¡Viva España! ¡Viva La Furia Roja!

I usually wrap up each World Cup with a tongue-in-cheek “Best and Worst of…” post, but this time I think a little more dignity is called for. Not only is it a historic first-time win for Spain, it was achieved in spite of an opponent bent on physical destruction. I honestly don’t know how Spain got out of that without any serious injuries. “Total thuggery” was how one BBC commentator put it. If nothing else it shows that the Netherlands knew Spain was the superior team, and the best team won in the end.

Spain was unquestionably the class of the tournament, playing a controlled passing style that was beautiful to watch. They didn’t score as many goals as some of the other teams, but when they did it was with breathtaking skill. Their touch on the ball was gorgeous, they have the best midfield in the world, and they’ve also shown that they can take a beating! They’ve been called the perfect team, and it is hard to argue with that. They’re skilled, they’re classy, and they’re warriors. La Furia Roja fully deserve to be the world champions.

The second best team of the tournament was definitely Germany. They play a very positive attacking style with skill and speed, and being a very young team their best is yet to come. I hope that Germany and Spain are the wave of the future and other European teams will emulate them and put an end to the ugly and unnecessary physical play we saw from the Netherlands today. These teams have proven that brute force will only get you so far; skill and tactics reign supreme.

Though the top three teams were from Europe, this World Cup was notable for disappointing performances by favourite European teams, especially France, Italy, and England. In contrast, South American teams did extremely well, with four out of the five teams making it to the quarterfinals. Except for Brazil, which has unaccountably opted for a more European style, these teams played with a beautiful skilled, flowing style, great teamwork, and fierce pride in their countries. I was especially impressed by the spirit of the Chileans, whose fans belted out their national anthem and kept singing additional verses even after the music stopped! However the best fans of the tournament were, without question, from Mexico. They were the only fans who could drown out the vuvuzelas, which they did often with cheering, singing, and yelling ¡Olé! every time their team made a pass. And then there were the costumes…

Kudos should also go to the Asian teams for playing beautiful football. Japan has said they want to be the Brazil of Asia, but I think they played much better than the Brazilians did, fast, skilled, and clean. The “underdogs” gave us some of the best football of the tournament, and that is what I will remember, along with the masterful play of Germany and Spain.

Lest you think we will have to wait four years to see another World Cup, I would like to remind everyone that the Women’s World Cup will be played next year in Germany. Not surprisingly that tournament doesn’t get the respect it deserves, but make no mistake, although it is a smaller event (16 teams), the skill level and athleticism is in no way inferior to the men’s tournament. In fact I enjoy it more (despite the lack of eye candy!) because there is much less fouling and diving. It’s a purer football, and definitely worth watching. So join me here next June 26th for another chapter in the story of the beautiful game.

---

Postscript: The octopus was right!

It’s Down to One Game, Two Teams, and Eight Legs

It’s taken a full month but after 63 games involving 32 teams, we’ve arrived at the final match of the 2010 World Cup. Tomorrow, either Spain or the Netherlands will lift the World Cup trophy for the first time in their history. Just about everyone is picking Spain to win, not least Paul the oracular octopus from Oberhausen, Germany.

So far Paul has correctly picked the winner of all of Germany’s games at the World Cup, including today’s third place match, and now he has picked Spain to win the whole thing. It’s the first time he’s been asked to predict a game in which Germany is not playing, so it remains to be seen whether his powers extend beyond the borders of his adopted land (he is originally English). [Yes, this is all very silly but I love it.] Whatever happens, the final is guaranteed to be a great battle between two first class teams full of passion for their countries and the sport.

Lest you think there is no connection to classic books here, I present the following:

Thanks to @CountBezuhov

¡Vamos La Furia Roja!

My early World Cup predictions have come to naught, and I don’t care because my favourite team of the tournament (besides Mexico) has made it to the final, in style. Today Spain beat the heretofore impressive Germans and have a chance to win the World Cup trophy for the first time. They controlled the game from start to finish, keeping possession of the ball and probing the German defense with infinite patience until they found a way through. Germany was helpless, mesmerized by Spain’s passing ability and menacing runs. Even the German coach admitted afterwards that there was nothing they could do. That is quite an admission from a team who demolished Argentina 4–0.

