European efficiency wins out over South American I don’t know what. We’re not talking about the final yet, of course, just Brazil’s decent from football icons to grubby also-rans.
My first memory of Brazil was their magnificent side from 1982. The names roll off the tongue: Zico, Eder, Falcao, Junior and, the magnificent Socrates. That was a side. Of course, they ultimately fell to European efficiency too, with a Rossi-infused Azzuri turning them over in a superb knock-out group game, but their players were the stuff of legend. Particularly for a ten year old kid.
This current lot? A bit disappointing don’t you think?
All the jokes have been made so I won’t add anything new here. I can’t. I’ll just add my voice to the chorus the aggrieved, then watch and wait to see what happens next. Hopefully we’ll get a good chance to see the future of Brazil next year when the Under-20 World Cup is in NZ. I guess that’s where their next wave will come from.
Today’s match could really have been worse. Thiago Silva should have been sent after three minutes when he hauled Robben back. An incorrect penalty was awarded followed by an incorrect yellow (which should have been a red). Just imagine how a ten man Brazil without Silva would have gone, after an eleven man Brazil without Silva was massacred by the Germans.
It was probably best he stayed on…
The Dutch will be pleased with third, to be honest. It wasn’t a great Holland side, but Van Gall got the most out of them and I’m sure, like him, some of those young players are in for a bit of transfer activity in the next few weeks. Blind and De Vrij to Spurs? I hope so because the defensive stocks in those positions at White Hart Lane are frighteningly dire at the moment.
And now there’s just one game to go. We get to watch an efficient European side take on a pragmatic South American side.
At least Argentina, unlike Brazil, know what they stand for. They ain’t pretty but they get results. Their dishevelled coach, Sabella, seems to have worked wonders with a bunch of players who, by and large, have no business being in a World Cup final, Messi and Mascherano excepted.
The Germans have proven themselves to be the best side at this tournament but they still have one more game to win. I think, and hope, they will, because their style of play is more exciting to watch and more inspiring than anything Argentina has offered so far. But football often doesn’t work that way. Argentina has shown they can keep games close, and if they do that tomorrow then in Messi they have the ideal player to win it for them.
The best team versus the best player. May the best team or player win. I can’t wait.
Pick for Day 32
Germany 2-0 Argentina. Let’s hope so.