My own World Cup summary (10/07/2006 03:35)

That's that then. The 2006 Fifa World Cup is over. And it's back to the cold reality of "too little football on TV" for a while.

So what kind of championship has it been? Let's see if I can summarize my own opinions and memories from the past 3 weeks, or so.

It started off with a bang when Germany played Costa Rica, and did their job convincingly. In fact, pretty much all of thr favorites did that, the underdogs had a hard time as usual in the entire championship. Sure enough, The Czech Republic and Poland went out a little sooner than expected, while Ghana impressed and charmed millions with their offensive and entertaining football, but I  had a firm belief in 4 teams. I thought Spain, Argentina, Brazil and Germany were the 4 best teams this time, and expected them all to see at least the quarter-finals, with two of them going all the way to the finals. I thought both England and Portugal to be way overrated, while Ukraine was bound to exit in the first rounds. I fealt that France was a bit overrated too, but they have proven to be a strong team in championships lately, so they can never be ruled out.

Things did not go exactly as I thought though.
I was right about England though. They didn't play a lot of good football, and if it were not for a very accurate foot of a certain famous player, they would never have made it as far as they did go. I hope people will not remember Rooneys red card too well, which I think was nothing more than an accident. But Englands defensive strategy and easy-to-read playstyle belongs in the eighties. I think they will be much better off without the loony swede in charge though.

Spain has a lot of good players, but as always, they can't quite make things go their way in big championships. Sad, strange, but true once again. They shine and glimmer at times, but then suddenly they look completely unintrested and lazy.

Brazil was pherhaps the biggest dissapointment to me this time. Whatever happened to the expected brilliance of Ronaldinio? Some fancy dribbling, some good passes, a set of teeth begging for a makeover, and that's it? But he wasn't responsible for Brazils performance alone of course. Again, I failed to see the "guts", the "we-want-to-do-all-we-can" attitude. I saw a lot of players walking, jogging and waiting to get the ball placed right on their shoes.

If Brazil failed to meet my hopes, another team surpassed my expectations throughout the entire event. Germany, with a whole new national team, a new coach and even a new goalie, played entertaining, offensive football, all the way. I really thought they would go all the way, and was a bit sad to see they didn't.

France was sad to watch early in the championship. With a draw against Switzerland, and another draw against Korea, I never expected them to do well at all. Zidanes magic seemed to be gone, and there was a sluggishness resting over the whole team. "There is no way they are going to get to the finals this year", I said, feeling very safe and clever at the same time.
Just proves what a git I can be, eh? (-:

Italy played decent football, as they always do, with some small glitches in their draw against USA. They have what I belive is the best goalie of the tournament, and an extremely good defense, while at the same time a set of very strong individual players. In retrospect, it is intresting to see that in the tournament, their 12 goals (not counting the penalty shootout) have been scored by 10 different players. I didn't think their offensive capabilities were good enough to go all the way, but I guess I was wrong again (-:

Germany kicked a pale Portugal out of the Bronze final, and won fairly. Looking at the two teams and how they have played in this tournament, I think it is safe to say the best team won.

The Final was tricky for me. I didn't know who to cheer for. I spent some time thinking about it, and since France won in 98, I'd go with Italy this time, provided they played proper football and not going out all defense, like they have had a tendency to do before.
And both France and Italy gave us quite a spectacular 1st half. Great offensive play by both teams, both willing to take chances, allthough surprisingly enough, Italy played with a higher risk than France did, who put their most of their faith in the magic from Zidane and Henry. 1-1 was the result at halftime, which was fair enough.

The second half was a bit more "relaxed", but with France having the upper hand, playwise. It didn't result in any goals though. And so it was time for 2x15 minutes of extra time. Unfortunately, this is where Zidane's magic suffered from a real bad draw from the Mana-pool. The most experienced player on the french team, the player who has been named player-of-the-year on more than 1 occasion, one of 4 players to score a goal in 2 World Cup finals, a living legend playing his last match, lost his head in an attempt to ram it right through an Italian player. How true those words ring now : "That move belongs in a wrestling-match".
I am incredibly dissapointed in him, and I can't imagine what the Italian chap might have said to trigger such unprofessional reaction. I really don't care either, I just know that Zidane lost his place among the truly great ones in my opinion.

When it came to the penalty shootout, I was confident Italy would take it home. I think Buffon is a far better goalie than Barthez, and with Zidane out, I expected 2 french penalties to miss or be saved. I was right about the result, but they actually only missed on 1, and that one hit the top bar full force.

And there it is, Italy wins the world cup. Well done!
Here are my 5 things I will remember from the tournament, in no special order:

• Ghana played fantastic football
• Zidane isn't the gentleman and idol I thought he was
• Italy won
• Brazil were lazy and didn't want to win
• Norway didn't even qualify

What will YOU remember?