Poland coach Adam Nawalka says he has the best number nine in the world in captain Robert Lewandowski.
FULL-TIME: POLAND 1-1 PORTUGAL (PORTUGAL WIN 5-3 ON PENALTIES)
SUMMARY: After what turned out to be a deceptively bright start, with Robert Lewandowski putting Poland ahead after only two minutes and Renato Sanches levelling on his full Portugal debut, this match became a tight and attritional affair that always seemed destined for extra time and then penalties. Cristiano Ronaldo missed a couple of good chances to win it for Portugal, but then set the tone in the penalty shootout, scoring the first of their five successful kicks as Jakub Blaszczykowski missed for Poland.
Despite advancing to the semifinals, wapdut FC's Steve Nicol feels Cristiano Ronaldo has regressed.
MARSEILLE, France -- Three thoughts on a tense, tight quarterfinal as Portugal beat Poland 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in extra time ...
1. Portugal prevail, Poland exit in agony
Portugal are in the semifinals and Ricardo Quaresma is again their last-gasp hero, though this time, it came in a penalty shootout that separated two desperately tired teams. Poland's furthest run at the Euros is over. They could not repeat their flawless performance in Saturday's last-16 shootout with Switzerland.
Once Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski, star men and captains of their respective teams, had taken the first spot kicks, it was down to their lesser teammates to take their turns. Jakub Blaszczykowski, so often the hero for Poland and definitely crucial at Euro 2016, had his kick saved by Rui Patricio and up stepped Quaresma to fire Portugal through.
Extra time had come and gone without much excitement; its major talking point was a worryingly familiar lapse of security that allowed a pitch invader to enter and head for Ronaldo, though he calmly sidestepped the uninvited guest before some late-arriving stewards restored order.
That it went into extra time was hardly a surprise, however. Poland had beaten Switzerland on penalties in the previous round, while Portugal had not led after 90 minutes in any of their four previous matches at Euro 2016.
Portugal were struggling early, after Lewandowski broke his tournament duck within one minute and 40 seconds and his Poland side pushed on for more. Then Renato Sanches, 18 and Bayern Munich's €35 million summer signing, showed that individual flair is no longer confined to Ronaldo.
Amid the drudgery of Portugal's late 1-0 round-of-16 defeat of Croatia, Sanches won man of the match despite arriving on the field in Lens only at halftime. He seized his chance on Thursday night with even greater vigour. An injury to Andre Gomes gave him a first-ever start for Portugal and his 33rd-minute goal, a thwacking drive, might have taken a deflection off Grzegorz Krychowiak but was precisely the injection a previously lethargic Portugal needed.
Until that goal and as was the case in each of their four previous matches, Portugal were utterly lacking in flow. Sanches gave them drive, unsettling Krychowiak, Poland's usually outstanding central midfielder, in the process. Poland's natural caution set in and their prolific early form dried up. Lewandowski managed just three touches in the penalty area after scoring in the second minute.
Renato Sanches' goal pulled Portugal level vs. Poland and provided the platform for their win on penalties.
Instead, a previously open contest ebbed into a dour battle. Both teams adopted a defensive approach and the pace slowed on a steamy Mediterranean evening. Extra time was seemingly inevitable. Portugal came close when Artur Jedrzejczyk almost misdirected a Pepe pass into his own net, though Ronaldo squandered an even better chance, failing to connect from close range after beating the offside trap and running onto a clever chip from substitute Joao Moutinho.
It came in the 86th minute; a moment to reassert greatness was gone in a colourless overall individual display. Poland, with Lewandowski and Arkadiusz Milik utterly isolated, would go on to suffer their own collective agony.
2. Ronaldo struggles again
With Lionel Messi having retired (for the moment at least) from international football, Euro 2016 presented a chance for Ronaldo to put one over on his rival by winning a tournament with his country. France hasn't yet seen him at his best by any means, save for two goals in a 3-3 draw with Hungary and the brief, decisive flicker that set up Quaresma's winner against Croatia.
Having thrown a reporter's microphones into a lake and made ill-fated predictions about Iceland's achievements, Ronaldo has not enjoyed a good tournament for a public image that's usually so carefully managed. The fear for Poland was that the extra motivation might make Ronaldo even more dangerous, and from the moment he arrived at the stadium, it appeared as though Ronaldo wished to set himself apart. During the Portuguese national anthem, he stood at right angles to his teammates and there was a similar disconnect when the game actually started.
He and Nani, both natural wingers by trade, make an uncomfortable strike pairing. Though he and coach Fernando Santos have disagreed in public about his desire to come in from the left, Ronaldo began as the more central attacker, required to use his aerial power rather than pace as Portugal were usually reduced to long, pumped balls.
The 28th minute saw his first sight of goal, set up by Nani's scamper down the left. The shot was powerful but not enough to beat Lukasz Fabianski. Then came a reckless charge from Michal Pazdan in the area that should have brought a penalty. That received some typical (though justified) histrionics from Ronaldo.
He continued to up his shot count for the championships, equaling Italy's overall total of 36 in four matches by the first half of extra time, but nothing was coming off for him. Those efforts were hopeful at best. This was another night on which Ronaldo looked haunted by both playing for Portugal and the fact that he can no longer do it on his own.
Lewandowski finally scored at Euro 2016 and worked hard throughout but Poland will rue their wasted opportunity.
3. Lewandowski breaks duck but takes brunt of criticism
In Sanches, Lewandowski got a close look at the starlet who might soon be his Bayern teammate, his own transfer situation permitting. Lewandowski was far more concerned about breaking his scoreless tournament to date, something coach Adam Nawalka had promised would happen in Marseille.
Portugal were unlikely to let up on the harsh physical treatment meted out to the big striker, who entered the quarterfinal not as the leading scorer, but as the tournament's most-fouled player. Within the first minute, Nawalka's prediction had born fruit; Grosicki, one of Poland's outstanding players of the tournament, slipped past a dithering Cedric Soares and laid it on a plate for Lewandowski. From a position just inside the area, the most space he has been granted all tournament, he was not going to miss.
Nawalka's plan is usually to try and hold onto a lead rather than seek another goal, which meant another lonely night holding up the ball, taking the brunt of more tackles. Not here, though; Poland set out for more. In the 17th minute, Lewandowski held off two defenders to fire a shot on goal. It was saved easily by Patricio, but the Bayern attacker was finding and making space like never before at Euro 2016.
Yet the retrenchment soon came after Sanches' equaliser. Lewandowski began to take more tackles, with Pepe paying particularly close physical attention. The heavy-duty sacrificial role of the rest of Poland's matches would again have to be adopted by Poland's captain.
He led from the front and ran himself into the ground but it would not be enough.
Despite advancing to the semifinals, wapdut FC's Steve Nicol feels Cristiano Ronaldo has regressed.
MARSEILLE, France -- The African proverb goes, "It takes a village to raise a child." If you can stomach the metaphor and accept "village" to mean a community of men, divided by age, ability, culture, net worth and state of mind, but sharing a common goal, then it takes a village to win a European championship.
Or, at least, to advance to the semifinal. Which is the lesson learned after Portugal defeated Poland 5-3 on penalty kicks Thursday.
Those who had pictured Portugal getting to the final four likely did so imagining Cristiano Ronaldo in a starring role. He's there -- he's the village chief, but on a humid day in Marseille, he was simply another villager.
The difference-makers were others. Like Pepe, perhaps the village bully, a man rival villages love to hate but who on this night was the defensive leader and the veteran beating heart of the side. Or Ricardo Quaresma, maybe the guy who lives at the edge of the village, the one whose life journey has been marked by wrong turns and dark times, as evidenced by the teardrop tattoo under his eye, but who was icy cool in converting the decisive penalty kick.
And, above all, the baby of the village. The guy who had almost as many top-flight starts in his career (22) as he has years on this earth (18). The man-child who now has more man-of-the-match awards at these Euros (two) than he has starts with the national team (one: Thursday was his debut). The dynamo set to join Bayern Munich for a fee of $40 million plus a string of bonuses that could take it to twice that. The kid who became the youngest goal scorer in the knockout phase of the European Championships.