I’m no octopus but I expect it will be the same against the Naranja Mecánica (“mechanical orange”), i.e. the Netherlands, on Sunday, and Spain will win the World Cup for the first time. Until then, I think a little flamenco is in order…

A Whale of a World Cup

We’re getting down the last stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and as anyone who follows me on Twitter knows, I’ve been having a blast. That is, when Twitter isn’t over capacity. Before the World Cup I had the feeling that Twitter, being an American company, would vastly underestimate the scale and passion of the World Cup. No, they said, they were ready, no problem! In fact, Twitter failed almost immediately. Oh no, they said, it’s just routine maintenance! It’ll be fine! Well, it hasn’t been fine, and the fail whales keep surfacing, especially when someone scores (which has happened 123 times so far) and at half time when everyone goes online to compare notes and cheer on their teams. Twitter normally carries about 750 tweets per second, but after Japan beat Denmark in their last group game, for example, Twitter saw nearly 3,300 tweets per second, and those are just the ones that got through!

I almost don’t mind the fail whales because it’s making so many people (read: Americans) finally notice what the world has been crazy about since 1930. The sudden eruption of football fanaticism on the social web has taken many by surprise, and from what I’ve seen, most bystanders have either surrendered or gotten on board. They realize that resistance is futile, and that being assimilated is really quite a lot of fun. Whether you like statistical analysis, partisan hoopla, razzing the refs, or eye candy appreciation, it’s all out there on the web. YouTube has even gotten in on the fun: soccer-related videos now have a vuvuzela button (look for the soccer ball) that you can press to add some 2010 World Cup atmosphere to the video. Speaking of vuvuzelas (and who isn’t?) I’ll leave you with a couple of brilliant videos on the ear-splitting trend that is sweeping the globe.

Looking Into My Crystal Football

The 2010 World Cup is ten days old today and after seeing most of the teams play twice, I’m ready to make a complete fool of myself and predict how the whole thing is going to turn out. Anyone who has been watching knows that if there’s anything you can say about this tournament, it’s that it has been completely unpredictable. Nevertheless, here is my bracket, which is based on a mixture of judgement, wishful thinking, and pure guessing:

(click to embiggen)

If you don’t mind a little Spanish, you can fill out your own bracket here. As for who will win the final, well, all I’ll say is that I’d be happy just to see that game.

Classics and the World Cup

After noticing that I was tweeting up a storm about the World Cup, @kimbooktu asked me what football (soccer) has to do with the classics. Allow me to illustrate:

Attic lethykos. (Source)

Attic vase. (Source)

St. Jerome and the Angel of Vuvuzela. (Source)

It Begins

Unless you are living under a rock with no wifi, you probably know that the World Cup started today. And if you know me, you know I’ll be glued to the TV for the next month, as will a large proportion of the human population. Global productivity will undoubtedly take a dive (ahem), but global happiness will definitely go up. After what’s been going on lately, I think we need this.

The opening ceremony was great. The beautiful diversity of African culture was on display. I love that the centrepiece (and model for the stadium itself) was a traditional cooking pot.

As a biologist, I was also tickled by this:

African textiles were on display and used to create this spectacular giant map of Africa:

For those who haven’t been bitten by the soccer bug (or beetle, in this case), here are a couple of videos that will give you a sense of the excitement, passion, humour, diversity, and pure joy of the beautiful game.

¡Viva España! ¡Viva El Niño!

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Fernando Torres!

The final of the European championship was action-packed, but it only took one goal to decide the outcome, and that goal was scored by El Niño, Fernando Torres of Spain.

Spain dominated the match with their fast passing style and had twelve shots on goal to Germany's three. Germany did have a spurt of attack at the beginning of the second half, but it wasn't nearly enough. They were outclassed and Spain very much deserve to be the new European champions.

N.B. Scotland was not in the match. They were not even in the tournament. They obviously know how to score great seats, though!

A.S. Byatt on Euro 2008

Apparently I'm not the only bookworm who loves the beautiful game...

Watching football on TV instead of in a stadium means that the
skills of the cameramen and film crews construct the story we see. They
can show you how a move was put together - from many points of view -
the bits you couldn't see, the lurking striker, the waiting defender.
They show you also, in slow motion, the bits of drama that passed
fleetly. The curve of a studded boot round a hooked ankle. The
free-falling diving form, untouched by human arm or leg.

One of
the best flashbacks ever was when the cameras - presumably after
sifting all their footage - suddenly found a wonderful image of
Ballack's face when he scored his decisive free-kick against Austria, a
distorted mask of focused breathing energy, like a classical sculpture
of a wind god.

—A.S. Byatt, "Lie back and think of Europe"

The Best of World Cup 2007

FIFA has handed out their awards for the best players and teams of the 2007 Women's World Cup. Here are mine:

Deadliest striker: Marta, of course (BRA). Runner-up: Abby Wambach (USA).

