The View from the Spaghetti Factory

FINAL: Italy 1 - 1 France
(Italy win 5-3 on penalties)

World Cup finals rarely live up to the full-blooded attacking abandon of the earlier rounds, because there’s just so much at stake. Both France and Italy had demonstrated their full potential in earlier rounds (against Brazil and Germany, respectively) but played much more cautiously in the final. Whether that was a result of tactical caution or simply the combination of French fatigue and an unadventurous Italian 4-5-1 formation, I don’t know, but I don’t think it was a bad match overall. Italy looked brightest for most of the first half, spurred into action by Zidane’s early penalty, but France took control after half-time, bringing into question Lippi’s decision to play Luca Toni as a lone striker. Totti was overwhelmed by some effective French marking, and watched the match drift past him, much as he’d done for the rest of the competition.

However, the whole match really hinged on two players.

It’s not surprising that one of those players was Zinedine Zidane. France’s steady improvement has run in parallel with Zizou’s rediscovery of form, and here he was, playing his last ever game of professional football in the World Cup final and scoring the opening goal. But Marco Materazzi?! Gawky and lacking subtlety, Materazzi has never really been considered one of Italy’s best defenders, and his clumsy challenge on Malouda that led to Zidane’s penalty. However, he’s been improving steadily throughout his career, and made amends in spectacular form, scoring the equaliser and then one of Italy’s five flawless penalties.

But will we ever really know what happened in the 110th minute? I’ve watched the replays several times, and all I see is Zidane and Materazzi walking out of the Italian penalty box together after an unsuccessful French attack. A few words are exchanged, Zidane grins, a few more words, Zidane starts to walk ahead of Materazzi… but then what did Materazzi say to make Zidane turn round and go for him? Nice bit of nutting, though; I like to think that Zizou, ever the cultured virtuoso, was paying his own tribute to the great Yosser Hughes there.

It was sad to see such one of the finest players of all time ending his career on such a sour note, but it certainly added a touch of extra intrigue to the match. And of course, that’s Zidane for you, and it’s not like he hasn’t had those “red mist moments” before. You get the whole package with Zizou… masterful footballing brilliance and dramatic mood swings. And despite what the prudish BBC team made of it, it’s one hell of a way to end a career for a man who has already won all the trophies!

Third place play-off: Germany 3 - 1 Portugal

I’m sure I’m not alone in wondering whether there’s really any need for a third place play-off match at all. Both teams are beaten semi-finalists, physically spent and in mental anguish over what might have been. The penultimate match of the World Cup mini-season often seems like a needlessly masochistic act of deliberate tedium in order to make us appreciate the final.

If FIFA do intend to continue with this tradition, I think it needs a few tweaks. Listeners to the Guardian’s World Cup podcast have been making suggestions, of which I quite liked the idea of a charity gala, with a match featuring a selection of the best players who didn’t make the final. My suggestion would be to copy the Olympic approach to match-based sports… introduce a Gold/Silver/Bronze medal system, so the beaten semi-finalists have something to play for. The finalists already receive medals (for winning or losing) so it wouldn’t be a major adjustment to the current system.

Even with the current system, while many teams do indeed grit their teeth and go through the motions for the sake of FIFA regulations, there is another way. Take pride in your top-four position in world football and take advantage of the opportunity for a stress-free exhibition match. That’s how Germany played this evening, providing an almost-perfect climax to their World Cup run. They played quick attacking football, taking chances and demonstrating (to England especially) that this stodgy Portugal side can easily be beaten with this approach.

Portugal simply continued as before, suggesting that Cristiano Ronaldo (or indeed the entire Portugal camp) has never encountered the concept of PR. Given the perfect opportunity to redeem himself amid a good-natured atmosphere, he dived spectacularly on at least two occasions. In return, the mostly German crowd dutifully jeered every time he touched the ball. It seems young Ronnie is keen to leave Manchester United, but is there really anywhere outside Portugal where he can be sure of avoiding the backlash? Could he really not see the opportunity to build bridges and heal wounds in tonight’s match?

