World Cup Post #10 - 7/2/06

Brazil will create a lot of chances, but they could have trouble with stopping a creative and quick Henry with their old defense.

This is what I said in my last post and it proved to be so correct. Looking back at this post, you will find this quote:

Brazil has become the easy pick to win the cup, but I wouldn't bet on it. Look at their starting attackers alone (Adriano, Fred, Robinho, Ronaldinho, etc.) and you crap in your pants. However, look at the defenders and what do you find. Talent that will sit the bench in favor of older semi-legends. Cafu will be 36 when they play their first game and any Real Madrid fan will tell you that Roberto Carlos is not the same guy he was back in 2002 or 1998. Yes, everybody knows that Roberto Carlos can kick the ball really hard, but his weakness is defensive skill. Brazil will win this group and have a great cup, but the teams with speed and skill in the midfield and attack can beat them - if you can stop their attack first.

There are a lot of things that I have been wrong about when making predictions in this cup (U.S. advances, Argentina winning, etc.), but this was one thing that consistently believed - Brazil was not that good. Although Henry scored the goal and was able to get behind the defense like I thought, the game-changer in this game was Zidane. If you are one of those people that wants to understand why soccer is loved around the world - watch this game. The things that Zidane does with the ball at his feet are absolutely stunning. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to see him live when Real Madrid came out to play the Galaxy. Ronaldinho gets all of the fame, but for my money, nobody beats Zidane. He is 34, but is playing like he's 24. Watch the semi-final with Portugal. He is likely to carve the Portuguese defense apart.

Here's my World Cup best 11 so far.

Keeper: Jan Lehman, Germany (PKs against Argentina says it all)
Defenders: Juan Sorin, Argentina; William Gallas, France; Phillipe Senderos, Switzerland; Miguel, Portugal
Midfield: Juan Riquelme, Argentina; Frank Ribery, France (check out his bad-ass scar); Zinedine Zidane, France; Ze Roberto, Brazil
Forwards: Miroslav Klose, Germany; Hernan Crespo, Argentina

There are lots of others that I could have included. Tenorio from Ecuador, Maxi Rodriguez from Argentina, some would argue for Ronaldo (fuck that guy), but I feel like the 11 I picked have really stood out.

Biggest disappointments: Ronaldinho, Landon Donovan, Ruud Van Niistelrooy, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard (24 shots, 0 goals)

My new prediction: France 2-1 Portugal and Germany 3-1 Italy
Champion: Germany I guess.

That's all for now. I'm excited for the semis, but I'm bummed that we're down to 4 games (including the 3rd place game).