World Cup Draw Review: Europe

I've saved the best for last. Finally, the draw from Europe as decided this past weekend in Brazil. The European confederation is the biggest in terms of quantity and everyone who tunes into the draw does so to see their own confederation and then Europe. So what kind of mouth watering matchups do we have in Europe this cycle? Well before we get to that I'll just quickly go through the European format. The 53 member nations were drawn into 9 groups. The winner of each group qualifies for the World Cup while the 8 best runners up will playoff for the 4 remaining spots. The worst of the 9 runners up will not be drawn into the playoffs and will be eliminated. The ranking of second placed teams will be based on the individual teams records versus the teams placed 1st to 5th in their group, this is because group I only has 5 teams while all others have 6. In all Europe will be awarded 13 spots at the next World Cup. Norway and Greece were shock 1st seeds and were the teams everyone wanted to be drawn with. France, Russia, Serbia, Sweden and Denmark were the toughest of the 2nd seeds and teams that most others wanted to avoid. This is how things fell into place in Europe.

Group A

Croatia, Serbia, Belgium and Scotland could all challenge in this group, while Macedonia and Wales should be the bottom feeders. At first glance this may not appear to be a very tough group but Macedonia and Wales are far from the easiest minnows that could have been drawn to this group. Belgium and Scotland are both fully capable of challenging for atleast the runner up spot in this group, if they fail then they will surely play spoiler. Croatia and Serbia will fight for the automatic World Cup berth but there's a rivalry between them that is sure to make their matchups as well as their fight for 1st competitive and thrilling. I will not rule out the possibility that the group winner will be the team that manages not to drop points against Scotland and Belgium. Focusing on the bigger picture will be more important in this group than most others. Belgium, whether they qualify or not, will be the key in this group.

Belgium

Group B

Unlike Group A, Group B actually looks hard on paper and at first site is the hardest that the draw has produced. Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Armenia and Malta form this group. Italy, though they had a tough World Cup 2010, are 1st seeds for a reason and usually don't do poorly in qualifying. Whether they finish 1st or qualify through the playoffs as a runner up is another question. If they manage to falter and go the runner up route, Denmark and Czech Republic are more than capable of taking the top spot. Denmark also had a bad World Cup 2010 but are efficient enough to cruise through this group. The Czech Republic are a bit of a mystery, they usually do very well or fall apart before the end. If they play to the top of their game for the entire campaign they will be tough to stop. Bulgaria may be the key a lot like Belgium is in Group A. Not an immediate threat to qualify, Bulgaria can defeat any of the top 3 and at a crucial moment in qualifying that can change everything. Armenia and Malta should not put up much of a fight here. In this group keep an eye on the top 4 positions at all times as things should get interesting.

Denmark

Group C

Group C can also be argued to be the toughest of the bunch. Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Austria, Faroe Islands and Kazakhstan were drawn together for this group. There's not much I need to say about Germany, they are top class as always and regardless of opponents they should qualify. Having Germany in your group pretty much takes automatic qualification away but that doesn't mean that Sweden, Ireland or Austria will just roll over and die. Infact, Austria has played Germany tough recently in Euro Cup qualifying and the Germans were lucky to come away with a point. Austria always seems to play Germany tough for obvious reasons but I highly doubt that they are of the quality to challenge for a runner up position. Sweden and Ireland however, will challenge for that spot. Sweden are the most likely to get that position and they will undoubtedly give Germany a good run for the group's top spot. Ireland can take points away from anyone but usually struggle to dominate the minnows in these situations. Sweden and Ireland's faith may rely directly on how they do against each other. If Germany drop points and either Sweden or Ireland get on a roll we can have an interesting race. If not, the fight for second will make for some thrilling football.

Sweden

Group D

Unlike the first 3 groups, this one does not look like it will be much of a fight. World Cup 2010 runner up, The Netherlands will be joined by Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Estonia and Andorra. The Netherlands are clear favorites to win the group and could do so with full points as they did last time. Turkey technically are the most likely to challenge them and historically have done well against the Netherlands. Turkey have not exactly followed up their World Cup 2002 performance with success but can challenge when at their best. Hungary are a mystery at the moment. They have not qualified for a World Cup since the 80's and have not finished as a runner up since 1998 but they have a young talented team and have been improving. Romania have not made a World Cup since 1998 but are in the perfect group to try make it back to the big tournament. If Turkey slip and they play Holland at the right time, Romania can earn the runners up spot and try qualify through the playoffs. Estonia and Andorra won't challenge much as minnows but can play spoiler potentially.

