World Cup - Netherlands vs. Brazil

I still disagree with the Oranje for not bringing Ruud van Nistelrooy to the tournament. They should see how well Klose is doing for Germany. Now that Van Persie is not in good form (I actually never considered him as good as those other great Dutch strikers), will Robben and Sneijder, great as they are, be enough to open up the excellent Brazil defense?

On the other end, Elano will be out injured. Felipe Melo may be out also. Ramires has to sit out with 2 yellows. Kaka still has not shown that he is as good as he once was. All these issues will weaken Brazil's attack, which makes the 2 teams more even.

With Brazil's defense and Van Persie's poor form, I am not sure if the Netherlands can score one goal. Even with Felipe Melo out, Brazil should still win by a goal or by penalty shootout.

This is the best stats I've seen so far:

Landon Donovan 3:0 Wayne Rooney

The USA's loss is gut-wrenching. It helps a little when England and Mexico also lost. It showed that they were no better than us (even though we know that that's not true).

The truth is we have overachieved with a bunch of poor to mediocre players. Coach Bradley had done a good job in instilling confidence and spirit into the team. The players bonded well and seemed willing to fight for each others. But in the end, they were still a ragtag bunch.

When you build a team, you build from the spine. Unfortunately, those were our weakest areas. Other than Tim Howard and Michael Bradley, the rest of our spine are shaky at best. Bocanegra, DeMerit and Clark all cost us goals. Altidore, at 20 years old, is still too young and unseasoned to spearhead our attack.

It is time to revamp the team and the program. Even so, I still think the suit, Sunil Gulati, just talked smack.

World Cup - USA vs. Ghana

In 2006, we were in the World Cup and needed a win in our 3rd Group Stage game to qualify for the knock-out phase. Instead, we were beaten by Ghana and went home in humiliation. Four years later, we need to get past the same team to go where we want.

Ghana have a very strong midfield and they are a very disciplined team. They have strength, skills and can hold their formation well. Their weakness is that they do not have a lethal striker and they can't score. 4 years ago, they beat us on a penalty kick. Since then, the only goals they scored in the World Cup were penalty kicks.

Their backline is very disciplined. I've watched quite a bit of their right-back Pantsil because he plays for the same club as Clint Dempsey and I was never that impressed with him. Since we don't have someone who is a natural left-sided attacker (please, no Beasley), I would play Altidore slightly to the left and exploit that area. Which means we need another striker more to the center and I hope Coach Bradley will give Buddle another chance. I understand Coach always wanted a Charlie Davies-like player in Findley, but there's a big gap between the two and it's time to shelve that experiment.

Ghana usually play a 4-2-3-1 and midfield is their strength. We can counter them by playing a 3-3-2-2 with Cherundolo, DeMerit and Bocanegra in the back; Bradley, Edu and Clark in front of the backline; Donovan and Dempsey supporting the attack; plus Buddle and Altidore up front. This may seem a little too defensive-minded but when we attack, we can have 7 with Dolo, Bradley and Edu going forward.

What I like about the approach is flexibility in defense. DeMerit will be marking Gyan. Bocanegra, Edu and Clark will be covering each other on the left side, usually against Tagoe. Our 3 defensive midfielders can minimize the creativity and long shots from their 3 attacking midfielders. If they get pass them, we still have Bocanegra and Cherundolo covering.

In attack, I prefer not to have our best player, Donovan, always playing on the right. He and Dempsey should be given free rein behind the strikers. With Dolo (and sometimes Landon) going deep right and Altidore sliding slightly left, there will be plenty of chances for Donovan, Bradley, Buddle, Dempsey and Edu.

My worry is if Coach plays too conservatively. That will suit Ghana better than us. We should be aggressive minded and set a target of scoring 3 goals.

Go USA!

World Cup - Groups E & F

The game of interest today is Denmark vs. Japan. Italy has always been a slow starter. Like England, they will find a way to squeak by Slovakia. Netherlands should easily handle Cameroon who is playing only for pride. New Zealand will fight Paraguay hard for a draw.

World Cup - Germany Must Win

Serbia should beat Australia for sure, so Germany have to win to advance. Ghana, despite leading the group now, will go home if they lose to Germany.

World Cup - Capello's Stage Fright

Capello, after being a very successful club team manager, had stage fright as he approached his first World Cup as a national team manager. After a very successful World Cup qualifying campaign - where England won 9 of their 10 matches and scored the most goals in Europe, he decided to call up some old and retired England players.

