SLOVAKIA vs PARAGUAY
After drawing with the Italians 1-1, Paraguay changed to an attacking 4-3-3 with Santa Cruz, Valdez, and Barrios up front. Santa Cruz, the Manchester City striker who gathered more booty splinters this year than grass stains, helped keep the pace up front.
The possession was fairly even, but Slovakia couldn't manage to find the goal. Paraguay scored two, one in the 27' (Vela) and another close to the end (Riveros 86'). Slovakia only had one shot on goal...in the 92'. It didn't go in and the Paraguayans won 2-0. This puts them atop the group table with 4 points.
NEW ZEALAND vs ITALY
grrrrrrrrr....the Italians. I'm on record in this blog that I despise the Italians. I will never forgive them for the 2006 incident with Zizou, they are smug and think their footy is the style everyone should play, and THEY ARE CHEATING DIVERSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
The Kiwis, on the other hand, were not expected to even give the Italians beads of sweat (according to the Italian newspapers) and much less score. But they did both!
Shane Smeltz put the All Whites ahead in the 7' on a set play. As the ball cross to the far post, Fabio Cannavaro (former World Player of the Year) tried to deaden it and it came off his knee and right on to the foot of Smeltz who guided it into the net. The Italians couldn't believe it and of course tried to say that Smeltz was offside, but when Cannavaro touched the ball it didn't matter anymore.
Now what to do? The Azzurri took 23 shots for the entire match, but only 5 were on target. The All Whites had an aswer defensively for all of their attacks. So.....when you can't win fair and square, you play like an Italian. YOU DIVE LIKE A NUCLEAR SUBMARINE THAT'S ABOUT TO BE DEPTH-CHARGED.
In the 29' Daniele de Rossi, of the Roma AS diving de Rossis, had his shirt tugged (slightly) and he fell in the box as if a sniper had hit him from the upper deck...pim pam pum. Of course the ref bought his cheap theatrics and a penalty was awarded. Vincenzo Iaquinta made an easy shot and now the match was tied at 1-1. For his penalty celebration, Iaquinta ran backwards pointing to his nose. I'm sure he was indicating what we all knew...that the Italians are a bunch of Pinocchios...and his nose would be getting bigger...or at least de Rossis would for his shameful diving.
The rest of the match was dominated in possession by the Italians, but the All Whites kept thwarting their forward attempts. In the waning moments New Zealand nearly took the lead...but it was not to be.
The Kiwis celebrated as if they had won the World Cup...and good for them! They did draw with the reigning champions (grrrrrr), and of course I mean "champions" in the loose sense.
BRASIL vs COTE D'IVOIRE
Brasil were already atop their group with their less-than-impressive win over the North Koreans. They were looking for a win against the Ivorians so they could advance to the next round. The Canarinho were organized and always pressing, unlike their first match. The Ivorians were just the opposite. If not for some good defending this game could have been a 5-0 match.
Keeping the ball can mean everything in a match. It's not that you have possession but what you do with it. Brasil capitalized on their 68% possession by attacking the final third. Luis Fabiano, the striker with Sevilla FC, pulled a Landon Donovan and hit the bag from almost the exact same angle in the 25'. He was assisted by a sublime pass from Kaka.
Fabiano wasn't done though. Right after halftime he put a left-footed shot into the net. Sven-Goran Eriksson, the coach for Ivory Coast, claimed it was a handball and that the 2-0 lead killed the match. He's right. Fabiano touched the ball twice before he shot.
The Ivorians seemed to take their feet off the gas and put them on the Brasilians. Several rough tackles later, the match started to boil over with pushing, shoving, harsh words, and even more rough tackles. Elano, who scored the third and final goal for the Brasileiros (62') was stretchered off after a nasty studs-up to the shin.
Ivory Coast made it interesting when Drogba scored a beautiful goal in the 79' that caught the Brazilian defense by surprise. The Ivorians appeared to finally have life but then the match seemed to deteriorate and Kaka was caught shoving a player in the 85'...yellow card. I was ready for an all-out brawl on the pitch, and several times it looked as though it would happen. The referee (Stephane Lannoy of France) was having difficulty watching all of the players. Then Kader Keita, who had only subbed on in the 68', saw an opportunity in the 88'. He ran up behind Kaka, who was looking in the other direction, and bumped into him. Keita fell to the ground clutching his face. Kaka had only nudged him with an elbow to push him off. The idiot referee marched over and gave Kaka a second yellow...red card. It was a pathetic display of officiating. Kaka will not meet Portugal in the next match, though it hardly matters as they have already garnered their 6 points and are through to the next round.
Warren Barton, who is a footy pundit on FSC, thinks it is high time that FIFA takes post-game action on cheats like Keita. FIFA regularly extends red card bans for players after reviewing matches, and Barton says that they should do the same thing for their biggest tournament in the world. I agree.
I'm not saying that Kaka is a saint. His first yellow card was warranted, and he was also physical with other players throughout the match, but his last yellow was a joke.
Fabiano and Kolo Toure fight for the ball
Who's your Daddy? Obviously goalscorer Elano thinks that assist man Kaka is his!
The match starts to get nasty
And nastier
Of course Robinho (11) and his loud mouth would be involved...
Brasil were guilty of a few dirty plays as well
Drogba scores his beauty, but it wasn't enough
Kaka is shown his first yellow card...the second wouldn't be far behind
No comments:
Post a Comment