Reuters Soccer Blog
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Floodgates should open after slow start
The opening group stage matches at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa produced only 25 goals in 16 matches, 14 less than the same stage of the competition at the 2006 event in Germany.
The low average of just 1.56 goals per game can probably be attributed to a number of factors: the much-criticised World Cup ball, cagey defending by teams playing against stronger opposition and even unfamiliar weather conditions for this time of the year for all non-African teams.
But it seems the main reason goals have been hard to come by is the tactical and technical progress second-tier teams have made, as epitomised by Switzerland’s shock 1-0 win over European champions Spain and one of the tournament’s hot favourites.
In what has so far been arguably the most entertaining match of the tournament, North Korea – widely expected to be the whipping boys of Group G – also showed how thin that line can be when they pushed Brazil to the limit in their 2-1 defeat by the five-time World Cup winners.
Serbian coach Vladimir Vermezovic, who is in charge of South Africa’s first division side Kaizer Chiefs, concurred with the opinion that the quality of football so far has been better than the disappointing scoring ratio might suggest.
“The fans have been left wanting so far but it’s not because the quality of the football has been poor, on the contrary,” he told Reuters in an interview.
Grafite’s stunning goal hailed throughout Germany
German media have already decided that Grafite’s brilliant 77th-minute solo goal in Wolfsburg’s 5-1 win over Bayern Munich on Saturday is the goal of the year.
He somehow managed to elude five Bayern players before scoring with a cheeky backheel.
It may seem a bit early to be choosing the “Tor des Jahres” with nine months left in 2009 but even the normally reserved public TV broadcast “Das Aktuelle Sportstudio” proclaimed it “the most spectacular goal in Bundesliga history”.
The electrifying goal has featured in German newscasts all weekend.
Grafite’s goal, coming two days after his 30th birthday, also served as a fitting metaphor for the season as it helped Wolfsburg jump to the top of the Bundesliga in front of Hamburg SV, Hertha Berlin and Bayern.
The small club from the northern town made famous by the Volkswagen factories have now won eight of their nine matches since the winter break (the only blemish a draw at Cologne) after ending the first half of the season back in ninth place and nine points behind Bayern.
Wow, getting spanked 5-1 AND the whole world gets to be reminded all year.
have fun in the champions league now.
Didn’t football used to be about scoring goals?
For all its great crowd noise, emotion and late drama, Wednesday night’s FA Cup replay between Everton and Liverpool was an shocking indictment of modern football, where stopping the other side scoring has become so important that teams have almost forgotten that there is another, more decisive and infinitely more entertaining way to achieve success.
Throughout the TV commentary there were references to the 4-4 draw when the teams met in the the competition in 1991, and Liverpool’s 3-2 aet final win 20 years ago, but we were never going to get a repeat after an excruciating first hour where both penalty areas might as well have been sealed off with barbed wire.
Everton, at least, have a bit of an excuse in that just about all their strikers are out injured, and the one that wasn’t, Victor Anichebe, seemingly talked himself out of the squad by rowing with manager David Moyes.
In their absence, midfielders Tim Cahill and Marouane Fellaini have toiled manfully and productively upfront in recent weeks but it was tough on Wednesday for Everton to break out of the midfield mire.
Liverpool and coach Rafa Benitez again lacked ideas. They did not manage a single worthwhile effort on goal in two hours. After all Benitez’s talk of rotation and squad resources since he arrived, he has played Steven Gerrard and an unfit Fernando Torres into the ground this season, while allowing others to sit in the stands.
With Gerrard off early with a hamstring strain and the exhausted Torres eventually substituted, Liverpool brought on winger Ryan Babel to lead the line, with predictable results. What Robbie Keane must have made of it all is anyone’s guess.
What is so surprising about this? All these years the top English teams when they meet each other always follow the same game plan. Arsenal was the only exception. Just watch any Manu vs chelsea match, or liverpool vs manu or Liverpool vs chelsea, it is more boring than this one.
What would a great goal be worth on the art market?
Having seen replays of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s remarkable backheel goal for Inter Milan on Saturday, I reckon it’s one of those rare moments when football reaches the realm of art.
I realise you risk sounding like a wally by comparing something frivolous like football to such a serious business. (more…)
Of course you can compare football to art! If art is something that is beautiful or exciting to look at, which involves exceptional skill and even inspiration, then Ibra’s goal certainly counts.
I guess where a great goal differs from art is that the latter has usually been constructed with great care and attention over some time. Ibra’s strike was glorious because it involved a split-second reaction — it was conceived and executed in the blink of an eye.
And then the other thing about art, especially modern art, is that it is often art simply by virtue of the fact that someone says it is (see the Campbell soup cans). Or because the person who did it is accepted as an artist. Well, I think Ibra would have a lot of supporters on that front…
All the World Cup 2010 Games in South Africa will be streamed live at http://www.WorldCupTV.org 17:58