The ABC's of the 2010 World Cup
A is for Argentina, which is probably the most polarizing team in the World Cup. They have the current best player, and considering the last best player was an in-the-closet metro that liked to be caught with hookers, and currently squires around with Paris Hilton, Messi is the closest thing to an era defining player since Zidane. However, the era-defining player that came along before Zizou, Maradona, is back to ruin Argentina. He be batshit insane, and is dead-set on screwing the World Cup up. Maradona doesn’t like anyone challenging his name as the premier of Argentinean Football, so he would definitely sabotage Messi’s chances at glory just so no one thinks Messi is better than himself. Also, the guy that Messi will be playing with for goals, Sergio Kun Aguero (Kun Aguero is what most call him), is Maradona’s son-in-law, so there is an approximately 87% chance Maradona demands the middies pass to the Kun over Messi. They could win the World Cup, they could get knocked out early. What we do know is that they will be fun to watch.
B is for Boring Brazil, who has finally embraced what wins in a time where the old Brazil flair is all the rage. It is an interesting twist for the Brazilians. For years, they played aesthetically beautiful soccer, while the world played tactically strong, athletic soccer. Now, they decided to switch to a defensive/counter-attack style (aka – the exact 100% polar opposite of Brazil), while the world, headed by Spain, is starting to accept beautiful football as the way to go. I don’t think it is a bad idea, as Brazil attacking players are nowhere near as talented as even the Brazil team of 4 years ago, and most of Brazil’s true talent is at the back, with star defenders Maicon and Lucio, and even a damn good goalie in Julio Cesar, so the switch makes sense but it certainly has not gone over well. And if they don’t advance further than ’06, when they lost to the brilliance that is Zidane in the QFs, Brazilians, for once, might be furious at their soccer team.
C is for Coronation, this tournament can really settle a lot of lingering questions that the soccer world has created in the last four years since the last World Cup. First, is this Spain team the best European Team Ever? That question needs to be asked. Only two other teams have won both the World Cup and the European Championship consecutively. France in 1998 and 2000, and West Germany in 1972 and 1974. Spain is just as good. They rolled in Euro 2008, not conceding a goal in the knockout round, and beat the semifinalists, Russia, twice 7-1. They are just as talented now. The other coronation can be of Leo Messi. Other than possibly Ronadlinho in 2006, the last player that could gain so much by a great World Cup performance was Zidane in 1998. However, it is expected from Messi, Zidane’s was more of a post-tournament “Did we just witness greatness?” question. With Messi, people expect greatness. Lead them to glory, and he will be crowned a God of Football for life. I feel like Spain has the better shot at being coronated after the world cup ends.
D is for Defense? Defense has taken an interesting turn over the last four years. Outside of Brazil, who had the talent to overcome it, defense has historically won championships, like in every other sport known to mankind. I profiled this earlier in my Inter Milan/Barcelona breakdown, that great defense has become uniformly underrated. A great defensive team is just as good as a great offensive team, yet even more so than at the club level, offense has captured the world. Two of the top four favorites, Spain and Holland, are brilliant offensive teams. Italy, an aging team to be sure, is still one of the best defensive teams in the world, and is totally under-the-radar, despite being, well, the defending champs. If the Brazilian team had any other name on the front of their shirt, they would not be co-favorites with Spain, because they embraced defense. This tournament, like in 1990, 1998 and 2006 can see the best defensive team win, because usually that is what happens in World Cups, but with this infusion of offense, defense might be too far gone.
E is for Energy, in terms of offense. Scoring was way down in the 2006 World Cup, as the tournament’s top scorer had just 5 goals, which was the fewest in World Cup history. Look for that to change. Scoring has been up across Europe the past two years, with 2.62 goals being scored a game across the top-4 European Leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Seria A and the Bundesliga), and that has always correlated to scoring at the World Cup. With so many teams placing a bigger emphasis on offense at the top of their game (Spain, Holland, England, Cameroon, Mexico, Argentina) goals should be up, at least from 2006 levels. Offense is the new game in football, with ball possession being the key. Just like in the football across the pond, the one that involves using your hands to do the various things that the game revolves around, offense is winning the battle with defense currently, and look for that to continue.