Holland

Group E

Above I mentioned that Norway and Greece were seeded and Group E was the first to be seeded by one of these teams, Norway. Slovenia, Switzerland, Albania, Cyprus and Iceland joins the Norwegians in the group. Norway, despite not qualifying for a World Cup since 1998 will benefit from being seeded in this somewhat simple group. Slovenia and Switzerland both qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and will try to do the same this time around. Norway, Slovenia and Switzerland all have a chance to win the group and there's not much seperation between them. This will be one of those groups where the team that ends up 3rd will regret not seizing the opportunity. Albania, Cyprus and Iceland pose no direct threat to the top 3 but will play a direct roll in who qualifies by taking away points. Albania should be top spoiler.

Switzerland

Group F

Portugal and Russia are the toughest teams in Group F. Israel, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan and Luxembourg round out the group. Israel and Northern Ireland pose a direct threat to the top 2 teams in terms of stealing points. The best chance for either of those 2 nations however will be to try get into the playoffs and hope for a favorable matchup. Azerbaijan and Luxembourg will play the role of minnows well. Portugal and Russia will challenge each other directly and 1 match can end up deciding who goes directly to Brazil and who goes to the playoffs. Russia has not played in a World Cup since 2002, but I think this group gives them their best opportunity since.

Russia

Group G

Group G is by far the easiest group overall in Europe and this is a direct result of Greece's seeding. Greece, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, Latvia and Liechtenstein form the group. Bosnia and Herzegovina interest me the most in this group. Bosnia have been knocking on the door for quite some time and this may be their final chance to qualify for the World Cup while they still have this generation of players. The group definitely allows for the possibility of Bosnia doing well, but Slovakia and Greece will have to falter a bit to allow that. Both Slovakia and Greece participated in the last World Cup and are going to be favoured. Slovakia and Greece will have to focus on each other's movements up and down the table while keeping an eye on Bosnia. Lithuania and Latvia are not poor in quality and should have some say in the way the group plays out. Lithuania could actually challenge for a runners up spot if they play to the best of their abilities, but that's a long shot right now. Liechtenstein can also produce a shock result that can prove costly to one of the contenders.


Bosnia and Herzegovina

Group H

After 4 not so spectacular groups we have a pretty interesting one in Group H. England are the top seeds in the group, followed by upstart Montenegro. A pair of 2006 qualifiers, Ukraine and Poland, can also compete for a qualifying spot all the way to the final matchday and Moldova and San Marino round out the group. We all know of England and their capabilities so it's no surprise that they are expected to qualify from this group. Whether or not they do it with ease, or at all, is another story. The English are not a poor side at all, the group is just extremely tricky and these kinds of groups can cause a lot of problems for many of the top teams. Montenegro are a mystery to me, they were part of Serbia and Montenegro when they qualified for the 2006 World Cup but a small part at that. They have had good results in the years since their formation as a team though and earned their high seeding. Former Yugoslav republics tend to do well in World Cup qualifying however, so Montenegro should be paid attention to. While Moldova are not a threat to qualify and San Marino will shock the world if they earn a single point, Poland and Ukraine are legitimate threats. Both nations co-host Euro Cup 2012 and therefore have not been playing those current qualifiers, but once playing that tournament at home they should be ready to compete and could give England a run for their money. It will be interesting to see who plays who on the final matchday.

Ukraine

Group I

Finally we get to Group I, the 5 team group and what a group it is. Defending FIFA World Cup champion, Spain and 2006 World Cup runner up, France will battle it out for the top spot. The three remaining teams in the group are Belarus, Georgia and Finland...far from the easiest group. It's inevitable that one of the top 2 will have to go through the playoffs if they are to make it to the World Cup. Belarus can make things very interesting if they were to challenge for that runner up spot essentially eliminating Spain or France, could you imagine a World Cup without its defending champion? Georgia and Finland will not be pushovers either by any means and this group will most likely go down to the final matchday, if only to seperate 1st from 2nd.

Awakening of a Sleeping Giant

The first real super power in the beautiful game's history was not Brazil, Germany, Italy or Argentina, it was Uruguay. Dating back to 1916, when Uruguay started playing opposition not named Argentina, they dominated the game. That was the first year they took part in a major tournament, and they won it. It was the first edition of the Copa America, held in rival Argentina just like the recently concluded tournament. The second Copa America showed even more of Uruguay's dominance in the early years, they again won it all, this time without losing or drawing a game or conceding a goal. They had played two tournaments and won both, this would not be the last time that they achieved this feat. Uruguay would finally lose a match at the tournament in its third edition but even then it was the final and the game's only goal came after 122 minutes.

