At one point late in the second half of the dreadful MLS Cup Final, with both of these mediocre teams protecting the 1-1 scoreline and heading to extra-time, I was actually tempted to flip over to watch the LA Lakers-Golden State Warriors NBA game, despite the fact that LA was up by 30 at the time. Seemed like it might be more compelling.
It's rare to get to use the words "scintillating" and "final" in the same sentence -- you expect both teams to play cautiously and the nerves to rattle. But, with two exceptions, this was an unwatchable match, between two forgettable teams, played by mostly second-rate players. But don't take my word for it: ESPN's ratings were down 44% year-over-year, and BMO Stadium in Toronto looked, from the camera pans, to be half empty or worse.
From a match perspective, after a mind-numbing first 20 minutes, Colorado had a semi-legitimate penalty appeal when the slow, bull-headed Connor Casey was tripped up, but it was marginal. Then there was a moment of brilliance in the 35th minute from the Colombian David Ferreira, the league's MVP for 2010, who braved an on-rushing keeper to finish an inch-perfect Marvin Chavez cross on the low volley. This was followed by another 20 minutes of poor play and boredom on either side of halftime. Finally, Casey scored a garbage goal to equalize and it looked like the match might come back to life, finally, but things quickly settled and by he 80th minute, I was begging the football gods not to let this horror show go to penalties.
Fittingly, the match was decided in the second half of extra time by an own goal. Macoumba Kandji drove down the right wing for Colorado and aimed a tepid strike at the near post, which the Dallas defender, John George, turned into goal with his knee. Kandji injured himself on the play, so Colorado played the last 12 minutes a man down, and actually those 12 minutes were the best of the match, as Dallas threw everything they had at Colorado, and nearly sent the match to penalties on several occasions.
So, there you have it, two undeserving teams playing for the cup, with the champion scoring a complete garbage goal and an own goal to win the match. Yuck. To add insult to injury, the idiot presenting Connor Casey with the man of the match trophy afterwards called him "Casey Connor." It was a laughable spectacle, and the perfect end to the idiotic MLS playoffs.
Fuck you, Don Garber. If you can't fix this, forget about the casual fans, the core like me are off to watch Kobe and Pau blow out the Warriors.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
MLS Conference Finals Set
It was a bizarre weekend in the MLS playoffs. With the exception of LA (more on that later), every higher seed lost their first round series. New York Red Bull crashed and burned against San Jose. Columbus went down on penalties to Colorado after a regular time stalemate. And Dallas convincingly held Real Salt Lake to a draw at Rio Tinto, allowing them through on aggregate after their 2-1 win at home last week.
This means that we are guaranteed the presence of either Colorado or San Jose in the MLS Cup Final, the lowest seeds in the playoffs and the #5 and #6 teams in the Western Conference table, respectively. Oh, and one of these teams will be representing the "east." It's a repeat of last year, when 5th position Real Salt Lake made a run through the east to get to the cup final against LA.
I'm sure Don Garber can make an argument why this is good for the fans, but it's hard to see this as anything other than a massive fail for the league. I have nothing against San Jose or Colorado, but neither of them belongs in the MLS cup final. Had the league seeded the playoffs from a single table, you'd have seen #1 LA vs. #8 San Jose, #2 RSL vs. #7 Colorado, #3 New York vs. #6 Seattle, and #4 Dallas vs. #5 Columbus. Tell me that wouldn't have produced a more interesting set of possibilities for the conference and cup finals.
One team didn't succumb to the higher seed curse this weekend, and that was LA Galaxy. Against most predictions, LA didn't park the bus and try to protect the 1-0 lead from the first leg; instead, they attacked Seattle right from the start, and once again used the set piece to tremendous advantage. This seemed to take Seattle somewhat by surprise, and they were on their back foot from the start.
Sigi Schmidt protested the first goal because Beckham was allowed to take his corner from his favored right side (although the replay I saw suggested that was the correct call), but Schmidt's whinging obscures the fact that Seattle conceded four corners in the first 18 minutes, and Beckham was dropping dangerous balls exactly in the same place that Buddle connected. You can't concede multiple free kicks against a team that set a league record with 13 set piece goals in the regular season and expect not to be punished.
