Graeme's World Cup Team Of The Tournament

Pretty self explanatory article this. I do have to stress that this team is based soley on my own opinions. I haven't really analysed stats or anything fancy like that; I simply watched every game, and picked out the players that stood out to me.

I'm writing this before the Final to keep that occasion special. Better to acknowledge the outstanding individual contributions that took Spain and the Netherlands to the final now than second guess what is going to happen tomorrow.

Any opinions, or players you disagree with, please feel free to comment. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but abuse is always funny.

In no particular formation:


Goalkeeper: Eduardo (Portugal). Consistent, reliable and Portugese? Has world class ability.



Right Back: Philip Lahm (Germany). Back to his top form. Was never beaten.



Centre Back: Arne Friedrich (Germany). Stepped up to the plate. Shook off domestic form with gusto.


Centre Back: Juan (Brazil). Highly athletic and uncompromising. Saved Brazil many times.


Left Back: Fabio Contraeo (Portugal). Defended sensibly and attacked whenever possible.



Midfield: Andres Iniesta (Spain). A superb passer, he has the movement and directness that Xavi lacks.



Midfield: Bastien Schwiensteiger (Germany). A central midfield revelation. Simply outstanding.



Midfield: Anthony Annan (Ghana). Mature performance beyond his years and experience. Ghana's key.



Midfield: Wesley Snjieder (Netherlands). The reason the Dutch reached the final. An irreplacable dynamo.



Striker: Diego Forlan (Uruguay). The hitman excelled. Truly awe-inspiring at times.



Striker: David Villa (Spain). Dragged Spain through their darkest moments with flashes of pure brilliance.

Coaching Team: Oscar Tabarez (Uruguay), Joachim Loew (Germany), Milovan Rajevic (Ghana).

Honourable Mentions:

Goalkeeper: Richard Kingson (Ghana), Fabio Muslera (Uruguay), Boubacar Barry (Ivory Coast)

Right Back: Maxi Pereira (Uruguay), Maicon (Brazil), Sergio Ramos (Spain)

Centre Back: Tulio Tanaka (Japan), Lucio (Brazil), Francisco Rodriguez (Mexico)

Centre Back: Joris Mathijsen (Netherlands), Denis Godin (Uruguay), Vangelis Moras (Greece)

Left Back: Carlos Salcido (Mexico), Ashley Cole (England), Claudio Morel (Paraguay)

Midfield: Mesut Oezil (Germany), Gervinho (Ivory Coast), Jean Beausejour (Chile)

Midfield: Mark Van Bommel (Netherlands), Egidio Arevalo (Uruguay), Xavi (Spain)

Midfield: Sami Khedira (Germany), Kevin-Prince Boateng (Ghana), Javier Mascherano (Argentina)

Midfield: Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Thomas Mueller (Germany), Elano (Brazil)

Striker: Miroslav Klose (Germany), Alexis Sanchez (Chile), Robert Vittek (Slovakia),

Striker: Gonzalo Higuian (Argentina), Asmaoah Gyan (Ghana), Dirk Kuyt (Netherlands)


Coaching Team: Bert Van Maarwjik (Netherlands), Marcelo Bielsa (Chile), Takeshi Okada (Japan).

Plus guest motivational coach Ricki Herbert (New Zealand).


GM

Defending German Heritage

Before we begin, I would like to clarify that I am defending German heritage in a way very different to the way that it was defended in the 1930s and 40s. Mine involves a little bit more wit and observation and a little bit less ritual torture and bombing. A heritage need not be deemed a "Master Race".

There has been much criticism of the German national team over the past few weeks. For the first time ever it is not about the style with which they play - their counter-attacking and deadly finishing has captured imaginations globally. However, with names like Lukas Podolski, Piotr Trochowski and Cacau, it didn't feel like the halcyon days of German football with Der Kaiser and Der Bomber amongst other. Namely, the team wasn't German enough.

Well now, I have found evidence to the contrary. Browsing on YouTube as one does, I came across a figure from the BBC's historical documentary "Blackadder II". This particular image that I have procured (with all the necessary permissions I can assure you) depicts a German prison guard with a resemblance to one of Germany's allegedly imported stars, Mesut Ozil. After hours of painstaking consulting with geneologists, I can confirm that this man who held the Lords Blackadder and Melchett captive for a short period is in fact a distant relation of Ozil's, making him as German as leather shorts:

Further evidence has also linked Ozil to the English aristocracy. This distant cousin was identified as a likeness when flicking through a copy of Britain's finest newspaper. Of course, we know that all English aristocrats are actually German anyway, so what more evidence do you need?