F is for Furia Roja, the favorite to win and to watch. Each team has a nickname (Der Manschraft for the Germans, El Selacao for the Brazilians, etc) and for Spain, it is la Furia Roja, and they can take this tournament by red fury, or their fans faces will rage with red fury. They have the most talented team top to bottom. People say that a lot about Spain, as it has become the common theme to label Spain the most talented. However, much like the Chargers in the NFL, that title used to be undeserved. They were not any more talented than some of the other countries. Not true now. They are so stacked they have the best midfielder (arguable, I guess) in the Premier League on the bench in Cesc Fabregas. The weirder thing, no Spanish fan cares that Fab is on the bench, since they legitimately have four better players. Their defense is their supposed weakness; however, they allowed the fewest goals of any team during World Cup Qualifying in Europe. That is scary. So are they.
G is for Group of Death. There always is one, but this time, there are a couple. In reality, there are two different distinctions. One would be the group that has three very good teams, three teams that are all capable of making the Semifinals to little fanfare. That would, until Drogba’s injury, be Group G, that combines Brazil, Portugal and Cote D’Ivoire. Even with Drogba out, Cote D’Ivoire poses problems. Then, there is the real group of death, with four teams all capable of winning the group, where any combinations of advancing teams is not surprising. You can make a case that Group A and Group D fit this bill. Group A has France, a team that has the talent to go really deep, but a crazy coach (sound familiar), Mexico (ditto France), South Africa (hosts have made it out of the group stage every time) and Uruguay (a capable team that has the resolve to pull out of the group). Group D is even better with Germany (less talented than before but always dangerous), Ghana (missing Essien, but expected to get that normal African bump), Serbia (very talented and underrated), and Australia (QF in 2006, and should have taken Italy to penalties). Those two are the real Groups of Death, because all four teams are good. Of course, the real deathly experience will be in Group G, as the runner up gets Spain, most likely, as their consolations prize for surviving.
H is for Hemispheres, which are important. No team has won the World Cup in the opposite hemisphere, except for Brazil (it is amazing how many trends Brazil is the exception for, in a good way). None. In that sense, Brazil and Argentina, historically, are your best bets. They say it is because the grass grows differently (or at least that is what some ‘soccer’ fan said on Bill Simmons’ podcast the other day), but the easier, and probably more relevant explanation is that in the Southern Hemisphere the World Cup takes place in winter, and it is summer when it is the North. European teams are used to playing in winter, but not during June and July. That is a weird body adjustment to make. There obviously is some merit since no Northern Hemisphere team has ever won one of the seven world cups that have taken place in the Southern Hemisphere. So, for a Spain, England, USA, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal to break through, they will have to fight their opponent and geography.
I is for Injuries, which have already derailed the world cup. Obviously, the biggest two injuries are to Didier Drogba and Michael Essien of Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast to those normal folk who don’t do geography) and Ghana respectively. They are the best players in their country, and with the World Cup being in Africa, they were some of the big stars in the world cup. Essien’s injury just kills Ghana who needed his organization and technical ability in that holding midfielder role. If Cote D’Ivoire was in any other group, it probably wouldn’t be the death knell that Drogba is out, but in the group with Brazil and Portugal, despite how talented the rest of the Cote D’Ivoire team is, Drogba’s injury will certainly kill them. Of course, then comes the various nagging injuries to favorite Spain. Fabregas broke his leg in March, but is back now. Fernando Torres broke his knee in April, but is supposedly back for the first Spain game. Xavi supposedly tore his calf in a mysterious injury that still allowed him to play for Barca. Iniesta hasn’t played in a while. Spain has enough talent to withstand one of the Xavi/Iniesta/Torres group being out. If two are, then there are problems. Then, of course, there is the Ballack injury, but that’s not worth mentioning since Germany will just make the Quarters like they always do.
J is for Jozy Altidore, and more than that what he and the rest of the US team represents: a shift where the US is using athletic advantages to get ahead. The US will probably never have the innate talent to consistently be a major player in the World’s soccer scene, but it has the athletic ability. US athletes are better trained, conditioned and nutritioned than any other country. And whether this involves steroids or not (if it does, than the Dominican athletes probably have the upper hand, anyway), the US is probably the most athletic team, and this is headlined by Mr. Jozy Altidore. He probably is overrated, as his performance is nowhere near his recognizability, but in him and the rest of the new wave of US players, athleticism is starting to become the US’ trump card. It probably won’t work for too long, as talent still wins out, as does speed which the other countries probably have over the Patriots, but the US will never be outworked, nor outtoughed in a game. And that is more than what the US had to offer in 2006.
