World Cup 2010 [A 5m1w Short Story]

[Makonnen]

Each day of the World Cup, we’ll have a news summary, as well as a more personal piece either done by Leigh Musicek, who we first heard of here and first met in person here, and who is a guest of Chelsea at the festivities, or by Danyil Oranje, when Cameroon is involved, or by someone else if they happen to show up in South Africa.

Other matches will be summarized as well.

This story will flesh out Musicek's character, and will also contain various other Summer news from 5m1w, but is intended to stand alone as a trip to the festivities in South Africa.

World Cup Day I. June 11, 2010.

I slept most of yesterday—I guess I needed it. Feel a lot better today. Met the rest of the players that are here—Alphonse Aréola, Alípio, Jonathan Jones, Yaya Sanogo, and Josh McEachran. I can’t tell if Alphie (everyone seems to call him Alphie) and Alípio are shy, or if it’s just the language. I can say hi to Alphie in French, but not much more than that and I know some soccer Spanish, but not real Spanish, so I can’t do much with Alípio. Embarrassing, being from Texas and all. Yaya (!!!) is certainly not shy—he’s a goof. Stringbean thin, always has this huge grin on his face. He’s fun to be around. Josh just sort of keeps to himself—he has a coach with him, and the two of them are sort of isolated. JJ says it’s because he’ll be playing with the first team this year. Josh, not JJ. JJ will be lucky to survive this trip.

He’s just such a … boy. Like all the others over the years—arrogant, self-centered, and doesn’t think I really should be here, like it’s all some episode of Punk’d just for him. As if. I think they—Chelsea—are hoping we get on well. He plays the right side, a sort of wingback role, so we’ll probably be playing together on the youth team.

I can leave it off the pitch if he can. But so far, he’s just … well. Mamaw always said don’t say anything if you can’t say anything nice.

Today, we went to the opening game, Italy against Slovenia. It’s really loud at the games: everyone has these plastic horns—the call them vuvuzelas—and they sound like this massive drone of bees trying to play some weird chord on that stuff my Uncle likes. Screechy jazz. Even with noise, though, it was way cool: people with their faces painted, all wearing scarves for their countries. There were more Italians than Slovaks? Slovenians? but the rest of the crowd seemed to support the underdog.

Italy is one of the teams I love to watch, although this group is really in transition. Cannavaro is no longer really Cannavaro, and it’s not clear who is going to step forward along with Chiellini in back for them. But Chiellini … yeah, he’s goofy looking with the nose and all, but he’s so good back there, the way he moves, the way he can totally shut down other forwards even in the air.

Today, Marco Amelia is starting in goal—I haven’t heard anything about Buffon being injured. And, of course, they have De Rossi, who, I guess, is a teammate of mine now in some weird way. That’s just odd.

I’d write something about the Slovenians, but I don’t know much about them. They came out in what looked like a really weird shape: three deep defenders, five midfielders, and three forwards. The wing midfielders tracked back a lot. It looked like it could be fun to play on the back line that way, if you worked well with the other two—lots of movement, lots of one on one responsibility. Put me in, coach! Ha.

The game was pretty uneventful. The Italians were in control early, and had some nice moves down the right flank through Simone Pepe, but nothing came of it. About ten minutes in, a Slovenian midfielder—Bojan Jokic—collided with De Rossi. He, of course, took the worst of it, and was limping all day. Remind me not to mess with De Rossi if we’re ever on the same field. Coach Beeney, who is with us on the trip (Alphie calls him Beans, but I still call him Coach Beeney—he’s been working with him for a year), said he was one of their better players. Weirdly, they did pull someone off in the first half, but it wasn’t the limping guy, it was this other guy. Jokic played the whole game, in fact, and was really showing the pain by the end. I’ll never understand some coaches—I remember a couple years ago with my knee, being told I had to play the rest of the game, and I could barely walk.

About half an hour in, I was on my feet screaming for the Azzurri as Amauri beat the Slovenian keeper to the ball and headed it into the back of the net, but the assistant referee flagged him for offsides. I couldn’t tell if he was or not, but it sure looked good from where we were sitting.

Italy had a few corners, and Chiellini was forward for each of them, but never made clean contact.

At halftime, it was still scoreless. JJ was making a big deal of how bored he was. I told him to shut up and watch Pepe—the man is amazing, and Italy was unlucky not to have converted one of his pinpoint crosses into a goal. JJ just rolled his eyes and spent his timing staring at this blonde a few rows in front of us.

Cannavaro came on at halftime—someone said that was all he could do now, forty-five minutes. That may be true, but it didn’t seem very respectful. After halftime, Italy came close some more. Same idea as worked in the first half: in to De Rossi, out to the wing, in to Amauri. The ball seemed to bounce around in front of goal forever, but the three Slovenian defenders all kept their composure, and got it out of there.

The Slovenian goalie has an amazing leg—his kicks routinely reached just shy of Italy’s penalty box. We played a game where each time he kicked, we all went ooooooooohhhhh until it landed. Silly, but fun. We got our whole section doing it for a while.

Not a lot else happened in the game. Chiellini never seemed to miss a header, there was a flurry of yellow cards, all against Italy (including one on Chiellini, which was a way bad call), and a couple nice shots. I’m looking at the program notes—one was by Rene Krhin, who also has this long curly hair thing working for him.

Italy brought on Davide Santon after about an hour. I always wanted to play like that—like Maicon, I guess. Even JJ seemed impressed with him. Santon just puts so much pressure on the other team when he goes upfield. Still, if he came in the middle, I’d just have to take him out. If I could catch him.

World Cup Group A

Italy v Slovenia, Soccer City

Italy 0 – Slovenia 0

MoM: Gianluca Zambrotta (7.0) Slovenia’s Best: Bostjan Cesar (7.0)

Attendance: 87,656. Referee: Lee Mason.

In the later game, Tunisia and Paraguay also fought to a 0-0 tie, leaving Group A in a four way deadlock after the first day of play. It was an even game, with Tunisia’s inability to put shots on target being the most striking feature. In contrast, Paraguay’s Oscar Cardoza looked dangerous all game, and was unlucky not to break the deadlock himself. Four yellow cards were issued in the game, all to Paraguayan players.

In a defensive struggle, it is fitting that the top awards went to members of each team’s back line: Paraguay’s Julio César Cáceres, who currently plays in France, was dominant from his center-half position, controlling the game aerially while also providing great distribution to his midfield. For Tunisia, it was Yassin Mikari, who dominated the left flank all day, pinning the Paraguay players much further towards their own end than they desired.

World Cup Group A

Tunisia v Paraguay, Free State Stadium

Tunisia 0 – Paraguay 0

MoM: Julio César Cáceres (8.1) Tunisia’s Best: Yassin Mikari (7.5)

Attendance: 45,368. Referee: Massimiliano Saccani.

[Makonnen]

I just realized I hadn't done any sort of introductory post with the groups. They had been listed way back when selection happened, but we've all slept since then. So, here they are.

Group A: Italy, Paraguay, Slovenia, Tunisia

I would assume Italy goes through easily. For the other spot ... I pick Tunisia in an upset.

Group B: Argentina, Australia, Portugal, USA

Argentina and Portugal, with the USA challenging.

Group C: Colombia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa

Yoikes. Russia and Mexico, although my heart wants Bafana Bafana.

Group D: Denmark, Holland, Ivory Coast, South Korea

Holland and the Ivory Coast--here, Drogba starts the tournament healthy.

Group E: Chile, Egypt, England, Norway

England and Chile. Rooney in 5m1w > Rooney IRL.

Group F: Brazil, Costa Rica, Greece, Iran

Brazil and Greece in a cakewalk.

Group G: Cameroon, Germany, Japan, Spain

Spain and Cameroon. Hopefully. I suspect Spain and Germany, however.

Group H: France, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Serbia

France and Ghana. No French implosion here ...

Hope this helps ...

[Satio]

Once again, another fine bit of writing and a great expansion to your ever growing collection. Keep it up!

[Makonnen]

Thanks, Satio! Hope the competition makes an enjoyable read ...

World Cup 2010, Day II. June 12, 2010.

The United States of America started their World Cup campaign with a tough assignment, as they opened up Group B play against Argentina in Port Elizabeth. Five minutes in, Lionel Messi got free inside the box, but Tim Howard was able to push away the shot. On his follow through, however, Messi came down awkwardly and stumbled into American defender Oguchi Onyewu. Messi collapsed in a heap, but refused to come out of the game. He and his coach, Diego Maradona, had an animated conversation on the sideline, but Messi was resolute in staying on the pitch, and the controversial coach was finally convinced, despite the clear injury to Messi’s hamstring.

Fifteen minutes on, it looked like a good choice: OM midfielder Lucho González found Messi at the top of the box and he embarked on a magnificent, mazy run through the American penalty box, evading no fewer than five defenders before finally splitting Onyewu, Carlos Bocanegro, and Jonathan Spector. Howard looked to have the angle covered, but Messi found space between his left knee and the post, and Argentina was up after a goal that should go down as a true classic for all time.

Messi was ecstatic, pumping his arms in the air and dashing towards Mardona to share a hug, all pain momentarily forgotten. The strength, the precision of his footwork, the control to keep the ball close, the pure venom of the final shot: it was a goal deserving of the best player on the planet, and on the biggest stage to boot.

Messi was involved in Argentina’s second goal as well, finding Sergio Agüero with a thirty yard pass to midfield. Agüero made mincemeat of the American defense, continuing unopposed down the left flank before cutting towards goal and beating Howard with a bullet shot low and hard to the far post.

Having gone up 2-0, Argentina never looked like losing and the game was all but over seventy minute in, when American defender Jermaine Jones was sent off with his second yellow card.

Landon Donovan—whose exclusion from the starting lineup by American coach Bob Bradley will certainly be a talking point in the next few days—almost stole a goal on an audacious header that easily beat Juan Pablo Carrizo but bounced off the woodwork. It was the best chance for Sam’s Army on the day, and in the end, they could have no complaints, as the better team clearly won.

Post game tests confirmed the worst fears of football fans everywhere, and Argentina’s fans in particular: Messi would be sidelined for at least two weeks with a pulled hamstring, putting his continued participation in this tournament under question. What a loss.

The other Group B game, pitting Portugal against Australia, was over almost as soon as it started: in the second minute, Paulo Ferreira launched a long cross into the box from the right corner, where both Simão and Bruno Alves were waiting. The defender outjumped the attacker, and Alves slammed the ball home with a stunning header from fifteen yards out. Mark Schwarzer in the Australian goal had no chance, and Portugal was off to a flyer.

Ten minutes in, Hugo Almeida found Cristiano Ronaldo with a deft header and Ronaldo’s pace easily took him past the Australian defenders. A step-over and a fake later, and Ronaldo buried a shot in the back of the net. 2-0 Portugal, and it was desperation for the Socceroos. In the second half, Simão completed the scoring with a twenty-five yard shot that Schwarzer honestly should have handled better.

Portugal and Argentina move to the top of the group as expected, although how Argentina will cope without Messi remains the question on everyone’s lips.

World Cup Group B

Argentina v USA, Mandela Bay Stadium

Argentina 2 (Lionel Messi 20, Sergio Agüero 23) – USA 0

MoM: Agüero (8.3) USA's Best: Maurice Edu (6.9)

Attendance: 47,592. Referee: Wolfgang Stark.

Australia v Portugal, Loftus

Australia 0 – Portugal 3 (Bruno Alves 2, Cristiano Ronaldo 11, Simão 70)

MoM: Ronaldo (8.7) Australian Best: Brett Emerton (7.2)

Attendance: 49,598. Referee: Mark Clattenburg.

From Leigh Musicek’s Diary, June 12, 2010.

Tonight, we were off to see the game between Colombia and Russia. I was rooting for Russia: those cheekbones! Those blue eyes! Honestly, though, I didn’t know many of their players. Arshavin, of course, Zhirkov and Pavlyuchenko. And everyone seems to agree that Akinfeev is the “next great goalkeeper.” I wonder how he copes with that? I hate it when they talk about me being the next this or the next that. I just want to concentrate on the game in front of me.

We were all sitting together, but I managed to make sure I was between Alphie and Yaya, and as far away from JJ as possible.

The first half was pretty boring: no goals and only a couple shots went close (one from Pavlyuchenko was probably the best, a curving, diving ball from distance that the Colombian keeper made a nice read on). But the second half more than made up for it.

Five minutes in, Juan Guillermo Cuadrado freed himself on the right and launched a perfect cross into the box. Falcao easily outjumped his man, and beat Akinfeev to the far post with a snap of his neck.

Only three minutes later, substitute David Ferreira found Cuadrado inside the box with a searching pass, and the Udinese midfielder touched the ball with the outside of his foot before slamming it by Akinfeev. The next great goalie was struggling, but I kept watching his defenders. Cuz, you know, that’s what I do. They got together, shouted at each other for a little while, and then nodded before moving into position for the kickoff. They looked pretty solid, and despite the drumming and dancing from the Colombian fans, it never really felt like Russia was out of it.

