First off, I think the best player of the tournament so far has to be the Ghanaian goalkeeper Richard Kingson. His performance every game for Ghana has been incredible and he has been the biggest reason for their success in the tournament.(Check out his save in the Ghana v Australia match!)
The Netherlands and Germany are a cut above all others right now. Actually, considering how the South American teams barnstormed through the early games, how surprising is it that only one team is in the semifinals-and the one team is Uruguay! No Argentina, no Brazil.
Paraguay played very solid but not attractive football; plain and simple it was about defense and counterattacks. Brazil entered their match with Holland playing the best ball of all the teams, but bad luck and a more determined Holland team dispatched them out of the tournament. I won’t say too much about Brazil, because I didn’t think they would win the tournament anyway. I did think they would make the semis, but unfortunately their lack of a real play maker (not Kaka, the most overrated Brazilian superstar and worst #10 I have ever seen) doomed them as the tournament got tougher and the quality of opposition better. Think Ronaldinho would have made a difference? We’ll never know.
Uruguay and Ghana played what was probably the best match of the tournament; and Ghana was incredibly unlucky to have not made it to the semi finals. Diego Forlan has been a one man wrecking crew, carrying Uruguay on his shoulders and supported capably by Luis Suarez and they are carrying the hopes of South America now.
Argentina went up against a more disciplined team in Germany and got embarrassed. Completely outplayed and seemingly without a defensive scheme, they were exposed by a young, hungry German side. I will freely admit, I did not think Germany was that good, even after they beat England. Right now they are playing full of confidence, poise and scoring goals in bunches they will be a stern test for my favorites, Spain in the semi-finals. I do see a 2-1 game here with Spain advancing but it will be a very tough match.
The Netherlands, who along with Spain carries the distinction of the greatest nations to never win a World Cup, will have their hands full facing Uruguay. Wesley Sneijder (L) is having a phenomenal year for club and country, Van Persie is coming off an injury plagued season and showing great form, the team is clicking on all cylinders and I see it continuing. I think the Dutch will win 2-1.
Three years ago Johan Santana (R) was the class of the free-agent crop; a dominating pitcher with one of the best winning percentages in the majors and on a trajectory that was saying Hall of Fame level greatness. 2 Cy Young awards, twice the AL ERA leader and three times the strikeout leader, he was as dominating as any pitcher could be in the early post-steroid days. Then he signed to play for the Mets.
One good season in 2008, but overall a record of 34 wins & 55 no-decisions in the last two and a half seasons. The Mets have notoriously failed to provide run support for him in many of his starts, and while he has continued to soldier on, the question that has to be on his mind is this: did he blow his chance for the Hall of Fame, not to mention 200 wins, by chasing the biggest paycheck?
His ERA since joining the Mets is 3.02. His ERA in the three years prior to coming to NY was 2.99. His innings pitched, games started, strikeouts and hits allowed are all in line with his Minnesota numbers, factoring in of course his injury plagued 2009 season. The big differences however are these; no shutouts in 3 years. No complete games in 3 years. No season with more than 16 wins in NY, and on a pace this year to reach 12, his lowest season total since 2003. With 127 career wins, Santana may still reach 200, but it’s a long-shot. Did I mention those 55 no-decisions?
As great as he has been in the past, there have been some questions about his fitness. Add in the undeniable fact that the Mets have not been supporting him in his starts, this great pitcher may be doomed to mediocrity the rest of his career. At a minimum his experience should be a cautionary tale to other players; the money is great, but winning counts, and if the dollar amounts are more or less equal, why not go to a real contender? Santana (allegedly) capitulated to the players union-that bastion of integrity-and didn’t accept lesser offers from better teams.
Congrats to Jason Heyward being selected to the All-Star game in his first season. He won’t be playing as he is presently on the disabled list, but it’s nice to see the fans acknowledging his great rookie season.
Serena Williams is the best women's tennis player ever. Yeah, I said it!
Enjoy the hot dogs!
Dewey, jah know se Kaka is the worst excuse for a midfielder I have ever seen. The guy looked lost out there. Could ronaldinho have done better, of course. I still believe he is the best player in brazil. The mistake he made was going to AC Milan. Seriie A is a third class league. I think Manchester city would be a better move or at least, somewhere else in Spain.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course there's Dunga. The guy is Italian in many ways, his coaching style reflects that, which explains the defensive nature of his style. So brazil lost because that had no creative midfield. Their defensive midfield and defense were pretty good, but in the front half there was no creativity.
As for the Dutch, I don't think they are that good, look at all the shenanigans they resorted to to win a game. Spain will lose, and I hope they do.
African football is on the rise. I believe they along with the US have a chance to win or at least contest a final within the next 3 or four world cup.
As for baseball, i don't really follow it anymore, but I do know that he has underachieved, maybe the NY pressure cooker has softened him up.
Serena, is one of the best. As much as I love her, she has not reached greatness as yet. And even though her era of players are far more versatile than Graff's, navratilova and Billie Jean King, I still think she needs to win about 4 more slams. Don't get me wrong, i don't believe annoy of the aforementioned could match up with her but their records speaks quite loudly.
I agree with your thoughts on Ronaldinho; his omission form the Brazil team, along with Alexander Pato, was a major blow for that squad-it left them with very little creativity and no one who could run at a defense and break them down on the dribble.
ReplyDeleteAlso i'm glad you made that comment about African football, because I think that has been the biggest shift in football in the last 20 plus years, the rise of top flight players from African countries. I think the Ivory Coast, Nigerias, Ghanas will be major forces if they continue to build from the youth levels and keep thier stars home-a lesson Jamaica is slowly learning.
Dewey, Jamaica should have learned this lesson with the proliferation of our track and field world and Olympic champions. But of course Jamaica would rather venerate criminals than develop athletes.
ReplyDeleteFor the life of me I never understood why ronaldihno and Pato and e young kid neymar were never included in the squad. Dunga is an ass, plain and simple. You also have to ask why didn't capello bring Theo Walcott and some other younger talented players? The African countries will be a force to reckon with in the future because they brought their young phenoms to the world cup even if they didn't play, just being there will be invaluable.
As for jam rock, the only way they will be successful is if they get a change of mindset. The prevailing individual expressive play on the field benefits only that individual and is to the detriment of the team. Also the fact that young poor kids are often left by the wayside because their parents doesn't drop them off at training in a Benz or a bimmer has to change. Go with talent no matter the economic strata, start them young let them train together and keep tight discipline and you will see the rise of Jamaican soccer. Our talent is never in doubt, but our mental approach, guidance and leadership is.
Pete