K is for Keeping, as this is still a sport with a goalie. Just like in the NHL where a hot goalie can take you places (see: Halak, Jaroslav; rounds 1-2 of the 2010 NHL Playoffs), so too can one in the World Cup. Gianluigi Buffon was brilliant for Italy in 2006 in their run. Oliver Kahn was even more brilliant, posting five straight shutouts before the Final against Brazil, taking an averagely talented German team (even by German standards) and putting them into the final. It is hard to really judge soccer goalies, since most face about 10 shots a game, and really only four or five of those are threatening (as opposed to hockey goalies), so I’m going from what I hear, but the best out there now is probably Brazil’s Julio Cesar. Of course, the old guard is still there with Gianluigi Buffon still keeping goal for Italy and St. Iker Casillas in net for Spain. Those two have been great goalies, including cup winning goalies, for ages, but age has been showing recently. Goalkeeping can decide this tournament.
L is for Lionel Messi, who is the star of the World Cup. He has the most to gain and to lose here, at least from an American perspective. American’s care about stars, that is our nature. Messi is currently the biggest star, and he is the biggest name, so if he pulls a Ronaldinho from ’06 (the biggest star coming into that tournament doing practically nothing and having no impact in the teams elimination game), then American’s will really have a bad impression of Mr. Messi. The real football fans probably won’t care if he doesn’t have a great tournament, since his coach is a moron who wants Leo to fail, but the casual fan will. Plus, Messi has a chance to become one of the all-time greats with a great performance here. Although I think it is too early to start these comparisons, many feel that Messi is already at a Maradona level. Again, not sure about that, not even sure he was any better than Ronaldinho was from 2003-2006, or even the Portuguese Ronaldo from 2006-2008, but he has a chance to fly his star higher than anyone else does.
M is for Moments, which the World Cup always provides us with. Each World Cup will have two or three moments that will be replayed for eons. Obviously, the 2006 Cup gave us a pretty memorable one, with ‘The Headbutt’, but even ’02 gave us the gap-toothed grin of Ronaldo waving his arms after scoring the Cup-Winning goal. ’98 gave us the moment of Zidane’s header (head-ER, not head-BUTT) to beat Brazil. ’86 gave us the “Hand of God”. ’98 had Michael Owen’s goal as an 18 year old kid. ’02 had Ronaldinho’s ‘welcome to the big leagues’ moment with his floater from 40 yards out over England’s goalie to beat England in the Quarters. ’94 had the US finally reaching the knockout stage at home. ’66 had the goal that was debated for decades as to whether it crossed the line or not. Each cup has a moment all to itself, and 2010 will provide this moment too. It might be anything. It might be a controversial call like in ’66, or a play that had nothing to do with soccer like the headbutt in ’06, but it will be memorable.
N is for Nationalism, which is never more present than it is during the World Cup. People who have never shown any interest in their heritage will start wearing their countries jersey, start eating their countries food, basically adopt back their motherland for the month. Whatever country goes deep in the tournament suddenly will have thousands of immigrants transplanted in every city. So, when you suddenly see Spanish paraphernalia around everywhere come July, just remember it is people that normally keep their heritage very dormant expressing it for the one time it seems okay for four years. Also, the underrated part of the world cup is how nationalism plays a role. If we beat England, not only did we beat them at soccer, the game they invented, but this just compounds what we did in the American Revolution. It is like paying homage to Washington, Adams and Franklin. If Germany goes down, the country that started World War II goes down (not that I believe that the WWII overtones are still really there in that major of a way, but it is a legitimate point of celebration in Europe). Then there are the countries that haven’t been on the best of terms, like Spain and Italy, England and France that can always play each other. Man, just for the nationalist part alone, I wish India qualified. It makes little sense that in a country of 1.1 billion they can’t five 30 guys good enough, but one day they will, and I will be right beside them cheering the Tigers eating Dosas and wishing we could get a crack at England and repay them for scalping our land.