Having established themselves in South America, Uruguay took their act international, becoming the first South American team to compete in the Olympics in 1924 in Paris. It was unchartered territory for the team, having only played South American opposition in their history to this point. It didn't matter however as Uruguay won the tournament without losing a match, beating Switzerland in the gold medal match. Four years later Uruguay again headed to Europe to defend their Olympic title, this time in Amsterdam. In the final they met a familiar foe, Argentina, but just as they had done in the Copa America a decade before they won the tournament for the second time, in their second appearance. Uruguay had now made their mark on the world, so much that they were chosen to host a new tournament, the World Cup.


Uruguay 1930 team photo

Uruguay had now made their mark on the early history of the Copa America and travelled to Europe twice and won the Olympic tournament. So they were understandably upset when only four European nations made the trip to their nation to participate in the first World Cup. As they had done with the Copa America and Olympic tournaments, they again won a tournament in their first appearance. They won every game and again faced Argentina in the final. They boycotted the 1934 World Cup in Italy to repay the European nations for not making the trip to South America in 1930. The 1938 World Cup in France was also boycotted by Uruguay, this time because a previous agreement to alternate World Cups between continents had been ignored. World War II followed soon after, so Uruguay had to wait until 1950 to see if they could make it 2 for 2 in the World Cup.


Uruguay scores in the 1950 final

Uruguay won the1950 World Cup, once again without losing a game. They defeated Brazil in the final at the Maracana in what was considered an upset. Regardless, Uruguay had managed to win another tournament in their first two appearances and were clearly a force when it came to international tournament football. They participated at the 1954 World Cup and lost for the first time ever in the Semi Finals versus a Hungarian team that hadn't lost in years. At the end of regulation the score was tied at 2, the Hungarians added on after the 110th minute. Uruguay won their 9th Copa America title two years later but a 5-0 loss to Paraguay prevented them from qualifying for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. By 1970 they had won 11 Copa America titles and managed a 4th place finish in the World Cup that year, but their dominance over the rest of the world was a thing of the past and the next 40 years was filled with a lot of inconsistant play.

After 1970, Uruguay fell into mediocrity, they qualified for the World Cup every once in a while and when they did they did nothing of notice. The little nation had fallen off as one of the world's super powers and was replaced by Brazil, Germany, Italy and their rival Argentina. As the turn of the century came and passed, Uruguay were barely featured in the world's biggest tournament. A poor showing at the 2002 World Cup was followed by failure to qualify for the 2006 tournament. Then came 2010, a new generation of players and an emergence.

The first round put them in what appeared to be a tough group. They would have to play the hosts, South Africa, a tough Mexican team and 2006 finalist, France. Surprisingly to football purists, Uruguay won the group. They then beat South Korea in the round of 16 putting them in the Quarter Finals. This was further than many had expected the team to make it and it would have been satisfactory. Four South American nations had made it to the stage in all, more than we were accustomed to. Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina were still present. Argentina were then dismantled by Germany, Brazil lost their cool versus the Netherlands and Paraguay blew their chances against Spain. Uruguay however battled Africa's last hope, Ghana, in one of the tournaments most memorable games. The match went to penalties, albeit by some Uruguayan luck, with Ghana missing a penalty in the 120th minute. Uruguay won the shootout and made it to the semi finals, for the first time in 40 years.

Diego Forlan

One man could be given the credit for Uruguay's shock performance at the World Cup, Diego Forlan. He wasn't exactly one of the new generation, having played at the 2002 World Cup, but his performance at the 2010 World Cup was the stuff of legend. Even though Uruguay lost to the Netherlands in the semi finals, Forlan managed to score in both that game and the 3rd place playoff. He was awarded goal of the tournament by FIFA, even though any of his 5 could have been given that honor. He was also awarded the FIFA Golden Ball, given to the tournament's best player overall, quite an honor.

Walter Gargano

Uruguay had finished 4th in the World for the first time since 1970 and there was no feeling of a fluke involved, tough players like Walter Gargano, Diego Perez and Eguren showed quality. Up front Forlan had looked like the world's best but Luis Suarez had emerged as a star and also had a good world cup himself. Muslera in goal turned out to be a very valuable goalkeeper and role players in midfield like Alvaro Pereira emerged in the 2010 World Cup and proved to be as good as advertised. Uruguay had not only finished in their highest position since 1970, they were the highest placing South American team, outranking Argentina and Brazil as well as Paraguay.

Alvaro Pereira

One year later and we are one year removed from the World Cup. One of the most exciting Copa America tournaments in recent memory has just concluded, and Uruguay are the winner. The sleeping giant has emerged, the Copa America title, their first in 16 years, was their record 15th. In all they have won more major titles than any other nation in the world and for the second year in a row have outdone Brazil and Argentina. They now play the beautiful game as well as anyone in the world. Winning the Copa America in Argentina is nothing new for them, but even after the World Cup performance last year not many would have bet on them to win it all. Led by Forlan they have a core of players young enough to continue performing at this level. Players like Caceres in defense have their careers ahead of them, and once Forlan has retired young forwards Luis Suarez and Edinson "El Matador" Cavani look more than capable of carrying on upfront for the next decade. With the next World Cup on South American soil in 3 years, and the Confederations Cup preceeding it, Uruguay are in perfect position to make another strong run in a tournament. The rest of the world better take notice, because the sleeping giants from the tiny nation are back!

