympique Lyon. Seriously, who produces more talent year after year than Lyon? Maybe Sevilla? Maybe Roma? Arsenal? If I'm leading a European club - and God-willing I will be someday (I mean, don't a lot of club presidents start off as bloggers?) - then the first signings I make won't be players, but rather the top scouts from those clubs. I don't know who they are or how they do it, but damn they're good. Against Real, Lyon played the way a great team should: fast, full of movement, letting the ball do the work, always looking to attack with speed, well-positioned in the field, cutting down space and time in defense, and never relinquishing control of the game. In summary, it was an exhibition. Sure, Real has lots of excuses for the defeat: Lyon is a finished product, a team that's been playing together for years, whereas Real is still full of new players who need to gel into a solid unit; Lyon's season started much earlier than Real's, so they're in better shape; and Lyon is one of the best teams in Europe, a clear contender for the Champions League title (remember, they had Milan beat & were all set to face Barca in the semis last year before two late, late Rossoneri goals). But still, I've seen Real three times this year: three games - one win, one loss, and one draw. And at no time have they ever looked any different from last year: slow, predictable, short on passion and creativity... the list goes on and on. Capello, with a resume like his, deserves time to sort this one out, but he needs to start making changes fast. Raul hasn't done a damn thing in three years. He is d-u-n done. Beckham can still play, but he's better at this point in his career as a central midfielder than a right winger. Sergio Ramos will be a top-notch defender someday, but for now he is still learning how to play centerback. Roberto Carlos is a shadow of what he was. And Emerson and Diarra sharing a midfield is redundant - they're far too similar. What Capello needs to do is inject some creativity, speed, and vision into his line-up. In other words, fresh talent like Robinho, Reyes, and Guti. This team is crying out for it right now. Everyone knows it, but as has been the case with Real for the past few years, it's damn near impossible to leave the likes of Raul and Becks on the bench. There is no shortage of talent there, except for maybe at the centerback spot (Cannavaro, Ramos, Pavon, and Mejia makes for an odd mix of veteran leadership and youthful inexperience), so it should only be a matter of time before Capello inserts Robinho, Reyes, and Guti for Raul, Beckham, and Emerson. Then again, this is Capello, who was successful at Juve because he got the most out of aging stars like Nedved, Del Piero, Vieira, Trezeguet, and Thuram. Maybe it's time Capello placed a call to the refs. I hear they're available...for a price. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go get some rest: there's another soccer-filled weekend right around the corner. Damn, I love this game.

To all, um, 12 of my loyal readers:

2006-09-08T15:04:00.000-05:00

I would hate to see you miss out on any of the posts here at WSB (especially ones that are 18,000 words long and took hours to write), so don't miss the Italy Serie A preview posted today. Since I started writing it last week (look, I'm a slow typist...um, typer...oh, nevermind), it is posted under the date of Tuesday, August 29, so scroll down or click here...and enjoy.

Hope everyone enjoyed the flurry of national team action, even though it's hard to get too excited about it so soon after the World Cup. All the same, Brazil thrashing Argentina was entertaining and that Northern Ireland win over Spain was an absolute stunner. Oh, and a World Cup final rematch is always worth watching, too, but to say that France exacted some revenge for their loss in Berlin is simply ludicrous. For now, though, it's back to domestic action, starting this weekend with some intriguing fixtures all over Europe. Italy kicks off Serie A with Inter-Fiorentina and Milan-Lazio. In England, it'll be another heated Merseyside derby and ManU-Spurs. And down in Spain, Atletico-Valencia should be a dandy. Check back here next week for a full recap.

London Calling

2006-09-03T15:57:00.000-05:00

Coming soon to a London pitch near you: Tevez, with Mascherano in tow, moves to West Ham. Huh?

In a shocking move on the final day of this summer's transfer period, Argentinian duo Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano moved to West Ham. While most expected the pair to leave the mess of a club that is Corinthians, most believed that one of the Premiership giants like Chelsea, Manchester United, or Liverpool would be their destination. No one - and I mean, not a soul - ever imagined that a mid-level, relegation-threatened club like West Ham would be the lucky team to snatch Tevez and Mascherano. To call it a massive coup for the Hammers is an understatement - imagine Ichiro Suzuki opting to sign for the Cleveland Indians instead of the Yankees. It is a move that is so surprising that many people in the soccer world have already started to question how exactly this could have happened. The answer seems to stem from a mysterious takeover of Corinthians a few years ago and a possible takeover of West Ham in the near future. In 2003, a firm called Media Sports Investments (MSI) purchased the giant Brazilian club and immediately invested heavily in new players; Tevez and Mascherano soon helped them win the Brazilian league title. Almost just as quickly, the immediate success and sky-high expectations sent the club into turmoil. No one really knew what to think of MSI or their leader, Kia Joorabchian, who seemed to spend an awful lot of time in England for the head man of a struggling Brazilian squad. In stepped new coach Emerson Leao, who promptly stripped Tevez of the captaincy (a move that only worsened the tense situation, already a dicey one when Tevez ripped Corinthians fans in the press and bolted to Buenos Aires). And next thing you know, Tevez and Mascherano are in London signing for the Hammers, amidst speculation that MSI is about to purchase a large stake in West Ham. Whatever the case may be, West Ham stole all the headlines on deadline day and will surely be a force to be reckoned with this year, Corinthians lost its two best players, and an already murky situation just became a lot more mysterious. The thot plickens.

Across town, Arsenal snatched a duo that might even be better than Tevez and Mascherano. And all it cost them were two disgruntled players. In what amounts to a trade (a rarity in the soccer world), the Gunners acquired Julio Baptista from Real Madrid and Wiliam Gallas from Chelsea in exchange for left winger Jose Antonio Reyes and left back Ashley Cole. There is petty crime and then there is highway robbery - this deal falls under the latter category. Reyes, for all his promise, has never developed the way that, say, another Iberian wunderkind Cristiano Ronaldo has at ManU. Cole, albeit one of the best left backs in the world when healthy, has had far too many injury battles for someone with his pricetag. Remember that Arsenal made it to the Champions League final last year without Reyes and Cole doing much of anything. In steps Baptista, a massive talent and, at 24, a player who will only get better. After scoring bags of goals with Sevilla, he moved to Real Madrid who promptly tried to make him into a midfielder. Huh? Halfway through the season, seeing that the round-peg-in-a-square-hole approach wasn't working (see Gravesen, Thomas), los Blancos moved Baptista up front again, where he resumed tormenting defenses with his lethal combination of strength and skill. At the back, Gallas is no less than one of the top 10 centerbacks in the world. And he's 28, about to enter the prime of his career. Ultimately, not only did Arsene Wenger secure the services of two of the best players in the world, two youngsters who are just starting to play their best footie, but he did so without spending a dime (in fact, Chelski paid to get Cole) and even managed to solve two problems in the process. Another coup for Arsenal - with Rosicky, Baptista, and Gallas, the Gunners have to top any list of best off-season moves.

So it was only fitting that on Sunday in London, in Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium, Tevez and Mascherano donned the white & blue strip of Argentina to do battle with Julio Baptista, wearing the yellow of Brazil. Even though it was only a friendly and both teams are still recovering from their World Cup hangovers, any time Argentina and Brazil are on the same pitch the word "friendly" really doesn't apply. Unfortunately, Baptista started on the bench for the Canarinha, but Tevez and Mascherano were in the initial 11 for the Albiceleste. Despite the absences of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, and Adriano (or maybe because of...?), Brazil were simply unstoppable. Argentina, even with Riquelme and Messi up front and the likes of Milito and Coloccini in the back, were unable to cope with some inspired Brazilian attacking. Robinho had an off night, but fantastic performances from Fred and Elano and Carvalho were more than enough to ensure a Brazilian victory. In fact it was another Gunner, midfield destroyer Gilberto Silva, who kept Riquelme under wraps and freed his more attack-minded teammates to dissect the Argentine backline. Tevez fought hard, but ineffectively. Messi was almost anonymous. Riquelme had one of those quiet nights that make you wonder if an Argentinian coach might want to shoot a lit firecracker up his rear end. When Kaka came on as a sub (hard to imagine), he wasted little time before smashing the third goal past Abbondazieri to make the final score 3-0 to Brazil. It was a game that made one miss the wonderful summer days of the World Cup, when Argentina was delighting fans with one amazing performance after another, when teams like Brazil and Italy were on TV every other day, and when every soccer fan got to spend a month in heaven. But hey, all is not lost - leagues in Spain, England, and Germany have already started up, Italy's Serie A starts next week, and the Champions League is just around the corner. And oh yeah, on Wednesday in Paris, it's Italy vs France, part deux. Life is good.

Italy: 2006-2007 Serie A Preview

2006-08-29T17:26:00.000-05:00

A sign of things to come: Zanetti & Inter beat Roma to the title - well, the Supercopa title that is.

So last night I sat down, cappucino and tiramisu at my side for added inspiration (and energy), to write this year's Serie A preview, and sat there stumped, unable to type much of anything for hours. I mean, what can you say about this summer's soccer news in Italy? Did anything happen? Were there any signings? Any controversies? Anything? Well, no news is good news, I guess. Barring any last-minute changes, here's my top five: Juventus, Milan, Inter, Fiorentina, and Lazio. Pretty much the same as last year. Good luck trying to argue that.

All kidding aside, where do you start a preview of Serie A? The biggest club in the country is in Serie B now and must overcome a 17-point penalty just to make it back to the big leagues. The second-biggest club in the country is still in Serie A but has its own 8-point penalty to deal with. One of the feel-good teams of last year also has a point penalty, not to mention a star striker that spent half the summer trying to leave. Even the Azzurri's World Cup win proved less enjoyable and harder to understand than it should have: after De Rossi's first-round elbow, the controversial win over Australia, and Materazzi's foul play in the final, was anyone outside of the Boot really all that happy to see the Italians win it all? And how was it that a team loaded with talents like Luca Toni, Alex Del Piero, Filippo Inzaghi, Alberto Gilardino and Andrea Pirlo only put together one truly impressive performance (the 2-0 semifinal win over Germany)? Maybe the answer is a testament to the shocking indictment of Italian soccer that is the Serie A scandal. Even though it proved to be a galvanizing boost for the national team in the World Cup and no punishments were handed out until a week after the final in Berlin, the scandal seemed to overshadow everything.

For many years now, Italian soccer has been viewed with more than a healthy dose of suspicion - when a country has a history of corruption like Italy's, it's not hard to understand why, but most of the skepticism also stemmed from the clearly preferential treatment enjoyed by leading clubs Juventus and AC Milan. Some chalked this bias down to the fact that both clubs were Northern powers - Italy has long been a country with a deep-rooted North/South rivalry; but one need look no further than the highly dubious calls that went against AC Milan's city rivals Internazionale to realize that this was no regional issue. And as it was revealed in a court of law this summer, it wasn't: Juve and Milan had been part of a group of teams that was wielding far too much power over referees, from which referees handled which games to what calls these referees made in said games. The aforementioned Lazio and Fiorentina were also implicated. When all four clubs were hit with harsh punishments, count me among the many who were surprised that justice had been served. But not so fast - all four clubs appealed and all four had their punishments reduced. Despite promises to the contrary, Juve's board members were in fact not all willing to accept their demotion to Serie B, so the appeals process went on. And on. And on. And around the world, soccer fans watched in horror as one of the world's greatest soccer leagues had turned into a farcical circus of lawyers, board members, and state tribunals. Somehow, after all the damage done by the initial proceedings, the guilty parties managed to make matters worse by continuing to deny, deny, deny...appeal, appeal, appeal. So here we are, in the last days of August, still two weeks away from the kick-off of this season's Calcio. And how can one possibly predict it all, what with the corruption of past years and this year's point penalties? Damned if I know, so here goes nothing:

For starters, the team on the wrong end of so many calls in recent years, Inter, now finds itself as the defending champion (despite finishing last year 15 points behind Juve and 12 behind Milan). Moreover, no team in Europe (not even Chelski or Real) managed to spend more than Inter this summer. For a little added salt on the proverbial wounds, they raided the Old Lady for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrick Vieira. Massimo Moratti also signed Maxwell from Ajax, Maicon from Monaco, Fabio Grosso from Palermo, Olivier Dacourt from Roma and, from Chelsea, they got Hernan Crespo to complete the most outrageous group of strikers in recent memory: along with Ibra and Crespo, the Nerazzurri already have the likes of Adriano, Julio Cruz, and Alvaro Recoba. All of this meant that Inter themselves had to offload some talented youngsters, such as Obafemi Martins (to Newcastle) and David Pizarro (Roma). The question on everyone's minds is not if Inter have enough talent to, um, repeat as champions, but if they (specifically, coach Roberto Mancini) can mold such a bloated, ego-laden group of superstars into a coherent unit capable of equalling the sum of its parts. With an eight-point cushion to work with, they should be okay. Plus, the refs won't be conspiring against them for once. Still, if there's one team that could find a way to blow this, it's Inter. And if they do, God help them - but this has to be the first time in a long time that a team is almost in a no-win situation to start the season. If they win, then all of their rivals will claim that the season should always have an asterisk next to it. If they lose, well, let's just say that there could be dead bodies all over the San Siro & I wouldn't be surprised. They could be the first team to win back-to-back Serie A titles and not really get any credit or respect for them. Ahh, Inter - gotta love em.

Across town, AC Milan have done nothing, absolutely positively nothing, to inspire confidence. They lost their best player, Shevchenko, to Chelsea and replaced him with...Ricardo Oliveira?!? This guy is a Brazilian who managed to convince his former club Real Betis to let him go rehab from an injury in Brazil in the hope that he might be able to get fit in time to impress the national team coach to call him up for the World Cup. And when it comes time to go back to Betis this summer, what does he do? He bails on them, refuses to return to Spain, and then demands a transfer. Class act, that Oliveira. Other than him, the Rossoneri have signed a promising French kid, Yohan Gourcuff, and that's about it. Combine the fact that this is a thin, aging squad with an 8-point deficit and all in all, Milan will be fine with just securing a Champions League spot for next year and putting this whole fiasco behind them. With Kaka and Pirlo and Nesta still sporting the red and black, Milan should be able to do just that.

Outside the San Siro, there's just not much to be excited about. A lot of cavernous, empty stadiums, flare-throwing fans, and defensive-oriented catenaccio doesn't exactly get me fired up to watch some footie on weekend afternoons. Maybe the only other reason to pay attention to Serie A this year is a really good youth movement going on down at Roma. A la Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla, Roma have opted to bring in the best youngsters around and this approach is starting to pay off. This summer, the Giallorossi have brought in the aforementioned Chilean, Pizarro, and Serb striker Mirko Vucinic. These two should bring more offensive firepower to a side that already has Francesco Totti, Roberto Taddei, Vincenzo Montella, Daniele De Rossi and Mancini; at the back, Christian Chivu and Phillippe Mexes give the Romans one of the best defensive partnerships in the world. If there is any squad that can legitimately challenge Inter and Milan this year, it's Roma. And when all is said and done, that's exactly what they'll do, but look for Inter to have too much depth and experience to let this Scudetto slip away.

1. Inter
2. Roma (good to see Diadora is still churning out quality unis, from here to Scotland)
3. Milan
4. Parma (this year's Cinderella story)
5. Udinese
6. Palermo (a solid season last year, plus a great, intimidating stadium to call home)
7. Sampdoria
8. Chievo
9. Fiorentina (keeping Toni was huge)
10. Lazio (you know how we feel about sky-blue unis here at WSB)

Off & Running in Espana

2006-08-29T13:30:00.000-05:00

Man of the Hour: Joaquin shows off his skills in Valencia. His former team, Albacete, had no comment.

An eventful start to la Liga, complete with a champion in crisis, a heated local derby, and a debut down in the Bernabeu. Most newsworthy, though, was the league opener - a dandy of a match-up between Valencia and Betis in Mestalla - that was completely overshadowed by the impending transfer of Betis's favorite son, Joaquin. Only in Spain, some might say. The beloved winger had declared a week earlier that his days in Sevilla had come to an end. Despite the fact that top clubs such as Chelsea, Real Madrid, and Milan had all expressed an interest in the right-winger, no one's interest was as serious as Valencia's. Still, Betis would not let them close the deal, either as a sly time-wasting tactic to keep their poster boy from debuting against them in the season opener or in an effort to hold out for more Euros. Either way, the saga soon turned farcical; the day before the match, Betis management took the shocking decision to agree to loan Joaquin to Albacete, one of la Liga's lesser-known teams. Joaquin, in fact, went so far as to turn up in Albacete for his presentation. Of course, Betis then took Joaquin back from Albacete, the loan deal apparently having only been good for an hour or two. Then, the night of the Valencia game, the Betis president summoned Joaquin to a midnight meeting with representatives of Olympique Lyon. Just when all hell seemed to be breaking lose, Valencia finally announced that they had agreed to purchase Joaquin for 25 million Euros, the second most expensive transfer of the Spanish summer. And oh yeah, Valencia beat Betis 2-1.

The next game to kick off was the Basque derby, an always frenetic affair pitting Athletic Bilbao against Real Sociedad. Whatever you think of Athletic, you must respect the amazing fact that they have managed to survive in the top flight decade after decade while strictly adhering to a policy of fielding only Basque-born players. Imagine how long Green Bay would last in the NFL with an only Wisconsin-born squad. Their opponents from San Sebastian have their own policy, albeit a rather less risky one that permits them to play only players from the Basque country or the rest of the world, but no Spaniards. The match in Bilbao's ancient and glorious stadium San Mames, known as "El Catedral", was hardly a feast of quality football, but it came to life in minute 36 when the linesman shockingly called a penalty for Athletic. The Sociedad players were appalled, justifiably so when replays clearly showed that the ball had in fact hit the outstreched arm of a Bilbao player. Next time, before calling a penalty, the linesman might want to take note of the fact that Sociedad players were the only ones who cried foul after the play, while all the Bilbao players turned to run back downfield. Of course, the linesman can also chalk his error down to the fact that both teams wore striped uniforms, the hosts in red & white and the visitors in blue & white. Maybe the poor chap is colorblind, but it didn't matter to Bilbao, who scored the penalty but, after hanging on for most of the second half, were stunned by a late Sociedad equalizer. Justice was served: 1-1 it finished and the only loser on the day was the error-prone linesman.

Another refereeing error reared its ugly head in Barca's match against Celta. The defending champs, devoid of their star Ronaldinho, entered the game as a team in crisis, despite their fully-stocked trophy case. Last week, striker Samuel Etoo, unhappy at being substituted at halftime, stormed out of the stadium in Barca's Supercopa win over Espanyol and just a few days later, the Blaugrana were at the wrong end of a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of UEFA Cup champ Sevilla in the European Supercup. It was clear that there were problems both on and off the field for Barca. At the intermission, the problems looked set to continue: a goal from Celta striker Baiano had given the sky-blues an undeserved 1-0 lead in the Balaidos stadium. Well, whatever Frank Rijkaard said at halftime clearly worked. Of course, his team - as they did last year, too - got some help from the refs; this time the man in the middle failed to call Barca's Ludovic Giuly for offside, despite his clearly interfering with play and obstructing a Celta defender from stopping Samuel Etoo from scoring the equalizer. The shootout was on: another Barca goal, this time by Messi, was matched by Celta tying it again thanks to , setting the scene for new boy Eidur "Albino" Gudjohnsen scoring the winner just three minutes from time. So much for the crisis at the Camp Nou - Barca put any of that talk to rest with a scintillating second-half, full of the inventive midfield play and inspired attacking that made them so hard to beat and so fun to watch last season. And to think that Ronaldinho never even had to bother to lace up his boots...

Barca's main competition this year will surely come from their arch-rivals Real Madrid, despite evidence to the contrary this weekend in the Bernabue. On Fabio Capello's debut, his new team put forth exactly the type of performance that everyone expected...and everyone feared. A staunch defense, minimal attacking, and ultimately a drab 0-0 draw with Villareal. Blah blah blah - as Villareal's Italian Alessio Tacchinardi pointed out, that type of play might work in the catenaccio-crazed Serie A, but not in la Liga, where winning is nice, but "jogo bonito" is imperative. To be fair, though, Capello is caught in a catch-22: everyone agrees that Real's problem in recent years has been a lack of defensive skill to match its offensive firepower - you're just not going to win much of anything with the likes of Thomas Gravesen, Pablo Garcia, Francisco Pavon, Ivan Helguera, and Alvaro Mejia at the back, but no one really gets too excited about the signings of Fabio Cannavaro, Emerson, and and Mahamadou Diarra. Hopefully for fans of los Merengues (not the dessert, dummy), Capello will find a happy medium and all of his defensive acquisitions will give his attackers the chance to push forward with confidence. It's hard to imagine that even a coach with the defensive demands of Capello could put the brakes on an attack that boasts of Ronaldo, Raul, Robinho, Julio Baptista, Antonio Cassano and Guti, but tell that to the Madrileno fans that witnessed the scoreless snoozefest on Sunday. Ronaldo's out injured, Baptista never made it off the bench, and Robinho and Guti were only sent into the fray with half an hour to play. Cassano put in another good performance that testifies to his resurgence under his countryman Capello, Raul looked lively on the left wing, and Beckham put in another combative but not-so-effective on the right, but for the most part Van Nistelrooy was on his own up front and, despite the defense never looking too troubled, it was not an afternoon to remember at the Bernabeu. One game in the books and already the fans are restless in Madrid - when they're already two points behind Barca, not to mention cross-town rivals Atletico (1-0 winners at Racing Santander), it's easy to understand why.

Unfortunately, thanks to the brilliant schedule-makers at FIFA, no sooner have things gotten started when la Liga will take a two-week break for international play (and three days of last-minute transfer manuveurings). But don't despair yet - a World Cup final rematch, sans Zidane & Materazzi of course, is set for next week, with an Argentina-Brazil friendly in London a pretty intriguing appetizer. Buen provecho!

You hear that?

2006-08-26T10:49:00.000-05:00

Barcelona's extra-terrestrials try to figure out how the hell they just got shellacked by a team of mere earthlings.

That thud you just heard off in the distance was the sound of the two top teams in Europe crashing back down to Earth in the first weeks of this young season. Barcelona, back-to-back la Liga champs and reigning Champions League title-holders, and Chelsea, back-to-back kings of the Premiership, have already been rudely reminded that their successes of yesteryear are no guarantee to expect more of the same this year. Not to mention, the consensus predictions of more trophies to come will not exactly instill the humility necessary to get the squads working hard. Frank Rijkaard and Jose Mourinho, the respective coaches of Barca and Chelski, have already gone on record as suggesting some humble pie for their star-studded squads. Still, the best recipe for humility is a loss and both teams have already suffered setbacks. Barca, in fact, have already tasted the nasty sting of defeat even though la Liga doesn't start until this weekend - on Thursday, Barca's stars raked in one UEFA award after another for their performances last year; on Friday, the Blaugrana went down 0-3 to fellow Spanish side Sevilla in the European Supercup, the annual match-up of Champions League and UEFA Cup winners. Up in England, the Blues, having already lost to Liverpool in the Charity Shield, contrived to do the unthinkable: blow a one-goal lead (in the past a surefire victory for Mourinho's boys) late in the game and fall 1-2 at the hands of Middlesborough, a mid-table team if ever there was one. Of course, it's still only August and there is no guarantee that these setbacks are an early taste of things to come (after all, both Barca and Chelsea won over the weekend, the former coming from behind to beat Celta 3-2 and the latter downing Blackburn 2-0), but maybe, just maybe, we're seeing yet another case of a team enjoying too much success too soon and quickly becoming a victim of their own arrogant expectations of automatic victories. Remember that it only took Real Madrid a short three months in 2003 for the wheels to come off: coming off a Champions League title in '01 and a la Liga crown in '02, los Galacticos looked to be cruising to more titles as the season entered its home stretch, but no sooner had a squad replete with stars like Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo, Beckham and Raul been upset 2-3 by Real Zaragoza in the Kings Cup, then all of a sudden los Blancos were eliminated by Monaco in the Champions League and embarking on a lengthy losing streak in la Liga. No trophies would be hoisted that year by Real, nor in the next two seasons. From an unstoppable squad to a bunch of losers in just a few months, Real's collapse should serve as a warning sign to Barca and Chelsea, as should Brazil's national team. This summer everyone had el Selecao pencilled in as World Cup champs before a ball had been kicked, but they appeared over-confident, ill-prepared, and ripe for an upset - sure enough, out they went at the hands of France. At least Barca and Chelsea are not in a single-elimination tourney at the moment, so they've got plenty of time to sort it out; if they don't, then rest assured that much-improved teams like Real Madrid and Liverpool will be ready to pounce. And if the defeats of last week are any indication, there could be some titles surprisingly changing hands this year. Watch this space.

Sold Like a Boat

2006-08-25T15:04:00.000-05:00

Ronaldo to Inter: "Mmm, ravioli, delicious...it's so good when it hits your lips".

24 hours and counting until the transfer market closes in Europe, so clubs across the continent are furiously racing to beat the clock and snag a few more key signings before it's too late. Almost every major club is still working on one deal or another: Man United continues to chase Bayern's Owen Hargreaves because they failed to sign Inter's Patrick Vieira, whose new club are after Real's Ronaldo now that Milan turned their attention to Betis' Oliveira, who will be leaving that club along with Joaquin, sought by Valencia, who are trying to hang on to Roberto Ayala, who is rumored to be headed to Villareal, who signed Robert Pires from Arsenal, who might lose Ashley Cole to Chelsea, who acquired Michael Ballack from Bayern, who sold Paolo Guerrero to Hamburg, who must replace the departed Sergej Barbarez who moved to Bayer Leverkusen, who need to find a substitute for Dmitar Berbatov, now a Tottenham player, but not a teammate of former Spurs star Michael Carrick, sold to none other than Man United. Got it? Oh, nevermind. It's all one big frenzy anyway, what with all of the rumors in the press and misleading comments by the clubs, so trying to stay make sense of it before the smoke clears come August 31 is a near impossibility. Having never been one to back done from such an exercise in futility, we'll still give it a shot anyway.

No discussion of this summer's transfer activity can start anywhere else but Turin. The city in the north of Italy, home to troubled superclub Juventus, has seen a mass exodus of its footballing heroes. No sooner had the courts finished reading the guilty verdict sentencing Juve to Serie B (and minus-17 points at that) had the vultures, er, other teams pounced on Juve's array of superstars. Not a captain to go down with his ship, coach Fabio Capello jetted off to Real Madrid, bringing defender Fabio Cannavaro and midfielder Emerson with him. Another duo soon to follow them to Spain were defenders Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram who joined Euro champs Barcelona. Shortly thereafter midfielder Patrick Vieira and striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic were off to Inter Milan. Oh, and striker Adrian Mutu moved down to Tuscan giants Fiorentina. And there's still more to come: winger Mauro Camoranesi is clearly unwilling to stay with the club and striker David Trezeguet may also move on to pastures new. Anytime a major European club has a summer firesale, you can expect it to have a ripple effect throughout the other top leagues, but of course no country will feel the impact quite like Italy. All of a sudden, Inter have been declared last year's champs as part of Juve's punishment and the Nerazzurri have now raided Juve's ranks for two of its best players - how the tide has turned, no? In fact, no side in the world has spent as more than Massimo Moratti's Inter: as well as Vieira and Ibra, Internazionale has brought in Hernan Crespo from Chelsea, Fabio Grosso from Palermo, Olivier Dacourt from Roma, Maxwell from Ajax, and Maicon from Monaco, giving coach Roberto Mancini a wealth of talent to work with. I mean, Moratti makes Roman Abramovich look like a cheapskate. The only question now is not if there is enough talent at Inter, but if they can mold all of it into a team equal to the sum of its parts. To start with, which of his star strikers will Mancini relegate to the bench? And what will happen when Adriano (or Ronaldo) or Crespo or Ibrahimovic realizes that they're nothing more than a substitute? Across town, Milan have done next to nothing this summer (outside of court, that is) - not exactly the revolution that everyone demanded after watching the aging Rossoneri lose out to Juve in the Serie A and get dominated by Barca (though the scoreline didn't show it) in the Champions League semis. Further south, Roma continue to follow Arsene Wenger's model of bringing in top young talent by acquiring Chilean David Pizarro, deemed surplus to requirements amidst this summer's Inter influx. He should fit in beautifully in a side already stocked with the likes of Daniele de Rossi, Simone Perrotta, Christian Chivu, Phillippe Mexes, Mancini, and Francesco Totti, who should put de bulge in de ole onion bag dozens of times this year. I'd write more, but I don't want to spoil your appetite for WSB's Serie A preview, coming sometime next week.

