Man of the Match Luis Suarez (R) consoles England Captain Steven Gerrard (R) after his two goals all but eliminated England from the World Cup.
Matchday 2 fixtures of the World Cup in many ways followed the first. Upsets, goals, thrills, spills, misses and well more upsets. Its been that sort of a tournament really, a goalfest, an entertaining spectacle for both the loyalists as well as the neutrals. From Costa Rica’s incredible fairytale rise to top of the supposedly ‘Group of Death’ to French attacking prowess in Group E, from England packing their bags as they exit the tournament to some other shocks by the likes of Algeria, Ghana and USA.
Not So Brave Three Lions:
Arguably the biggest story of the past week was England’s early elimination from the World Cup. This was their first group stage exit since 1958. The previous 2-1 loss to Italy had seemed a bit undeserved as England’s performance had glimpses of some of the attacking football that the fans hoped to see. But the perennial underperformers failed again at the biggest stage. As Chris Waddle quite rightly remarked, “England never learn”. Despite the nation’s preoccupation with that man Luis Suarez, he still proved to be the difference. His two goals were courtesy of nervous and shaky defending from England. But such is the quality of even a half-fit Luis Suarez that he got two chances and he took both of them sublimely. The young “fearless” players such as Sterling and Welbeck failed to shine while senior players such as Gerrard and Rooney (who could have had a hat-trick in this game) performed poorly and failed to lead a young England squad to victory. England don’t seem to have the same hunger, desire, passion and drive that their more successful counterparts seem to have. Tactical and personnel changes are needed. A better balance to the team is necessary. A formality game remains against surprise group leaders, Costa Rica, who have already qualified to the next round. This particular fixture could provide Hodgson with a chance to give the younger players such as Barkley, Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Wilshere and Shaw a go to prove themselves and gain valuable experience as well.
But where next for England? The English FA have publicly sounded out their backing of Roy Hodgson as manager. Many believe theres a change needed. England still have some good young talent that should encourage fans. This experience in Brazil will be a difficult but important one in their rather steep learning curve.
Coasting Costa Rica:
Everybody loves an underdog triumphing against all odds. They are also an symbol of this year’s unpredictable World Cup where a country’s reputation hasn’t always stood for much. Losses for big names such as Italy, Spain, Uruguay and Ivory Coast with star names show the beauty of the game in the most deserving of footballing arenas. Work ethic, determination and desire embodied by this Costa Rica side have prevailed over the big reputations of Uruguay and Italy. Their high-tempo, fast paced counter-attacking style is not only easy on the eye but has also delivered two massive scalps en-route to the round of 16. Mathematically, they could still end up as runner-ups in the group but not many envisioned that in this ‘Group of Death’ which consisted of three former world champions, the supposed ‘also-ran’ Costa Rica would impress the most. Potential clash with Columbia or Ivory Coast awaits in the next round. Surely that’s that for the Latin American side, or is it?
Les Miserables No More:
Ah what a difference 4 years have made for the Les Bleus. Wind the clock back to the summer of 2010, an unhappy, disgruntled and divided group of players rebelled against their then coach, Raymond Domenech. But the image of the new French national team – led by the likes of Benzema, Valbuena, Matuidi, Varane and Co. – is in stark contrast to the previous team. Despite being in a relatively straightforward group, the swashbuckling attacking football has resulted in them scoring 8 goals in 2 games so far. Their players look in form, their tactics seem to work, the players are happy, confident and look raring to go. Everything seems to be clicking together well for the dark horses.
Best of the Rest:
Here’s a summary of the rest of the results in the rest of the groups. Match day two saw Columbia confirm qualification to the next round by defeating Ivory Coast. Similar in tactics and style to Costa Rica, Columbia’s young guns James Rodriguez and Juan Quintero impressed while their veteran captain, Mario Yepes, led from the back with an imperious defensive performance. The other game saw a bore, goalless draw between Japan and ten-man Greece.
Meanwhile in Group F, Argentina just about edged out a win against a heroic, war epic, defensive performance from Iran. Individual quality, indeed individual brilliance was the difference at the end of the day. Lionel Messi’s trademark left-footed piledriver into the bottom corner had won the game for Argentina at the last possible moment and sealed progress to the next round as well. The battle for the second place saw Nigeria win 1-0 against Bosnia-Herzegovina with a controversial winner from Peter Odemwingie. So Bosnia-Herzegovina are sent home packing in their World Cup debut.
On to Group G which witnessed two exciting goalscoring 2-2 draws. Group leaders Germany were expected to beat Ghana with relative ease but the Black Star’s persistence was rewarded as they drew 2-2 with Germany. Comebacks have been occasional in this tournament as teams have come from behind to win seven times in the cup. Ghana replied to Goetze’s close range header with quick goals from Ayew and Gyan. Then the man for all seasons, the evergreen Miroslav Klose scored his 15th (yes 15th) World Cup goal. This means that he is on the brink of beating Ronaldo the first’s (the Brazilian Original) record to become the highest ever goalscorer at the World Cup. The second game was great entertainment too. With all the talk of Ronaldo and his form going into the world cup as the best player in the world was justified in this particular game…..kind of. He cut a rather frustrating figure against Germany and for much of the game against USA as well. Nani took advantage of a defensive howler to score from close range. But Jermaine Jones equalized for the Yanks with a blinder of a long range goal. Dempsey continued his amazing start when he scored late in the second half with his….stomach. But Ronaldo provided an incredible cross for substitute Varela to head home in the last minute of stoppage time to keep Portugese hopes of qualification alive.
Finally, Group H then where Belgium huffed and puffed their way towards another three points. Yet again it was a substitute who struck the winner for the Belgian Red Devils – Divock Origi. Despite a lot of talent at their disposal, Belgium are nowhere near their fluidic best, especially Romelu Lukaku who has been unable to replicate his club form for his country. Origi may get a start in the penultimate group stage fixture and perhaps the likes of Januzaj and Mirallas could be considered as well. Defence is still a bit of a predicament due to their lack of quality natural full backs. While the Belgium-Russia game was dull, South Korea 2-4 Algeria was a defending nightmare but with the six goals and a surprise win for the lower ranked Algerian team, not many are complaining.
With one final round of fixtures yet to be played, there is a lot at stake. Most of the groups have yet to sort themselves out – group winners and qualifiers are still to be determined. These, in turn, are of huge significance to finding out who faces who in the Round of 16. One thing is for certain though – this World Cup is proving to be one of the best ever with the promise of much more skill, excitement and drama for the fans to savour.
Baseline Sport 