El Matador Cavani

The Penalty Problem

In the past week we've had a lot of football. The 4 Copa America Quarter Finals, the 2 Copa America Semi Finals and a Women's World Cup Final, just to name a few. Of these 7 critical games, 5 of them went into extra time and of those 5, 4 of them went to Penalty Shootouts. So in one week, we had 7 matches that helped decide the eventual outcome of tournaments and more than half were decided by the dreaded shootout. Personally, I love shootouts, the excitement is unrivaled in sports and it tests the composure of players when everything is on the line. When is it too much though? The concept of the penalty shootout has worked so well for so long because we usually only see them in small doses. Between World Cups 1986 and 2010 we've had an average of 3 penalty shootouts per World Cup. 7 World Cups, 21 Shootouts, 112 Knockout Games, That's less than 1 in every 5 World Cup games.

Why are we now seeing more and more penalty shootouts, but why? I've come up with 3 main reasons for this. (1) Parity (2) Conservative Play (3) Refereeing Decisons. Parity is definitely alive in the international game. There was once a clear seperation between the elite nations of the world and everyone else, that seperation is now blurred. Recent penalty shootout matchups that potetially show parity are
Brazil .vs. Paraguay in the Copa America 2011 Quarter Finals and Venezuela vs Paraguay in the Copa America 2011 Semi Finals. In the first matchup we have one of the world's elite in Brazil being held to a goalless draw and eventually losing in a Shootout, in the other we have traditional regional minnows Venezuela holding Paraguay and almost actually winning. In another example involving Paraguay we have the World Cup 2010 Second Round matchup vs Japan, a team that has not ever really been a real Quarter Final quality team. Yet still they were just a shootout away from reaching that milestone just a year ago. 

The fact that Paraguay were involved in so many penalty shootouts may point to another one of my listed reasons, conservative play. Certainly the fact that Paraguay has been in shootouts with everyone from Japan and Venezuela to Brazil may have something to do with their style of play. They may not be intentionally trying to play for penalties but their defensive style of play may give weaker teams the opportunity to. One small fact about Paraguay in those last 3 shootouts is that they've won all 3. They're becoming the Germany of South America when it comes to penalty shootouts and if they're that good at it, why fight the possibility of it? Certainly the factor of conservative play has been around for quite some time where penalties are concerned. That's where the biggest problem lies with the concept of a penalty shootout.


Vizcarrondo

Refereeing decisions certainly play a part in the number of extra time games we seem to be having. What's new though? A missed penalty call there, a disallowed goal here...it's all been seen in the beautiful game. In the recent Venezuela vs Paraguay game, Oswaldo Vizcarrondo put Venezuela up seemingly only to have the goal disallowed for offside. Here we have a weaker team not going the conservative route and playing for the win and having their goal disallowed for an offside call that was debatable at best. The goal would've made history as Venezuela has never made the Copa America final in history. Now if the call was correct and should've been made I stand corrected. From the replays I've seen though it would be very difficult for me to make that call...but of course, I'm no referee. It just seems to me that the officials are in too much of a hurry to make such calls and in games where goals are hard to come by it makes all the difference.

So what's the alternative? As much as I love penalties, the only real alternative would be to get rid of the concept all together. There's nothing we can do about parity, infact we should welcome it, but conservative play and bad refereeing decisions will happen regardless. At the end of the day, the most important of games should not be decided by penalties. If we were to get rid of shootouts the best alternatives I can think of are Silver Goal and the system the MLS used in its early years. Silver Goal is simple, if one team scores in the 1st half of extra time the other team then has to score before the end of that period for the match to continue. If the other team cannot tie the score by the end of that period of extra time, the team that has the lead is the winner. In this case, if the score is tied after extra time we can then use the penalty shootout to settle things. It would definitely throw conservative play out the window in many situations. The second alternative is the former MLS solution. Not much was good in the first years of the MLS but their way of settling ties were fun and made sense. Instead of 5 standard penalties by both teams, we would have 5 shooting opportunities by both teams. Each player would be given 5 seconds to go 1 on 1 with the keeper and attempt a shot. If no shot was attempted in 5 seconds then it counts the same as a miss. This alternative brings a little more of the game into the decider and would be just as exciting for fans. Regardless, we have penalty shootouts for the near future and there's not much that will be done to change that fact. I just hope we get them in smaller doses, so we can enjoy the novelty and hope the better team wins.

