World Cup, Day 14: Some Teams Rest, Some Head Home

6/28/2018

Adieu, Cisse

Adelante, Chucky

When I was covering the World Cup -- eight of them -- I always welcomed the day between rounds as a chance to sleep, move on to the next town, get laundry done. Stuff like that.

Watching at home, there is an empty feeling to the one-day space between the group stage and the knockout rounds. While sizing up the teams that survived, I want to take one more day to think about the teams that gave me pleasure but have now gone home.

I already miss the two African teams that supplied so much energy and charisma, but could not hold on for 90-plus minutes. I will miss the field leader of Nigeria, John Obi Mikel, and the manager of Senegal, Aliou Cissé, who roamed the sidelines with his Richard Pryor eyes, the only African manager of the 32.

Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia are also gone. Egypt was the biggest loser of all, making its base in the wild-east Russian province of Chechnya, with its opportunistic leader who glommed onto Mohamed Salah, the pride of Egypt, the star of Liverpool.

Being used so blatantly by a regional lord (a friend of Putin) and the moronic Egyptian federation apparently nettled Salah so badly that he is considering not playing for his homeland any more. Nice going.

I’ll miss the two vecinos – neighbors of the U.S. – Costa Rica and Panama, who managed to qualify ahead of the hapless soccer giant of the north.

And I’ll miss the tireless and combative players of South Korea, who took Germany down in the third and final game.

Will I miss Germany? I slobbered all over them after their reflexive comeback against Sweden in the second match, but ignored warning signs that their expiration date had expired.
* * *
So much for the departed. Of the 16 survivors, I am rooting for two more vecinos, Colombia and Mexico. (How can I not love El Tri, with its opportunistic star nicknamed Chucky, from the movie character with the fiendish grin?)

I always love Brazil, going back to the great, failed team of Sócrates in 1982, and I love Spain and Andres Iniesta, trying to hang on, plus France, just because, but also in homage to the glorious final of Zidane in 1998.

And then there are the two survivors from Thursday’s last group: England has more energy than I’ve ever seen from an English squad, and Belgium won its third match with its three offensive stars all being rested, and a sub made a jitterbug goal that sunk England.

I was conflicted with England-Belgium. My mom, part Irish, was born in England. There’s that. And she mourned her two Belgian-Irish cousins from Brussels who died young after being caught participating in the Resistance. So there's that.

I’m rooting for Belgium because of the family connection, and because they have never won, and because I got to see Vincent Kompany, one of my all-time favorite defenders and soccer adults, who was honored with a quarter-hour cameo on Thursday, playing on knees “turned to sand,” as one of my Euro pals put it.
* * *
Who else won in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup? I’m choosing the Fox broadcasting team of J.P. Dellacamera and Tony Meola, because (a) I know them, and (b) because they are soccer people who do not talk too much.

J.P and Tony let the game breathe, like many European broadcasters. They don’t feel the very American need to blather every personal fact about every player that was discussed in the pre-game production meeting. Meola has grown into this profession, dissecting the game, not just the keepers. (And he was a good one, playing in 1990 and 1994, and a backup in 2002.)

Honorable mention goes to Jorge Perez-Navarro and Mariano Trujillo, totally bilingual and working in English, who supply just enough Latin flavor to make it different, and enjoyable.

Trujillo, a former player from Mexico, has the charming tendency to excuse some players who try something that fails. "But that’s all right,” he says, transmitting the enlightened optimism of players who keep trying stuff and fail, until something works, which, come to think of it, is the essence of this grand sport.

Now, on to the knockout round.

George Vecsey

6/29/2018 09:19:04 am

Good day off: Brian raised the question of the tie-breaker, using red/yellow cards. The imperfections of soccer will come up now in the knockout stage, with the dreaded penalty kicks. My answer to that is, you cannot make players continue after 120 minutes, and other solutions, like more subs or fewer players on the field, seem antithetical to the difficulties of real soccer. Penalty kicks have their own lore -- part of the game. Ask Roberto Baggio, who missed, or Briana Scurry, who stopped one shot and won a World Cup.
As for penalties, draws used to be decided by more corner kicks -- but corner kicks can be interpreted as a defensive positive rather than an offensive plus. Some teams thug it up more than others; why not an ultimate penalty for cynical yellow cards? And head-to-head action doesn't work in a group of four, because the two teams in a dead draw could be 1,000 miles apart, with no possibility of a replay, etc.
Will the use of yellow cards deter players from doing something necessary, or stupid, during a match? Not really. But sports have weaknesses. Baseball is toying with putting a runner on second, during extra innings, to cut down on long games. I hate that. But they are doing it in the minors to save pitchers. Anyway, Brian asked, and I thought I would respond here best, GV

Brian Savin

6/29/2018 02:33:33 pm

Thanks, George. What I was thinking of is maybe using the off day to call the two tied teams onto the field anew and decide by an enhanced penalty kick contest, say to 21. That avoids a full game. What else?

Alan Rubin link

6/29/2018 11:58:04 am

So far, this has been an interesting World Cup that should continue to please.

The shootout has gained acceptance as the only sensible way to deal with ties. All other options are either dangerous to the players or just plain silly.

Tie breakers are not as simple as there are so many variables. Since each game and referee is different, the number of red or yellow cards would be inconsistant and not be a true measure of which team deserved to move on.