The second goal, also off a set piece, was pure training ground as Beckham's sharply curled ball fooled the defenders into letting Gonzalez lose his mark at the near post for a spectacular diving header. Beckham came close again with a free kick just outside the area, and LA had a number of other chances.
The result sets up an LA-Dallas conference final at Home Depot Center next Sunday, and you have to like LA's chances to get through to a second consecutive MLS Cup Final. With either Colorado or San Jose coming out of the other bracket, the winner of next Sunday's contest in Carson has a great chance of lifting the silverware.
This means that we are guaranteed the presence of either Colorado or San Jose in the MLS Cup Final, the lowest seeds in the playoffs and the #5 and #6 teams in the Western Conference table, respectively. Oh, and one of these teams will be representing the "east." It's a repeat of last year, when 5th position Real Salt Lake made a run through the east to get to the cup final against LA.
I'm sure Don Garber can make an argument why this is good for the fans, but it's hard to see this as anything other than a massive fail for the league. I have nothing against San Jose or Colorado, but neither of them belongs in the MLS cup final. Had the league seeded the playoffs from a single table, you'd have seen #1 LA vs. #8 San Jose, #2 RSL vs. #7 Colorado, #3 New York vs. #6 Seattle, and #4 Dallas vs. #5 Columbus. Tell me that wouldn't have produced a more interesting set of possibilities for the conference and cup finals.
One team didn't succumb to the higher seed curse this weekend, and that was LA Galaxy. Against most predictions, LA didn't park the bus and try to protect the 1-0 lead from the first leg; instead, they attacked Seattle right from the start, and once again used the set piece to tremendous advantage. This seemed to take Seattle somewhat by surprise, and they were on their back foot from the start.
Sigi Schmidt protested the first goal because Beckham was allowed to take his corner from his favored right side (although the replay I saw suggested that was the correct call), but Schmidt's whinging obscures the fact that Seattle conceded four corners in the first 18 minutes, and Beckham was dropping dangerous balls exactly in the same place that Buddle connected. You can't concede multiple free kicks against a team that set a league record with 13 set piece goals in the regular season and expect not to be punished.
The second goal, also off a set piece, was pure training ground as Beckham's sharply curled ball fooled the defenders into letting Gonzalez lose his mark at the near post for a spectacular diving header. Beckham came close again with a free kick just outside the area, and LA had a number of other chances.
The result sets up an LA-Dallas conference final at Home Depot Center next Sunday, and you have to like LA's chances to get through to a second consecutive MLS Cup Final. With either Colorado or San Jose coming out of the other bracket, the winner of next Sunday's contest in Carson has a great chance of lifting the silverware.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Seattle Sounders 0:1 Los Angeles Galaxy
So, LA Galaxy went to Seattle, into one of the best (and, for LA, most hostile) atmospheres in the history of MLS playoffs, and came away with a one goal victory. Despite all of the pre-match hype about Seattle's pace, and midfield possession, and wing play, and how hot they were down the stretch, as I predicted, the Galaxy dictated the flow of the match and go back to Home Depot Center in the driver's seat.
Certainly, the LA wing-backs couldn't keep up with Zakuani and Nyassi, but their midfielders cheated back (Donovan and even Beckham were very helpful in defense) and by the end of the match LA were effectively playing a 4-5-1 with sometimes all eleven in their own half clogging up the pitch and frustrating Seattle's offense. Seattle had a couple of meaningful efforts on goal -- Ricketts' reaction save of the Montero header in the first half after injuring his shoulder a few minutes earlier probably saved the match for LA -- but nothing suggested they were prepared to take over the match and win it.
LA on the other hand easily could have won this one 2-0 or even 3-0. The winning goal came from a phenomenal individual effort by Edson Buddle, who chested down a long header about thirty meters from goal, turned, and volleyed a perfect ball to the far post and into the net. It was reminiscent of Clint Dempsey's wonder goal at Craven Cottage for Fulham in the Europa League against Juventus. In addition, Donovan had a rocket from well outside the area that forced a punch save from Kasey Keller; and Juninho just missed wide off a great one touch-pass build up, that showed in a nutshell why LA is so dangerous in post-season play.
