June 15.
Effete England.
How England can maintain their preposterous claim of being one of the favorites for glory this year is beyond me. On this form they are laughably out of their league against the heavyweights, woefully out of form. Their performance against Trinidad was limp, weak and insipid.
For 80 odd minutes England were listless, unable to string together a decent set of passes, attack the Trini box with any real purpose and were restricted to a few long range half chances. In a team without a playmaker, ball winning anchor or ball holder upfield, they quickly ran out of ideas. Trinidad, bouyed by their peformance against Sweden, played exceedingly well. Defending in numbers and breaking on the counter with pace, they held firm. What did England expect - that the Soca warriors would back off and allow them to waltz in ?
Peter Crouch got the best chance to put the English up 1-0 when he was unmarked, clear at the end of a perfect cross from captain Beckham, but instead of chesting the ball down and giving himself a moment to control and shoot the ball, he opted for the spectacular volley and almost sent the ball wide of the corner flag. That shot summed everything up, England were rusty, scared and totally not up to it. Trinidad on the other side almost went ahead off a corner when the ball bounced off Stern John's head and Terry had to clear off the line.
It took the late introduction of a semi-fit Wayne Rooney to galvanise England. Ironically for England, it was Trinidad who had been stroking the ball around purposefully till their first score.
Eventually, England scored 2 late goals, both off passes from Beckham and this will go down in history, on paper atleast, as a comfortable English victory, inspired by their captain and boy wonder. It was anything but. Group B might be rubbish, but so is England.
Endnotes:
Listening to a Japanese commentator describe Gerrard's long range thunderbolt, one got the impression he would be happier with England winning the World Cup than Japan.
England 2 - Crouch, Gerrard
Trinidad and Tobago 0
------------------------------
Sluggish Swedes.
Sweden matched England in their sterility. They tried gainfully to break down a resolute Paraguay and had to rely on a late, late strike from Arsenal midfielder, Freddie Ljungberg to win. Overall enthusiastic, they seemed a little out of their stride. Sweden are like Mexico, they play very well against good teams and are strangely disjointed against worse ones.
Paraguay are better than Trinidad on paper but their performances at this World Cup so far have resembled those of a team ranked outside the top 100. They have no midfield, their only attacker of any note is Nelson Valdez and their defence of Gamarra and Acuna is old and slow. I don't think they are capable of actually scoring any goals against any decent outfit. When one plays Paraguay it seems question of when you will score reather than if and you can almost take it for granted that they won't create much offense. How then, Sweden, had to wait till the 90th minute to score, is a mystery.
Swen have a competent midfield, and energetic defence and a world class offence. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, though was weak and ineffective, the second game in a row he's been seemingly off colour. Rifling through a few close range shots, he displayed intention, but lacked the ruthlessness one would normally associate with his game. Henrik Larrson was more classic in his attacking runs and shot takins, testing Bombadilla on both sides.
I must point out though that Sweden's lack of a dead ball expert is going to cost them dear. Time and again they got free kicks in promising positions but in Wilhelmsson they have one of the most wasteful free kick takers in the World Cup. One cannot afford to squander so many set pieces. When a game is tight those plays make the difference. Kim Kallstrom and Freddie Ljungberg were as penetrative as they could be. Probing the Paraguayan centreflanks for corridors to attack in. Zlatan went off with an injured groin at half time and his replacement Allback was a real handful as soon as he came on. Still though Paraguay held firm. Teams who seem more intent on keeping a clean sheet, as opposed to trying to score, are notoriously hard to break down, and so it proved with the South Americans.
Football is about scoring goals not preventing them. Sweden deserved this win - Paraguay were paraplegic.
Endnotes:
Sweden versus England should be an interesting game now with both teams having qualified with 6 points - hopefully we'll see some good attacking play. I still pick Sweden to win that game and head the group. Sweden have 3 good strikers, England seem to have Rooney back.
At the other end Trinidad should beat Paraguay but, it might turn into a snorefest.
Sweden 1 - Ljungberg
Paraguay 0
-------------------------------
Efficient Ecuador.
On paper a match between Ecuador and Costa Rica may seem to be more or less even. In reality though the Ecuadoreans are far superior. Steadily improving as a footballing power since their debut 4 years ago at the World Cup, they are now a well oiled machine. Continuity is a very important concept in team sports, especially in football. Ecuador has had the same core playing together for most of the last 4 years. Players know their roles, their positions and critically know how to play with each other.
Costa Rica are a handy squad, explosive on the odd attack but lacking the defensive savvy to pose too many problems. Ecuador didn't attack as much as the scoreline may suggets but they maintained their shape and composure and most importantly, took their chances, Poland and Ivory Coast take note. In the world game, chances are at a premium, when one comes along you have to make it count. Augustin Delgado and Carlos Tenorio are efficient and deadly, the 2 Ivans Hurtado and Kaviedes are solid in defence. In Edwin Tenorio, Valencia, Castillo and Mendez, Ecuador have a cultured midfield who know how to break down teams and play their strikers in.
Luis Marin and Paolo Wanchope battled gamely for Los Ticos, but in the end the South Americans were too smooth for their Central American rivals. Kaviedes adding a late injury time marker to make the game safe.
Interestingly, now Ecuador head the group on goal difference and as such will be hapy with a draw at Germany. Germany have to win the game to win the group. It should be an interesting match - Germany having to attack - Ecuador playing counterattack.
Ecuador 3 - Delgado, Tenorio, Kaviedes
Costa Rica 0
Effete England.