Take a bow, Renato Sanches.
All of them, though, are part of the village that showed both its limits and its tremendous character. Village elder (read: Portugal coach) Fernando Santos rightly praised every last one.
Both teams went into the game waiting for their difference-makers to make a difference. Not that Robert Lewandowski and Ronaldo had not been putting in effort and providing leadership. But it's like the parable of the talents. Much is expected in return from those to whom much is given.
Santos' starting XI for Portugal featured just five holdovers from the team that played in the opener, the uber-frustrating draw with Iceland. While Portugal reshuffled, especially in midfield, Poland kept the standard shape that took them this far and confounded many a more hyped opponent. It was as if Poland coach Adam Nawalka knew Lewandowski would come good. And he was proved right within 100 seconds.
Portugal right-back Cedric Soares, chosen over Vieirinha at, somehow contrived to lose a seemingly innocuous cross-field ball in the Stade Velodrome lights. He stepped up as if to head it, then stepped back as if to chest it, then let it go right past him into the path of Kamil Grosicki, who raced to the byline and cut it back low and tight for Lewandowski to put Poland ahead.
Portugal were stunned, and Poland looked to capitalize. Lewandowski twice came close in quick succession. Arkadiusz Milik rumbled through the middle only for Pepe -- neck muscles bulging, steam rising from his shaven head -- to snuff out the danger and rally his teammates. His bellows from the back line began to be heard around the half-hour mark.
Ronaldo took his first potshot from open play. Two minutes later, Poland's Michal Pazdan tossed Ronaldo to the ground in the box. He got up, incredulous, but referee Felix Brych waved play on. Replays showed he could well have called a penalty.
This is where Portugal might have started to get nervy and disorganized. Instead, they sensed the momentum was changing, in part because the ubiquitous Sanches continued to pop up in dangerous areas and in part because the front six left Poland with very few reference points: Other than William Carvalho shielding the back and Ronaldo doing his thing up front, the other four shifted positions often and freely.
At minute 35, a back-heel from the darting Nani found Sanches at the edge of the box. He seemed to pause a beat or two, as if he was giving opponents "the eye" before unleashing a venomous finish that slipped inside the post. The teenager rushed to his bench. He was going to celebrate with the entire village.
Portugal's equalizer took some steam off the Polish sorties. Nawalka would praise Lewandowski after the game, but truth be told, he struggled to see much of the ball after the break. The game began to turn ragged. The managers would deny it later, but it seemed they were thinking of extra time and, perhaps, that's why they waited to make changes, even as matters turned sloppy and physical.
"Poland is a very special team," Santos said. "They know how to lull the opponent into a state of rest."
For Portugal, Santos sent on Joao Moutinho for Adrien Silva. Think back to the village. Moutinho is the general store owner who keeps everyone supplied and well-fed, but he ran out of supplies in the group stage, to the point that he was dropped for the Croatia game. It's a big call to make when you're talking about a 29-year-old with 88 caps. But when there's trust in the village, it's the sort of decision a village elder feels entitled to make.
Five minutes from time, Santos should have been vindicated. Moutinho did what Moutinho does, inventing a cushioned ball over the top that found Ronaldo, instinctively dashing behind the defense at the right time. (By the way, that's neither luck nor extrasensory perception: It's the chemistry you get from two guys who have played together for a long time.) If the script had been followed, Ronaldo would have calmly controlled the ball and slipped it past keeper Lukasz Fabianski. Instead, Ronaldo whiffed.
It's the kind of error that can mess with a striker's head. But not Ronaldo. More than most, he takes mistakes on the chin and moves on. It happened again two minutes into extra time, when he couldn't control a cross from an excellent position.
"You [the fans and media] just focus on the fact that he doesn't score," Santos said afterward. "But he did so many other things. He was amazing."
That may be a bit over the top. But what is not in dispute is that Ronaldo is unaffected by what happens before. Indeed, after the extra time -- which turned spiky and conservative -- ended and it came to penalties, there was no question who would go first. Four years earlier, perhaps employing some kind of game theory, Ronaldo was selected to go fifth and it never got to him. This time Portugal took no chances.
"The coach asked who wanted to go first and Cristiano immediately said he would," said Sanches. "And I said I wanted to go second. Why not? I had the confidence."
Think about it for a minute. After missing a penalty in this tournament, after blowing hot and cold, after wasting chances he normally buries, Ronaldo elected to go first. And Sanches demonstrated confidence, too -- the guy making his debut as a starter, the player his manager would later compare to Mario Coluna, whom Portuguese old-timers often mention in the same breath as Eusebio. That's confidence from the coach, knowing you can do that with one of your players and not mess with his head.
Both scored, as did the first three penalty takers for each team. After Portugal made it 4-3, Poland's Jakub Blaszczykowski saw his spot kick pawed away by Fabianski. Up stepped Quaresma, who would later say, "I had a whole country in my hands." He buried his kick and sent the village to face the winner of Wales vs. Belgium.
Nawalka pointed out that Poland were exiting the tournament without losing a single game in the 120 minutes. He's right and he ought to be proud.
Anthony Richardson recaps the Copa America Centenario final, including the most memorable moments from New Jersey.
Now that the 2016 Copa America has come to an end, we asked our writers to reflect on its highs and lows.
BEST GAME
Tim Vickery: I enjoyed Argentina's semifinal display in the 4-0 win vs. the U.S. and Chile's 7-0 quarterfinal rout of Mexico
immensely; they were magnificent team performances. But in terms of a
game involving two teams, I think I might have to go with Ecuador 2-2 Peru. The Peruvians started out like a train, with Ecuador straining to get back in it. Jeff Carlisle: Argentina 2-1 Chile: This
was soccer at its finest, with two teams intent on attacking and
imposing their respective styles on the other. If only the final had
been as entertaining. Doug McIntyre: Argentina 2-1 Chile. Unlike the
final, this one featured goals and open play at a breakneck pace even
without the injured Lionel Messi. A far cry from Sunday's cagey
encounter. Tom Marshall: Brazil 0-1 Peru.
In a tournament that lacked a genuine standout classic, Brazil's
emotional exit against a gritty Peru (as well as some lackluster
refereeing) was gripping. Nick Dorrington: Ecuador 2-2 Peru. Half an hour of
Peruvian dominance, a spirited comeback from Ecuador, and then 30
minutes of frantic, end-to-end football to finish.
Mexico's early win vs. Uruguay set the tone for a fun and unpredictable tournament.Sam Kelly: Unusually, some of the early group games were great in this Copa. Argentina's win over Chile was fun, but I think Mexico 3-1 Uruguay probably topped it. It was end-to-end, it could have gone either way for most of the game, and it had a wild finish. Jason Davis: Chile 4-2 Panama.
The tournament didn't deliver too many great games, but Chile and
Panama managed to at least entertain with six combined goals. Noah Davis: From a cathartic United States perspective, the 4-0 win over Costa Rica. From an entertainment perspective, the Colombia 2-3 Costa Rica match went back and forth. From a combined quality/importance/wow! perspective, Colombia 0-2 Chile was everything.
WORST GAME
Tim: Costa Rica 0-0 Paraguay. The first half actually showed a little bit of promise, but the game died off, a victim of the intense afternoon Orlando heat. Jeff: Costa Rica 0-0 Paraguay. The person who
decided that scheduling a game in Orlando's late-afternoon heat should
be charged with crimes against humanity. That is just brutal on the
players. No wonder the game was a clunker. Doug: June 4: Costa Rica 0-0 Paraguay. American and
Colombian fans who watched this foul-fest because of its implications
for Group A rue the two hours they'll never get back. Tom: Costa Rica 0-0 Paraguay. No goals, not much quality, and fewer than 15,000 people in the Camping World Stadium. Nick: The 0-0 quarterfinal between Colombia and Peru was a bitty, attritional game of fouls, theatrics and very few chances. Sam: Peru 0-0 Colombia in the quarterfinals was about bad enough to have been transplanted in from Euro 2016. Jason: Brazil 0-0 Ecuador. A group-stage snoozer most notable for the missed call on what should have been a howler by Brazil keeper Alisson. Noah: Mexico 0-7 Chile.