RM

World Cup Musings: Semi-Mental. Just One (More) Small Step

Flying Back in First Class, With Complementary Wine and Pretty Air Hostesses to Distract Them From Their Failure

Germany:

This new generation will have to wait a little longer for its moment. The most impressive team at the World Cup, their attacking verve added real colour to the tournament. Sadly for them, Spain were savvy enough to triumph in the Semi; they just played so slowly that the Germans never got a chance to employ their lethal counterattacking style. With maturity will come an ability to adapt to challenges, and when that happens the world had better watch their backs.

Best Performers: Youngsters Oezil and Mueller got deserved recognition; Sami Khedira should have been praised more as he was superb considering what he was asked to do; anchor the entire team. Lahm was back to his consistent best, and Arne Friedrich had a surprise standout tournament. One can only marvel at Klose's World Cup performances; a man who must now feature in any future debates about All Time World Cup XI's.

My best performer, though, was the magnificent Bastien Schwiensteiger. His rapid metamorphosis into a world class central midfielder has been astounding, and his committment and drive unparalleled. True LAD. To honour his extraordinary achievements, here's a gratuitous pic of his extraordinary girlfriend. Lowering blog standards LAD.

World Cup in Five Words: Pretty counter-attacks don't win tournaments

Uruguay:

Their success came completely out of the blue to me, as I wrote them off as cloggers with no real skill. And I had reason to; I had watched them in qualifying matches and they were woeful. Things changed though. They benefited from a pretty easy ride to the Semi's, but nonetheless they were impressive and, particularly in the knockout stages, a very enjoyable watch. With 3 million people, Uruguay have done every small nation proud (and rendered most of Scotland's traditional excuses for failure redundant). How Terry Wogan lookalike coach Tabarez managed to completely change the attitude of his team I have no idea, but he should recieve some sort of medal for it.

Best Performers: Muslera in goals was generally pretty good, surprising considering Lazio's abominable form this season. Lugano was an inspirational leader at the back, and both Pereira's (Maxi and Alvaro) were excellent as 3-5-2 Wingbacks, storming forward whenever possible. Arevalo performed as any good holding midfielder should, and broke up many attacks. Obvious other standouts would be Luis Suarez and Sebastien Abreu for their varying contributions to Uruguay taking the Quarterfinal on penalties.

And, of course, Diego Forlan. Who is now without doubt World Class and is being chronically wasted at Athletic Madrid. He is one of football's supreme goalscorers. Someone save the man!

World Cup in Five Words: Recaptured vintage years from nowhere

GM and RM

The County Scene - Week 15: Wild Thing makes Aussie hearts sing

Well I said it'd be 3-2 England. It's amazing how many people would have been delighted with that a fortnight ago and are now bitterly disappointed after England took an unassailable 3-0 lead last week. Credit to the Aussies for bouncing back - here's how they did it.

4th ODI (The Oval) - Australia 290-5 (50 overs) (Clarke 99* off 106, Ponting 92 off 93) beat England 212 (42.4 overs) (Yardy 57 off 63, Harris 8.4-1-32-5) by 78 runs. England simply got outclassed here. It was about time the skipper stood up and Ponting duly delivered here with an imperious knock that was rarely troubled by an England attack that suffered on a flat pitch. Inserting the Aussies was a decision that Strauss made based on what had come before in the series, not on a pitch which deteriorated through the match. The attack acquitted themselves well early on but it was the middle overs where they are usually so strong that Ponting and Clarke made their counter attack. Clarke was dropped early on 5 by Anderson and had to take a few risks to play his way back into form but was soon using his feet as well as ever in a serene knock which was rarely troubled after this early chance. He will be gutted that Steve Smith (18* off 8) hogged the strike in the last over, meaning he couldn't make a deserved ton. Who knew that Smith was a useful batsman as well as a promising leggie? Well, watch the T20 World Cup preview and you'll see that I did! If he works on his control and variation in his bowling, he's a viable Test Match spinner and No.6 batsman. Ryan Harris is another cementing a place in the Test side. He doesn't move the ball too much but bowls at brisk pace in a good area doing just enough to induce a false stroke, which he managed 5 times here. Strauss looked good again before giving it away (37 off 45) and Yardy finally showed international batting class but had too much work to do and not enough sheer hitting power. The highlight of the batting was Eoin Morgan's 3 massive 6s off James Hopes. Finally, I'd like to say how stupid it was to class this match as a day/nighter and start it at 1pm. The game finished at 8, which rendered the floodights pretty obsolete!