Midfield dynamo Paul Scholes turned down the offer citing that he didn't want to take away precious spots from players who helped England secured the World Cup qualificaton. Ledley King, well known for his chronic knee problem, agreed but lasted only half a game. Jamie Carragher, with his slow pace, also agreed but his limitation was immediately shown against Altidore in their USA game.

Adam Johnson was a left-footed winger who can play on either side. He was in excellent form when finishing the Premier League and Don Capello called him up for England's initial World Cup squad. He was dropped in the final selection for lesser players like Aaron Lennon, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole - who, although with more England team experience, were all recently recovered from their respective injuries.

It is well known that Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, both excellent players, cannot play together in midfield. They are so similar in style that they end up giving the contribution of one player instead of 2+. Don Fabio knew that but was too chickened to drop either one of them from the starting lineup.

Capello must be pretty jealous when he saw how USA's Altidore assist in their 2nd goal against Slovenia. Those are the kinds of assist he wants to see his pet, Heskey, delivers on the England team. Emile's contributions has been minimal outside of assisting in England's only goal so far.

It is highly likely that they will draw against Slovenia and end up on the next plane back to England.

World Cup - Team USA

USA have a World Class keeper in Tim Howard but one of the worst backlines in the tournament. Howard has injured ribs which might explain his approach in losing the 2nd goal against Slovenia. DeMerit and Onyewu are poor distributors such that whenever they had the ball, one of our 2 central midfielders had to come back and help distribute which meant we had one less player in midfield.

The lack of a good and reliable holding midfielder is our Achilles heel. Clark's defensive lapse gave England their only goal so far, plus he was not a good passer. When we tried pairing Bradley and Torres in the 1st half of our 2nd game, Bradley mistakenly moved up too much and left José for defensive duties. That was surprising considering it was known that Torres is a good creator but a poor defender. Either Coach Bradley designed the wrong plan or son Bradley did not follow order. Edu in the 2nd half, to me, provided the best pairing with Michael.

Donovan is our best player but we need more urgency from him. His lapse cost us Slovenia's 1st goal. As Birsa moved in from the left trying to receive a pass, Landon somehow decided to run upfield instead of marking his man, which left Birsa unchallenged to place a beautiful shot. Donovan's urgency in the 2nd half of that game is what we need from him for 90 minutes.

Dempsey is better as a 2nd forward than as a midfielder. His bravery and surprise shots scored him a lot of half chances. He is willing to work hard defensively while being assigned to midfield, but his lesser ball skills limits our creativity from midfield.

Up front, Findley should never be a starter. I known coach wanted to have somebody like our injured Charlie Davis, who was quick and deadly, but Robbie is not the answer. Coach should have experimented more with Gomez or Buddle as Altidore's strike partner.

With all our limitations, we should still be slightly better than the Algerians. If our key players deliver, we should end up at the top of Group C.

World Cup - Groups A & B

As expected, the 2nd games in the Group Stage are much more entertaining, more exciting, more open with more goals. Don't expect the same in the 3rd games. Teams that already won their groups - Argentina and Netherlands - and teams that are already eliminated (some of them are still mathematically alive, but highly unlikely) - France, South Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast.North Korea and Honduras - will have uninteresting games.

In Group A, Mexico and Uruguay are fighting to avoid Argentina. A draw is likely which will give Uruguay an easier opponent in South Korea or Greece next.



In Group B, South Korea should advance by beating Nigeria. I don't see Argentina willingly giving 3 points to the Greeks.

World Cup - Upsets, the Mourinho Effect and the Shameful Australians

Which coach has the most influence in this World Cup without actually being there? It is José Mourinho and his treble-winner Internazionale Milan. Their best showing was beating the most dominant Barcelona - Messi et al - in the semi-final en route to the Champions League title. They did it by organizing an excellent defense and counter-attacked with one of the best midfield creators and a top striker.

That was why in the first games, when most of the teams that didn't want to start out with a loss used that strategy - some with better success than others. With that in mind, it was not surprising to see quite a few named teams got upset by draws and even defeats.

Was Serbia beating Germany a surprise? In my previous posts, I wrote that "I am rooting for Serbia ... to take 1st or 2nd place [in its group]" and "Germany shone with their youngsters ... I don't think they can win it all due to inexperience." Young and inexperience mean inconsistencies. Moreover, if you measure position by position, you will see that Serbia, with players like Vidic, Ivanovic, Stankovic, etc. have bigger names and better regarded players than Germany. So the result was hardly a surprise despite the Germans started the tournament with a bang by beating the shameful Australians 4:0.

New Zealand earning a draw against Italy would be a small surprise if I had not watched their 1st game against Slovakia. The All Whites were much better than I thought. I should apologize for writing "New Zealand have no business being here". Speaking of which, Australia should be ashamed of themselves.