American fans surely enjoyed the destruction, but seeing a dispirited
Mexico fall apart and more or less give up was difficult to watch.
Costa Rica and Paraguay wilted in the Orlando heat en route to a dismal 0-0 draw in the worst game of the Copa.
BEST GOAL
Tim: Messi's free kick vs. the U.S. is the one
everyone will remember because of its historical importance. From a team
point of view, almost all of the goals that Chile scored vs. Mexico.
But how about Christian Cueva (Peru vs. Ecuador), Victor Ayala (Paraguay
vs. Colombia) or Jesus Corona (Mexico vs. Venezuela)? Magic moments. Jeff: Messi vs. the U.S. wins it. One can argue that
Brad Guzan should have done better, but Messi's strike was superb. He
couldn't have placed the ball any better than if he had picked up the
ball, walked to the goal line and thrown it in. Doug: For me, it was either Ayala's rocket (Paraguay
vs. Colombia) or Messi's inch-perfect free kick versus the U.S. in the
semis. In honor of his apparent retirement, I'll go with Messi.
Anthony Richardson recaps the Copa America Centenario third-place match between the United States and Colombia.
Tom: "Tecatito" Corona for Mexico vs. Venezuela. A
stunning solo effort out of nowhere in Mexico's hour of need against a
tough opponent. Nick: Gonzalo Higuain's opener in the quarterfinal
(Argentina vs. Venezuela) was wonderfully executed: a lovely curled pass
into the area from Messi met perfectly on the slide for a crisp finish
into the corner. Sam: Objectively, probably Corona (Mexico vs.
Venezuela), but Messi's superb free kick against the U.S. runs it very
close and with the addition of the context -- overtaking Gabriel
Batistuta to put him out on his own as Argentina's all-time top scorer
-- might even pip it. Jason: Messi (Argentina vs. U.S.). His perfect
set-piece placement across goal was the highlight of his tournament
ahead of their disappointment in the final. Noah: Messi's free kick (Argentina vs. U.S.). In a
massive game, with a huge crowd watching, the little man made magic. And
as a bonus (for Argentina), it effectively ended the semifinal before
halftime.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
Tim: Venezuela going so long without conceding a goal. Jeff: Normally I would say Brazil's flameout in the
group stage or perhaps Mexico's 7-0 capitulation to Chile. But Messi's
apparent retirement from international soccer dwarfs everything else.
One can only hope that he'll reconsider once the sting of the final
defeat wears off a little (and the Argentina Football Association gets
its act together). The thought of Russia 2018 happening without him is
too depressing to contemplate. Doug: Messi saying after the crushing final defeat
that he's "done playing" for Argentina. After the way he played in this
tournament -- save the final -- I don't think anyone saw that coming. Tom: Venezuela. With the federation in deep trouble,
players resigning en masse from the national team late last year and
World Cup qualifying, not much was expected of the Vinotinto. The
victory against Uruguay was memorable and the players articulated their
pride in playing for a nation in crisis with a lot of dignity.
Nobody expected Venezuela to win a game, let alone escape the group, but they showed that their future is bright.Nick: Venezuela making it out of their group. They
rode their luck at times, but to do so on the back of just one win (and
nine defeats) in their previous 15 matches reflected positively on the
work that Rafael Dudamel and his staff have done since taking over at
the start of April. Sam: That American fans (at least from down here, on
Twitter) were so scathing about a decent run to the semifinals of a
senior international competition that was always going to be rather
trickier than the Gold Cup. I understand the arguments the fans were
making, I'm just surprised the comments have been so vehement. Jason: Mexico's utter capitulation in the quarterfinals against Chile. El Tri losing to Chile might not have been a surprise, but the manner in which they lost was. Noah: Picking the Brazilian dumpster fire is too
easy. For me, it was the newly found conservatism of Jurgen Klinsmann.
His lineup choices were downright predictable.
WORST/MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER
Tim:Matias Vecino arrived as Uruguay's
long-term central midfield solution and then got himself sent off in the
first half against Mexico. Set a disappointing tone. Jeff:Gonzalo Higuain. For
all the talk about Messi's penalty miss, it never gets to that point if
Higuain converts his first-half breakaway. Yes, he scored goals earlier
in the tournament, but he failed to convert when it mattered most. Doug:Luis Suarez didn't play a minute
because of injury, although he clearly wanted to. After Brazil's Neymar
opted to play in the Olympics instead of the Copa, this was was extra
unfortunate. Tom: Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez scored once in
four games and failed to level Jared Borgetti's Mexico record. More was
expected on the field, and the fact he didn't stop to talk to the media
-- aside from after the 7-0 loss to Chile -- was also disappointing for
one of the tournament's biggest stars.
Not seeing Luis Suarez on the field was a major disappointment of the 2016 Copa.Nick: I don't know if it would be fair to say that he was the worst player in the tournament, but Michael Bradley and his frequent concessions of possession left a far-from-positive impression. Sam: Given expectations and that he comes from a
nation who've boasted the likes of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo this
century, I don't know what Jonas is doing describing himself as a forward. Or, arguably, a footballer. Jason:Suarez, specifically because he played
no part in Uruguay's tournament despite being named to the team. His
visible frustration as Uruguay exited the tournament remains one of this
Copa's indelible images. Noah:Neymar. Is that fair? The Brazilian
superstar opted to play in the Rio Olympics, which is understandable,
but his team failed to reach the knockout round while dramatically
underwhelming.
BIGGEST SHAME
Tim: Professional shames such as press boxes behind
glass and not being able to broadcast in the press box. Plus, the
absence of press centres where you hang out and exchange views and
information; all of this is part of a Copa tradition that was ignored. Jeff: The corruption that characterized the early
organizing efforts is tough to look past, but, in terms of the
tournament itself, the scheduling left plenty to be desired. The U.S.
won Group A and was rewarded with a cross-country flight to Seattle.
Paraguay played in Orlando, L.A. and then Philadelphia. The U.S. also
had two more days' rest than Argentina, not that it mattered in the end.
If good soccer is the goal, let's try to ease the travel burden on some
teams and make it more equitable. Doug: Mistakenly playing Chile's national anthem
instead of Uruguay's before a group stage match against Mexico was an
utter embarrassment. The only saving grace was the class with which the
Uruguayans reacted to the miscue. Tom: The poor state of certain pitches, the high
ticket prices and the draconian restrictions in terms of live streaming
for media that weren't rightsholders. Nick: The high ticket prices, which ensured low
attendance for a number of the less high-profile group-stage matches and
priced some supporters out of the knockout games.
The ESPN FC crew discuss the United States' loss to Colombia and their run at Copa America.
Sam: Sorry to be a party pooper, but the fact it took place at all. Jason: Bad refereeing that affected a number of
games, most notably the card-strewn final and the goal that knocked
Brazil out of the tournament. Noah: The chant that Mexican fans yell before every
goal kick continues to be disgusting, but that has been going on for
some time. For this tournament specifically, I'll say the attendance has
to be the most disappointing thing, specifically 12,000 in Phoenix,
14,000 in Orlando, 19,000 in Boston, 20,000 in Seattle, 23,000 in
Philadelphia.
WOULD YOU LIKE ANOTHER "JOINT" COPA AMERICA?
Tim: I get the feeling that we're at the start of
something, though I would prefer to see it continued at the club level
instead, where the synergies could be stronger. A tournament for the
best teams in the Libertadores and the CONCACAF Champions League would
be great: both confederations get to keep their identities, and it
minimizes the risk of the weaker, smaller CONCACAF nations simply being
carved out. Jeff: Yes. While it is true that the initial
organizing efforts were corrupt and the organization was suspect in some
areas, the idea of a tournament for all of the Americas is still a good
one. Granted, CONCACAF still has some catching up to do in a
footballing sense, but tournaments like this can only help. Doug: Absolutely. For my money, the quality of play
at this tournament was significantly higher than what we've seen so far
at the Euros. It was a privilege to cover it. I'd love to see it played
every year if possible. Tom: Yes. Why not? It makes perfect sense for both.