5th ODI (Lord's) - Australia 277/7 (50 overs) (Hussey 79 off 60, Marsh 59 off 50, Paine 54 off 90, Broad 10-0-64-4) beat England 235 (46.5 overs) (Collingwood 95 off 121, Tait 8.3-0-48-4) by 42 runs. No complaints, Australia were simply excellent today. Despite looking on the rack early after Tim Paine's slow trudge to fifty, the recalled Shaun Marsh and Mike Hussey really lifted things in the batting powerplay. Having controlled the early proceedings, the pace bowlers disappeared to all parts, with only Graeme Swann returning respectably economical figures (8-0-32-3), although Broad did pick up some cheap victims at the death with the old bumper! To me, Shaun Marsh is a forgotten man in Australian cricket, only ever included where there are injuries, in this case to Michael Clarke. People forget how destructive he is - the best batsman in the inaugral IPL in 2008. His technique is solid and his fielding is outstanding, demonstrated here by two great catches on the ropes to send back Morgan and Wright for England. It was he who started the big hitting and Mike Hussey followed, doing what he does best at the end of an innings. Paine's innings was responsible right up until he attempted to reverse-sweep Swann and was bowled. If you're playing the anchor role, put that shot away! However, this game will be remembered for the bowling of Shaun Tait, apparently clocked over 100mph today, although looking back at Hawk-Eye it "only" seems up to 97 - maybe Channel Five's speed gun is as excitable as it's anchor. His pace was too much for England, leading to calls for him to come back to first-class cricket in time for the Ashes. Will he be Australia's answer to Larwood? He certainly has got them running scared! Only Collingwood resisted, in a typically "gritty, back-to-the-wall effort", although he did benefit from some buffet bowling from Hussey in the middle!

England now go on to play Bangladesh in 3 ODIs. The outcome seems pretty clear-cut after the first warm-up match on Saturday:

Sussex 253 (47.5 overs) (Brown 58 off 52, Thornely 56 off 73) beat Bangladesh 104 (28.4 overs) by 149 runs.

Now, we all know that Sussex are a good county side, particularly in limited overs. But they fielded an inexperienced side with four debutants and only Monty Panesar with international experience. 104 all out is simply unacceptable from an international side. England have rested Pietersen and Swann for this series but it shouldn't make a difference. Pietersen has looked in great touch without getting a score and now has a slight niggle and Swann has been performing non-stop miracles for 12 months so both are due a rest. Ian Bell and James Tredwell should deputise and look to boost their averages. 3-0 England.

Pakistan continued their tour of the counties before starting against Australia today (which I won't be covering - too much going on in my life!). They look to be a pretty decent side:

Pakistan 360 (Umar Akmal 153, Lawson 4-93) and 264-4 (Umar Amin 73, Fawad Alam 68) drew with Kent 259 (Denly 63, Goodman 59, Mohammad Aamer 5-54) and 150-3 (Denly 69)

Pakistan 204-4 (20 overs) (Shoaib Malik 38* off 17 3 x 4s 2 x 6s, Umar Akmal 38 off 18 4 x 4s 2 x 6s) beat Essex 138-9 (20 overs) (Phillips 57 off 44 7 x 4s 1 x 6s, Abdul Razzaq 3-0-19-3, Saeed Ajmal 3-0-18-2) by 66 runs

Pakistan 134-4 (15.3 overs) (Shahzaib Hasan 64 off 40 7 x 4s 3 x 6s, Shahid Afridi 42 off 14 6 x 4s 2 x 6s) beat Northamptonshire 133-3 (20 overs) (Chigumbura 58* off 45 2 x 4s 3 x 6s, Wakely 55 off 43 7 x 4s, Saeed Ajmal 4-0-15-1, Mohammad Aamer 3-1-10-0) by 6 wickets with 27 balls remaining.

Maybe they'll pose more of a threat than we all thought, both on this tour and in next year's World Cup.

Right, there's been so much going on this week - but who is our Victoria Sponge Lad of the Week? The County Championship returned after a short break, so I thought I'd pick out the one outstanding performance as my lad. For once I'm going to select someone who found himself on the losing side despite a tremendous performance. He is another South African import who has looked good opening the batting all season. Here against Surrey, his side were responding to 391, with Mark Ramprakash making 99 after celebrating his hundred due to a scoreboard error! With his side all out for 237, our man had made 109, with only Luke Goddard the keeper as company with 67 - no-one else got past 14! Everyone chipped in at Surrey to set the side 408 to win. Our man made 105 this time as they damn near got there, with an in-form Chris Tremlett (4-94) putting paid to their hopes in a 42 run win

Wayne Madsen of Derbyshire - you are an unlucky LAD.
RM

World Cup Musings: Close Quarters Combat

No disgrace, so an upgrade to economy plus. A selection of films and actual leg room.