They fought right back: the Colombian keeper, David Ospina, who had been having a very good game, sent a lazy pass to his left back. I don’t know if he never saw him or what, but Vladimir Bystrov was right there, intercepted the pass, and easily beat Ospina. It was 2-1, and the Colombian players were screaming at each other.

The teams settled down for a while, then about fifteen minutes from time, Russia capped a nice build up with a tricky pass to Pavel Mamaev that resulted in the tying goal. The replays showed what happened: the Colombian defense was so concerned with Pavlyuchenko, who was returning upfield to get back onsides, that they left Mamaev far too much room to operate. Alphie and I looked at each other and shook our heads—it was a simple mistake, but the Russians took advantage of it so quickly.

With only eight minutes left in the game, they needed to pay even more attention to Pavlyuchenko—he was left alone just inside the penalty spot, and when the cross came in, it was child’s play for him to beat Ospina with a quick header.

Russia had scored three goals in the last forty minutes, coming back from a two goal deficit to win the game. Talk about team momentum! It took them to the top of the group, and made them a media favorite after their first game.

World Cup Group C

Colombia v Russia, Ellis Park

Colombia 2 (Falcao 49, Jean Guillermo Cuadrado 52) – Russia 3 (Vladimir Bystrov 54, Pavel Mamaev 75, Roman Pavlyuchenko 83)

MoM: Cuadrado (8.2) Russia’s Best: Pavlyuchenko (7.4)

Attendance: 62,567. Referee: Andrea De Marco.

[Makonnen]

A “behind the curtain” note: Mexico’s Guillermo Salinas is the only game-generated player in the World Cup this year.

World Cup 2010, Day III. June 13, 2010.

The hosts opened their world cup against Mexico in Durban, and the enthusiasm of the crowd lifted them to a great opening: twelve minutes in, a long kick by goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs found Bernard Parker at the edge of the box. Guillermo Ochoa, the Mexican keeper misread the ball, and rushed out thinking it was going further than it did. Parker saw him, and it was an easy chip over Josephs that provided what will be one of the lasting images of the tournament: Mexican defenders Rafael Márquez and Guillermo Salinas desperately chasing after the ball with Ochoa trailing behind, a horrified look on his face, as it rolled slowly into the goal; and, behind, them, Parker and Benni McCarthy already celebrating, arms upraised in exultation.

An opportunistic goal to be sure, but the early lead gave Bafana Bafana a rush of confidence, and they held the lead until, seven minutes from time, Cruz Azul attacker César Villaluz drilled a twenty yard strike from outside the box, beating Josephs high. While the crowd were stunned, if the South Africans had been offered a tie before the game started, they probably would have taken it.

The game marked the debut of Mexican starlet Guillermo Salinas who has in the last year gone from toiling in obscurity to starring for Toluca to joining Portuguese side Benfica in the off season for over $10 million.

In the opening game of Group D, Holland and the Ivory Coast played to a scoreless draw. The Dutch were the more aggrieved side, as they dominated possession and rained down shots on the Ivorian goal, however the West African’s defense held strong, buoyed by the clear support of the crowd.

World Cup Group C

South Africa v Mexico, Moses Mabhida Stadium

South Africa 1 (Bernard Parker 13) – Mexico 1 (César Villaluz 83)

MoM: Villaluz (7.6) South Africa’s Best: Moeneeb Josephs (7.5)

Attendance: 70,045. Referee: Manuel Enrique Mejuto González.

World Cup Group D

Holland v Ivory Coast, Free State Stadium

Holland 0 – Ivory Coast 0

MoM: Guy Demel (7.6) Dutch Best: John Heitinga (7.3)

Attendance: 45,368. Referee: Carlo Bertolini.

From Leigh Musicek’s Diary, June 13, 2010.

We flew to Cape Town early this morning. I slept, mostly. Slept and talked a little with Alphie. He’s from Paris, and he’s half Phillipines. Filipino. Whatever. Anyhow, he was at Chelsea all last year, played a lot for the under 18’s. He’s sweet. A little shy, which is weird for a goalkeeper, but maybe he’s different on the field.

The game today was Denmark against South Korea. I was looking forward to it because I would get to see Simon Kjær play. Rumors are that Chelsea has made a few offers for him, but nothing’s been accepted. I’d love to play with him—and he and I could make a great tandem in the back for a decade! Ha! I mean, we could. But I still have to make the team. Sigh.

I thought I left that uncertainty behind as I got better, but I guess you never do. Can’t control it—just go out and play hard when I get the chance.

Anyhow, the game.

Denmark was the better team, but they just couldn’t put the South Koreans away. The first half was pretty uneventful, other than what looked like a nasty injury to Daniel Agger. Aside from that, a nice series of saves from Jesper Christiansen were about the only things of note. That, and the crowd trying to figure out who they were rooting for—in the end, I think it was the South Koreans, but you could never really tell.

South Korea scored first on a nice move by Lee Chun-Soo, I think. It wasn’t Ji-Sun Park, I know that.

The weirdest thing was that Denmark swapped out its goalkeeper. It didn’t look like he was hurt or anything, the coach just waved Christiansen off.

I might have come to watch Kjær, but it was really a dual act between him and his partner in the center, Mathias Jørgensen. They were everywhere—making tackles, intercepting passes. And their work in the air was amazing. After the game, one of the coaches showed me a stat sheet—not sure where he got it, but anyways, it showed that the two of them missed like only one header all game. One! Out of like thirty!!!

Jørgensen moved forward more than Kjær did, and his cross 15 minutes from time found Jakob Poulsen at the far post. A neat volley later, and the game was tied. And that was how it ended!

World Cup Group D

Denmark v South Korea, Newlands

Denmark 1 (Jakob Poulsen 75) – South Korea 1 (Lee Chun-Soo 60)

MoM: Mathias Jørgensen (8.7) South Korea’s Best: Kwak Hee-Ju (7.2)

Attendance: 60,844. Referee: Peter Gagelmann.

[Makonnen]

World Cup Day IV. June 14, 2010.

From Leigh Musicek's Diary

Wow, what a performance!

I mean, I know I’m a defender and all, but, wow. It was just amazing. England was just clicking on all cylinders and totally outclassed Norway. It ended 3-0, but it easily could have been 6 or 7 or 8. And the goals! All three from Wayne Rooney, all three from twenty to twenty-five yards out, all three absolute rockets that were still rising when they beat the keeper. Incredible!!

I don’t know what you do against him—usually against a player that quick, you can lean on them, push them around a bit, but he’s so strong, too. I guess you try to make him hit shots from that far out, and if he nails three of them, you just accept it. I guess.

But it was really just luck that he scored them all: Lampard, Gareth Barry, Gerrard, all were just pounding the Norwegian defense all game. They lost 3-0 and you know who their best player was, by far? Espen Johnsen, their goalie. He had a fantastic day between the pipes, making about a dozen diving, leaping saves.

And the best part?

They took us down to the player’s lounge after the game (Josh, JJ, and Yaya went into the locker room, but they kept me out. Alphonse and Alípio stayed out, too.) AND I MET JOHN TERRY. He was sooooo nice. We shook hands and he said he’d heard a lot about me, that he was looking forward to playing with me in the fall. I think I said something, but I can’t really remember what. I’m sure I made a bit of a fool of myself, but come on, it was JOHN TERRY.

JJ was an absolute ass afterwords, bragging about how he was able to go into the locker room while just staring at me. He never said anything, but he didn’t need to. I hope he comes inside on me in a scrimmage. I will take his ****ing spine out.

World Cup Group E

England v Norway, Greenspoint Stadium

England 3 (Wayne Rooney 6 26 46) – Norway 0

MoM: Rooney (9.5) Norway’s Best: Espen Johnsen (9.4)

Attendance: 63,361. Referee: Jie Zhan.

A drive from distance in first half stoppage time from Amr Zaki put Egypt up 1-0 over Chile, but defender Waldo Ponce scored on a corner halfway through the second half, and the two teams settled for a 1-1 draw in Johannesburg.

In Group F’s opening game, Greece dominated Costa Rica, winning 2-0 on an unfortunate own goal for Douglas Sequira in the first half and a powerful header from Sotris Ninis five minutes from time. Greece played most of the game up a man, as Costa Rican defender Roy Myrie was sent off midway through the first half for a second yellow card. Just before the final whistle, both teams were down to ten men, as Giourkas Seitaridis was also dismissed after a second yellow. Both Myrie and Seitaridis will miss the next game for their countries.

World Cup Group E

Egypt v Chile, Soccer City

Egypt 1 (Amr Zaki 45+1) – Chile 1 (Waldo Ponce 67)

MoM: Ponce (7.9) Egypt’s Best: Mohammed Abou Trika (7.1)

Attendance: 87,633. Referee: Nicolás López.

World Cup Group F

Greece v Costa Rica, Peter Mokaba Stadium

Greece 2 (Douglas Sequeira 34og, Sotris Ninis 84) – Costa Rica 0

MoM: Nikos Spyropoulos (8.5) Costa Rican Best: Robert Arias (6.9)

Attendance: 45,553. Referee: Claudio Circhetta.

[Makonnen]

Day V: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/238879-A-Chelsea-Outing-5m1w-Danyil-Oranje?p=6191556&viewfull=1#post6191556

Seemed a better idea than cross-posting.

[Makonnen]

From Leigh Musicek's Diary. June 16, 2010.

Another great game! And to make it even better, JJ wasn’t there—he evidently snuck out last night and went drinking, and was too sick to come to the game. Idiot. I hope they do something to him, instead of just saying something stupid like boys will be boys. I hate that.

It was Italy again, this time against Paraguay. Both of them had played scoreless draws in their first games, so nobody was expecting what happened to happen. Mario Balotelli, who was left on the bench in Italy’s first game, started this one and made a huge difference. He allowed Amauri to drift more, finding space as the two of them alternated who played at the point of attack. Ten minutes in, it paid off as Amauri laid off a nice pass to Balotelli at the top of the box. The Paraguayan defenders moved to close Balotelli down—which is what I would do, too. Not like he’s known for his passing touch. But this time, he laid it off for a streaking Pepe who had a clean shot. Bobadilla, the Paraguayan keeper, blocked it but the deflection fell right back to Balotelli who drove it hard into the back of the net. It was a nice hit, but the real key was his decision to pass and not shoot at the first opportunity.

From the kickoff, Oscar Cardoza, who had an incredible game, took the ball most of the way downfield before crossing it into the box. Chiellini met it with a header (YAY!), but it fell right at the feet of Edgar Barreto (BOO!), who sent it screaming off the post. The game settled for a while after that until Amauri was set free on Buffon’s (who started this one as well) free kick, but Bobadilla was up to it with a nice diving deflection.

Cannavaro had to come on just shy of the half-hour mark when Zambrotta and Cardoza baned their heads together. Hard. Zambrotta was actually knocked unconscious, and it took a while to get him off the field—they had to immobilize him and everything. He waved as they carried him off, so he seemed OK, but he was done.

Then the madness started: four goals in like ten minutes!!!

Paraguay tied the game when Gavilán was left unmarked for a long throw. He took the ball, turned, took a touch around Cannavaro pretty easily, and drilled it past Buffon. It looked like Buffon was screened, which means the defenders weren’t really organized on the play. If your keeper can’t see the shot, it’s your fault.

Three minutes later, Balotelli earned a corner with a smart shot, and Pepe’s cross was met in the air by Ambrosini, who powered it into the net. Italy were back on top by 1. Four minutes on, Domenico Criscito received a yellow card on a strong tackle. Five passes from the free kick, and Jonathan Santana found Cardoza alone in the box. Buffon never had a chance, and we were tied again. Five minutes from halftime, Amauri put Italy back on top, capping a great series of passes.

It was just insane—each time someone scored, the stadium got louder. It would fade a little with the restart, but not all the way. And then another goal, and it got louder, and another and another. It was deafening just before halftime—just an explosion of screams, whistles, bells, horns, all with the drone of the vuvuzelas too.

So, it was 3-2 Italy at halftime, and the entire stadium was giddy. It really was unbelievable.

The second half started more quietly. About five minutes in, De Rossi tripped and went down, clutching his leg. The coaches with us all froze, silent as he was carried off the field—Santon had to come on in his place, and shortly thereafter, all of them were on their cell phones trying to find out what happened. Evidently, it was less serious than it looked, because they were laughing and drinking beer within a few minutes.

Which was good, because otherwise, they would have missed Balotelli’s second of the game, a twenty yard shot from outside the box. With Italy up 4-2, the Azzuri looked to have it under control. For a minute. One minute. That’s how long it took for Cardoza to get behind the defense and score, beating Buffon to the near post. So, with just over thirty minutes to play, Italy led 4-3.

And then, nothing happened: the game just sort of stalled, as if both teams were exhausted in getting the game to this point. Most of the fans were exhausted, that’s for sure.

Less than two minutes from time, Criscito got a second yellow, and Italy were down to ten men. On the free kick, Amauri was called for a foul in the box—replays showed it was a good call, he basically horse-collared Cabañas in the popper. Cardoza took it for his hat-trick, and two minutes into injury time, we were tied again. Neither team could do much in the final ninety seconds before the whistle blew, but what a game!

