THE LIFE & DEATH OF THE BEAUTIFUL GAME ?? Having watched most of the games in the World Cup finals I have to say that the standard of football has steadily deteriorated as the competition has progressed. The closer the teams have approached the knock out phase of the competition, where a team must win every game in order to progress to the next round, the more tentative and conservative their style of playing the game has become. Football as a glorious spectacle has been being slowly asphyxiated before our eyes ! Winning, being everything, has meant that the PRIMARY focus of the games has been on three things: firstly: denying the opponent POSSESSION of the ball (because without the ball he cannot score goals) secondly: total DEFENSE (where every member of the team except a lone striker gets to defend)thereby nullifying most of the attacking options of the opposing team; thirdly: playing for a DRAW against a nominally superior team in the knowledge that the odds are increased of the chances of a win in the subsequent penalty shoot-out. All of the above tactical decisions made by the various teams coaches and managers has made for a boring and sterile form of play and the ONLY team that has consistently NOT played like this has been the Germans. The Brazilians played as if their own heritage concerning the beautiful game simply didnt exist, and against the Columbians they played a cynical dirty game in which the fouls escalated in intensity to such an extent that their captain missed the semi finals for receiving two yellow cards, and in a retaliatory foul the most special player of the whole tournament (Neimar) was seriously injured and out of the tournament. The French and Dutch and the Belgians all played percentage football (as in my three points above) and all lost, yet they came to the tournament playing bright and attractive football. The English were rubbish from the word go, and how Wayne Rooney can be worth $150 million in a salary deal with Manchester United is beyond comprehension. Portugal? Rubbish !! Spain (the former World and European champions) arrogant, poorly prepared, and made to look foolish. Australia, the football skills of a high school team. And so it went on. The beautiful game is suffering a crisis - it just aint beautiful any more, at least not at the World Cup finals stages. Will the final be attractive fast and skillfully played or will it be a game where each side nullifies the approach of the other in a sterile matching of strategic wits that silences and stifles the skills of Messi and Mueller and some of the best players on the planet ?? The wider game NEEDS a World Cup final of blistering intensity and passion, of excitement skill & bravery and it needs a result where fortune has indelibly favored the brave. A game of nothing ventured nothing gained where Messis sublime skills will be apparent to one and all and where the winners have ENTERTAINED and charmed us all with all the talent they have at their disposal. Anything less will doom this World Cup to being largely forgotten for anything but the total sporting annihilation of that once upon a time home of beautiful football, Brazil. My prediction is that the German team will go out from the beginning to win with fast and attractive attacking football - if they dont do this then it will be a game that they stand a good chance of losing. The Argentines will play a cynical game of percentages and if they do that (as they have done throughout the tournament) then they risk being beaten. It promises, for those of us who love the game, to being a riveting contrast in football styles, at least I HOPE IT DOES. A wise woman once said better a false hope than an unendurable reality. Well, I still live in hope, but Im hanging on by the skin of my teeth as the saying goes. Germany 3 Argentina 1 is my prediction ❤️⚡️❤️
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 15:42:51 +0000
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