On the other hand, the German team has recognised, and grabbed, the opportunities presented by this whole competition. Few people expected them to get much further than the second round, but they’ve pulled together, made the most of their strengths and given their fans something to be proud of. With the general sense of goodwill that has grown up in Germany over the past few weeks, things are looking rosy for German football.

Semi-final: Portugal 0 - 1 France

Do you mind if I just dispense with any attempt to be impartial for this one? I’ve been a good boy so far, don’t you think? I haven’t said “C’MONYOUINGERLUN!” once, have I?

I know some English people still have a bizarre animosity towards the French (I mean, come on… it’s been 191 years now) but it’s fairly safe to say that very few English football fans wanted to see Portugal win tonight. Sure enough, they didn’t, but the score, not to mention the character of the match, was quite revealing.

First of all, if France are to have any hope of beating Italy in the final, they’ll need to recreate the stunning Zidane-centred attacking flair they demonstrated in the Brazil match… and then some. Italy have by far the best defence in this World Cup and while Zidane may be just the person to unlock it, the French will have to be on their guard against Italian counter-attacks. Barthez kept a clean sheet despite being at his Hulot-esque best but, unlike 1998/2000, he can’t rely on an almost unbeatable defence to get him out of trouble every time.

Secondly, do we really ever want Scolari to coach England? I was certainly in favour of his appointment back when it looked like a definite possibility, but I’ve seen a lot to dislike over the course of this World Cup. The current Portugal squad has a great capacity for attractive, attacking play, but several of their performances in Germany have looked stodgy and unimaginative. Deco’s suspension provided a reasonable excuse for the lack of creativity in the England match, but not tonight. He played, but just couldn’t seem to get involved.

The biggest issue, though, is still the diving and play-acting. This is not entirely the fault of Big Phil (Portuguese teams have always been rather lightweight in the tackle) but he’s done nothing to avert the media shitstorm of the past week. Portugal stood to gain some PR brownie points by approaching tonight’s match with a more gentlemanly attitude, but no… if anything, they were even worse than against England. ITV picked up on several examples of absolutely blatant diving both at half-time and after the match, but what made the whole thing worse was the screaming, pop-eyed outrage from Scolari and all denizens of the Portugal dugout. It was a rare pleasure to see these cheats ejected from the World Cup.

It wasn’t a vintage French performance, but it was enough. No doubt questions will be asked about the penalty (like the free-kick against Spain, Henry *was* fouled, but over-acted somewhat) but World Cup matches have been decided on far more controversial decisions.

Semi-final: Germany 0 - 2 Italy

Classic.

Less than three weeks ago, Germany were plodding unconvincingly through their first two group games, while Italy were showing off their self-destructive tendencies in spectacular fashion against the USA. But now look at them… both teams combining their traditional solid defensive play with some tasty attacking football. For me, Italy possibly just about shaded it during the 90 minutes, but their performance during extra time was a real feat of endurance, skill and determination. Fabio Cannavaro could well be the best centre-back in the world and Rino Gattuso never stopped battling, even managing some flamboyant skills after nearly two hours in the heat.

It’s slightly ironic that their first goal, capping a sweeping attacking move, was scored by Fabio Grosso. It was Grosso who dived to win the penalty against Australia, ending Italy’s most Catenaccio-style performance. This time, though, he wasn’t the sole influence in breaking the deadlock… Alex Del Piero may not get many full-match performances these days, but it’s good to see his scoring touch is still there.

And what a treat for numerologists. Italy have established a pattern of appearing in the World Cup final every twelve years…

1970: Runners-up
1982: Winners
1994: Runners-up
2006: ?

Meanwhile Jürgen Klinsmann can be proud of his achievement. Before the competition started, he spoke of having a wider vision beyond simply winning matches; he wanted to improve the reputations of both German football and Germany as a whole. The World Cup experience certainly seems to have done wonders for the country’s reputation as a hospitable, welcoming tourist destination, while Klinsmann has built an exciting, attacking team whose earlier defensive frailties diminished with every match. I’ll wager they’re going to be a force to reckon with in Euro 2008.

