Three and in – not just another football blog

WINNERS

Andres Iniesta
Scorer of the crucial goal, Iniesta made a mockery of his earlier reluctance to shoot with a thumping finish across the goalkeeper, followed by a moving tribute to Daniel Jarque. For which he was booked.

Cesc Fabregas
Showed why Arsenal are so keen to keep him and Barca to sign him with a vital cameo. Twice came close before providing the assist for Iniesta’s goal. The Arsenal fan in me hopefully asks: why move to Barca when you can play with them all for Spain?

Diego Forlan
Rightly awarded the Golden Ball in the aftermath of yesterday’s game. For a player whose side didn’t reach the final to take home the biggest individual prize shows the scale of his achievement.

Thomas Muller
Golden Boot winner in his first tournament. Miroslav Klose may have failed to overtake Ronaldo’s goalscoring record, but Muller is young enough and perhaps good enough to have a go.

LOSERS

Arjen Robben
Missed two vital chances: one to score, one to get Carles Puyol sent off. Andres Iniesta wasn’t as forgiving, which led to the dismissal of…

John Heitinga
Had a solid game, but suffered the ignominy of being sent off in the biggest game of his career. Inevitable, considering the performance of…

Howard Webb
I feel a bit sorry for the Englishman who progressed furthest in the tournament. Holland’s heavy-handed tactics meant he had little choice but to take a hard line, but that meant the game ended up being bitty and stilted. There were more bookings than in a restaurant serving free food. Webb won’t forget his final in a hurry.

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As ever, and for the final time, your suggestions are welcome.  Cheers guys.

A little overdue – this write-up looks at the semi-finals and the pointless yet entertaining third/fourth play-off.

WINNERS

Diego Forlan
A loser in the semis but a winner across the tournament.  Almost certainly the single individual who has exerted the greatest influence over his side.  Two more great goals take his total to five, and his reputation to an unprecedented high.

Carles Puyol
Scored the crucial goal in the semi, but was also extremely solid at the back to deny a freescoring Germany side.

Wesley Sneijder
Might just be wondering if his name is on the Golden Boot after another jammy goal against Uruguay.  Sneijder had an extraordinary domestic campaign with Inter, and if he can help Holland lift the World Cup at the third attempt then he’ll be the favourite to win World Footballer of the Year.  And, more importantly, he’ll have pissed off Real Madrid something mighty.

LOSERS

Miroslav Klose
Quiet in the semi and injured for the third-place play-off, Klose failed to score the one goal required to match the all-time World Cup record held by the original and fatter Ronaldo.

Fernando Muslera
Uruguay’s keeper was beaten from long-range twice against Holland, then made a hash of a simple cross against Germany to gift Marcell Jansen a goal.

Fernando Torres
Dropped for the semi and denied a simple tap-in by Pedro’s selfishness when brought on as a sub.  It will hurt a player of his quality to begin on the bench tonight.

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The biggest winners and losers of this World Cup might yet be decided today.  Come back tomorrow to see who they are.

WINNERS

Miroslav Klose
Two more goals takes Miroslav ever Klose to Ronaldo’s World Cup scoring record of 15. Yesterday he moved past another Brazilian, Pele, to within one goal of joint top billing. He might not be everyone’s cup of tea – club manager Louis van Gaal included – but you can’t argue with his stats: 51 goals in 100 international appearances.

Bastian Schweinsteiger
Remember the petulant winger who irritated fans everywhere with his poor-man’s Ronaldo stepovers and terrible haircut? Me neither. Schweinsteiger’s transformation to pivotal central midfield player has demonstrated remarkable maturity from a player who is still just 25. Yesterday, he was imperious.

England
It happened to Argentina too, it seems. Don’t feel so bad. Maybe the Germans are just a bit good.

David Villa
Spain’s hero, yet again. Barcelona’s €35m signing is beginning to look an absolute bargain.

LOSERS

Diego Maradona
A day after Luis Suarez took the ‘Hand of God’ from him, Maradona may now be set to lose another prized asset: the title of Argentina manager. It’s no disgrace to look comparatively disorganised next to a German team, who tend to make the Beijing Opening Ceremony guys look a bit of a shambles. That said, when faced with their first serious test, Argentina’s “playground” formation finally came a-cropper. They swarmed after the ball in numbers, leaving themselves vulnerable to Germany’s counter-attacking style. Maradona has provided the tournament with loads of entertainment, but is likely to pay the price for this crushing defeat with his job.