Fastest forward: Lisa de Vanna (AUS), who should be called The Blur. Runner-up: Fatmire Bajramaj (GER), the speedy substitute.

Most tenacious midfielder: Camilla Huse (NOR)—techincally a defender but mostly played in midfield. Runner-up: Renate Lingor (GER).

Most stalwart defender: Too many to choose from, but the US's Tina Ellertson stood out for me when she came on against Brazil and put a stop to the bloodletting. (sorry, no photo)

Best team in the air: North Korea—they may be short but their timing is perfect so they win the ball almost every time.

Best team with their feet: Is there any doubt?

Most amazing goal:Marta, again.

Most casual goal: Adjoa Bajor (GHA). It was a free kick. She started by standing in front of the ball with her back to net, then casually stepped around the ball, took one step, and put it in the back of the net. Amazing. (sorry, no photo or video)

Best celebration: McCallum and Shipard (AUS). A very cool jumping-and-clacking-opposite-feet dance. A bit of it can be seen here at 1:40. Canadians can see the whole dance here (Day 11 highlights, Canada vs. Australia, 2:30).

Best underdogs: Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! (Now you're supposed to say Oy! Oy! Oy!) They were the comeback specialists in this tournament.

Best team nickname: The Three Lionesses (ENG)

Most commanding presence: Cheryl Salisbury (AUS).

Best giant: Kerstin Garefrekes (GER), 5' 11"

Best shrimp: Sarah Walsh (AUS), 5' 3-3/4"

Took one for the team: Faye White (ENG)—broken nose (no photo). Runner-up: Abby Wambach—five stitches, no anaesthetic. Note that both stayed in their respective games.

Best-dressed coach: Silvia Neid. In her career as a player she scored the first and the hundredth goals for the German women's team.

Best-dressed team: Australia (away). You can't ever go wrong with navy. (see above)

Best tattoos: Natasha Kai (USA). Actually the only one with visible tattoos, but they are very impressive (she's Hawaiian, as you might have guessed).

Best fans:Santa and Elf (SWE). Runner-up: Mao (CHN).

Most uppity female: Marta (BRA). She's always thought Brazil should have a professional women's league. Brazil finally agrees.

Most inspirational player: Kristine Lilly, the "Iron Woman" (USA). She's played in every world cup, and is fitter at 36 than she was when she started. She has 337 caps (international games), far more than any other player, male or female, and unlikely to ever be bested. She's played in every World Cup and Olympic match for the US, and, well, most of the others as well, scoring 127 goals in the process. Lilly is expected to retire after this tournament. I wonder what she will do for the rest of her life?

Wunderbar!

Yes, Germany won the 2007 Women's World Cup, and it was well done. Though Brazil had most of the possession in the first half, they failed to get by the German defense. Germany came out very strong in the second half and scored two very nice unanswered goals. Brazil had some chances, but German goalie Nadine Angerer was able to preserve her unbeaten streak. She didn't allow a single goal in the entire tournament—540 regulation minutes—which is a new world record for any goalie, male or female.

Brazil didn't get much chance to show off their ball skills because they were constantly pressured by an extremely fit and technical German side. The Europeans also had size on their side and were able to barge the Brazilians off the ball with regularity. I think Germany just had Brazil figured out.

I have to feel for Marta, who wasn't able to score on the only penalty kick of the game. The pressure must have been immense. Not only was the championship at stake, but all the world's attention is on her as ambassador of the women's game. Because of her and her teammates, Brazil will be starting a professional women's league this year, something she's been striving for. The whole world is talking about her as the new Pelé, so she really had a lot to live up to. In hindsight, Christiane, who had received the foul, probably should have taken that penalty kick, but one wonders if anyone could have gotten by Angerer (who naturally took the award for best goalkeeper).

Marta did go away from the tournament with quite a bit of hardware, though. On top of the silver medal she won both the Golden Ball (best player) and Golden Shoe (most goals) awards. Birgit Prinz, who scored the first goal for Germany today won the Silver Ball, and Christiane won the Bronze Ball. American Abby Wambach won the Silver Shoe for her six goals and one assist, and Ragnhild Gulbrandsen (I just love saying her name) got the Bronze Shoe for her six goals for Norway.

Speaking of Wambach and Gulbrandsen, they were both involved and indeed both scored in the third place match. After their worst ever loss in the game against Brazil, the U.S. got some of their own back by beating a tired Norway 4-1, and continued their tradition of never going home without a medal. Norway did get the Fair Play Award for the cleanest team of the tournament, though one shouldn't get the impression that they didn't play with passion. Even when they were four goals down they continued to play with determination and heart. Brazil, not surprisingly, won the vote for most entertaining team.