Brazil:

Contradicting the title somewhat, the Brazilian's demise was anything but pretty. A team that seemed as well organised and effective as any suddenly fell to pieces. They were not outplayed by the Dutch; indeed, in the first half they were dominant. They suffered from a major defensive blunder, the kind that all teams will experience at some stage, but then promptly fell to pieces. Their defending for the second Dutch goal was farcical and completely out of character. And to top it all off, Melo getting himself sent off literally minutes after that goal erased their chances of coming back. A chance blown, much like in 2006. Serious analysis must be done if Brazil hopes to win the next World Cup as host.

Best Performers: Robinho displayed great form, I assume to make it easier for him to leave Eastlands for good. Lucio was solid, Juan was better. Fabiano was effective in the groups but floundered against the Dutch. Kaka's woes make the exclusion of Ronaldinho even more dubious.

World Cup in Five Words: Well organised but not samba.

Ghana:

Heartbreak would be the only word to describe how Ghana exited the tournament. Gyan's penalty miss at the death of extra time will haunt him; all credit to him for stepping up in the shootout and attempting to inspire his team. Ghana were not the best footballers, but their team spirit, organisation and individual effort did them proud. Ultimately, Uruguay were a better side, but Ghana had about as much right to be in the semis as they did.

Best Performers: Asmoah Gyan was outstanding, as was the unlikely figure of Kevin-Prince Boateng. John Pantsil played well, as did Anthony Annan and Richard Kingson, whose overall consistency was commendable considering his lack of gametime at club level.

World Cup in Five Words: Denied at death. Africa proud.

Paraguay:

Much like Ghana in that they were solid and a strong team, they seemed to be exceeding themselves by reaching the quarterfinals. Against Spain though, they gave an admirable display and could easily have won. Their lack of forward punch was just too much to overcome in the end. Taking nothing away from them, I don't belive they are anything more than a solid team who benefitted from Italy's failure to launch and a realatively easy round of 16 match.

Best Performers: Antonio Alcaraz and Carlos Bonet were solid. Haedo Valdez did well to give them more impetus up front. The whole team performed well, but no-one really went above and beyond.

World Cup in Five Words: Quietly effective under the radar.

Argentina:

Had their weaknesses clinically exposed by the Germans. A side that lacked any real connection between midfield and the front men, especially after Veron's injury. They simply did not attack with any impetus or urgency believing, like so many other teams, that simply slowly stroking the ball about the entire team equates putting the opponents under pressure. They got nothing against the Germans; their solution was to move the entire team forward in attack, which just invited the Germans to break on them. Messi also let them down badly throughout.

Best Performers: Gonzalo Higuain did his poachers role well. Di Maria started well but fizzled out. Otamendi performed well after replacing Gutierrez at right back. Walter Samuel continued his good form until injury hit.

World Cup in Five Words: Promised much, crashed out. Again.

GM and RM

NFC South: Who dey gonna beat dem Saints?

It's always hard to look past the current "world champions" when making predictions for the new NFL season. However, when you consider that the New Orleans Saints jumped from 4th to 1st in the NFC South en route to the Superbowl in 2009, you realise that anything could potentially happen. With an unknown quantity in the Panthers and improving Falcons and Bucs sides, there is a possibility that this division may just be one of the more interesting in the league in 2010. Then you remember the elite passer at the disposal of Sean Payton in N'orleans and you think again. Here's the lowdown:

New Orleans Saints - offensively untouchable last year. Really played an exciting game from the "We're gonna put up more points than you, no matter how many you get" school. At the centre of this masterful offense is of course No.9 himself, Drew Brees. Such expectations lie on his shoulders - he carried the hopes of not just the franchise last year, but of a community in desperate need of a boost after Hurricane Katrina. He provided. How do you possibly top that in 2010? More of the same will do. Perhaps, if Pierre Thomas carries on the form he showed in the post-season, the running game may be utilised further, allowing Brees more play action routes to throw. With Reggie Bush also lurking in the backfield, opposition defences will need to be on guard. Brees' targets remain the same - Devery Henderson, Marques Colston and TE Jeremy Shockey, provided he doesn't start fitting again. They are not a star-studded lineup but when Brees has such accuracy, you just need to be able to catch a football and hold on. Concerns lie in the defense, which was not what won a Superbowl. Yes, they do make plays, such as that of CB Tracy Porter picking Peyton to the house in the Superbowl. Legendary FS Darren Sharper has re-signed for one last hurrah, but with little else in the secondary, teams would do well to throw away from him to weaker areas. Of course, with pass rushers like Will Smith and Jonathan Vilma making the tackles, it can occasionally be difficult, but the defense still needs to make more consistent plays and prevent as many first downs as came last season. They will make the playoffs, probably as divisional champions. But, teams will get enough of a look at the defence to crack the code and they'll come unstuck one and done in the playoffs. 11-5.

Atlanta Falcons - Similar to the Saints in that they like to get as many points on the board as possible, with plenty of offensive weapons at their disposal. Unfortunately, many of these weapons found themselves injured during 2009 and so they weren't able to challenge the Saints at the top of the division and missed out on a wild card berth, although they did record the first back-to-back winning record in franchise history. And they'll go 3-in-a-row this year and possibly snatch a wild card spot because the offense is looking fit and ready again. QB Matt Ryan is now in his 3rd year as a pro and looks ready to post some serious numbers, although not quite ready to step up into that elite category, hence the chances of a Superbowl ring look slim for now. He'll want to cut down on the number of picks he throws or at least offset that with plenty of touchdowns. RB Michael Turner has slimmed back down and will hope to stay injury free - on his day he is one of the best rushers in the league but will want to use his weight to his advantage a la Frank Gore, so has been hitting the gym rather than KFC. Star receiver Roddy White and veteran TE Tony Gonzalez will want to improve on last year's numbers. The defense is OK, but lacks play making potential. Rookie LB Sean Weatherspoon is seen as "a bit of a character", so hopefully his vocal approach will buoy the men around him. 10-6.

Carolina Panthers - you can forget about Denver, forget about Arizona and you can certainly forget about Buffalo - this is where the most interesting QB situation in the league finds itself. After years of Jake Delhomme, the Panthers finally grew tired of being picked off in the redzone and cut him. They then told his backup Matt Moore that he would be the starter in training camp, despite Moore's career experience being modest. In a show of solidarity with their new man, they then picked up highly rated Jimmy Clausen in the draft 2nd round. Which won't have done wonders for Moore's confidence. He actually didn't do too badly when Delhomme got benched last season, starting in 5 games and recording a rating of 98.5, but the playbook was kept simple and you suspect that teams may work him out quickly. Clausen is used to running a pro-style offense at Notre Dame and has impressed in OTAs. It's Moore's job to lose but Clausen is a capable deputy. Either one will be well protected by Pro-Bowl C Ryan Kalil. The running game is more likely to be Carolina's forte, with both DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart capable of going long. Steve Smith will make most of the catches. The defense has been another strong suit for the Panthers for years now but gone is perennial All-Pro star DE Julius Peppers. A scary man and a great addition for Chicago, who are clearly more minted than the Panthers. This is a huge blow and could ruin any chances they had of making the playoffs. LB Jon Beason will now lead the defence. A decent side, but one which won't recover from losing two veterans in time to challenge. Transitional period = 6-10.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - the Bucs had a rank year in 2009, made even worse when their incompetence was brought to wider attention when they were thrashed by the in-form Patriots at Wembley. However, that day heralded the start of a new dawn, as Josh Johnson was shelved in favour of rookie QB Josh Freeman, via Byron Leftwich, who was signed in place of Jeff Garcia and was meant to be the starter. Freeman might actually turn out to be quite good. True, his numbers aren't great but its tough as a rookie in a failing offense. Raheem Morris had three teething problems in his first year as Bucs head coach. His offense, his defense and his special teams. 3-13 was the result. It's time for me to be a bit bold and make some risky predictions, because let's face it every one I've made so far in the NFL series has been pretty safe! I'm going to say that Freeman leads the offense to overcome the problems of 2009 and they start producing. Cadillac Williams and the running game will be important for this to happen. Gerald McCoy is the heir apparent to Warren Sapp as a DT and will be a popular and good fit in Morris' system. Old faithful CB Ronde Barber is still there to lead the defense. I don't know why, but I just have a feeling. 8-8. Or the Glazers could pull the plug and it'll all go horribly horribly wrong Lions 2008 style!

RM