All of this makes the pundits' dismissal of LA going into the playoffs even more inexplicable. Christopher Riordan on the majorleaguesoccertalk.com podcast expressed "shock" that people on the internet were still picking LA. He and co-host Richard Farley both picked Seattle, Riordan saying it was an "easy choice" to pick them, predicting a 2-0 first leg. Heh.
A final note on the atmosphere and support for the Sounders in Seattle. It was unbelievable, breathtaking. I've never heard or seen a crowd like that for an MLS match. Beckham reportedly said afterward that it was the first time he felt like he was playing in a European venue in North America. Seattle has the greatest supporters in the league and they showed their spirit in amazing fashion on Sunday night.
Certainly, the LA wing-backs couldn't keep up with Zakuani and Nyassi, but their midfielders cheated back (Donovan and even Beckham were very helpful in defense) and by the end of the match LA were effectively playing a 4-5-1 with sometimes all eleven in their own half clogging up the pitch and frustrating Seattle's offense. Seattle had a couple of meaningful efforts on goal -- Ricketts' reaction save of the Montero header in the first half after injuring his shoulder a few minutes earlier probably saved the match for LA -- but nothing suggested they were prepared to take over the match and win it.
LA on the other hand easily could have won this one 2-0 or even 3-0. The winning goal came from a phenomenal individual effort by Edson Buddle, who chested down a long header about thirty meters from goal, turned, and volleyed a perfect ball to the far post and into the net. It was reminiscent of Clint Dempsey's wonder goal at Craven Cottage for Fulham in the Europa League against Juventus. In addition, Donovan had a rocket from well outside the area that forced a punch save from Kasey Keller; and Juninho just missed wide off a great one touch-pass build up, that showed in a nutshell why LA is so dangerous in post-season play.
All of this makes the pundits' dismissal of LA going into the playoffs even more inexplicable. Christopher Riordan on the majorleaguesoccertalk.com podcast expressed "shock" that people on the internet were still picking LA. He and co-host Richard Farley both picked Seattle, Riordan saying it was an "easy choice" to pick them, predicting a 2-0 first leg. Heh.
A final note on the atmosphere and support for the Sounders in Seattle. It was unbelievable, breathtaking. I've never heard or seen a crowd like that for an MLS match. Beckham reportedly said afterward that it was the first time he felt like he was playing in a European venue in North America. Seattle has the greatest supporters in the league and they showed their spirit in amazing fashion on Sunday night.
Friday, October 8, 2010
MLS Playoffs
With only a couple of games left in the MLS season, the playoff picture is relatively clear. And a large part of that clarity is just how fucked up and unfair the MLS playoff format truly is.
The continued weakness of the Eastern Conference will lead to six of the eight playoff teams coming from the Western Conference (last season, it was five of eight). In fact, if the tables were combined (as they ought to be by any measure), the first place team in the east, New York Red Bulls, would currently occupy the fourth position, behind LA, Salt Lake City and Dallas. Yet, the playoff format will have the top western teams that are arguably the best teams in the league as a whole eliminating each other in the west.
This is quite a harsh penalty for the teams with the best regular season records, LA and Salt Lake City, and even for the surging FC Dallas. As it stands right now, LA will play Seattle while the two teams with the best current form, Dallas and Salt Lake, will face off. On the other side of the bracket, New York will fly across the country to play a weak San Jose, while sagging Columbus will make a somewhat shorter trip to Colorado.
The pundits seem to be favoring FC Dallas and New York Red Bulls to go the distance, with 2009 champions Real Salt Lake as the clear number three. I've watched a fair number of MLS matches this season, and in my opinion these so-called "power rankings" are complete bullshit.
Whether the experts' darlings FC Dallas have the chops to take out Real Salt Lake in the first round and make a deep playoff run should get a hard test in the last three matches of the regular season, as Dallas must overcome playoff-bound Colorado at home this weekend, and then away matches at RSL and LA Galaxy. We'll also get a look at New York Red Bulls at home against RSL in the last match of their season, although with the playoffs looming, it's unlikely we'll see a full complement from either side.