The Women's World Cup Final

Yesterday there was a lot of football being played around the world. I am so happy that the game I chose to give the most attention to was the FIFA Women's World Cup Final. It was worth it, from start (literally) to the end of the game. It was a good final and worthy of the occasion.



Megan Rapinoe

The first thing I noticed was that Megan Rapinoe was finally starting for the US. She had an amazing tournament and in my opinion has been really underated. The game kicked off and immediately there was an opportunity for the US on the Japanese goal. Lauren Cheney within seconds had a shot at the near post, a shot in which she should've passed to Wambach in the middle, but a good shot regardless. Welcome to the final.

Lauren Cheney

In the 8th minute, Cheney was again at it, just missing on a cross by Megan Rapinoe. Less than 5 minutes later, the favour was returned, Rapinoe missed on a cross by Cheney. Despite the near misses, after 15 minutes it was all USA, but where was Abby Wambach? She was yet to make an impact on the game. Megan Rapinoe began to make her mark on the game gradually however, hitting the post in the 18th. The Japanese still hadn't had much chances in the game and the US almost capitalized in the 27th when Wambach finally showed up with a powerful left footed shot from the edge of the 18 yard box. The shot was hit as well as she could hit it and ricocheted off the crossbar. I still have no idea how she missed that shot. Japan replied quickly with their first good chance of the game. A through ball from Ohno was played to Ando putting her in a good 1 on 1 situation, but her weak shot was saved easily by Hope Solo.

Hope Solo

30 Minutes into the match, the USA still had the upper hand but Japan had began picking their spots. The 15 remaining minutes before the half saw Japan get more involved, even missing a great opportunity in the 43rd. The Half came with the score still tied 0-0, even though the USA had dominated for the most part. Japan were still very much in it though and could easily steal the game.

Alex Morgan

At the half the US lost the early spark plug, Lauren Cheney. She was replaced with qualifying hero and youngest team member, Alex Morgan. The US started where they left off and in the 49th minute there was a scramble infront of the Japanese goal but the ball was cleared. The US were causing problems for the Japanese. Japan continued to counter attack with through balls but rarely got off a shot. The USA led in shot total 15-5 at this point, though they struggled to get a shot on target. Japan began to get more creative, and a clever pass over the top by Sawa to Kinga was shot over bar. After an hour of play the score was still tied 0-0 with the Japanese evening things out.

Abby Wambach started getting more opportunities in the air after the 60 minute mark and began getting more involved in the play upfront. She had been absorbing most of the attention by the defence to this point, freeing up her strike partners, Lauren Cheney at first and now Alex Morgan. In the 65th minute she caught a break from the tough Japanese defence and was able to connect with a diving header. The shot was tipped just over the bar by the keeper, though it was an amazing shot. Just 3 minutes later, Megan Rapinoe, who had been so good all tournament long with her passes and crosses, sent a perfect long ball down field to transition from defence to offence. The ball found substitute Alex Morgan who had a clear path to goal in front of her. She took 1 touch before shooting, the ball found the corner of the net, the USA had opened the scoring! It was 1-0 in the 69th minute. Could the USA hold on though?

Japan immediately pushed forward to compensate for the goal, but the next 10 minutes were uneventful. Japan didn't change their strategy and kept pushing forward with through balls and clever passes. You could feel that one of these created opportunities would bend the defence to the point of breaking. The defence indeed broke under the pressure. With just 9 minutes left in the game, a ball was lifted into the penalty area by Japan and caused problems for the US defence. Buehler got to the ball but quickly passed it off to Kreiger, unable to clear, Kreiger lost control of the ball and it fell to the feet of Aya Miyama. Miyama smartly shot away from where Hope Solo would be diving and converted the relatively easy chance. Late into the game the score was tied. Just 1 minute later, Nagatoma of Japan had another good chance but the defence prevailed. The pressure had now shifted unto the US.

The Americans started playing long ball for the remainder of regulation time. Japan kept pushing for a winner though, and the action began going back and forth. USA began pressuring hard into the 90th minute but no shots were taken as the defence were able to handle everything thrown at them. The final whistle blew and it was 1-1. We would go to extra time

The USA true to form, began attacking immediately in the extra period. Wambach got off a strong header in the 91st but directly at the goalkeeper. 5 minutes later the USA were still getting more opportunities and had seemed to be back to dominating. Japan rarely pressured in the entire first period of extra time, just seemed to be playing defence. In the 103rd minute, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe began building up play from the corner, ending with Alex Morgan heading down the touchline towards goal. She crossed in the tight space she had and found Wambach in the 6 yard box. Abby headed the ball at point blank range and there was not much the keeper could do. Goal, USA! They now led 2-1, and it was Abby Wambach's 13th all time World Cup goal. A USA record. The whistle sounded and we would head to the last period of extra time.