Along with Inter, another club that has improved immeasurably is Real Madrid. Despite a general feeling among the Madrid fanbase that the club needed to offload its aging group of superstars and start anew with young blood (a process they started last year by signing Robinho, Julio Baptista, Sergio Ramos, Cassano, and Cicinho), new coach Fabio Capello seems to disagree. After watching the veterans of France and Italy do battle in the World Cup final, few Madrilenos can argue that there's something to be said for experience. In steps Fabio Cannavaro, Emerson, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and Mahamadou Diarra, but more importantly what Capello has done is give Madrid the equilibrium it has so desperately lacked in recent years. It's no coincidence that ever since los Blancos jettisoned defensive pitbull Claude Makelele and centerback Fernando Hierro a few years ago, they've won a grand total of zero trophies, a string that wouldn't even be considered a drought at most other clubs but at Real is just about as bad as it gets. Capello's teams may not play exciting footie, but such a strong defensive backbone should give the offensive end of the team, including Antonio Cassano, Robinho, Raul, Ronaldo (or Adriano), Guti and Van Nistelrooy (to call it an impressive attack is like saying that Bill Gates has a modest savings account) the freedom and confidence it needs to push forward. Watch out, Barca. But I'd say that another la Liga side, Real Zaragoza, really made the signing of the summer in bringing in Argentine Pablo "El Payasito" Aimar. The little guy has had some injury issues in past seasons, but when he's healthy he's every bit as good as Milan's Kaka and Villareal's Riquelme. Don't say I didn't warn you. Down south, Sevilla got the fantastic Dane Christian Poulsen to boost their midfield, while Madrid's city rivals Atletico had a busy summer, but the real steal of the bunch should prove to be young Argentine Sergio Aguero. Barca got their two Juve cast-offs and Chelsea's Eidur Gudjohnsen, but with their star-studded squad they hardly needed a lot of help.

Speaking of "galacticos, another team full of stars, Roman Abramovich's Chelski, has hauled in two studs of its own: Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko. Yep, the rich get richer, but is Jose Mourinho making the same mistake Real did a few years ago and forgetting about his defense in favor of big-name offensive stars? Sorry, but Khalid Bouhlarouz ain't no William Gallas. Across town, this man's two cents says that Arsene Wenger made a much more astute signing in Czech playmaker Tomas Rosicky than anyone that Mourinho or Sir Alex brought in. Ditto for Tottenham picking up midfield dynamo Didier Zokora, who should be a more-than-adequate sub for the departed Carrick. One player that both Spurs and the Gunners want to sign, Real's Julio Baptista, would be a super signing for either team - once he got his feet wet in his first season at the Bernabeu, he lived up to his nickname of "La Bestia" ("The Beast"), but Real appear willing to let him go as part of Capello's new No-Offense policy. But I digress. Up on Tyneside, Newcastle has done very well in acquiring Damien Duff and Obafemi Martins - more importantly, they've gotten rid of Jean-Alain Boumsong, which should help their goal average exponentially more than Duff and Martins combined (what's worse for Juve fans - the fact that their club is stripped of titles and relegated to Serie B or that they'll have to watch Boumsong in action for the next few years?). Another club short on strikers, Liverpool, had an excellent off-season, too: Rafa the Gaffa continued to raid the sunny shores of Spain for the likes of Chilean winger Mark Gonzalez (second-best British signing) and Brazilian left-back Fabio Aurelio, to go with troubleboys Craig Bellamy and Jermaine Pennant. Why he didn't sign Lee Bowyer, too, I will never know, but hey, if (nay, when) there's a massive bar-fight in Liverpool that ends with bloodshed and hospital stays, at least Scotland Yard will know who dun it.

One man that Newcastle desperately wanted but couldn't acquire was Werder Bremen's Miroslav Klose, who surprisingly stayed put after his impressive World Cup run, which is a good thing for Werder, who lost the excellent Nelson Haedo Valdez to Borussia Dortmund - he's this site's pick for Bundesliga signing of the summer. However, based on the first few games, Werder have done pretty well for themselves by getting Brazilian Diego to sign from Porto; the former teammate of Robinho at Santos has been absolutely sensational in his side's start to the season. Werder's main rivals for the title are, of course, Bayern Munich, who look to be close to acquiring Barca's Mark Van Bommel to replace Ballack. I've never been a fan of the Dutchman, so count me among those who think that Bayern will really miss Ballack, even more so if ManU manages to swipe Hargreaves, too. At the back, consider ginormous Belgian Daniel Van Buyten a massive upgrade over injured Valerien Ismael. Another Bayern-Hamburg deal was the Bavarians' acquisition of the promising Lukas Podolski, making another yung 'un, Paolo Guerrero, free to move in the other direction to Hamburg.

Seeing as my face is now dripping in sweat and my fingers are bleeding from typing this 36,000 word recap of Europe's frenetic summer of signings, I'm going to sign off here. And honestly, who really cares what clubs in Portugal or France or Holland did? (If you're reading this in any one of those countries, um, don't answer that) And if anything happens in the next 24 hours (and rest assured, it will), you can count on us to be covering it all here at World Soccer Blogger - that is, if we get the sensation back in our fingers.

Spain: 2006-2007 La Liga Preview

2006-08-24T14:45:00.000-05:00

Hell freezes over: Who ever thought they'd see the day when Real's big signing was a defensive midfielder from Mali?

Bust out the gambas al ajillo and tortilla espanola. Whip up a few pitchers of sangria. Catch a quick siesta and finish that damn Don Quixote book - it's time for la Liga. Come this weekend, the best league in the world is back in action. And boy have things changed since the boys in Iberia hung up their boots back in May. Almost half the teams have new coaches, the biggest club went out and got a brand-new president, general manager, and coach, a boatload of superstars from Italy, England, Argentina and France have flocked to the footie heaven of la Primera, and some big-names have changed squads over the summer break. Welcome to la Liga 2007.

Well, before we get all caught up in what's new in Espana, let's start with what hasn't changed: Barca is still beating all-comers, Real Madrid is still a bit of a mess, and Atletico still looks like world-beaters on paper. Okay, so maybe calling it an extreme makeover might be a bit of an exaggeration, but a closer look indicates that a repeat of last year's league table is probably not on the cards. And that's a good thing - after Barca's back-to-back Liga titles in 2004 and 2005, plus a Champions League title last year for good measure, a little jolt of excitement is just what la Liga needs. Of course, in the two-horse race that is the Primera, if anyone hopes to mount a challenge to the Catalan giants, it's the Blancos over in the Bernabeu. Will Real Madrid be able to right the ship and put up a good fight this year? Further back in the title race, can Atletico make all of their talent gel into a cohesive, consistent team for once? Can Valencia return to the glory days of a few years ago? Will Villareal manage to duplicate last year's Cinderella run to the Champions League semis in la Liga? And what will become of some of the other danger squads like UEFA Cup champs Sevilla, their hated city rivals Real Betis, last year's fourth-place finishers Osasuna, and former front-runners Deportivo La Coruna? Questions abound in la Liga de las Estrellas. For answers, read on.

After watching their domination of Spain and Europe last year, one would be hard pressed to find any chinks in Barca's armor, but that doesn't mean we can't try. In the past few seasons, no team in the world has played the type of beautiful, direct, attacking soccer seen in Barcelona. With a take-no-prisoners defense of Puyol, Marquez, and Edmilson, a magical group of midfield artists like Xavi, Deco, and Iniesta, and an inspired, inventive attack led by Ronaldinho, Messi, and Etoo, Barca has managed to assemble as close to a perfect team as any in recent memory. They've got it all and - what's even more scary - they're young. These guys aren't going anywhere for a while. Messi looks like he's barely 15, Iniesta even younger, and Ronaldinho, Etoo, Xavi, and Deco are all entering the respective primes of their careers. Watch out, world - this could get ugly. A world-class line-up deserves a world-class coach: Frank Rijkaard has been the perfect antidote to Barca's culture of frenzied desperation for titles, fame, and acknowledgment. The Dutchman simply exudes calmness and confidence and, during the requisite rough patches, it has been his cool under pressure that has seen his side through to success. So what, if any, could prove to be Barca's Achilles heel? First, their president, Joan Laporta, is an arrogant, loud-mouth control freak; in recent years, he has alienated almost everyone in the upper levels of the club, including his former close friend and right-hand man Sandro Rosell. It was Rosell who closed the signing of Ronaldinho, kept the faith with Rijkaard during a difficult initial few months, and aggresively sought out the core of this team: Deco, Edmilson, Marquez and Etoo were all hand-picked by the man affectionately dubbed "Sandrinho" by Laporta. Laporta, though, appears to be driving a lot of good soccer minds away and his recent re-election this summer (by the fans) will do nothing to quell his power-hungry quest for complete control at Can Barca - and we all know what becomes of dictatorial presidents drunk on success (see Perez, Florentino). Another brewing issue could be Barca's new signings: former Juventus defenders Lilian Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta and former Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen (the only Iceland native known to people outside Iceland). Far be it from me to take issue with the skills of any of this posse, but one must wonder where and how they will fit into a Barca squad that is damn near perfect - Thuram, a World Cup winner, will not sit quietly behind Puyol, Marquez, and Edmilson; Zambrotta will theoretically slot into the right-back spot to replace Oleguer or Belletti, the latter being the scorer of Barca's winner against Arsenal in the Champions League final, or the left-back spot, already capably managed by Giovanni van Bronckhorst or Sylvinho; Gudjohnsen, in fact, has already started to upset the pecking order at the Nou Camp: Etoo, after being replaced by the former Chelsea man at halftime of the Supercopa game against Espanyol, stormed out of the locker room and went home, skipping the rest of the match and ensuing title celebrations. A fluke outburst from a hot-headed youngster or a sign of trouble in paradise? Time will tell, of course, but for all of their brilliance on the pitch, trouble off of it could bring an abrupt end to Barca's reign at the top.

Over in Castilla, the former king, Real Madrid - as they are wont to do - have not sat idly by while watching their archenemy win titles galore. And nothing quite wreaks havoc at the Bernabeu quite like Barcelona lifting trophies over on the East Coast. In the past three years, los Merengues have seen four presidents, seven (!) coaches, and a plethora of world-class players pass through the doors of the Bernabeu. This summer, club elections produced a disputed winner, Ramon Calderon, a former player as general manager, Pedja Mijatovic (scorer of the winning goal in the '98 Champions League final vs Juventus), and a hardman Italian coach, Fabio Capello (from where else? Juventus). Calderon won the elections largely on the promise to bring in imaginative youngsters like AC Milan's Kaka, Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas, and Chelsea's Arjen Robben. No sooner had Calderon won the elections when Capello ordered Mijatovic to sign, um, aging superstars like Juve's Fabio Cannavaro and Emerson and ManU's Ruud van Nistelrooy. While the latter batch of players is surely more of what Real Madrid needed (honestly, when you've got Robinho, who needs Robben?), the Bernabeu faithful value attractive, attacking soccer above all else, including winning. Capello's teams have never been known to indulge anyone in 'jogo bonito', so it remains to be seen how the Madrilenos will react after a fifth-straight 1-0 dud of a win over a bottom team in la Liga. At the time of writing, Real appeared close to selling Ronaldo to AC Milan, a sale that, combined with their recent signing of Mali's defensive midfielder Mahamadou Diarra, is one more step in the Capellization of the world's richest club. The Italian has already banished Robinho to the bench, backed out of the signing of Arsenal's young winger Jose Antonio Reyes, and showed a far greater interest in acquiring defenders (Roma's Christian Chivu and Chelsea's William Gallas have also been mentioned). There is no doubt that Real will now have a formidable defense, with Sergio Ramos and Cannavaro at the back and Emerson and Diarra just in front of them (there has been talk in Madrid papers that Capello guaranteed that Real wouldn't lose a game all year - no word on how many nil-nil draws to expect, though), and in all probability, such a strong backline will allow attackers like Guti, Cassano, Raul, and Van Nistelrooy to flourish, but suffice to say that a man with the reputation of Capello, albeit even a winning one, will be kept on a short leash in Madrid.

Across town, by the not-so-pretty banks of the Manzanares river that cuts through Madrid, Real's neighbors Atletico have also endured a turbulent summer. They, too, have made a coaching change, bringing in Osasuna's Mexican disciplinarian Javier Aguirre, as well as a plethora of high-profile signings. Of course, when you're talking about Atletico, the Washington Redskins of soccer, that's hardly newsworthy. This summer, watching the likes of Fernando Torres, Maxi Rodriguez, and Pablo play so brilliantly for their national teams at the World Cup, you couldn't help but wonder how Atletico made such a hash of it last season. The directors at the Vicente Calderon stadium clearly wondered the same thing, going on another all-out spending spree to acquire Argentinian wunderkind Sergio Aguero, Portugal midfielder Costinha, and Spaniards Mariano Pernia, Mista, and Jurado (from Real, of all places). And they held on to the franchise poster boy Torres, which might be the best move of all. So on paper, of course, Atletico look poised for a top-three finish; but on paper it also says that they finished 10th last year, behind the likes of Celta and Getafe. Yikes.

Far from the bright lights of the two big cities, three of last season's top-five finishers enter this season with a tough task ahead to re-produce their form of the previous campaign. Valencia, Osasuna, and Sevilla all look set for a let-down. Los Ches have lost their own Argentinian prodigy Pablo Aimar, a surprise sale to Real Zaragoza; if there was a major coup in the Spanish transfer market this summer, then Aimar's move is it - he is one of the top ten players in the world when he is healthy and on form and Zaragoza bought him for peanuts. Factor in that Valencia also lost Brazilian left winger Fabio Aurelio to Liverpool and appear set to say adios to another Argentine, centerback Roberto Fabian Ayala. Sorry to say it because Valencia has been such a good side in recent years, spurred on by one of the best midfield tandems in Spain in David Albelda and Ruben Baraja, but you don't lose your best defender, best midfielder, and best striker all in the same off-season and live to tell about it. Their participation in the Champions League won't help them any in la Liga, either. Unfortunately for the boys in the Basque Country, that's a problem that Osasuna only wishes they had to deal with. All of their efforts from last season were squashed by Hamburg, who eliminated them this week. Osasuna also lost Aguirre to Atletico, so pencil them in for a mid-table finish. As for Sevilla, they have lost Javier Saviola back to Barcelona (I mean, seriously, Barca are so good that they don't even have room for Saviola or Riquelme!) and might yet lose right wingback Daniel Alves to any one of a number of teams. As well as they played in thrashing Middlesborough to win the UEFA Cup, it's hard to imagine Sevilla managing another top-five finish after all of the talent that's left the Sanchez Pizjuan in recent years (see Baptista, Julio and Ramos, Sergio).

So who could spring a surprise and vault up into the European spots? Look no further than the team that went on its own excellent European adventure last year: Villareal. The Yellow Submarine, led by the aforementioned Riquelme, made it all the way to the semis of the Champions League, almost forcing extra time against Arsenal had Riquelme converted a late penalty. This year, despite the devastating early-season knee injuries to centerback Gonzalo Rodriguez and new signing Robert Pires (from Arsenal, of course - what other sport has the symmetry of soccer?), they should be able to concentrate on la Liga and make it back into Europe. Elsewhere, Zaragoza should squeak into Europe thanks to Aimar; he should be an excellent strike partner for Diego Milito and Ewerthon - plus, Diego's brother Gabriel has turned into one of the top defenders in Spain, maybe even Europe. Up north, Deportivo la Coruna seem to be embroiled in way too much turmoil to make any noise this year, while Galician neighbors Celta Vigo will be hard-pressed to duplicate last year's top-six success. Across the northern coast, Athletic Bilbao showed some promise late in last season, especially attacker Francisco Yeste, but it should be another long year spent battling relegation for their Basque rivals Real Sociedad.

Of the rest of the squads, it warrants mentioning that new boys Levante have made some nice signings, among them former Roma middie Damiano Tommasi. Real Betis are about to lose right winger Joaquin to Valencia (los Ches' one good move in the past three months), plus left winger Ricardo Oliveira - something tells me that crosses won't exactly be flying in from the Betis flanks this year. Nothing of note on Gimnastic or Recreativo Huelva, mainly because I can't even tell you where they play or who plays for them, but I digress.

In the end, it's awfully hard to imagine any team in Spain, much less the world, getting the better of Barca. Still, the Catalans did benefit from some dubious calls last year (both in la Liga and in Europe) and their star players last year, save Deco, all endured dismal World Cups. A few calls going the other way, some friction between Etoo and Rijkaard, and more controversy involving Laporta could spell doom for the blaugrana and, with Capello's track record of success and Real's new and improved backline, Madrid will be at the ready to pounce on any Catalan mishaps. Ultimately, though, schedule another trophy parade down Las Ramblas at the end of the season - all the same, here's one fan that wouldn't dare miss a single match along the way.

1. Barcelona (new uni design is actually growing on me, shocking as it is to say)
2. Real Madrid (terrible new unis -just way too much going on)
3. Atletico Madrid (speaking of unis, check out the new look for Atleti)
4. Villareal (they'd be wise to hang on to unwanted winger Juan Pablo Sorin)
5. Real Zaragoza
6. Valencia (no better stadium in Spain than the steep stands of Mestalla)
7. Sevilla (youngster Jesus Navas, if he can get his head straight, is a budding superstar)
8. Athletic Bilbao (second-best stadium in the league: San Mames, known as El Catedral)
9. Real Betis (gotta love the Kappa...)
10. Osasuna

Long time, no see!

2006-08-18T13:37:00.000-05:00

Over before it began: Kehl (in ugly jersey) does battle with Hargreaves on Day 1 of the Bundesliga - the former went off injured, the latter could be off to England.

And we're baaacckkk!!! First, apologies for the week-long hiatus - call it a summer vacation, call it a result of the lack of action in the soccer world, call it whatever. But dammit, don't call it laziness - my mom used to call me that all the time & those wounds have yet to heal. In an effort to ease back into that nice, comfortable rhythm we'd established here at WSB, we'll start with a smorgasborg of snippets from the last week. Think of it as an appetizer platter - a full entree comes next week - you have my word.

Hell hath no fury like a mad Mourinho

Let the madness begin. Last week, Jose re-ignited his war of words with Liverpool's Rafa Benitez after his Blues went down 2-1 in the Community Shield. After the two managers didn't shake hands, Mourinho blamed it on his counterpart, claiming that he had waited for Benitez to shake his hand while Liverpool collected the trophy, but Benitez never approached him. Then the pissed-off Portuguese skipper sounded off on international friendlies, calling them a complete waste of time at a crucial moment before the start of the season when the players should be with their clubs. Agreed and agreed. How can anyone not concur with Mourinho when he says that no one should care if he shakes hands with Benitez or that - after a World Cup summer - the players should be training with their clubs. Case in point: Real Madrid's Brazilian international Cicinho played a full season with his club last year, then played in the World Cup, followed by a month-long vacation. In late August, he flew from Brazil to Austria to participate in pre-season training with Real, followed by going to the U.S. for two games in early August; then it was back to Madrid on Sunday, then up to Oslo to play a friendly against Norway in the middle of the week, and finally back to Spain for more pre-season action starting with a game Friday in Cadiz, one of the most southernmost cities in the Iberian peninsula. Yep, I'd say he'll be as fresh as Renton & Sick Boy after a week-long bender. The lesson, as always: FIFA are a bunch of idiots ruining the game we know & love. And there's one angry Portuguese prick in London who's not afraid to say so.

To heck with Becks

Steve McClaren, the man who got the England job on the basis of a few mediocre years at Middlesborough (a season ticket holder once ran onto the field to throw in ticket at McClaren's face) and some time spent assisting Sven Goran Erikkson in his underacheiving stint as the boss of the Brits, left Beckham off the team to play Greece last week. Sad day for a lot of female fans, but I'm more concerned with the rationale behind this decision. Becks, for all his baggage (read: Posh & a billion paparazzi), remains one of the best players in the world. Quick, name me five better passers in the world. Name me someone better from dead ball situations. Name me three English players that were better in the World Cup. Hate him all you want, but don't forget that he was at the core of half of England's goals in Germany - he did more for that team than Frank Lampard and Joe Cole combined. He might not be your typically pacey right winger or as enticing an option as a fan favorite like Gerrard or a promising youngster like Lennon, but Beckham is still an experienced leader, a fantastic passer, and a consistent example of devotion to the cause. I'll take him on my team any day, anorexic publicity-whore of a wife and all.

Ze Bundesliga iz noww unzerveih

With much fanfare and ear-bleeding Euro music, the Bundesliga kicked off on Friday. Bayern Munich did what they do - which is win - and Borussia Dortmund did what they do - which is wear hideous uniforms. See what I mean? Not too much of note, but the Borussians did unfortunately lose middie Sebastian Kehl to a long-term injury. Kehl ranks as one of the ten-best young defensive mids in the world and it was a shame to see him go down at the hands (or should I say cleats?) of a nasty studs-up tackle from the Bavarians' Hasan Salihamidzic. Massive loss for the Borussians. Speaking of dirty players, Hamburg sold Khalid Bouhlarouz, he of the hideous tackle on Cristiano Ronaldo in Wrestlemania XXII (aka Holland-Portugal '06), to Chelsea. Hey William Gallas, the exit is just down the hall on the right. However, Bayern's Owen Hargreaves may not have the same luck in ditching his club; the Englishman is jonesing for a move to ManU, but ze Germans appear ready to show some of that stereotypical resolve and not let him bolt back to Britain. Watch this space.

REALity bites

Nothing like kicking a man when he's down. Real Madrid, after a disastrous three years and a trying summer, are getting abused left and right by some of Europe's most famous clubs. Sure, it's always fun to pick on the bully for once, but what exactly did Real do that was so bad? It all started when AC Milan (not exactly a club that should be acting all high & mighty right now) called out Real for making an approach to their Brazilian wunderkind Kaka (means "poop" in Spanish). So yeah, maybe Real's new prez Ramon Calderon shouldn't have promised to sign Kaka in an effort to get elected, but how often do you get a chance to win an election by telling your fans, "I'll bring you s**t"? Then it was Olympique Lyon's Jean Michael Aulas who joined the fray; after Real attempted to negotiate with them for their Mali middie Mahamadou Diarra, Aulas ripped the Spaniards for having the nerve to try to sign one of their players a mere two weeks before the close of the transfer market. Seeing as Real signed Ronaldo about half an hour before it closed a few years ago, maybe we shouldn't be surprised. And then, another Frenchman, Arsenal's Arsene Wenger, claimed that Real are guilty of illegally approaching players (specifically Arsenal's Jose Antonio Reyes) all over Europe, but never really making concrete and genuine offers to buy them from their clubs; basically, Wenger said, they just go around de-stabilizing top players without ever buying them. Call me crazy, but by all accounts Real did in fact make real offers for Reyes, Diarra, and Kaka. And it was Real themselves who were the victims of AC Milan making an approach to their striker Ronaldo last week. The bottom line is that, as Wenger said, Real don't behave like a big club should; but then again, neither does AC Milan or Chelsea or ManU. Welcome to the soccer world 2006, where players hold all the cards and clubs are simply at the mercy of the superstars - it's a free-for-all now, and the bigger and better you are as a player or as a club, the more power you have. Now if the clubs all got together and agreed to keep their hands off of each other's stars, then something might change - but c'mon, that's like asking Ronaldo to lay off the empanadas.

Speaking of which, we hope you enjoyed the mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, and buffalo wings that we dished out today. Don't worry about paying for this one - it's on the house. Back again next week. Until then, have a good weekend (especially all my fans in Fiji).

Much Ado About Nothing

2006-08-09T10:23:00.000-05:00

Ahh, the sweet stench of desperation: Jaime Moreno & the MLSers lift some sort of trophy. Lean in close - you can almost hear "We Are The Champions" playing in the background.

Another slow week in the soccer world, as evidenced by the lack of activity here at World Soccer Blogger, but don't fear - we can always find something to complain about...

On Saturday, the MLS All-Stars beat Chelsea 1-0 in a friendly in Chicago. From their World Cup-worthy trophy presentation and ensuing celebration, you would've thought that the game actually mattered. From the league executives to the coaches and players, everyone talked about the growth of the league, the newfound respect that the victory would bring, and how it signalled that MLS, in beating England's best club team, had finally arrived. Um, not exactly.

As Jose Mourinho went to great length to note, Chelsea was in week two of their pre-season; this was their first pre-season game and it featured a slew of players that up until late July could be found enjoying cocktails and sunshine on the beaches of the Mediterranean and Caribbean. Chelsea's squad was just gearing up for a long season and, mainly for marketing reasons, were forced to play an away game in the sub-Saharan heat engulfing the United States in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, the MLS All-Stars were in mid-season form, they were playing in front of their fans in their All-Star game, and they had far more at stake than their opponents. If Chelsea won, it would just be a meaningless victory when there are far bigger games just weeks away - it would be a nice way to start the season at best, a completely meaningless exhibition win at worst. If the All-Stars lost, it would be another damning indictment of the low quality of play in MLS. So when the All-Stars emerged 1-0 victors, it was to be expected that the MLS players would be relieved, while the Chelsea players were more concerned with their post-game trip to Holland; instead, we got a celebration that rivalled scenes from July 9 in Berlin - all it was missing was Dwayne DeRosario cutting off his ponytail.

Look, as an American soccer fan (not an easy plight in life, trust me), I want MLS to succeed as much as anyone. There are good players (DeRosario, Adu, Albright, Ching, Moreno to name a few), great new stadiums (this was the first game played at Chitown's new Toyota Park), and a real determination to become a top-notch soccer league. While I conceed that we might be able to chalk this fiasco up to growing pains, the post-match celebrations can only be described as embarrassing.

There's an expression that we always repeated to the team I used to coach: "Act like you've been there before." Well, dancing around like you just won the Champions League after winning a friendly is not the way to do that. The way to earn respect is not to celebrate beating a team that cared more about signing autographs in L.A. than winning a friendly - it's to gather a collection of top-notch players, give them the chance to play in world-class stadiums, and let the quality of play speak for itself. Instead, MLS danced around like a horny drunk girl at a nightclub who'd inhaled one too many tequila shots - and just as that's not a pretty picture, neither is the sight of a league virtually begging to be liked, noticed, and respected. Desperation is a stinky cologne, MLS, and on Saturday in Chicago - scoreboard aside - you stunk up the joint.

England: 2006-2007 Premiership Preview

2006-08-04T08:57:00.000-05:00

Mourinho welcomes Ballack & Sheva to Chelsea: Best in the world or too much of a good thing?