Lost in the shuffle are last years runners-up and current points leader LA Galaxy. Most pundits currently rank them fifth (!) behind Seattle, RSL, New York and Dallas. With Beckham inching back to fitness, the Galaxy have won four of their last five matches. Bruce Arena is playing Beckham together with Juninho in the central midfield, with Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle up front. Sure, the defending has looked a bit shaky at times, but when goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts is on form and their attack is flowing, they are going to be a force, and they have the experience of having made a run to the final last year. And, with the best record in the MLS going into the playoffs (at least as of this writing), they'll get home field advantage through to the final in Toronto.
That said, it's unlikely that the best team will win the MLS Cup, and even more unlikely that the best two teams will meet in the final. And that's a problem for the league. There's a home & home aggregate goal series in the first round, so some likelihood that quality will bubble to the top -- but against that is the ludicrous seeding process, that rewards the better Eastern Conference teams with weaker opponents out of the west. After that it's one-and-done in the conference finals and the MLS Cup final, so a hot team can put four decent matches together and win the cup even from a "wild card" position, as Real Salt Lake did last season (fifth in the west; re-seeded in the east as the wildcard; upset LA Galaxy in final on penalties).
Lame.
But I'll watch anyway. I'm pulling for an LA/New York final.
The continued weakness of the Eastern Conference will lead to six of the eight playoff teams coming from the Western Conference (last season, it was five of eight). In fact, if the tables were combined (as they ought to be by any measure), the first place team in the east, New York Red Bulls, would currently occupy the fourth position, behind LA, Salt Lake City and Dallas. Yet, the playoff format will have the top western teams that are arguably the best teams in the league as a whole eliminating each other in the west.
This is quite a harsh penalty for the teams with the best regular season records, LA and Salt Lake City, and even for the surging FC Dallas. As it stands right now, LA will play Seattle while the two teams with the best current form, Dallas and Salt Lake, will face off. On the other side of the bracket, New York will fly across the country to play a weak San Jose, while sagging Columbus will make a somewhat shorter trip to Colorado.
The pundits seem to be favoring FC Dallas and New York Red Bulls to go the distance, with 2009 champions Real Salt Lake as the clear number three. I've watched a fair number of MLS matches this season, and in my opinion these so-called "power rankings" are complete bullshit.
Whether the experts' darlings FC Dallas have the chops to take out Real Salt Lake in the first round and make a deep playoff run should get a hard test in the last three matches of the regular season, as Dallas must overcome playoff-bound Colorado at home this weekend, and then away matches at RSL and LA Galaxy. We'll also get a look at New York Red Bulls at home against RSL in the last match of their season, although with the playoffs looming, it's unlikely we'll see a full complement from either side.
Lost in the shuffle are last years runners-up and current points leader LA Galaxy. Most pundits currently rank them fifth (!) behind Seattle, RSL, New York and Dallas. With Beckham inching back to fitness, the Galaxy have won four of their last five matches. Bruce Arena is playing Beckham together with Juninho in the central midfield, with Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle up front. Sure, the defending has looked a bit shaky at times, but when goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts is on form and their attack is flowing, they are going to be a force, and they have the experience of having made a run to the final last year. And, with the best record in the MLS going into the playoffs (at least as of this writing), they'll get home field advantage through to the final in Toronto.
That said, it's unlikely that the best team will win the MLS Cup, and even more unlikely that the best two teams will meet in the final. And that's a problem for the league. There's a home & home aggregate goal series in the first round, so some likelihood that quality will bubble to the top -- but against that is the ludicrous seeding process, that rewards the better Eastern Conference teams with weaker opponents out of the west. After that it's one-and-done in the conference finals and the MLS Cup final, so a hot team can put four decent matches together and win the cup even from a "wild card" position, as Real Salt Lake did last season (fifth in the west; re-seeded in the east as the wildcard; upset LA Galaxy in final on penalties).
Lame.
But I'll watch anyway. I'm pulling for an LA/New York final.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Plate o' Shrimp
Sometimes, you see an idea and suddenly you start seeing it everywhere. Sometimes that synchronicity is so sharp, it's kind of uncanny.