The match continued immediately without much break and the Japanese tried to apply the pressure. In the 112th minute the US defence again messed up but Japan couldn't equalize. A defensive substitution was then made by the USA replacing Megan Rapinoe with Heath Tobin. In the 115th minute Japan again pressured the breaking US defence but again couldn't score, despite beating Hope Solo, who appeared to get injured on the play. The play resulted in a corner kick, but a slight delay ensued as the US trainers worked on Hope Solo. The resulting corner kick was taken and Sawa got her head to it putting the ball into the back of the net. In her 5th World Cup, she had just scored her tournament leading 5th goal, with just 5 minutes left. It was now 2-2. The US puhed forward again and in the 120th minute Abby Wambach missed a sitter. Maybe because the ball came to her foot and not her head. In injury time Japanese defender, Iwashimizu pulled down Alex Morgan on the edge of the penalty area and was Red Carded for the infraction. The resulting free kick gave USA more than 1 good opportunity to score, but they couldn't convert. We would go to penalties!!!

The USA would kick first, and Shannon Boxx would be the taker. She went to the keeper's left, but a great reflex save was made giving the US their first shootout miss in history. Aya Miyama stepped up for Japan and simply rolled her shot down the middle as Solo moved out of the way. Japan led 1-0. Carly Lloyd stepped up and promptly sent her penalty over bar. The US were now in trouble. Nagasato stepped up to give Japan a 2-0 lead, but failed. Hope Solo made the save, keeping the score at 1-0 after 2 kicks each. Tobin Heath stepped up next with the aim of scoring the USA's first kick. She too failed, her shot saved by the Japanese keeper. Hope Solo made a good effort on Japan's next kick, getting a hand to the shot, but the pace sent it into the back of the net. Sawaguchi had scored and Japan now led 2-0 after 3 kicks each. It was now clear that the USA would lose in all likelyhood. Abby Wambach stepped up next and converted a beauty of a penalty, but it would be too little, too late. Kunagai would convert Japan's 4th and final kick to give Japan the win 3-1 in the shootout, and their first World Cup title. This one would hurt the US player's for sure. They led twice only to be equalized late, but after the tragedy in Japan earlier this year at least their nation gets something to smile about.

Sawa holding the trophy!

The Death of Brazil and World Cup Qualifying

The King is dead! The King is dead! Well maybe not but let's be honest with ourselves, this isn't the Brazil that we've gotten used too. This isn't the attack spearheaded by Ronaldo or Romario. It certainly isn't the creative squad that had Ronaldinho in the middle with his magic, and it definitely isn't the Brazil that put fear into the hearts of every nation across the world.


Ronaldinho circa 2002

 The downfall began at the 2006 World Cup. Ronaldo, the golden boy of the late 90's, had shown up well overweight and the amazing Ronaldinho ended up having a bad tournament by everyone's standards. Their new stars Robinho and Adriano both seemed to have their own personal issues and their defensive problems finally caught up with them. They exited the tournament without reaching the semi-finals for the first time since 1990. Even then Brazil possessed a different breed of player though. An overweight Ronaldo still managed to score 3 times in 5 games at a World Cup. It's hard to imagine any of their new crop of players being able to contribute in that manner.

Ronaldo: early 2000's

After the 2006 tournament the team managed to win the Copa America in 2007 behind a great tournament from Robinho and then the 2009 Confederations Cup in exciting fashion. It would have been easy to consider the 2006 World Cup a fluke, but then came the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The team again lost in the Quarter Finals. During this tournament the Brazilian downfall was arguably because of the uncharacteristic loss of composure by their players in tough situations. Dunga, who had been coach for the entire cycle was replaced after the tournament. It would have been easy to blame Dunga for the bad performance and he probably did deserve it, but the results have carried over apparently.

The 2011 Copa America on rival ground in Argentina never looked like it would be Brazil's tournament. They started off with a goalless draw with Venezuela, which was shocking for 2 reasons. (1) Brazil did not defeat historical whipping boys, Venezuela and (2) Brazil did not manage to score against historical whipping boys, Venezuela. It was followed by a 2-2 draw against Paraguay, in which Brazil needed an 89th minute equalizer from Fred to get the point. After 2 games they had a draw and a near loss, 2 points from 2 games. This very unBrazilian performance was followed by the group finale against Ecuador. After being tied at 2 goals in the second half, Brazil managed to pull away and win the game 4-2. The group ended with Brazil on 5 points and placed them in a Quarter Final bout with Paraguay. Unlike the first game, which ended 2-2, the Quarter Final matchup was a goalless draw. The second time in the tournament that Brazil failed to score. The match inevitably went to a penalty shootout and the Brazilians lost. Not only did they lose, but they lost without converting a single penalty...out of 4. Elano, Andre Santos and Fred missed the goal completely while Thiago Silva had his shot saved. Very unBrazilian indeed.