Trivia question (winner gets a free tank of gas): What club team had the most players participating in this summer's World Cup? Hint: they wear blue, play boring soccer, have a jerk for a coach, and are making the English Premiership less entertaining than a month-long scrabble tourney. That's right, Chelski have a whopping 17 World Cup stars on their roster, which may explain their last two Premiership titles. However, an even more important number might be 818, as in the millions (yep, millions) of dollars that Russian oil magnate Roman Abramovich has spent on acquiring new players since buying the club back in 2003. Looking at the trophy case, it's been money well spent, but factoring in the club's lack of success in Europe, completely underwhelming style of play, and universal dislikability, you can't say that it's been all smooth sailing for the Blues. Does this mean that they won't be lifting the Premiership trophy for a third-straight year this season? Well, let's not get carried away here, but read on just for the hell of it.

It's been an unusual off-season for the big guns of the EPL. Chelsea spent millions buying big-name stars, Liverpool brought in some fresh Latin blood, Arsenal snapped up a great young talent from the Continent, and ManU overpaid to get a defensive midfielder. Shocking! And this doesn't even factor in that Newcastle failed to address their Swiss-cheese-like defense (stop me if you've heard this before), Bolton signed an overrated and unwanted international star, and Spurs smartly acquired an excellent up-and-coming midfielder. Some things never change, and definitely not the ways of gentlemen like Abramovich and his trusty coach, Jose Mourinho.

Just like Real Madrid did a few years ago, these two men have been busy raiding some of the world's biggest clubs to sign their best players (but Chelsea actually pay attention to their defense). This season, the fans at Stamford Bridge will be treated to the sight of Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko, signed away from Bayern Munich and AC Milan, respectively; but do these signings make Chelsea a much improved team? Well, the answer, surprisingly, is no. Ballack plays almost the exact same style as fellow midfield marauder Frank Lampard, an attacking, driving middie who loves to push forward into attack as much as possible. And if anyone tuned in to the action in Germany this summer, it's clear that Lampard's play deteriorates dramatically when he doesn't have the center of the pitch at his disposal; Steven Gerrard's presence in the England eleven reduced Lampard's space in midfield, decreased his effect on the game, and generally made him a shadow of the player that he is for Chelsea. Mourinho is clearly a coach who believes that you can't have too much talent, that great players make a team better no matter what; Mourinho's problem is one that most coaches in the world would love to have: how do I pick a team from all these great players, keep them all happy, and live up to the sky-high expectations. Last year, a visibily unhappy Mourinho said that he had the most thankless coaching job in sports, since if he won, then he had only accomplished what everyone expected him to, but if he lost, then he had done the unthinkable and failed spectactularly. Cry me a river, Jose. I guess we should all pity the Portuguese genius even more now that he's got Ballack and Sheva to deal with. Not only will Ballack play a similar role to Lampard in midfield, but Sheva will do many of the same things that Hernan Crespo did for Chelsea last year. The Argentine striker has demanded a move back to sunny Italy, so in steps the Ukrainian to take his place. Sheva is definitely an upgrade over Crespo, but not as much of one as some might think. And where does this leave Didier Drogba? If anyone in that squad will not be okay coming off the bench, it's the Ivory Coast forward. And in Mourinho's favored 4-5-1, there's only room for one striker and that'll be Sheva. In fact, surprising as it might be, the one summer signing that could pay the most dividends for Chelsea over the years is not Ballack or Sheva, but rather Nigerian wunderkind Mikel John Obi (not a Star Wars character, it turns out). Another change for the Blues this year could be an increased role for Michael Essien; the Ghanian looks set to step in more frequently for aging hardman Claude Makelele - but just as Madrid fell apart after Makelele's move to London, I can't help but wonder if Chelsea will struggle to replace him at the Bridge. After all, Essien is much more of an attacking mid than Makelele. A central midfield of Lampard, Essien, and Ballack strikes me as an overcrowded one. Even at the back, undoubtedly Chelsea's strength over the past two seasons, the Blues may be showing some weaknesses. For my money (and that's not much - this blogging gig doesn't pay too well), William Gallas is the best defender on that team, along with John Terry. The Frenchman is powerful, versatile, and just entering his prime; now he wants out, and Mourinho's decision to give Ballack the Frenchman's #13 shirt will not do much to mend the strained relationship between Gallas and Chelsea. If they lose him - and at the moment all signs suggest they will - then Chelsea will be surprisingly thin at the back. Terry and Ricardo Carvalho will be their only centerbacks, with Robert Huth's on again-off again move to Middlesborough still up in the air. Still, this is Chelsea, meaning that quality reinforcements, such as Arsenal's Ashley Cole for one, should be on the way. In the end, any doubts over Lampard's coexistence with Ballack, Makelele's decline, Sheva's uneasy battle with Drogba, a thin back four, and possible fatigue from all their participation in the World Cup, may be overcome by the simple fact that this team has too much talent to fail. Even if all of these worst-case scenarios materialize, there might not be any other teams in the EPL capable of matching Chelsea's strength in numbers.

If there is one challenger that can separate itself from the rest, it is Rafael Benitez's excellent Liverpool side. The Spaniard has turned the club into a veritable airport hangar of arrivals and departures; the influx of talent into Anfield has only been matched by the wave of players heading out of the revolving door. This summer has been no different. While the likes of Fernando Morientes, Dietmar Hamann, and Djibril Cisse have exited, the Kop will be pleased to see Chilean winger Mark Gonzalez, Brazilian leftback Fabio Aurelio, and English convicts, er, troublemakers, er, attackers Jermaine Pennant and Craig Bellamy donning the Liverpool red. Aside from the fact that Benitez is turning Liverpool into Cincinnati Bengals East, the new signings should be good ones. The real steals will prove to be Gonzalez and Aurelio, who will turn the Liverpool left wing into a new M6. Gonzalez is as fast and tricky as they come, while Aurelio is the latest in a long line of fantastic Brazilian fullbacks (see Carlos, Roberto); how Valencia ever let him get away, I will never know. Still, where does this leave John Arne Riise and Harry Kewell? Did Liverpool even have a need for these new signings? And why does Benitez continue to sign wingers when his best options up front are Peter "Bambi On Ice" Crouch, Robbie "Boogie Nights" Fowler, and the hot-headed Bellamy? Liverpool, like Chelsea and Newcastle before them, seem to be under the impression that you can't have too many midfielders. While this obviously makes sense as more and more teams employ the 4-5-1 formation, you have to wonder where Liverpool's goals will come from. Xabi Alonso and Gerrard remain the best midfield duo in the Premiership - nay, the world - but who will be in the box to get on the end of their fantastic passes? If there's one Achilles heel that will keep Benitez's boys from challenging Chelsea, it's a dearth of quality strikers. In that sense, "You'll Never Walk Alone" makes an ironic serenade to Liverpool's crowded midfielders and lonely strikers.

Another manager that has been busy making quality signings is, of course, the world's best talent-spotter, one Arsene Wenger of Arsenal. This year's coup was the purchase of Czech prodigy Tomas Rosicky from Borussia Dortmund. Simply put, Rosicky is one of the best playmakers in the world, a natural #10, the perfect link between Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry, and one of the few players worthy of being mentioned as a possible successor to the retired Dennis Bergkamp. Before long, he will be the prince of the sparkling new Emirates Stadium. It is absolutely amazing the way that Wenger consistently brings in amazing young players and then grooms them into world superstars; in my humble opinion, he's the best manager in the world. Of course, he'll have to find a way to replicate Arsenal's Champions League form of last year in this year's domestic campaign. To do this, it appears that he will have to overcome the loss of Jose Antonio Reyes, who has been craving a move back to Spain to take part in Fabio Capello's revolution at the Bernabeu; the Spanish winger will be tough to replace, but Robin Van Persie showed some positive signs at the World Cup of being the man to do just that. And there are other reasons for optimism: Henry has elected to stay in London, Cesc will only get better and better, and this could be Theo Walcott's break-out year (post World Cup, bizarrely enough) - they may not challenge crosstown rivals Chelsea for the title, but Arsenal will mount a much stronger challenge than last year.

Up in the Northeast, the same cannot be said for Manchester United. Yes, they managed to overcome a torrent of injuries to finish second to Chelsea last year. Yes, Michael Carrick is an upgrade over Darren Fletcher, John O'Shea, Alan Smith, and any other warm body that Sir Alex Ferguson could plug into the central midfield slot. And yes, they do have two of the best youngsters in the world at their respective positions in right winger Cristiano Ronaldo and striker Wayne Rooney. Unfortunately, injured or not, players like Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (fantastic name - my first-born will definitely be given the middle name "Gunnar") are d-u-n done; Fergie overpaid to get Carrick, who looks like he may be their only off-season signing; and Rooney and Ronaldo may or may not wish a slow painful death on each other after their little World Cup tift this summer. (Tangent alert! For everyone who is worried about how Ronaldo will overcome the abuse to which he will be subjected this season at stadiums around England, since when has he not been United's most despised player? Since when have opposing crowds not hated him? This is the same kid who played against his hometown club Benfica in the Champions League last year and was so jeered so relentlessly that he flicked off the crowd as he left the pitch! I don't think this year will be anything new for the little Portuguese pretty boy) Anyway, there are just too many holes in ManU's current squad for this team to hope for anything better than a Champions League place: they are thin at centerback after Rio Ferdinand and the underrated Gabriel Heinze, Patrice Evra and Mickael Silvestre are just not good enough at leftback, they have no one but Carrick in midfield, Ji-Sung Park or Park Ji-Sung or Ji-what-Park-Song is not the answer on the left wing, and there is no true #9 (sorry, Louis Saha) to replace Ruud van Nistelrooy (Why is the "van" sometimes capitalized and sometimes not? Or am I just wrong half the time? Can we get an answer on this?). If Fergie can get the Glazers to open their purses one more time to buy Villareal's Spanish destroyer Marcos Senna, then that will be an important addition for them, but overall there is just not enough firepower to challenge Chelsea, Fergie has not been as successful as Wenger or Benitez at bringing in young talent (aside from Ronaldo & Rooney), and there just isn't enough money at Old Trafford anymore for the Red Devils to be the team they once were. On the plus side, how hilarious is it to listen to Fergie bitch and moan about how Chelsea & Abramovich's million-dollar squad is ruining the sport of soccer? Puhleeze. How many years was ManU at the top of the spending spree list? How many times was ManU able to outbid everyone else as they bragged about their status as the world's richest club? Well, Fergie, the tables have turned - deal with it. And here's a hint: the best way to beat Chelsea is not by blowing all of your spending money on Ji-Sung Park, Nemanja Vidic, Liam Miller, Louis Saha, and Alan Smith. But hey, Kleberson and Eric Djemba-Djemba send their regards.

Ultimately, Chelsea should once again prove to have too much talent for the rest of grand ole Engaland, but this year should be closer than the past two. The boys at Stamford Bridge, after crashing out to eventual champs Liverpool and Barcelona the last two years, should put more of their effort into winning the Champions League, which could prove detrimental to their domestic form. With the exciting players on display at Liverpool and Arsenal, their challengers could pull a shocker and unseat the reigning king; still, don't bet on it. ManU will comfortably take the fourth Champions League spot, but after that it's anyone's guess. Tottenham have made a great purchase in Ivory Coast midfielder Didier Zokora, who should be a nice addition to a midfielder already featuring Jermaine Jenas, Edgar Davids, Danny Murphy, and Aaron Lennon, but the loss of Ledley King for a few months makes them way too weak at the back. Newcastle, with Kieron Dyer, Scott Parker, Emre, Nobby Solano, Chuck N'Zogbia, and new boy Damien Duff, is one of the few teams in the league that can rival the midfield riches of Chelsea and Liverpool, but their defense and attack just don't match up. Boumsong and Bramble continue to be the biggest joke in world soccer; somewhere, Grahame Souness is unemployed. Bolton have done what Bolton do and signed an unwanted big-name player, Quinton Fortune, who might be South Africa's best player, but what does that really say? Middlesborough are now managed by Gareth Southgate - enough said. Fulham, with Americans Brian McBride and Carlos "Blackmouth" Bocanegra, could spring a surprise and grab a UEFA Cup spot. Two other teams to watch out for are Charlton, who have managed to hang on to striker Darren Bent, and Manchester City, home of the man-who-should-have-been-England manager Stuart Pearce and two world-class midfielders in Joey Barton and former Yankee captain Claudio Reyna - look for Oasis' favorite team to make a big jump in the league table this year. All in all, despite the growing gap between the big four clubs and the rest of the league and Chelsea's continued domination at the top, there's a lot to look forward to this year in the EPL. As we mentioned in our Bundesliga preview, great fans, fantastic stadiums, and world-class talent are the key ingredients in any league - England, unlike Italy, has it all. Unfortunately, there'll be no more Highbury to savor, but Old Trafford, Anfield, and St. James' Park are still as good as it gets. So grab a lager or twelve, pull up a seat at the pub, and get ready to enjoy one of the best sporting spectacles in the world: that crazy, fast-paced, super-intense, oil-filled footie festival that is the English Premiership. Oh, and not to ruin the suspense, but here's how it's going to finish when all is said and done:

1. Chelski (Now outfitted by adidas, in a major coup for the German designers, because...)
2. Liverpool (...will also be switchng to adidas this year)
3. Arsenal
4. ManU
5. Newcastle (Over-under on games played before Boumsong costs the team a win: 1/2)
6. Tottenham (I can't be the only person who finds Martin Jol scarier than Kaiser Soze, can I?)
7. Bolton
8. Man City (Pearce & Barton could kill people, even each other, and I wouldn't be surprised)
9. Fulham
10. Everton (They're only here by default, but watch out for Mikel Arteta - the boy can play)

Germany: 2006-2007 Bundesliga Preview

2006-08-02T09:40:00.000-05:00

Bayern Munich pose for their 2006-07 team photo. And just in case you forgot, they threw in a few of last year's trophies to remind you what to expect this year in the Bundesliga.

While teams in England, Spain, and Italy are still immersed in pre-season training, world tours, and courtroom trials, respectively, one of the great leagues of Europe is already playing some meaningful games. In Germany, the Bundesliga has yet to kick off, but the German League Cup has already commenced. This pre-season showcase tournament, which features the best six teams from last year's league table, is taken far more seriously than most other games played in the lazy days of late July and early August. Yesterday, Werder Bremen defeated Hamburg 2-1 to book their place in the final, where they will meet the winner of today's match pitting Bundesliga champs Bayern Munich against Schalke 04. All of this action means that it's probably a good time for a preview of this season's Bundesliga.

In the past, I have not been a great fan of German soccer. The national team played a boring, mechanical style, only made all the more aggravating by their amazing efficiency at penalty shoot-outs and consistent ability to advance deep into tournaments full of teams that played better, more attractive football than ze Mannschaft. The domestic league was not much better; year after year, Bayern Munich would thrash all pretenders to their throne. Aside from a brief period of success for Borussia Dortmund, one which ended abruptly with the club basically plunging into bankruptcy, it was a one-horse race for Bayern. But after their impressive showing in this summer's World Cup, I have a new appreciation for the German national team. With players like Ballack, Podolski, Frings, and Lahm, they now play an attractive brand of footie to match their impressive array of talented youngsters. Of course, back in the Bundesliga, there's not much to suggest that anything has changed, except for the small detail of the sale of one Michael Ballack to everyone's favorite oil magnate, Chelsea's Roman Abramovich. And this, for the non-sarcastically inclined, is no small detail.

For the past few years, Ballack has been far and away the best player for Bayern. All of their play ran through their talismanic midfielder. And if you're going to be dependent on a midfielder, Ballack is one of the best out there. Unfortunately for Bayern, aside from players like Lucio, Sagnol, Schweinsteiger, Roque Santa Cruz, and Ze Roberto, there wasn't a lot to strike fear into any teams outside the Bundesliga; since they last won the title in 2001, Bayern have fallen short in the Champions League. Now, not only is there no Ballack, but Ze Roberto has been deemed surplus to requirements, a seemingly shocking decision after his superb World Cup; but with the likes of Owen Hargreaves, Sebastian Deisler, and Martin Demichelis (you may remember him as the player who said that he had lost the will to live after being left out of Argentina's Cup squad), Bayern clearly feel confident that they can replace the Ballack-Ze Roberto duo in the center of the pitch. More importantly, Bayern have addressed their two glaring weaknesses: centerback and striker. At the back, Valerien Ismael was almost single-handedly responsible for the Germans' loss to AC Milan in the quarters of the Champions League; he will now be replaced by Belgian giant, Daniel Van Buyten - with him and Lucio, Bayern need only sign Dirk Nowitzki to complete a back-line with a combined height of 20 feet. Up front, Lukas Podolski becomes the latest in a long line of German players to burst onto the scene and promptly get snatched up by Bayern. With Phillip Lahm racing down the left and Schweinsteiger on the right, more than a few teams will be having flashbacks to ze Mannschaft that tore apart the Cup this summer. Still, all of these players are not what makes Bayern so special; rather, it is that they have known how to combine German efficiency with Latin flair. Consider that Bayern has raided some of the best players that Latin America has to offer and can now boast of attacking talents like Roque Santa Cruz, Claudio Pizarro, and Julio Dos Santos (and this is after they have let go of players like Ze Roberto and Paolo Guerrero, sold to Hamburg). Aside from that dreadful bubble that they now call home (whodathunkit, but I already miss that intimidating concrete jungle that was the Olympiastadion), Bayern need only find a way to overcome the loss of Ballack and it should be another profitable year for the trophy case in Munich. Rinse, lather, repeat.

Still, the rest of Germany's teams will not be pushovers this season. Bremen looked good yesterday and with talented players such as Frings, Tim Borowski, Patrick Owomoyela (helluva name for a German), and Miroslav Klose, they're my pick to give Bayern a run for their Euros. Plus, their uniforms are outrageous. Another team whose unis were clearly designed using only a box of highlighters is Borussia Dortmund. Not only do they have the best stadium in the league (Westfalenstadion, home to that classic Germany-Italy match), but they also have a team that can do some damage this year. Dortmund will be hard pressed to overcome the losses of Czech stars Tomas Rosicky (Wenger has plucked another one of the world's best young studs - Rosicky is a gem) and Jan Koller, but all is not lost in the Ruhr Valley: Sebastian Kehl, David Odonkor, and Christian Metzelder are all national team players who give Dortmund's fans cause for optimism, as does new signing, Paraguayan striker Nelson Haedo Valdez. However, they will have a tough time getting the better of their regional rivals, Schalke 04, who have German national team members like Gerald Asamoah and Kevin Kuranyi (more absurd German names) to go with South American stars Lincoln, Gustavo Varela, and Dario Rodriguez. Elsewhere, Hamburg have improved with the acquisition of the aforementioned Guerrero to go with their northern European contingent of Dutch playmaker Rafael Van der Vaart, hardman Khalid Bouhlarouz, and new Belgian defender Vincent Kompany. On the down side, their uniforms suck. A team that should battle all-year with Hamburg for one of the automatic Champions League spots is Bayer Leverkusen. They've got one excellent Brazilian defender (Juan) to play alongside a crappy Brazilian defender (Roque Junior), two Mannschaft stallwarts in Bernd Schneider and Carsten Ramelow (now those are German names), and a good signing in Sergej Barbarez to replace the departed Dmitar Berbatov. Plus, their keeper is named Butt and takes the team's penalties - what more could you ask for? One team that will disappoint this year is Stuttgart; after their success in 2002, the team has faded and I, for one, don't expect the Mexican influx of Pavel Pardo and Ricardo Osorio to change that.

In a recent interview, former Bayern defender Bixente Lizarazu (that's a Basque name, as long as we're on the topic) was asked to comment on the state of German footie. Lizarazu's answer was so simple, but it illuminated exactly why the Bundesliga deserves more respect: "The Bundesliga and German fans don't get anywhere near the credit they deserve. You decide to play for a German club and people ask you, 'Germany? Why not Spain, Italy, England...?' Because the level of football in Germany is excellent. And because it has, without doubt, the best stadiums in Europe today." Lizarazu, in a brief remark, has summed up why the Bundesliga has now become a more appealing league than even Italy's Serie A: fantastic fans, amazing stadiums (er, stadia?), a major club closely challenged by about six or seven quality teams, and some of the best football talent from all over the world. I never would have said it a few years ago, but there's a lot to like about Germany today. And what could be better than the title-winning team gathering in the town plaza to drink ginormous beers with their fans? So here's hoping that, come May of this year, we won't be stuck watching Oli Kahn pound a pony keg in Munich...

1. Bayern Munich (Again - but hey, what club has had better unis over the past ten years?)
2. Werder Bremen (Kappa = most underrated uni designer in the world)
3. Hamburg
4. Bayer Leverkusen
5. Borussia Dortmund (You think they miss Rosicky now? Just wait two years until Rosicky is one of the best playmakers in the world)
6. Schalke 04
7. Wolfsburg (Kevin Hofland is one of the best young defenders around)
8. Stuttgart
9. Hertha Berlin
10. Borussia Monchengladbach (On the strength of Kasey Keller's goalkeeping)

Winning At All Co$t

2006-07-28T11:34:00.000-05:00

Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi on his way to court, where titles are won or lost in today's sports world.

Today, as we speak (or as I write), Tour de France winner Floyd Landis is giving a press conference in Madrid to defend his innocence in the face of a positive drug test that has already overshadowed his amazing victory and may even lead to the loss of his title, a lengthy suspension, and - combined with his hip problems - the end of his career.

In San Francisco, Giants slugger Barry Bonds has seen his chase for Hank Aaron's home-run record ruined by constant allegations of steroid use, the incarceration of his personal trainer, and a possible indictment of Bonds himself in the coming days and weeks.

Last week in Rome, an appeals committee reduced the punishments handed out to Serie A sides Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina in the Italian league's much-publicized match-fixing scandal. Juve, the most popular and successful team in Italian soccer, has been relegated to Serie B and penalized 17 points in the coming season. The other three teams will all remain in Serie A, but will also have their own point penalties to overcome this year. Juve's general manager "Lucky" Luciano Moggi was banned from the game for years, as were a number of the referees with whom he and other team administrators were in cahoots. Even the coach of Italy's World Cup-winning side, Marcello Lippi, has been implicated in this controversy and his resignation following the tournament undoubtedly stemmed, at least in part, from the fall-out from this match-fixing investigation.

Testosterone limits, steroid use, indictments, investigations, match-fixing...does this sound like a sports article to you? Well, today, these aren't just excerpts from articles - these are the headlines jumping off the cover pages. In what should be a golden age for sports, what with all the money, media attention, and technological advancements that have made worldwide sports so profitable, plentiful, and accessible via TV and internet, a dark cloud of cheating threatens to tarnish the sports world for the indefinite future. How can this be? How is it possible that these glory days of sports might end up becoming a time to forget?

Unfortunately, it is the newfound riches of modern sports that are the root of the problem itself, as they frequently prove too enticing for others to resist. The sports world began to experience phenomenal growth in the 80s and 90s, as leagues like the NFL, NBA, and English Premiership rose to prominence; meanwhile, international events like the Olympics and the World Cup became worldwide showcases, highlighted by magnetic teams and players such as US basketball's Dream Team and Argentina's Diego Maradona. Sports were booming, fame and fortune was always just one win away and, although this was a positive development in many ways, for some individuals it would prove to be their undoing.

In the early 90s, it was Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson who found the lure of Olympic glory too tempting; a juiced-up Johnson, looking like he was literally about to burst out of his skin, raced to gold in the 100-meter dash before testing positive. In the late 90s, it was Mark McGwire, whose beefy upper-body made Popeye look anorexic, who was unable to resist the fame and fortune that came with being the new home-run champ of baseball; after lasting for 37 years, Roger Maris' record of 61 home runs was suddenly shattered as juiced-up roidheads like McGwire, Bonds, and Sammy Sosa began jacking balls over the fence as if there were honing devices inside them. At the start of the new millenium, it only got worse. Premier cyclists like Jan Ullrich, Richard Virenque, and Marco Pantani were all suspended for drug use; even Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour winner, continues to be suspected of foul play. Top tennis players like Mariano Puerta and Guillermo Canas were caught for doping. Track star Marion Jones was reported to have taken steroids before the 2000 Olympics in which she won two gold medals. A veritable Hall-of-Fame group of baseball players such as McGwire, Sosa, and Rafael Palmeiro were forced to testify in front of Congress after another steroid-user Jose Canseco wrote a book outlining rampant steroid use in the sport; Yankees slugger Jason Giambi was also implicated in this case. Even at levels of sports where the innocence of it all is the main attraction, Little League baseball stars like Danny Almonte were found to have lied about their age in an attempt to become the best in the world by any means necessary.

As athletes went to new extremes to get an edge on the field, sports administrators were also caught up in a growing web of corruption off the field. In Germany, referee Robert Hoyzer was sentenced to two years in jail for his part in Germany's biggest-ever match-fixing scandal. In the 2002 Olympics, a French judge admitted that she had been part of a plan to award the gold medal in figure skating's pairs competition to Russia in exchange for a return favor from the Russian judges in the ensuing ice dancing competition. In the US, as evidenced by comments by the Dallas Mavericks' Mark Cuban and the Seattle Seahawks' Mike Holmgren, it has become commonplace for owners and coaches to question the honesty and integrity of referees.

In today's sports world, that poisoned apple of fame and fortune is simply too hard to resist for most people. Rather than ushering in a golden age for sports, all of the newfound riches have only caused people to go to new extremes for success. Today, there is just too much at stake, whether it be money or fame or power, for people to resist putting their reputations and careers on the line for a shot at becoming the best in the world. (And in the case of the East German female swimmers of the 80s, even becoming a man was a realistic option) It might not be what anyone wants to hear, but it's becoming awfully hard to enjoy any victories in sports anymore. Nothing is sacred. From baseball's record books to Serie A titles, everything comes with an asterisk. Even the best stories, like Landis' courageous effort in the Tour, seem to come with a grain of salt. For the past month, everyone made a conscious effort to forget about doping in the Tour or match-fixing in Italy to savor the impressive triumphs of Landis and the Azzurri, but now it's back to reality. And, sad but true as it is to say, reality in sports isn't about epic comebacks or inspiring performances anymore. Not today - in today's sports world, cheating is the name of the game.

Lost in the Blogger Wilderness

2006-07-26T20:52:00.000-05:00

Due to some website issues, a new post ("Like Yino y Yango") actually appears on the site mixed in with yesterday's two posts, rather than above those older posts and with today's date, where it should be. Got it? No, okay, nevermind.

The point is that, seeing as the soccer muse was working overtime, you are now treated to a mini-history of Real Madrid, Barcelona, and, oh, the entire freakin country of Spain, and I didn't want you to miss it. So just scroll down to it or, if you'd prefer (you lazy bum), click here:

http://worldsoccerblogger.blogspot.com/2006/07/like-yino-y-yango.html

And Still More New Unis

2006-07-25T19:28:00.000-05:00

Newcastle United: this third jersey, seen here on the left in their Intertoto Cup match, is the early front-runner for best jersey of the season; the sky blue & black combo works for Argentina & now the Geordies have brought it to club football. In fact, I've got to go order those shorts right now.

Juventus: similar to last year's, except with a new collar. Pretty nice - they'll easily be the best dressed team in Serie B.

Liverpool: now sponsored by adidas, the home strip is still classic, the away yellow is hard to miss (although the green sponsor is no good), and the new white third jersey is a throw-back to old Liverpool unis. Well done all around.

Olympique Lyon: few changes from last year's Umbro kit, aside from a new sponsor and the fact that the away red strip looks more like a billboard - seriously, like you'd buy that jersey?