Australia used to dominate the Oceania Football Confederation. Oceania is the only confederation out of the six that has no guaranteed spot in the FIFA World Cup. Their top team usually has to play an extra home-and-away series against an Asian or a South American nation to earn a World Cup spot. In 2006, Australia petitioned to quit Oceania and joined the Asian Football Confederation, thinking that they are better than most Asian countries and trying to avoid the South Americans.

Alas, after reaching this World Cup as an 'Asian' representative, Australia showed nothing of note other than leading in red card ejections. New Zealand, proudly representing Oceania, were better organized and showed admirable fighting spirit compared to their shameful Oceania neighbor.

World Cup - Group D

After demolishing Australia in the 1st game, Germany face a better defensive unit in Serbia. We know Germany's attack is good. This game will measure how good they really are. Ghana should have no problem against Australia.

World Cup - Group C

As I said before, USA must aim at the 1st spot and win their 2 remaining matches. I do not fancy USA's chances against the firing squads of Argentina and Germany if they finish 2nd. Slovenia do not mind getting a draw in its 2nd game and they will play it safe first.

USA used a 4-2-2-2 against England and it was effective in stopping Gerrard and Lampard. Based on past performances, Ricardo Clark does not deserve to be a starter. I would use a more attacking 4-4-2 against Slovenia. The backline would be the same as the 1st match. Dempsey is more effective as a 2nd striker than a midfielder. He should thus be paired with Altidore up front. A midfield of Donovan-Bradley-Edu-Torres is quite attack-minded with only a void at the left wing area. If necessary during the game, that void can be filled by moving Donovan to the left while bringing on Buddle or Findley. When Slovenia have the ball, I would rotate Bradley and Edu on marking Koren and use Donovan and Torres to cut off the supplies to him.

I will be extremely disappointed if manager Bradley starts the same team as Game 1. That will mean he is playing conservative and gives too much credit to the Slovenians. Koren is good but he is no Gerrard or Lampard.

England should beat Algeria handily. I just hope that they don't score too many goals so as not to rank above us on goal difference eventually. Playing both Gerrard and Lampard in the middle should be an exercise that's over and done with for England. They are both good but pairing them together limits both of them and England get the net result of one good player instead of two.

World Cup - Group B

Nice win by Argentina over South Korea. The Koreans should still reach the next round with their next match against Nigeria. If both South Korea and Greece tie their next games the Koreans should still qualify based on tie-breaking rules (unless Greece finish their last game with a 2-goal higher scoring tie, i.e. 3:3 vs. 1:1, or 2:2 vs. 0:0).

World Cup - Group A

The group is all tied with draws and that should be to France's benefit. The pressure is on Mexico and Uruguay to win their 2nd games. France have the advantage of playing the supposedly weakest team, South Africa, last and thus can live with another draw in its 2nd game.

Forlan was Uruguay's best player in game 1 but, as expected, he did not receive any services. Uruguay may look to drop him back a little to help create and put in another forward. The South Africans are high on spirits and fan support but still a little short on talents. I don't think they can get out of the group stage.

Mexico paid the price of underestimating the South Africans in their 1st match. They must try to beat France now. France have so many accomplished players but they don't play as a team. Can they advance based on individual talents alone?

As I write this, Uruguay already beat South Africa 3:0. Mexico must now go all-out to beat France.

World Cup - After the First Matches

With the 1st-game nerves out of the way, the tournament should become much more exciting. In order to get to the 2nd round, a team needs to win at least once and nobody wants to count on their last games to achieve that. Thus the second games are must-wins for many of the countries. They can no longer rely on their defense-first and play it safe approaches.

The luck of the draw is going to be a factor. With 2 games left in the group stage, would you rather play the stronger opponent first or the weaker one first to bag 3 sure points?

In their 1st game, Germany shone with their youngsters. They must now be considered a worthy dark-horse although I don't think they can win it all due to inexperience. It will be fun to watch them play against Argentina in the quarterfinal.

Spain tripped badly off the gate but they should have no problem recovering. The issue is if they finished 2nd in the group, they'll have to face Brazil right away. Italy performed better than expected because they left their old fogeys on the bench. Brazil, South Korea, Netherlands, Japan and USA all held their own while Ivory Coast, Slovakia, Serbia and England disappointed.