Neymar

The new golden boy is the teenager, Neymar. I'm not sure if he'll ever get to the level of the great Brazilians of the past, but he'll definitely be in Brazilian plans for the remainder of this cycle. The next World Cup happens to be in Brazil, so the pressure will be on for them to perform at the tournament. They'll have the luxury of avoiding World Cup qualifying and preparing for the tournament. They will have almost 3 years to build a team capable of winning it all on home soil. We will see how it goes for the Brazilians.

There was a lot of football yesterday other than the Brazil-Paraguay game. There was the Women's World Cup final, which I will get to later. There was a World Cup Qualifying match in the Concacaf region, in which Belize beat Montserrat 3-1 to win the matchup 8-3 on aggregate. They will move on to Round 2 which will be drawn into groups at the big draw in Brazil on Saturday. There was also another Copa America Quarter Final yesterday. Venezuela managed to beat Chile 2-1 to move on to the Copa America semi-final where they will meet Paraguay, not Brazil.

Matchday Report: Copa America, Women's World Cup

Ahhhh, some things will never change! A year will always be 12 months, we will all die one day and Colombia will always disappoint! Coming into this Copa America I didn't expect much from the Colombians to be honest, but after the first round...I started to believe. Maybe, just maybe, this was going to be the return of top class Colombian football. After all, the team has quite a bit of talent and seemed to have some momentum going into Saturday's Quarter Final matchup with Peru. Peru didn't exactly seem like the toughest of opponents either...but that's why they play the matches. Twenty minutes into the game it was obvious that this was going to be one of those tough matches where goals were going to be hard to come by. At halftime with the score tied at nil the match was playing out exactly in that manner, and the early part of the second half wasn't much different. In the 70th minute an opportunity to break the deadlock arrived when Colombia was awarded a penalty. It was clear this was going to be the type of game that 1 goal would be enough to win, so this was huge! Radamel Falcao stepped up to the spot and promptly sent the kick wide of the goal. Falcao! Colombia's young star with seemingly infinite talent had just missed a penalty with 20 minutes left. At that point I knew they were doomed. Regulation time ended with the score 0-0 as expected and the game proceeded to extra time. This is where Colombia fell apart completely. In the first period of extra time, Peru scored after a free kick was floated into the box causing chaos in the Colombian defence. The Colombian keeper came out to intercept the cross only to fall over Colombian captain, Yepes. The fall caused him to lose the little grasp he had on the ball leaving the goal open. The ball fell to Carlos Lobaton of Peru and he wasted no time blasting a shot into the open net for a Peru goal. Trailing 1-0 into the second period of extra time, Colombia began pushing everything forward with the hopes of finding an equalizer. The urgency was definitely called for but Colombia became erratic. Another goalkeeping error led to Peru sealing the victory. A poor clearance by the keeper fell to a Peruvian player instantly putting them in a 2 on 2 situation. The 2 Colombian defenders stood little chance and Peru scored a very easy goal. Colombia paid for their erratic play and Peru capitalized sealing the victory and earning a spot in the semi-final. Colombia are eliminated, and after the missed penalty and the 2 errors defensively...they have no one to blame but themselves. The talent is there for Colombia to make a serious run at qualifying for the 2014 World Cup however, and hopefully they cease their opportunities better over the next few years.

Radamel Falcao

In the other Quarter Final, Uruguay took on rivals and tournament hosts Argentina. Unlike the previous game, this game was filled with excitement from the start. The atmosphere seemed to be perfect, and the play on the field matched it. The hosts hadn't had a great opening round, but in a knockout match against one of their biggest rivals they were sure to play at their highest level. The crowd was silenced early though, when Uruguay opened the scoring through Diego Perez. A shot deflected into his path just infront of the goal, and with the keeper already beaten it didn't take much of a shot to convert for Perez. With Argentina down 1-0 you would've expected Uruguay to keep the pressure on but the momentum actually switched to the other side. Argentina pressured until they broke the Uruguay defence. Lionel Messi put together an impressive piece of play on the right side and sent a good cross into the box. Gonzalo Higuain beat the offside trap and got to the cross with his head in perfect position to beat Muslera, the Uruguayan keeper. The score was tied at 1 a piece and the game went into halftime.

