Live The Pitch

After 11 months at the helm, Diego Maradona will not be retained as Argentina move forward after the World Cup this summer.  Maradona led Argentina to a quarterfinal appearance this summer, but were embarrassed 4-0 by eventual 3rd place nation Germany.

The Argentine Football Association decided to not keep Maradona based on major coaching differences they had with moving forward.  The main issue was the coaches under Maradona.  Maradona wanted to keep all his assistants from this summer but the Association did not not see it the same way.  The Association offered Maradona a new 4 year contract to lead the team into Brazil but he insisted on  keeping his entire staff.

Maradona will be missed on the pitch, as he was always entertaining on the sidelines and in the press room.  With his outgoing personality, controversy followed him everywhere.  Honestly I am surprised that he was even offered a new deal after the way they left the World Cup.  After the defeat to Germany, Maradona was involved in a heated exchange with some German fans before having to be subdued by his daughter.

Spain will play in their first ever FIFA World Cup final Sunday after dominating International play the last few years.  After losing their opening match to Switzerland 1-0, the Spanish have yet to allow a goal and are dominating opponents with constant possession of the ball.  If Spain wins the match they will become the first team to ever lose their opening match and win the cup.

To beat the Netherlands, Spain will have to find the back of the net.  It’s that simple.  The midfield combination of Andres Iniesta, Xaxi Hernandez, and Segio Busquets have controlled every match and need to do the same in the final.  The Netherlands midfield is strong, but is no where near the technical side of Spain.  Xavi has been Spain’s MVP in my opinion as he is always looking for the ball and rarely loses it.

The question mark for Spain will be the starting lineup once again.  Fernando Torres started each match up top leading up to the semifinal but was benched as he failed to score a goal.  I like Torres up top even if he is not scoring as he allows David Villa to shift out wide left where he is at his best.

Spain’s defense has only conceded one goal so far as they have been superb in the back.  Defenders Gerard Pique,Carlos Puyol,Sergio Ramos, and Joan Capdevilla have been excellent in front of Iker Casillas.  Casillas has quietly had an excellent tournament showing why his is considered the best keeper in the world.

I do see Spain winning the game but it won’t be easy.  Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder have given defenders fits so far and will look to expose the Spanish defense on the counter. Dirk Kuyt has also been dangerous from the outside and if any team can break through the Spanish defense it’s Holland.  

Spain will win the match 2-0 and hoist their first ever FIFA World Cup! David Villa will score both goals to lead Spain to the victory.

Here is a great video of Spanish fans celebrating the goal.  I can only imagine if they win on Sunday!

This will be the third time the Netherlands have reached the FIFA World Cup final as they look to win their first ever cup.  Holland fell to hosts West Germany in the ’74 final and also lost to hosts Argentina in the ’78 cup final.  The Netherlands are thrilled to not play the host country as it truly is an advantage for the host country.

To beat Spain, Holland will have to stay patient in the back and finish their scoring chances.  Spain plays a very technical game and are fine with keeping possession as long as possible to create scoring opportunities.  Holland are also superb in keeping possession of the ball but Spain is just too good in the midfield.

If Holland can get an early goal they could possibly win the match.  Spain has shown throughout the tournament that they struggle to find the back of the net.  As much as the Spanish backs get involved in the attack, Holland has the talent to punish Spain on the counter.  Even as Spain dominated Germany in the semifinal, the Germans still had some decent opportunities to take the lead with their best play maker(Muller) on the bench.

Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben will have to pick their chances to attack the Spanish defense wisely.  Sneijder has been the player of the tournament so far and Robben looks unstoppable going forward.  Robin Van Persie needs to be a bit more creative but I expect him to have a huge game.  The Spanish center back combination of Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique has been stellar only allowing 1 goal so far and it was in the opening match.

The Netherlands have been the best team on paper so far but will fall to Spain on Sunday.  Spain will control the match from the first whistle and win 2-0.

Here is the fan reaction to the semifinal victory to send them to the finals!

At the beginning of the game Brazil was 35-0-2 when leading at halftime in the World Cup. After going up a goal before halftime into today’s match, the number one team in the world broke that streak falling to the Dutch 2-1, in the first match of the quarterfinals.

Brazil opened up the match totally dominating the boys in orange. In the 10^th minute Robinho made a great diagonal run behind the Dutch defense and put his side up a goal. Felipe Melo sent an amazing ball from midfield right down the heart of the opposition’s defense and Robinho calmly tucked the ball away.

In the 31^st minute Brazil nearly went up two goals if not for some very acrobatic goaltending. After some great combination passing Kaka found himself with an open shot from the top of the box. The shot was headed right for the upper ninety but Netherland keeper Maarten Stekelenburg made what could be the save of the tournament, to keep his side down a goal.

After halftime Holland came out putting much more pressure on the Brazilians and slowly gained the momentum in the match. In the 53^rd minute Brazil Allowed its first own goal in its illustrious World Cup career off a Wesley Sneijder shot from outside the eighteen.

Arguably one of the best keepers in the world, Julio Cesar, tried to come out and punch the ball out but hit his own player instead, causing the ball to deflect off of Melo and into the back of the net.

In the 68^th minute every jaw in the world dropped to the floor, when the Flying Dutchmen scored on a corner kick to go up 2-1.

Arjen Robben sent a low ball to the near post and Dirk Kuyt flicked the ball into the middle of the six-yard box. Sneijder, the smallest man on the field at 5’7”, used every inch of his frame to send the ball into the corner of the goal. It was a terrific goal and for the first time in the tournament the Brazilians looked to be on their heels.

In the 73^rd minute Melo lost all composure when he was sent off with a straight red. After Robben fell to the ground for about the fiftieth time, Melo had had enough and stomped on the back of his leg with his cleats. Melo let his team and nation down as his side would play the rest of the game a man down.

Brazil could never regain the momentum in the match and were lucky not to get beat four to one. Dunga will have some serious explaining to do as his entire country has been criticizing his style of play. Brazil will not stand for anything besides being world champions and someone’s head has to roll.

Brazil will have to wait another four years to win its sixth World Cup, when they play host to the tournament in 2014, but don’t count on Dunga being at the helm.

In the final round of 16 knockout match, Spain defeated Portugal 1-0.  The world # 1 Spain looked the part as they destroyed Portugal in every facet of the game.  The Spanish midfield controlled the flow of the match from the first whistle.

In the opening half neither team could break through to get on the board.  Spain were very patient on the ball and looked content to just not make any mistakes.  Portugal on the other hand sat back and tried to counter the Spanish defense every chance they could.

As the second half began the game started to open up a bit with both teams taking chances going forward.  Portugal had a great chance to take the lead when Carlos Puyol’s clearance off his thigh almost went in for an own goal early in the second half.

David Villa finally got in behind the Portugal defense in the 63rd minute beating Eduardo with a great finish under the crossbar.  Villa was on the end of another great demonstration of combination play from the Spanish midfield.  Xavi Hernandez  controlled the midfield throughout the match and it was his creative flick that put Villa in behind the Portuguese defense.

With Portugal pushing forward late and getting decent opportunities at goal things turned ugly in the 89th minute when Ricardo Costa was shown a straight red card for his blatant elbow to Joan Capdevilla.

Spain did however recieve its first yellow card of the tournament when Xabi Alonso was punished for his late challenge.  One yellow card through 5  is extremely rare.  That shows that their technical ability rarely puts them into situations where a foul is needed.

After their opening loss to Switzerland, Spain has been on great form in their last 3 matches  Look for Spain to make a deep run in the cup if they keep performing at this level.