CONCACAF needs the competition and CONMEBOL needs the money the
tournament provides. It's a win/win. Surely it is only a matter of time
before this becomes a regular thing. Nick: Not really, for two reasons: It is simply too
big a strain on the best players -- and their clubs -- to expect them to
play three or four tournaments in each and every four-year World Cup
cycle. Also, both continents have their own competitions and care should
be taken not to devalue them, particularly in CONCACAF's case. Sam: In the long term, yes; in the short term, no.
Yes because the format works better than a 12-team Copa and allows a
greater variety of teams to be involved; no in the short term because
suggestions that it should always be hosted in the U.S., taking the
tournament away from the continent that gave birth to it, are just one
of a large number of issues that would need ironing out. Jason: Certainly, although the holding it only in
the United States would affect my outlook. A combined championship of
the Americas could help both confederations, but it would need to be
rotated between countries to have real value.
With Argentina's Lionel Messi announcing his retirement from the international game, we all can't quite help but ask, what if?
PARIS -- Every two years or so, particularly those of us who live in
Europe and whose teams pretty much take qualifying for a World Cup or
continental championship for granted, awake from our club-induced torpor
to take notice of our national sides.
Outside of that, for most, it's all about the club game. We don't sit
and agonize over who might be called up for that friendly against
Lithuania in two months' time. We don't worry about whether 4-3-3 or
4-2-3-1 is the way forward. In fact, when we do get our international
break, we often hate it because it interrupts the reassuring weekly
ritual of league football.
I realize the above is a generalization. In some parts of the world,
perhaps South America, given the intensity of the qualifiers, the
national side does matter to many all through the year. And, yes, when
qualification is in doubt, we tend to rally around and get emotionally
invested. But it's not a stretch to suggest that for a majority of fans,
in a majority of nations, a majority of the time, international
football lies somewhere between nuisance and intrusion.
And then tournaments come around and it all gets turned on its head.
Take the tumult that's happened over the past few weeks at the Copa
America and Euro. Suddenly, Dunga loses his job with Brazil because of
another poor Selecao showing (although an exit propelled by a craven
refereeing blunder) and it's another existential crisis for the
Brazilian Football Confederation. Lionel Messi says he'll no long turn
out for Argentina (and, possibly everyone from Sergio Aguero to Gonzalo
Higuain to Javier Mascherano joins him) and it divides a nation. Then,
of course, there's England and the umpteenth biblical gnashing of teeth
and pulling of hair, this time rendered more severe because the
executioner is tiny Iceland.
Will Lionel Messi really stand by his decision to retire from international football?
It's a lot to take in. And even though Dunga's departure was no real
shock, and even though Messi will surely return to international
football in time for the 2018 World Cup, and even though England was
just being England, the summer's two tournaments have generated their
share of headline-making news. It's gotten our attention, though whether
you consider that a good or bad thing is open for debate. (OK, fair
enough, Iceland has been a real shock in an inspiring Leicester City
sort of way for pretty much everyone.)
That's the nature of the national game. Friendlies and the vast
majority of qualifiers are greeted like the visit of your accountant
uncle/brother-in-law (delete as appropriate), the one who monopolizes
conversation with talk about stuff you could not care less about and who
stops you from doing what you'd normally do on a weekend. It's
disruptive, it's empty and it's boring.
But then comes tournament time with the microscope set to granular.
Every aspect is scrutinized: your right-back's sleep patterns become the
topic of breakfast conversation and your daily mood is affected by
anodyne news conference quotes and who -- you're told -- looked good in
training.
Again, I appreciate that some are immune to this. I know fans of
certain clubs who would be happy for their country to never win a World
Cup if it means their club gets to win a league title or Champions
League. Those are often the people who either go on holiday during
tournament time or who support the countries their club's stars play
for. That's fine, too.
But the majority find themselves sucked into this sudden need to
rejoice and despair based on the performances of 23 men with whom they
share nothing but a passport. And, lest we forget, most of us can, in
extreme circumstances, change which club we support or at least lose
interest. International football offers no such option. While club
football delivers an endless menu of possibilities, for the vast
majority there is no choice with your national team. Even those who have
multiple nationalities or family ties to other countries are still
limited to two or three options max.
That's why this stuff matters. We can't escape it, and there's an air
of finality to it. When your club loses two in a row, there's usually a
bunch more games to hold out hope and right the ship. When your
national side does it, it generally means you've been humiliated at a
major tournament and you won't get another chance for another two years.
It's not a rational relationship, and it's entirely alien to how most
of us experience the sport. Maybe that's part of the appeal. It's
football, but not as we know it.
It's like being in a happy, committed marriage and then you have an
affair every two years -- a passionate, intense one that almost always
ends badly. Then you return to quotidian life. (On the rare occasions
when it does end well, you eagerly go back two years later only to be
thoroughly disappointed. Unless you're Spain, of course, and win three
major tournaments in a row.)
Personally, I'm glad folks only care about this stuff every two
years. International football isn't the highest quality, it's sub-par
from an aesthetic point of view, and it can be riven with ugly
nationalism. But it's also wonderful and can stir emotions you weren't
sure you had. It can make you feel part of a much bigger whole. We all
need that from time to time.
WAPDUT FC's
Shaka Hislop assesses the play of Belgian international Michy Batshuayi
as reports indicate he's moving on to Chelsea.
Chelsea are close to completing the signing of Belgium striker Michy
Batshuayi from Marseille in a deal worth £33 million, according to
multiple reports.
Batshuayi has been one of the most coveted players of the transfer
window, with Marseille said to have rejected bids from West Ham and
Juventus earlier this summer before Crystal Palace reportedly had an offer of £31.6m accepted on Monday.
L'Equipe,
which first reported the story on Tuesday evening, reports that Chelsea
have agreed to pay £33m to secure Batshuayi, making him the most
lucrative sale in Marseille's history ahead of Didier Drogba, who made
the same switch in the summer of 2004.
Belgium boss Marc Wilmots confirmed later on Wednesday that Batshuayi left training to undergo a medical ahead of for Friday's quarterfinal clash with Wales in Lille.
The expected five-year deal would make the 22-year-old the first
signing at Stamford Bridge since Antonio Conte's appointment as
first-team head coach in April, as the Italian looks to significantly
bolster a squad responsible for the worst season of the Roman Abramovich
era.
Batshuayi scored 17 goals in Ligue 1 last season and came off the
substitutes' bench to net Belgium's second goal in a 4-0 rout of Hungary
on Sunday. Despite Chelsea's inability to offer European football this
season, The Guardian reports that he had reservations about accepting the offer of a move to Palace.
The Guardian also claims that Chelsea could still pursue a deal for
Spain international striker Alvaro Morata, who recently returned to Real
Madrid from Juventus, but said interest in re-signing Romelu Lukaku
from Everton looks to have ended.
Sources told ESPN FC in April that Chelsea retained an interest in Lukaku
but that the Blues could be forced to pay more than double the £28m
they received from Everton for his sale in the summer of 2014.
ESPN FC's Ross Dyer and Steve Nicol give their predictions on Poland's quarterfinal clash with Portugal.
Eight
teams are just one step away from the Euro 2016 semifinals. Predict the
outcome in the quarterfinals by voting in our match polls.
POLAND:
Adam Nawalka will be grateful for the five-day rest ahead of their
clash against Portugal. With no major injury concerns, the Poland boss
is expected to name the same XI as he did against Switzerland. The lack
of goals from Robert Lewandowski and Arkadiusz Milik is becoming a
bigger problem as the tournament wears on and the side could be on their
way back to Warsaw if they can't get the pair involved. Surely
Lewandowski won't end the tournament without a goal? Poland 1-0 Portugal -- Ryan Hubbard
PORTUGAL:
Most people considered the Portugal vs. Croatia clash a dour affair,
but it was a fascinating tactical battle between two high-quality teams.
