Monday, July 12, 2010

Final Reflections on the World Cup 2010

This World Cup will be remembered for many things, as there were a lot of firsts in it. This was the First World Cup hosted in Africa, it's the First time a European Team won outside of Europe, it's the First time a team losing it's First game wins the trophy, and it's the First time Spain has won it all and they truly deserved it.

Having said that, that was one ugly final game. Both teams weren't trying to win, they were trying to hurt the opponent, and they were doing their best Cristiano Ronaldo diving impersonations on the field. I wanted a good match, a we certainly didn't get that which I am disappointed, but, at the end of the day, at least the team that played better, won. 


The best thing on the pitch, was by far British Police Officer and the Referee of the Match, Howard Webb. He was also far from perfect too. My opinion as a neutral, was he did the best he could and I feel bad for him. He probably gave more cards in this game than traffic citations in his career as a cop. More than double of cards were handed out in this match than the previous World Cup Final record. The sad part is each was card was definitely deserved, in fact he should have given more cards. You can tell he didn't want to send anyone off early to try to make this a fair match. He tried to keep the players under control, but, the players wouldn't listen so he finally had to send off Dutch defender, Johnny Heitinga. Nigel De Jong should have been sent off too for the karate kick to the Spanish player Xabi Alonso, but was only given a yellow card early in the first half. At least FIFA gave this game to the best referee in the World, because if it was any other ref from this World Cup, you probably would have had players seriously injured and a bloody final that would determine the Mixed Martial Arts Champions for the next four years.

What I also learned is that I should have trusted Paul the Octopus in my prediction. The only two things that went undefeated in this World Cup was New Zealand (0-0-3, placing third in their group, ahead of previous champions Italy, but failing to advance) and Paul the Octopus (8-0-0), not even Spain can match his record.

Paul has announced, after going flawless in this World Cup, that he has retired from International Competition and will return to his aquatic life in Germany with a World Cup Trophy in his tank.

I can also report from sources I have in Germany (who goes by the name of Joe), that Paul actually pulled a mussel which won't allow him to guess in future games. We will all miss his talents in the future and it's a shame we won't be able to see him play in the next cycle, but I can't blame him for going out in style.

Speaking of the next cycle, check back often for more World Cup coverage, because the journey to Brazil in 2014 begins tomorrow.

Christian N.


Sources:

  1. http://www.thatsfamous.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/spain.jpg
  2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/10604336.stm

Friday, July 9, 2010

A Final for the Books

Once again, I'm starting my post with an apology. I've been a counselor at a sleepaway summer camp with limited connection to technology during this whole month or so, and most would notice that the blog has been suffering. I was able to watch the U.S. fall to Ghana(with a stroke of misfortune, I may add), and highlights for every other game, and I plan on watching every game when I get home. The good news for me is that I will be able to watch the Final tomorrow, and I assure you, it will be a Final for the history books.
Coming into the tournament, I knew that the Netherlands had a definite chance of maybe sneaking into the semifinals, maybe even the finals. Okay, I actually predicted them to win in the only bracket that I filled out (), but who's counting?(I am!)I knew that the Netherlands would come in with the attacking mindset, and attack they did, scoring at least 2 goals in every game except against the Japanese. Now critics would be quick to note that the teams they have played so far aren't exactly known for their defending. In my opinion, Brazil was the best defensive team they played and they still dropped 2 goals on the world's theoretically best team and confused them all game long. With an all-star cast featuring Van Persie, Van Bommel, Robben, Kuyt, Huntelaar, Sneijder, etc., the Dutch will try to control Spain through the midfield and feed the ball to its strikers using quick passing to throw the Spanish off guard like they did to Brazil. The only place I can see a problem arising for the Netherlands is in the back. Granted, they have allowed a total of 3 goals in 5 games, but goalie Sander Boschker is a replacement for highly acclaimed Edwin Van der Sar, and he may break down under such high pressure. If the Spanish can break the Dutch defense early, this game may be over quickly. But if the Netherlands can continue what they have been doing, which has led to a pretty impressive 25 game win streak, the Netherlands will win.
Speaking of the Spanish, it would be hard to say that the Spanish are going to lose this game. Every aspect of their game is impeccable, and as Miroslav Klose put it, "They have been playing together for several years, they are very cohesive, their moves come automatically,". The Spanish reflect the pace and fluidity of La Liga in their national team, and it shows. The world's #2 has been tearing through the World Cup, taking out Germany in the semi-finals. That's the same German team who dropped 4 goals on both England and Argentina. Spain not only managed to contain Germany's nasty attack, but they outclassed them through the midfield and generally made Germany look silly all game long. That's hard to do, and if anything, it shows just how good Spain is. I could go through the list of all of Spain's amazing players, Puyol, Villa, Xavi to name a few. Or, I could tell you that Fernando Torres, widely considered to be one of the best players in the EPL, didn't start for them against Germany. That's how you know that a team has class. Both teams are going to look to control the game through the midfield, only one of them will. It may come down to a lucky goal, or one team may dominate the other. It may come down to penalty kicks(I hope not), it may be a beauty in extra time that puts the game away. However, any way that the game ends, it should be a majestic thriller, every Final is a game for the ages, let's hope for excitement that doesn't involve making soccer look like MMA(headbutts, anyone?). Anyways, it will be a night of firsts, and one of those will be the first World Cup victory for either Spain or Netherlands. I'm defying the Octopus:
Netherlands 2- Spain 1(OT)