Brazil 0 - 1 France

The resurrection of Les Bleus is fast becoming *the* story of the tournament. They looked good against Spain, but tonight’s performance against Brazil looked even tighter and more organised. Zidane, who looked forlorn and frustrated against Switzerland, is on cracking form, firing passes to every corner of the pitch and setting off on those impossible twisting runs of his own. Ribery still has a tendency to look clumsy at times, but he’s twice the player he was in the group games. The ageing defence is looking solid and organised and Thierry Henry is starting to prove that he can do it in the big games.

On the other hand, Brazil went out with a whimper. Ronaldinho has never looked comfortable in this tournament, despite a few moments of brilliance. He seemed to be playing further forward today, more like his Barcelona role, but still lacked the ability to command the game. Ronaldo looked dangerous on a couple of occasions; the rest of the time he was just in everyone else’s way. The defence looked like they were playing together for the first time and left Dida exposed several times.

What’s more, I hate to say I told you so, but I’m due some gloating after the England defeat. A few days ago, I suggested that maybe Brazil weren’t simply coasting on half-power, that maybe we’d seen all we were going to get.

The parallels with England are impossible to ignore. Both have managers who pick (or fail to substitute) far too many players on the basis of reputation… Lampard, Roberto Carlos and Cafu should never have started, Ronaldo, Beckham and Rooney should have gone off at half time. Both teams flattered to deceive in the earlier rounds, but were supposedly waiting to switch to a higher gear, to pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat. Where were those rabbits? I can only guess that Ronaldo ate one of them, while Rooney stamped on the other.

England 0 - 0 Portugal
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)

Rubbish.

Yes, I know this is where we’re all supposed to talk of heroism in the face of defeat and didn’t the plucky lads try hard, but that’s just not what happened. Twenty minutes of frantic, full-blooded effort does not constitute a world-class performance. England were simply rubbish.

I’ll qualify that. Rio Ferdinand was superb. John Terry was superb. Owen Hargreaves was world class, breaking down Portugal attacks, running at players, spreading passes to every part of the pitch and even trying his hand at Beckham’s job towards the end. On the other hand, Rooney was ineffectual while he was on the pitch, bringing his contribution to an abrupt end with a display of selfish petulance that would make Cristiano Ronaldo proud. Lampard simply shouldn’t have been on the pitch, and any coach who allows a player on that sort of form to take the first penalty is clearly not up to the job.

Oh yes… the coach. I’ve stood up for Eriksson at various times during the last five years, but he’s now been found out. His substitutions were our undoing against Brazil and Portugal (in 2002 and 2004 respectively) but he clearly learned nothing from those matches. To bring on Carragher (a fifth defender) in place of Aaron Lennon, the one player who had revitalised England’s attacks, was naive to the point of incompetence. Why, when Rooney was sent off, was Joe Cole sacrificed in order to bring on Crouch? Why, indeed, was Crouch not playing from the start, in a 4-4-2 formation with Rooney that would have caused havoc for Portugal’s shaky central defence? If Brazil’s coach Parreira is guilty of being swayed by reputation, Sven is just as bad.

However, it takes two to tango and the Portugal cheating machine keeps rolling on. Did you see Cristiano’s knowing wink to another player after Rooney was dismissed? Why was Ronaldo himself not booked for trying to influence the referee amid the Rooney fracas? However far they progress in this tournament, Portugal have succeeded in one thing… using sly foul play to convince referees that they’re innocent victims. They’re the nastiest, most dishonest and negative side I’ve seen in world football for many years. That isn’t English sour grapes either; I know full well why England lost that match. However, it would have been nice to be beaten purely by football rather than by a mixture of our coach’s tactical naivety and another team’s cheating.

(Back to a more impartial tone in part 2, after I’ve had a pint!)

Germany 1 - 1 Argentina
(Germany win 4-2 on penalties)

Plenty of people were looking forward to this being the match of the tournament, but it never really lived up to the hype. The quality of football was still pretty impressive, but both teams had replaced some of their full-blooded attacking spirit with an element of defensive caution, resulting in a more typical World Cup quarter final. Germany, in particular, looked a lot more solid at the back than they have done so far, with Mertesacker pulling off some cool-headed clearances under pressure. The speculative shooting wasn’t so much in evidence, but when Miroslav Klose is on such reliable form, why worry?