This game is not likely to be much different. Poland have conceded just
one goal in four games, while Portugal coach Fernando Santos always
sets up his teams to be difficult to break down. With a place in the
last four at stake, this isn't the game where either side will suddenly
throw caution to the wind. Unbeaten in 11 competitive matches, A Selecao will edge into the semifinals with No. 12. Portugal 1-0 Poland --Tom Kundert
Who will go through?
GERMANY:
Joachim Low looks more confident than ever and so do his players. The
world champions will remain on course to reach the final in Paris
despite a tough test against Italy, who looked brilliant against Spain,
but will suffer late against a fresher, younger, hungrier side than
Vicente del Bosque's XI. Germany 1-1 Italy, Germany to win on penalties -- Stephan Uersfeld
ITALY:
Playing a reactive brand of football where holding possession is of
little importance, Italy have done extraordinarily well against the
better teams in this tournament, collecting victories against both
Belgium and Spain. However, Germany are an infinitely better side in
that they boast experience, are capable of playing different styles and
could prove physically troubling for an Italian team that has started to
tire. While Italy's excellent record against the Germans in major
tournaments will provide them with a mental edge, the possible absence
of Daniele De Rossi may prove detrimental. Germany 2-1 Italy -- Mina Rzouki
Who will go through?
WALES:
After squeezing past Northern Ireland, Wales now face their toughest
test of the tournament at a stage few would have expected Chris
Coleman's men to reach. Belgium represent a much sterner task than
Wales' most recent opponents; considerably more attack-minded than
Northern Ireland and unlikely to be as defensively cavalier as Russia
were in Toulouse. However, having taken four points off the Red Devils
in Euro 2016 qualifying, there will be no shortage of confidence or
belief in Wales' squad. But Marc Wilmots' collection of talented
individuals look to have finally found the means to perform as a team,
and one that could sadly prove too strong to overcome. Wales 1-2 Belgium --Glen Wilson BELGIUM:
Belgium failed to score against Wales in qualifying. In both games they
had much more of the possession (57 percent and 60 percent) but the
attacking threats and resulting shots on target were roughly equal for
both sides. Belgium have often struggled to break down a packed defence,
but the difference this time is that Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne
are getting on the same wavelength. With Axel Witsel and Radja
Nainggolan looking the part in midfield, Belgium's form is improving
with each game. One negative point is the loss of defender Thomas
Vermaelen through suspension. Wales 1-3 Belgium -- John Chapman
Who will go through?
FRANCE: Les Bleus
were much better in the second half of their 2-1 win over Ireland and
looked convincing for the first time in this tournament. Antoine
Griezmann has finally arrived, while Paul Pogba, Olivier Giroud and
Blaise Matuidi looked better than they have most of the summer. The
French can expect a similar match against Iceland, who are
well-organised, motivated and have nothing to lose. If Deschamps and his
players want to go one step further on home soil, they will have to
learn from the mistakes they made in the first half against the Irish. France 3-1 Iceland -- Jonathan Johnson
ICELAND:
After witnessing Iceland's convincing performance against England in
the Round of 16, it is obvious that this team can force any opponent to
struggle. Now, Iceland will face their biggest test against the hosts.
In normal circumstances, Iceland should not have the slightest chance to
eliminate France. But in the year of Leicester City, anything seems to
be possible on a football field. Again, Iceland is in a win-win
situation. Nobody will complain if the team bows out now, but the whole
world, outside France, would celebrate the unlikely winners. France 1-1 Iceland, Iceland advance on penalties -- Vidir Sigurdsson
WAPDIT FC's Paolo Bandini discusses the transfer rumours surrounding Henrikh Mkhitaryan's likely move to Manchester United.
Manchester
United are set to pay €42.5 million for Borussia Dortmund midfielder
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, according to multiple reports in Germany.
Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke confirmed on Tuesday that United had "significantly improved their offer" and kicker, Ruhr Nachrichten and Bild all report that the Premier League side have nearly doubled their initial €24m (£19.9m) bid to €42.5m (£35.2m).
The
reports said Dortmund are set to accept the offer -- which would be the
biggest transfer fee ever paid for a player entering the final year of
his contract in Europe -- and the deal will be completed in the coming
days.
Kicker said that minor details in the contract are yet to be
negotiated and Dortmund want the approval of all bodies of the club
before accepting, while Mkhitaryan will have to pass a medical, but a
deal appears imminent.
Mkhitaryan, 27, joined Dortmund from
Shakhtar Donetsk in 2013 for a club record €27.5m fee, but the player's
agent, Mino Raiola, said last week that United are his "dream club" and "he wants to join them by any means."
The
Armenia international, who registered 23 goals and 32 assists for BVB
last term, would become United's second signing under Jose Mourinho after defender Eric Bailly.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is also expected to join on a free transfer while sources have told ESPN FC they are persisting with their efforts to re-sign France midfielder Paul Pogba from Juventus.
Dortmund,
meanwhile, have already sold Mats Hummels to Bayern Munich and Ilkay
Gundogan to Manchester City, and would see their transfer income surpass
€100m with the proposed Mkhitaryan deal.
BVB, who finished as
runners-up in the Bundesliga last season, have so far signed six
players, including midfielder Sebastian Rode from Bayern and centre-back
Marc Bartra from Barcelona. They have also been linked with Germany
internationals Andre Schurrle, Karim Bellarabi and Mario Gotze as they assess potential replacements for Mkhitaryan.
France and Lyon centre-back Samuel Umtiti is not headed to Barcelona
yet, although Lyon owner and chairman Jean-Michel Aulas said on
Wednesday that there is an "exclusive agreement" for the player to join
the Catalan club and talks are ongoing.
The Blaugrana outfit have been heavily linked with the Lyon defender, and L'Equipe reported on Wednesday that the two clubs have reached an agreement to close the transfer as early as Thursday evening.
The
France international's move is reportedly worth as much as €30m and
would be completed as soon as his European Championship campaign with Les Bleus ends.
The
22-year-old is expected to start France's Euro 2016 quarterfinal in
place of the suspended Adil Rami. Aulas said that a decision is not
likely until after the match.
"We anticipate the eventual departure of Umtiti, Samuel has an exclusive agreement for him to join Barcelona," he told RMC Sport. "Right now, Samuel is with Les Bleus and is focused on the Euros and the fact that he can play Sunday against Iceland.
"If the three parties agree, it is possible that he will leave us."
Umtiti joined the Lyon youth academy in 2001, and has played 131 league matches since his debut as a 17-year-old.
Didier
Deschamps added him to the France squad after Jeremy Mathieu suffered a
calf injury, but Umtiti has yet to earn his first cap for the senior
national team.
Aulas clarified that Lyon will not block the move.
"We
made a promise that if he could play for the club of his heart, he
would leave," he said. "It's part of the commitment which we have made,
as was done for Karim Benzema when he went to Real Madrid."
ESPN FC's Shaka Hislop breaks down the potential of Jurgen Klinsmann taking over as manager of England.
The
English national team, last seen having its Euro 2016 fire extinguished
by unrelenting Iceland, needs a new manager following Roy Hodgson's rapid resignation. Pundits, including The Independent's Mark Ogden and former Three Lions and Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher are publicly advocating for current United States boss Jurgen Klinsmann to get the job.
They shouldn't be.
Klinsmann,
who became a legend for his goal scoring and work ethic while at
Tottenham, is not without his positive qualities as a manager. He
considers himself a visionary, a man with the correct plan that no one
else can see and the force of personality to bring said plan into
existence.
He's not always wrong about his ability to do so. In
2004, he took over a German team that was reeling from its disastrous
showing at the European Championship. He revamped the squad and the
entire program, focusing on modern training techniques, dropping popular
goalkeeping icon Oliver Kahn and battling the staid German federation
while smiling. A surprising run to the semifinal of the 2006 World Cup
demonstrated that something he did was working.
