63 down, no.64 coming up

Germany finished their campaign with a fine 3-1 win over Portugal. Schweinsteiger scored 2 goals and forced the own goal with a solid free kick. While he was not outstanding in his general play, he certainly proved he has a wicked right foot. I like right footed players playing on the left side and vice versa for the exact reason that these players cut inside and shoot from the edge of the box before the defender has time to get set and block. Lahm opened the world cup in the same fashion from left back. In the 3-4 playoff, at right back, Lahm was a spectre of his previous self. Other prominent right footers who play on the left include the Portuguese trio of Simao, Ronaldo and Figo, all of whom can play on either wing. Of course, Lahm with his inability to cross off his left foot runs the risk of being slightly predictable, but it is a skill he will pick up with more experience. Other impressive performers for Germany were Sebastien Kehl, standing in for captain Ballack, and Oliver Kahn, at 37 still one of the best keepers going around.

The Portuguese actually put in a very good performance. But just like their entire tournament, they lacked a cutting edge upfront with Pauleta squandering numerous chances, 2 of which were absolute sitters. Nuno Gomes finally got a goal at the end, perhaps he deserved some more game time. It is the one area the Portuguese need to improve in if they are to be successful in major competitions in coming years. Apart from Figo and Pauleta, the rest of the squad will be unchanged over the next few years. The new core of Ronaldo, Deco, Simao, Carvalho and Meira will be around for the next world cup and provide the perfect skill set to build a team around. They would do well to retain Scolari as coach for at least the next two years.

The most contentious issue of the world cup has been "simulation", as FIFA calls it. It has once again reared his ugly head, this time in the context of the young player of the tournament award. Cristiano Ronaldo was denied the award on the basis of "fair play" i.e. because he dived too much. In a show of atrocious hypocrisy, FIFA instead handed the coveted prize to Lukas Podolsky, a player who does not think twice about following in the footsteps of his captain and taking frequent falls whenever defenders are nearby. It is reasonable for FIFA to claim that fair play is one of the factors taken into account, but to apply this criterion so selectively smacked of double standards. If they truly wanted to factor fair play into it, then Fernando Torres and Luis Valencia should have been the front runners. In fact, even otherwise, I think Torres was the best young talent on show this world cup. Valencia had a fine group stages but was frozen by uncertainty in the high profile encounter with England which cost him the award and possibly his team a quarterfinal date with Portugal.

Klose has more or less secured his Golden Boot award with a 2 goal lead over Henry, the only other player in contention. The player of the tournament is the only other individual award to be decided. As far as I am concerned, the only players in contention are Cannavaro and Zidane. Undoubtedly, the final will be decided on the performances of the two captains. The outsiders for the award are Vieira and Zambrotta, who have both had outstanding tournaments in the shadow of their illustrious captains. The final itself is difficult to call, because of the unpredictability of the Italians. The French will approach the game in the same way they approached their preivous three games. Zidane will be the epicentre of the French attack supported by Vieira and Makelele. They will play the all-park game with everything being filtered through Zidane. Malouda and Ribery will attempt to run off Zidane's insightful through balls, though it will be a mountainous task to get through Cannavaro and Materazzi. The problem with relying on an outstanding defence is that one mistake is all it takes to lose a match, ask Argentina!! For a team that attempts to maintain possession and attack relentlessly, one mistake doesnt matter as much. Thats why I believe that if Italy sit back and play the way they did against Australia, the French will win. The Italians have shown that when they play with intent, no team has been able to thwart them. Germany, Ukraine, Czech Republic and Ghana were all made to look ordinary when the Italians played to their potential. If Pirlo plays higher up the field with Gattuso and Perotta taking a more active role like they did against Germany, then this game may well take the same course as the Argentina-Holland group game. Both teams may well cancel each other out and end up with a 0-0 draw. Even though it sounds boring, I think this will be a fantastic outcome. A tight midfield battle Zidane, Vieira and Makelele versus Pirlo, Gattuso and Perotta would be a fine spectacle indeed....