It was funny, though: Yaya thought it was a great game, while Alphie thought it was really sloppy. That’s the difference between forwards and keepers after a game with eight goals! Me, I was in the middle. I mean, if I were a defender in that game, I’d be miserable about it, but watching it, and feeling how excited the fans were, how loud the vuvuzelas were, it was pretty cool.

World Cup Group A

Paraguay v Italy, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium

Paraguay 4 (Diego Gavilán 31, Oscar Cardoza 38, 57, 90+1p) – Italy 4 (Mario Balotelli 11 55, Massimo Ambrosini 34, Simone Pepe 41)

MoM: Oscar Cardoza (9.5) Italy’s Best: Mario Balotelli (9.0)

Attendance: 47.592. Referee: Lee Mason.

Group H kicked off with two games: Ghana against Serbia in one and France against Saudi Arabia in the other. The Black Stars were quietly efficient, with goals from Asamoah Gyan and Matthew Amoah carrying them to a 2-0 victory and while the Serbians may have been unlucky not to score, the Ghanaians fully deserved the points. Gyan’s goal will be replayed often, as much for how it started as for his sublime finish: Inter’s Dejan Stankovic launched a rocket from forty yards out that ricocheted off the post, a masterful strike, but the ball was chased down by Ghana’s Harrison Afful who launched a long pass over midfield. Gyan raced onto it ahead of the defenders and continued unopposed into the box before sliding the ball neatly into the corner. It was Afful again just after halftime, chipping a pass into Amoah’s run inside the box for the second score.

A supremely confident French team easily dispatched Saudi Arabia 4-0 on a windy and wet day in Johannesburg behind braces from Franck Ribéry and Yoann Gourcuff. Ribéry should have had a hat trick as, after converting a penalty in the 17th minute, he missed one in the 22nd, his shot denied by both the Saudi keeper and the post. Gourcuff’s first goal was a magnificent shot from beyond the side of the box which curved tightly into the far corner of the goal. Les Blues look very strong after one game, and word from the French camp is that they are relaxed and playing well together.

World Cup Group H

Serbia v Ghana, Loftus

Serbia 0 – Ghana 2 (Asamoah Gyan 43, Matthew Amoah 48)

MoM: Harrison Afful (8.7) Serbian Best: Dejan Stankovic (6.9)

Attendance: 49,598. Referee: Peter Gagelmann.

France v Saudi Arabia, Ellis Park

France 4 (Franck Ribéry 17p 58, Yoann Gourcuff 54 66) – Saudi Arabia 0

MoM: Gourcuff (9.3) Saudi Best: Ibrahim Abdulaziz (6.7)

Attendance: 62,567. Referee: Frank De Bleeckere.

[Makonnen]

World Cup Day VII. June 17, 2010.

This was going to be an interesting game: both Argentina and Portugal had won their first game easily, and it seemed to be the kind of game that would be played for a tie, as a point each would be fine. At least that’s what I heard some commentators saying. I dunno. I’ve never had a coach tell me to play for a tie. But I have had them pack it in in back, which I guess is kind of saying that.

Messi was out, which made it a little less exciting, too.

It was a game of different styles, too: Argentina had more of the ball, but Portugal were happier shooting, and even if most shots were from a long way out, it got the crowd behind them.

That’s fun each game: as long as a team from Africa isn’t playing, there is this slow grow over the first twenty minutes as the crowd figures out who to support. Usually they go for the underdog, but they are also really appreciative of attacking soccer.

The bit of magic in the game was created by Inter’s Ricardo Quaresma, who was able to dance along the edge of the box before launching a shot that curved into the top of the goal. It was all Portugal needed, and the victory all but assured their moving into the next round.

We were all a bit tired. I know I was in a bad mood, and even snapped at Yaya, who totally didn’t deserve it. I apologized later, but I could tell it bugged him. I talked to Mom after the game—they were back in Houston, and seemed fine. She wanted to know what clothes I wanted her to bring. Like I really care what clothes she brings? I can buy new clothes in London and I’ve already packed the things I care about. Whatever. I know she’s trying to help, but still. It’s annoying.

Hopefully, we’ll all be happier tomorrow: it’s Mexico against Russia, so we’ll see if the Russian team is for real or not.

World Cup Group B

Portugal v Argentina, Free State Stadium

Portugal 1 (Ricardo Quaresma 66) – Argentina 0

MoM: Quaresma (8.5) Argentina’s Best: Emiliano Insúa (7.4)

Attendance: 45,368. Referee: Leandro Vuaden.

The surprise of the day was in Group B, where a second half goal by Celtic forward Scott McDonald gave Australia a 1-0 victory over the USA. The Americans were toothless in attack, managing only two shots on target in the game. Tunisia dominated Slovenia in the other game of the day, with goals from Khaled Korbi and Amine Chermiti giving them a 2-0 win. Korbi’s strike from 30 yards out will be well remembered, and the victory gives the Tunisian’s a decent chance at surprising everyone and advancing out of the group stage.

World Cup Group B

USA v Australia, Peter Mokaba Stadium

USA 0 – Australia 1 (Scott McDonald 74)

MoM: Mark Schwarzer (7.5) USA’s Best: Oguchi Onyewu (7.3)

Attendance: 45,553. Referee: Jérôme Laperrière.

World Cup Group A

Slovenia v Tunisia, Newlands

Slovenia 0 – Tunisia 2 (Khaled Korbi 48, Amine Chermiti 65)

MoM: Fahid Ben Khalifallah (8.0) Slovenia’s Best: Rene Krhin (7.1)

Attendance: 60,732. Referee: Massimiliano Saccani.

[Makonnen]

World Cup Day VIII. June 18, 2010.

See, this was the kind of game that people insist are boring, but that’s just because they aren’t really watching. Russia won 1-0 over Mexico, and they totally deserved it. The goal came a half-hour in from a fantastic pass from Arshavin that set Pavyluchenko off on a breakaway. He easily beat Ochoa, and Russia was up by one.

But the game was never settled, and it was dominated by the defense. I don’t like hype, but I think Salinas is for real: he was great in back for Mexico. But the game was won in the air: Russia’s defenders were just totally dominant when the ball got up in the air. Eventually, Mexico abandoned high balls, preferring to move it quickly on the ground. It worked at times, especially after Giovani Dos Santos was brought on in the second half. But they never could break through, and when they did, Akinfeev lived up to his hype, too.

So, I enjoyed the game.

Yaya and Alípio weren’t so happy: Yaya kept saying, “will someone just take a shot?” I kept telling him they couldn’t because of how well the defenders were playing. He laughed.

“How can you tell?”

Attacking players are annoying. And they get all the highlights—I saw SportsCenter later, and all they showed, of course, was the goal. Nothing like toiling in obscurity on the back line, I guess.

World Cup Group C

Mexico v Russia, Loftus

Mexico 0 – Russia 1 (Roman Pavlyuchenko 33)

MoM: Alexey Berezutskiy (7.6) Mexico’s Best: Guillermo Salinas (7.1)

Attendance: 49,598. Referee: Howard Webb.

The raucous Soccer City crowd was silenced early in the South Africa – Colombia match, as thirty seconds into the game a great move in the box by Darwin Quintero led to a simple pass for Falcao who calmly slotted it home. The home team fought back bravely for the other 89 minutes, but they were unable to score thanks to a fantastic performance from Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina. It was a tough loss for Bafana Bafana, and one that likely ensures they become the first host nation not to qualify out of the group stage.

In the day’s other game, Holland looked mighty unlucky as they were locked in a scoreless draw with South Korea until, three minutes into stoppage time, South Korean defender Kwak Tai-Hwi was called for a trip in the box against Arjen Robben. Robben did trip, but replays showed him falling more on his own accord than from any efforts by the defender. Dirk Kuyt easily beat the keeper from the penalty spot, giving Holland the three points just seconds before the final whistle. It was a hard loss for South Korea, who were valiant despite being outclassed on the day, and who may have a strong argument about the penalty call by Martin Atkinson—after all, if that contact was called on all free kicks, most games would have three or four penalties. Still, could this be the tonic the Dutch need to make a run at the trophy this year?

World Cup Group C

South Africa v Colombia, Soccer City

South Africa 0 – Colombia 1 (Falcao 1)

MoM: David Ospina (8.3) South Africa’s Best: Peter Masilela (7.2)

Attendance: 87,635. Referee: Claudio Circhetta.

World Cup Group D

South Korea v Holland, Peter Mokaba Stadium

South Korea 0 – Holland 1 (Dirk Kuyt 90+4p)

MoM: Arjen Robben (8.1) South Korea’s Best: Lee Woon-Jae (6.8)

Attendance: 45,534. Referee: Martin Atkinson.

[Makonnen]

World Cup 2010, Day IX. June 19, 2010

In Durban, the Ivory Coast and Denmark ended the day tied at one, with both goals coming courtesy of the team from West Africa. In the 38th minute, Sevilla’s Christian Romaric scored on a nice drive from inside the box, but the shot was really made by the byline run and pass from veteran Ivorian attacker Kader Keita. Ten minutes later, Copa, starting in the Ivory Coast goal in place of the usually preferred Stephan Laboué, was charged with an own goal after Souleymane Bamba’s clearance was sent in completely the wrong direction, bouncing off Copa’s chest and into the net. The best player on the field, however, was Denmark’s Simon Kjær, who was dominant at the back, even if the Scandinavian side was unable to mount much of an attack.

Another side from the north of Europe, Norway, was in action in Port Elizabeth against Egypt. This was perhaps the least eventful game of the tournament to date, with neither team able to do much other than pass the ball backwards or lose possession in their opponent’s half.

World Cup Group D

Ivory Coast v Denmark

Ivory Coast 1 (Christian Romaric 38) – Denmark 1 (Copa 47og)

MoM: Simon Kjær (7.5) Ivorian Best: Romaric (7.2)

Attendance: 65,906. Referee: Carlo Bertolini.

World Cup Group E

Norway v Egypt, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium

Norway 0 – Egypt 0

MoM: Sayed Moawad (7.3) Norway’s Best: Alexander Tettey (7.2)

Attendance: 47,503. Referee: Michael Kempter.

From Leigh Musicek’s Diary

I wish we could see at least one of the USA games, but I guess if you sign a contract with an English club, you have to expect it. Speaking of which, everyone was all agog this morning—seems like Rafa Benítez was fired by Liverpool. Nobody thinks Oranje would jump ship, but it’s Liverpool. That’s a pretty big job. But they sort of sucked last season, so I guess it makes sense.

Tonight we were in Durban, where England was playing Chile. After the dominant performance in their first game, the English supporters were clearly expecting another romp. They were disappointed: Chile was scrappy and tough, and Marcelo Bielsa had them playing well as a unit, especially in back.

So, imagine what they could have done with a full squad!!!

There were a couple yellow’s against Chile in the first six minutes, but nobody paid much mind. England looked in control, but Claudio Bravo was doing a great job in Chile’s goal. Then, ten minutes into the game, Carlos Carmona took Danny Welbeck down from behind—it was an ugly challenge, and nobody was surprised when the red card came out. Chile dropped an attacker, but they’re basic strategy stayed the same: three center defenders in back, two wide midfielders that tracked back, another one holding in front, and then all of them looking for long, quick passes upfield.

But the system was stretched again about half an hour later, when Mauricio Isla received his second yellow. England would now have a two man advantage with almost an hour to play.

A few minutes later, Michael Carrick opened the scoring with a sweetly placed shot from inside the box, and it looked like England was in the driver’s seat.

But Chile didn’t give up. They were forced them into a much stranger shape of course, but Bielsa still didn’t abandon all ideas of offense—it turned essentially into a 4-1-3, with the defenders working as hard as I’ve ever seen a group work back there. Somehow, they held England to just the one goal for the rest of the half. And then the first fifteen minutes of the second half. And the next fifteen. By now, JJ and Josh were almost hyper with anxiety—me, and Alípio, and Alphie, we only play for an English team, they were raised on it, and it was clear the game was hanging by a thread.

I felt for them. Even for JJ.

And finally, three minutes into stoppage time, Humberto Suazo split Terry and Carrick to a long ball from Bravo. He touched it past a fast-closing Rio Ferdinand, and was through on Ben Foster. The shot was true, and although Foster got a hand on it, it wasn’t enough to deflect it out of the goal. With less than a minute remaining, Chile had fought back for a hard-earned point. The crowd, which had swung behind Chile during the game, went nuts.

The England side, of course, were … what’s the phrase? Well-gutted. That’s it. Well-gutted. We waited for them after the game, but none of us went into the locker room. It was loud in there for a little while, then really quiet. And as the players filed out, most of them were holding their heads low, headphones already on. Terry came out and saw us waiting. He took his headphones off and came over. He had a bruise on his forehead and what looked like a nasty scratch down his jawline. He waved a hand. “Hey, Leigh.”

“Hi, Mr. Terry,” was, I think, all I could muster.

“John. John.” I nodded. “You see the game?”

“Yeah. Yes. Yes, I did.”

He nodded, ran a hand through his hair. “Games like that. They tear you up inside. I’ll spend the next six months thinking about that last goal, thinking about how I could have stopped it, touched the ball. Something. Anything. But you have to find a way to keep on—there’s another game, and you can’t think about it then. You know?”