That success
impressed many around the world and led U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF)
president Sunil Gulati to pursue Klinsmann to remake the Stars and
Stripes. The German didn't arrive immediately -- there was an
unceremonious sacking as coach of Bayern Munich, another club where he
starred as a player, and a two-year absence from the coaching scene --
but Klinsmann took over in the summer of 2011 with a mandate to move the
U.S. forward.
Jurgen Klinsmann's tenure as U.S. manager and technical director has not come without its fair share of bumps along the way.Has he? Well, that depends who you ask.
The
optimist would point to the 2014 World Cup, where Klinsmann led the
U.S. out of a group containing Germany, Portugal and Ghana; his eye for
finding talent like DeAndre Yedlin; his role in helping to recruit dual
nationals to don the red, white and blue; the increase in USSF spending;
friendly wins against high-profile teams including Germany and Italy;
and (perhaps) the recent fourth-place finish at the Copa America
Centenario.
The pessimist would note the horrendous finish at the
2015 Gold Cup; the general failing of youth-level teams, including two
straight missed Olympics; the senior team's frequent lack of cohesion;
the coach's abject refusal to take the blame when things go wrong along
with his continued inability to prepare his team with a backup plan; and
half a dozen other factors ranging from picky and absurd to damning and
concerning.
Not to give too much credence to the whims and
wishes of fickle American supporters, who have a tendency to overreact,
but the fact that the vast majority of them would happily let him go
manage England says something. In total, Klinsmann isn't as bad a
manager as many U.S. fans believe, nor is he as good as the Germany
experience would indicate.
When it comes specifically to the
England job, however, his faults dramatically outweigh the strengths he
would bring. The Three Lions are a program in turmoil, yes, but there
are building blocks there. They have a solid core of players -- Kyle
Walker, Danny Rose, Chris Smalling, Raheem Sterling, Eric Dier, Jack
Wilshere, Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Daniel Sturridge and Marcus Rashford --
who are 26 or younger, some much younger and some with great potential
for improvement. That's 10 men who wouldn't be out of place on most of
the best national teams in the world.
Would Jurgen Klinsmann be able to get the best out of England's young talents, like Harry Kane?What
England need now are tactics and a plan. Hodgson's strategy against
Iceland essentially consisted of showing up and assuming they'd win
based on superior footballing history. (It should be said that this
isn't too different from England's plan against everyone for the past,
oh, three decades or so.) Not surprisingly, it didn't work. (Nor did it
work in 2010, 2006, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1998, 1996 ... you get the idea.)
But again, it was the plan, or lack thereof, that was the problem, not
necessarily the players.
This is where hiring Klinsmann would be a
mistake. He is not a good game manager. The further we get from 2006,
the more clear it becomes that his assistant and current Germany manager
Joachim Low supplied the tactical vision for that squad.
As head
of the U.S., Klinsmann frequently talks about the coaching job
essentially ending when the kickoff whistle sounds. While he's not
entirely wrong about the importance of attitude and self-belief, the
American squad too often appears off kilter and out of whack, a
collective lacking cohesion. The Klinsmann plan of "put 11 guys on the
field, give them a ball and an opponent and tell them to play" is not a
strategy that's worked all that well for the U.S. It's not what England
need now, either.
England need a change. The country might even
benefit from an outsider, someone who could come in with a fresh
perspective, without preconceived alliances and ideas, and tweak the
nation's soccer program in creative ways. (So long, farewell, Wayne
Rooney.)
But, more importantly, England need someone who can
succeed now, who can take an impressive roster of individual talents and
mould them into more than the sum of their parts, a group desperate to
fight for their flag at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. England need a
leader more attuned to everyday detail than he is to the bigger picture.
Ogden, Carragher and the rest can opine all they want, but the fact
remains that "The Baker from Goppingen" is not the man with the recipe
to fix what's rotten at the core of the English national team.
A former Deputy Governor of Osun State,
Senator Iyiola Omisore, has insisted that he did not collect money from
the office of the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
Omisore asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to stop blackmailing opposition leaders in the country.
The former deputy governor said this in a
statement on Wednesday while reacting to a report that his account had
been frozen by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The EFCC had frozen five bank accounts
traced to Omisore, and the two sons of a former Minister of State of
Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro.
The EFCC, it was learnt, froze the
accounts as part of investigations into the N4.7bn diverted from the
imprest account of the Office of NSA under the leadership of Dasuki.
Omisore said, “EFCC is known for
spreading rumours. Freezing my account shall amount to the tyranny and
illegality acts. I won’t be surprised if the EFCC can be dodging court
summons declaring me wanted and evading service. I shall ask the court
to compel them to unfreeze such account because I’m neither on trial nor
found guilty.
“Rather than use legal means to ensure
justice, it has instead resorted to media trial and falsehood, which
would not prosper under any guise. I didn’t take money from the NSA.
Why this political trial, prosecution, intimidation and humiliation?
“EFCC won’t stop at any height to
blackmail opposition. My AIT programme has attracted another falsehood
to harass me. Only a few days ago, I accused the EFCC of dodging court
summons. I didn’t collect money from the ONSA, I insist. I have not had
any dealings with the ONSA. Last time it was N700m, today it is N1.3bn.
Nigerians should be expecting higher multipliers in future. There is no
such amount of money in my account. Let the EFCC bring all findings to
the court, instead of media hype.”
WAPDUT FC's Ross Dyer and Steve Nicol predict the Euro 2016 quarterfinal fixtures.
PARIS -- And then there were eight.
It
doesn't matter if, like Germany or France, you expected to reach the
Euro quarterfinals. Or if, like Portugal, with zero wins in 90 minutes,
you're not quite sure how you got here except sheer bloody-mindedness.
Or if, like Belgium, you lost your footing early and then recovered. Or
if, like Iceland, Hollywood scriptwriters are knocking on your door
wanting to chronicle the greatest upset since ... well, since Leicester
City won the Premier League this season.
Three games separate these eight teams from being crowned champions of Europe. Here's how the matchups break down. Poland vs. Portugal, Marseille Thursday
The
subtext is Robert Lewandowski vs. Cristiano Ronaldo, though, in fact,
neither has had the happiest of tournaments. Ronaldo missed a penalty
against Austria and has flashed only intermittently; Lewandowski has
sacrificed himself doing grunt work and hasn't looked like the scoring
machine we see at Bayern.
Poland has reaped huge dividends from a
well-marshaled back four and a stubborn midfield led by Grzegorz
Krychowiak. With Portugal, it's more a case of the front three needing
to finish, rather than produce. Take the wild 3-3 draw with Hungary out
of the mix and you have a team that failed to score in 90 minutes on
three separate occasions.
Both these teams can go to the next
level -- it's just that Portugal's ceiling is higher. The question is to
what degree they can break down the Polish defense and whether
Lewandowski suddenly comes alive as an attacking threat. Wales vs. Belgium, Lille Friday
Were
it not for Iceland, Wales would be the Cinderella story here. There's
more to the Welsh than Gareth Bale, of course, but he has shown a knack
for making those around him better. Belgium recovered from the shock
opening day defeat to Italy to win the next three games, including a 4-0
pounding of Hungary, but they still feel less than the sum of their
parts.
That's fine, though, because their individual parts already
add up to quite a bit. They can beat you many different ways and have a
shutdown goalkeeper in Thibaut Courtois. That said, Belgium can suffer
against tactically sophisticated sides and the quality, versatility and
unpredictability of Bale can create serious problems. Equally, Wales
play a back three and Belgium boss Marc Wilmots really struggled to wrap
his head around Italy's three-man defence.
Belgium are favorites
simply because they have, top to bottom, better players and the Kevin De
Bruyne-Eden Hazard combination seems to be hitting form. But the Bale
factor, both in what he can do personally and what he can make his
teammates do, is not to be underestimated.
