World Cup
Preview
Intro/Background
The World Cup, the quadrennial tournament to determine the best soccer team in the world, is this summer. Thirty-two teams will play in the tournament, which runs from June 11 until July 11, in South Africa. The first phase of tournament is called group play, and the thirty-two teams are divided up into eight groups of four. Each team plays each other team in its group once, and the top two teams from each group advance to the next phase. The second phase of the tournament is called the knockout stage, and is a single elimination bracket that culminates in the championship game. Given that soccer is the most popular sport in the world, it will be a month of fun, pageantry, competition, national pride, and drama.
This is designed to be a primer for the average person or casual fan who knows the tournament is taking place and might watch a little of it but doesn’t follow the game closely and isn’t up to speed on everything going on.
Forward this preview to friends. DVR some games and watch them. Get to know and enjoy “the beautiful game.”
Table
of Contents
The US National Team
The Game
The US’s Other Games
Other Players to Watch
Other Countries to Watch
The TV Schedule
The Bracket
The
US National Team
Expectations
It is hard to predict how the US Men’s National Team will do in the 2010 World Cup. In the past 10 – 20 years, the US has gotten a lot better in soccer. The world’s military, economic, and cultural superpower doesn’t lose to El Salvador anymore. The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), headed by Sunil Gulati, is America’s soccer governing body. It is responsible for the Men’s National Team, Women’s National Team, boys’ and girls’ developmental systems that develop promising young players, and has done a good job of growing and being more successful. (America, unlike most other countries, has a kind of “dual track” system for developing soccer players due to our tradition of collegiate athletics [older players that are in the national development system can play for a university, too].) Major League Soccer (MLS), America’s national soccer league, continues to be successful and grow: it just added its 19th team; David Beckham, probably the highest-profile player in the world, plays in it; 15 soccer stadiums have either been built or are under development; and it has many players who play at the international level. The US dominates this region of the world in international tournaments now, but loses to the best countries in the world more often than it beats them. The US played great in the 2002 World Cup, advancing to the quarterfinals, where it lost to eventual-second-place-team Germany in a close game (with a controversial handball no-call). In the 2006 World Cup, however, the US failed to advance out of group play.
The following section highlights America’s main players:
Landon Donovan
It is safe to say Donovan is the best soccer player America has ever produced. Only in his late twenties and only in the late-middle stage of his career, he has set every major American soccer record. Typically an attacking or outside midfielder, he has scored the most goals, has the most assists, has appeared in the most international games for America of all active players, and is the six-time, US male soccer player of the year. Uncommonly, he has chosen to play his career in MLS for the Los Angeles Galaxy, despite the ability to sign a larger contract playing in Europe. This past winter (probably after talking with teammate David Beckham), he signed a short-term, off-season loan deal with English team Everton, basically led them on a long winning streak including beating powerhouses Chelsea and Manchester United, and had English fans crying for him to stay. He is very quick - usually the quickest player on the field – and can make exciting, great plays. Mentally, however, he isn’t always a fierce competitor, ala Michael Jordan or Isaiah Thomas, and can go through periods where he doesn’t really have an impact on the game.
Tim Howard
For some reason, America has produced a lot of great goalies. For the past decade, there have typically been about four American goalies playing for European teams at any one time. Howard is the latest great American goalie, and his great play for Everton in England has made him well known in English football. At 6’3”, he has the height and span to fill up the goal and is quick, too. Howard has Tourette’s Syndrome which explains some of the twitching and outbursts of yelling you see on TV when he plays.
Clint Dempsey
Dempsey, a forward or attacking midfielder, grew up poor in Nacogdoches, Texas. He worked his way up through the US soccer system, played in MLS, was named the 2004 Rookie of the Year, and, in 2006, signed a large contract to play for Fulham in England. He has played well for Fulham and been a starter for the US National Team for the past several years. He can be brash, plays with some flair, and has an endorsement deal with Nike.
Michael Bradley
Bradley has been America’s starting central midfielder for a couple of years. (America, like many countries now, plays with 4 - 5 players across the middle, and he is more of a defensive or “holding” midfielder.) A solid player, he is coach Bob Bradley’s son and plays professionally in Germany’s Bundesliga.