I just nod. I mean … John Terry is an hour from a loss that he could, and probably will knowing the English tabloids, be blamed for. And he’s taking time to talk with me about it.

He claps me on the shoulder. “See you around.”

Alípio laughs as Terry walks away. He looks at me and makes his eyes wide, like I’m acting like a zombie or something. I glare at him until he stops, then we both laugh.

World Cup Group E

Chile v England, Moses Mabhida Stadium

Chile 1 (Humberto Suazo 90+3) – England 1 (Michael Carrick 39)

MoM: Carrick (7.8) Chile’s Best: Claudio Bravo (7.6)

Attendance: 70,145. Referee: Manuel Gräfe.

[Makonnen]

World Cup 2010, Day 10. June 20, 2010.

Brazil was, well, Brazil. Costa Rica did well to keep the ball, but rarely got more than a few dozen yards into the other half of the field. Brazil, on the other hand, had no qualms about shooting, and shooting often. Costa Rica held firm until the end of the first half, when Pato found Luis Fabiano in the box. Replays showed that he was offsides, but the goal stood, and Brazil headed in up 1-0.

The second half proved too much for the Caribbean side: Fabiano scored off a corner and despite Robert Arias pulling one back, the outcome was really never in doubt. Pato sealed it just before fulltime when he beat the Costa Rican keeper to a rebound for the final score of 3-1.

JJ was back to being a jerk. He kept asking me why I wasn’t joining any of the conga lines. It got ridiculous—even Josh noticed. He said something to JJ and he sat down, a flush rising up his neck. Josh looked over to me and mouthed “sorry.” I just shook my head.

I can’t win, you know? I appreciate what Josh did, but I don’t need to be rescued.

I’m getting tired of this trip. Watching games is one thing, but I miss being out on the field myself. I run each day, and me, Alípio, Alphia, and Yaya get together and knock a ball around. But I miss games. Things are simpler when the whistle blows.

Costa Rica v Brazil, Greenpoint Stadium

Costa Rica 1 (Robert Arias 81) – Brazil 3 (Luis Fabiano 43 50, Pato 88)

MoM: Fabiano (8.8) Costa Rica’s Best: Arias (7.9)

Attendance: 63,361. Referee: Babak Rafati.

Iran packed it in from the opening whistle, and their defensive play was earning jeers from the crowd at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. However, the tactic was effective, and their Group F match with Greece ended in a scoreless draw.

In Bloemfontein, Vicente Del Bosque rested Fernando Torres, but Spain were more than good enough to see of Japan even without their first choice striker, winning 2-0 behind second half goals from Albert Riera and Raúl.

World Cup Group F

Iran v Greece, Ellis Park

Iran 0 – Greece 0

MoM: Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht Greece’s Best: Vangelis Moras (7.4)

Attendance: 62,523. Referee: Matteo Simone Trefoloni.

World Cup Group G

Spain v Japan, Free State Stadium

Spain 2 (Albert Riera 56, Raúl 78) – Japan 0

MoM: Riera (9.0) Japan’s Best: Paulo Nagamura (6.9)

Attendance: 45,033. Referee: Oscar Julián Ruíz.

[Makonnen]

With Cameroon in action, Leigh has the day off ...

World Cup Day XI. June 21, 2010.

For a full account of Cameroon's 2-2 tie with Germany, go here.

Elsewhere, despite Saudi Arabia taking an early lead thanks to a goal from Malik Mouath, Serbia bounced back and secured a 3-1 win in a Group H match from Newlands with goals from Dejan Stankovic, Zoran Tosic, and Nenad Milijas. In that group’s other game, Ghana rode the support of a sellout crowd and a staunch effort from their defense to hold France to a scoreless draw in Durban. France was the better team on the day, but great games from Harrison Afful, Iliasu Shilla and, above all, tireless midfielder Michael Essien held Yoann Gourcuff, Thierry Henry, and the rest of the French attackers off the board. That leaves France one point clear, with Serbia and Ghana tied with three points each.

World Cup Group H

Saudi Arabia v Serbia, Newlands

Saudi Arabia 1 (Malik Mouath 16) – Serbia 3 (Dejan Stankovic 22, Zoran Tosic 46, Nenad Milijas 90)

MoM: Tosic (9.0) Saudi Best: Moath (7.2)

Attendance: 60,214. Referee: Leonardo Gaciba da Silva.

World Cup Group H

Ghana v France, ABSA Stadium

Ghana 0 – France 0

MoM: Michael Essien (7.4) French Best: Bakary Sagna (7.4)

Attendance: 65,121. Referee: Martin Atkinson.

[Makonnen]

Games are more important now: we are down to the final matches in group play, and the only teams that have secured qualification are Russia, Spain, and Germany. Today, groups A & B will be decided. In Group A, the only thing we know for sure is that Slovenia is out. The other three teams control their destiny.

In Group B, Portugal looks a lock to go through. They play the USA—who are 0-2 in their two matches—in what could be a laugher. Argentina and surprising Australia battle each other in a game that will determine the second qualifier: if Australia wins in what would be a historic upset, they’re in at the expense of the Argentines, who are still without Lionel Messi.

From Leigh Musicek’s Diary. June 22, 2010.

Today, we’re in Durban. I think. Yeah, Durban. That’s what the little pad by the hotel phone says. We’re going to the Italy-Tunisia match later, so I have another chance to watch Chiellini. Italy has to win this game—if Tunisia wins, or even secures a draw—the Italians could miss out on the second phase, which would be quite a shock.

Balotelli is out—something with his elbow. Typical forward—misses games because something hurts in his arm. That’s going to pin the Italian hopes on Amauri and Gilardino. Not a bad fall back plan, but they wouldn’t scare me the way Balotelli would.

Before the game starts, Yaya and JJ asked who I thought the crowd would root for. Tunisia, duh. They didn’t know it was in Africa. They’re so different, though: Yaya just laughed about how dumb he was to not know that, while JJ tried to argue with me. Course, when Josh said I was right, he shut right up. I can’t tell if he idolizes Josh or the way the coaches treat Josh.

Six minutes in, it looks for all the world like Tunisia is going to go through: a back pass from Santon skips past Daniele Bonera, right into the path of Tunisia’s forward, Lassad Nouioui. He’s through on goal with plenty of time, but Buffon rushes out and makes a diving deflection. Three minutes later, Tunisia’s Chaouki Ben Saada sees that Buffon has come off his line, and tries an audacious chip. It’s on target, but Buffon manages to change directions, rush backwards and, with a frantic dive, tip the ball over the bar. Both saves were fantastic, and Tunisia is frankly unlucky not to be ahead and on their way through.

Things got worse for Italy near the half hour mark, when Khaled Korbi takes down Massimo Ambrosini with a nasty tackle, rolling over his ankle with his cleats. Ambrosini can’t continue, and Fabio Cannavaro is pressed into early service for the Azzuri. If Tunisia does go through, Korbi—who has been very good for them so far—will miss their next game.

Pepe floats the free kick in towards the far post, and I lean forward in my seat—Chiellini is there, and he meets the ball cleanly, sending it back across the goalmouth. But the Tunisian defense keeps their composure, and their man on the far post, Anis Boussaïdi, clears it confidently. I wanted to see Chiellini score, but I had to applaud the play of the Tunisian back four.

The first half continued to be dominated by Tunisia and Italy was lucky to go in at halftime scoreless. Their problem of course was that they needed a win—a draw did them no good here. They brought Zambrotta and Pirlo on to start the second half—which was certainly a brave move, as it used up all their substitutes, but they had to do something.

The second half started as a bore—Tunisia backed off offensively, happy to meet the Italians in their own half and send the ball back upfield. For their part, the men in blue were having a hard time breaking down the defense, so a scoreless draw looked most likely, and the Italian fans were clearly getting nervous. If the Italians played their usual game—a deliberate build-up intended to carve open the defense’s weakness—they found themselves facing nine defenders behind the ball. But counter attacking needs the other team to attack, and the Tunisians were not cooperating.

Just after the hour mark, Simone Pepe foolishly ran over Karim Haggui in an effort to reach a header. It was a clear yellow—and his second of the game. Despite the protests of the Italian players—lots of arm waving, that fingers pressed together thing they do—Pepe was sent to the showers, leaving the Italians a man down and needing a goal.

Tunisia moved into attack with the man advantage, but the Italian back four finally began playing up to their name. The problem was at the other end of the field, where Amauri couldn’t seem to come within a dozen yards of the goal with his shots and Gilardino was largely ineffective all day.

Ten minutes from time, only another diving stop from Buffon kept Italian hopes alive as he tipped a strong drive from Nouioui out of bounds with a leap to his left.

The sideline referee held up his sign showing only three minutes of injury time, and the stadium got unbelievably loud—drums, horns, vuvuzelas, people stomping on the floor to make the whole building shake. Everyone was standing and clapping, either rooting for Italy to somehow pull a goal out or for Tunisia to hold on, bringing an African team into the next round. Most of them were rooting for Tunisia.

Zambrotta found space on the right wing and sent a cross into the box. It looked the same as the others that Tunisia had defended successfully—they had two defenders around Gilardino, and looked safe, but the Fiorentina forward outjumped both of them and met the ball squarely with his head, sending it towards the far post and past the leap of the Tunisian keeper. Italy was up 1-0!

The stadium made a huge whooshing noise, a long sigh from a thousand people, quickly replaced by the screams of joy from the Italian faithful. Three minutes of desperate defending later, and they were through. Gilardino’s goal would go down in Italy’s history as a magnificent moment, and the mediocre performance of the preceding 89 minutes would be forgotten.

I thought I had been rooting for Italy, but I was depressed after the game. Tunisia had fought so hard and so well just to see it slip away at the very end.

World Cup Group A

Tunisia v Italy, Moses Mabhida Stadium

Tunisia 0 – Italy 1 (Alberto Gilardino 90)

MoM: Gianluigi Buffon (8.3) Tunisia’s Best: Anis Boussaïdi (7.4)

Attendance: 70,359. Referee: Nicolás López.

Paraguay win 2-0 over Slovenia, so they join the Italians in advancing from Group A. In Group B, a goal in the 81st minute from Martín Demichelis put Argentina past Australia. Portugal continued the misery of the USA, beating them 1-0 with a second half goal from Bruno Alves. The Americans finish their World Cup early, going 0-3 in their three games and failing to score a goal in the process while Argentina and Portugal advance as expected to play Paraguay and Italy, respectively.

In good news for soccer fans everywhere, this meant that there was at least a chance that Messi would return to action before the end of the World Cup, although he was doubtful for their game against Paraguay.

World Cup Group A

Paraguay v Slovenia, Peter Mokaba Stadium

Paraguay 2 (Oscar Cardoza 1, Salvador Cabañas 14) – Slovenia 0

MoM: Delio Toledo (7.4) Slovenia’s Best: Robert Koren (7.0)

Attendance: 45,528. Referee: Carlo Bertolini.

World Cup Group B

Australia v Argentina, Newlands

Australia 0 – Argentina 1 (Martín Demichelis 81)

MoM: Demichelis (8.2) Socceroo’s Best: Jonathan McKain (7.4)

Attendance: 59,729. Referee: Michael Weiner.

World Cup Group B

Portugal v USA, Soccer City

Portugal 1 (Bruno Alves 65) – USA 0

MoM: Alves (9.0) USA’s Best: Oguchi Onyewu (7.0)

Attendance: 87,631. Referee: Alfonso Pérez Burrull.

[Makonnen]

World Cup Day XIII. June 23, 2010

In Group C, Andrey Arshavin scored twice to power Russia to an easy victory over South Africa in Port Elizabeth, ensuring that for the first time the host nation would not see the second round. The drama in the group was in Cape Town where Mexico and Colombia clashed—a victory by either team would see them through. Colombia took an early 2-0 lead, but second half goals by Alfredo Moreno and Omar Bravo gave El Tri hope. It was not to be: the game ended in a tie and Colombia joined Russia in the next round.

In Group D, the Ivory Coast topped South Korea behind a goal from Kolo Touré off a corner kick, ensuring their progression to the round of sixteen. The other Group D pitted Holland against Denmark, with the winner also advancing.

World Cup Group C

Colombia v Mexico, Greenpoint Stadium

Colombia 2 (Darwin Quintero 45+2, Vladimir Marín 53) – Mexico 2 (Alfredo Moreno 54, Omar Bravo 82)

MoM: Falcao (8.5) Mexico’s Best: (Bravo 8.3)

Attendance: 63,354. Referee: Eduardo Iturralde González.

World Cup Group C

Russia v South Africa, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium

Russia 2 (Andrey Arshavin 50, 90+1) – South Africa 0

MoM: Arshavin (8.8) Bafana Bafana’s Best: Steven Pienaar (7.2)

Attendance: 47,557. Referee: Nicola Rizzoli.

World Cup Group D

South Korea v Ivory Coast, Loftus

South Korea 0 – Ivory Cost 1 (Kolo Touré 22)

MoM: Touré (8.8) South Korea’s Best: Kim Yong-Dae (7.2)

Attendance: 49,552. Referee: Wolfgang Stark.

From Leigh Musicek’s Diary

Well that sucked.

