On England:
I am a big fan of Franck Lampard and to see him being lambasted around chat rooms is painful, but he knows that by his high standard he has performed below anything I have seen from him in the last two years. A big let down, sure. Yes, the English players were not only over-hyped, but failed to perform when it mattered and showed a certain lack of erm…bottle in key moments. The big money players have to deliver in the money time and they didn’t: Three miss-kicked penalties…On that evidence, it should tell you that something wasn’t together in the mental and psychological department. I have heard that France and Italy for example had blocked all intrusion from the press and family before reaching the second round, where they were allowed a day of rest and visit before going back into siege/bunker mood.
We now know who went to the finals.

The whole WAGS business/phenomenon was a real joke as well. Having your WAG making front page of the papers partying till dawn is not ideal preparation. A back to basics policy is required here. A real one that is! As for Mr Mc Laren, hopefully he will establish a more strict and austere regime, where players will think about football first and not about partying at Beckingham before the W-Cup. I hate to do that, because I really wished England would reach the semis. They did not and it is now soooo easy to throw bricks at them. But sometimes, they seem to present us with the right stick to beat them with …

Enough!

Team of the Tournament
I will agree with the proposed line-up and complaint about the Makelele omission. I would not put Viera in the first eleven, but the second. Makelele has played the whole tournament and has been a stalwart at the heart of France midfield. I can only be frightened at the sight of a defense made of Cannavaro and Thuram. Those two were truly the best performers at the final in my opinion.

Best 11
Buffon- Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Thuram, Lamm – C Ronaldo, Ballack, Makelele, Zidane- Henry, Klose
Materazzi
Just have a look at this authentic DIARY of a Dirty player:
No comment.

Zidane
Best player of the tournament? I don’t know…We will never know to be honest. Yes against Spain and Brazil he was walking on water. What is the legacy left by a man who suffered racial abuse on such a day and could not keep his cool? You may need to suffer racial abuse yourself to understand what went through his head. Some lip-readers helped us decipher what was said:
Z: “Ordinanza de tirare il costume!!”
(Stop pulling my shirt)

M: “Taciti, enculo, hai solamente cio che merite…”
(Shut-up wanker you only get what you deserve)

Z: “si e cio…”
(Yeah right…)

M: “meritate tutti ciò, voi gli enculato di musulmani, sporchi terroristici”
(That’s all you deserve, you muslim arse-holes! Bloody terrorists! )

Make up your own mind. Others publications are already handling the matter now. The war on terror was also present on the pitch somehow….
Going back to the football, ZZ was less efficient against Portugal who found a way to isolate him, however in the final he scored that incredible penalty a la ‘Panenka’ and in the second half of the final he was pulling the strings in midfield. Overall, the tournament has been poor in offensive bravado and his sight brought all the lovers of the ‘beautiful game’ together. Italy could have played Del Pierro…to give us a clash between two ‘fuoriclasse’ (exceptional players) but all Italy wanted was to reach the penalties…sad.

Footie & Politics
Well, we have seen everything. From the non-event: Iran was expected to have its president arrested or summoned to court. To the non-threat from Germans, Dutch, eastern Europeans and English hooligans: Fantastic!
To the amazing efficiency of German organization: Germany probably had one of the best organizations ever seen, although I was told that Japan’s in 2002 was excellent too. And positive results for the economy too from what I have gathered. A. Merkel ridding the ‘Klinsi’ horse and jumping on the feel-good bandwagon, linking herself as Chirac did in 98 in France to a successful World-Cup campaign: re-election beckon…Who’s to bet against her now?

The Italians are still master at the dark art of ‘combinazione’. (Corruption, bribery,…) You would have thought that after the pre-1982 World-Cup season which saw Paolo Rossi among others being suspended for a year, that they would have learnt their lesson. Obviously not. I was still glad to see their president in Englsih talk about the country’s pride in victory… They face another ordeal in their own courts now. Call me cynical, but I will be surprised if anyone’s of substance get indicted. They will be remembered though, for their amazing performance in the semis against Germany. Probably the game of the tournament with France vs Brasil…

Ach Zidaaaane….

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Those events just showed us that words can be as hurtful as actions. From Aragones the Spanish coach calling T. Henry a ‘N…r’ on a training pitch, to R. Atkinson leaving a mike opened at half-time of a game and delivering the ‘N…’ word again…to Matterazzi saying whatever he said, probably in the heat of the moment and ZZ reacting probably in the heat of the moment, the way he did…

Football and its rulers are not under scrutiny. The racists and closet racists are not safe anymore. What was tolerated decades ago is no longer and the son of immigrants will not accept any tampering with their rights and pride. Having said that, I don’t like the press game, which is trying to stir a story not out of the two main men, who both seem to regret what they respectively did, but through relatives, friends, lip-readers, anti-racists campaigners, far right so-called ‘leaders’ etc…

Yes Italy plays dirty but so did Portugal and other nations and France wasn’t that clean either. This World Cup will be remembered as a ‘morally dirty’ World-Cup from the negative tactics, to the poor refereeing and now racism…

FIFA has not been able to restore its dwindling image and proactive attitude in all those areas, as it is done in US sport on a regular basis.