U-S-A. U-S-A. U-S-A. A lot of the English media said that the Americans got a lucky draw, not facing the facts that Don Capello made personnel and tactical mistakes. The untouchable now becomes the emperor with no clothes. Although it was true that the Americans scored due to Green's error, same can be said that Gerrard scored because of Clark's error. Howard's 2 saves on Heskey and SWP were no flukes either. They were split-second mano-a-mano decisions based on experience. With England out of the way, the USA must now aim high and look to win the group. The 2nd placed team will have to face the Germans, in their fine form, next. The group winner has a good chance of winning their quadrant against the likes of France, Uruguay, South Korea, etc. - all good but not scary teams.

Credits must be given to some superb managers. Carlos Alberto Parreira is an excellent coach as he molded South Africa from nobody into a very respectable team. Whether they can get out of the group stage or not we should still consider Parreira's job a success. Ottmar Hitzfeld is one of the bests ever and his 2-year project with the Swiss led to the 1st major upset of the tournament. Marcello Lippi retired after winning the last World Cup. He had to be re-hired in 2008 to try to take the Azzuris to more glory. Despite what I said about their older team, the Italians cannot be counted out.

World Cup - Group H

Spain should dominate its group. Chile are fun to watch with their attacking style and should emerge as number 2. Switzerland are good defensively but have injury concerns. Honduras should be a non-factor.

World Cup - Group G

This group is known as the Group of Death, but I simply don't see it unless it's named so because North Korea is in it. These Koreans are very secretive about their team. They have a strong defense and they are mentally tough. Portugal have underperformed under manager Queiroz and I don't think they'll be any different in this tournament. Brazil and Ivory Coast are too strong for C. Ronaldo to dance his way past them. If Drogba is fit, The Elephants are arguably the best African team.
As I said earlier, manager Dunga selected a very strong defensive squad, while leaving out some flashy players like Ronaldinho. This is the last chance for Kaká to show that he is every bit as good as the other great Brazilian number 10s, and he has a very fine supporting cast to help him.

World Cup - Group F

With all the riches of talent in Italy, their manager Lippi picked an old fogey team - sort of like The Rolling Stones doing a farewell tour. But at least The Stones can still rock, some of these "senior citizens" couldn't even start for their own clubs in Italy. Paraguay are consistent but unspectacular. New Zealand have no business being here. Thus Slovakia should top the group. Their attacking midfielder - Hamsik, who plays in Italy - will be a joy to watch. Italy should end up as number 2 based on experience, with Paraguay waiting for them to slip and fall badly.

World Cup - Group E

Netherlands have some of the best players but the team had been known for infighting in the past. A lot will depend on Robben's fitness. Japan have a couple of star-potential players but that should not be enough. Denmark was the number 2 team on paper but consecutive losses to weaklings South Africa and Australia in warm-ups showed the team is in poor form and could end up dead last. Cameroon is basically a one-man band with Eto'o and he is more a finisher than a supplier. The Oranje Crush had a perfect record in qualifications and they should be able to extend that record here.

World Cup - Group D

Germany can play their usual no-flair but methodical way to the top of the group. Ghana have a very strong midfield but that's about it. Australia are even worse and they are a far cry from the team in 2006 under Guus Hiddink. I am rooting for Serbia and my Manchester United boys, Vidic and Tosic, to take 1st or 2nd place.

World Cup - Group C

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! We have a very very poor backline but we may be able to make it up in other areas if our manager Bradley is not afraid to utilize some unproven but promising players like Edu, Torres, Findley and Buddle. However, if he is stubborn (which he is sometimes) then we may not even get out of the group.
England is the seed but they are just a loose bunch of overrated and overpaid prima donnas.They have only 2 world class players in Rooney and Cashley Cole. USA have a fair chance of obtaining a draw out of the long-anticipated battle with England. Algeria could be the worst African team in this World Cup (not easy considering South Africa started with zero credibility) but Slovenia are every bit as good as the US and can take our 2nd place in the group if we are not careful.

World Cup - Group B

It is interesting to see how managers build their teams in their own images. While Dunga builds Brazil to reflect his defensive mindset (more on this later), Maradona loaded up on the attackers and made some dubious choices on defenders - not including Zanetti and Cambiasso (both fresh off being the European treble winners with Inter Milan) but instead relying on the old and slow Heinze (who was discarded by Manchester United years ago). With the best firepower in the tournament, Argentina should win the group comfortably.
I have always been a fan of speedy Obafemi Martins but he is past his prime and so is Kanu. Nigeria's match against South Korea will be the game to watch as they both fight for 2nd place. The South Koreans have a good blend of toughness, skills, experience and hard work. I fancy them to go the farthest representing Asia. Greece should be a non-factor other than taking points off teams that are not careful.