While I was on vacation, I finally got around to reading a couple of books that had been sitting on my nightstand for a while. The first was a remarkable near-future science fiction novel called The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi. This wildly imaginative and original book is set in Thailand in a future where the earth is depopulated by plagues, where food and energy are so scarce that calorie efficiency is a constant concern. Like the best speculative fiction, you finish this one with a lingering fear that this could really happen. It's an impressive first novel by Bacigalupi, well-paced and literary.
I'd been struggling for a while to get through Deleuze and Guattari's two volume Capitalism & Schizophrenia, when a friend suggested Manuel De Landa's A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History as kind of an introduction/distillation of the ideas.
It is an incredibly thought-provoking book on its own, but read immediately after Bacigalupi's, it's a revelation. De Landa offers a materialist re-interpretation of modern history as the movement, trade and governance of matter and energy that provides a philosophical Rosetta Stone for The Windup Girl's imagined world. These two books are like a great art-house double feature -- each one informs and enhances the other. Worth a look.
While I was on vacation, I finally got around to reading a couple of books that had been sitting on my nightstand for a while. The first was a remarkable near-future science fiction novel called The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi. This wildly imaginative and original book is set in Thailand in a future where the earth is depopulated by plagues, where food and energy are so scarce that calorie efficiency is a constant concern. Like the best speculative fiction, you finish this one with a lingering fear that this could really happen. It's an impressive first novel by Bacigalupi, well-paced and literary.
I'd been struggling for a while to get through Deleuze and Guattari's two volume Capitalism & Schizophrenia, when a friend suggested Manuel De Landa's A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History as kind of an introduction/distillation of the ideas.
It is an incredibly thought-provoking book on its own, but read immediately after Bacigalupi's, it's a revelation. De Landa offers a materialist re-interpretation of modern history as the movement, trade and governance of matter and energy that provides a philosophical Rosetta Stone for The Windup Girl's imagined world. These two books are like a great art-house double feature -- each one informs and enhances the other. Worth a look.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Fulham 2:1 Wolves
It's kind of an odd year for a Fulham supporter. After last season's magical run through the Europa League -- and believe me, as a Fulham fan it was truly magical -- there's an air of let-down about the team this year.
The crafty old codger Roy Hodgson is off to greener pastures at Liverpool. Who could fault him. He did yeoman's work at Craven Cottage, engineering the Great Escape, getting them to 7th place in the Premiership and the Europa berth, and then wiling his way through a tough Europa group stage with AS Roma and FC Basel, dusting off the holders Shaktar, then Juventus (in dramatic fashion), Wolfsburg, and Hamburg, before losing in the final (the final!) to Athletico Madrid and World Cup golden ball winner Diego Forlan, 2-1. Meanwhile, they comfortably avoided relegation concerns in the Premiership, finishing a respectable 12th. They even made it to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, before getting bounced by Spurs in a replay.
After that embarrassment of riches for a Fulham fan, there was bound to be a Fulhamish return to planet Earth. But, after beating a nasty Wolverhampton Wanderers at home on Saturday, Fulham are 5th in the table on 6 points, and undefeated. They fought back to draw Manchester United 2-2 in a great match. They also gutted out draws away at Bolton and Blackpool. They are playing really attractive football under their new manager Mark Hughes. There's even a new swagger in the home support.
But I wouldn't be a Fulham fan if I wasn't feeling a bit fragile right now. Zamora's broken ankle is a horrible thing. He was really coming into form, having finally gotten his well deserved cap for England, and now he's out until February. There's still uncertainty whether Fulham can retain Schwartzer, Hangeland, and even Murphy. Konchesky is gone to Liverpool with Hodgson. While Hughes is trusting Dempsey more up front, while Gera and new signing Dembele look sharp, the Johnson's Eddie and Andy are no Bobby Zamora. And worst of all, they have a nightmare schedule until March/April, totally front-loaded with tough fixtures. Ugh.
Still, it feels like Fulham, particularly at home, are becoming a tough fixture themselves for the rest of the Premiership, and that's kind of cool. Great to see them continuing to develop American players like Dempsey and Johnson (and before them McBride and Bocanegra and even Seattle Sounders keeper Kasey Keller, who, by the way, had a monster penalty save midweek to deny Real Salt Lake three points away). They have two winnable fixtures away at Blackburn and Stoke coming up, and they are fun to watch -- skillful, positive. Let's see what they are made of.