I mean the game was fine—whatever. Holland slept through their first couple games, they needed to win tonight, they did. Blah bla blah. They still don’t look like champions to me.

Whatever.

We were right next to this huge group of Dutch fans. Orange hats, orange vuvuzela’s, the whole thing. They were totally drunk, and spent the whole time screaming and singing in Dutch. (I mean, I guess it was Dutch. What do I know?) One spilled a beer on Alípio, another kept leering at me—I caught him pointing and laughing, too. Don’t know if it was at me or Yaya or what, but we were all kind of nervous, and trying not to be, and just … miserable.

I don’t understand it—the whole drinking thing. They seemed to have a good time for a little while, then they just got, I don’t know, angry or sullen or whatever. One of them got up in the second half, leaned over, and threw up right there. It sounded like … well … some of it got on my shoes—it took fifteen minutes in the bathroom to get it out, and I swear they still smell. His friends just laughed at him. Laughed. He slumped in his chair and kind of passed out. They had to hit him to wake him up at the end of the game.

It was just pretty miserable.

Tomorrow I might feel different—we see England again, and I’ll talk to my folks sometime in the morning. But tonight I just want to go home.

World Cup Group D

Denmark v Holland, Ellis Park

Denmark 1 (Niki Zimling 80p) – Holland 3 (Rafael van der Vaart 28, Wesley Sneijder 65, Dirk Kuyt 73)

MoM: Kuyt (8.6) Denmark’s Best: Zimling (7.7)

Attendance: 62,567. Referee: Lee Mason.

[Makonnen]

World Cup 2010: Day XIV. June 24, 2010.

I feel better today.

In a shock, talking to Dad helped. Dad! Mom was useless—she was horrified at what I told her and kept asking me where the coaches were and why they let it happen, like we were twelve year olds needing chaperones. I spent fifteen minutes telling her how safe we were, how good they were at taking care of us. Like always.

But then Dad came on and he just said I couldn’t ever control what other people did, and that I needed to just remember why I was here, and what the opportunity was I had. It was weird. Usually it feels like he’s lecturing me, but today it was different. Like he really was trying to help me out.

It helped. It is amazing to be here, and I need to remember that it’s just a first step, that I need to go out and play in just a few weeks.

England winning didn’t hurt anything—they’re through to the next round, and everyone seems in a good mood. Egypt didn’t really put up much of a fight, and goals in the first half from Rooney and Lampard provided all the cushion we—they—we—needed. Lampard was the best player on the field today. He may be near the end of his career, but he was just fantastic. After the game, John (HA!!! Look at me! I call JOHN TERRY John!) introduced us. It was a little strange—he kept looking at me, a little suspiciously. I told him how much I liked watching him play, how great his shot today was, and he was nice enough. But I could almost hear him thinking.

She’s a girl. She’s too small. It’s all just media crap. She’ll never really play for us.

After Mr. Lampard walked away, John looked at him a bit then at me and said, “Don’t worry, Leigh. They’ll come around.” As he walked off, I saw Jessica come over to him, and the two of them talked a while, occasionally looking in my direction.

I’m kind of used to that, but it’s still not fun to know people are talking about you.

But it’s like Dad said, right? All I can do is take care of myself.

World Cup Group E

Egypt v England, Peter Mokaba Stadium

Egypt 0 – England 2 (Wayne Rooney 18, Frank Lampard 33)

MoM: Lampard (8.3) Egypt’s Best: Amr Zaki (6.9)

Attendance: 45,553. Referee: Matteo Simone Trefoloni.

In the other Group E clash, Chile and Norway both controlled their fate: a victory by either would be enough to see them through to the next round. The game was hard fought, with Chile looking stronger, but seemed destined for a scoreless draw until, less than ten minutes from time, Héctor Mancilla got on the end of a Humberto Suazo cross to nod the ball into the Norwegian net. With the 1-0 victory, Chile and their creative coach were through.

In Group F, Brazil who had already clinched qualification, met Greece. Greece needed a point from the game to cement their position—otherwise, an Iranian victory over Costa Rica would see them finish ahead of the Greeks. Even in a game without pressure, Brazil’s quality showed: goals from Pato and Robinho led them to a 2-0 victory. The Greek players would be despondent, knowing that Iran was up 2-0 at halftime. See here for the conclusion of that thrilling game.

World Cup Group E

Chile v Norway, ABSA Stadium

Chile 1 (Héctor Mancilla 83) – Norway 0

MoM: Waldo Ponce (7.5) Norway’s Best: Espen Johnsen (7.4)

Attendance: 64,329. Referee: Babak Rafati.

World Cup Group F

Greece v Brazil, Free State Stadium

Greece 0 – Brazil 2 (Pato 34, Robinho 54)

MoM: Júlio César (8.7) Greece’s Best: Loukas Vyntra (6.9)

Attendance: 45,331. Referee: Mark Clattenburg.

[Makonnen]

Leigh has the day off. See Danyil Oranje's thread for an in-depth report of the Cameroon v Japan game.

The game between Spain and Germany ended 2-0, as Albert Riera’s goal early in the second half was the final tally. With that, Spain and Cameroon progress from Group G, with Germany and Japan both left wondering what might have been.

In Group H, everything revolved around Serbia: if they could defeat France, the group was wide open. Otherwise, France and Ghana looked likely to progress. Serbia, however, was not up to the task: goals from Karim Benzema and Yoann Gourcuff were enough to see Les Bleus through, and a Vladimir Stojkovic own goal provided the final scoreline of 3-0. With nothing to lose, Saudi Arabia played their best game of the tournament, pulling out a 2-2 draw with Ghana. The goals came in bunches, with Abdul Rahman Al-Qahtani and Asamoah Gyan scoring in the first half and Sahib Jasim Al-Abdullah matching Jonathan Quartey’s drive in the second.

World Cup Group G

Spain v Germany, Soccer City

Spain 2 (Jérôme Boateng 25og, Albert Riera 47) – Germany 0

MoM: Riera (7.7). German Best: Heiko Westermann (7.0)

Attendance: 86,902. Referee: Tom Henning Øvrebø.

World Cup Group H

France v Serbia, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium

France 3 (Karim Benzema 19, Yoann Gourcuff 69, Vladimir Stojkovic 79og) – Serbia 0

MoM: Patrice Evra (8.3) Serbian Best: Zdravko Kuzmanovic (6.8)

Attendance: 47,592. Referee: Nicolás López.

Saudi Arabia v Ghana, Greenpoint Stadium

Saudi Arabia 2 (Abdul Rahman Al-Qahtani 31, Sahib Jasim Al-Abdullah 67) – Ghana 2 (Asamoah Gyan 37, Jonathan Quartey 61)

MoM: Sulley Muntari (8.1). Saudi Best: Al-Abdullah (7.5)

Attendance: 63,301. Referee: Gianluca Rocchi.

So, that settles it: the round of sixteen in the 2010 World Cup will see matches between Paraguay and Argentina, Italy and Portugal, Holland and Colombia, Ivory Coast and Russia, Chile and Brazil, England and Greece, Cameroon and France, and Spain and Ghana.

[Drogba11CFC]

Ouch. Worst ever performance by Germany, that. (Surely they should have been in the same pot as Spain though.)

[Makonnen]

@Drogba11CFC, I think that the game engine does a really poor job both picking and managing international teams--the German team was full of older fringe players, and throughout the cup, starting lineups were quite odd and things like random goalkeeper subs in the 75 minute were way too common. I think it is tied to how rep is evaluated, but I'm not sure.

There were, however, consequences for the German team being knocked out so early. More on that later.

Most of all, though, thanks for reading!

World Cup 2010: Day XVI. June 26, 2010.

Now, it’s exciting. No more ties.

Maybe it’s just an American thing, but, all the soccer I’ve played, I still don’t like ties. Don’t like penalty shootouts much either. As coach used to say, win the damn game.

Know what I think?

I think they should play thirty minutes of extra time, then each team has to drop a player. Keep doing that in fifteen minute intervals until it’s just two players going at each other. War of attrition.

Got an e-mail from coach yesterday. Says he has a group of U10 and U11 girls that amazes him. Asked me to come by and talk to them. I would … but I don’t know when I’ll be in Houston next. Christmas? Wow.

Today, we see Italy and Portugal. I’ll be cheering for Italy, but I don’t know. Neither team has really found their groove so far. But rooting against Cristiano Ronaldo is sort of a requirement for me. I don’t like whiners, no matter how skilled they are.

It doesn’t take long for him to shut us up. We hardly got into our seats, and Tiago sends a first touch pass into the box where C-Ron has split Bonera and Chiellini. He flicks the ball into the air, then volleys it into back of the net and sprints to the corner flag, quite pleased with himself. Three minutes in and Portugal is up 1-0.

Italy looks unfazed though, and only ten minutes later they drew level, the score coming from Gilardino, who is still evidently on a high after his winning shot against Tunisia.

It’s a tense game after that, dominated by Ronaldo who seems determined to carry his nation by himself. He has three clean shots on goal, but Buffon is up to each of them. However, if Italy doesn’t change their defensive setup, he’ll terrorize the right side all game—I would switch their central defenders, and let Chiellini lean on him a bit.

Italy opens up the second half by taking control of the match, and the first ten minutes are spent almost exclusively in the Portuguese side. The momentum has clearly shifted, and it should just be a matter of time before the Azzurri break through.

But then, of all things, a dreadful mistake in the back. A long pass from João Moutinho is easily intercepted by Zambrotta. But his touch goes flat across the top of the box and instead of going to a teammate, it falls at the feet of a surprised Hugo Almeida. Almeida wastes no time fiercely striking the ball into the top corner past a shocked Buffon.

The Italians are stunned: the goal is completely against the run of play, and while Portugal celebrates, they are yelling at each other. That’s never good. The rest of the game is increasingly rough, with a few yellow cards and a lot of rough tackles.

But nobody else can score. Nobody else really comes close—Portugal stops looking and not even Balotelli’s entrance can spark the Italians.

It was … interesting. An example of how an entire game can turn on a single moment, even at this level. I was talking with Coach Drummy on the bus on the way back (I also found out he will be my coach with the youth team), and he said it wasn’t uncommon for national teams, that they play with each other so rarely they don’t really know who to look to for leadership at times like that. I guess that could be true—Italy doesn’t really have that dominant player that everyone turns to right now with Cannavaro in decline.

World Cup, Second Round

Italy v Portugal, ABSA Stadium

Italy 1 (Alberto Gilardino 15) – Portugal 2 (Cristiano Ronaldo 3, Hugo Almeida 57)

MoM: Almeida (8.1) Italy’s Best: Domenico Criscito (7.2)

Attendance: 65,120. Referee: Jochen Drees.

In the day’s other game, media darling Paraguay fell to the Argentine juggernaut, 3-1. After the first five minutes, the game was essentially in hand, allowing Argentina to pass it around midfield and avoid the Paraguayan attack the rest of the day. It started two minutes in when Maxi Rodríguez scored off a nice exchange with Sergio Agüero. Three minutes later, Agüero did it on his own, slotting a shot from distance just inside the post, and La Albiceleste were flying. Agüero added another, and the only mark on Argentina’s day occurred just after an hour, when Salvador Cabañas—who had a marvelous World Cup—latched onto a long clearance and beat Juan Pablo Carrizo to pull one back for the Central American side. The question on everyone’s mind, of course, is the fitness of Lionel Messi, who seems—if reports are to be believed—to be nearing a return to fitness. Of course, if Argentina keeps playing like this, they may steamroll the rest of the competition without their diminutive talisman.

In other international news, Mexican head coach Javier Aguirre was named as Rafa Benítez’ replacement at Liverpool. With the firing of Alberto Parreira by the South African Football Association, that leaves both Mexico and Bafana Bafana looking for new leadership.

World Cup Second Round

Paraguay v Argentina, Moses Mabhida Stadium

Paraguay 1 (Salvador Cabañas 66) – Argentina 3 (Maxi Rodríguez 2, Sergio Agüero 5 58)

MoM: Agüero (9.2) Paraguay’s Best: Aldo Bobadilla (7.5)

Attendance: 70,109. Referee: Michael Kempter.

[Makonnen]

World Cup Day XVII. June 27, 2010.

Today, it’s Holland against Colombia. And after the last Dutch game …

Well, I’ve got a yellow shirt, and this morning I found a pretty blue cloth to use as a sash, and a shop down the street had some loose red pants. Yep, a walking Colombian flag. Viva Los Cafeteros!

Josh and JJ both had goofy orange hats on when I came downstairs—those felt ones that sort of tip over to one side. Josh saw me first.

“Rooting for Colombia, huh?”

I nodded. “After last game, I’m surprised any of us are wearing orange.”

He laughed. “Yeah. Can’t blame you. But, you know, EU pride and all that.” I can never tell if he’s being serious or not, so I just smiled and turned to JJ.

“Love the hat. Josh buy it for you?”

I turned and walked away before he could respond. That felt good.

Having a rooting interest changes a lot. Especially when, just after kickoff, Darwin Quintero’s shot from outside the box eluded Piet Velthuizen in the Dutch goal, bounced off the post, and rolled in. After I was done screaming, Alphie turned to me.