Penalty-taking
It’s not been a good couple of days for the art of spot-kicks. Yesterday there were three penalties within as many minutes in the Spain v Paraguay game. Only one was scored, and that was disallowed for encroachment. Paraguay’s Oscar Cardozo was left to wonder what might have been.

Fernando Torres
Withdrawn without a goal yet again, there must now be serious questions over the suitability of Torres to start the semi-final against Holland. The Liverpool striker is out of both form and luck, and his characteristic confidence looks to have deserted him. Moving Villa to a more central role and dispensing with Torres seems a more sensible move with each passing game.

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Your own Winners, Losers, Drawers and Abdicators are, as ever, welcome.

Bit of confusion about how to title this blog.  It’s matchday 20, but day 22 of the World Cup.  I’ve gone, after much deliberation, with the latter.  Whatever you call it, it was surely the most dramatic day of the tournament thus far.

WINNERS

Cheating?
Luis Suarez awakes this morning a villain across Africa but a hero to his native Uruguay.  His handball in the last minute of extra-time denied Ghana a place in the semi-final by virtue of Gyan’s penalty miss, and himself a place in the semi-final by virtue of suspension.  It’s an ethically complicated issue, but as far as Suarez is concerned his gamble worked – and he even had time to see it before disappearing down the tunnel.

Wesley Sneijder
After a remarkable season for Inter Milan, Sneijder is starting to make his mark for Holland too.  Arjen Robben’s return to the side has liberated Sneijder to return to the centre – his goal and assist yesterday came from set pieces, but if he can find his feet in open play too then Holland will have a significant chance of lifting their first World Cup.

Sebastian Abreu
Coolness personified to clip the winning penalty home and put Uruguay in to the semi-final.  They call him ‘El Loco’.  Now we know why.

LOSERS

Asamoah Gyan
The whole of Africa willed him to score the penalty that would grant a continent its first World Cup semi-finalist.  Incredibly, he struck the bar.  Whilst he showed remarkable courage to step up and score a cracker in the shoot-out, that miss will surely haunt him forever.

Felipe Melo
An own-goal and a ridiculous sending off from not so Melo Felipe.

Julio Cesar
The usually-reliable fat-faced keeper made a hash of a free-kick to gift Holland their first goal.  He certainly felt it afterwards.

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Is Suarez a winner or a loser?  Your thoughts, as ever, welcome.

I’ve been away for a few days, hence killing two day-shaped birds with one big bloggish stone. Forgive my memory any lapses.

WINNERS

Fernando Llorente
Replaced that other Spanish striker called Fernando and looked, on form, to be more of a threat.  Strong, willing, and good in the air, Llorente gives Spain a ‘Plan B’.

Arjen Robben
Back with a familiar bang.  It’s not too late for him to make an impact on this World Cup.

Dunga
Criticised both in Brazil for his tactics and across the rest of the globe for his dress sense, the football manager who looks the most like the baddy from Avatar could be on the way to redemptive glory. His Brazil team look dangerous on the counter-attack and surprisingly solid at the back – though today’s match with Holland will provide a significant test.

LOSERS

Yuichi Komano
The unfortunate Komano missed the crucial penalty in Japan’s shoot-out with Paraguay, meaning the better side on the day went out.  However, Japan have given a good account of themselves in this tournament, and Asian football looks to have outperformed Africa on their own continent.

Lucio
Imperious at the back again, but his diving, moaning and overall cynicism must temper any praise.  Such a shame, as otherwise there’s an enormous amount to admire about the Brazil skipper.

Ashley Cole
He wasn’t popular before the World Cup.  It’s not going to get any better now.

A little late but here we go.

WINNERS

Carlos Tevez - he might have been about a hundred miles offside for Argentina’s first goal but the second was pure quality. That said, you can’t help thinking that if Mexico had taken a slightly more normal approach and not played a jockey in goal it might have been kept out.

Germany – while all the talk is of the goal that wasn’t and England’s poor showing overall in this World Cup, not enough credit has been given to the Germans for their performance yesterday. They exposed England’s weaknesses time and time again, counter attacked with pace and ruthless efficiency and could have scored more. They scored four against Australia and four against England. For all Argentina’s attacking verve they do look like a team that has defensive issues, Germany could very well exploit them.

Thomas Mueller – The Bayern Munich man scored two against England to add to the one he got against the Aussies. He’s not quite Gerd but he looks a real talent.

LOSERS

Officials – Jorge Larrionda and his officials missed Lampard’s ‘goal’ which everyone else could see had clearly crossed the line. You have to question the linesman more than the ref whose view might well have been obscured.

In the Argentina v Mexico game Roberto Rosetti’s linesman missed Carlos Tevez’s offside. It wasn’t even close.