Those are all the official awards. Stay tuned for the unofficial ones...

Marta Viera da Silva

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!!!

Brazil Toys with U.S., German Juggernaut Rolls On

Brazil will meet Germany in the Women's World Cup final on Sunday after both teams won their semi-finals handily. Although Norway was in control for most of the first half of their game against Germany, they had the misfortune of scoring an own goal, after which the Germans took the momentum and controlled the rest of the game, scoring twice more and looking unstoppable. It was a very enjoyable game to watch between two very good, clean teams.

The U.S-Brazil game was another story, one the U.S. team will want to forget. The American coach mystified everyone by replacing goalie Hope Solo, who had a perfect record, with veteran Briana Scurry; this turned out to be a terrible mistake. The scoring opened with a U.S. own goal, and then one of their midfielders was sent off after a second (and questionable) yellow card. The U.S. never looked strong, and as the game progressed and the goals mounted, the Americans just crumbled and Brazil rubbed it in.

It was a scrappy game, as you might expect from these two teams, with the U.S. being a physical team, and Brazil being as skilled in making and faking fouls as they are at controlling the ball with their feet. Marta was able to show off her incredible skills, much to the delight of the crowd. Commentators say that she is arguably the best player on the planet today, male or female. It will be a privilege to see her and Birgit Prinz on the field at the same time. Don't miss it!

Women's Soccer: It's Big

For the woefully uninformed, that is 5' 10.5" Birgit Prinz, star striker for the title-holders, Germany, and three-time world player of the year.

Party Pooper

Today's World Cup games, including Canada's must-win match with Australia, have been postponed due to the approach of Typhoon Wipha. I must say I'm a little glad to have a break from spending hours in front of the computer watching crappy video and getting a sore tuchus for my trouble. I haven't been posting much about the games because I'm still in a bad mood about CBC's decision not to air the majority of the games on TV. The playoffs will be televised, however, so my scowl should soon be replaced by giddy enthusiasm. Stay tuned.

[Photo source]

Spotted at the Women's World Cup

Now we know what Santa does during the off-season. I wonder if he cheers for Norway as well as Sweden?

Women's Soccer Rocks! The CBC Sucks.

Today is day 3 of the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup. That is, my third day of sitting at my computer watching soccer on a crappy little web video player thanks to the Canadian Boys Club, I mean, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The picture quality is actually not too bad... as long as the players aren't moving. The rest of the time, i.e. when play is actually happening, the picture blurs, pixellates, or stutters. It gets worse as the action gets faster, i.e. as the action gets more exciting. [Click on the picture for an example.]

Sometimes there is commentary, sometimes there isn't, sometimes it starts or stops in the middle of the game. Whatever. Then there is the mysterious resetting. Once in a while, just for kicks, the video player likes to send you back to the beginning of the game. I have now learned to check the time on a regular basis so I can pick up where the piece-of-crap video player left off. CBC, you are giving me a headache.

Despite being so pissed off at the CBC, I haven't missed one minute of the action. What can I say, I'm an addict. These athletes are amazing and, except for Brazil, there is none of the diving and fakery that makes men's football a bit of a joke. And even the Brazilian women are nowhere near as bad as their male counterparts. An entire game can go by without a single stretcher being brought on the field. Soccer is not quite as dangerous as the men would have us believe. (American Abby Wamback might disagree--she got her head split open during the North Korea game, but a little work with needle and thread and she was good as new.)

I haven't seen all the teams play yet, but of the ones I've seen, these ones look particularly good:

• Germany: Defending champs. They're a machine. Hammered Argentina 11-0 (which Sepp Blatter said was bad--I guess he'd prefer the goalless draws that plague men's soccer?).
• USA: As usual they look very strong. They know the game.
• North Korea: Incredibly focussed. They got a scoring opportunity in a matter of seconds from kick-off. Very dangerous.
• Brazil: Is there anyone on this team who can't score? They are professionals and it shows.
• China: Very good, deadly strikers. They are not ones to sit on a lead either; they're there to play. As you might imagine, the crowd support is huge.

If you're interested in seeing all the exciting blurry highlights, open the CBC (Spoil)Sports Video Player [ESPN360.com in the US] and look under FIFA Women's World Cup for the highlights from each day of play.  After all my carping about the poor video quality you might not want to try it, but the more hits they get the more likely they'll broadcast the next tournament in its entirety. The quality of the highlight videos is slightly better than the games (still blurry but not pixellated) so do give it a try.