Carlos Bocanegra
Bocanegra has been the US’s starting central defender for a number of years and has an especially good head on his shoulders. Paired in the central back with Oguchi Onyewu, Bocanegra plays a “sweeper” role or more of a “free safety,” not letting any “through balls” or opposing players get behind him and shifting to where he’s most needed to break up an opponent’s attack, while Onyewu man-marks the opponent’s main striker. Bocanegra is the captain of the US Team. He played college ball at UCLA, was drafted into MLS, was the 2004 Rookie of the Year, and was twice the MLS Defender of the Year. His great play won him a larger contract in England where he became captain of his English team. He currently plays for Rennes in France’s Ligue 1. It is not uncommon when an opposing team has a “set piece” - a corner kick or free kick in front of the American goal – and some of opponent’s players have deceived or rubbed off of their American defenders and slipped behind the back of the American defense, for Bocanegra to be the only America defender not tricked or blocked, back there with them, and break up the scoring chance.
Charlie Davies
Davies’ is a very unfortunate/unlucky story. The soccer talent grew up in the States, was a star at Boston College, and was good enough to sign with a European team after three years in school. Davis is a particularly fast striker. He was good enough to sometimes get called up into the US National Team player pool but usually sat on the bench or came into games late as a sub. In the summer of 2009, the United States played for the first time in a small, seven-team, international tournament called the Confederation’s Cup. It was composed of the countries that won their regions of the world – very good teams – and was viewed as a great tune-up and measuring stick for the 2010 World Cup. The United States started the tournament playing poorly and losing its games. Things looked bad. To try and win, the US coach replaced the starting striker with Davies. Davies’ speed caused problems for defenders, and, most importantly, he “put the ball in the back of the net.” The United States went on a tear and started winning, including beating world #1 Spain and almost upsetting traditional powerhouse Brazil. This was his coming-out party; US soccer fans rejoiced; and the world took notice of this new great player!
In the fall of 2009, a few short months later, Davies was in a very bad car crash that nearly killed him. The car was torn in half, a woman in the car was killed. He broke every major bone in his right leg, broke his face, and had several other major injuries, requiring seven surgeries. Doctors said it would probably take 12 months for him to heal, keeping him from playing in the 2010 World Cup. Davies recovered remarkably fast. He did a lot of physical therapy with the goal of being able to play in the World Cup. In the spring of ’10, he started to practice with his French team, but he was left off of America’s World Cup roster because he had not recovered enough from his injuries.
Oguchi Onyewu
Onyewu has been America’s central defender for several years now. His biggest strength is his size: he is like an NFL defensive back at 6’4”, 230 lbs. He is able to win loose balls in the air and crosses into the box and physically prevents opposing attackers from getting the positioning they want. (He will run up the field to be in the eighteen-yard box and try to head in corner kicks late in a game if the US is behind.) After his great play at the Confederation’s Cup during the summer of 2009, Italian powerhouse AC Milan signed him to a big contract. Onyewu ruptured a tendon in his knee in a game in the fall of ’09. He is undergoing rehab, and it is unclear if he will be healed in time to play in the World Cup.
Jozy Altidore
Altidore is a young American striker. The barrel-chested, black youth started making waves at a young age and has had American soccer fans salivating that he is America’s first world-class striker. He went through the US soccer development system, including playing at the US Soccer Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He was drafted by New York in 2006 while he was still in high school and scored his first goal as a professional at age 16. He was called up to the US Men’s National Team - and scored his first international goal - at age 18. This ability led Spanish powerhouse Villarreal to sign the teenager of Haitian descent to a large contract. He has played in Europe and for the US for the past couple of years. He hasn’t exactly scored a lot for the US - he’s done OK, but not lit things up like many people had hoped. That said, he’s still young. He has a cannon for a shot, but, probably through inexperience, rarely gets himself in a position to use it. Charlie Davies should/would have been America’s starting center forward, but due to Davies’ car accident, Altidore should start and get a lot of playing time. It would be great if 2010 was his coming-out party on the world’s biggest stage!
Also:
· Jay DeMerit – This hardnosed defender has played a lot and played well since Onyewu went out with his tendon injury.
· Ricardo Clark – I’ve never been too impressed with his work at midfield, but he’s played many games for the US team over the past several years.
· Maurice Edu – He is 2007’s number one draft pick out of Maryland, played very well for Toronto, and signed a large contract with the famous Scottish team Rangers. He hasn’t had a lot of playing time lately but is athletic and has international experience.
· DaMarcus Beasley – This wiry black guy is really quick and has made substantive contributions for the US Team in years past, but age, reconstructive knee surgery, and not playing much with the US team lately has made him a big question mark.
· Stuart Holden – This latest, really-good product of the American system helped the Houston Dynamo win a couple of championships at midfield before he jumped to England.