The crafty old codger Roy Hodgson is off to greener pastures at Liverpool. Who could fault him. He did yeoman's work at Craven Cottage, engineering the Great Escape, getting them to 7th place in the Premiership and the Europa berth, and then wiling his way through a tough Europa group stage with AS Roma and FC Basel, dusting off the holders Shaktar, then Juventus (in dramatic fashion), Wolfsburg, and Hamburg, before losing in the final (the final!) to Athletico Madrid and World Cup golden ball winner Diego Forlan, 2-1. Meanwhile, they comfortably avoided relegation concerns in the Premiership, finishing a respectable 12th. They even made it to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, before getting bounced by Spurs in a replay.
After that embarrassment of riches for a Fulham fan, there was bound to be a Fulhamish return to planet Earth. But, after beating a nasty Wolverhampton Wanderers at home on Saturday, Fulham are 5th in the table on 6 points, and undefeated. They fought back to draw Manchester United 2-2 in a great match. They also gutted out draws away at Bolton and Blackpool. They are playing really attractive football under their new manager Mark Hughes. There's even a new swagger in the home support.
But I wouldn't be a Fulham fan if I wasn't feeling a bit fragile right now. Zamora's broken ankle is a horrible thing. He was really coming into form, having finally gotten his well deserved cap for England, and now he's out until February. There's still uncertainty whether Fulham can retain Schwartzer, Hangeland, and even Murphy. Konchesky is gone to Liverpool with Hodgson. While Hughes is trusting Dempsey more up front, while Gera and new signing Dembele look sharp, the Johnson's Eddie and Andy are no Bobby Zamora. And worst of all, they have a nightmare schedule until March/April, totally front-loaded with tough fixtures. Ugh.
Still, it feels like Fulham, particularly at home, are becoming a tough fixture themselves for the rest of the Premiership, and that's kind of cool. Great to see them continuing to develop American players like Dempsey and Johnson (and before them McBride and Bocanegra and even Seattle Sounders keeper Kasey Keller, who, by the way, had a monster penalty save midweek to deny Real Salt Lake three points away). They have two winnable fixtures away at Blackburn and Stoke coming up, and they are fun to watch -- skillful, positive. Let's see what they are made of.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Final Thoughts
Well, the World Cup is over and Spain are champions. Good. Balance is restored to the universe. The best team playing the best style managed to win.
The final itself kind of sucked. Holland avoided any semblance of trying to play with Spain. Instead, they must have decided that Germany lost because they were too deferential to Spain's midfield, and therefore that the proper strategy to counter that tendency was to foul like motherfuckers for the entire match. It started just 45 seconds into the match, when Van Persie raked the back of Busquets' knee with his cleat and barely avoided a yellow card; and it didn't even end when Heitinga got sent off with a second yellow for dragging Iniesta down from behind when he was through on goal in the 109th minute -- hell, they got two more after that for good measure, a total of nine (!) cards in all.
The English ref Howard Webb handed out a record 14 cards in the final, and he is going to get a lot of stick from the Dutch fans for favoring Spain. But believe me, he did a reasonably good job responding to an utterly cynical Dutch strategy, and while he missed a couple of calls both ways, he basically got it right. I was pissed that he kept slowing the game down with his constant whistles, but to Webb's credit, he really did his best to keep this 11v11 for the full 120 minutes in very difficult circumstances. He could easily have sent De Jong off after half an hour for his WWE move on Alonso; probably could have sent Van Bommel off a couple of times, and probably should have sent off the histrionic Robben, who, at one point, chased him halfway up the pitch to complain because, for once, he didn't go down when Puyol fouled him on a break and Webb let the play continue. The Brazilians must have loved that one.
