World Cup - Day 5 - Neutrality trumps Surrender
In an effort to save money, I avoided the pub all day on Tuesday. Money has become tight, but its alright. A couple of matches on your own is alright.
South Korea v Togo
Togo were largely touted as being the worst team in the tournament, and for good reason. In-fighting led to the sacking of their manager some months back due to Abedayour's ego, and just days before their first World Cup Finals appearance, their current manager walked out due to issues over money. This wasn't some selfish thing, it just involved the mysterious misplacement of money in Togo's FA. The day before the match, he was persuaded to come back, but everyone felt the team (who had boycotted training) would still just fall apart. South Korea, on the other hand, made it quite far in 2002, though they were the hosts. They had never won a World Cup match on foreign soil before, but they were tipped as being fairly strong. The first half, however, was abysmal for the Koreans. Togo, on the other hand, looked to be in fairly fine defensive form. They even managed the only goal of the half, with a wonderful pass to beat the defenders and a fine finish. South Korea were just terrible. The second half saw a change of tactics, and though it took a bit of time, South Korea were back on form. A poor challenge lead to Togo's Abalo being sent off, and the resulting free kick opened up the scoring on the Korean side. It was an absolute belter. Some twenty minutes later, they scored again from a fine strike, and that was game, really. Togo did play well, but down to ten men, it was pretty hopeless.
2 SKO - 1 TOG
France v Switzerland
Oh, now this was poor. Lesser teams, when playing the big teams, seem to be concentrating on defense during the group stages for the most part. I suppose the hope is to get a draw, take the point, and hopefully beat the other lesser teams. As long as the better teams don't raise their game (they rarely do for smaller teams), they might be able to pull it off. Switzerland defended well, even if they rarely seemed a threat up front, but it was France who really took the cake for sheer awfulness. This was a terrible match. It was boring. It was uneventful. And it featured amazingly poor performances from some of the best players in the world. Ribery had some drive early on, but it dissipated quickly. Henry, the greatest striker in the world, had very little support, and when he did, he just couldn't do anything with it. Zidane could call a play, but he was just too slow around the field to really do anything. And what the hell has happened to Patrick Viera? The man who caused such dismay in the Arsenal midfield when he left for Juventes last season (it took them months to get their game back up, and that was only with the fortuitous introduction of Fabregas) was on unbelievably poor form. It wasn't just that he underwhelmed or didn't live up to his potential, he was just plain bad. He struggled to create any chances, he looked lost most of the time, and even when he did make a decision, it was poorly executed on his part. Absolutely appaling. Sacre bleu, those cheese-eating surrender monkeys were pathetic. It amazes me that they won the damn thing only 8 years ago. If their group wasn't so weak, I would wonder whether they had any chance of getting into the last 16.
0 FRA - SWZ 0
Finally, up to Nal's for the big one. The match we've all been waiting for. The Boys from Brazil, yada yada yada.
Brazil v Croatia
Oh, how the pundits love their Brazil. "So much character, so much flair". "Really magical stuff", etc.. Oh, the plaudits go on and on. However, if this game proved anything, its that Brazil aren't always the greatest team in the world. It was a weak showing, from both sides, really. Ronaldo was fat and barely moved down front. The phrase "past his prime" doesn't even begin to describe it. Yes, Ronaldinho has his mad skillz, which were only really shown once (and boy, the commentators went nuts for it). Carlos played well, and Kaka's fantastic strike before the half was fantastic, but that's really all that can be said. Croatia played hard occasionally, but even they weren't at their best. It just amazed me that Ronaldo started, seemingly only out of reverance (his own president called him "fat"), especially when you've got Robinho on the subs bench. They did put him on eventually, but it was too late to make the game really interesting. So disappointing.
1 BRZ - CRO 0
South Korea v Togo
Togo were largely touted as being the worst team in the tournament, and for good reason. In-fighting led to the sacking of their manager some months back due to Abedayour's ego, and just days before their first World Cup Finals appearance, their current manager walked out due to issues over money. This wasn't some selfish thing, it just involved the mysterious misplacement of money in Togo's FA. The day before the match, he was persuaded to come back, but everyone felt the team (who had boycotted training) would still just fall apart. South Korea, on the other hand, made it quite far in 2002, though they were the hosts. They had never won a World Cup match on foreign soil before, but they were tipped as being fairly strong. The first half, however, was abysmal for the Koreans. Togo, on the other hand, looked to be in fairly fine defensive form. They even managed the only goal of the half, with a wonderful pass to beat the defenders and a fine finish. South Korea were just terrible. The second half saw a change of tactics, and though it took a bit of time, South Korea were back on form. A poor challenge lead to Togo's Abalo being sent off, and the resulting free kick opened up the scoring on the Korean side. It was an absolute belter. Some twenty minutes later, they scored again from a fine strike, and that was game, really. Togo did play well, but down to ten men, it was pretty hopeless.
2 SKO - 1 TOG
France v Switzerland
Oh, now this was poor. Lesser teams, when playing the big teams, seem to be concentrating on defense during the group stages for the most part. I suppose the hope is to get a draw, take the point, and hopefully beat the other lesser teams. As long as the better teams don't raise their game (they rarely do for smaller teams), they might be able to pull it off. Switzerland defended well, even if they rarely seemed a threat up front, but it was France who really took the cake for sheer awfulness. This was a terrible match. It was boring. It was uneventful. And it featured amazingly poor performances from some of the best players in the world. Ribery had some drive early on, but it dissipated quickly. Henry, the greatest striker in the world, had very little support, and when he did, he just couldn't do anything with it. Zidane could call a play, but he was just too slow around the field to really do anything. And what the hell has happened to Patrick Viera? The man who caused such dismay in the Arsenal midfield when he left for Juventes last season (it took them months to get their game back up, and that was only with the fortuitous introduction of Fabregas) was on unbelievably poor form. It wasn't just that he underwhelmed or didn't live up to his potential, he was just plain bad. He struggled to create any chances, he looked lost most of the time, and even when he did make a decision, it was poorly executed on his part. Absolutely appaling. Sacre bleu, those cheese-eating surrender monkeys were pathetic. It amazes me that they won the damn thing only 8 years ago. If their group wasn't so weak, I would wonder whether they had any chance of getting into the last 16.
0 FRA - SWZ 0
Finally, up to Nal's for the big one. The match we've all been waiting for. The Boys from Brazil, yada yada yada.
Brazil v Croatia
Oh, how the pundits love their Brazil. "So much character, so much flair". "Really magical stuff", etc.. Oh, the plaudits go on and on. However, if this game proved anything, its that Brazil aren't always the greatest team in the world. It was a weak showing, from both sides, really. Ronaldo was fat and barely moved down front. The phrase "past his prime" doesn't even begin to describe it. Yes, Ronaldinho has his mad skillz, which were only really shown once (and boy, the commentators went nuts for it). Carlos played well, and Kaka's fantastic strike before the half was fantastic, but that's really all that can be said. Croatia played hard occasionally, but even they weren't at their best. It just amazed me that Ronaldo started, seemingly only out of reverance (his own president called him "fat"), especially when you've got Robinho on the subs bench. They did put him on eventually, but it was too late to make the game really interesting. So disappointing.
1 BRZ - CRO 0