Like Yino y Yango

2006-07-25T11:52:00.000-05:00

Beckham congratulates Ronaldinho on his exhibition in the Bernabeu, the latest example of the contrasting fortunes in soccer's greatest rivalry.

There are a lot of great rivalries in world soccer: Celtic-Rangers in Scotland, River-Boca in Argentina, Inter-Milan and Roma-Lazio in Italy, Palmeiras-Corinthians and Flamengo-Vasco in Brazil, Galatasaray-Fenerbahce in Turkey, ManU-Liverpool and Arsenal-Spurs in England, and Marseille-PSG in France all come to mind. What makes these rivalries so special is not always the quality of footie on display, but the passion that they invoke in players, fans, and even impartial spectators alike. Most soccer fans can barely grasp the full depth of the Celtic-Rangers rivalry, but no fan can watch one of their Old Firm battles and not find themselves passionately rooting for one team or the other. And what can set an exceptional rivalry apart from a great one is that the division that it causes can not only be felt within one city, but throughout a country or even the world; the Celtic-Rangers rivalry divides not only Glasgow, but rather permeates all of Scotland, all of Britain, and even other parts of the globe. But as great as all of these rivalries are, there is one 'superclasico' in world soccer that stands out from all the rest: Real Madrid-Barcelona.

Most fans would tell you that what makes Real-Barca so special is the amazing array of talent that is always on display in these Spanish derbies. This past year, the likes of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Raul, Etoo, Zidane, Deco, Beckham, Xavi, Robinho, Messi, Roberto Carlos, Puyol, Casillas and Larsson all graced the grass of the Bernabeu and Nou Camp. Few rivalries can boast of that much footie firepower, but some can: Juve-Milan and Chelsea-Arsenal can both at least claim to belong in the same conversation, but neither rivalry has half of the national impact, lengthy history, and widespread passion of Real-Barca. For any soccer game to reverberate so strongly in every inch of Spain and other parts of the world, the rivalry must be rooted in something immensely powerful, something that cuts far deeper than anything that takes place on a football pitch - and so it is with Real-Barca.

In Pulp Fiction, Mia is interviewing Vincent before he takes her out to dinner. Wanting to find out what type of person he is before they go out, she says, "My theory is that when it comes to important subjects, there's only two ways a person can answer. For instance, there's two kinds of people in this world, Elvis people and Beatles people. Now Beatles people can like Elvis. And Elvis people can like the Beatles. But nobody likes them both equally. Somewhere you have to make a choice - and that choice tells me who you are." Now Mia might have had some coke issues and an atrocious Fox Force Five joke, but she was right about making choices in life; and the same theory applies to Real-Barca: you have to make a choice - and that choice says a lot about who you are as a person. There might be other rivalries in sports that also carry such weight - Yanks-Red Sox in baseball, for one - but even that doesn't come close to Real-Barca. Take Lakers-Celtics in basketball, add more than a century of history and politics and oppression, spread it out all over the country, and you're still not up to the level of Real-Barca. Like Real-Barca, though, the Lakers-Celtics rivarly involved two of the biggest and most unique cities in the country: you're either an L.A. person or a Boston person, period. You either like the sunny, glitzy, glamourous, laid-back, new-age, clubby, surfer scene of Hollywood or the hard-nosed, working-class, historic, old-fashioned, pub-crawling lifestyle of Beantown. In Spain, the dichotomy of Real-Barca starts there, in the differences between the two cities of Madrid and Barcelona.

You need look no further than a map to start to understand the difference between these two, great cities. Madrid is located right smack in the center of Spain; as such, it considers itself the heart of the country. The main plaza in the city, Plaza del Sol, is viewed as the center of the entire nation, the heart of the country, the starting point from which all roads stem. Ever since Phillip I, son of Charles I of Spain, moved the court from Toledo to Madrid in the 16th century, Madrid has been the capital. Simply put, Madrid is the center of all things Spanish: traditional, historic, and conservative. On the other hand, both geographically speaking and otherwise, Barcelona is as far from Madrid as possible, isolated over on the Northeast coast just off the Mediterranean - it is cosmopilitan, liberal, opinionated, and unique. Although Barcelona might appear to be a Spanish city on the map, it's not that simple.

Ever since the Spanish Civil War, which lasted from 1936-1939, Barcelona, capital of the region of Catalonia, has led the fight for Catalonian independence from Spain. During the war, the Nationalists, led by Francisco Franco, made their base in Madrid, while the Loyalists (of the Second Spanish Republic) mostly came from the Republican strongholds of Asturias, the Basque Country, and Catalonia. The two latter regions were the base for a very strong separatist movement, one that would lose to Franco's Nationalist forces, supported by the Fascist nations of Germany and Italy, and would later have to suffer at the hands of Franco the consequences for daring to want to secede from Spain. After his victory, Franco would go on to rule Spain as a dictator for the next 36 years, during which time he centralized power in Madrid, a move which only made the Catalan independence movement grow stronger. Franco, of course, was a fervent supporter of the capital's team, Real Madrid.

During the war, Barcelona's president Josep Sunyol was killed; after it, Franco would give considerable institutional support to Real, helping to usher the club into a period of incredible successes on the pitch - "los Blancos" would win the European Champions League six times and la Liga a whopping 15 times during Franco's reign (and get more than their fair share of refereeing decisions along the way). While Franco was in power, Real was known as the "Regime Team" and, accordingly, Barca suffered - not only was the Catalan language and flag banned, but Barca never once won the Champions League and suffered through one of the worst periods in club history during the 1960s and 70s. Upon Franco's death in 1975, Barca's fortunes improved. Not only could banners reading "Catalonia is not Spain" be seen in the Nou Camp, but the club signed the Dutchman Johan Cruyff, who endeared himself to Barca's fans off the pitch by giving his son a Catalan name (Jordi) and on it by helping Barca win la Liga for the first time since 1960. Cruyff returned to Barca in the late 80s as manager, assembling what would be known as the "Dream Team" and leading the club into a period of immense success. Coincidence? Maybe, but either way a clear pattern had been established: when Real is doing well, Barca isn't. And vice versa.

With a history so dominated by political division and even a war, it is no wonder that the Real-Barca rivalry is felt throughout Spain. Every fan in the country supports one or the other. In most cases, fans support their local club and then one of the two worldpowers; an 'aficionado' in, say, Sevilla might be a fanatical Real Betis supporter, while also rooting passionately for Real Madrid to beat Barca. In most cases, a fan's choice reflects their political leanings: for example, the vast majority of the fans in the Basque Country, allied with Catalonia in the Civil War, support Barca. When I lived in Spain, I lived just down the street from Madrid's Bernabeu stadium, so naturally I became a fan of Real. Later that year, we travelled to Barcelona for the weekend, hoping to catch the superclasico between Real-Barca; on Saturday night, I donned my classic white Real Madrid jersey and we headed off to the Nou Camp. As we pulled up to the stadium's metro stop, a friendly Barca fan turned to me and said "I'd lose that jersey if I were you - trust me"; as he said that, I could hear the growing roar of fans on the street above - point taken. When we got up to the street, we saw the Real team bus pulling up to the stadium - never have I seen such a torrent of objects: the bus was pelted with a veritable grocery list, from eggs to tomatoes, but also more than a few rocks, one of which shattered a window. The police, surely mostly Barca fans, didn't seem to mind, but from the looks of the ghost-white players seen in the bombarded bus, the Real players thought otherwise. Still, as Real would come to find out a few years later, Barca fans have a thing for throwing some, er, interesting objects when their arch-enemy comes to town.

The Real-Barca rivalry reached a fever pitch in 2000. Real was in the midst of a presidential election when one of the candidates, Florentino Perez, claimed that if he were elected, he would sign Barcelona's superstar winger, Luis Figo. At the time, Figo, the fan favorite of Barca and one of the world's best players, was embroiled in a contract dispute with Barca's president, Joan Gaspart; Perez knew that he could capitalize on this strained relationship, but also on the fact that the Spanish system allows players to be bought simply by a club paying that player's fixed transfer fee with the Spanish soccer federation (and not deal directly with that player's previous club, as is the case in other countries such as England and Italy). Perez also knew that no player in the world would entice Real Madrid fans to vote for him more than the face of Barca, Luis Figo. Perez won in a landslide, deposited Figo's $58 million transfer fee with the federation, and presented Figo to Madrid's ecstatic supporters at the Bernabeu. Barca, both the city and club, was irate. When Figo returned to the Nou Camp for the following year's Real-Barca game, everything from whiskey bottles to a pig's head (yes, you read that right) rained down upon Figo every time he went to take a corner kick. Real would win la Liga that year, followed by their record 9th Champions League title the next year, and then la Liga again in 2002-03; Gaspart never recovered, resigning under unrelenting pressure in 2003.

From 1996 to 2004, the president of Spain was Jose Maria Aznar, a huge Real Madrid fan. Barca's fans would consistently complain of refereeing decisions that went against their club; of course it is easy to cry foul when your team is losing, but some of the decisions were more than a bit surprising. In the 2004 elections, Aznar was defeated by Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, a Barcelona fan; that same year, Angel Maria Villar was re-elected as president of the Spanish soccer federation. Barca, too, had a new president: Joan Laporta. All of a sudden, the refereeing decisions started took a discernible turn in favor of Barca. Again, this coincided with real, tangible, factual developments in the club, but now it was Real Madrid's turn to cry foul. Barcelona was winning everything: Laporta hired Dutchman Frank Rijkaard as coach, signed Brazilian wunderkind Ronaldinho and, in a stunning turn of events, managed to convince Perez to sell him Cameroonian striker Samuel Etoo, a product of the Real Madrid youth system. The signing of Ronaldinho was also intriguing because originally, Laporta had not wanted the Brazilian; in fact, Laporta had made a Perez-like election promise of signing David Beckham. Beckham, though, turned down Laporta's offer and signed with Real Madrid, so Laporta turned to Ronaldinho. This was a fitting development,since both players are perfect for their respective clubs and their traditions: Beckham is a conservative, image-conscious icon, while Ronaldinho is symbolic of all things Catalan: fun-loving, rebellious, and audacious. Ronaldinho and Etoo, combined with other signings like Rafael Marquez and Deco, as well as youth players like Carles Puyol and Lionel Messi, would go on to lead Barcelona to back-to-back Liga titles and only their second Champions League title in their history. A year ago, during Barca's celebrations, Etoo sent the Madrid fans into uproar and the Barca fans into delirium by chanting "Madrid cabron, saluda al campeon!" ("Madrid you motherf***er, salute the champs!"). Later that year, Ronaldinho was awarded FIFA's World Player of the Year award. And what of Real, you ask? Beckham has yet to win a single title in his first three seasons in Madrid, one of the worst title droughts in club history.

As always, this past year Real played Barca twice. Barca romped to a 3-0 win in Madrid's Bernabeu fortress on the strength of a goal by Etoo and two Ronaldinho masterpieces. In a rare show of good sportsmanship between the two rivals, Madrid's fans couldn't resist applauding Ronaldinho's brilliance (or maybe there were just no pig heads at arm's reach). Meanwhile Madrid, Beckham included, was whistled off the pitch. In the rematch in Barcelona's cavernous Nou Camp, the two teams battled to a draw; Real got a goal from Ronaldo, but some dubious refereeing led to a Ronaldinho penalty and Roberto Carlos red card and Barca went on to get the draw they needed to keep them comfortably ahead of Real in the title race - times, it seems, have changed.

Just last week, the paths of Real and Barca crossed once again. Perez is history now and their new president, Ramon Calderon, wanted to please his new coach, Italian Fabio Capello, by signing some players from his former club, newly relegated Juventus. Calderon and Capello particularly had their eyes on some Juve defenders to shore up Real's porous backline: Fabio Cannavaro, Emerson, and Gianluca Zambrotta. Enter Barca and Laporta, who sent his number-two, Txiki Begiristain, over to Turin to steal Zambrotta out of Real's fingertips. Juve, taking advantage of the situation and rivalry, demanded that Barca agree to purchase aging French defender Lilian Thuram, too. Barca agreed. Now, Barca has upgraded an already powerful squad, while Real is left without a leftback to replace the unhappy Roberto Carlos. As always with Real-Barca, it is a question of black and white, night and day, yin and yang.

In Spain, the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona is far more than just a soccer game - it is a rivalry deeply rooted in history and politics, one that spans the course of a nation torn apart by regional differences, a hatred that permeates that entire country. So this October, when you and a million other aficionados tune in to watch los Blancos battle los Blaugrana, remember that you're watching a game that transcends Ronaldo, Etoo, Beckham, Ronaldinho, Robinho, Messi, Raul and Puyol - you're watching a rivalry that includes everything from Phillip I and Francisco Franco to Luis Figo and a pig's head. Real and Barca are still immersed in a timeless dance that neither one can do without, everyone can play, and no one can resist. After she had finished interviewing him, Mia said to Vincent later that night at dinner, "Now I wanna dance, I wanna win, and I want that trophy - so dance good!" In the passionate rivalries of world soccer, Real and Barca can dance better than anyone.

No More Superlatives

2006-07-25T09:18:00.000-05:00

As good as it gets: Bergkamp waves goodbye to the Gunners fans for the final time.

This summer, one of the best players of the past two decades hung up his boots for the last time. As a playmaker, he displayed unparalled grace, poise, and vision, coolly holding onto the ball until the defense opened up and allowed him to make a lethal pass to set up a teammate for the easiest of goals. When deployed as a second striker, his composure under pressure, astounding touch on the ball, and awe-inspiring audacity (few, if any, players in the world made better use of the chip) made him a clinical finisher. There was a subtlety to his game, a simplicity that made the most difficult plays look easy, almost unfairly so. Even as he entered the twilight of his career, his game remained as fresh and insightful as if he had only just been called up from the youth team; never having had much use for power and strength, he relied on his technique and finesse to continue dissecting defenses with amazing precision. For anyone who has ever played pick-up basketball, he had become the old, slow, fading star that ran half as much as everyone else, barely moving half the time, but still always being the deadliest, most feared opponent you could imagine, capable of deciding a game without so much as breaking a sweat. Simply put, his game was timeless.

Zinedine Zidane will go down in history as one of the five best players ever, but there was one other player that compiled a comparable body of work in the past decade: Dennis Bergkamp, star of Holland and Ajax and Arsenal, is the only player that can even be mentioned in the same breath as the great Frenchman. The only blight on the Dutchman's career is that, as fearless as he was on the pitch, he was afraid of flying, a fear so strong that he missed the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea as well as almost all of Arsenal's Champions League away games (held across the Channel on the continent). It was this fear that may have prevented the Non-Flying Dutchman from achieving the glory on the international stage that could have catapulted him even higher on the pantheon of all-time greats; he was part of the Dutch generation that, after displaying so much promise, never fulfilled its potential by winning international trophies; at Arsenal, his teams had a habit of crashing out of the Champions League - they were even unable to beat Galatasaray to win the UEFA Cup. All the same, Bergkamp's career needs no apologies or asterisks - he was one of the most beautiful players to watch, a true artist in action, a superstar with no shortage of highlights.

It is a testament to Dennis the Menace's skill and longevity that his career managed to span two of the most glorious periods of Arsenal's history. In the late 90s, Bergkamp was the fulcrum of a team that included Ian Wright, Nwanko Kanu, Emmanuel Petit, and his best friend and fellow Dutchman Marc Overmars. In the next millenium, Bergkamp partnered with Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg to again pack Arsenal's trophy case to the brim. To this day this latter Arsenal squad remains one of the most jaw-dropping teams ever: the verve of their attacking prowess, roared on by the packed rafters of Highbury, was too much for teams to overcome. No matter how many of his oil rubles he spends, Abramovich's Chelski will never match the beauty of these attacking Arsenal sides, relentlessly pushing men forward into attack, playing with movement and speed reminiscent of Barcelona's Dream Team of the 90s, pouring forth in wave after wave as if they were down by three goals in a Cup final. In 2004, they cruised through an entire Premiership campaign without losing a single match. Around this time, Bergkamp scored a goal that will long last in the memory of every footie fan: against Newcastle United, Bergkamp received a cross from the left on the edge of the penalty area and with a defender, Nikos Dabizas, on his back, he dinked the ball with the inside of his left foot to the right of Dabizas, then spun to the left, cutting around Dabizas' back side, collected the ball and calmly placed it in the corner of the net as if the goalie didn't even exist. It was sublime. If a soccer player is only as good as his first touch, then Bergkamp's control against Argentina in a '98 World Cup quarterfinal surely places him among the all-time greats: he collected a long ball played from the back, took it down smoothly, cut back behind Argentina's Ayala, and blasted in the game-winning goal with only seconds left. And he was not just a finisher: his assist in a Champions League match against Juventus is as shocking a pass as you could ever hope to see. Set to the soothing sounds of Queen, you can catch a glimpse of Bergkamp in all his glory in this video.

Ultimately, as a BBC commentator once remarked, with Bergkamp you simply run out of superlatives. He was one of a kind, a reminder of everything that soccer can be, a true ambassador of the beautiful game. Last week, at Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium, two of his former clubs - Arsenal and Ajax, an epic collection of all-time greats including fellow Dutchmen Johan Cruyff, Frank Rijkaard, and Marco Van Basten, and a dozen of his former teammates, gathered for Bergkamp's farewell match. To say that he will be missed is an understatement, but at this point, I've run out of superlatives.

More New Unis

2006-07-20T15:42:00.000-05:00

Chelsea: Big changes for the Blues (Is there a better color for a soccer team these days? The Azzurri, les Bleus...) - No more Umbro, now it's adidas and it looks like a lighter shade of blue than last year. Best uniforms that oil can buy.

AC Milan: 15 points off the pace and it's only June, Maldini must be in his 40s, and their unis aren't as good as last year's. But hey, the shorts are nice and they'll still beat Inter in the derby.

Addicted to Soccer? I'm your Pusherman

2006-07-19T14:03:00.000-05:00

When D.A.R.E. doesn't work - some of the most serious addicts are just kids.

Not to get all nostalgic here, but I remember the day I fell in love with soccer. I had just landed in San Jose, Costa Rica, of all places to spend a month learning Spanish (read, go to the beach & get drunk). An old, chain-smoking man, the father of the family with whom I would be staying (until I fled to the beach) met me at the airport and ushered me out to his rickety scooter. Minutes later, I was holding on to the poor guy like a kid on his first day of school, a task made all the more difficult by the luggage that was sandwiched between us. It was mid-afternoon in San Jose and I was looking forward to getting to the house so I could shower and relax after the long trip. Unfortunately, my chaffeur had other plans. After an uncomfortable half-hour drive to Alajuela, we turned on to a side street and tucked the scooter in between rows and rows of parked cars. Once we had secured my luggage to the scooter, we headed off down the road, following what seemed to be a growing crowd. At around this point, I started to get the idea that we might not be headed back to the house, unless the house consisted of a 40,000 seat stadium packed to the rafters with screaming Costa Ricans. We wove our way through a crowd of rabid fans in red & black jerseys (think AC Milan with a more, um, Central American design) and found our seats (by which I mean a spot on the concrete bleachers where we could squeeze in). The scene was sheer chaos: lit flares exploding all around, constant singing, beer everywhere, a deafening symphony of chants (imagine being a bay leaf thrown into a boiling pot of jambalaya...actually, just imagine a soccer game). My first thought was "damn, there is something way bigger going on here than just a soccer game". My second thought was "wait, why is the scoreboard clock counting down from 3 hours 12 minutes?". Sure enough, this was just the start of the pre-game festivities. Later that night, when it was a major feat for most fans to avoid face-planting down on the bleachers, we watched Alajuela defeat Deportivo Saprissa for the league title. It was well past dawn before I finally made it home to my long-awaited shower - countless beers, dozens of songs, too many death-defying drunken scooter rides to count, and one new passion in life later.

At the time, I was already familiar with soccer, having spent the previous summer in Mexico City (I still remember celebrating with my Mexican amigos after the US shocked Argentina 3-0, only to sit there awkwardly biting my lip a few days later when the US eliminated Mexico on penalties). I had also gotten used to my English relatives in Newcastle getting 1000 times more excited about seeing Peter Beardsley on TV than about seeing me for the first time in five years. Still, I had never seen the type of passion, the communal outpouring of emotion, that was so evident that night in Alajuela. In Philadelphia, Eagles fans go berserk eight days a year (and sometimes a blessed nine or ten days if the team makes the playoffs), but that is far from every weekend. Also, a bunch of inebriated bums yelling E-A-G-L-E-S in the bathroom really doesn't hold a candle to 50,000 Liverpool fans belting out another rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone". Witnessing first-hand a real soccer match was a glorious rite of passage into a world I had never even known existed - I was hooked. In the next few years, I would find myself right alongside my Newcastle relatives screaming bloody murder at the away fans with the audacity to cheer their team on at St. James Park; I would attend Champions League matches at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium to watch Real Madrid march to their record 7th title; and I would pull all-nighters watching grainy footage of Italian matches in my dorm room at college. Basically, I became a freak. Soccer, at its worst, is something that you might not understand. But at its best, soccer is an addiction that won't leave you alone, a drug that you can't get enough of, a taste of the the lifeblood that flows through the rest of the world, a bad habit that you just can't kick...and wouldn't want to anyway (yes, pun intended).

So who cares about all this? Well, today there was an article by ESPN's Bill Simmons in which the author chose an English team to support during the coming season (and no, he didn't have the good taste or the self-loathing to pick Newcastle). The infectious beauty and passion of soccer on display during the World Cup was like a gateway drug - it's simply impossible to quit now, even though the tournament is over. Simmons ought to tread carefully, though - one day you're enjoying Brazil-France at the World Cup, next thing you know you're hunched over a computer screen at 5am reading a live feed of Rangers-Celtic because the extra $200 you spent on the digital cable soccer package didn't go through yet and you don't want to wait five days to watch the replay on RAI TV. Trust me, coming from someone who's been there and done that, a soccer addiction is a bitch. Dragging your girlfriend to games on trips to Europe when there are about a hundred things she'd rather be doing in Florence. Setting the alarm clock for 2am to watch World Cup games from the Far East. Faking sickness to leave work early so you can line up outside a seedy sports bar to get a glimpse of the Champions League match that was bumped from ESPN in favor of figure skating. It's a rough life, we soccer addicts live, but it's the price we pay to enjoy the only sport that unites the world. There's something comforting about knowing that you're sitting in front of a TV set tuning into the same game as everyone from the Ivory Coast to Korea. Maybe it's because you know that, in some inexplicable way, you really are part of something bigger.

So for anyone going through post-World Cup withdrawal, who's out there looking for another hit of some of that sweet futbol, you don't have to wait too long. All of the same elements that make the World Cup such a glorious occasion are on display every weekend (and some weekdays) - you might have to stomach a ginormous cable bill, but it'll be worth it. Just last night, before they could even recover from la Seleccion's exit from the World Cup, Argentinians had to suffer through River Plate's elimination from la Copa Libertadores. And this week, Europeans biggest clubs like Real Madrid, Chelsea, and Bayern Munich all started pre-season training for the coming season. Heck, Newcastle has already kicked off their season, slumping to a draw against a lowly Norwegian side in their quest to qualify for the UEFA Cup (see, that's the self-loathing part). It's a long road that any budding soccer-addict is headed down, one full of highs and lows and everything in between, and one that might take precedent over everything from the Uffizi to a much-needed shower in Central America...but it'll be all be worth it for the best damn buzz of your life. "I'm your doctor, when in need / you know me, I'm your friend / Your main boy, think & thin / I'm your pusherman..."

The Zidane Ruling

2006-07-17T14:14:00.000-05:00

July 2001: Zidane signs with Real Madrid. And the soccer world as we knew it would never be the same.

Way back in 1990, when Hypercolor t-shirts were still cool and grunge music was just starting to sweep the nation, for the first time in world history the most important guy on earth was a Belgian. His name was Jean-Marc Bosman, a soccer player for a club team there. Bosman's contract had expired that year and he wanted to move to a new team in France, but he wasn't able to do so because his Belgian club could not agree on a transfer fee with them. Bosman was stuck, so he took his case to the courts and eventually won in what is now known as the Bosman Ruling. Bosman's victory meant that, from that point on, European soccer players were free to move from one club to another as they desired once their previous contract was up.

There are moments in every sport that change the game in ways that no one before had ever imagined. Some of these moments take place on the court or the field or the diamond, like the the zone defense or the blitz. And some of these moments take place in the courts, like the Bosman Ruling. The game of soccer was forever changed in 1990; 11 years later, it would change again.

If in 1990 the system of free agency had taken the sport by storm, in 2001 an even more shocking and drastic change would take place. Real Madrid's president Florentino Perez had revolutionized the sport by instituting a club policy that dictated that each offseason he would sign the best player in the world. Period. It was an amazingly bold and arrogant policy, since it presumed that the best players in the world would want to play for Real Madrid and that the player's club would be unable to stop them. In 2001, the best player was Zinedine Zidane. At an awards banquet in Monaco, Perez was sitting at a table next to the French star and legend has it that Perez slipped him a napkin asking him if he would like to join Real Madrid. Zidane said yes. Of course, at the time Zidane was still a player for Juventus, only the most popular club in Italy and one of the biggest clubs in the world. To make matters more difficult, Zidane was still under contract there - he had a deal that ran until 2005. Case closed, right? Not so fast. Perez encouraged Zidane to speak to Juventus in an effort to get out of his contract and then leaked the news to the press that Zidane wanted to leave Juve and come to Real. Juventus, despite having the best player in the world under contract for another four years, was caught in a disastrous situation. They couldn't keep Zizou if he didn't want to be there, but why would they sell their prized superstar? And if they were to sell him, how could they possibly get a fair deal since they would have zero leverage to help them bargain for a good deal? The Juventus managers stated that Zidane would not leave for Madrid, but as time went on it was clear that there was little they could do to keep an unhappy player. In July of 2001, Zidane was sold to Real for a then-record fee of $65 million.

In soccer history, the Zidane case might even be more revolutionary than Bosman's because, rather than changing the system to give the players more freedom, the Zidane case simply ignored the system altogether. Who cares about free agency or contracts or any of that? All of a sudden, any player could break any deal at any time to move to a new club. Heck, Ronaldo did it the very next year, moving to Real Madrid, too. So today, despite a system that is full of transfer fees and player clauses and contract extensions, there is nothing more powerful than a player's word. Then again, when you look at all the broken contracts, there is nothing less powerful, either.

This month, now that the World Cup is over, the world transfer market will explode once again. The annual flurry of signings and sales and purchases will begin anew. In fact, it's already begun. Before the World Cup, the team that has replaced Real Madrid as the world's wealthiest and most star-studded club, Chelsea, signed two superstars: the first to sign, Michael Ballack, moved on a Bosman transfer - his contract with Bayern Munich expired at the end of last season; the second, Andriy Shevchenko, pulled a Zidane - he told his club AC Milan that he wanted to move to England and there was nothing that they could do to stop him (like Zidane, who said that his Spanish wife wanted to return home, Sheva made up an excuse to avoid any blame, saying that he wanted his kids to grow up learning English, probably because his wife, an American, also wanted to be in a country where she spoke the language).

In today's soccer world, everyone is a free agent. No one is off-limits. If Real Madrid wants to sign Milan's Kaka, all they have to do is get the player to insist that Milan let him leave. If Chelsea wants Roberto Carlos, well, all they need to do is get their owner Roman Abramovich (the new Perez) to convince the player to ditch his club, Real Madrid (see, times have changed). There used to be a time when the Bosman Ruling seemed earth-shattering, a decision that would change the game forever. And for a time, it did. But today, the Bosman Ruling somehow seems insignificant. Ever since Zidane decided that, contract-be-damned, he wasn't going to wait until 2005 to switch clubs, the game as we know it has done a 180. Sixteen years ago, the clubs had all the power; today, it's the players. After all, who cares about a stupid contract? Not the players that sign them, that's for sure.