Holland were just awful. But, to their credit, the brutal hacking strategy did disrupt Spain's rhythm, and, it almost -- almost -- got them the win. Had Casillas not gotten a foot on Robben's first break-away strike (as he dove the other way), had Robben taken his chance when he stayed on his feet after beating Puyol, you could have seen the Dutch steal this one 1-0. Their goalkeeper was excellent and kept them in the match. But for the fouling, they had a pretty interesting tactical response to Spain, pressuring them, interfering with passing lanes to break up Spain's short passing game, and they really neutralized Xavi. Pity they couldn't do it without eight cautions and a sending off.
Spain were not brilliant, not by any stretch. I thought they came out brightly, but lost their edge under the weight of the Dutch negativity. The early second half sub of Jesus Navas for Pedro was inspired, and he managed to get a lot more movement on the right wing. But I thought the 87th minute sub of Cesc Fabregas for Alonso won the game for Spain. He provided a Xavi Hernandez-like spark to the Spanish attack, and created at least three good chances in extra time, including Iniesta's winner.
Anyway, Spain won, and they celebrated emotionally. This is a very big deal for Spain. It was cool that they changed into their red jerseys for the cup presentation. Here are two of my favorite YouTube vids, first, Spanish TV announcer Camacho on the goal call:
And, a little cute, but a choked-up Casillas interrupting his insanely hot girlfriend's attempt to conduct a professional interview with him:
When the dust settles, and I've had a chance to reflect, I'll do a summary of the tournament. But for now, I'm really happy with the result. Espana, campeones!
The final itself kind of sucked. Holland avoided any semblance of trying to play with Spain. Instead, they must have decided that Germany lost because they were too deferential to Spain's midfield, and therefore that the proper strategy to counter that tendency was to foul like motherfuckers for the entire match. It started just 45 seconds into the match, when Van Persie raked the back of Busquets' knee with his cleat and barely avoided a yellow card; and it didn't even end when Heitinga got sent off with a second yellow for dragging Iniesta down from behind when he was through on goal in the 109th minute -- hell, they got two more after that for good measure, a total of nine (!) cards in all.
The English ref Howard Webb handed out a record 14 cards in the final, and he is going to get a lot of stick from the Dutch fans for favoring Spain. But believe me, he did a reasonably good job responding to an utterly cynical Dutch strategy, and while he missed a couple of calls both ways, he basically got it right. I was pissed that he kept slowing the game down with his constant whistles, but to Webb's credit, he really did his best to keep this 11v11 for the full 120 minutes in very difficult circumstances. He could easily have sent De Jong off after half an hour for his WWE move on Alonso; probably could have sent Van Bommel off a couple of times, and probably should have sent off the histrionic Robben, who, at one point, chased him halfway up the pitch to complain because, for once, he didn't go down when Puyol fouled him on a break and Webb let the play continue. The Brazilians must have loved that one.
Holland were just awful. But, to their credit, the brutal hacking strategy did disrupt Spain's rhythm, and, it almost -- almost -- got them the win. Had Casillas not gotten a foot on Robben's first break-away strike (as he dove the other way), had Robben taken his chance when he stayed on his feet after beating Puyol, you could have seen the Dutch steal this one 1-0. Their goalkeeper was excellent and kept them in the match. But for the fouling, they had a pretty interesting tactical response to Spain, pressuring them, interfering with passing lanes to break up Spain's short passing game, and they really neutralized Xavi. Pity they couldn't do it without eight cautions and a sending off.
Spain were not brilliant, not by any stretch. I thought they came out brightly, but lost their edge under the weight of the Dutch negativity. The early second half sub of Jesus Navas for Pedro was inspired, and he managed to get a lot more movement on the right wing. But I thought the 87th minute sub of Cesc Fabregas for Alonso won the game for Spain. He provided a Xavi Hernandez-like spark to the Spanish attack, and created at least three good chances in extra time, including Iniesta's winner.
Anyway, Spain won, and they celebrated emotionally. This is a very big deal for Spain. It was cool that they changed into their red jerseys for the cup presentation. Here are two of my favorite YouTube vids, first, Spanish TV announcer Camacho on the goal call:
And, a little cute, but a choked-up Casillas interrupting his insanely hot girlfriend's attempt to conduct a professional interview with him:
When the dust settles, and I've had a chance to reflect, I'll do a summary of the tournament. But for now, I'm really happy with the result. Espana, campeones!
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