Diego Perez

Uruguay lost Diego Perez to a second yellow card in the 38th minute and that meant trouble for them. Perez was not only their goal scorer on the day, but he's also a very capable defensive midfielder that would prove valuable in a game of this intensity. They would enter the second half down a man and versus Argentina on any occasion that could be critical. Versus Argentina in Argentina in a knockout round it would usually be too much for most teams to overcome. The second half was filled with the same attacking play that we saw in the first half. Uruguay did well to stay in the game and keep it competitive and Argentina started picking up caution after caution. The first yellow card went to Javier Mascherano in the 50th minute, then as the second round went on Gabriel Milito and Nicolas Burdisso joined him in the referee's book. The winning goal proved to be elusive for both teams however. With extra time looming, the game tied and up by a man, Argentina replaced Aguero with Carlos Tevez. Only 3 minutes later though, Javier Mascherano picked up his second yellow and joined Diego Perez as the ejected players in the game. The game would enter extra time tied at 1 a piece.

Carlos Tevez

Just as the earlier game, we had a game for a spot in the semi final go into extra time. Argentina pushed forward and started creating more chances in the extra periods. Messi was instrumental, and had a chance or two stay out of the goal in situations that could have easily gone his way. A Tevez free kick deflected off the wall and almost set a date with Peru for the Argentinians. Muslera had already dove to the spot he expected the kick to go, only for the ball to deflect to the direction he had dove from. His leg managed to save the shot and a rebound at point blank range was pushed away by Muslera, all in a split second. The game ended deadlocked at 1 goal a piece and we went on to a penalty shootout. Lionel Messi stepped up and converted the first spot kick with ease. Diego Forlan was first for Uruguay and matched Messi. Nicolas Burdisso scored his penalty followed by Luis Suarez for Uruguay. With the shootout tied at 2, neither team had come close to missing when Carlos Tevez stepped up. He shot low and to Muslera's right but the shot was saved. Uruguay had gotten the break they needed. Scotti converted Uruguay's 3rd kick to give them the lead in the shootout. Pastore was next for Argentina, knowing that a miss here would give Uruguay a foot into the semi-final. Pastore went low and to the keeper's right like Tevez had done before him, and Muslera guessed right again. The shot was blocked by Muslera's hand only to deflect into the net. Muslera pounded his fist in disappointment, knowing that a save would have meant Uruguay only needed 1 more conversion. Walter Gargano stepped up and calmly converted for Uruguay to make the shootout score 4-3 in favour of Uruguay. Argentina sent Higuain to take their final kick of the shootout, hoping that he could extend it. He smashed the shot off the bottom of the crossbar, it bounced off the ground and into the net. Uruguay sent Caceres last to win it all for his country. He stepped to the spot and converted the shot with ease. Uruguay won the shootout 5-4 and eliminated their rivals on their home soil. The win means that Uruguay will face Peru in the Copa America semi-finals later this week.

Lotta Schelin

In an update of the Women's World Cup. Sweden managed to beat France in the 3rd place playoff by the score of 2-1. At halftime Sweden led by 1-0 from a Lotta Schelin goal. After the half the French put the pressure on and managed to equalize with a nice shot from just outside the 18 yard box. The shot was kept low and just inside the post to the keeper's right. With 34 minutes left Sweden went on the attack and managed to win the game with a goal in the 82nd minute by Marie Hammarstrom. The goal was a thing of beauty and a nominee for goal of the tournament in an upcoming blog of mine. Both Sweden and France qualify for the Women's football tournament at next year's Olympics. Stay tuned for my next blog for a review of the Women's World Cup final between USA and Japan.

Marie Hammarstrom

Summer of Tournaments

Usually the first year of the World Cup cycle is the most quiet. Usually there's a Gold Cup, maybe a Copa America. Other than that the first year of the cycle is usually the least hectic of the four on the international football calender. The summer of 2011 gave us more than our fair share of the beautiful game though. First we had the Concacaf Gold Cup which Mexico won in exciting fashion coming back from 2 goals down to win 4-2. That result was important because mentally the US had felt like they had overtaken Mexico as the region's best, and psychologically the Mexicans had been feeling the pressure as well (with World Cup Qualifying around the corner we'll see how that result affects the top teams in the region). Then came the U-17 World Cup in Mexico in which the hosts won, making it 2 for 2 in tournaments this summer for Mexico. The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2011 Copa America followed, both delivering exciting tournaments in their own right. This weekend will have the Women's World Cup final with the USA taking on Japan, and the Copa America Quarter Finals which features 8 South American teams. There are a couple of things to note about this summer. The first being that if USA win the Women's World Cup, Concacaf would have won 3 out of the 4 Cups this summer. The second thing of note is that Mexico is the only team to have competed in all 4 of the tournaments, winning 2 of them. Could this mean an improvement in the quality of football in Concacaf? That remains to be seen. What is for certain is that regardless of gender or age group, Concacaf has set the bar high for the remainder of this cycle.