So this month, anything is possible. Don't be surprised to see Kaka end up at Real, Roberto Carlos at Chelsea, Ronaldo at Man Utd, Riquelme at Inter, and Cristiano Ronaldo at Barcelona, even though all of those players are under contract with their current clubs. In today's game, one that knows no salary caps or luxury taxes, world soccer is a fantasy sport - you want a player, you can get him. Bosman and Zidane might have hung up their boots, but this summer their influence on the game will reverberate around the soccer world like never before. (And in more ways than one - a guy named Materazzi's still got the bruise to prove it...)

Arena Out, Tinkerbell In?

2006-07-14T14:31:00.000-05:00

Will American fans be treated to four years of Coach Klinsi doing his Tinkerbell goal fairy dance on the sidelines? Let's hope so.

In a predictable move, the US Soccer Federation and Bruce Arena decided to go their separate ways today. Realistically, even had the Americans done more in the World Cup than get embarassed by the Czechs, bloodied by the Italians, eliminated by Ghana, and screwed by the refs, Arena's tenure would probably have ended - eight years is an eternity as a national team coach. Still, Arena didn't go out as he would have hoped; his team bitched about him, his best players failed to show up, and he looked like a poor sport on the sidelines. If anything, all Arena did in Germany was present a challenge to Phil Mickelson's best man-boobs in sports. For that reason and more important ones, he will be missed.

Like him or not, Arena was the best coach the US national team has ever had. Even in defeat, Arena got it right: after the Cup, he said that the US cannot expect to contend for the World Cup title with players from MLS. It's just not happening. MLS is a good league, a growing one, and it will continue to get better, but there will never be a time in the next 20-30 years when the quality of soccer in MLS will rival anything in Europe, much less the better leagues in Latin America like Brazil's and Argentina's. Now this statement might upset American soccer fans and make Landon Donovan worry about getting homesick, but it's a fact - American players will improve immeasurably more in Europe than in the US. As a growing soccer country, the US has to do figure out how to improve as quickly as possible; the right answer is not to expect a kid playing in Kansas City to show up in Germany and go toe-to-toe with Ronaldinho - it's to get that kid over to Europe, be it to England or Spain or Germany or Holland or wherever, and let him learn to compete with the world's best week in and week out. Look, it might be great that MLS is able to bring world-class players to the league, but who should our best young players be playing with and against - an over-the-hill star like Youri Djorkaeff or an in-his-prime player like Michael Ballack? You can try to make the case that Clint Dempsey (an MLSer) was the Americans' best player in Germany and that Europe-based players like DaMarcus Beasley and Brian McBride failed to impress, but in no way can you say that the competition in MLS can in any way compete with the quality of play in Europe. If the US really wants to continue to improve and grow into a world power, then the country's best players - Donovan, Dempsey, Mastroeni, etc - need to start competing against the world's best players every week, not every four years. If Arena is able to leave a lasting legacy in US soccer, in addition to the accomplishments of 2002, then here's hoping that it's the insistence that US players leave the comfy confines of MLS and go battle it out with the best in Europe.

When it comes to Arena's successor, there are two options: Juergen Klinsmann and everyone else. Like any US soccer fan with half a brain, I'll take the former. Sorry, but coaches who have taken a team to the World Cup semis don't come around every day in the US. If there's any way the US Soccer Federation can get Klinsi, then they have to do it. If not, well, let's not go there right now - I'd rather dream about Coach Klinsi doing his Tinkerbell dance after Adu scores to put the US in the semis of South Africa 2010. Hey, stranger things have happened...

Bella Italia

2006-07-14T14:12:00.000-05:00

Materazzi celebrates the World Cup title the Italian way: in a court, pleading his innocence, hoping for leniency. La vita e bella, no?

You will not find a bigger fan of Italian food, wine, people, culture or vacations than yours truly. You will also not find many people (outside of France) more disappointed that the World Cup will reside in Italy for the next four years. There is no country in the world that, despite its wealth of talent and history of successes, has brought the beautiful game into more disrepute than Italy. From its contribution of catenaccio to the recent Materazzi fiasco, Italy has consistently let its considerable talent become overshadowed by negative tactics, foul play, and now, even corruption. Tonight the verdicts came down in the Serie A scandal: Juve demoted to Serie B (that would be the next one after A), docked an astonishing 30 points in next year's campaign, stripped of its last two scudettos, and its directors suspended for 5 years; Fiorentina demoted to B, docked 12 points, and its directors suspended for 4 years; Lazio demoted to B, docked 7 points (nothing like looking at the standings a month before the season starts to see your team sitting in last place at -7), and its directors suspended for 1 year; and AC Milan is allowed to remain in Serie A, but is banned from the Champions League this year, docked 15 points in the coming season, and its directors banned between 1-3 years. Very harsh punishments, but appropriately so. A slew of referees, too, most prominently Massimo De Sanctis, Italy's representative for the World Cup before a last-minute suspension, have been hit with punishments ranging from 3 months to 4 years. In a related story, everyone's favorite instigator Materazzi spent the day in Zurich pleading his innocence in the Zidane case to FIFA's governing body. Ahh, what a way to celebrate the World Cup!

New Uni Photos

2006-07-14T13:48:00.000-05:00

ManU: Simple, classy, new V-neck collar, new sponsor, crest now on white background, Paul Scholes is smaller than a hobbit.

Inter Milan: Your next Italian champions (and maybe last year's, too). Hate the white collar on the home strip, but otherwise good.

Liverpool: Reebok gives way to adidas. Pretty standard - same design as France, Spain, Japan, Germany, Real Madrid...

Liverpool: Away strip will make Spanish contingent (Benitez, Alonso, Garcia...) feel right at home.

Arsenal: Nowhere near as good as last year's maroon centenary shirt. Same design that teams like Valencia will be wearing.

New Video Evidence of Zidane Headbutt

2006-07-13T17:55:00.000-05:00

Zidane leaves the pitch in Berlin, sans Jules Rimet's silverware. But what really happened?

Courtesy of The Register in England (and a loyal reader):

www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/13/zidane_headbutt_outrage/

Only 1430 days until South Africa 2010!

2006-07-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

Raul models the new adidas Real Madrid kit. Shame he stopped scoring goals for them about three years ago.

As I try to make my way through the post-World Cup daze, er, days, and get rid of this brutal Cup-withdrawal (think "Trainspotting" but substitute heroin for soccer - I see little baby Cannavaros crawling all over the walls), here are some more odds & ends that warrant mentioning:

The new Real Madrid kit

See above. adidas has, not surprisingly, used their standard World Cup design, with only a few minor tweaks. On the right side, level with the team crest on the left, there is a new symbol to remind everyone that Real was voted FIFA's Best Team of the 20th Century - when you don't win any trophies three years in a row, I guess you have to impress people any way you can. Could Real be accused of resting on their laurels, living off the past, etc? Of course, but they've been called worse. Let's recap their year: coach fired in December, president resigns in February, team eliminated from Champions League, Copa del Rey, and falls out of contention in la Liga, new president forced out in May, elections called for July, candidates rip each other to shreds for a month, mail-in vote system is ridiculously suspect (candidates simply collect all of the mail-in votes they can and then present them on election day - no neutral third-party, no notary...) and turns out to be rife with fraud and is eventually suspended, outgoing board of directors refuses to acknowledge new elected president leading to suspicions of favoritism but then caves in to pressure, new president sworn in and then immediately charged with tampering by leading clubs in Europe, crappy new uniform unveiled in July. And when the club has turned into a three-ring circus, what other recourse do you have but to fall back on your past success? Well, you do that and then you sell more jersey space to sponsors - hence the "BENQ" and "SIEMENS", whereas last year it was just the latter. Why not just sell some space on the shorts, socks, and maybe even shoelaces? It works for teams in Mexico. But I digress. The road strip is black and the third jersey is navy blue, which is a nice change from last year's hideous gray shirt. Full review coming in August's WSB edition of Uni Watch.

Klinsmann, Lippi step down

No surprise here. It's always nice to go out on top. Zidane tried, but fell 10 minutes short. Plus, it's hard to get fired up about signing a new contract while you're still coming down off the World Cup high and the next one isn't for another four years. You never got the feeling that Klinsmann would want to spend any more time away from California, so it's only natural for him to want to get back to the Left Coast. And I wonder if Klinsi didn't also know that it couldn't get any better than this: his team had overachieved, they had gotten an easy draw, been inspired by the home crowd, squeaked by Argentina on penalties, almost stole a win from Italy, and done more than anyone expected. Everything fell into place. It was like the perfect storm, but now it would all be different. Everything had done a 180. The players would have to be re-focused on the job at hand and humbled a bit before Euro '08. The fans would want trophies. Expectations were now sky-high. Or he could go out on top, head back to Cali, lay on the beach, and not have to worry about the world making fun of him prancing around like Tinkerbell after every goal. As for Lippi, after what he went through before the Cup (people forget that there was a serious campaign to get him to resign, even more so than there was with Klinsmann), it's understandable that he would want to get out while it's still good. This Serie A scandal is going to dominate the headlines once again, so it's a smart move to get out of the job before the proverbial stinky stuff hits the fan. Which brings me to my next point: is anyone happy that Italy won the World Cup? With the Serie A match-fixing scandal, some of Italy's best players and coach all being implicated, De Rossi's elbow, Grosso's dive vs the Aussies, a poor performance in the final, Materazzi's taunts, and the anti-Semitic graffiti during the celebration...there can't be many people outside the boot who think that the World Cup is in good hands.

Zidane/Materazzi part deux

The thot plickens. In an interview on French TV tonight, Zidane refused to say exactly what Materazzi said to provoke him, other than that the Italian insulted his mother (who is ill) and sister repeatedly and used some very strong words. Zidane said that he tried to ignore him, but Materazzi kept repeating the taunts again and again. Zidane apologized for his violent reaction, but said that he doesn't regret it because it was simply a reaction to very harsh words. Zidane also denied that Materazzi had called him a terrorist, an allegation that had been publicized by the French group SOS Racism and then quoted in a post on this website on Monday - an apology is therefore owed to Materazzi, who was accused of being a racist. What these revelations do not change is the fact that the Zidane incident and what Materazzi said to him has clearly overshadowed the game itself and the Italian victory. What is also clear is that while Zidane may have headbutted Materazzi, the former is still regarded as a great player and class act who simply lost his cool, while the latter is a classless punk whose complete lack of FIFA's esteemed "fair play" provoked Zidane into the headbutt. It is easy for people around the world to criticize Zidane's reaction and claim that such an experienced veteran should never allow himself to be provoked at such a critical juncture of the game, but that is precisely what makes such a reaction understandable: with 10 minutes left in a hotly contested final, Materazzi pinched Zidane's nipple & insulted his seriously ill mother and sister - Zidane did what most people would do: he reacted. If he did anything wrong, it was that he should have directed that header at Materazzi's face.

Zidane/Materazzi part trois

Wanna smash your skull into Materazzi's chest, too? Now you can:

http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Sport/2006/07_Luglio/10/pop_zidane.shtml

Winners & Losers of the World Cup

2006-07-10T14:40:00.000-05:00

Winner or loser? Well, that's an easy one, but who let Marco Materazzi's sister get her hands on all that body paint?

Who's the big winner here tonight at the World Cup? Huh? These guys, that's who. They're winners. They're the big winners. And for every winner, there's a loser, so you know what that means:

Winner: Zizou

Now before you ask me to check myself into the nearest rubber-walled facility so I can sip milk from a straw and play ping-pong for the rest of my days, hear me out. Yes, he went postal, head-butted a guy, and got sent off with 10 minutes left in the Cup final. We knew that Zidane would steal the show - we just didn't know he'd do it like that. Was it wrong? Yes. Inexcusable? Absolutely. A complete and utter act of insanity? Maybe so. But when you've played three magical games to lead your seemingly over-the-hill team to wins (and real wins, like beating-a-team-in-90-minutes wins - no extra time, no penalties, nada de eso) against three of the best squads in the world - Spain, Brazil, and Portugal - and cemeted your place as one of the best players of all time, you're a winner in the minds of most fans. Plus, that was easily the best header of the World Cup.

Loser: Materazzi

After Italy beat Germany by playing four strikers in an effort to avoid penalties, I thought that an old dog might have learned some new tricks. Not so fast. In the final, Italy played a good first half, but a negative, defensive second half. In extra time, they were hanging on against an inspired French team. And their big win was overshadowed by the actions of Materazzi, who reacted to almost giving up the winning goal to one of Zidane's headers by taunting the star into directing the next header at his chest. Right now, what Materazzi said remains a mystery, but accusations of racist comments have been made. Would this racism be an isolated incident? Not exactly. Italy's celebrations were marred by swastikas being spraypainted throughout Rome's Jewish Quarter (Paolo Di Canio better have one heck of an alibi). Zidane head-butted a guy, but everyone still likes him. Materazzi won the World Cup, but everyone still thinks he's a trash-talking punk. And maybe a racist one, too.

Winner: Beckenbauer

The chief of the organizing committee helped Germany put on a great tournament, but also reminded everyone that his is one of the sharpest minds in soccer. He correctly criticized the refs for issuing too many cards, leading his incompetent boss (see below) to change FIFA's orders to clamp down on rough play. He also had the guts to say that the games at this tournament hadn't been all that impressive, with too few goals and too much tentative, defensive play. And Beckenbauer would know - he attended all of them.

Loser: Blatter

He had the right idea in trying to make the games more offensive and entertaining by telling the refs to issue more yellow cards, but then the minute one of the refs (Ivanov) took it too far (issuing 16 cards in the Holland-Portugal game), he caved. From that point on, the refereeing improved dramatically; plus, Marcelo Balboa shut up about the refs for more than 10 seconds. Hopefully FIFA would realize that maybe a week before their showcase tournament isn't the best time to tell refs to start doing things differently than they've done it for the previous four years. Just an idea.

Winner: Argentina

They went down swinging (literally) to ze Germans in the quarters, but they were one of the most enjoyable teams to watch this month. All of their fans were nervous about whether or not they'd even make it out of the Group of Death and avoid another disaster like the one four years ago, a tension that only increased when their coach left veterans like Javier Zanetti & Walter Samuel off the squad; but the team went out and beat a tough Ivory Coast team before putting on the show of the tourney against the hapless Serbs, running out 6-0 winners and scoring the goal of the tourney, a 24-pass exhibition culminated by Cambiasso's powerful drive off of Crespo's back-heel. Stunning. And then, Maxi Rodriguez ripped in another glorious goal to give the Albiceleste the win over Mexico. Even when they lost, they won - any impartial observer would have to be impressed that Argentina outplayed Germany in front of 65,000 rabid Deutschlanders in Berlin. And their passion, as many of their players left the pitch in tears, was indicative of just what a wonderful tourney the World Cup is. One negative: they need to work on their fisticuffs - Maxi looked like a drunk sorority girl shot out of a cannon throwing bitch-slap-esque haymakers against ze Germans. No es bueno.

Loser: Brazil

Everyone thought they'd be winners. As they say in Portuguese, "no". They left Germany looking like a team full of individualistic prima-donnas, not only not playing their patented "jogo bonito" but not even showing as much fighting spirit as a team of kids playing in gym class. Roberto Carlos summed it up by standing still as a statue while Thierry Henry smashed in the winning goal, either not having a clue what to do or not having the requisite determination to do it. When your team plays its best footie in a Nike commercial, well, that's not a good sign. Ronaldinho might be able to juggle forever or pass the ball all over the locker room, but he sure didn't show up in Germany.

Winner: Big Phil Scolari

If you've got one person to coach your country in a World Cup, can there be any doubt that this is the guy? Maybe you could make a case for Guus Hiddink, which reminds me - how much does he regret signing on to become Russia's coach after the World Cup? After what he did with Australia, the guy would have to be first-choice for who-knows-how-many countries, but instead he's stuck in Moscow coaching the likes of, er, Alexei Smertin? Let's go ahead & set the over-under on "Bottles of Vodka Consumed by Hiddink in the Next Month" at 290, okay?

Loser: Sir Alex Ferguson

His star striker stomps on an opponent's cojones and becomes the national villain. His other star striker has a terrible tournament, gets called out by his national team coach, and then benched, reducing his transfer fee by millions. Another striker manages to pick up an automatic-suspension yellow card, ruling him out of the World Cup final. His star winger has a fantastic tournament, but says he wants to go play in Spain - oh, and he's public enemy number one in all of England. And rumors are flying that the World Cup-winning coach of Italy will be taking over as coach of ManU in the near future. Yep, I'd say it was a good month for ManUtd and dear ole Sir Alex.

Winner: UEFA

Europe had four teams make the semifinals. If my math is correct, that's a lot of teams.

Loser: CONCACAF

Three of their teams lost in the first round. Mexico lost in the second round. The US lost to Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago lost to Paraguay, Costa Rica lost to Poland, and Mexico drew with Angola. Yikes.

Winner: Defenders

There were a veritable plethora of big-name attackers that came to Germany ready to strut their stuff, only to be completely stifled by no-name defenders. Defensive mids were the story of the tournament: Frings, Ze Roberto, Mascherano, Alonso, Vieira, Makelele, Gattuso, and Maniche were all excellent. And the centerbacks, like Cannavaro, Terry, Thuram, Gallas, Ayala, Puyol, and Lucio, put on one exhibition after another. Heck, most people outside of his own family hadn't even heard of Fabio Grosso and he had a better World Cup than anyone. No wonder there were so many boring, low-scoring games in the knock-out round.

Loser: Attackers

Where do I start? Ronaldinho, Adriano, Van Nistelrooy, Raul, Messi, Rooney, Pauleta, Trezeguet, Saha, Inzaghi, Gilardino, Drogba, Totti, Ibrahimovic....need I continue? The list of strikers who had a month to forget goes on & on. On the plus side, they all earn more money combined than the GNP of a quarter of the countries in the world.

Winner: Univision

Their ratings must be off the charts after a month when every American with even rudimentary Spanish had to switch over and watch the games on that channel because...

Loser: Anyone not able to watch Univision

I don't know who decided to make Dave O'Brien and Marcelo Balboa the number one commentary team, but I'd like to play darts on his face. What's wrong with Tommy Smyth? The guy has the enthusiasm of Dick Vitale but acutally has a brain to go with it, plus a wicked strong accent. Or Rob Stone, who actually knows the sport of soccer and commentates on it regularly? If it's at all possible for four people to ruin the World Cup for an entire country, then Dave O'Brien, Marcelo Balboa, Markus Merk and Landon Donovan took their best shot at it.

Winner: adidas

Even though all of their uniforms for the Cup basically sucked (save Argentina's), they had two teams make the semis, their "+10" campaign was excellent, and people even stopped bitching about the Teamgeist ball after a while. Somewhere on a dirt pitch in Latin America, Jose is smiling.

Loser: Nike

Their uniforms might be much better than their archrivals (Holland, US, Portugal, Mexico...), but none of their teams made the final, they had to put the brakes on their Brazil ad campaign after the team imploded in the quarters (and start showing commercials with of a basketball-playing rapist juggling with Ronaldinho), and the Cup was held in the home nation of adidas. Word has it that the suits over at Nike are currently plotting ways to arrange Oregon 2022. In the meantime, Nike might even be falling behind another World Cup winner, Puma, who outfitted champions Italy and a slew of other national teams.

Winner: Spain

Like Argentina, Spain played some wonderful soccer before bowing out too soon, per usual. So what's new? Well, for the first time in a long time, la Seleccion managed to acheive what every team in the Cup hopes to do: unite their country behind them, inspire people with their style of play, and bring joy to an entire nation. Spain didn't win this Cup, but - at the risk of sounding like a 2nd-grade gym teacher, they didn't lose, either. Spain is a fragmented nation, one desperately trying to unite its various regions, that historically falls short at big tournaments because the player's regional biases tend to get the better of them (Real Madrid players not getting along with Barcelona's, etc). In Germany, Spain's players locked arms and belted out the national anthem, played an attacking, possession-based style of soccer, and dazzled the worldwide audience with their array of young talent and offensive artistry. 32 teams played in Germany. 31 lost. But some of those 31, like Spain, were victorious in ways that can't be measured by wins and losses.

Loser: England

England advanced just as far as Spain. So why are they losers, you ask? Because England, as opposed to Germany and Portugal, did less with more. No more than two other nations in the world have more talent at their disposal than England, but the Three Lions never looked impressive. Not even once. They disappointed in the group phase, against Ecuador, and against Portugal. The talent didn't gel, the coach couldn't even the manage the egos on an under-10 team, and their young stud left Germany in shame. Even in defeat, Spain won. Even in victory, England lost.

Winner: Cristiano Ronaldo

He dives. He always holds the ball too long & doesn't score nearly enough. He's got hair straight out of an '80's glam-rock band. He always looks like he's about to start bawling. So why is he here? Because he's one of the most exciting players in the world to watch. Other than Zidane and Ronaldinho, who's got better ball-skills than Ronaldo? Exactly. Now if he can only learn to actually put in the back of the net...

Loser: Rooney

You stomp on someone's nuts & you're going down. Loser. Loo-hoo-ser.

Winner: Soccer fans

World Soccer Blogger has burst into your life like a gorgeous lover in a desperate moment of need. Don't deny it - you know you love it.

Loser: Me (insert joke here)

World Cup withdrawal is a bitch. I can't stop twitching, these cold sweats won't stop, I just puked in a trashcan, and I keep having flashbacks of Maxi's goal against Mexico. While I check myself into a soccer-rehab facility, World Soccer Blogger will be taking a few days off to recharge the old battery, but we'll be back with all the info on the European transfer market, a preview of the domestic leagues of England, Italy, and Spain, another comprehensive Uni Watch article, and all the low-down during the upcoming season. It should be a dandy - well, provided we don't have to watch guys get their nuts crushed while Dave O'Brien does commentary...

Cara y Cruz: From "God" to a "dirty terrorist"

2006-07-10T12:04:00.000-05:00

Only human after all - Zidane goes out with a bang.

According to the anti-racism group SOS Racism, Italy's Marco Materazzi (alternately called "Maserati" by our esteemed announcers) called France's Zinedine Zidane (alternately called "God" by teammate Thierry Henry) a "dirty terrorist", a taunt that caused Zidane to head-butt the Italian defender and thereby earn a red-card in yesterday's World Cup final, won by the Italians on penalties. Materazzi, predictably, has denied that he ever said that. Zidane has not said anything, but he is expected to speak about the incident in the coming days. There has been no confirmation of the exact comments and there might never be, but there are two certainties: 1) Materazzi must have said something shocking to cause Zidane to react so drastically; 2) An independent, non-partisan group has reliable sources that claim that Materazzi insulted Zidane with a racist slur.

Today I was planning on writing the usual match recap, detailing the highlights of a final game that involved two former champions, countless superstars, and one of the best players ever to lace up a pair of boots in the past few decades. Even as a physical, scrappy match dragged on into extra time knotted at one, I still looked forward to writing about the action: an unbelievably ballsy penalty kick by Zizou, done "a la Panenka", after the Czech player who famously chipped in a penalty kick to beat West Germany in the final of the 1976 European Championships; a quick equalizer by the Azzurri, Materazzi heading in another beautiful Pirlo corner (more importantly, this ruined my prediction of France's 1-0 victory on a goal by Zidane, a pick that proved to be correct for, oh, 17 minutes...); a controversially disallowed goal by Italy's Toni, followed by a non-call on another French penalty claim by les Bleus' Malouda; and in all, a tense, hard-fought battle for the Jules Rimet trophy. It wasn't a match that would make anyone's "Best Ever" list, with the quality of play as much an indictment of the team's nerves as a testament to how evenly matched they were - Italy clearly had the better of the first half, but France responded by controlling the game in the second half and extra time. When a header by the great Zizou was sensationally denied by Buffon deep into the first part of overtime, I was already imagining what I could write about such an intriguing, dramatic World Cup final: Zizou's impressive grand finale, Buffon's game-saving play, Malouda's inspired attacking, Cannavaro's take-no-prisoners defending, Vieira's deflating injury, Materazzi's vital goal...there were storylines galore.

There is an expression in Spanish: "cara y cruz", that refers to the face and the cross, or to the two sides of a coin, the contrast of the good and the bad. In soccer, it tends to refer to the two fortunes of a team or a player or a coach - you can experience both "la cara" y "la cruz" in quick succession, a fact illustrated during this World Cup. Consider Argentina's Maxi Rodriguez, who went from scoring a stunning game-winning goal against Mexico to being suspended for two games for throwing a ridiculous leaping punch at Germany's players after his team's quarterfinal loss. Or England's Wayne Rooney, who went from being his nation's savior to its sinner - miraculously returning from injury to inspire the Three Lions with his direct, tenacious attacks and all-around passion to earning an appalling red card for stomping on an opponent's privates (although most of England has tried to make Cristiano Ronaldo the scapegoat, something tells me that Ricardo Carvalho's nuts would beg to differ). On Sunday, we all began the game with lofty expectations for Zidane's final performance: after dazzling the world with his play over the past fortnight, what could he do for an encore? Seven minutes in, when he showed amazing composure in chipping in a penalty in a World Cup final, it seemed that Zizou could in fact do no wrong. Upon his return to the French national team, Henry famously said that "God lives, and he has just returned to play for France"; maybe Henry wasn't kidding, maybe we were watching a living deity, maybe Zizou was attaining some sort of soccer immortality. But just over an hour later, even the great Zidane was subjected to the cruel duality of "cara" y "cruz". After exchanging words with Materazzi, Zizou stopped in his tracks, turned around, and launched his head into Materazzi's chest. The Argentine ref had no choice: Zidane saw red.

Italy would go on to win the Cup on penalty kicks, finally breaking their penalty curse and once again showing how atrocious, unfair, and anticlimactic it is to decide a winner on penalty kicks, but it was instantly clear that the day's headlines would not be about the Azzurri, Lippi, Buffon, or Cannavaro - the story was Zidane. What happened? Why did he lose his cool at such a pivotal moment? What did Materazzi, a notoriously dirty player, do to provoke him? No one said anything after the match, not Zizou or Materazzi or any of their teammates. It was a mystery, only adding to the intrigue. But then, almost 24 hours later, the truth started to leak out: Materazzi had called Zidane, who hails from the North African nation of Algeria, a "dirty terrorist".

In the weeks leading up to the start of the World Cup, one of the main concerns was whether or not the tournament would be tarnished by the racism that has reared its ugly head in the soccer world in recent years. Germany has obviously been a country that has been the site of so much racism over the course of history, but racism in sports has an extensive background in Germany, too, from Jesse Owens' victory in the 1936 Olympics to the Israeli hostage situation during the 1972 Olympics - the last thing that the Germans wanted was a repeat performance, but there were plenty of incidents in Europe this year to give them cause for concern. Fans in Spain, Italy, and Germany had yelled racist chants, making monkey noises when black players had the ball and throwing banana peels on the pitch; the chants in Zaragoza were so hard to ignore that Barcelona's Samuel Etoo started to walk off the pitch, only to be persuaded to keep on playing. In Italy, Lazio's Paolo Di Canio was suspended for making the Nazi salute to his team's far-right fans. Spain's coach, Luis Aragones, was reprimanded for using a racist insult about France's Henry to encourage his player Jose Antonio Reyes to play better and "show that black s*** that you're better than him" (Reyes and Henry are teammates at Arsenal). France's team was further subjected to racist tension when their country's right-wing politician Le Pen claimed that the French team could not be successful because there were too many black players on the squad, meaning that the team did not reflect the true ethnic make-up of the country. There was no greater nightmare for FIFA, save a terrorist attack, than the fear that their signature tournament would be marred by racism. Henry had joined with other soccer players to lead the fight against racism in soccer and, for all but the last 15 minutes of the tournament, the World Cup had been devoid of any ugly incidents involving racism. Marco Materazzi changed that. And sadly, Zizou could not control his notorious temper (he was sent off in the '98 finals and served a one-game suspension in these finals for accumulated yellow cards). Worse still, Italy's triumph will undoubtedly be overshadowed by their player's racist taunts. But even worse, a World Cup that had put "the beautiful game" on display for one glorious month in Germany will not be remembered for any of its highlights, but rather for a racist punk who ruined it for the rest of us.