“They really miss van der Sar.”

“What?”

“Van der Sar. The Dutch really miss him. I like Stekelenburg more than this guy. But neither one of them is close to van der Sar.”

“Still?”

Alphie shrugged. “I think so. They can let these young boys play after the World Cup. If I were them, for these games, van der Sar.”

“Didn’t he retire a few years ago?”

“He should unretire, no?”

I smile. “Yeah, probably.”

It was a great start, but an even better game was in store.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar gave a sniff of what was to come from the restart, as Wesley Sneijder found him with a nifty pass. David Ospina was up to it though, and Holland had to settle for a corner kick, which the Colombians cleared easily.

The scoreline stayed the same until just before halftime, thanks to several last minute clearances by both sets of defenders. Most of the fans were ooohing and aaahing, but when that’s the case, the game has a lot of goals left in it—you can only defend with desperation but so long. I mean, sometimes, you can get out of that mode, but usually … well, once the last inch defense starts, at some point it usually fails.

Here, it was Sneijder with a chip that fell right in Arjen Robben’s path. The Bayern forward was just outside the six when he got the ball, and Ospina didn’t have a chance. We went into halftime tied at 1.

Holland came out strong to start the second half: Ospina had to go to a full stretch to deny van Persie, and then Huntelaar fired a rocket from twenty yards that he couldn’t reach. Just like that, Colombia was down 2-1, Josh and JJ were screaming, and I sank back into my seat.

It got worse: just shy of an hour, Kuyt drove the ball past Iván Córdoba, who bumped him as he went by. There was no whistle and it looked clean. Hard, but clean. But as Kuyt fell, he managed somehow to poke the ball forward into the box. Huntelaar was lucky to be onside, but he was free and again knocked it by Ospina. It was 3-1 Holland, and I could only raise my arms in surrender to Josh and JJ’s cheers. Which sucked.

Luckily, Colombia didn’t give up like I did: right after the restart, Ospina launched a clearance nearly the length of the field and Falcao, who easily got by Joris Mathijsen, controlled it just inside the box. Velthuizen was up for it somehow, but it was clear the Colombians still fancied they had a chance.

Or, at least, Falcao did—he had three shots in the next ninety seconds, and while none of them found the net, his teammates took heart from his efforts. A minute later, another long shot from Falcao was deflected, but this time the ball fell right to Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, who was able to volley it back in before Velthuizen could recover—Colombia was back within one at 3-2!

And then, fifteen minutes from time, Falcao broke through! The ball was sent in from the wing and there was a cluster of players waiting, but it was the Porto forward who touched it into the back of the net.

We were tied! And the Dutch defenders were clearly moving towards exhaustion, their hands grabbing their shorts as the Colombians celebrated.

The stadium was rocking now—six goals, a two goal comeback, and wide-open offensive soccer: who could ask for anything else?

Full time ended, still tied at three. Extra time was excruciating—the players were getting tired, and the game got chippy as hell—I think there were four yellows in extra time. But it was still end to end. Ospina made a nice save on Ryan Babel, Velthuizen beat Falcao to a long ball. Back and forth, with the crowd screaming at every chance.

Then, with less than a minute to go, Johnny Heitinga upended Falcao out on the wing. When Fredy Guarín lined up to take the shot, the fourth official was holding up his sign showing three minutes until penalty kicks. Guarín’s kick spun in the air and dropped just in front of the far post where—who else—Falcao was waiting, and he met it high in the air with his head, slamming it into the back of the net!

The Dutch were shocked—dejected, even. I saw several men in tears as we exited, me with my hands in the air, JJ and Josh carrying their orange hats.

Colombia had a new set of national heroes, and the Dutch would have to wait another four years.

World Cup, Second Round

Holland v Colombia, Soccer City

Holland 3 (Arjen Robben 44, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 49 59) – Colombia 4 (Darwin Quintero 3, Juan Guillermo Cuadrado 63, Falcao 74 120+1)

MoM: Falcao (9.2) Dutch Best: Huntelaar (8.8)

Attendance: 87,636. Referee: Manuel Gräfe.

In the other game of the day, Russia met the Ivory Coast in Johannesburg. Russia had opened the competition in style, while the Ivorians had struggled into the second round. Today, however, with the support of sixty thousand fans, Les Éléphants, came out on top behind second half goals from Souleymane Bamba and Didier Drogba (his fiftieth score for his country). Roman Pavlyuchenko pulled one back for the Russians, but when Pavel Mamaev was sent off with his second yellow shortly thereafter, the Russian’s chances all but disappeared.

So far, we had two South American teams, one from Europe, and one from Africa through to the quarterfinals.

World Cup Second Round

Ivory Coast v Russia, Ellis Park

Ivory Coast 2 (Souleymae Bamba 47, Didier Drogba 54) – Russia 1 (Roman Pavlyuchenko 71)

MoM: Drogba (8.3) Russian Best: Igor Akinfeev (6.8)

Attendance: 62,548. Referee: Peter Gagelmann.

[Makonnen]

More bad news for Cameroon. See Danyil Oranje's reaction.

World Cup 2010: Day XVIII. June 28, 2010.

In the first game of the day, Brazil sent the tactically fascinating side from Chile home with a convincing 2-0 victory. Both goals were in the first half: the first, a fantastic drive from twenty-five yards out from Luis Fabiano and the second a penalty converted by Kaká after Pato was brought down in the box by Mauricio Isla on a long throw-in. Tactics have their place, but at some point, talent wins football games.

World Cup Second Round

Chile v Brazil, Loftus

Chile 0 – Brazil 2 (Luís Fabiano 9, Kaká 43p)

MoM: Marcelo (8.5) Chile’s Best: Alexis Sánchez (7.1)

Attendance: 49,598. Referee: Nicola Rizzoli.

From Leigh Musicek’s Diary

After yesterday’s thriller, we were all a little subdued. But it was England against Greece, so our rooting loyalties were clear.

The game was totally different, but just as exciting. England continued their pattern of raining shots on the opposition goal, but today nothing was finding the target. Lampard, Rooney, and Gerrard all had chance after chance after chance, but Alexandros Tzorvas was spectacular in goal for Greece: ten saves, most of them leaping high in the air or diving at full stretch. Each one drew a small gasp or a shake of the head from Alphie. He looked at me, eyes wide at one point.

“This is remarkable. He is never in the right spot, his feet are all wrong. But his reflexes are so good that he just manages to get there.”

Late in the first half, after yet another series of English attacks, a long pass freed Theofanis Gekas on a breakaway. He moved Ben Foster one way, shot the other, and suddenly the Greeks took an unlikely lead.

Everyone was getting depressed—it seemed that no matter what England did, the Greek defense was up to it: Nigel Reo-Coker hit the side netting with a shot that brought the crowd to its feet, Rooney forced three saves from distance. Everything was just a foot or two off.

Towards the end, Greece was essentially playing six men in defense—four defenders, plus two midfielders that couldn’t be lured out of their end, and while the crowd whistled in derision, the strategy looked sound.

Throughout the second half, wave after wave of English players were repelled in attack. We began shouting “Once more into the breach, lads!” each time they moved upfield. I had to explain it to Alphie and Yaya (Alípio was on the other side of JJ and Josh, who I wasn’t talking to because they were way too tense).

There would be four minutes of extra time, and England was still searching for a breakthrough.

A minute into extra time, Tzorvas had the ball after an easy save, and took his time before thundering it back upfield. JJ and Josh were screaming for a card for delaying play, of course. Two minutes in, Gerrard earned a corner, but it was cleared easily and only a full out sprint from Ashley Cole stopped a Greek breakaway from developing. Three minutes in, Gareth Barry stole the ball and sent it back upfield, where Michael Owen passed it niftily on to Rooney. Rooney burst through the defense, took a slight touch to his right, and blasted the shot past Tzorvas!

Four minutes into extra time! England ties the game!

JJ and Josh were hugging and high-fiving everyone around them, and Rooney was flat on his back arms and legs outstretched while his teammates piled on. It was insane.

Tzorvas wasn’t done, though: he stopped Gerrard from point blank range in the remaining minute of extra time, and we headed to the dreaded penalty shootout.

I don’t think I’ve ever been at a more tense sporting event in my life. And we won state on a penalty shootout that went seventeen kicks. People were praying, crying, everything. Alphie was practically shaking.

“You do know you don’t have to stop these shots?” I asked him.

He smiled and shook his head. “You don’t understand: as a goalkeeper … these are awful. Just awful.”

Giannis Papadopoulos was the first to shoot, and he easily beat Almunia, who had come in for Foster midway through the second half.

Ashley Cole stepped up for England, but Tzorvas guessed right and tipped it around the post! England were down 1-0 after one round.

Katsouranis stepped up for Greece. Almunia dove right while the shot went left, but he yanked it wide. We were tied again!

Gareth Barry beat Tzorvas, but he couldn’t beat the post: his shot clanged off the woodwork and bounced out. Barry sank to his knees in disbelief—he had a chance to tie it up, but England had now missed their first two shots.

Ioannis Amanatidis looked extremely condiment, and his shot found the back of the net. England’s fate was in Lampard’s hands now, he took his runup and fired the ball in … but again Tzorvas saved it. Alphie gasped aloud—this was insane: England had three shots, and had yet to convert a penalty.

Defender Giourkas Seitaridis walked out. If he converted, England’s tournament was over and Greece would continue their unexpected success in major competitions. He looked calm as could be, and I didn’t even watch. The cheers of the crowd and the yell of “Goddammit” from one of our coaches told me everything I needed to hear.

We didn’t go down to the locker room after the game. It didn’t seem right.

World Cup, Second Round

England v Greece, Free State Stadium

England 1 (Wayne Rooney 90+4) – Greece 1 (Theofanis Gekas 39) [Greece win 3-0 on penalties]

MoM: Alexandros Tzorvas (9.0) England’s Best: Rooney (8.3)

Attendance: 45,368. Referee: Leandro Vuaden.

[Makonnen]

For the final two games of round 2, see Danyil Oranje's touchline report of the Cameroon - France clash, which also includes a summary of Spain - Ghana.

For those of you who just want the bottom line:

With that, the quarterfinals were set: On July 2nd, Portugal would meet the Ivory Coast and Argentina would face off against Colombia; on the 3rd, Ghana would try to continue their run against Brazil while Greece would try to stop France.

So, two African teams in the quarters join three from Europe and three from South America: truly the global game. At this point, though, the smart money seems to be on Brazil or France, both of which seem to be riding a great vein of form at the right time. The entire continent, however, would be rooting for the Black Stars or Les Éléphants to become the first African team in a World Cup Semifinal.

[Makonnen]

Terry Langford and Leti Netsh ... Netsham ... his girlfriend ... attended the Ivory Coast v Portugal game.

The other quarterfinal of the day pitted Argentina against dark horse Colombia. Colombia’s stars of the cup so far—Falcao and Juan Guillermo Cuadrado—were unable to create more magic, and Argentina cruised to a 2-0 win behind early goals from Maxi Rodríguez and Angel Di María. Lionel Messi was on the bench for Argentina, an encouraging sign for his availability for their semifinal clash with either Brazil or Ghana.

World Cup Quarterfinal

Argentina v Colombia, Soccer City

Argentina 2 (Maxi Rodríguez 14, Angel Di María 17) – Colombia 0

MoM: Di María (8.3) Colombia’s Best: Falcao (7.1)

Attendance: 86,634. Referee: Lee Mason.

[Makonnen]

World Cup 2010: Day XXI. July 3, 2010.

It was just me and Jessica today. Everyone else—Alphie, Yaya, JJ (yay!), all the coaches, all the rest of them—cleared out yesterday. Yaya and Alphie are off to France for the European U19 tournament. There are four Chelsea players on the French team—the two of them, another striker named Ishak, and Gaël Kakuta. Les Bleues, c’est vrai! The others went on to Uruguay for a match there next week. Evidently, JJ and Josh are going to see time. JJ was pretty nervous before they left. A lot of bravado, but he’s still a little boy.

Look at me, a whole year older than he is.

I met Coach Oranje this morning. He came by the hotel for breakfast. I said something stupid about orange juice. Oranje. Orange juice. Yeah.

He just laughed at me, saying I had turned the color of his grapefruit.

Yeah. Awkward.

It got better—he asked me questions about the games I had seen, and he was, I dunno, respectful about it. He took what I said seriously. I asked him if he thought the squad was set for the year. He just laughed and shrugged, said he doesn’t really control that. At the end of it, he gave me a typical bit of coach double-speak, saying that I needed to take my time, get used to the game in England, not rush things. But also that he hoped I made my debut sometime next year.

When he left, we shook hands. He looked me in the eye for a while, which you know I just love, then said that he wanted me to know that it was going to be hard at times and that he was working with the club to try to help. But it was still going to be hard. And he wanted me to be able to talk to the coaching staff, to him, to find support there.

I don’t know. I mean, I appreciated it. But I’m so tired of trying to figure out what people mean and what they’re just saying because they think they should.