O is for Ole! Ole, Ole, Oleeeee! Oleeee! Ooooleeeee! Which is the eponymous World Cup song. But really, it is all of the songs that make the World Cup an amazing fan experience. The World Cup crowds are the best, mainly because they don’t infuse the stadium with music blasted from speakers. The World Cup lets the fans sing and dance and play instruments in the stands, creating their own music. It is beautiful. If anything, it is too much music and noise, as it almost distracts from the game. But there is nothing better than turning on the game, and hearing fans act like what fans are supposed to act like. All the songs are good, yet nothing beats the classic ‘Ole!’ song. I’m not sure what country started it, but pretty much all of them use it now, and for good reason. After “na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, hey-hey-hey, goodbye” it is the best sports song out there. Also, the goal song at Euro 2008 was great too, and usually the World Cup releases a goal song of its own. If it is half as good as Samba de Janiero, the Euro 2008 goal song, I’ll be ecstatic.
P is for Penalties, which are sure to rear their ugly head at some point. Don’t get me wrong, they are truly dramatic moments, the tensest in all of sports, even tenser than hockey shootouts since the shot lasts all of one second, but they should not decide a competition. In 1990, 1994 and 2006, penalty kicks decided the World Cup Final. In 1990 it was a penalty, so it is hard to complain, but in 1994 and 2006 (Brazil beat Italy, then Italy exacted some revenge by beating France, who transitively beat Brazil in 1998), the whole tournament, all 51 games, came down to a skill competition. Of course, it will happen and probably more than once. Just hopefully the evil Lord that is PKs stays clear of Johannesburg on July 11th. However, if they do, they are entirely random. Sure, there are goalies better at stopping penalties, and players that are betting at shooting them, but at the end of the day, it is just utterly random who wins a penalty shootout. Spain in 2002 proved this by beating Ireland in one, where St. Iker Casillas stopped 3 out of 4 penalty shots, and lost the following round to Korea on PKs, where Casillas didn’t stop a thing. Penalty Kicks can ruin careers. David Trezeguet used to be a hero in France for his Golden Goal in 2000 that won France the Euro Title against Italy, but now he is a dog for being the only man to miss a PK in the 2006 Final. Just hope the next David Trezeguet is not lurking.
Q is for Quadrennial? As in, “Why is the World Cup a Quadrennial tournament?” It really is the greatest single month of any four year period (numbers 2-5 are the four NFL Playoffs months, but that is neither here nor there) and is the biggest moneymaking sports tournament by a mile, so in a world where money rules all, why wait four years to play one of these? This is not the Olympics. People will not get tired of more Word Cup. I’m not saying every year, as that would be tiresome, and I see that four is a nice square number, but that is too long to not celebrate. People in America are still trying to be wooed to soccer, and having the only relevant soccer event that American’s care about only once every four years is not a good way to start the wooing process. Every three years would be a little better. Every two years even. Of course, now that the Champions League is being shown in America each year, and ESPN broadcasted the Euro Cup, as well as select Premier League and La Liga games, there is soccer to digest during the other 47 months that encompass the four years, but still, there is a little too little of the World Cup. It’s not like people will rejoice any less if it was every three years.
R is for Ronaldo and Rooney, who are the two players, behind Messi, that will make this tournament. The former Manchester United teammates are still not in good terms with each other (stemming from an incident in the Portugal-England 2006 Quarterfinal where Ronaldo pleaded to the referee to get Wayne Rooney sent off), but they are in very similar positions. They both need good performances here to leapfrog one another on the “Best Player”chart. They are currently 2 and 3 in some order, and even if I think they are both a bit overrated, they are fantastic players that are able to carry their teams offense on their back. They might have to. England was great during qualifying, but are still underachievers on the World Cup stage. Portugal struggled mightily during qualifying. Both Ronaldo and Rooney are very pompous players, proud of their own abilities, and they both probably don’t like all the attention being given to Lionel Messi. They have their chance to say something about it in the World Cup. Also, the Player of the Year voting is greatly influenced by World Cup results, as the last four World Cup years the player that won the FIFA World Player of the Year award came from the winning team (Cannavaro, Ronaldo, Zidane, Romario), so there is a chance that they could even wrestle the prestigious awards from little Messi’s hands.