Shots on goal or percentage of possession can also be misleading as they reflect a team’s strategy for a particular game.

Once tied after a head to head comparison, a coin toss would be fairer than most alternatives.

Showing my goalkeeper bias, why not use the performance of a team’s goalkeeper to break a tie? How many teams were kept in a game or averted defeat due to their goalkeeper? Soccer is a lot like hockey where a hot goalkeeper can keep their team in the game and inspire them.

As George and others have indicated, with the USMNT absent, favorite teams can change on an almost game to game basis.

I’m pulling for Mexico since they are a great neighbor and rival. Also Guillermo Ochoa is one of my favorite goalkeepers. He played well against Sweden and could not be held responsible for the second and third goals.

I also like England since no one gave them much of a chance and they seemed to have come together in time for the Cup.

It is interesting to watch how the goalkeeper positions themselves as play enters the final third of the field. They are directing the defense but also judging where to be positioned.

Depending upon the offensive setup and angle of attack, keepers quickly determine how far to be off their line and how best to cut the angle.

The cross, including corner kicks, is always a potential scoring opportunity as goalkeepers are most vulnerable when forced to move across the goal. A goalkeeper can often alter their decisions several times in a fraction of a second. Once a goalkeeper selects their position, it is all instinct.

A high level goalkeeper coach once told me that most goalkeeper errors are mental rather than physical. They are usually undone by poor decision making.

I believe that this was the case with DeGea and Neuer. They both looked hesitant on the bad goals they conceded.

In addition to Ochoa, I liked Danijel Subasic of Croatia, Mohamed El-Shenawy of Saudia Arabia, and 45 year old Essam El-Hadary of Egypt.

Belgium’s Thibaut Coutois is also among today’s top goalkeepers. I believe that he got away with a foul when he pushed an England player forcibly to the ground after a play had ended.

With all of today's high tech, there is much that goes undetected and unpunished during a soccer game. It adds to the fun.

Ed Martin

6/29/2018 04:34:36 pm

I sit by the lakeside in Quebec, catching some games and some highlights, in French. (Je ne comprende pas,.)

The game needs no words for this old forward, whose only skill was enough left foot ability to cross, ocassionally, but pitifully slow for the wing, really. Muhlenberg College dropped soccer when enrollment declined after the GI Bill expired, but we, the few who had played, and a group of miscellaneous high school athletes, raised our voices in protest. ( Being the Sports editor of the college paper, didn’t hurt.)
Our best player, then called Center Forward, was skilled. Our Center halfback had played football for Coaldale High School on an all dirt field, so he was tough, fast, and aggressive on the field. We lost every game that first year, (with our Track Coach carrying a book to learn), except one, a 3-3/tie with Ursinus. I was out with a sprained ankle so that tells you something. In Canada, rooting for Mexico, a NAFTA combo, “xxxx trump.”

bruce

6/29/2018 05:13:49 pm

ed,

quebec!?

doesn't that put you in a country that is a mortal danger to the usa?

they cheat at everything and why the hell don't they want cows to be fed growth hormones if it increases milk production by 20%?

almost treasonous, i reckon.

on the other hand, i guess the american dollar must be up against whatever those godless socialists use for currency.

bruce

bruce

6/29/2018 05:06:44 pm

george,

you should've given the usa and canada credit for having the foresight not to have to worry about packing and going home after the first round.

the netherlands and italy would've had a relatively short flight home.

our countries were smart.

and crappy, but.....

bruce

6/29/2018 11:19:50 pm

Bruce, they are force-feeding us Tim Horton’s donuts and frenchfries covered with gravy and cheese curds unless we claim refugee status. I had to write “I like hockey.” 500 times on am ice rink with skates.

However, they did promise that if we were good they would not burn down the White House again.

bruce

6/29/2018 11:39:10 pm

ed,

I have to correct you.

the apostrophe in Horton's was dropped years ago because it ain't used en francais so it was dropped everywhere.

the fact you were didn't say poutine and got it past the censors will undoubtedly cause some bureaucrat a few fingers....hope you can sleep tonight.

they actually must like you if they're letting you write it in Anglais and say like, not LOVE.

of course, the white house thing was in retaliation for the burning of York which is known today as Toronto....something some of the American media apparently didn't realize.

finally, if you pick up any French while you're there, just remember not to use it in france or they'll ask you to parlez Anglais s'il vous plait.

hope this info helps you.

bruce

Michael

6/30/2018 09:41:38 pm

How can you not like a small country like Uruguay and it’s two Atletico Madrid central defenders, Jimenez & Godin (captain)? But I’m also for England/Columbia or Belgium!!

Comments are closed.

QUOTES
“I don’t think people understand how Covid affects older Americans,” Mr. Caretti said with frustration. “In 2020, there was this all-in-this-together vibe, and it’s been annihilated. People just need to care about other people, man. That’s my soapbox.”
---Vic Caretti, 47, whose father recently died of Covid at 85.
---From an article by Paula Span, who covers old age for the NYT, which currently has 2646 comments, the majority criticizing the American public – and public officials – for acting as if the pandemic is “over.”
Classic wishful thinking, at a lethal level.
Please see:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/11/health/covid-pandemic-seniors.html

World Cup, Day 14: Some Teams Rest, Some Head Home

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