· Edson Buddle – This forward had not been playing at all with the US National Team, but scoring a lot of goals for Los Angeles and helping them make it to the MLS championship game in 2009 put him on the team.
· Robbie Findley – Like Buddle, he had not been playing at all with US National Team, but he helped lead Salt Lake City to the 2009 MLS Championship, and, after Davies got hurt, coach Bradley brought him up to help provide a fast striker for the US. Unlike Buddle, he played and made significant contributions in a World Cup tune-up game versus a good Turkey team. He is playing himself into a big contract somewhere.
The
Game
Every soccer fan in America – and many around the world - is salivating at the US’s first game in the 2010 World Cup: versus England on Saturday, June 12, at 2:00 pm EST, on ABC.
England boasts perhaps the wealthiest, highest-profile professional soccer league in the world: The Premier League. The Premier league contains some of the most famous, high-profile soccer teams in the world, including Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool. Many of the best, highest-paid soccer players in the world play for teams in England, and England regularly produces great players. Soccer is the national sport in England.
The English national team is packed with highly paid stars, including John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Gerry Neville, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, and Peter Crouch (who is 6’7”, skinny, and does the robot after he scores). It looked as if David Beckham was going to make his fourth World Cup playing for England, but he tore his ACL in the spring of 2010 and won’t be healed in time to play.
People in England won’t commit suicide if England loses to America, as some people have done in other parts of the world after World Cup losses (I don’t think), but English people will be fairly rabid about this. This is a huge point of pride for them.
The game will not be in Europe, so the site will be fairly “neutral ground,” although more England fans will travel.
The world soccer community will watch this game, and it will make big waves if the US can beat a traditional soccer superpower. A victory here will be one of the biggest wins in American soccer history. My prediction: a 2 – 2 tie.
The
US’s Other Games
The US plays in Group C in the World Cup and is guaranteed to play two other games. They are:
June 18 vs Slovenia
Slovenia is a small country located in Central Europe between the Alps and the Mediterranean. It declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Slovenia's greatest authors were the poets France Prešeren (1800–1849), Edvard Kocbek, and Dane Zajc. While all of its players play professionally on various teams in various leagues throughout Europe, it doesn’t have any big stars on any big teams. I think the United States will tie this game, 1 – 1.
The US vs Slovenia is Friday, June 18, 10:00 am EST, ESPN.
June 23 vs Algeria
Algeria is a large country, in terms of land size, located in North Africa. Its official language is Arabic, it has 34 million residents, and its major exports are oil and cotton. Like Slovenia, all of its players play professionally on various teams in various leagues throughout Europe, but it doesn’t have any big stars on any big teams. I predict a 2 – 0 victory.
The US vs Algeria is Wednesday, June 23, 10:00 am EST, ESPN.
Other
Players to Watch
Lionel Messi
Most would agree that this Argentine forward is currently the best player in the world. He is short and quick, in the mode of famous South-American strikers like Maradona and Romario. He plays during the year for Barcelona, one of the richest, most famous soccer teams in the world, and has led them to a lot of titles, including Spain’s 2010 championship. He is a fun, exciting player to watch.
Rhobino
One of the latest Brazilian soccer superstars - short, quick, and creative, he has shown some great moves playing on the left side. He started playing professionally as a teen, and played for Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid before an Abu Dhabi oil prince bought the English team Manchester City and lured him away with a huge contract. He was unhappy at “City” and is now playing for the Brazilian team Santos.
David Beckham
For the last decade, Beckham has probably been the most famous “footballer” in the world. He started out playing at a young age for English powerhouse Manchester United. He has played in three World Cups for England, usually as the captain. He has brought an element of glamour to the game by modeling and by marrying a Spice Girl. It made big news when he decided to play in MLS for Los Angeles three years ago. He unfortunately tore his ACL in March of 2010, which will prevent him from playing, but there is talk of FIFA or the English team having him there in some capacity.
Christian Ronaldo
One of the best players in the world, this Portuguese striker won FIFA’s player of the year award in 2008 (and finished second to Messi last year). This tall (6’1”), pretty boy combines speed, skill, and power. He was the star forward for English powerhouse Manchester United before signing a very large contract with Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid after the 2008 season.
Wayne Rooney
He is the center forward for Manchester United – the most glamorous position on one of the most glamorous teams in the world. Rooney has been on a scoring tear leading up to the World Cup. This Englishman is the classic short, quick striker. He is brilliant at getting the ball on the attack, playing it off to a teammate on the wing, running to a seam in the back of the defense, receiving the ball back, and one-timing it with his foot or head into the back of the net. He has a temper, to the point of stomping on opponents when they are on the ground.