Jessica showed up just after that, and immediately the day got better. She is so cool! We had a great time, just walked around Cape Town, which was really chill, really fun. We went down by the harbor, shopped. There were street performers and artists and all sorts of stuff. It was drizzly, but it wasn’t too bad. And we just ducked into places to shop or have a cup of coffee when it started to come down harder.

Jessica is going to go with me to London the day after tomorrow and help me get settled. I like her so much—she played in college until she tore up her knee, and now she just goes around the world helping girls—young women—whatever.

She asked me lots of questions about the time here. I dunno. It’s been great. I really like most of the players and all of the coaches. I told her I really was anxious to get back to playing and she laughed at me. Said I needed to learn to take advantage of the time off, let my body heal and grow. And that I needed to take care of myself.

So we’re having a spa day tomorrow! Ha!

I told her I wouldn’t get a pedi. Last time I tried that, it was so embarrassing: my friends all had these pretty little feet, while mine were all gnarly, nails half gone, welts and bruises everywhere. She said that was the best thing about not playing anymore—her feet didn’t hurt and she wasn’t ashamed to wear sandals.

She says the place we’re going does this thing called a hot stone massage, where they heat up these rocks (duh) and put them on your back. I wonder what that’s like. Guess I’ll find out.

We had amazing seats for the game—I mean most of the seats have been good, but these were down where all the men were in suits. I was nervous until the game started, but what a game it was! The crowd, of course, was totally behind Ghana. I was sad that Maicon wasn’t playing, but evidently I’ll be seeing more of him: he just signed with Manchester City. At least, that’s what the papers say. That’s huge. But I wonder what they plan to do with Micah Richards? Ashley Cole and Maicon on the same back line? Wow.

It was a hard fought, tense game, full of fierce tackles and about a dozen cards. The rain came and went all night, and the field looked pretty slippery.

For much of the game, the Black Stars dominated the midfield, using Anthony Anan, Michael Essien, and Sulley Muntari to retain possession for long stretches. But they were outclassed on the flanks: neither Samuel Inkoom nor Nana Asare could make any headway. So the ball would knock around the middle, probe the side, be repelled, knock about the middle some more. It was clearly frustrating, and the trio of midfielders began to shoot from long range, more out of not knowing what else to do than anything else.

Iliasu Shilla came on for Anan at halftime, which was weird. Ghana had looked to be the better team through the first forty-five minutes, so it didn’t really make sense to change it up.

Probably the best chance of the game fell to Isaac Boakye, who was free on a breakaway but was unable to beat Júlio César.

We headed to extra time still scoreless. The tension was contagious: Jessica and I couldn’t really hold a conversation—every pass seemed loaded with the potential to be the move that broke the game open.

Eight minutes from the penalty shootout, which seemed inevitable at that point, Felipe Melo was sent off for his second yellow card for barging through the back of Harrison Afful. The crowd went nuts, hoping Ghana could exploit the extra man.

Instead, five minutes from time, John Pantsil went in hard on Adriano in the box. I dunno … it was a hard tackle, but come on, there were five minutes left in a World Cup quarterfinal. But the penalty was given. The crowd was outraged, but Adriano took it cleanly, and Brazil was through on the narrowest of 1-0 wins.

It was hard to stay sad for too long: the drumming and dancing of fans dressed in yellow and green was pretty contagious, in spite of the rain.

World Cup Quarterfinal

Brazil v Ghana

Brazil 1 (Adriano 117p) – Ghana 0

MoM: Kwadwo Asamoah (8.2) Brazilian Best: Marcelo (7.8)

Attendance: 63,361. Referee: Claudio Circhetta.

France dominated the other quarterfinal, especially after Greek defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos was sent off with a straight red card thirty minutes in. It was well deserved: he took out Karim Benzema from behind with a two footed tackle, leaving Norwegian referee Tom Henning Øvrebø little choice but to put Greece a man down with an hour to play. Still, the Greek team has performed well all tournament with their back against the wall, and a scrappy defense mixed with Alexandros Tzorvas’ play in goal kept the game scoreless until, seven minutes from time, Benzema got his revenge. Tzorvas dove hard to his right to deflect a shot from Bakary Sagna, but it fell right to Benzema, and before defender Loukas Vyntra could respond, the ball was in the back of the net with Tzorvas still on the ground.

The semifinals were set: a South American clash in one with Argentina and Brazil facing off, and a European match up of Portugal and France in the other.

World Cup Quarterfinal

Greece v France

Greece 0 – France 1 (Karim Benzema 83)

MoM: Phillipe Mexès (7.4) Greek Best: Kostas Katsouranis (7.2)

Attendance: 70,103. Referee: Tom Henning Øvrebø.

[Drogba11CFC]

So Greece are out. Good Riddance.

[Makonnen]

Greece were serious giant killers here: the England game was incredible. But in the end, they just lacked enough quality.

World Cup 2010: Day XXII. July 6, 2010.

With Leigh on her way to London, safely in the care of Jessica Hardy, we revert to a “news” style summary for the climactic last few games of the World Cup. Today, we have a clash of South American titans, as Argentina takes on Brazil.

The Brazilians have to be favored, but the Argentines are looking for the return of Lionel Messi to give them the lift they need to advance to the finals. It’s a wet day with a strong wind here in Durban. Not the best of conditions, but we’re still hoping for some fantastic football.

Ten minutes in, it’s not a flash of balletic brilliance that puts Brazil ahead, but rather a carefully planned, perfectly executed set play. Javier Mascherano fouls Kaká perhaps thirty-five yards from goal. Brazil quickly moves into position, with Pato and Josué near the ball. Pato sends it wide to Anderson, who has drifted to the left. As soon as the pass is sent, Robinho and Kaká run short crossing routes from the top of the box, and both Walter Samuel and Martín Demichelis step towards Kaká, leaving Robinho virtually unmarked. Anderson’s pass is quick, direct, and on target, and Robinho is all alone. Juan Pablo Carrizo dives, but he has no chance against the low drive that screams just inside the post. Brazil is up 1-0, and the samba lines begin!

Six minutes later, the dancing reached new heights of joy: Kaká sent a probing pass upfield into the box where it was again Robinho who ran onto it. He never broke stride and blasted the ball into the top of the net, past the advancing Carrizo. It was 2-0, and Argentina was in danger of losing any hope of getting back into the match.

The Argentine defense stiffened after the second goal, and the rest of the first half passed with relatively little of note: Pato and Angel Di María both had free kicks from over thirty-five yards curl within a few yards of the goal, but other than that Brazil continued to look dangerous, Messi continued to be stifled, and Argentina was unable to get Sergio Agüero involved. 2-0 Brazil at halftime on Robinho’s brace.

The second half opens similarly, although Brazil seems more content to defend, protecting the lead and looking for the counter. Ten minutes in, Di María’s free kick from the right side rockets in, and with Júlio César well beaten, it looks like Argentina is back in the match. But, the ball hits the post, and bounces back directly into Di María’s path as he aggressively follows his shot. This time, though, César is up to it, tipping the ball over the crossbar for a corner kick.

On seventy minutes, the tide turns in the game. Thiago Silva brings down Di María from behind on the wing and he is shown his second yellow card of the game, forcing Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Torres to bring in Ramires for the highly effective Kaká. Argentina now has twenty minutes with a man advantage, and it immediately shows: suddenly the Argentine attack has more space and the Brazilian side, without their creative force in midfield, is reduced to looking for Pato and Robinho on breakaways.

Fifteen minutes from time, Agüero plays a quick one-two with Messi, whose shot is successfully turned around the post by César. On the ensuing corner, Walter Samuel rises above Maicon, and nods the ball sharply inside the near post. Argentina has pulled one back, and looks to have momentum on their side!

Six minutes from time, a mixture of poor refereeing and the brilliance of Sergio Agüero tie the game. Replays showed that, when Javier Mascherano sent a pass towards Agüero, he was a good yard the wrong side of Maicon. However, he was sprinting back upfield, and received the ball well clear of four Brazilian defenders. The flag stayed down, Agüero got the ball, turned, and before Juan could close him down, sent the ball neatly inside the post. Now it was the Argentine fans turn to scream: they had fought back from a two goal deficit, and looked the better choice to close the game out.

The rest of regulation passed without incident, and we were headed into thirty minutes of extra time. A minute in, a nice combination from Alex to Anderson led to a long cross-field pass that Robinho controlled with a delicate flick of his left foot. The move gave him a step on the defense, and after two quick changes of direction inside the box, Carrizo made a fantastic save to barely tip the ball wide. The corner brought another piece of set-play mastery from the Brazilians: Daniel Alves’ corner came short to Pato, who touched the ball to Robinho just inside the six. Robinho brought the ball behind his left foot, spun around both Agüero and a charging Gabriel Heinze before sending it into the back of the Argentine net. Robinho had a spectacular hat-trick—and five goals for the tournament—and, despite being a man down, Brazil had found a goal, and now had only to pack it in and defend for half an hour to make the final.

With twenty minutes to go, things got even more interesting: Messi, who was clearly still feeling the effects of his injury, found himself one on one with Maicon on the wing. The Brazilian fullback, on his way to Manchester City after the competition, was off balance, and lunged at Messi as he skipped by. It was a bad foul, and Maicon’s second yellow of the game.

It came down to this: twenty-two minutes, Argentina down a goal with a two man advantage.

And so a rhythm was set for the rest of the game: Argentina would work the ball around until an opportunity emerged, either from the edge of the box or for a looping pass into the area. No matter who took it, Júlio César was up for it, pulling off a string of spectacular saves to preserve Brazil’s lead. César would then launch a thunderous punt upfield that Robinho would sprint onto before losing the ball. And it would happen again. And each time, César was up for it.

The final whistle brought elation for Brazil and agony for Argentina, who were left to wonder at their inability to score despite the numeric advantage.

World Cup Semifinal

Argentina v Brazil, Moses Mabhida Stadium

Argentina 2 (Walter Samuel 75, Sergio Agüero 85) – Brazil 3 (Robinho 10 17 92)

MoM: Robinho (9.5) Argentina’s Best: Angel Di María (7.9)

Attendance: 70,401. Referee: Jochan Drees.

[Drogba11CFC]

Nice to see Argentina sent packing too.

[Makonnen]

I wanted to see Messi keep playing--once he got hurt, it was just a matter of time. Surprised they made it this far, tbh.

World Cup 2010: Day XXIII. July 7, 2010

On a cool, dry day in Johannesburg, Portugal would face France for the honor of meeting Brazil in the World Cup final. Portugal would look to control play down the right side, working through their emblematic leader Cristiano Ronaldo, who was having a marvelous World Cup, leading his team with four goals. France was led by Franck Ribéry, but with Yoann Gourcuff, Thierry Henry, and Nicolas Anelka all up front as well, there were plenty of options to choose from.

Five minutes in, only a great save from Rui Patrício denied French defender Philippe Mexès from close range after a Ribéry free kick was deflected inside the box. Two minutes later, a deep cross from Patrice Evra found Anelka with great position on Miguel Veloso. The newly signed OM player rose higher to meet the ball and scored his first goal of this World Cup. France were in a familiar position: ahead, and ahead early.

A Hugo Almeida bullet from outside the box beat Hugo Lloris, but clipped the bar and leaked over for the best Portuguese chance of the opening half hour.

Just before halftime, a great individual effort increased the French lead: again it was Anelka, this time beating two men on the edge of the box before rifling a shot across Patrício from twenty yards out. He had his brace, and France entered the locker room looking safe for the final.

A minute into the second half, Portugal pulled one back thanks to a marvelous run by their captain. Ronaldo took the ball near midfield, and held three defends at bay the length of the field before sending a shot past the Lloris’ outstretched arm. It gave Portugal a way back, but France immediately seized control of the match once again, keeping the ball well and piling the pressure on the Portuguese back line.

Twenty minutes from time, Ronaldo had a chance to draw level, a header from Almeida finding him momentarily unmarked in the box, but he pulled the shot just wide of the post. Then, with about seven minutes remaining, a searching cross from Paulo Ferreira found Nani alone at the far post. Lloris managed to scramble back across his goal, and made a diving save to preserve the one goal lead.

Portugugal’s best chance, however, came through their captain again when, three minutes into extra time, Ronaldo cut behind Patrice Evra to receive a pass from Hélder Postiga that left him with only the keeper to beat. Lloris exploded off his line, smothering the ball at Ronaldo’s feet and the Portuguese winger’s pleas for a penalty kick were met with an emphatic shake of the head from the referee.

France was able to hold possession for another two minutes, and they were through to the final, leaving Portugal to face Argentina in the third place game, surely cold comfort for both of those sides.

World Cup Semifinal

Portugal v France, Soccer City

Portugal 1 (Cristiano Ronaldo 46) – France 2 (Nicolas Anelka 8 43)

MoM: Anelka (8.8) Portugal’s Best: Ronaldo (7.2)

Attendance: 87,636. Referee: Oscar Julián Ruíz.

[Makonnen]

Apologies to anyone who jumped in here quickly: I posted the wrong day's results initially. :o

[Makonnen]

World Cup 2010: Day XXIV (Third Place Game). July 10, 2010.