The CBC: Sexist, Stupid, or Both?

As some of you may know, the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup starts next week,
and I thought I would take a look at the TV schedule to start planning out the
next three weeks of my life. Hmm, nothing showed up on the digital box. So I
went to a couple of soccer TV websites and nothing came up their
either. What gives? Finally I went to the source, the CBC, which has the rights
to broadcast all FIFA events in Canada until 2014. There I discovered to my
horror that they will only be broadcasting nine of the
thirty-two games, plus another three
on their digital channel. The rest will be shown on the web, which is fine if you don't mind watching pixellated players following a ball that blurs in and out of existence on a 5-inch screen. Contrast this to the last two Women's World
Cups, where every single game was broadcast in Canada on the sports networks. (And yes, I watched them all!)

Keep in mind that the CBC is taxpayer-supported. You would think that if commercial networks can make money airing women's soccer, it should be a no-brainer for the CBC . But no, apparently women's soccer isn't good enough for the CBC. It's a disgrace for a supposedly egalitarian society. Shame on you, CBC.

All's Well That Ends Well

The 2007 FIFA Under-20 World is now officially over, and Argentina have handily won their sixth title. Other than Chile's little disagreement with the baton-happy Toronto Police, the tournament was a tremendous success. Canada broke the long-standing attendance record for the tournament, selling nearly 1.2 million tickets. For a country of 33 million, most of whom couldn't tell you what FIFA is, that's huge.

Unfortunately I slept right through the third-place match (though I will get to watch the repeat tomorrow) but I understand the Chile came back with great dignity to win the bronze medal. The final was quite good. The ref was able to keep a lid on the Czechs' physical style, while not falling for too many of the Argentinian dives. The Czechs showed more of the ability that won them their last game. Certainly they don't have the ball-control of the South Americans, but it would be an injustice to call them a simple punt-and-run team. They can pass when they want to. I also got an insight into their style of play after their one and only goal today. In most cases, teammates will rush up to the goal-scorer and give him a big hug. The Czech equivalent, apparently, is to rush up to the goal-scorer and slam him to the ground! If that's their idea of affection, then it's no wonder they play the way they do! The goal-scorer, by the way, rolled out of the body-slam and popped back up instantly, as the Czechs always do after being knocked down. You can't say that about South American footballers. The two sides could learn something from each other.

Argentina was certainly the better team today, and probably the best team in the tournament. I still regret that Japan was eliminated—I think they would have been a match for Argentina—but they did win the Fair Play Award, which confirms what I thought about their clean style of play. They'll be back.

So that's about it for soccer for a while. Just a while, though. In September it's the Women's World Cup in China, and the line-up of teams is very exciting. Every group will be hard-fought. I can't wait. Until then, it's back to the books!

Worst. Referee. Ever.

I'd like to know where FIFA dug up the incompetent Wolfgang Stark to referee the semi-final game between Argentina and Chile. As soon as Argentina noticed that he was both gullible and visually impaired, they started milking him for cards. Their play-acting may not be of the calibre of the Brazilians, but it was good enough for Mr. Stark. He bought every one of Argentina's dives and gave Chile seven yellow cards and two red cards. It couldn't be a case of bribery because he would have been more subtle about it. No, it was sheer incompetence, made worse by the complete lack of self-respect among the Argentinians. Don't the defending champions think they can win without cheating? Well, they will meet another team without honour, the Czech Republic, in the final. It will be interesting to see how the referee in that game deals with the hard-hitting Czechs and the easy-diving Argentinians. He'd better have his contacts in.

UPDATE: Poor Chile. They couldn't even get away from the stadium without another beating, this time at the hands of the police. Witnesses indicate that an Argentinian fan and a Chilean player got into a shouting match which escalated, and when the police got involved, the Chileans jumped to the defense of their teammate and a brawl ensued. The police have apologized for using excessive force (including tasering someone), but FIFA is pointing the finger squarely at the players. Poor Chile.

UPDATE II: This little fracas has now become an international incident. The government of Chile has made a formal complaint to the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Chilean media is making mincemeat out of Canada. Maybe this is a good thing. If Canada wants a higher profile in the world of football we will have to learn that the rest of the world takes football very seriously.

Correction: It appears that the police have withdrawn or never did make an apology for their use of excessive force. Someone really needs to tell them that they were dealing with elite athletes and not Hell's Angels.