The football authorities have to seriously start clamping down on racist behaviors or I can guarantee you that this is not the last incident of such nature we have seen on a football pitch, parole!

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You know the guys seating atop of the balcony during the Muppet show. True legends like ‘Wrighty’, ‘Shearo’ should know better… and Gary ‘crisp’ Lineker should have moderated their outburst suggesting that Wayne ‘Rooo’ Rooney should scythe Ronaldo when they are both back in training ground at Carington is ridiculous:

1. It’s just a game
2. If W. Rooney wants to lift that cup he will have to learn one thing or two about behaving in front of millions of viewers, or embrace a Gazza-like destiny.
3. Ronaldo is a cheat…so what? Ronaldo was with Heargreaves the man of the match without a doubt. But his reaction is I’m afraid justified…although I didn’t link the wink…and the jury is still out on that one…

We all love the premier league, its swashbuckling cavalier attitude, high-tempo and that almost old-fashioned code of chivalry that really ensure that the game is played in the right mindset. But international football is not played that way. In European cups competitions, deficiencies are hidden by high-priced and high-quality foreign import both at manager and player’s level…(When was the last time an Englishman won the P-League? )
However, if we want it to continue, then we should also forget about winning anything at world cup or European level…
.If flair players like Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Maradona, Henry, …or the whole Italian team are ready to do it and actually win trophies at the highest level, then to use that code as an argument become a cope-out and nothing else…
An excuse for the looser or an item in the chicken rule book…

ou either want to win at all-cost because you are a winner or are ready to loose by your idea and principles.
In that case, no needs to build false expectations as you know roughly how it will end-up anyway…
You get me?

However, just reverse the situation one minute and have Ronaldo towering over English’s player crown jewels. Would you not react similarly if your teammate was hit so low? Club-mate or not…

ABOUT SVEN…

And the millions of excuses invented by everybody. Yes he made bad squad choices…Yes his relax approach was detrimental to the squad, with the WAGS making more headlines than the players…Physically? England lacked a second gear throughout the tournament, that’s a fact…although at ten against eleven they finished stronger than Portugal…You can’t help but still believe that physical preparation was not thorough…If you compare it to running teams like Spain, Ghana, South Korea, Germany,…Mentally? See below…Tactically? He had to make-do with his choices and cope with injuries, hence the tinkering.

ULTIMATELY…

The big players never lived up to their expectations and reputations…Rooney got a Red card…Albeit a dubious one…Lampard, Gerrard, Carragher missed penalties at a world-cup quarter finals. I had never seen that before….and that is not down to ability. Steven Gerrard almost won the C-League in 2005 on his own. As for Lampard, he is by a mile the best midfielder in the second best league in the world (After Spain’s La Ligua of course) and third RANKED FIFA’s PLAYER OF THE YEAR!

Those two ain’t no mug! And ‘Carra’ neither…
What happened then? It was all in the head. Mental preparation was lacking and mental preparation was probably ‘Big Phil’ Scolari’s first weapon. A dedicated student of Sun Tzu with the ability to show raw passion and emotion on the touchline and humble Luis Figo. The man has now entered world cup’s folklore as a touchline legend. Maybe just maybe the FA did their best move in the last five years, in trying to bring him to Soho Square. Pity it didn’t go through though…

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A fitting triumvirate for what was a…

…MISTAKE
Poor Ronaldo. Again one of the best player yesterday and probably the best youngster we have seen on show at the world-cup. To be hated, jeered and heckled around the ground by everyone must have been tough. But he’ll learn and will rise to become the next Figo. Portugal will need another two like him.

…THE GENIUSES
Ballack, Kaka, Fabregas, Torres, Zokora, Klose, Essien, Apiah, Cannavaro, Pirlo, Marqez, Robben, Henry, Viera, Makelele, Figo, Ronaldo, Maniche, Frings, Metesecher, Thuram., J. Klinsmann for coaching an impressive German team, able to break away from his dour image. A short-sleeved manager on his way to become a football guru and a man who gave us a much nicer image of Germany in the 21st century….Gerrard, A. Cole, Lehman, Buffon,…
Those are my geniuses for this W-Cup…and yours?

..AND THE PENALTY
…Taker…Well, I almost forgot the genius to top them all: ZINEDINE ZIDANE. Nerve of steel…eagle-like look…dropped shoulders, bag of tricks, wizzardry aplenty,..aching back and tigh..bald patch…economy of smile and words..No Wags allowed…the beauttiful game as it should be played, with class, instinct and balance in the air….sit down and enjoy a maestro at work…unique sight on a football pitch…’The Zizou code’ might never be broken again…He will now be remembered in the same breath as one of the true great of the game, fellow number 10, main driving force behind a team’s revival and inspiration to a nation: Diego Armando Maradona…

Bonsoir!

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