In a bit of a dreary affair, Portugal needed the penalty shootout to beat Argentina for third place in the 2010 World Cup. It was a defensive, chippy game that saw three players removed due to injury (Portugal’s Pepe and Argentina’s Angel Di María and Lucho González). The loss of Di María and González, both of whom had come on as second half substitutes, put Argentina under pressure as they were forced to close out the last eight minutes down a man, and the last five down two.

Portugal, however, looked unlikely to score all day, with captain Cristiano Ronaldo having easily his worst game of the tournament. Argentina saw most of the ball during the game, but their only real offensive spark came from late substitute Mauro Zárate, who replaced Messi seven minutes from the end of regulation.

Zárate was the first player selected for the penalty shootout, but his shot was saved by Rui Patrício. That proved to be the only miss, and when Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho beat Carrizo with his shot from the spot, Portugal clinched victory, even if the celebrations were a bit muted. Both teams, of course, would rather be playing tomorrow, when Brazil and France meet for the trophy.

Postgame reports indicated that none of the injured players are expected to miss significant time after the competition.

World Cup 3rd Place Game

Portugal v Argentina, Moses Mabhida Stadium

Portugal 0 – Argentina 0 [Portugal win 5-4 on Penalties]

MoM: Walter Samuel (7.9) Portugal’s Best: Ricardo Carvalho (7.7)

Attendance: 70,034. Referee: Lee Mason.

[Satio]

Brazil v France in the final, then. Can't see france being enough to overcome the mighty Brazilians.

Can't say I'm happy that Portugal got third place - but then I wouldnt say I was happy if Argentina got it either!

[Makonnen]

Remember, this is Argentina without Maradona--makes them a little more palatable. I would usually pick Brazil a well, but see below ... that is a ton of talent that can't play for one reason or another.

World Cup 2010: The Final (Preview). June 11, 2010.

It’s a marvelous day here at Soccer City, and the energy is high in the crowd. It’s been a fantastic World Cup, and all credit is due to our South African hosts. It looks like there is more green and yellow among the fans than dark blue, but both sides have their supporters among the nearly ninety thousand in the stands.

France has won five out of six games in South Africa, outscoring their opposition 15-2 (the single blemish being a scoreless draw against Ghana in group play). They have been led by Franck Ribéry (five goals) and Yoann Gourcuff (four goals) along with outstanding support from Patrice Evra and Philippe Mexès. Yesterday, however, Ribéry tripped during a training drill and fell against the goalpost, breaking his jaw. He looks to miss the next month, and will definitely be unavailable for the final, quite a blow for Les Bleues. France will look to Karim Benzema and Nicolas Anelka—each with two goals in the tournament—and dependable play from Hugo Lloris in goal to make up for Ribéry’s absence.

Brazil has, if anything, been even better, outscoring their foes 16-3 while winning all six of their games. Robinho heads into the final tied for the golden boot (with Ribéry and Wayne Rooney) on five scores. Pato and Luís Fabiano have added three each, and when you add Maicon’s marauding runs on the right side and the brilliance of Júlio César in goal, well, we have all the makings of a classic.

Or, we would: one of the talking points is the number of players for Brazil who will miss the final through suspension and injury. In fact, latest responses from the Brazilian camp are that Carlos Alberto Torres will go into this game with only strikers Doni and Luís Fabiano and defender Alex on the bench aside his two reserve goalkeepers, with Maicon, Thiago Silva, and Anderson suspended and Josué and Lucas absent with injuries. This means André Santos, Ramires, and Naldo will all be pressed into starting duty for the Brazilians.

Brazil opens in the 4-2-2-2 they’ve used all tournament, with Marcelo, Naldo, Juan, and Daniel Alves in front of Júlio César in goal. Look for Marcelo and Alves to move up the pitch considerably, adding width to the attack. In front of the back four, Felipe Melo and Ramires will play the holding roles, with André Santos and the brilliant Kaká providing the midfield support. Kaká has been the key to their team all tournament, and we look for him to run the show here, looking setup Pato and Robinho up front for the goals.

France will eschew a traditional holder, preferring a 4-2-3-1 setup with Patrice Evra, William Gallas, Mexès, and Bakary Sagna in front of Lloris. The midfield pair is Mathieu Flamini and Lassana Diarra, with Thierry Henry, Gourcuff, and Anelka behind Benzema.

Tactically, then, there is an interesting matchup: Brazil plays without players tasked explicitly with filling the space between midfield and their frontline, relying on their fullbacks and the activity of their midfielders to link up with their attackers. France plays without a true holding midfielder, although both Flamini and Diarra will drop into that role at times. This combination is likely to create a lot of space in attack for Brazil, while the South American defenders will be unused to having as many opposing players as deep in their zone as France will offer. I would look for a high-scoring game in this one and, if pressed, would suggest France winning 3-2: Brazil is just missing too many players.

Today’s game will be refereed by a Spanish crew, led by Antonio Salvador in the middle of the pitch.

[Makonnen]

World Cup 2010: The Final. July 11, 2010.

Two minutes in, and the complexion of the contest changes: Pato rolls over Patrice Evra’s ankle in a nasty collision and while it is a clear foul, Antonio Salvador keeps his cards in his pocket. Evra however, cannot continue, and with the opening whistle still ringing in his ears, Raymond Domenech is forced to bring on Barcelona’s Eric Abidal to replace Evra at left-back.

Six minutes in, a long range shot from Yoann Gourcuff is deflected out of bounds for the first corner of the game, which Brazil easily clears. Even without the injured Franck Ribéry, France is looking more dangerous in attack, and only Júlio César’s acrobatic saves have kept us scoreless through the first thirty minutes of play.

William Gallas saves what looks like a sure goal with a last-second intervention on Daniel Alves, who was set free in the box from a very pretty pass from Felipe Melo’s left foot. Gallas was forced to clear the ball behind, but Abidal rose high in the air to knock away the ensuing corner.

Ten minutes from halftime, Brazil finally produces a shot on goal. Yes, you read that right: they have attacked, but have not succeeded in sending a shot on target. Now, they finally do, and with it, the samba kings have the game’s first goal: Pato dances along the edge of the box before splitting Mathieu Flamini and Lassana Diarra with a shot across Hugo Lloris’ goal. The French keeper is slow to react and, by the time he dives, the ball is past him and into the upper left corner of the net. The noise from the crowd is deafening, and Pato may have just scored the goal of the tournament!

Just before halftime, our first controversy of the day: as Karim Benzema dribbles through the box, he is cut down from behind by Felipe Melo. The French team explodes, pointing to the penalty spot; however, after consulting with his assistant, Salvador indicates that the foul occurred outside the box, a decision confirmed by television replays. Melo was giving a yellow card for the tackle, and the free kick, quickly taken by Gourcuff and passed to Benzema, resulted in a shot well wide of the Brazilian goal.

So at halftime, Brazil was up by a single goal but France looked certain to score.

Just after the restart, Karim Benzema beat Juan down the left flank and sent a low cross that found Nicolas Anelka at the far post. His header was hard and well-aimed, but Júlio César read it perfectly and was able to smother the ball at the post. It was the best chance of the game so far for France, and Anelka was clearly distraught at not leveling the score.

César cleared quickly to Marcelo on the left wing and five quick passes later, Hugo Lloris was picking the ball out of his net for a second time. The key exchange was between—who else—Kaká and Robinho, who worked a quick vertical 1-2 that ended with Robinho well clear of a desperate William Gallas. The Manchester City attacker beat Lloris to his near post and Brazil were clear by two.

And then it was the Júlio César show: headers from Abidal and Philippe Mexès, shots from Gourcuff and Thierry Henry, it didn’t matter. César was up to each challenge, providing a clinic between the pipes—perhaps he heard the talk of Greece’s Alexandros Tzorvas being the best goalkeeper of the tournament and was set on proving to his doubters the errors of their ways.

Fifteen minutes from time, France finally broke through: another corner kick, but this one was met by Mexès, who slipped between three Brazilian defenders to snap the ball home. France had finally drawn blood, the question was could Brazil survive the last quarter hours of the match without surrendering again? Brazil had yet to use a substitute, and it was clear that Carlos Alberto Torres preferred his current squad to his bench, a dire warning if we head to extra time.

César would be called upon again, first to deflect a screaming drive from Benoît Cheyrou (on for Gourcuff twenty minutes from time) and then to rise above three French attackers to collect a deep cross into the box.

There would be one final attack: Thierry Henry stepped in front of Alves to steal the ball, then found Benzema streaking down the left. However, Ramires was able to deflect his cross out of bounds, and Brazil cleared the corner kick.

Moments later the whistle blew, and the celebrations for the gold and green began!

Brazil was stunningly efficient, with only two shots on target resulting in two goals. This stood in stark contrast to France, whose twenty shots netted them a single goal thanks in no small part to César’s seven saves.

World Cup Final

Brazil v France, Soccer City

Brazil 2 (Pato 35, Robinho 53) – France 1 (Philippe Mexès 76)

MoM: Pato (8.3) France’s Best: Mexès (7.5)

Attendance: 87,623. Referee: Antonio Salvador.

[Makonnen]

World Cup 2010: Recap. July 12, 2010.

The Teams

This was sort of the mirror world World Cup: Brazil played like everyone hoped they would; Messi scored perhaps the goal of the competition but missed most of the rest through injury and despite that, Argentina won; England—and especially Rooney—were quite good; and neither Spain nor Holland made it very far. Portugal rode the back of an inspired Cristiano Ronaldo all the way to the final, and France, instead of imploding, played together fantastically well.

In the real world, each of those were plausible storylines heading into South Africa, but none of them came close to happening.

The Players

Robinho, with six goals and an assist in four games, was named the best player of the tournament, closely trailed by France’s Franck Ribéry and Brazilian teammate Pato. The Dream Team was dominated by Brazilian and French players, with Júlio César, Maicon, Kaká, Felipe Melo, Robinho, and Pato being chosen from the champions and Patrice Evra, Philippe Mexès, and Franck Ribéry from the runners-up. The two remaining spots in the side went to Bruno Alves and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal.

However, a select panel of experts returned a very different team of stars for the tournament, listed by position (20 players, with some positional balance, in order):

GK: Espen Johnsen (Norway), David Ospina (Colombia), Tim Howard (USA)

Defenders: Bruno Alves (Portugal), Patrice Evra (France), Harrison Afful (Ghana), Ashley Cole (England), Walter Samuel (Argentina), Philippe Mexès (France)

Midfielders: Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht (Iran), Franck Ribéry (France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Albert Riera (Spain), Wesley Sneijder (Holland), Zoran Tosic (Serbia)

Strikers: Wayne Rooney (England), Robinho (Brazil), Falcao (Colombia), Pato (Brazil), Sergio Agüero (Argentina)

Finally, the best player from each nation that participated in the tournament.

Australia: Jonathan McKain

Serbia: Zoran Tosic

Slovenia: Aleksander Radosavljevic

Norway: Espen Johnsen

Germany: Lukas Podalski

Denmark: Mathias Jørgensen

USA: Tim Howard

Mexico: Omar Bravo

Costa Rica: Robert Arias

South Korea: Kim Yong-Dae

Saudi Arabia: Sahib Jasim Al-Abdullah

Japan: Keisuke Honda

Iran: Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht

Tunisia: Anis Boussaïdi

South Africa: MacBeth Sibaya

Egypt: Mohammed Shawky

Paraguay: Oscar Cardoza

Chile: Waldo Ponce

Spain: Albert Riera

Russia: Andrey Arshavin

Holland: Wesley Sneijder

Italy: Gianluigi Buffon

England: Wayne Rooney

Cameroon: Stéphane Mbia

Colombia: Falcao

Greece: Nikos Spyropoulos

Ivory Coast: Kolo Touré

Ghana: Harrison Afful

Argentina: Sergio Agüero

Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo

France: Franck Ribéry

Brazil: Robinho

[Makonnen]

Coda: World Cup Transfers. September 1, 2010.

September 1, 2010

Following each World Cup, players cash in on their performance and their exposure on the largest stage in soccer. Some of these transfers, of course, would have happened with or without their appearances in South Africa, but here is a list of some of the more noteworthy post-South Africa movement of players involved in the tournament.

$42.5M. Maicon (Brazil). Inter > Manchester City.

$18.5M. Falcao (Colombia). Porto > Inter.

$13M. Nenad Milijas (Serbia). Wolves > West Ham.

$10.75M. Juan Pablo Carrizo (Argentina). Lazio > Inter.

$10M. Carlos Kameni (Cameroon). Espanyol > FC Bayern.

$9.75M. Salvador Cabañas (Paraguay). América > Chiapas.

$4.3M. Kim Jung-Woo (South Korea). Seongnam > New England.

$350,000. Robert Arias (Costa Rica). Persepolis > Sparta Prague.

[Spoonsky]

Brilliant, Makonnen. Having written my own World Cup story, this certainly doesn't do well for my confidence! Top work.

[Makonnen]

Wow, thanks Spoonsky. Very kind words. If you enjoyed Leigh Musicek as a character, it's a good time to hop on the Danyil Oranje/A Chelsea Outing thread, as she's about to come back on the scene there.

Again, thanks for the compliment, and good luck with your own story (which I'm following).

[Spoonsky]

I've already started that, it looks just as good if not better. Your writing style is, in my opinion, fantastic.