Also:
· Didier Drogba – This striker from the Ivory Coast is big and powerful in the mold of Ruud van Nistelrooy or Luca Toni. He plays the highest-profile position for powerhouse Chelsea which just won the 2010 championship in England.
· Kaka – This Brazilian midfielder has a huge contract playing on Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid, a team full of stars.
· Wesley Sneijder, Robben van Persie – Two great Dutch players. Sneijder is a midfield playmaker who just helped lead Inter Milan to the European team championship, and van Persie is a candidate for the “Golden Boot” award for the player who scores the most goals.
Other
Countries to Watch
Spain
Spain has been ranked #1 in the world for most of the past two years. It has never won the World Cup before and is not considered a traditional powerhouse, but it won Euro ’08, which is a tournament held every two years for just the countries in Europe (which includes a majority of the best soccer countries in the World). Spain boasts many highly-skilled, highly-paid players who play professionally for some of the biggest teams in the world, including Xavi, Fernando Torres, David Villa, Andres Inesta, and Cesc Fabrigas.
Netherlands
“The best team in the world to have never won the World Cup.” Holland’s orange jerseys are famous. The Netherlands have produced a lot of great players over the years and finished second, third, and fourth in the World Cup many times. Their star players are Arjen Robben, Mark Van Bommel, Robin van Persie, Eljero Elia and Wesley Sneijder. They are particularly strong this cycle and could win the World Cup.
Germany
The 1990 champions, 2002 runners up, and 2006 3rd place finishers, Germany can never be ruled out. Germany’s professional soccer league, the Bundesliga, is one of the best in the world, and Bayern Munich just finished second in a tournament to determine the best team in Europe. German stars include Miroslav Klose, Michael Ballack, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Lukas Podolski. Germany received a setback when Michael Ballack, the captain, received an injury late in his season and won’t be able to play in the World Cup.
England
See “The Game” section for a description of England.
France
With a second place finish in 2006, the World Cup win in 1998, and a major domestic, professional soccer league, France is a traditional soccer power. That said, France struggled to qualify for this World Cup and may be down this year. France was tied with Ireland late in the last qualifying game until Thierry Henry got away with a handball in the box and scored a goal; without that – the move and missed call that outraged the soccer world - Ireland might have advanced. Stars like Thierry Henry, Franck Ribery, Djibril Cisse, Aly Cissokho, and Moussa Sissoko lead the French. (Rumor has it that Henry will leave Spanish powerhouse Barcelona and come play for New York after the World Cup– a big, international star in New York to counter Beckham in LA.)
Italy
Italy is a traditional soccer powerhouse and the defending World Cup champions. Stars Gianluigi Buffon, Gianluca Zambrotta, Fabio Grosso, Fabio Cannavaro, Mauro Camoranesi, Daniele De Rossi, and Giuseppe Rossi play on this team. Giuseppe Rossi is particularly frustrating to Americans because he was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, but was able to play for Italy because of his Italian heritage and the fact that he never played an international game for the US.
Brazil
Brazil has won the World Cup more times than any other
country. They won last summer’s Confederation’s
Cup tournament. They are at the top of
all of the international soccer power rankings (although I take those with a
grain of salt). They boast some of the
highest-paid players on some of the biggest teams in the world, like Robinho, Kaka,
Luis Fabiano, Macion, Lucio, Gilberto Silva, and Daniel Alves. Ronaldinho was, for many years, considered
the best player in the world and played the game with the biggest teams with
creativity and flair and a smile on his face.
Even though he’s not that old and plays for Italian powerhouse AC Milan,
his stock seems to have slipped, and head coach Dunga left him off of Brazil’s
roster.
Argentina
Argentina has a proud soccer history, including winning the World Cup in 1986 and finishing second in 1990. It produced Maradona, one of the most famous strikers of all time; their blue and white striped jerseys are feared; and they have Lionel Messi. Other stars include Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain. It is very hard to say they won’t do great, but it’s hard for one person to take over the gam, and they didn’t qualify for the World Cup until right at the end of the South American qualifying tournament. I think they’re a little down this cycle.
Also:
· Portugal – Very well respected by FIFA right now, I don’t know who they’ve got besides Christian Ronaldo and Deco and doubt they’ll do well.
· Ivory Coast – This small country in West Africa has been many soccer experts’ pick to be a “Cinderella story” and do well in the tournament. This was due to Didier Drogba, who plays center forward for English powerhouse Chelsea, being their center forward; having a number of other players who play in Europe; and the tournament being in Africa. But a recent/late/odd coaching change and a not-great showing at last summer’s African championship tournament have me thinking the Elephants won’t do too well.