Both England and Mexico were let down by the officials last night but we have to acknowledge human error. Which leads us t0…

FIFA and Sepp Blatter

It would have taken just a few seconds for a video official to relay to Jorge Larrionda that Lampard’s shot had crossed the line. It would not affect the flow of the game. From the replays in the stadium itself the ref and his officials knew it was a goal but at that stage they couldn’t do anything.

Here we are in the 21st century, we have all manner of technology available to us which could be used to make the game better, yet Luddite-in-Chief Sepp Blatter refuses to even talk about it. FIFA’s response to yesterday’s incident? They will now not show replays of contentious incidents in the stadium. It’s nonsense of the highest order. It’s the sticking your fingers in your ears going la-la-la-la can’t hear you approach.

Millions of people around the globe saw what happened yesterday, are they going to black out our TV screens too? FIFA’s refusal to embrace technology is 100% wrong and it makes a mockery of the biggest tournament in the world when things like the Lampard ‘goal’ happen.

The sport is ultimately tainted and FIFA would do well to listen to the fans and the people who love the game. Blatter’s dictatorship is damaging football.

The Heinze cameraman - I was going to put this in the winner’s section because it made me laugh so much but for the sake of balance it goes here. Argentina’s Gabriel Heinze did not enjoy his close up. At all.

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Your thoughts, particularly on the technology issue, most welcome.

Winners

Ghana – anyone who has had to listen to ITV’s consistently patronising commentary about the plucky little Africans will have uncurled their toes at some stage and thought about various ways in which they might kill Peter Drury. Nevertheless, for the tournament itself it’s good that we still have an African represenstative.

It might be different for us watching from afar but for those on the ground it’s clear that it means a lot to the South Africans, and I’m sure many others, that Africa maintain a footballing interest in the tournament.

Asamoah Gyan – he looks like he could kill you with his patented death stare, but the Rennes striker is really making a mark at this World Cup. He showed pace, power and expert finishing to score the winner against the USA last night, and his stock will continue to rise as he gets another chance to show his stuff in the quarter finals. It would be no surprise to see him make a move to a bigger club after the tournament is over.

As well as that he becomes the first African to score four goals in a tournament since Roger Milla in 1990.

Luis Suarez – The Ajax striker scored a remarkable 49 goals in all competitions for his club last season. He has three so far at this World Cup, including a late, great winner against South Korea yesterday. Again he’s one the scouts from all the big clubs in Europe will be looking at, trying to figure out if he’s the real deal or if, when you take him out of Holland, he becomes the bastard child of Kezman and Alfonso Alves.

Losers

Bob Bradley – It’s a bit harsh but the US coach got his team selection wrong yesterday. To be fair to him he recognised it very quickly, hauling off the hapless Richard Clark after just half an hour, but at that stage the USA were already 1-0 down, conceding yet another early goal to Kevin Prince Boateng.

They conceded after 4 minutes to England, 5 to Ghana, 13 to Slovenia and after just a few minutes of extra time last night. There’s a mental weakness there which doesn’t quite add up when you think about the character the Americans have shown to get back into games. Ultimately you have to look at the coach and the way his team are prepared.

Peter Drury – as spoken about above. His verbal pats on the head to the continent of Africa are stomach churning, patronising and frankly unacceptable. Somebody make him stop. Or somebody stop him. I’m good with either.

Sven-Göran Eriksson – he might be a very nice chap, happy to talk to journalists and so forth, but resigning from the Ivory Coast job, and taking with him a €3m payoff does little to change the perception that the Swede is football management’s greatest and most effective mercenary.

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Agree or disagree with any of those? Got one or two of your own to add? Feel free to comment. We don’t bite.

WINNERS

David Villa
Another good night for Villa, with a lofted forty-yard goal and an assist for an easy on the eye Iniesta strike. The odds on the Barca new boy taking home the golden boot are, like a man with wax legs, shortening all the time.

Cristiano Ronaldo
Possibly a controversial choice – arguably no-one from the disappointing Brazil-Portugal game deserves positive recognition. But in a tournament where the likes of Kaka and Ribery have entirely failed to turn up, Ronaldo’s one-man attempt to offer Portugal an attacking threat were admirable. Like him or loathe him, a player of his talent is a welcome addition to…

The Second Round
Some mouthwatering draws. Argentina v Mexico, Germany v England, Spain v Portugal, Brazil v Chile. Tasty.