How England can maintain their preposterous claim of being one of the favorites for glory this year is beyond me. On this form they are laughably out of their league against the heavyweights, woefully out of form. Their performance against Trinidad was limp, weak and insipid.
For 80 odd minutes England were listless, unable to string together a decent set of passes, attack the Trini box with any real purpose and were restricted to a few long range half chances. In a team without a playmaker, ball winning anchor or ball holder upfield, they quickly ran out of ideas. Trinidad, bouyed by their peformance against Sweden, played exceedingly well. Defending in numbers and breaking on the counter with pace, they held firm. What did England expect - that the Soca warriors would back off and allow them to waltz in ?
Peter Crouch got the best chance to put the English up 1-0 when he was unmarked, clear at the end of a perfect cross from captain Beckham, but instead of chesting the ball down and giving himself a moment to control and shoot the ball, he opted for the spectacular volley and almost sent the ball wide of the corner flag. That shot summed everything up, England were rusty, scared and totally not up to it. Trinidad on the other side almost went ahead off a corner when the ball bounced off Stern John's head and Terry had to clear off the line.
It took the late introduction of a semi-fit Wayne Rooney to galvanise England. Ironically for England, it was Trinidad who had been stroking the ball around purposefully till their first score.
Eventually, England scored 2 late goals, both off passes from Beckham and this will go down in history, on paper atleast, as a comfortable English victory, inspired by their captain and boy wonder. It was anything but. Group B might be rubbish, but so is England.
Endnotes:
Listening to a Japanese commentator describe Gerrard's long range thunderbolt, one got the impression he would be happier with England winning the World Cup than Japan.
England 2 - Crouch, Gerrard
Trinidad and Tobago 0
------------------------------
Sluggish Swedes.
Sweden matched England in their sterility. They tried gainfully to break down a resolute Paraguay and had to rely on a late, late strike from Arsenal midfielder, Freddie Ljungberg to win. Overall enthusiastic, they seemed a little out of their stride. Sweden are like Mexico, they play very well against good teams and are strangely disjointed against worse ones.
Paraguay are better than Trinidad on paper but their performances at this World Cup so far have resembled those of a team ranked outside the top 100. They have no midfield, their only attacker of any note is Nelson Valdez and their defence of Gamarra and Acuna is old and slow. I don't think they are capable of actually scoring any goals against any decent outfit. When one plays Paraguay it seems question of when you will score reather than if and you can almost take it for granted that they won't create much offense. How then, Sweden, had to wait till the 90th minute to score, is a mystery.
Swen have a competent midfield, and energetic defence and a world class offence. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, though was weak and ineffective, the second game in a row he's been seemingly off colour. Rifling through a few close range shots, he displayed intention, but lacked the ruthlessness one would normally associate with his game. Henrik Larrson was more classic in his attacking runs and shot takins, testing Bombadilla on both sides.
I must point out though that Sweden's lack of a dead ball expert is going to cost them dear. Time and again they got free kicks in promising positions but in Wilhelmsson they have one of the most wasteful free kick takers in the World Cup. One cannot afford to squander so many set pieces. When a game is tight those plays make the difference. Kim Kallstrom and Freddie Ljungberg were as penetrative as they could be. Probing the Paraguayan centreflanks for corridors to attack in. Zlatan went off with an injured groin at half time and his replacement Allback was a real handful as soon as he came on. Still though Paraguay held firm. Teams who seem more intent on keeping a clean sheet, as opposed to trying to score, are notoriously hard to break down, and so it proved with the South Americans.
Football is about scoring goals not preventing them. Sweden deserved this win - Paraguay were paraplegic.
Endnotes:
Sweden versus England should be an interesting game now with both teams having qualified with 6 points - hopefully we'll see some good attacking play. I still pick Sweden to win that game and head the group. Sweden have 3 good strikers, England seem to have Rooney back.
At the other end Trinidad should beat Paraguay but, it might turn into a snorefest.
Sweden 1 - Ljungberg
Paraguay 0
-------------------------------
Efficient Ecuador.
On paper a match between Ecuador and Costa Rica may seem to be more or less even. In reality though the Ecuadoreans are far superior. Steadily improving as a footballing power since their debut 4 years ago at the World Cup, they are now a well oiled machine. Continuity is a very important concept in team sports, especially in football. Ecuador has had the same core playing together for most of the last 4 years. Players know their roles, their positions and critically know how to play with each other.
Costa Rica are a handy squad, explosive on the odd attack but lacking the defensive savvy to pose too many problems. Ecuador didn't attack as much as the scoreline may suggets but they maintained their shape and composure and most importantly, took their chances, Poland and Ivory Coast take note. In the world game, chances are at a premium, when one comes along you have to make it count. Augustin Delgado and Carlos Tenorio are efficient and deadly, the 2 Ivans Hurtado and Kaviedes are solid in defence. In Edwin Tenorio, Valencia, Castillo and Mendez, Ecuador have a cultured midfield who know how to break down teams and play their strikers in.
Luis Marin and Paolo Wanchope battled gamely for Los Ticos, but in the end the South Americans were too smooth for their Central American rivals. Kaviedes adding a late injury time marker to make the game safe.
Interestingly, now Ecuador head the group on goal difference and as such will be hapy with a draw at Germany. Germany have to win the game to win the group. It should be an interesting match - Germany having to attack - Ecuador playing counterattack.
Ecuador 3 - Delgado, Tenorio, Kaviedes
Costa Rica 0
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