· South Africa – normally I would say the Bufana Bufana will be outgunned in the World Cup, but, looking back at the past couple of tournaments, the home countries seem to do particularly well, so I have home field advantage propelling them a game out of group play.
· Mexico – a soccer-crazed country and the traditional powerhouse in the Western Hemisphere. El Tri’s (the “tri-colors”) best players include Jared Borgetti and Cuauhtemoc Blanco. When Mexico plays a country like Guatemala in the United States, they sell out 70,000-seat football stadiums.
The
TV Schedule
As has become the norm, all 64 games are being shown live on ESPN and ABC. Since the World Cup is in South Africa, there is a time difference, but it is not too bad. The games are on at 7:00 am, 9:30 am, or 2:00 pm EST. ABC is showing the 2:00 pm game every Saturday afternoon (Brazil vs Ivory Coast on Sat., June 20 looks particularly intriguing).
The full TV schedule is at: http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/espns-world-cup-2010-tv-schedule.html
The first game of the World Cup is Fri., June 11; S. Africa vs Mexico; 9:30am EST, on ESPN.
The championship game
is Sunday, July 11, at 1:30 pm EST, on ABC.
Highlight shows are a good way to see the best plays and most important developments of the previous week’s action.
Find a country or two or three you have an interest in or tie to, DVR some games, and enjoy.
The Bracket
Group Play
Here are my predictions for group play (the top two teams advance):
|
Group A 1) Mexico 2) S Africa 3) France 4) Uruguay |
Group B 1) Nigeria 2) Argentina 3) S Korea 4) Greece |
Group C 1) England 2) United States 3) Slovenia 4) Algeria |
Group D 1) Germany 2) Ghana 3) Australia 4) Serbia |
|
Group E 1) Netherlands 2) Denmark 3) Japan 4) Cameroon |
Group F 1) Italy 2) Paraguay 3) Slovakia 4) New Zealand |
Group G 1) Brazil 2) Portugal 3) Ivory Coast 4) N. Korea |
Group H 1) Spain 2) Chile 3) Switzerland 4) Honduras |
My thoughts on group play:
· Group A - Normally I’d pick France for the #2 spot, but I think France is weak this cycle; South Africa is going to get the home crowd push, and so I’m going to go with a little bit of an upset.
· Group B - An African country has not won a group in recent history, but Argentina struggled some to qualify; and Nigeria performed well in the recent African Nation’s Cup, so I predict this will be a little bit of an upset, too.
· Group D – It’s very hard to pick the #2 spot. Ghana finished #2 in the African Nation’s Cup. Australia, even though they don’t have a strong domestic league, always seems to do well in the World Cup. It’s very hard to choose between the two.
· Group E - Denmark is a small, somewhat-obscure soccer country, but they did well in European qualifying, so I guess they’re strong this year, and will advance in the #2 spot.
· Group F - Yes - I picked Paraguay over Slovakia! It is hard to predict who will take the #2 spot given that they both did well in qualifying, but Paraguay finished higher up the “table” in a tough region.
· Group G – It’s hard to pick #2 spot between Portugal and Ivory Coast. I think Portugal is overrated, but the Ivory Coast didn’t do well in the African Nation’s Cup, and I don’t see four African teams advancing. North Korea? Aren’t they banned from international competitions or something?
· Group H – It’s very hard to pick the #2 spot. Both Chile and Switzerland are two, somewhat obscure soccer countries who both did well in qualifying. I’m going with Chile because they finished second in qualifying in the South America region, and the tournament is not in Europe.
Knock-Out Rounds
My thoughts on the knockout round games:
It’s funny: the way I see the groups playing out, many countries will be matched up against countries from their region of the world. To the point where the top half of the bracket is the “South and Central American bracket”, and the bottom half is the “European bracket.” England always seems to underperform in the World Cup –at least since 1966, basically – so I’m going to predict an inspired Ghana team upsets them. I think Mexico gets a nice taste of success this World Cup, given how the bracket is organized. I like the Netherlands a lot – I could imagine them making the final - but they run into Brazil relatively early. Nigeria soundly beats South Africa in an all-African nation round-of-sixteen game. I might pick the US to do better, but they don’t have Charlie Davies. Spain has been very strong for the past couple of years. I’d pick Spain to win the championship game if the tournament was being played in Europe, but, since it isn’t, I predict Brazil will win their unprecedented sixth World Cup in 2010.