Paul the Octopus vs Mani the Parakeet: Spain vs Netherlands

On Wednesday, I wrote an article talking about how Paul the Octopus has been the best story in this World Cup, and that he should be allowed to pick the World Cup Finals. Well, the oracle has spoken, and predicted Spain will defeat the Dutch for the championship, and that the Germans will defeat Uruguay for third place.

Out of nowhere, a new oracle arrives to the scene, Mani the Parakeet. The owner of Mani, claims that Mani has predicted every quarterfinals game correctly, and Spain over Germany in the Semi-finals, but, predicted Netherlands-Uruguay game incorrectly. So Mani is not perfect in this World Cup.

I'm not sure who to trust here. Paul has predicted every German game correctly so far (and there is evidence of it) but has not been tested on game not having the Germans play in it. Mani, has no evidence of predicting the quarterfinals games, but give the parakeet the benefit of the doubt. So this means the bird can predict games excluding his favorite team.

If I had to say which one of these "oracles" to trust, I would say Paul the Octopus, hands down, but I wish he was tested outside of a German World Cup game. I'm sure Mike, the other contributer to this blog, and soccer "expert" could go into vast detail about the Spanish Golden Team of All Stars that could only be compared to the USA Basketball team, taking on a solid Dutch side labeled as a Dark Horse this entire World Cup, a good title to always have going into the Final.

On Sunday, it's sure to be a battle of two European Powerhouses with one finally being able to claim a golden trophy of their own and have a golden star above their logo on their jerseys for the rest of time. It will also be a battle of Oracles, an octopus vs a parakeet to see which one can guess the final game correctly, and possibly become the story of this World Cup as Zidane's headbutt was in 2006.

My prediction: I say Paul but definitely guesses the last German game correctly, and Deutschland will finish in 3rd place. For the Winner, of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, I say.....














win it all. Mani and Paul, will have guessed one game wrong in this World Cup. I hope Paul goes undefeated, but that is my prediction, because Paul only guessed German games before, his luck will run out in Spain vs Netherlands. Now Mike can give real advice on who will win this World Cup based on talent, and style on both teams.

Christian N.


Christian is a Philadelphia Native, and is a political & sports columnist for several Newspapers across North America. He is also a season ticket holder of the Philadelphia Union and can be followed on Twitter along with his Website.



Sources: 
  1. http://sports.rediff.com/report/2010/jul/09/football-world-cup-2010-paul-mani-uttam-take.htm
  2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Paul The Octopus is The Best Story of this World Cup

This World Cup will be remembered for many things. The First World Cup in Africa, the first time the host nation failing to advance out of their group, the first European team winning the World Cup outside of Europe, possibly the first time (Spain) a team winning the World Cup after losing their first game in the group stage, and finally two teams, who have never won the World Cup, (Netherlands, Spain) one can claim they finally made it all the way, and both are powerhouses of Soccer. The Dutch have been dubbed "the best team to never win it all" and they hope that label can go to the coffin on June 12.


There is of course, the controversy as well, such as people dying trying to get to the games, crime way up, transit not being able to meet the demands of the people at these games, corruption, and oh, and how could we forget the worst refereeing in human history in one month's time from USA-Slovenia, USA-Algeria, England-Germany and the list goes on.



The amazing, true story in this World Cup is, Paul the Octopus. This "German Squid" has predicted every game correctly and is 6-0. What they would do (as seen in the picture) is place a treat in two boxes (with the country's flag on the box) and whichever treat he grabbed first would turn out to be the winner of the game. 


He was laughed at when he picked Serbia over Germany after the Germans crushed Australia 4-0, but Paul got the last laugh. When he picked Spain over Germany, Germans held their breath, but this "oracle" was right again, and is now becoming popular all over the World. He hasn't been tested with a soccer game that did not have Germany in it, but let him try to predict the World Cup final, because it seems that you cannot change the "fate" Paul places on the losing team and I think many betting people want to take Paul's "advice" before they go to Vegas.  


Christian N.


Christian is a Philadelphia Native, and is a political & sports columnist for several Newspapers across North America. He is also a season ticket holder of the Philadelphia Union and can be followed on Twitter along with his Website.


Sources: 
  1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/06/paul-the-octopus-stuns-ge_n_636118.html
  2. http://publicmb.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/2010-logo.jpg