Can Wales continue their improbably Euro 2016 run?Germany vs. Italy, Bordeaux Saturday
Germany
have been getting stronger as the tournament progresses, which is bad
news for everybody else. Manager Joachim Low has an array of options in
his front six and he has shown he's not afraid to tweak when required.
Meanwhile, keeper Manuel Neuer and his defence have yet to concede a
goal.
Italy are all about system over individuals, mainly because,
as coach Antonio Conte himself said, "we don't have great individual
players [in midfield and attack]." That system was devastating against
Belgium and Spain, but Low, simply put, is a far tougher tactical nut to
crack. Italy create plenty, but that's also because they need multiple
chances to score.
That said, Gigi Buffon also has yet to concede
in goal (and he has faced tougher strikers than Neuer has). Plus, if
you're superstitious, Germany have never actually beaten Italy in a
competitive match. Though, as they'll tell you -- very rationally --
records exist to be broken. France vs. Iceland, Saint-Denis Sunday
Polar
opposites here. The uber-talented host nation against the guys many
expected to be nothing more than the answer to a trivia question.
Iceland's performances have been otherworldly thus far. If you don't
believe they're channeling some kind mystic Viking spirit, you'd have to
assume that all that running and exertion will catch up with them
sooner rather than later. (Then again, that may be what England thought
as well and we saw how that turned out.)
Les Bleus will be without
the suspended Adil Rami, which might not seem like a huge loss until
you realize Eliaquim Mangala could be the man to replace him. Defence is
not the French strong suit, though it has arguably performed better
than their attack, where Olivier Giroud has fired too many blanks, and
midfield, where Didier Deschamps' incessant tinkering is doing him no
favors.
Could the host nation stumble against Iceland? Probably
not. There are too many weapons in the French arsenal, from Dimitri
Payet to Antoine Griezmann to Paul Pogba, and, as they showed against
Ireland, they're resilient too.
The guys answer your tweets about England's chemistry struggles and Antonio Conte's Chelsea.
Outgoing Football Association chairman Greg Dyke has questioned why
anybody would want the England job -- and claimed the players were
"scared to death'' in the defeat to Iceland.
England's performance in Nice was almost as depressing as the dearth
of options to succeed the 68-year-old, a decision Dyke appears relieved
not to be a part of -- he leaves the FA next month.
"It's got to be somebody who really knows English football,'' he
said, as reported by The Guardian. "But there are loads of them now,
more of them than there are English.
"You need someone who knows about English football. But Martin
[Glenn, FA chief executive] made clear you go for the best person. The
harder question is why anybody would want it.''
It was a remarkable comment from the man who has been FA chairman for
three years and set the well-documented challenge to win the World Cup
six years from now in Qatar.
"I met Glenn Hoddle on the plane on the way back, and he said [they were] scared to death,'' Dyke added.
"Once you go 2-1 down, the longer it went on, the more scared they
were. They brought on [Marcus] Rashford, who's 19, he's got nothing to
lose, he wasn't scared at all.
"He was on for five minutes, he went past him three times. Once he lost the ball but twice he went through.
Harry Kane and England were beaten by Iceland 2-1 in the round of 16.
"They were just scared. It's the same in all sport. Really talented sportsmen can just freeze. That's what happens.''
Dyke oversaw both the World Cup exit two years ago and the Euro 2016
failure -- but it was David Bernstein who was chairman when Roy Hodgson
was handed the reins, a decision he stands by.
"I believe we ended up with the best candidate, someone who's
extremely credible, who had taken Switzerland to third in the world, who
had international experience therefore, and who had a good club
record,'' Bernstein told the Daily Telegraph.
"I'd in no way go back on the exercise that we did and I'm very sorry and surprised the way it's finished.''
Gareth Southgate, Hoddle and Jurgen Klinsmann are amongst the
favourites to succeed Hodgson -- but Bernstein believes Sunderland
manager Sam Allardyce should also be considered.
"I'm not saying we should have an English manager,'' Bernstein said.
"But, of the English managers, I actually would go for Sam Allardyce.
"He's a very powerful character. I think he's got the personality,
the strength, he's a good technical manager, he's very experienced and
he's someone who perhaps could imbue confidence.
"Because, clearly among other things, there's a psychological problem
with our players, where they seem to get to a stage with international
football where they just can't cope, and that's manifest time and time
again, year after year, in individual errors which you just wouldn't
expect from players.
"You had Steven Gerrard's error at the World Cup last time which cost
us, you've got goalkeeping errors. A general psychological malaise
seems to overcome them. They seem to freeze.
PARIS -- The golden goal was abolished by the International Football
Association Board in 2004, the decade-plus of its existence now regarded
mostly as a failed experiment, an unnecessary tinkering with the
beautiful game. But with negative tactics still so often on display in
international football, we should reassess its value. Only this time, we
should make the golden goal the only way to end a match.
First, a
bit of history, particularly consequential here in France. The golden
goal was introduced by IFAB in 1993 as a way to combat the sometimes
suffocating play of teams in extra time. The logic behind the
revolutionary decision was sound: If a single goal could decide so much,
both teams would be compelled to try for it.
The golden goal was
first introduced to the Euros in 1996, and with a certain
predictability, a golden goal finished it. Germany beat the Czech
Republic in the final when Oliver Bierhoff scored his magical decider.
(Joachim Low earned laughter from reporters this week when he said he
would be avoiding Bierhoff, the team's manager, on the 20th anniversary
of the goal. "I will be happy if I don't hear that story," Low said, "as
he constantly keeps telling it.")
The French, however, became the
truer masters of it. At the World Cup in 1998, Laurent Blanc scored in
the 113th minute against Paraguay to advance from the round of 16, one
of the more critical pivots in that team's march toward glorious
history. And David Trezeguet's winner vaulted France over Italy in the
final at the 2000 edition of Euro.
But apart from the forgettable
half-measure of the silver goal to come, football's version of sudden
death would itself prove short-lived. The reaction to IFAB's decision to
scrap it was mostly positive. One significant strike against it was the
widespread confusion about its application; tournament organizers had,
in effect, been given a range of options in deciding how games might
end. "The important thing was to have clarity and to have a single
method to determine the outcome of a match," David Taylor, a Scottish
member of IFAB, said at the time.
More importantly, the golden
goal had, in many ways, the opposite of its intended effect. (If you
ever find yourself in need of a true example of irony, the golden goal
is it.) Rather than push to score the deciding goal, most teams played
determined not to give it up. Because it mattered so much, it froze even
the best football players in the world, paralyzed by the weight of its
consequence.
The current universal standard for deciding
deadlocked games: 30 minutes of extra time, 15 minutes each way, and if
the match is still drawn, the dreaded penalties.
That solution has
proved simple and easy to understand but also unsatisfactory in its own
ways. Lesser teams especially still treat extra time as something they
just have to survive. Against a better side, the coin flip of penalties
-- when, as we recently saw, even greats like Lionel Messi can buckle
under the pressure -- seems the safer bet.
Germany
won Euro 1996 after Oliver Bierhoff scored a golden goal against the
Czech Republic, though Joachim Low doesn't want to hear about it
anymore.Even good teams sometimes stiffen
during extra time. At this Euro, two elimination games have required it.
The first, Poland against Switzerland, saw a nervy 30 minutes pass
without much action. The second, Portugal against Croatia, didn't
feature a shot until 27 minutes into it, when Portugal finally scored to
end one of the worst games in recent memory.
Too often, extra
time is a painful prolonging of the inevitable. The play at the 2010
World Cup in South Africa was uninspired enough for FIFA's Sepp Blatter
to murmur about changing the rules of the game again. "Is it worth
taking another look at the golden goal?" he asked. Enough people must
have told him "No" because -- like Blatter himself -- the idea was soon
dispatched.
It's still early here in France, but given 2010 and
the often grinding displays in Brazil in 2014, the golden goal really
does deserve serious reconsideration, but more radically than before.
The problem with its first incarnation is that teams still had another
out: penalties. There were two ways to win, and most teams opted for the
latter. The rule change would have had a better chance of achieving its
desired result if the golden goal were the only option.