S is for Security, which has been a big story since South Africa was announced as host for the World Cup. The World Cup could be played in Switzerland, a neutral country that has no enemies outside of people who hate it by extension of hating Federer (me), and there would be security risks and scares, but put it in one of the most volatile countries politically and socially, and people think FIFA is asking for problems. Then, Barack Obama announced that if the US made the Quarterfinals, I believe, he will attend the game, creating more security problems. Personally, I think it is overblown. Has there ever been a major event like this that has been terrorized (other than the Munich Olympics, which did not terrorize fans, but athletes, which is horrible but not exactly the fear here). The Olympics in China had similar fears, and nothing happened. The Super Bowl always is supposedly a major terrorist target, and nothing has come out of that, ever. It makes too much sense for terrorism to occur at the World Cup. The real danger is South Africa at night, but really, it is not any more dangerous than Rio will be in 2014. However, to save us this trouble, FIFA, can you just put the 2018 in Spain?
T is for The Treble, which is a different treble than the one Barcelona and Inter won the past two years. In club football, the treble is when a club wins its countries league, its countries cup and the UEFA Champions League (ex: Winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in England or the La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League in Spain). However, this is a different treble that involves tennis. In 2008, it was the year of Spain, as in six weeks, Nadal crushed Federer for the French Open title, winning 6-1 6-3 6-0, Spain beat Germany for the European Title, its first major tournament win in 40 years and one that erased years of underachieving, and then the triad was capped with Nadal winning Wimbledon in the Greatest Tennis Match ever. That was Spain’s month, and it very well could happen again. Part I is already done, as Nadal, just like he did in 2008, won the French Open without dropping a set. Part II, this time, will be up to Rafa, as Wimbledon will finish before the World Cup. If Rafa gets Wimbledon, I guarantee Spain finishes off its second consecutive Tennis/World Cup treble. Also, another little similarity, in 2008 Rafa Nadal, in doing the treble, took over No. 1 from Federer, just as he did with finishing Part I of the treble in 2010.
U is for Usual Suspects, which always happens in each tournament. So much is made of the favorites that teams that are so obviously going to contend are just plain forgotten about. In 2006 it was Italy, who breezed easily through their qualifying campaign, but lacked the pizzazz that the other European teams had. France had Zidane’s farewell, England was, well, England, Germany had more talent, Portugal had way more talent. Italy was the team that won it all. In 2002 it was Germany, who really is always slightly underrated. People talk themselves into taking outside picks for the World Cup, but underrating teams that have done it before and that consistently perform well is always dangerous. There is a reason only seven countries have won the world cup, and only five since 1970. In fact, since 1970 only six have even made the final. The World Cup Final seems oddly repetitive since 1970 (Brazil-Italy, then Germany- Holland, Argentina-Holland, Italy-Germany, Argentina-Germany, Germany-Argentina, Brazil-Italy, France-Brazil, Brazil-Germany, Italy-France). By the way, what scares me is that Spain is nowhere to be seen. They are much more talented now than they ever were, and they just won a top competition, but still, it seems pretty exclusive.
V is for Vacation Days, which will be taken en masse during the World Cup. Historically, countries that love soccer (read: all countries in the tournament not named US) basically shut down their business during World Cup games. Trillions of dollars are lost each tournament because no one works, just watches. It is truly mesmerizing. This extends far beyond work. Wars have stopped in the past. Cote D’Ivoire was in the middle of a light Civil War when the 2006 World Cup was about to start. All parties involved decided to take a small break to engorge themselves in the World Cup. It truly is the World’s unifying event, as it unifies the rest of the World to stop living their lives, drop everything meaningful and be glued to the TV and watch people that they will never meet kick a ball around grass. Boy, I love the fact that I won’t get flak for acting like I do the rest of the time, since everyone else will be doing it too.