And by "us", I mean over a billion soccer fans who watched the game around the world. And that is what's scary. In response to Zidane's head-butt, numerous French journalists wondered on Monday morning what his action would mean to the millions of youngsters who idolized the great star; they asked aloud, "What will we tell the kids? How will we explain what Zidane has done?". But the hard part will not be explaining why Zizou lost his cool - not everyone can calmly walk off the pitch like Etoo or have the composure to stay calm and lead an anti-racism campaign like Henry - the hard part will be explaining how racism is not something that we read about it history books, but something that is everywhere in the world, even on the soccer pitch.

On Sunday, Spain's daily sports newspaper Marca showed a photo of Zidane with a soccer ball beneath the headline "Even she's gonna miss you". And it's true. Not only are there millions of fans who have cherished every chance to watch him play, but the ball will miss Zidane's magic skills. But what we'll all really miss from this tournament is not the great skill of soccer's shining star or a month full of great players and dramatic games, but we'll miss the innocence of it. Soccer is the world's greatest sport not because of the magic that happens on the field, but the beauty of everything that surrounds it: the passion of the fans, the worldwide bonds that it forges, and the emotions that it inspires. Soccer is beautiful because for a moment a war in the Ivory Coast ended so its people could enjoy the team's participation in the World Cup. Soccer is beautiful because a nation like Spain, with players from all its different regions, lock arms and sing their national anthem with a patriotism rarely seen in that country. Soccer is beautiful because England's fans take over a stadium with their deafening renditions of "You'll Never Walk Alone". Soccer is beautiful because Argentina's superstars are reduced to floods of tears after losing to Germany, barely able to walk off the field. Soccer is beautiful for a million reasons, but yesterday, an indelible black mark overshadowed the beauty of the world's game - and it wasn't a headbutt. Racism has the power to black out all of the beauty in soccer. It can't be erased. It can't be explained. And today, when the world should be talking about everything else, it will dominate the headlines.

Today, Zidane was awarded the Golden Ball for the best player of this World Cup. Tonight, Italy's team returned to millions of ecstatic fans in Rome to celebrate their World Cup title. And I won't write about it. And fans won't talk about it. And people won't care about it. Racism is the story of the day.

World Cup Final Preview

2006-07-07T09:38:00.000-05:00

Whoever lifts the Jules Rimet trophy on Sunday night, he'll be doing it wearing a hideous jersey. If only it were Holland-USA instead...

And so here we are, finally at the end of a month-long march that saw some fantastic footie, mixed in with the requisite bad refereeing, shocking upsets, and intriguing controversies. So it is only fitting that the two teams that will meet on Sunday in Berlin have been part of it all themselves: France was the victim of two terrible refereeing decisions in the first round and then sprung two consecutive upsets, first over Spain and then the big one against Brazil, in the knock-out phase; Italy was embroiled in controversy even before the tournament started because of the Serie A scandal, but they only added to it with De Rossi's elbow against the US and Grosso's penalty flop against Australia. Therefore it is France and Italy, rather than any of the other powerful teams that have passed through Germany, that will play for the title this weekend because they, more so than anyone else, have known how to navigate the treachurous road to the Final. Consider that eight of the players on these teams (Buffon, Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Camoranesi, Del Piero, Thuram, Vieira, Trezeguet) play for Italy's Juventus, the central figure in the scandal and a club that will be relegated to Serie B at best, but possibly even Serie C (so why the hell did they need to pay off the refs?) - so most, if not all, of these Juve players don't even know where they'll be suiting up next year, but they've all managed to put the distrations aside and lead their teams to the Final. So, aside from the fact that it'll be like watching a Juve scrimmage, how will it play out on Sunday? With two teams so full of great players, it's a tough one to call. So here's a breakdown for you, position by position, in an effort to find out which captain will be raising the Jules Rimet trophy on Sunday night:

Goalie: Advantage ITALY

And it's not even close. Buffon is the best in the world, Barthez is a liability. It was Barthez's fumble against Portugal that gave Luis Figo a point-blank header to tie the game. In the other semi, Buffon made crucial saves against Lukas Podolksi (our favorite "Sound of Music" character) to keep the Azzurri in the game.

Defense: Advantage ITALY

Again, Italy has the best defense in the world. Cannavaro and Zambrotta are the best in the world at their respective positions, the Azzurri would be watching the Final from back home had it not been for Fabio Grosso, and Marco Materazzi and even Andrea Barzagli have deputized capably for the injured Alessandro Nesta. The fact that the Azzurri have only allowed one goal in six games in the tournament - and it was an own goal, no less - says it all. France, though, is no slouch themselves. In Thuram and Gallas, les Bleus have two of the best ten centerbacks in the world. It has been their flawless defending that has made it almost as hard to score against France as it is against Italy - les Bleus have only allowed two goals all tournament, one a fluke goal against South Korea and the other a penalty kick against Spain. On the wings, Sagnol and Abidal have been solid, if unspectacular, and they complete a formidable backline for France.

Midfield: Advantage FRANCE

Zidane, Vieira, Makelele...say no more. Any time you can line up three of the best midfielders EVER, you have the advantage. Zidane is one of the five greatest players in the history of the sport and he will be even more inspired than ever before in his last game ever. Vieira has arguably been the best player in the tournament; and Makelele, subtle as ever, has been vital in breaking down the opponent's attacks. Of course, the Azzurri have a world-class ball-winner of their own in Gennaro Gattuso. It is Gattuso who helps free Andrea Pirlo to direct Italy's attacks. Both Italy and France play a 4-4-1-1 (just as easily described as a 4-5-1 or a 4-2-3-1) and both have wingers who frequently slide into the center when defending and then move out wide to get overlapped by the defensive wingbacks when attacking. This means that you will see Camoranesi, Perrotta, Ribery and Malouda get forward almost less than Zambrotta, Grosso, Sagnol and Abidal. Of the four midfielders, Camoranesi and Ribery get forward the most on the right, while left-backs Grosso and Abidal love to bomb forward ahead of Perrotta and Malouda. These are two very similar teams that play very similar formations - the midfield battle will be very hotly contested on Sunday.

Attack: Advantage FRANCE

It is hard to know how to judge the attacks of these two teams, since in a 4-4-1-1 formation there is clearly one forward, with a player just behind him that can just as easily be called an attacking midfielder as a reserved striker. That role is filled by Zidane and Totti for their respective teams, but we are lumping them in with the midfield; one interesting difference between the teams is that Totti is much more of a striker than Zidane. While the Frenchman is clearly a midfield playmaker, Totti has been fielded as a forward most of his career. But I digress. So up front, Thierry Henry and Luca Toni will be leading the line for France and Italy. Henry is a monster for Arsenal, but has yet to duplicate that form for France. Meanwhile, Toni has put in only great game so far, the 3-0 win over the Ukraine; the big man is a factor whether he scores or not, but Henry is simply deadly up front. If there is one man who can break past Cannavaro and Buffon, it is Henry.

Bench: Advantage ITALY

And it is a clear advantage. France has David Trezeguet on the bench, but Raymond Domenech appears determined not to give the striker any time at all - so far, Govou and Wiltord have had their numbers called ahead of Trezegol. Plus, Louis Saha managed to pick up a silly yellow card in his 10-minute appearance against Portugal, ruling him out of the final. On the other side, Marcello Lippi has a wealth of options, especially attacking ones, at his disposal. Del Piero, Gilardino, and Inzaghi would find their way into the starting lineups for most teams, but not for the Azzurri. In midfield, Lippi can also call on De Rossi if he needs anyone to give Totti a free face lift. All in all, the Azzurri has much more firepower on the bench than les Bleus.

Coach: Advantage ITALY

Another clear advantage. Domenech might look like a college professor, but I still don't think that he's half as smart as one. You get the feeling that the French veterans are just working this out by themselves, doing the coaching on their own. Meanwhile, Lippi has done one of the best, if not the best, coaching jobs in the whole Cup. He has kept his players focused despite the Serie A scandal back home and the suicide attempt of their former teammate Gianluca Pessotto. On the sidelines, he has made all the right moves, especially his ballsy decision to play four strikers at the end of the Germany match, which led to the winning Italy goals and prevented ze Germans from winning on illegitimate penalty kicks yet again. Lippi's performance has been so good that rumor has it that he has been tapped to take over for Sir Alex Ferguson at ManUtd.

Intangibles: PUSH

And this is really what makes these two teams so remarkable: the way that they have both sheltered themselves from all of the controversies, bunkered down, and taken on an "us-against-the-world" attitude for this tournament. Italy's controversies have been well documented, as they have had more obstacles to overcome than any other team in the Cup, and they have more mental strength than anyone. On the other hand, France has dealt with inner strife, outside criticism, and a nation that seemingly gave up on them while they were still in the tournament. Les Bleus came into the Cup off an unimpressive qualifying campaign, during which they were unable to beat the likes of Israel, and most people believed that the team was too old to do anything in Germany. This pessimism was only increased after a selection fiasco - Barcelona's Ludovic Giuly exploding after not being named to the squad (just a few days ago, he claimed Domenech didn't have the cojones to explain why he had been left off the team) - and a training camp blow-up that erupted when goalie Gregory Coupet was told that he would not be starting - Coupet even left the team and had to be talked back into returning for the squad for the Cup. To make matters worse, striker Djibril Cisse broke his leg in the last friendly before the Cup and had to be replaced. All signs pointed to a France debacle and, after two disappointing draws in the first-round, there was no reason to think otherwise. Even the French fans were booing their team. The detestable politician Le Pen went so far as to claim that the French team wasn't winning because they had too many black players in the squad and didn't truly represent the predominantly-white nation of France. And so it was for all of these reasons that yesterday Zidane said that the final is only for the French fans that have supported them all the way, not the many bandwagon jumpers who have latched themselves to the team with each passing victory. There are no two teams in the world with greater unity or mental strength than these two, so it should be no coincidence that one of them will be raising the World Cup trophy on Sunday night.

(Okay, enough, where's the pick? Who's winning this damn thing? Wait, wait for it - this only comes around once every four years...I'm not done just yet...)

Why Italy will win it:

1. Barthez is a liability. No one trusts him in goal. Heck, I don't even think that Barthez trusts himself. Did you see him after Ronaldo's blast and Figo's miss? He looked like he had just woken up. When you're just hoping that your goalie stays awake and doesn't screw up, that's never a good sign.

2. It is impossible to score on Italy - and if you don't score on a team, then the only way to win is on penalties after a scoreless tie. Then again, that is a realistic possibility.

3. France is old, tired, and worn out after a long, hard road to the Final. Les Bleus have played Spain, Brazil, and Portugal to get here, while the Azzurri have only had to beat Australia, the Ukraine, and Germany. So really Italy only has to win two hard games (Germany, France) to win the Cup, while France has to win their fourth really tough game in a row. And if you look at their performances, Italy is playing better and better, culminating in their Germany win, while France seems to have peaked against Brazil - their win over Portugal was far from impressive and France will need to be at their best if they are to win on Sunday.

4. Lippi can outcoach Domenech if he's drugged, blindfolded, handcuffed, and jailed in a Turkish prison. I'm telling you, this French team has gotten here in spite of Domenech. After the Cup, one of the veterans is going to come right out and say that it has been Zidane, Thuram, Vieira, and Makelele that have been leading this team. Mark my words.

5. France's uniforms are hideous. They might have gone on nice little win streak in their away white jersey, but the shirt still looks like it's from the early 90's. I don't know if that spray-paintish fade across the front is meant to be some new take on the French flag, but I don't like it and I can't see them raising the Cup in it.

Why France will win it:

1. I don't trust Marco Materazzi. He performed admirably against ze Germans, but he is nowhere near as good as the injured Nesta and he is a constant risk to get sent off, as he did against Australia. He is a dirty defender, the refs know it, and don't be surprised if Materazzi doesn't see the final whistle from the field on Sunday. Plus, his sideburns are ridiculous.

2. France might not have to score to win it. Everyone's talking about how impregnable the Azzurri defense is, but France can keep the bulge out of de ole onion bag, too. A nil-nil tie is a very distinct possibility. And if this goes to penalties, France is money: Italy has never won at penalties in World Cup history.

3. These two teams met in Euro 2000. Italy led 1-0 most of the game, but in second half injury time, Sylvain Wiltord scored to send it into extra time. With Zidane leading the charge, David Trezeguet scored the golden goal winner. It was one of the most heartbreaking defeats in the history of international tournaments and we all know what happens with history - it repeats itself.

4. Zidane is God. In baseball, people always ask, "If you could have one pitcher to start Game 7 of the World Series, who would it be?" Well, in soccer, it might be "If you could have one player to captain your team in the World Cup Final, who would it be?" My answer would be Zidane. He is one of the best ever, he is clutch, and he is playing some breathtaking footie right now. With him on the pitch, anything is possible.

5. Italy's uniforms are hideous. In fact, they were rated the worst in the tourney by yours truly way back when this whole shindig got started last month. The gold numbers are bad, the all-blue looks like crap, and the dark blue armpits make it look like all these guys haveforgot to put on deoderant. I refuse to even contemplate the possibility that the Azzurri will raise the trophy wearing such a revolting shirt.

(Ahhh, enough already! Who's winning this damn thing?)

Even though most people (66% according to most online polls) have been picking the Azzurri, I think that this one will be far closer than people expect. I have a hard time imagining that Domenech might be able to coach any team, no matter how stocked with talent, to a World Cup title, but they'll win it in spite of him. And after all the breakdowns and all the analysis, you can throw it all in the trash because the fact is that, after what we've seen over the past couple weeks, it all comes down to one simple fact: I can't pick against Zidane. Period.

The pick: France 1-0, goal by Zidane.

WSB Update:

2006-07-06T14:44:00.000-05:00

As we come to the climax of this World Cup, there has been a veritable plethora of posts in the past few days. Just so no one misses any of these fascinating posts in all the excitement of the semifinals and finals, here are some links to make your World Soccer Blogger experience just a little easier. Enjoy!

Semifinals Preview:

http://worldsoccerblogger.blogspot.com/2006/07/final-four-preview-of-euro-2006.html

Italy-Germany Recap:

http://worldsoccerblogger.blogspot.com/2006/07/ciao-deutschland-but-good-to-see-that.html

WSB's All-World Cup Team:

http://worldsoccerblogger.blogspot.com/2006/07/all-world-cup-team.html

France-Portugal Recap:

http://worldsoccerblogger.blogspot.com/2006/07/game-for-galacticos.html

Memo to FIFA on World Cup Rule Changes:

http://worldsoccerblogger.blogspot.com/2006/07/memo-to-fifa.html

WSB's All-Crap World Cup Team:

http://worldsoccerblogger.blogspot.com/2006/07/all-crap-world-cup-team.html

And for some additional reading pleasure, check back tomorrow for a World Cup Final Preview.

All-Crap World Cup Team

2006-07-06T13:00:00.000-05:00

We knew they'd be partying in Rio in July, we just didn't know why - Brazil fans celebrate 4 of their countrymen getting selected to WSB's All-Crap World Cup team.

We've already done a "Best Of" team for this World Cup, but what fun was that? Actually, don't answer that. We already knew those guys were good anyway. But what about the players that we thought were good but looked like crap in Germany? Now that's always worth a shot...

Goalie: Zeljko Kalac, Australia

He made a genius coach look like an idiot. He played one game and almost single-handedly cost his team a trip to the 2nd round. He has a name that makes you question if he should actually be playing for the opponent's team instead. Yep, I'd say we've found our starting goalie. When Guus Hiddink inexplicably decided to start him in place of Mark Schwarzer against Croatia, Kalac repaid the man by letting a weak shot bobble right past him to give the Croats the lead; had Harry Kewell not saved his blushes by scoring a late equalizer and Graham Poll not stolen the show by issuing three yellow cards to the same player, Kalac's story would have been one of the most amazing ones of the whole Cup.

Defender: Cafu, Brazil

The first of many Brazilians, partly because they were crap but mainly because so much was expected of them. Cafu is 36 and he looked 50, while Zidane is 34 and looked 20. It's time for the great right-back to hang 'em up now, especially after a Cup where he wore the captain's armband and not much else. On the plus side, he made it vividly clear for the next Brazil coach that the starting right-back has to be Cicinho. Heck, Sevilla's Daniel Alves didn't even make the team and he'd have been a better option.

Defender: Tomas Ujfalusi, Czech Republic

Someone deserves some blame for the Czechs' early exit from Germany. Ufjalusi is a hard, uncompromising defender, but it he was too much of one against Ghana, getting sent off, forcing his team to come from behind while playing a man down, and missing the decisive match against Italy. Playing as the anchor of an already suspect Czech defense, the hard man had to pick up his play, not a red card that would kill his team's chances.

Defender: Roberto Carlos, Brazil

The mirror image of Cafu: an aging wingback who used to be great, but now spends most of his time failing to get forward down the wing and being a defensive liability. So why does he play? Well, it's the name on the back. Even from free kicks, usually one of Roberto's specialties, he was disappointing. Juninho Pernambucano and Ronaldinho hogged all of them, making Roberto Carlos a mere spectator. He retired from international football after the tournament, but it should have happened before.

Midfielder: Frank Lampard, England

Just think, Jose Mourinho is trying to get Roberto Carlos to come to Chelsea next year, where he would partner with Lampard. Of course, when you also have Terry, Gallas, Carvalho, Ballack, Robben, Essien, Makelele, Crespo, Drogba and Shevchenko, I guess you can afford to take a gamble. Lampard is such an impressive attacking mid for the Blues, always surging forward and grabbing goals, but in an England shirt he was a shadow of his usual self. A stronger manager would not have made the mistake of putting him in the same midfield with a very similar player, Steven Gerrard, and that curtailed Lampard's effectiveness (one wonders what will happen when he shares the Stamford bridge midfield with Ballack this year). It is doubtful that he'll be given another chance to partner Gerrard, which could mean a trip to the bench for Lampard.

Midfielder: Daniele De Rossi, Italy

Now this is a tough one. I guess if you try to knock a guy's nose into his skull, you could be called a dirty player. And if it gets you red-carded and then banned for four games, I guess you could be a candidate for a spot on this team. It was the dirtiest play in what has been a very clean, fair tournament (aside from Rooney, Frings, and Cufre). On the plus side, it gave the US a chance to tie Italy and then spend the rest of the tourney claiming that they were the only team that managed to get a result against the Azzurri.

Midfielder: Landon Donovan, USA

Speaking of the Americans, Donovan was meant to be their playmaker, team leader, and great hope for the future. Turns out he's none of the above. Donovan put in three anonymous performances in Germany, symbolized by a dreadful free kick with just 10 minutes left against Ghana - most of his teammates, waiting to make a play in the box, were left stunned by Donovan's miscue. Then again, so was everyone back in the States. On the plus side for the rest of the world, Donovan is happy playing in MLS, which means he won't be joining a European club and will still be crap come 2010.

Midfielder: Lionel Messi, Argentina

A little harsh on the youngster, maybe, but he came into the tournament with such fanfare and left having not even gotten onto the pitch against Germany. Now maybe this is Pekerman's fault or maybe it's just because Argentina had to make some forced substitutions, but Messi did himself no favors by alienating Pekerman with his complaints about playing time. Messi looked good against Serbia in Argentina's 6-0 romp, but hell, Evita could have scored in that game. Against Holland, Messi failed to impress and, for the most part, he didn't change the flow of the games as much as his teammate and fellow young gun, Carlos Tevez. And with Maxi Rodriguez playing so well for the Albiceleste, Messi was left riding the pine. Still, here's one bet that Messi will be one of the best in the world four years from now.

Midfielder/Forward: Ronaldinho, Brazil

He came to Germany fresh off winning the Champions League and Primera Liga with Barcelona, as well as the World Player of the Year Award. This was supposed to be his tournament, his showcase World Cup. A month later, he left for Brazil with zero winner's medals, zero highlight-reel plays, and zero good games. Hard to believe, but true. Today, Ronaldinho is still suffering the consequences of this: statues of him in his homeland have been torn down and an article published in Brazil has detailed a party that he hosted at his Barcelona home the night after the loss to France, where 'Dinho partied until dawn. We all thought that the buck-toothed boy magician would be partying in July, but not after a quarterfinal collapse. And in soccer-mad Brazil, that's not going to sit well at all.

Forward: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden

He looks like he should be a terror to opposing defenses, but somehow fails to deliver. He had to fight through some injuries, but even when he was healthy, Ibra never impressed in Germany. In fact, Sweden looked dramatically better with Marcus Allback up front. The Swedes, who scored loads of goals in qualifying, were never able to duplicate that form last month and much of the blame has to lie with the big striker. He was one of many forwards that endured a month to forget, among them Raul, Rooney, Trezeguet, Borgetti, Baros, and Adriano, who incidentally was also spotted at 'Dinho's Barcelona fiesta. Scandalous, I tell ya.

Forward: Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Holland/The Netherlands/The Low Countries

Wherever he's from, Van the Man has seen his career evaporate right before his eyes in recent months. First, after he came to blows with teammate Cristiano Ronaldo during training, ManU's Sir Alex Ferguson left him on the bench for much of the last few months of the Premiership season; then, after Marco Van Basten entrusted him with a starting spot in the first two games of the Cup, even he benched Van Nistelrooy for the game against Portugal. To make matters worse for poor Ruud, Van Basten never even put him in for a minute despite the Dutch desperately needing a goal to tie the game. Today, Van Nistelrooy, one of the world's deadliest strikers and best goal-poachers, is a man with an uncertain future at his club and country.

Coach: Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazil

This honor seemed destined to go to Sven Goran Eriksson, but the Swede can't be blamed too much for England's failures - he made the right call in taking a risk on Rooney, he saw the need for a defensive mid and was right to have faith in the excellent Owen Hargreaves, and he gave Aaron Lennon the playing time that he deserved. On the other hand, Parreira did nothing right - first, he insisted on playing two similar playmakers, Kaka and Ronaldinho, together and then compounded that by playing two similar strikers, Adriano and Ronaldo, together. He never gave Robinho as much time as he deserved or had the guts to bench some of his big stars (Cafu and Roberto Carlos especially) when their substitutes played so much better in their 4-1 win over Japan. To make matters worse, Parreira then switched his lineup and formation for the pivotal game against France, benching Emerson and Adriano in favor of Gilberto Silva and Juninho - so, rather than at least sticking with the system that had gotten them to the quarters, Parreira changed it all when it mattered most. The results? Disastrous, aside from earning him this prize. But in the eyes of most Brazilians, Parreira's worst offense was not playing beautiful soccer. After all the "jogo bonito" talk, Parreira opted for the opposite. The coach who came to the World Cup with more talent at his disposal than any team in the world left to a stream of criticism and anger, the result of la Canarinha's "jogo feyo". It says it all that, rather than returning to a parade in Sao Paolo, Parreira was forced to duck out a back door in the airport rather than face the public. Eric Wynalda voted for Bruce Arena to win this award, but Parreira wins out. No word on Marcelo Balboa's opinion.

Substitutes:

It says a lot about this Cup that it has been so hard to pick the defenders and defensive midfielders for the All-World Cup Team, but unfortunately it's been pretty easy to pick all the attackers for the All-Crap World Cup Team. Maybe that's why there have been so many defensive struggles in the knock-out phase. For subs on this team, we'll go with three more attackers. After the whole country had placed all of their hopes on him, Wayne Rooney repaid them by breaking Man Law numero uno and ruining Ricardo Carvalho's chances of having kids. Mateja Kezman also received a red card for a dirty tackle, so he earns a spot here, but at least Kezman had a 6-0 drubbing to use as justification for his actions. And finally, Roque Santa Cruz was meant to be Paraguay's savior at this Cup, but he was completely ineffective in all of their games and consistently overshadowed by his forward partner, Nelson Valdez. And if this atrocious team ever played a game, then surely it would have to be refereed by Markus Merk, one of the worst of a bad crop of referees at this Cup. And maybe Dave O'Brien and Marcelo Balboa could even do some bad commentary on it, too.

Memo to FIFA:

2006-07-06T10:18:00.000-05:00

Henry pretends the Unfrozen Caveman from Spain hit him in the face. Yellow card for the Caveman, free kick & goal & victory for France.

The World Cup is FIFA's crown jewel, its pride & joy, its once-every-four-years tournament to showcase its product to a worldwide audience. As such, it needs to be perfect. This year's tournament has been a huge success - Germany has been a fantastic host, literally all the big nations (sorry, Uruguay) were there, all the big stars have been healthy and on display (okay, Ronaldo wasn't healthy and that couldn't have actually been Ronaldinho), and we've been treated to a tournament full of Cinderella stories (Ghana, Australia, Ukraine), compelling storylines (Zidane, Klinsmann, Italy), and amazing games (Germany vs Italy, Brazil vs France, Australia vs Croatia). All in all, it's been an amazing month; but still, FIFA has to make some changes because this tournament, like previous ones, has been marred by some bad rules, poor refereeing, and outdated policies. So here is a memo for Mr. Blatter, a regular reader of this blog, so he has a nice little to-do list before South Africa 2010:

1. No more penalty kick shootouts

They have to go. Yeah, they might be dramatic and nervewracking and integral parts of soccer history (see Baggio, Roberto), but they're just not fair. Having the best players in the world shoot the ball from 12 yards out is no way to decide who gets to go on to the semis of the World Cup. So what's the solution? It's simple: re-instate the golden goal rule and simply play extra time until a team scores. Because the game could go on for some time, give each team one more sub. Players won't be as tired with the extra sub, both teams will have to play for the win and not just sit back and wait for penalties, the tension will be immense, and it will give the better team more of a chance to advance. Plus, maybe England might actually make it to the final. The only argument against this is that some games might go on for a long time if neither team scores, but that seems unlikely because both teams will have to play for the win rather than defend. In fact, you could even give each team an additional (5th) sub if the first 45 minute overtime goes by with no goals scored. Whatever happens, penalty kicks are no way to settle a game. Rather than rewarding the team that keeps its nerve from the spot (ie. Germany), reward the team that plays better, tries to attack more, and scores a goal. Crazy, ain't it?

