Surprises, Irony And A Chance For Revenge

A surprising exit for Brazil and England!!

For Brazil, the result was somewhat unexpected, whilst for England, the manner in which they played before being eliminated was the surprise.

The Brazilians players are probably as dumbfounded as we are. They're not quite sure what happened out there. Basically, they played it like a training run and France swamped them. The manner of the French domination was not reflected in the scoreline, luckily for the Brazilians I must say. Zidane was (I have to say it, I know its oftrepeated) sublime; his movement, dribbling and vision once more reminded people why he is considered to be the best player since Maradona. The Frenchmen rallied around the aging star and produced the sort of performance not seen since Euro 2000. The Brazilians, despite a solid effort from Ze Roberto, were lacklustre. In an inexplicable display, their standard of play actually regressed going from the 2nd round to the quarters. This has not happened to a Brazilian team since an equally inexplicable capitulation at the hands of Zidane in the '98 final. I'm not quite sure what more to say about this one......

England must be feeling terrible after losing in penalties to an undeserving Portugal. The English have played poorly so far in the tournament and won 3 and drawn 1. Yesterday, they played their best match in ages and lost!! That's the wonderful irony of world cup football. Eriksson must be wishing he had gone back to boring long ball tactics with the good old 4-4-2. I am not exactly a fan of English football, in fact I'm heavily critical of their tactics on most occasions, but the way they lost this one was cruel. They made a serious effort to play a short passing game, to use all eleven players in attack, and to entertain for once. Owen Hargreaves, much maligned by the English sports media (absolute idiots- there's a very good reason why he has been a key midfielder at Bayern Munchen under Hitzfeld and Beckenbauer's tutelage since age 19), produced one of the best performances by a midfielder I have seen in this world cup. He was the only player still running at the end of extra time. But it was all to no avail as England crashed out in penalties once again at the hands of Portugal. There are some teams that are perennial penalty-chokers; England are right up there with the Dutch as two of the worst.

The saddest moment for me however was the picture of David Beckham sitting alone in the dugout choking back tears after being substituted in the 53rd minute. An unfitting end for one of the champions of English football. He proved rather ineffectual against the spritely Nuno Valente on the right of midfield, and based purely on his perormance, deserved to be taken off, especially considering what Aaron Lennon added to the team with his speed and enthusiasm. But Beckham is so much more than just a right midfielder; he is an inspiration to a generation of young English footballers. I wonder what the players on the field were thinking when they saw their captain barely keep himself under control on the bench.....

I think Eriksson erred in taking his captain off, because England had a few free kicks just on the edge which Lampard predictably blasted wide. Beckham, as he showed against Ecuador, is THE man for those occasions. It seems as if it was probably the wrong decision in retrospect. But, admirably, th English stuck to their goal of playing good (continental??) football and went down in flames.

Portugal won with their worst display so far. Deco's absence made an enormous difference to their gameplay. Against a better team, surely they would have lost. But such is their luck that they live to fight another day- a rematch of the Euro 2000 semifinal, a chance for revenge. That match in Holland in 2000 was a black day for Portuguese football. Having matched France for nearly 90 minutes, they lost to a last minute penalty when Abel Xavier was adjudged to have handballed; a fierce free kick unavoidably thudded into his shoulder. This provoked a violent reaction from the Portuguese players, several of whom served lengthy bans. Nuno Gomes is the only player who served a ban who's still in the squad; but he has been a fringe player for the last six years despite immaculate club form. That game scarred his international career before it took off. Now, Portugal enter this semifinal with a much tougher squad. If they match France the way they did six years, it will be difficult for the resurgent Frenchmen to reach their second final in three attempts. With Deco coming back into the team, I find it difficult to see how the French will stop Portugal. They played unimaginatively against England; but given their form so far in the tournament, and their newfound resilience and willingness to get dirty and brawl, I think they will edge out France. However, underestimate Zidane and the Zidane effect at your own peril.