World Cup finals possibilities boggle the mind
So now, here’s a dilemma. Which team does a self-respecting Englishman want to see knocked out of the World Cup first, Argentina or Germany?
On the one hand, if the Germans give the Argentines a hiding (much like they gave the English) and send them packing back to Buenos Aires on Saturday in the quarterfinals, we would be rid of Diego Armando Maradona, which is always a good thing.
On the other hand, it would also deprive the tournament of its most captivating player, Lionel Messi, and that’s a bad thing. Also, a World Cup final between Argentina and Brazil at Soccer City on July 11 would be something to behold.
But if Argentina wins and Germany is ousted from the tournament, Europe’s already slim contingent of three teams in the final eight could well be reduced to none in the final four.
That’s because Brazil is favored to defeat the Netherlands in Port Elizabeth on Friday, the Dutch having an unfortunate habit of falling apart at exactly the wrong time.
The signs are already there. Forward Robin van Persie, taking a page out of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portuguese book of petulance, is whining and thus putting team unity under threat.
“I just want to be important to the team and score,” he said in apologizing for the hissy fit he threw when he was taken out of the Netherlands’ game against Slovakia. “I wanted to stay on ... and I felt that I could profit from that. I have hardly scored and that was gnawing at me, although I played well.”
Did anyone count the number of times Van Persie said “I” in that short diatribe? It was six. Yes, Robin, it’s all about you.
Meanwhile, Spain, another fragile collection of talent when it comes to performing on the global stage, could easily fall in the semifinals, although it is difficult to envision David Villa and company not dealing swiftly and decisively with overachieving Paraguay in Saturday’s quarterfinal in Johannesburg.
Paraguay will have a problem containing a Spanish team that has yet to meet a pass it cannot complete.
All of which leaves Uruguay and Ghana, who square off on Friday in Johannesburg in another quarterfinals match. The Ghanaians are flying the lone African flag left in the tournament, the African teams, on the whole, having performed miserably on their own continent.
But it is the Argentina-Germany match in Cape Town that has World Cup fans salivating.
The teams met in the 1986 final in Mexico City, where Maradona and his teammates prevailed. They met again in the 1990 final in Rome, where it was the Germans who came out on top in an appallingly mediocre game.
More intriguingly, though, the teams also played each other in Berlin in the 2006 quarterfinals. That’s when Argentina’s coach, Jose Pekerman, misguidedly left Messi on the bench and the Albiceleste was beaten on penalty kicks, extra time having failed to break the stalemate.
There were angry words and punches thrown then, and the same could be true in Cape Town on Saturday night.
The signs already are there, and Germany Coach Joachim Low has predicted an “intense and physical” match.
The Germans have an irritating habit of trying to undermine opponents ahead of games. Mind games are part and parcel of their approach.
Midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, for instance, has talked about how the Argentines “gesticulate and try to influence the referee. That is not part of the game. That is a lack of respect. They are just like that. This behavior shows their character and mentality.”
Defender Philipp Lahm has also chipped in with his two marks worth.
“We know the South Americans are impulsive and temperamental and cannot” take losing, he said. “We will see on Saturday how they will lose and how they will behave after a defeat.”
The good thing about Germany going out, if that happens, is that the team really has no true stars, forward Miroslav Klose and his haul of 12 World Cup goals over three tournaments being more a reflection of his scoring ability than his overall appeal.
But if Argentina with Messi, Spain with Villa, Brazil with Luis Fabiano (no, not Kaka) and Uruguay with Diego Forlan make it to the final four, it would give the lie to the strange comment made Thursday by Portugal’s Eusebio, the top goal scorer at the 1966 World Cup.
“You can count the good players on one hand,” Eusebio said of South Africa 2010.
For once, the Black Panther of Mozambique has got it wrong.