W is for Winning, which teams have to remember is the ultimate goal. Too many teams try to win and try to play beautiful soccer. Those two things are not the same, as much as soccer ‘purists’ (see: soccer fans who are bored by defensive tactics and want offense all the time) try to convince the world that playing offense directly leads to wins. Win and advance. That is the mantra of every major sports tournament in the USA. It is especially useful if a team has a scare in one round. Get over it, win and advance and the slate is clean. Amazingly, Spain doesn’t fall into that trap that the others do of trying to appease the artist instead of the winner, as they played a mostly ugly 0-0 (penalty kick win) game against Italy in the Euro 2008 quarters. They won the PKs, and advanced. That’s all that needs to be done. Also, never get too high or low because of a team’s great or bad performance in a win. Whether the team wins 4-0 or 0-0 (penalties), they are the same. The team moves on and will play a completely different game. Germany knows this better than anyone. They play games in so many different ways, styles and tempos. The only link? Germany is the team that wins them. Win, that is what this tournament is about, or at least it should.
X is for Xavi and Xabi, arguably the two most important players for the Furia Roja. They both make up what is the best midfield a country has played in generations, but these two are especially important. Xavi makes up one half of Spain’s dancing duo, with Andres Iniesta being the other half. Sir Alex Ferguson said of those two last year before their other-wordly performance in the Champions League Final, that “the last time either lost the ball was when they are seven.” Xavi stays a little further back than Iniesta and is the brain of Spain. He was slightly injured at the end of the club season, and Spain need him at his best because he is at the crux of their possession attack. As for Mr. Alonso, he is arguably more important. Spain can dominate possession, sure, but if they get into the type of game that happened against the US last year, they need Xabi Alonso. Spains defense is what could kill them, and Xabi is the defensive midfielder. Marcos Senna played that role beautifully in Spain’s Euro 2008 run, and with a similar performance by Xabi here in 2010, it allows Sergio Ramos to do what he does best, go forward. Plus Xabi is one of the few Spanish players that can go aerial for a header, and set-pieces always play a part in determining winners.
Y is for Yellow Cards, which are almost as important as reds. Very few players actually get two yellow cards in the same game. Not only because players booked once get more careful, but also because referees are more lenient after a player has been booked once. So, in that vein, yellow cards have less in-game applications as do reds, but they can be deadly. As two yellow cards accumulated in separate games means a suspension from the next. I believe there was a rule made for the 2006 tournament that is carrying over to this one. It is that the yellow card slate is wiped clean at the start of the knockout stage, and then again at the start of the semifinals. In essence, it makes missing the final a hard possibility, but other than that, it is fair game. If a player gets a yellow in both the round of 16 game and the quarterfinal that player is gone from the Semi. This happened in many cases in the France-Portugal semifinal in 2006. The most oft used example of this was in the 2002 World Cup, where Michael Ballack missed the World Cup Final due to picking up two accumulated yellows in the Semifinal. That probably will not happen again, but yellow cards can greatly affect group play with suspensions for the third group game, and even knockout play.
Z is for Zidane, who obviously is not playing in this World Cup, but in the soccer community, still lords over as a central figure. Zidane was unquestionably the best player from 1996-2006 (with the real, better Ronaldo a close second), and those ten years were the Zidane era, and soccer is still looking for the next era. Eras are huge in soccer. There was the Pele era, then the Beckenbauer/Cryuff era, then the Maradona era, then the Zidane one. Messi seems like the logical candidate, but if the last four years taught us anything, it is that the title of “Worlds Best Player” is fleeting. It was Kaka in the 06-07 season, Cristiano Ronaldo in 07-08 and Messi in 08-09 (and in all likelihood, unless he is horrible in the World Cup) 09-10. All three of those player were simply amazing in their respective years, and they all have tremendous pressure, because they have been anything from slight underachievers (Kaka) to outright disappointments (Messi) for their country. That is what made Zidane great. He was amazing for his club, and better for France. To reach that level, one of these three will have to make a deep run. By the way, Messi is just not the polarizing figure Zidane is, and not only because Messi wouldn’t headbutt someone. Zidane had a charisma, had a magnetism that Messi doesn’t. Zidane did, Jordan did; Gretzky, Montana, Manning, they all do. Messi is a Brady: a great, great player who is missing that quality that makes him immortal. Maradona had it and that is why Maradona has almost become the biggest figure of this World Cup. Even in 2010, Zidane is the central figure of Adidas’ ad campaign, not Leo. In the real footballing part of the world, Zidane is still the man.