2. Suspensions for diving, yellow cards for card-waving, & 3 minute sideline stay for injured players

It's an embarassment, plain & simple. Players take dives, ask the ref to give cards to the opposing team, fake injury, and get away with it. And it isn't just Portugal - there is no team in the world that can claim to be innocent. One week Thierry Henry is saying what a disgrace it is to the game that all these players are diving, but the next thing you know Henry is collapsing to the ground holding his face after an innocuous bump from Carles Puyol; yellow card for Puyol, free kick for France, goal for France, win for France. What a disgrace!?! Exactly. And it has a trickle-down effect: this year, I kid you not, one of the best players on a high-school team that I coached broke his collarbone while taking a dive! Now I realize that it's hard to ask refs to spot a dive in live action, so let FIFA's disciplinary committee do what it does with other game incidents (like the Torsten Frings punch): they review the games and if a player is spotted diving then he is suspended for one game. Now obviously a player will have to have taken a clear dive, but not only will this approach punish the player, but it will also discourage them from diving in the first place. And hey, the refs are crappy enough as it is - they have enough trouble spotting a clear, legitimate foul, much less having to factor in the possibility that the player is just diving. Also, players must be punished for asking the ref to book another player - it should be an automatic yellow card. Done and done. And finally, players have to stop rolling around on the ground for 30 seconds before limping off the field and then miraculously recovering and returning to play just seconds later. If a player is down on the field and play has to be stopped (by the ref or by a team kicking the ball out of play) then that player should have to stay off the pitch for three minutes before re-entering the game. Hopefully then players will be far more hesitant to fake injury, but also it will discourage time-wasting tactics. For example, if an Argentinian is laying on the ground and appearing to be seriously hurt, then the Germans have to kick the ball out of play, even though they might be one goal down with 15 minutes left in a Cup quarterfinal; the ref comes over, the Argentinian complains, and then magically he recovers and, having already wasted a full minute at least, he is back in the game. Instead, he should have to leave the field and remain off for three minutes, which would put his team at a clear disadvantage, especially in crucial situations. Instead of helping the cheating, time-wasting team, it will instead reward their opponents by letting them play with an extra man for three minutes. Harsh? Yes. But necessary? In one man's opinion, absolutely.

3. Goalmouth cameras for instant replay to see if the ball crossed the line or not

Now this is pretty simple. In soccer, goals are at a premium - in most cases, one goal will decide the game. In World Cups, which come around once every four years, the importance of goals is multiplied a hundred-fold. So I would say that it'd be a good idea to make use of the available techonology to make sure that the ball has or has not crossed the line. To expect a linesman standing at least 30-40 yards away from the goal, looking through a sea of moving players, to be able to determine if the ball crossed the line is an impossible task; and obviously, the head referee cannot be expected to make the call since he is on the field of play and would have no vantage point from which to make the call. So stop the game, go upstairs to a replay booth, and let them look at the play for 1-2 minutes, which is no longer than the game is stopped when a player is injured or there is a free kick outside the box. If it means getting a crucial call right, then it's worth it. Fortunately, there haven't been many incidents involving this problem during the past few weeks, but Argentina and France have both been involved in first-round games where replay could have - and should have - been used to determine if they had scored a goal or not.

4. No automatic suspensions after two yellow cards

Now this is a suggestion that Blatter appears to agree with. It's just absurd, especially when refs are dishing out cards like they're hotcakes at a diner, for players to miss crucial games after only two yellows. Not only that, but players are forced to play cautiously for fear of earning a yellow an then the ensuing suspension. And to begin with, it's not as if getting a yellow card in two consecutive games is indicative of dirty play - for comparison's sake, in European leagues, it takes five yellow cards before a player is suspended. So why, then, should it be only two for the World Cup, when the games are far more important? Huh? I'm sorry, I can't hear you. Oh, there's no good reason. But at least Blatter seems to agree with this, since he has raised the idea of changing it to three yellows.

See, I told you that he reads this column. That Sepp, he's a smart little devil. World Soccer Blogger - FIFA's little-known but highly-respected source of soccer knowledge.

A Game for Galacticos

2006-07-06T08:48:00.000-05:00

Figo & Zidane: two galacticos, two different soccer fortunes, one game for the chance to play for the World Cup title. Oh, and a pig's head, too.

In 2000, Real Madrid's newly elected president, Florentino Perez, signed one of the best players in the world, Luis Figo. While the news of Real Madrid acquiring a top player is about as noteworthy as the New York Knicks acquiring a crappy, overpaid one, this signing was different: Figo played for Barcelona, Madrid's arch-rival. When Real Madrid returned to Barcelona the following season with Figo in their classic all-white strip, public enemy number one was treated to a welcome normally reserved for George Bush in Tehran. Objects rained down upon Figo from all angles, from a bottle of whiskey to a pig's head (that's right, the head of a pig), and the whistles and hissing were deafening. In this case, Figo's signing represented a clear and painful affront to Barcelona's proud, opinionated fans; his betrayal was unforgivable. But Figo's signing also represented the first step in Perez's plan to build a team full of stars, or "galacticos". In the coming years, Perez would sign the best players in the world, including Ronaldo, Beckham, and Zinedine Zidane. Of course, building a successful soccer team is not that simple and the team underacheived. Last year, Figo was sold to Inter Milan, the first galactico to leave the Santiago Bernabeu nest. This year, Zidane announced his retirement, the second galactico to move on. They were done, right? Not exactly. To everyone's surprise, in a World Cup semifinal, Figo and Zidane crossed paths yesterday in Munich one final time.

Before the game, the stars could be seen talking in the tunnel before the game. They met again on the pitch, when they met with the referees as captains of their respective teams. As the game got underway, both teams attacked furiously. Portugal's Maniche sent a shot blazing over the bar and France constantly looked to Zidane to lead their attacks at the other end. It was clear that a goal was coming and, sure enough, when Ricardo Carvalho took down Thierry Henry, France had a penalty. Up stepped Zidane and, of course, he converted it. Score one for Zidane, one for France. And it would be all they needed. Portugal dominated possession for the rest of the game and France, clearly confident in their fantastic defense, sat back and let them attack. Cristiano Ronaldo was the most dangerous player for the Portuguese and it was his shot that was too hot for Barthez to handle, letting the ball ricochet off of him and into a sea of Portuguese players. It was Figo (who else?) who headed it goalwards, but he unbelievably sent it flying over the bar. One miss for Figo, one big miss for Portugal. And that was as close as they came, as they spent most of the match diving, begging for cards, berating their referee, and letting their coach Scolari go ballistic on the sidelines, pleading for fouls that never existed. It was a pretty despicable display, especially for a team that spent the days leading up to the match defending themselves from accusations of unfair play. In fact, Scolari walked out on a press conference before the game because he was so fed up with all of the bad press his team was receiving; Big Phil refused to answer questions in English, as is expected at the Cup, and he walked out of the press room while the worldwide media serenaded him to a chorus of whistles and boos (fortunately, no pig's heads were thrown). So you would think that Portugal would then have tried to get away from some of these bad habits in the semifinal, but then again how can France complain about Portugal when it was their own Henry who clearly took a dive to win a game-winning free kick against Spain? Either way, it's indicative of a bigger problem, one that FIFA has to address. And it also was evidence of Portugal's awareness of their Achilles heel: the lack of any good, powerful strikers. They are a team full of wingers, from Figo to Ronaldo to Simao, and midfielders, with Deco, Maniche, Petit, Costinha and Viana, but no real strikers. Pauleta is a terrible player with a ridiculous name (is that not a dimunitive for Paula?). Helder Postiga is even worse but has a better name. And Nuno Gomes even looks like a girl. Scolari must have been tempted to be the first ever coach to play a 4-6-0, which couldn't have been any less successful than his 4-5-1 that left his team short of goal-scoring options. Zidane's goal held up and it would be les Bleus who moved on to Sunday's final.

After the game, the two galacticos met one final time. Zidane and Figo exchanged shirts and captain's armbands at midfield. It was a meeting that proved to be one final reminder of their different fortunes at international level. Zidane has won the '98 World Cup, 2000 European Championships, and will now play for a second Cup title this Sunday. Figo, on the other hand, has never won an international title; Portugal failed to make the '98 Cup, lost in the semis - to France - of Euro 2000, crashed out in the first round of the '02 Cup, lost a heartbreaking final as host nation of Euro '04 to Greece, and has now been undone again by this French squad. Even in the court of public opinion, Zidane has fared better. He is the classy, graceful playmaker beloved the world over, while Figo has never won over the fans, especially the ones in Barcelona; in fact, it was his headbutt against a present-day Barcelona player, Mark Van Bommel, in Portugal's 2nd round game against Holland, that was one more indictment of Figo's character. There is no doubt that both are galacticos, but both have travelled down very different roads in their glorious careers. One full of love and success and unwavering admiration, the other marked by betrayal and failure and controversy. Oh, and a pig's head for good measure.

All World Cup Team

2006-07-05T12:15:00.000-05:00

Ronaldo celebrates his spot on the All-World Cup Team; unfortunately, England thinks it was him who inexplicably tried to castrate Ricardo Carvalho. Kill the bloody wanker!

Now that we're coming to the end of what has been a hugely entertaining tournament, one full of hotly contested games, powerhouse matchups, compelling stories, and the requisite controversies, it's time to look at the most important ingredient in this here recipe: the players who make this tournament what it is - the best sporting event on earth. So here they are, the best 11 from the 2006 World Cup:

Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon, Italy

On Italy's journey to the final, Buffon allowed one goal in six games...and it was an own goal, no less. He shut down the likes of Nedved, Rosicky, Essien, Shevchenko, Ballack, Klose, and Podolski. And he did all this while jetting back to Italia to testify in the Serie A scandal and check on his friend and former teammate Gianluca Pessotto. Best in the world - and there's no question about it. Jens Lehmann, completely dislikable as he may be, would make a fine backup.

Defender: Lilian Thuram, France

He will be retiring after the tournament, a la Zidane. Like his teammate on les Bleus, Thuram has gone out with a bang. He has marshalled a fantastic French backline and helped turn the likes of Sagnol and Abidal into world-beaters. His centerback partner, William Gallas, could easily be on this team as well. Both of them were instrumental in shutting down the world-class attacks of Brazil, Spain, and Portugal - holding the three of them to a grand total of zero goals.

Defender: Fabio Cannavaro, Italy

See Gianluigi Buffon above. Cannavaro is the best in the world. At 32, he has reached that perfect age for defenders: experienced enough to know all the tricks of the trade, but still young enough to be quick and strong enough to battle the best strikers in the world. His performances against Australia, when he led the Azzurri to a win despite playing the second half a man down, and against Germany, when he stayed strong in the face of some spirited German attacking and 65,000 of their most rabid fans, were simply epic.

Defender: Roberto Fabian Ayala, Argentina

Like Cannavaro, he gets better with age. Ayala is the hard man for the Albiceleste and it was his toughness that provided the perfect compliment to the grace and style of the Argentinian attackers. He partnerred beautifully with Gabriel Heinze, another South American defender that you expect to decapitate someone at any time. Shame he missed a penalty against the Germans because it was his goal that had given Argentina the lead and his take-no-prisoners defending that had almost helped them make it last the 90 minutes.

Defender: John Terry, England

I know, I know, that's four centerbacks and no wingbacks. Sorry, but there are no wingbacks that were really too impressive in Germany, other than the host nation's Phillip Lahm, and heck, it's my team. Terry belongs with the best of them. You got the feeling watching England that the only way they were going to be beaten was from penalties - no one looked like scoring against them, even Portugal when they were playing a man up. Only in the second half against Sweden did Terry and the England backline look beatable. His tears after the Portugal loss told the story of a player that did everything possible and more to help his team win, deserved to advance, but had instead fallen victim to that most unfair of practices, the penalty shoot-out. Hey FIFA, if you're reading this blog (and I know you are, ole Seppy you devil), no mas penalties: have the teams play extra time until a golden goal wins it - the teams will have to attack and we won't have to watch inferior teams sit back & defend because they're too nervous to attack and they'd rather take their chances with penalties. It's bogus, boring, and bad for the game.

Midfielder: Torsten Frings, Germany

In my mind, the deepest position at this tournament has been that of defensive midfielder. It's pretty hard to choose between the likes of Frings, Maniche, Owen Hargreaves, Claude Makelele, Javier Mascherano, and Gennaro Gattuso. Still, Frings wins it on the strength of his masterful shut-down of Argentina's Riquelme; if he hadn't been suspended, who knows how Germany would have fared against Italy's Pirlo and Totti. Frings was one of those anonymous players who managed to nullify the opponent's playmaker time and time again, as well as freeing his teammate Ballack to concern himself with more attacking duties. Now if only he can learn not to sucker-punch opponents after the game...

Midfielder: Andrea Pirlo, Italy

Pirlo is one of those unique players that plays as a deep-lying midfielder, alongside a more defensive partner, who fills a role similar to the point-guard in basketball: control the ball, distribute it, and dictate the pace of the game with calm precision, vision, and direction. Pirlo plays this role to perfection. He had few equals in this tournament, but Spain's Xabi Alonso comes to mind. He was the base of Spain's beautiful, pass-oriented play.

Midfielder: Patrick Vieira, France

Coming into the tournament, everyone thought that Vieira was done. He had been discarded by Arsenal's Arsene Wenger and was coming off a farely pedestrian season at Juventus. By all accounts, his best days were behind him and, after an unimpressive start to this tournament, there were few who could argue; but like the rest of the France team, Vieira seemed to come to life in the knock-out phase. After his attackers finally started to put the ball in the net in the second half against Togo, Vieira was simply fantastic in the games against Spain and Brazil. It was his header that put les Bleus ahead to stay against the Spaniards; then in the quarterfinals, he combined with Makelele to disrupt all of Brazil's attacks. Again in the semis, Vieira was a instrumental in containing all of Portugal's dangerous attacking trio of Figo, Ronaldo, and Deco. Vieira was a tower of strength for France and it was his powerful play in midfield that opened games up for the great...

Midfielder: Zinedine Zidane, France

After leaving the soccer world in awe with his unbelievable skill and astounding grace from 1998 to 2003, during which time he won the World Cup and European Championships with France, the Serie A with Juvenuts, and the Champions League and Primera Liga titles with Real Madrid, this World Cup was supposed to be Zidane's farewell. Coming on the heels of three underwhelming seasons with Real, the signs were there that it was time to say goodbye. When he was substituted with minutes remaining in France's draw with South Korea, having already picked up a yellow card that would suspend him for the final group game, millions of other fans and I hoped that we might somehow get a chance to see the master play again. Boy, did we ever. He showed glimpses of his '98 form with a match-winning performance against Spain, which he capped off with an injury time goal, but in the quarters against Brazil he was the best in the world again. While everyone expected Ronaldinho and Brazil to send the ole man packing, Zidane had other ideas. He was man-of-the-match by a mile. His flick over Ronaldo, rooted to the ground in awe (or just too fat to move), was a thing of beauty, but it was his dance around three Brazilians as he surged upfield that will be one of the lasting images of the Cup. His performance in the semi against Portugal was another taste of Zidane's genius, one more glimpse of an artist at work.

Forward: Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal

Love him or hate him, everyone has an opinion on Ronaldo (the one who weighs less than 200 pounds) - and at the moment, all of England feels the exact same way - not his biggest fan. If Ronaldo's hi-lited head is found floating in the Douro, you'll know what happened. But I say, "bollocks". Listen here, Ingerland, don't be bitter because your wonderboy striker is a hothead lunatic thug who lost his head and kicked an opponent in the nuts. Ronaldo didn't get Rooney sent off any more than any of the other Portugal players did; the fact that he and Rooney are teammates at ManU is irrelevant. Kids in grade school know that your teammates are the ones wearing the same jersey as you, not the ones you play with for another team or the ones who are your friends. And I'll be the first to say that players asking for red cards is reprehensible, but not when a guy has just tried to castrate your teammate. But enough of that, Ronaldo is here because he is simply the best winger in the tournament. It's tough to know where to put players like him (in midfield, up front...), but Ronaldo belongs with the best of them. Along with Hargreaves and Terry, he was one of only a few players who impressed in that quarterfinal, but he was also excellent in the first round and looked like Portugal's most dangerous player against the French. Yeah, he needs to pass more and look to shoot rather than go for that 15th step-over and maybe he should stop impersonating Greg Louganis all game long, but he'll learn. Now whether or not Rooney learns not to stomp on a guy's nuts, that's another story.

Forward: Miroslav Klose, Germany

From the opening match against Costa Rica, Klose was an absolute terror to defenders. He might not look like much, but he's big and strong and great in the air. His forward tandem with Podolski was easily the best in the tournament, using that tried-and-true big guy/little guy formula; their link-ups against Sweden were fantastic. Without his off-the-ball run and header against Argentina, it's doubtful that the Germans would have managed to score against that defense. Even when he wasn't scoring, Klose was always causing problems. His Golden Boot is fully deserved.

Coach: Jurgen Klinsmann, Germany

The odds going into the Cup that Klinsmann would take this honor were slim to none; in fact, it was the latter since this blog didn't even exist, but I digress. It is hard to imagine the guts and conviction that it must have taken for Klinsmann to ignore all of the criticisms, near-rebellions, and, heck, evidence (4-1 vs Italy) and remain true to his plan, players, and methods. But he did and today all of Germany would thank him for it. Not only did he lead them to the semifinals, but he did so by playing an attractive, attacking brand of footie that is rarely seen in German teams. More power to him. Big Phil Scolari also warrants mentioning here, as does Marcello Lippi, who led his team to victory when they had every possible excuse to lose.

Substitutes:

Simply because there are more players who deserve to be on the team but aren't, we'll allow ourselves three substitutes. At the back, ze Mannschaft's Phillip Lahm was one of the revelations of this tournament. Busted up arm and all, he surged forward on the left. Lahm has to be considered one of the best left-backs in the world at this time, in part because there is such a dearth of talent at that position, but also because of his gutsy performances over the past few weeks. In midfield, Ze Roberto was one of few, if any, Brazilians who acquitted themselves well in Germany. Playing out of position as a defensive midfielder alongside Emerson, Ze Roberto stole the show. It was his tireless running and sharp defending that Brazil needed to let their Magic Quartet (Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Adriano, and Kaka) do their thing. Of course, their thing turned out to be eating, sleeping, and getting an early start on vacation. Up front, Spain's Francisco Torres finally lived up to the hype. He was a menace to defenses in the first round, but like so many others was kept in check by the French back four. Still, combined with a lack of other top-notch strikers in this tournament, Torres did enough in only a couple games to earn a spot on this squad. In just two all-too-brief weeks, 'El Nino' turned into 'El Hombre', a scary proposition for defenses throughout Spain and Europe.

So I guess you could call that "World Soccer Blogger + 10". No word on when my adidas commercial will be filmed. Stay tuned.

Ciao Deutschland (but good to see that your national pride is back...)

2006-07-05T09:59:00.000-05:00

Klinsmann is furious that Materazzi & Italy didn't stick to the script. Or maybe he's just trying to keep his players from punching anyone.

They didn't get the memo. They didn't stick to the script. In the last minute of a match that was destined to finish nil-nil, followed by another German victory and Italian collapse in those damn penalty shoot-outs, and endless shots of thousands of Deutschlanders waving their flags and making everyone uneasy with their renewed sense of nationalism, the unthinkable happened: Italy scored. And just when you weren't sure if it had really happened, if the ref was going to disallow the goal for some half-baked offsides or mystical foul on the keeper, Italy scored again. And then it was over. Italy wins. Germany loses. No scoreless draw. No penalty kicks. No German cool under pressure playing better from the spot than they do in the games. No Klinsmann prancing around like a fairy on the sidelines. No explosion of unbridled joy and pride from the thousands of fans in Dortmund. No shots of Munich and Berlin going berserk. None of that. Nothing but Italy's players and coaches celebrating wildly on the pitch, almost as though they didn't believe it themselves. Did that really happen? Da vero?

As if it had been pre-ordained, the match had gone according to plan. Italy dominated possession, getting way more shots and corners, but Germany defended well and withstood the pressure, taking punches but not looking too fazed, seemingly content to keep it scoreless and hope to strike when the Italy defense became tired, vulnerable, or over-confident. Germany appeared to miss the suspended Frings (who absolutely deserved his one game ban, if not more - he punched an opponent on the pitch, no?), but Borowski and Kehl were working hard and reducing Totti to hopeful long balls. Toni was non-existent, just as Crespo had been. Most fans can't tell you the first thing about Mertesacker or Metzelder and dear ole Dave O'Brien can't even tell them apart, but they have shut down two world-class strikers in two games - no small feat that. And at the start of the second half, Germany began to take over the game. For the next 2o to 30 minutes, the Azzurri looked to be on the ropes. Ballack was directing play, Podolski looked capable of giving the Italians problems with his speed, and Italy's back four was starting to give the Germans some space to operate in. And that's when it started to become clear: Italy was not going to stand for a scoreless match that led to penalties. They know how that goes. Even if it meant leaving themselves vulnerable at the back, Lippi had instructed his men to attack. Confident in the knowledge that he has the best centerback (Cannavaro) and the best goalie (Buffon) in the world, Lippi sent his men forward. This was not the Italy of old. There would be no catenaccio today. And sure enough, on came Gilardino. And then Iaquinta. And Italy continued to surge forward: Gilardino hit the post, followed by Zambrotta rattling the crossbar. Even if it meant leaving space at the back for Podolski to blow a point-blank header, Italy was going for it. On came Del Piero. Four strikers, but the Germans withstood the Italian onslaught and fought back valiantly. This was not your normal Italy. This wasn't even your normal Germany, as ze Mannschaft threw men into attack themselves. This wasn't your normal World Cup overtime, with both teams looking to score rather than just defend. But still, after 119 scoreless but thrilling minutes, everything pointed to penalties. And that's exactly what would have happened, but no one told Andrea Pirlo that you don't make a no-look, back-heel pass past three defenders on the edge of Germany's box with a minute left in a World Cup semifinal. Gorgeous. Subtle. Brilliant. Smart. Genius. Words don't do it justice. Fabio Grosso received it, turned, and curled a beautiful bending shot around Lehmann's sprawling, helpless body, tucking the ball just inside the post. 65,000 German fans expecting to watch their team win on penalties yet again fell silent. Even Grosso himself didn't seem to know what to do. This wasn't meant to happen. It wasn't supposed to end like this. And while everyone stood in disbelief, the Azzurri blasted another one past Lehmann for good measure - Del Piero doing the honors. The unthinkable had happened.

There can be no doubt now that Italy deserves their place in the final. After a thoroughly unimpressive journey to the semifinals, with the only highlights being a 2-0 win over an undermanned Czech Republic and a 3-0 thumping of an out-of-place Ukraine, Italy has found an offensive, attacking drive to match its always uncompromising defense. Italy has only allowed one goal during six games in this Cup, an own goal no less, but we knew that Italy can defend better than anyone - Buffon, Cannavaro, Nesta, Zambrotta, and Gattuso are a defensive group that can only be matched by France's Barthez, Thuram, Gallas, Vieira, and Makelele (and guess what, they'll probably be playing them in Sunday's final). What we didn't know was if Italy's attackers would ever be able to reproduce the offensive fireworks that they display in Serie A, but not internationally. The blame for this offensive drought has to lie mostly with the players themselves, but Italy's coaches have historically curtailed any offensive-minded play with formations and game-plans that preach defense first. And so it would have been no surprise to see Italy yet again crash out on penalty kicks after a scoreless draw, especially against such a strong opponent, playing at home, with 65,000 fans roaring as one in one of the most intimidating stadiums in the world. And surely it would have come to be reality, had it not been for Lippi's attack-minded substitutions, Andrea Pirlo's moment of brilliance, and a new and improved Italy that the world has never seen before.

The Azzurri - scandal, suicide attempts, suspensions and all - are moving on to the final. Germany, with all of their fans and flags and fearless optimism, are out. It wasn't expected, it wasn't predictable, and it wasn't part of the script, but someone forgot to mention that to Lippi, Pirlo, and the Azzurri.

Final Four Preview (of Euro 2006)

2006-07-03T09:26:00.000-05:00

Zidane: Not going gently into that good night.

Years from now, there will be five enduring memories from this World Cup. On a quarterfinal weekend full of heavyweight matchups, superstar duels, stirring controversy, and major upsets, the central themes of this tournament came vividly into focus:

1. Zinedine Zidane - Last year, when Zidane announced his return from international retirement to help a struggling French squad qualify for this World Cup, Thierry Henry said, "God exists, and he has just returned to play for France." This is Zidane's tournament - we're just watching it. Many people expected this tourney to be a brief swansong for one of the five greatest players ever. Well, he had other ideas - and soccer fans the world over are thankful for that.

2. Germany - The host nation has treated the world to a great tournament, while being treated themselves to a surprising, inspirational perfrormance from their own national team. Klinsmann is a savior. Ballack is a hero. And if you're going to beat this team, it's not going to happen in a penalty shootout. Like burritos make you fart, penalties make the Germans victorious.

3. Gli Azzurri - Italy's success, despite the Serie A scandal, has been nothing short of remarkable. With their domestic league under investigation and their biggest clubs in tatters, Italy has found solace in their team's success. As the case heads to court in Rome and a former teammate attempts suicide in Turin, the squad has found a way to overcome it all in Germany.

4. Wayne Rooney - From the obsessive concern over his injured foot to his use of that foot to stomp on an opponent's privates, England and Manchester United's hotheaded youngster has gone from hero to goat. Wait, haven't we seen this before? Eight years ago, in a World Cup quarterfinal, it was David Beckham who earned a red card for a malicious kick at an Argentine player, but his teammates gallantly fought on and sent the game to penalties, where they lost in heartbreaking fashion. You would have thought that the Brits might have learned from this, but then again you'd also expect them to stop listening to Oasis, eating pork pies, and having parliament members wear wigs. Oh, and while we're on the subject, the British media should stop blaming Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney's teammate at ManU and opponent in the Portugal game, for trying to get Rooney sent off - it wasn't Ronaldo who violated the man code and stomped on Carvalho's privates.

5. Brazil - When one of the most talented teams ever assembled and unanimous pre-tournament favorite fails even to make the semis, serious questions have to be asked. Like what the heck was Ronaldinho doing with that headband? No image better sums up the individualistic tendencies and collective failure of Brazil than 'Dinho showing up for the France game wearing a headband with a giant 'R' on it. And if that cosmetic faux-pas wasn't the reason why they lost, then maybe it was because they just couldn't decided where to put that sixth star...

Now that the quarterfinals are past, it's on to the Final Four preview. So here's a preview of what to expect when the semifinals of Euro 2006 kick off tomorrow:

Germany vs Italy

Without question, the prize for Best Coach in the World Cup will be awarded to a resident of the United States. No, not Eric Wynalda's nemesis, Bruce Arena. The prize is for Klinsmann, who had the balls to take the fate of the host nation's Cup chances in his hands, do things his way, ignore every bit of scorn and disapproval that came his way from the public and the media, and had enough faith in his approach to stick to it all the way to the semifinals of the World Cup. The man is now a German hero (again). It has been Klinsmann's dogged faith in starting from scratch a few years ago, building a young team around Michael Ballack, and giving it the time to grow as a unit that has brought this German team this far. He axed proven veterans like Dietmar Hamann and sent unquestioned starters like Oliver "Chewbacca" Kahn to the bench. He brought in new faces like Per Mertesacker and Arne Friedrich that no one had ever heard of. And when this team was getting destroyed by Italy 4-1 in a friendly just months before the Cup began, a defeat so lopsided that there was serious talk that Klinsmann would be fired, the coach stayed true to his plan. Driven on by their hometown fans, inspired by epic performances from Torsten Frings (who will be sorely missed in the semifinals) and Ballack, and staying true to their German past, ze Mannschaft beat Argentina on penalties and now finds themself up against - you guessed it - their old friend Italy. As crazy as it would have sounded three months ago, it's true: not many people, your author included, expect Italy to win.