Play continues, 15 minutes each way, until one team scores.
ELEVEN men suspected to be fake naval officers have been arrested in Rivers State.
The suspects were said to have been parading themselves as navy personnel with different ranks before they were apprehended around the Rukpokwu Police checkpoint.
The outgoing Commander NNS Pathfinder, Commodore Sanusi Ibrahim, who disclosed this on Wednesday while handing over the suspects to the Rivers Police Command, explained that they (suspects) disguised as “merchant navy” with the aim of defrauding the public and some companies in the state.
Ibrahim stated that the Nigerian Air Force had earlier detected the suspects and later arrested then.
The Air Force, according to Ibrahim, handed over the fake naval personnel to the Nigerian Navy.
He said, “On June 17, the Air Police of the 97 Special Operations Group, Nigerian Air Force Port Harcourt, arrested 11 civilians around the Rukpokwu police checkpoint parading themselves as naval personnel.
“The Air Force police later handed over the suspects to us (Navy) to enable us to ascertain if they were truly naval personnel, among other details.
“During investigation, the suspects claimed that they were merchant navy personnel, and which further findings revealed the organisation was fictitious.”
Alexandre Pato's loan spell with Chelsea expires on June 30.
Chelsea have an option to sign Alexandre Pato to a four-year contract this summer, the Brazilian striker's agent has said.
Pato joined Chelsea at the end of January on a six-month loan deal from Corinthians, but arrived at Stamford Bridge well short of match fitness and was placed on a "preseason" regime of double sessions at Cobham by interim manager Guus Hiddink.
Having waited 64 days to make his Chelsea debut, Pato marked the
occasion by winning and scoring a penalty in a 4-0 rout of Aston Villa
in April, but started just one more match for the Blues in the remainder
of the campaign.
Pato's contract with Corinthians expires in December, leaving him
free to negotiate a free transfer with interested clubs, but agent
Gilmar Veloz says his client remains committed to Chelsea until they
decide otherwise.
"Pato has already [reportedly] signed with Inter, Sao Paulo,
Palmeiras, Flamengo -- how is he going to sign when he has a contract
with Chelsea until June 30?" Veloz told Globoesporte.com when asked about the speculation surrounding Pato's future.
Steve Nicol and Ross Dyer assess the latest from the rumour mill.
"He has a document there ready for a four-year contract if Chelsea
wished to exercise it. I do not know if they are going to, I am not
Roman Abramovich.
"If they decide not to buy him, it will be up to Corinthians to decide what to do. Pato is on holiday waiting on his future."
Chelsea, meanwhile, are set to make their first signing since the
appointment of Antonio Conte as first-team head coach in April with a £33 million deal for Marseille striker Michy Batshuayi.
The 22-year-old Belgian reportedly underwent a medical at Belgium's
training base in Bordeaux on Wednesday, and was withdrawn from a
scheduled appearance at a press conference to preview Friday's Euro 2016
quarterfinal against Wales in Lille.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo: you can't have a debate about
their greatness without comparing them to each other. Much like the
Joker and Batman, polar opposites who are defined in each other's image,
we've come to assess Messi and Ronaldo against each other, not in a
vacuum but as a tandem. It's the privilege and curse that comes with
being the two best players on the planet right now.
We were reminded of this dynamic at the start of Euro 2016, when Iceland defender Kari Arnason pointedly cited Messi in order to get further under Ronaldo's skin, after the Portuguese's uncharitable comments about the Icelandic team.
A
week of debate about Ronaldo followed -- should we feel sorry for the
aging superstar? Could he carry Portugal into the knockout rounds? --
until his two goals against Hungary helped silence his critics, at least
for a time. Days later Messi missed a penalty shootout in the Copa
America final against Chile, a failure that fueled even more debate
about his legacy that now includes three consecutive lost finals with
Argentina. Then Messi announced that he'd no longer play for the
national side.
Naturally, this spawns further debate about how
Ronaldo and Messi stack up. They've both put up ridiculous numbers at
club level, but at the international level things are a bit more
complicated.
So, how do these two greats actually compare in the international arena?
Who has had a better international career?
Basic records
Ronaldo: 60 goals in 130 caps since 2003
Messi: 55 goals in 113 caps since 2005 Tournament records
Ronaldo in six tournaments: One final, two semifinals, one quarterfinal, one last-16, one group-stage exit
Messi in seven tournaments: Four finals, three quarterfinals
Best tournament
Ronaldo:
Still the one that made him, at home in Euro 2004. Giving away a
penalty in the opening game against Greece did not affect the young
19-year-old; in fact, it only spurred him on. He was brilliant from
there on, especially in a blistering duel with Ashley Cole in the
quarterfinal against England and then scoring the key first goal in the
semifinal against the Netherlands.
Cristiano Ronaldo helped Portugal roar into the Euro 2004 final before suffering a shock loss to Greece.Messi:
The 2014 World Cup. Messi winning the award for best player of the
tournament may have caused controversy given his mediocre final, but it
shouldn't cover up the fact that he had dragged Argentina there without
ever being at full pelt himself. Messi offered two match-winners,
against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iran, a last-minute match-winning
assist in the second round against Switzerland, and then one of the
moments of the tournament in the quarterfinal against Belgium when he
played a glorious long-range pass. He was within inches of wholly
dominating a tournament. Worst tournament
Ronaldo:
2010 World Cup. Ronaldo was at his peak but ineffective in getting
knocked out at the last-16 stage against Spain. His inconsequential goal
in the 7-0 win over North Korea was his only international strike for
16 months.
Messi: 2011 Copa America, as illustrated by the fact he
got booed by his home crowd. This was at the height of the debate over
why Messi performed better for Barcelona than Argentina. He started the
tournament poorly, struggling to link up well with crowd favourite
Carlos Tevez. Although he improved, Messi went out at the quarterfinals
without a goal.
Lionel
Messi and host nation Argentina crashed out of the 2011 Copa America in
a penalty shootout loss to Uruguay in the quarterfinals.Best international moment
Ronaldo:
Scoring all four goals in Portugal's 2014 World Cup play-off with
Sweden, out-performing Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the process, indicated just
how dependent his side were on him. Here, he rose to the moment
emphatically.
Messi: No real crowning moment, but a lot that
brought him so close. Perhaps the most exhilarating was the run in the
2015 Copa America semifinal against Paraguay, when he so easily
humiliated four players, pick-pocketing one, hopping a challenge,
nutmegging another and then causing two to collide into each other. Worst international moment
Ronaldo:
Arrogantly saving himself for the last penalty against Spain in the
Euro 2012 semifinal shoot-out after doing so little in the match, and
then not getting to hit it at all as the Spanish won.
Messi:
Curving the ball just wide of Manuel Neuer's far post in the 2014 World
Cup final. That was the big chance to end the all the debate about who's
the best. It made it all the more poignant that, less than a year
later, Messi twice humiliated Neuer while playing for his much better
club side, Barcelona, in the Champions League semifinal. Best international team they have played for
Ronaldo:
Euro 2004. It wasn't just the fact that this was the only one of his
teams to get to the final. They still had enough of the brilliant Euro
2000 team to bring a 19-year-old through, and enough flair to get the
best out of him. Ever since then, his Portuguese sides have become ever
more cautious and more reliant on Ronaldo in a way that hasn't been good
for him.
Messi: Copa America 2007. The most free-wheeling
Argentine team Messi has played in. Argentina were somewhat unlucky that
manager Alfio Basile was out-thought in the final by Brazil boss Dunga,
losing 3-0. Ever since then, it's never fallen quite right for Messi.
Either the manager's not been right, as in 2010 or 2015, or too many
teammates have been off form, as in 2014. Overall rating
Ronaldo:
7/10 -- So many fine moments, but also too many early exits in which he
was ineffective, even if it wasn't all his fault. He at least can still
rectify that at Euro 2016.
Messi: 7.5/10 -- Getting to more
finals, and doing so much more than scoring, just lifts him past
Ronaldo. There's still such a huge sense of what might have been though.
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