World Cup - Group A

Will South Africa be the first nation in World Cup history to be eliminated in the first round? France look great on paper but they are old and their manager is a joke. (The joke, however, took them to a penalty shootout loss away to become the World Champion 4 years ago.) I am rooting for Mexico (our perenniel enemy) and Uruguay to come out of the group.
France's Gourcuff is a wonderful playmaker, but let's hope he is a couple of years away from stardom. Uruguay lack a reliable midfield creator, but Forlan and Suarez are the striking pair to watch. Mexico have a fine goalkeeper in Ochoa. Dos Santos, Guardado and old man Blanco make up a fine, creative midfield. The question then is how will the 2 young guns - new Man. United boy Javier Hernandez and Arsenal's Vela - finish their chances. Mexico should come out on top with Uruguay, hopefully, sneaking past France.

2010 FIFA World Cup

Are you ready for some football (the spherical kind)?

European champion Spain and perennial powerhouse Brazil are the favorites. Looking at the teams, I like Argentina's chances. Moreover, the famous, or infamous, Maradona, now Argentina's most controversial manager, announced that he would run naked in Buenos Aires if Argentina were to win the World Cup. Considering his current physique, Diego must have watched "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" one time too many.

Since only one nation has ever won the World Cup while being the European Champion; and no European country has ever won the World Cup outside of Europe, the statistics do not bode well for Spain.

Brazil is the only nation that has won the World Cup in all the continents where it was being held - Europe, South America, North America and Asia. Will Brazil continues that feat by being the first nation to win on African soil?

Manchester United's Season and My Favorite EPL Team

With some of the world's best players going to Spain (actually just Real Madrid and Barcelona) instead of the English Premier League, it was not surprising that the quality on the field was not as wonderful as years past, though just as exciting, if not more.

My team, Manchester United, has over-achieved even though they only came in as number two - thanks to some poor managing at Arsenal and Liverpool. After losing our most valuable scorer, Ronaldo, without proper re-tooling, we only lost by one point to Chelshit (no, I am not going to act graceful and congratulate them). I was not upset to see CR9 leave but I was upset that we did not spend enough to replenish the team. Rooney and Fletcher were my MVPs and Evra was the most consistent throughout.

Here are my comments on some of our key players:
Van der Sar - still one of the best but if he had made one or two more saves against Bayern we'd be in the Champions League Final.
Neville - good in spots but was really too old. Can be a good backup next season.
Rafael - should be good as he gains more experience.
Ferdinand - disappointing by his own standard.
Vidic - still the best when not injured.
Evans - good but still raw.
Evra - excellent and most consistent.
Anderson - was he alive? Disappointing.
Fletcher - one of our best.
Carrick - very disappointing.
Park - could still run nonstop and contributed in certain situations.
Scholes - was, sadly, still our best playmaker but too old to be consistent.
Gibson - has a future here.
Valencia - effective on the right but need to score more.
Nani - became good in the 2nd half. Has a bright future here.
Giggs - no longer dominant because of his age.
Berbatov - very disappointing. Should be sold.
Rooney - our best player. We could be the league champion if he was not injured during our critical run-in.

My favorite EPL Team (4-4-2):
Tim Howard (Everton)
Darren Fletcher (Manchester United)
Michael Dawson (Tottenham)
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)
Patrice Evra (Manchester United)
Adam Johnson (Manchester City)
Francesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
James Milner (Aston Villa)
Gareth Bale (Tottenham)
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Manager: Roy Hodgson (Fulham)

Congratulations to Inter Milan

Congratulations to Inter Milan and Jose Mourinho for winning the Champions League and the treble! I am usually a Bayern fan (how can I not be when Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller are two of my all-time favorite players) but this time I was rooting for Inter. We witnessed one of the best managerial jobs in terms of team-building when Jose rebuilt the spine of the team by purchasing Lucio, Sneijder and Milito at the start of the season. Sprinkled that with key signings like Eto'o and Motta plus existing greats like Julio Cesar, Maicon and Zanetti and we are talking about the best team in Europe. The approach was in direct contrast with last year's champ, Barcelona, where they pride themselves in nurturing home-grown players.

This is my favorite European team (not including EPL players) - no surprises that it has quite a few Inter players:
Julio Cesar (Inter Milan, Brazil)
Maicon (Inter Milan, Brazil)
Walter Samuel (Inter Milan, Argentina)
Lucio (Inter Milan, Brazil)
Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich, Germany)
Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich, Holland)
Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan, Holland)
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich, Germany)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal)
Diego Milito (Inter Milan, Argentina)
David Villa (Valencia, Spain)
Manager: Jose Mourinho (Inter Milan)