The Azzurri, rocked by a scandal of fixed games, paid-off referees, players gambling, and corruption at the highest levels of Serie A, have seem unfazed for the past month. Maybe the desire to avoid having to go back to the mess at home has been more powerful than any coach's pep talk or superstar's inspirational play. Even an attempted suicide by one of their former teammates, Gianluca Pessotto, has only brought them closer together. They are a team as united and determined as any. Of course, they still only have one real quality win, a 2-0 victory over the Czechs in the first round, and they have had the easiest road to the semis, only having to beat Australia and the Ukraine. Even in the 3-0 drubbing of the Ukraine, the Italian defense was scrambling for five frantic minutes of the second-half as their opponents tried to score the tying goal, which they were only denied by the post and a clearance off the line. Inspired, yes? All that good? No.

The Germany-Italy game boasts two classic world powers, two teams that have perfected the art of advancing in the World Cup. Consider them the opposite of Spain. Whereas the Spaniards entice you with fantastic play and wonderful attacking, they also crash out in the knock-out phases; Germany and Italy don't really impress you, but they always manage to scrape by, advancing past each opponent on the strength of their staunch defending, true grit, unrelenting faith in themselves, and the knowledge that they've been there before...and won. Spain knows that they've been there before...and lost...always - how can that possibly be overcome? The weight of history plays a far larger role in these tournaments than most people realize. So what happens when these teams meet tomorrow in Dortmund? Well, tough defense, ruthless tackling, an all-out physical struggle, few - if any - goals, and penalty kicks. And we know who wins at penalties: Germany.

Portugal vs France

Six years ago, leading into the Euro 2000 tournament, there was lots of talk about how Portugal's golden generation (Figo, Rui Costa, Couto, etc) was an international disappointment. The Portuguese made it to the semis of that tournament, but lost (and then lost their heads, leading to suspensions for three of their key players). Two years later, they lost to the US and were eliminated in the first round of the World Cup. But in the last two international tournaments, Portugal has been coached by Big Phil Scolari, who has instilled in them a toughness needed to win at the highest level. The golden generation has now merged with a new, younger group, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco, and Ricardo Carvalho. And now, this edition of Portugal's national team has the perfect mix of experience, youth, and seasoned toughness to go toe to toe with the best. That was why I picked them to make the semis of the World Cup. That was how they were able to overcome the likes of Holland and England. Neither of those games were pretty and, in all probability, Wednesday's matchup with France won't be either. But it will be the final chance for one of Portugal's greatest players, Luis Figo, to win a major international trophy. Then again, France has an all-time great of their own playing, too.

And that is why Zinedine Zidane has captivated the world with his magical play over the past two games. No team, not even Portugal, had a tougher path to the semifinals than the French, who had to overcome Spain and Brazil. Especially after an underwhelming performance in the first round, when the French entered the second half of their game against Togo (Togo!!!) needing a win to advance and they were only tied at 0-0. But since then, Zidane has carried this team on his back. There is no team in the world right now that has anyone playing as well as Zidane. The maestro is not done yet. And no team in the world is as good as this French team down the middle of the pitch: Barthez in goal, Thuram and Gallas at the back, Makelele and Vieira in the middle, with Zidane and Henry up front. It is that core that gives France a chance to win every game. And win they have. Portugal and Germany both needed penalties to advance to the semis and Italy needed a last-second penalty of their own to beat the Aussies, but France has flat-out beaten two of the world's best teams: 3-1 over Spain and 1-0 over Brazil. The only goal that they gave up in 180 minutes playing against the likes of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Robinho, Adriano, Raul, Torres, and Villa was a penalty kick against Spain - no goal from the run of play against both of those teams is an astonishing feat. Portugal had no luck scoring against a staunch English defense, marsalled by the excellent John Terry, so it is hard to imagine any goals for them against France. Meanwhile, with each passing victory, this feels more like Zinedine Zidane's World Cup, part deux.

Most people, your author among them, expected this to be Ronaldinho's World Cup. Zidane, the best player of the last 20 years, was retiring after the tournament. It was time for him to pass the torch on to Ronaldinho, his successor as the world's best player. This weekend's Brazil-France matchup would be the perfect stage. Right? Oui? Eh? No. Zidane played his best game in years, while Ronaldinho completed one of the most disappointing international performances in recent memory - he was anonymous from the kick-off against Croatia to the final whistle against France. Call it bad coaching, call it fatigue from a draining club season with Barcelona, but Ronaldinho was non-existent - the blame for that rests with the player and the player alone. Across the pitch, Zidane gave the young Brazilian a lesson in what it means to be clutch. Dylan Thomas once wrote, "Do not go gently into that good night"; on Saturday in Frankfurt, Zidane heeded his words.

At this point, it is Zidane's tournament - we're just watching it. There are two more games for us to savor his talent, for us to marvel at the grace and skill of an artist in action. And I, for one, am not picking against him. If Spain, a team that played some of the best footie seen in Germany, could not do it...and if Brazil, a team favored by most to win it all, could not do it...then Portugal won't be the ones to send Zidane off into retirement. On Wednesday, Zidane's magical farewell march through Germany will continue, with one more impressive victim left by the wayside. Spain, Brazil, Portugal...how can that be topped? By beating an entire nation. And Germany, in Berlin on Sunday, awaits...

Penalties in Berlin

2006-06-30T13:00:00.000-05:00

As certain as the rising sun: Germany wins on penalties.

We're headed to penalties. A poignant shot of two thoroughly dislikable goalies, Lehmann and Kahn, who even hate each other, talking before the shootout begins. Hopefully we'll find out later that Kahn was actually telling Lehmann he sucks, but I doubt it.

Neuville makes, Cruz makes, Ballack makes, Ayala MISSES, Podolski makes, Rodriguez makes, Borowski makes (is it me or was he picked 18th by the Wizards last night?), and Cambiasso MISSES. And it's over - Germany advances!

Devastation for Argentina. Their players are now either bawling or throwing punches, possibly at Oliver Bierhoff, a German staff member and former player. You hate to see that...yada...yada...yada. Argentina played some great footie this Cup, but they looked beatable against Mexico and today they really sat back and defended far too much after going up a goal. Still, these scenes are all too reminiscent of their tearful exit four years ago. Mascherano, Cambiasso, Lucho Gonzalez...they're all shattered. Gabriel Heinze might kill someone. But it's adios for Argentina.

So it's onto the semis for ze Germans. Argentina has a much deeper talent pool, with players like Aimar and Messi and Saviola that would all warrant starting spots for most other countries, Germany included, but you can only play 11 at a time - and right now, Germany's 11 can beat anyone. Pekerman will be questioned for playing so defensively for the last half hour, as well as for taking off Riquelme and not playing Messi at all, but he tried to hold on and fell only 10 minutes short. Once Klose scored, it was over; and especially when it came to penalties, everyone knew what was coming. Some things in soccer are written in stone: England's fans will riot, Spain will choke, and Germany will win penalty shootouts. Alvidazein, or something like that.

Extra Time in Berlin

2006-06-30T12:42:00.000-05:00

'95 - O'Brien asks Balboa why we haven't seen Messi yet. Balboa informs him that they've used all of their three subs. You see, Davey boy, in soccer you're only allowed...oh, nevermind.

'100 - Ballack takes a dive in the box. Argentina's players want a yellow card. None forthcoming. Typical. You know, it's a circus - Maxi dives and Germany's players try to assault him, then Ballack dives and Argentina's players go nuts. This is why people hate this sport.

'105 - Ballack is barely moving. He could collapse at any moment.

'110 - Of the 50 fouls so far, 31 have been called against Argentina. For those of you without a 3rd grade math education, that's 62%. I'm shocked - Bennett Salvatore is normally pretty fair.

'115 - Tevez gets hacked down. He's one of four players still with a pulse, along with Frings, Tony Parker, and Coloccini, who just hit the post! Wow, Lehmann would have been incarcerated if that had gone in.

'120 - Argentina is the more dangerous side, but we're headed to PKs. And we know how the Germans are from the spot: lethal.

Fulltime in Berlin

2006-06-30T11:53:00.000-05:00

'50 - Goooolllllll!!!! Ayala sends in a powerful header that beats Lehmann off a corner. Ayala is promptly called "Lucho Gonzalez" and "Argentina's captain" by ESPN's Dave O'Brien and Marcelo Balboa. And they call themselves the Worldwide Leader.

'55 - It's a different game now. Much more open. Ballack shanks a header with Abbondazieri in no man's land. Riquelme blows a counter by holding onto the ball too long. Off day for Argentina's talisman.

'60 - Argentina looks like the team that played Mexico - dropping deep, giving up possession, etc. It's helped ze Germans wake up. Klinsmann subs in Tony Parker, who immediately starts bolting up and down the right wing. Argentina are playing a dangerous game, just sitting back and trying to defend.

'65 - Abbondazieri is down. Either Klose burst one of his kidneys or time wasting has begun with a half hour left.

'70 - And Abbondazieri is out. Wow. Not often you see a goalie bail with 20 minutes left in a Cup quarterfinal. It's an offense-defense drill right now for the German attackers.

'75 - Riquelme out! If this goes to extra time, Pekerman just took out his ace in the 5th inning with a one run lead. A bold move. Germany gets a gift of a call for a non-existent foul on Odonkor. Albiceleste barely holding on.

'80 - Goooolllllllll for ze Germans! Klose!!! And that was coming. Big time trouble for the South Americans. Riquelme out. Crespo out. Backup goalie in. No Messi today. Or Saviola either. No subs left. Germany is on a rampage. The home fans are going berserk. The ref hasn't called anything in Argentina's favor in, oh, 30 minutes. Not looking bueno for the Albiceleste.

'85 - Maxi carded for taking a dive. Good call. Odds of the ref calling a penalty for Argentina right now just posted at 900-1. Michel's body would be found floating in the Danube, with Beckenbauer & Blatter ready with their alibis.

'90 - Extra time. Ze Mannschaft has all the momentum. Argentina has put in Cruz up front to play against Germany's 7'2" centerbacks. It will take a miracle for Argentina to pull this one out. Advantage to ze Germans.

Halftime in Berlin

2006-06-30T10:49:00.000-05:00

Tevez is happy about his first-half against the Germans. And about wearing that classy blue jersey.

Notes on a classic Germany-Argentina showdown in Berlin:

'5 - No love lost between these two. Germany, especially, is really getting stuck in, leaving their foot in on every tackle. Lots of afters already, but the ref Michel is keeping a lid on it. Podolski earns a yellow for taking Mascherano down way after the ball left - Germany's play so far very reminiscent of Bayern Munich in Europe: very physical, borderline dirty.

'10 - Pekerman has made three changes: Lucho Gonzalez for Cambiasso, Coloccini in place of Scaloni, and Tevez instead of Saviola. The tactics must be to get much more hair in the lineup. Mission accomplished.

'15 - Germany goes really close with a Ballack header off a great counter. Best chance of the game by far.

'20 - Argentina dominating possession, but not creating chances (a lot like Spain against France). Tevez looks like the most dangerous player on the pitch. Pekerman is playing him wide on the left in a 4-2-3-1. Mascherano has looked good in the center, but Riquelme, playing just ahead of him, has been shackled by Germany's physical marking. Frings looks very strong.

'35 - Ze Mannschaft continues to hassle Riquelme's every move. They've keyed in on him, which may leave Tevez free to give Friedrich fits on the left. Riquelme is spending a lot of time on his back, never given any time on the ball.

'45 - Halftime. Physical, scrappy game. Few chances, in fact Ballack's header is the only one of note. Argentina has kept possession and taken the crowd out of it, but they haven't even come close to scoring. Riquelme has been shut down by the excellent German defense. A lot of the 50-50 calls going the way of the hosts - no surprise there. For the most part, Michel has done well. Argentina have done well to take control of the game, but it's hard to see how they'll score, especially with Crespo disappearing up front. Germany has defended well and they look dangerous on free-kicks. It may have to be an error that decides it (Abbondazieri has looked shaky at times). First goal wins.

Back with a full match recap after the game.

Elite Eight Preview: Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!

2006-06-29T10:29:00.000-05:00

On July 1st in Frankfurt, Zidane will pass the torch to Ronaldinho and wave goodbye for the final time.

And now the real fun begins. After weeks of watching players that you can't identify and rooting passionately for teams that you couldn't care less about, we have arrived at the meat of the tournament. No more Saudi Arabia. No mas Paraguay. It's time for the heavyweights to get down to the task at hand. And as fun as it is to watch underdogs pull off the miraculous upsets we saw four years ago in Japan and Korea, it's even better when that lovable underdog you were rooting for loses and you realize just how mouth-watering the next round's match-ups really are. Case in point: unless you were from Italy, there's no way you could really have been cheering on the Azzurri in their game against the Aussies; but as soon as your anger at Medina Cantalejo's penalty call subsided, you realized that you'd much rather watch the Italians take on former AC Milan star and Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko in the quarterfinals than an Australia-Ukraine game. And so it is that this weekend's slate of games is as full of heavyweight fights as anyone could have hoped for. Here's how it's going down:

Germany vs Argentina

Before the tournament started, I would have picked Argentina to beat the Germans seven times out of 10 on a neutral field. Now, after watching ze Mannschaft play some of the best footie seen at this Cup and the Albiceleste need a once-in-a-lifetime goal to beat Mexico, I'd call it even: five wins for Argentina, five for Germany. So what swings it one way or another? Berlin. With their hometown crowd cheering them on and all of the referee's decisions favoring the host nation, Germany will sneak into the semis. Argentina's vaunted attack will give the suspect German defense all sorts of problems, especially if Tevez and Messi get some serious playing time, but with the way this tournament is going, I think Germany can get its share of goals, too. Expect the Germans, especially the impressive Torsten Frings, to hone in on Riquelme and shut him down with persistent fouls and dogged man-marking, but he'll still find a way to help his attackers get by Mertesacker and Metzelder. At the other end, Ballack is due for a huge game and it's fair to say that there is no attacking duo in the tourney playing with the speed and verve of Klose and Podolski; also, Bastian Schweinsteiger, captain of the tourney's All-Name Team, is far better than any of Mexico's wingers, all of whom ran circles around Argentina's back-up right-back Lionel Scaloni. I see another long afternoon for the Argentine defender. Expect lots of goals. Expect some more bad decisions by the ref. Expect extra time. Expect penalties. And expect Germany to advance.

Italy vs (the) Ukraine

Italy is crap. The Azzurri have a way of playing exceptional defense, but somehow showing no attacking flair whatsoever. Cannavaro, Nesta, Zambrotta, Gattuso and Buffon are simply as good as it gets at the back, but something happens to attackers like Totti, Del Piero, Gilardino, Toni and Pirlo when they put on the blue jersey - their offensive instincts appear to desert them. Against Australia, we saw all the aspects of Italy's play: wonderful defending, zero success in attack, nasty tackling (see Materazzi, Marco), and a con-job on the ref that won the match for them. Against the Ukraine, the Azzurri will be without the injured Nesta and the suspended Materazzi, so the defense will be more vulnerable than usual. To make matters worse, Shevchenko has played against Italian defenses for the past few years in the Serie A; it was just a few weeks ago that he left AC Milan to join Chelsea. Sheva will get a goal against his old calcio friends and enemies and it may prove to be enough to spring the upset of the tournament, but Italy will find a way to win it. Barely.

England vs Portugal

England is another team that, like Italy, has not played well thus far but has done enough to advance. While there is one school of thought that says that England (and Italy) will now start to gel as a unit and play up to their potential, I don't see it happening. The Brits have had four games to start playing like a Cup-winning team and they haven't done it. In their win over Ecuador, they would have been a goal down within 20 minutes had it not been for the help of Ashley Cole and the post. And England scored their lone goal against Ecuador thanks to some shaky free-kick goaltending by el Tri's Cristian Mora - Beckham should take note that Portugal's keeper Ricardo doesn't wear face-paint or look like like he's 12. To make matters worse, Sven Goran Erikkson doesn't seem to have a clue. Not only has he had the last four games of this Cup, but Eriksson has in fact had more than the last four years to come up with a winning line-up. Starting Owen Hargreaves, a defensive midfielder, at right back rings of desperation. England's only hope is for Beckham to continue to carry the team and for Rooney to come good when it matters most. Possible? Yes. Likely? No. Portugal will be without Deco and Costinha and, while Simao will struggle to make anyone forget about the former, both Tiago and Petit may prove to be an upgrade over the latter. Scolari has had Eriksson's number recently, from coaching Brazil to a win over England in '02 to leading this same Portugal team to a win over England just two years ago in the Euro champioships - the third time won't be the charm for the Swede, whose England career will end at the hands of his long-time nemesis. Portugal on penalties.

Brazil vs France

Les Bleus suddenly improved at the start of the knock-out phase, defeating an excellent Spanish squad 3-1. After such a poor start to the tournament, the French legends somehow found a way to re-create the magic of '98 and Euro 2000. Thuram was a tower of strength at the back, Vieira was majestic in midfield, and Zidane always looked dangerous against the Spanish defense, constantly looking to play deadly through-balls into space for Henry (who took a dive in the 82nd minute and conned the ref into giving France the game-winning free kick). Even the new guard, such as Gallas and Ribery, looked fantastic. France might have given the Spanish the bulk of the possession, but they always looked to be the more dangerous side; if they pick up where they left off against the Spaniards - and especially if Henry can do a better job of breaking the offside trap - France can re-live the glory of '98 one more time. Still, Brazil was the pick before the tourney began and, despite appearing to be nowhere near as impressive as everyone had expected, la Canarinha are scoring loads of goals (three vs Ghana, four vs Japan), Ronaldo is the world's most clinical finisher once again, and Kaka and Ronaldinho can pick apart even the strongest defenses (and France has one of the best). Look for Parreira's boys to gain revenge for the disaster in Paris eight years ago, as Zidane is forced into early-retirement by the lethal combination of his former Real Madrid teammate Ronaldo and the person to whom Zidane will pass on the torch of world's best playmaker, Ronaldinho.

A Draft Recap (or "Pithy Comments About Athletes with Upside")

2006-06-29T08:20:00.000-05:00

Yeah, he cried like a baby. But is he athletic?

As always, the Draft delivered. A night stock full of head-spinning trades, head-scratching picks, and head-bangers who cry. There's no need to go into who came out the big winners or losers or what grades each team should get - everyone gave Toronto an F for taking Charlie Villanueva last year and look how that turned out. Still, such remarkable self-restraint doesn't mean we can't discuss the night's highlights - so here they are, from start to finish (well, to the end of the 1st round - Stephen A screaming his lungs out about some hapless Belarussian makes Bill O'Reilly sound educated):

The first remotely-surprising move came when the real MJ proves he knows infinitely more than his old nemesis Isiah and takes Adam Morrison at #3. Morrison is then subjected to more questions about his tearful exit from the Tourney this year. Am I missing something here? Why is this such a big deal? Hell, there's even a video game commercial with Morrison talking about his crying: "Yeah, I cried. Big deal. And I'm going to cry again. And in the NBA, I'm going to make people cry". First of all, that's going to send all of the kids out there rushing to the store to pick up that video game; I can see it now: "Yo, the dude cries. That's bad ass". Second, who cares? Why is it so newsworthy that Morrison shed some tears after (well okay, during...) one of the most crushing Tourney choke-jobs in recent years. That UCLA team came back from double-digits down to end Morrison's college career. And it's a big deal that he cries? Players on other teams cry all the time. Players in other sports cry all the time. Heck, one of the enduring images from Japan/Korea '02 was the sight of Argentina's players bawling as they left the field after being eliminated by Sweden - nothing could ever explain the passion, the importance, and the beauty of soccer better than those images: a team of superstars reduced to floods of tears because they knew, as only some athletes do, just how important their success was to their fans, just how much the World Cup meant to their countrymen. That passion is one of the best things in sports. Then again, now it's also part of a video ad campaign.

Yesterday I predicted big nights from the Bulls and Rockets. Right on the former, dead wrong on the latter. Houston got robbed blind by Memphis, even though I'm not a fan of Rudy Gay at all - still, at #8, the risk might be worth it, even though the Grizzlies' next pick, Nova's Kyle Lowry, will be a better pro. As for da Bulls, they used deals with Portland and Philadelphia to grab Tyrus Thomas at #4, an excellent pick, and then Thabo Sefolosha at #13. As a Philly native, I pay close attention to the Sixers and it's always fun to watch Billy King drive that franchise into the ground. (Hey Pat Croce, the door is always open...) The Sixers picked Sefolosha and, before the trade was announced, I could be seen spewing expletives at the TV. But then, as the commentators started raving about Sefolosha and ESPN showed highlights of this 6'7" stud lighting it up in Europe, I started to come around, only for King to deal the kid to Chicago. The Sixers then picked Rodney Carney at #16, who was described as "athletic"; in fact, when asked what he would bring to the Sixers, Carney even said "athleticism". Well, then I love the pick - any time you can get an athlete in the first round of the NBA Draft, you can't pass that up. Admittedly, I was hoping for a jock, but I'll take an athlete. And apparently the Sixers' 2nd round pick likes sports.

In the midst of all this athleticism, David Stern and Dan Patrick had an alternately hilarious and uncomfortable exchange. After the Commish, half-joking, criticized Patrick for his "pithy comments" and negative remarks about all of the draft picks, Patrick fired back that he always liked the NFL's Paul Tagliabue better. Patrick then realized that the next negative comment would result in him taking a cianide-laced dart in the neck, so after he started to criticize the next pick's shooting form, he quickly switched to some absurd, trying-to-be-positive comments about how Ronnie Brewer had really improved his free-throw shooting. Smart move, Danny Boy. If only the ESPN crew had shown the same restraint when ripping the Blazers' fantastic draft, which netted them LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon R-O-Y, and Sergio Rodriguez (a heck of a player from Spain), a draft haul unmatched by any other team.

And then, just when you thought that the tension couldn't get any thicker, it was the Knicks pick. Remind me to never praise Isiah on anything, ever, under any circumstances. My compliments on his draft resume will be the last positive comments I ever make regarding He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Renaldo Balkman? Described, by Isiah himself, as a cross between Dennis Rodman and Ron Artest! So, on the plus side, the Knicks fans can now look forward to arrests, drug use, rap records, arena riots, on-court brawls and a certifiably-insane under-sized power forward. Even the clan of Eminem wanna-bes (combined brain-cells: 13) who assaulted ESPN's Mark Jones during a pre-pick interview knew that the Knicks had to take UConn's Marcus Williams. And that's what would have happened, had the Anti-Midas not been making the pick.

So the Knicks screwed up, some athletes got drafted, a guy named "Gay" was drafted lower than expected, Jerry West made a great deal, and ESPN's commentators sounded like a bunch of idiots. I guess the draft really wasn't so full of surprises after all...

No se puede

2006-06-27T16:21:00.000-05:00

History repeats itself in Hanover: France 3, Spain 1. (Oh, and the Ukraine advances to the quarters)

Ecuador, home of that infectious and inspiring "Si se puede!" chant, came to the World Cup, looked decent in wins over Costa Rica and Poland, but listless in losses to Germany and England. Ecuador was eliminated in the second round, having created no more than one scoring chance against the Brits.
Spain, a team that would never have room for any of Ecuador's 23 squad players, came to the World Cup, looked amazing in huge wins over the Ukraine and Tunisia and even managed to sleepwalk through another win, this one by the Spanish JV no less, over the Saudis. Spain was eliminated in the second round, having created no more than one scoring chance against the French.
The Ukraine, a non-descript team if ever there was one, who can only claim Andriy Shevchenko as a reason to pay them any attention, lost to Spain 4-0. They then beat Tunisia and the Saudis before playing the most boring of games against the Swiss. The Ukraine won on penalties, having created no more than one scoring chance in their second-round game.
Three teams. Three vastly different soccer nations. Three completely different paths to the second round. One team beat the minnows and got overrun by the big fish. Another looked unbeatable, only to fall short against a team of legends. And another looked unimpressive in most of its games, got a favorable draw, and squeaked on to the quarterfinals. Three different fates for three different teams, but history wrote one team's destiny long ago.
Of course, we only care about the one team in the bunch that made our short list for possible candidates to win it all. Spain has a collection of young soccer talent that no - that's right, NO - other country can match. Casillas, Torres, Ramos, Joaquin, Reyes, Fabregas, Alonso, Pablo, Garcia, Iniesta...the list goes on and on - and to think that we haven't mentioned players of the caliber of Guti, De la Pena, Vicente, and Morientes. They are truly a pleasure to watch. But alas, they all wear the red of Spain, which can only be described as the scarlet letter of world soccer. Today, despite a stellar first-round, the Spanish ran up against a French team that seemingly needed to oppose a team capable of striking fear into it before they decided to play well. Tonight, the Spanish are on a plane back to Madrid. Another World Cup disaster for a nation that deserves far better.
Earlier in this tournament, la Furia Roja were compared to the Atlanta Braves for their history of playing well until it really counts and then choking under the pressure. The comparison is a good one, but I wonder if the Braves fans ever really start to believe in their team. Seeing as there are never more than 30,000 people in their ballpark, I doubt it. The torture endured by the fans down in dear ole Castilla is far worse. The Spanish aficionados know their history. They understand it. They respect it, to the point that they don't even get excited for these tournaments any more. It's just too painful. But every time, their squad proves so enticing, so full of talent, so wonderful to watch, so impossible to resist. And this time around was no different. They entered the France game on a 25-game unbeaten streak, fresh off a perfect first-round phase, a team free of the regional divisions that are so representative of Spain and so lethal to a team's success. Heck, they entered the game, against a France team still loaded with players that won both the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championships, as favorites. But all of the talent in the world, all of the confidence and optimism, cannot overcome that feeling of impending doom, that weight of past failures, that constant reminder of a cursed history. And so it was again today, when the weight of destiny shattered Spanish dreams once more.
The Spanish word "morbo" is hard to define, but it is some combination of "history", "rivalry", "intrigue", and "hatred". In the soccer world, it is used to describe games rife with these factors. Sometimes, "morbo" can be too much overcome. Consider that Zinedine Zidane, one of the greatest players ever, is now playing his final tournament after a career in which his greatest victories have come while wearing the blue shirt of France and the white of Real Madrid, Spain's most successful and emblematic club. Consider that it was Thierry Henry, subject of a racial slur by Spain's coach Luis Aragones just last year, who led the French attack. Consider that France's Patrick Vieira and Spain's Cesc Fabregas, the past and present of Arsenal, faced off against one another in midfield, a fading genius facing his emerging successor. So it should come as no surprise that what happened today in Hannover is full of the "morbo" that makes this sport so enticing.
80 minutes had left the teams level at a goal each; the Spanish, per usual, had dominated the possession but failed to create any real chances, while the French, despite their old age and team turmoil and poor coaching, looked the more dangerous team. When so little separates two teams, it must have been reminders of past triumphs and failures that tilted the scales to one side. While Aragones protested on the sidelines, Henry took a dive as he went for a loose ball against Spain's Puyol and conned the Italian referee into awarding his team a free kick. Zidane lofted it into the box, where Vieira appeared at the back post to bury it in the net. And how fitting it was that it was Zidane who, well into injury time, stormed forward on a breakaway to slot the ball past his Real Madrid teammate, Iker Casillas. And it is all too perfect that now, with one game full of "morbo" in the books, France will move on to a quarterfinal date with Brazil, the loser of the '98 Cup final which signalled Zidane's arrival as one of the greatest of all time. But for the Spanish, it is one more national tragedy, one more disappointment that can now take its rightful place alongside so many countless others. The Spanish, so full of hope and pride just 24 hours ago, are heading home. So too is Ecuador. And remember the Ukraine, those 4-0 whipping boys? It's on to the quarterfinals for them, just in case Spain needed any more salt rubbed into their open wounds. No se puede, Espana, no se puede.