Rewind to July 2 and Asamoah Gyan scored three goals in four games in the World Cup. Winning a standing ovation in his sides match against Serbia. In the quarter final against Uruguay he then stepped up and fluffed a chance to write himself and Ghana in to record books as the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi final.
World Cup
Many new soccer fans are born during World Cup competitions. With hours and hours of soccer coverage on the television you begin to become partial to watching it at some level. The following seasons used to be a bit of a come down , but now domestic football around the world is played to an excellent standard. We have lots more top flight games with the best players involved in, to enjoy.
So that was it Ladies and Gentlemen, the 2010 Fifa World Cup. What will you remember it for? Will you remember the ‘total’ defence style adopted by the Dutch, or the slick passing of the now World Champions? Personally, i’ll remember the Germans. Without the Germans this would have officially been the dullest World Cup on record. You can count the great goals scored in the tournament on one hand, a very poor return from 5,880 minutes of football. It may be an age thing though, the last World Cup I enjoyed was in 2002 when I was still in my twenties.
Just as the four best teams in the world right now prepeare to do battle with each other, the generals are counting their wounded. The very nature of big international competitions means that as games come thick and fast, players get suspended or injured. Sides will go up against each other with some of their most experienced soldiers on the sidelines. This gives others an opportunity to shine on the biggest of stages, and it also means that results are less predictable.
As Fabio Capello waits with baited breath to hear if he has kept his job, the former Milan supremo has named some of the future stars for England. Capello has singled out several young players, three of whom were in his pre-World Cup 30 but were left at home. Theo Walcott was the surprise name left out of the 23, but Capello has said he is in his future plans should he stay. The other promising youngster currently teetering on the brink of the first team is Adam Johnson. The former Middlesborough and now Manchester City winger was also left at home by Capello, but has been singled out by England’s current head coach.
After a desperately disappointing World Cup exit at the weekend, the question is where do England go now?
The whole tournament showed England to be an over hyped mediocre side set up in a way by Capello that below average sides were able to simply raise their game and get a result against them.
People have actually forgotten that before this tournament England actually failed to qualify for Euro 2008, with exactly the same squad as the current campaign. So it’s the same squad, just four years older, or as Capello whinged in his press conference, ‘four years more tired’.
Not that kind of toast although it is fitting considering the Germans did toast John Terry and the Three Lions for four goals a few days back, but how about a toast with Das Boot?
After all ESPN had England as the projected favorite of the huge second round match and Sports Illustrated picked Capello’s squad to advance all the way to the final match in the tournament, but Ze Germans proved once again that they are a truly a winning team (like Klose said) and they simply outran, outhustled, and outperformed their inferior opponent.
Frank Lampard’s shot bounced two feet over the line on Sunday, and the keeper had to reach in to his own net to retrieve it. The referee’s assistant didn’t see it as he wasn’t up with play, and the referee was not in a position to give the goal either. Fifa have refused to introduce technology in to the game which would eliminate such errors, and make the game fairer. That is what we are talking about here, making the game fairer. A side could be cheated out of an opportunity because Fifa refuses to explore the use of technology.
The English FA have decided to let Fabio Capello sway in the wind for the next two weeks as they decide whether to keep him or fire him after England’s disappointing World Cup.
Capello wants to stay on saying in his press conference today:
“I want to stay on as manager of England. I refused a lot of opportunities to be manager of important clubs because I like to stay here. I like this job. I like to be England manager.”
England managing director Adrian Bevington did not give Capello the strongest vote of confidence saying:
Germany reached the World Cup quarterfinals by beating England 4-1 in a match that will be remembered for the goal not awarded to Frank Lampard. Germany raced out to a early tow goal through Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski before Matthew Upson pulled a goal back for England in the 37th minute.
Then came the moment of controversy. One minute after Upson’s goal Frank Lampard’s shot from outside the box hit the cross-bar and fell a good yard behind the goal line. But the linesman was not in a position to see that and the referee waved play on.