LOSERS

Marco Rodriguez
Ruined an enthralling contest by dismissing Chile’s Estrada for the most accidental and incidental of trips. Also to blame was…

Fernando Torres
He seemed to tumble rather easily and dramatically after the innocuous incident described above. Furthermore, in contrast to strike partner Villa, Torres continues to struggle to make an impact at this World Cup. Perhaps he’s still suffering the effects of an injury, perhaps he’s low on confidence, or perhaps he’s suffering the Sampson-esque effects of a drastic haircut. Either way, Del Bosque must be tempted to go with Villa upfront alone and introduce one of Silva or Fabregas to the midfield.

Switzerland
Needed to beat one of the poorest sides at the World Cup by a couple of goals to go through. Slumped instead to a 0-0. It seems they’re something of a one-trick pony – and that one trick is parking a rather large bus right across the goalmouth.

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Some potentially divisive choices today. As ever, have your say below.

WINNERS

Keisuke Honda
Headline writers the World over rejoiced as Honda gave a Rolls-Royce of a performance to see Japan motor past Denmark.  Honda produced the tournament’s first halfway-decent free-kick followed by a quite exquisite piece of skill to create the crucial third goal.

Robert Vittek
Two goals in arguably the best game of the tournament so far.  A failed trial at Blackburn Rovers must feel a long way away now.

New Zealand
Alright, they went out – but they managed to finish the tournament unbeaten, and come above Italy in their group.  All this without a sheep in sight.  I’m as amazed as you are.

LOSERS

Italy
Marcello Lippi held his hands up, but he had no need to shield his players from criticism: to a man, they were dreadful.  The players lacked the quality, mobility, and seemingly desire to come through a fairly weak group.  Much like France, a serious overhaul is required.

Thomas Sorenson
A woeful display from the Danish denizen of the goalmouth.  No keeper can be happy to concede from two long-range strikes, whatever the quality of the hit, and Sorenson never seemed to recover his nerve.

Nicolas Sarkozy & Thierry Henry
Stuck in a room talking about France’s World Cup.  It’s a fate worse than being a pundit for ITV.

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WINNERS

Landon Donovan – long hailed as the USA’s best footballer, something akin to being England’s best baseball player, he’s worked hard to convince people he’s the real deal, as they say. After unsuccessful spells in European football he went back home, worked hard in the MLS, impressed during a spell at Everton last season, and on the biggest stage of all has come up with the goods in consecutive matches.

An impressive early second half goal to get his team back into the game against Slovenia, who were leading 2-0, and yesterday’s injury time winner. Definitely the USA’s Sunshine Superman.

Mesut Özil – The Werder Bremen midfielder enhanced his growing reputation with a fantastic winning goal against Ghana. With just a year left on his contract the likelihood of a move this summer grows and if he maintains these kinds of performances he’ll have plenty of options.

England – Go on then, they won, didn’t they? It wasn’t exactly the convincing performance to sweep away all the doubts of the first two games, but it was enough. They had chances to make the win safer and much less nervy but Slovenia never really looked like scoring. England expected, England got. The USA’s late winner makes the first knockout game against Germany more difficult than they would like or care to admit though.

LOSERS

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium – The New Wembley people must be sitting watching the horrible pitch in Port Elizabeth, desperate to cry out ‘See! See! It’s not just us’. The playing surface is appalling, the potential for serious injury to players is very real, the turf cuts up so badly teams are not allowed train on the pitch before games, and it certainly affected the quality of the game between England and Slovenia.

Imagine what it’d be like if two passing sides had to play there.

British TV delerium – It’s totally understandable being excited, happy with England’s qualification, yet the instant reaction to the win was, as always, over the top.

“England played with freedom”, said Gabby Logan to Fabio Capello afterwards when she realised the Italian had no idea what shackles were or why England might have played without them. The truth is England did just enough and the constant media hype without honest analysis of the game does the team no favours at all.

Martin Samuel – Continuing the theme, the Daily Mail journo wrote about England’s former captain:

Terry climbed to his feet and threw himself, full length, in front of Dedic like a Secret Service agent shielding bullets from the presidential motorcade. There are certain images that are made for the slow motion replay, that reveal, frame by frame, the measure of a sportsman. The montage of unencumbered determination displayed in front of England’s goal after 68 minutes yesterday was one such sequence.

Leaving the overblown prose aside he neglected to mention that Terry’s ridiculous looking dive, while certainly committed, was completely ineffective as the shot was blocked by the boot of Glen Johnson.

Rafik Saifi - I’m sure many players have wanted to slap journalists in the past. The Algerian might just have made a faux pas here though.

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As always your thoughts on the winners and losers of the day are most welcome.