To be honest (and putting aside any traditional English prejudices) I think the tournament is poorer for losing either of these teams. I never thought I’d say that after Germany’s shaky start, but they’ve turned into an exciting team to watch. And I never, EVER thought I’d say that! Argentina have never quite matched the visual appeal of their performance against Serbia & Montenegro, but I’m sure they were good enough to win the competition. Unfortunately, they join a long line of World Cup also-rans (mostly consisting of Holland, it would seem) who had all the ability but none of the luck.

Italy 3 - 0 Ukraine

Like Germany, Italy are gradually finding their feet as the tournament progresses, in stubborn contrast to the scandal and tragedy back home. Reducing Ukraine to just a handful of meaningful attacks, Italy pulled out their best performance yet. Fabio Cannavaro, faultless at centre-back, was once again the key to the clean sheet, but Gianluca Zambrotta deserves to be in the reckoning for man of the match, for his ability to switch between lightning fast wing play and solid defending. And for us Fiorentina fans, it was great to see Luca Toni finally break his duck with two goals in ten minutes. Keep going, Luca, and I might not look such an arse for tipping you for the Golden Boot…

Was this a proper classic Italy performance or were they simply flattered by a particularly clueless Ukraine side? Ukraine certainly seemed to have regressed to something almost as bad as their form against Spain in the opening match. We won’t know for sure until Tuesday’s semi-final. Germany/Sweden… hang on to your hats!

Just musing idly on the latest FIFA rankings, compiled in May. Here are the top 20 countries, along with their progress (where appropriate) in the World Cup…

1. Brazil — quarter finals
2. Czech Republic — group stage
3. Netherlands — second round
4. Mexico — second round
5= USA — group stage
5= Spain — second round
7. Portugal — quarter finals
8. France — quarter finals
9. Argentina — quarter finals
10. England — quarter finals
11. Nigeria — did not qualify
12. Denmark — did not qualify
13. Italy — quarter finals
14. Turkey — did not qualify
15. Cameroon — did not qualify
16. Sweden — second round
17. Egypt — did not qualify
18. Japan — group stage
19. Germany — quarter finals
20. Greece — did not qualify
…
45. Ukraine — quarter finals

So what can we learn from that? Well, one of the main things to bear in mind is that football is a “funny old game”. Egypt are African champions but did not qualify, while most of the African teams present at Germany 2006 did poorly in this year’s African Cup of Nations. Ukraine have progressed far beyond expectations despite looking stodgy and uninspired, while the Czech Republic would need to be finalists to justify their ranking.

Then there’s the method by which the rankings are compiled… all first class international matches (tournaments, qualifiers and friendlies) over the past eight years. Now, for teams such as Brazil or Spain, whose form has been consistent one way or another, the results are fairly predictable (Spain’s excellent form in qualifiers is counterbalanced by their dismal form in knockout matches). But take Turkey, for example… with their wildly erratic form, they failed to qualify in 1998 and 2006, but came third in 2002. Your ranking can suddenly change as the eight-year window passes over an unusually good or bad period.

And then there’s the “weighting” system. Rankings are based on their seven “best” results for each year, with points gained for a win varying according to the quality of the opponent. Teams playing in competitions in Europe or South America are more likely to come up against stiffer challenges, winning fewer matches. In the CONCACAF region, Mexico and USA are clearly the top dogs, but they have plenty of opportunities to gain points, as many of the other highly ranked teams will be comparative minnows.

However, as we all know, the rankings are rendered completely meaningless by the presence of a superior, more accurate and more rigorous rating system… ladies and gentlemen, the pub pundit!

Brazil 3 - 0 Ghana

Apparently, when the Brazilians went on to the pitch to warm up before the match, the Ghanaian players stopped their own warm-up session to gaze admiringly at the football legends on display. I don’t know whether that indicated an excessive sense of humility among the Ghana players or not, but that certainly seemed to be the case during the first ten minutes. Like rabbits caught in bright yellow and blue headlights, the Ghanaians stood and watched as Brazil ran riot. They were lucky only to let in one goal.

However, in today’s edition of the Guardian’s World Cup podcast, Brazilian journalist Fernando Duarte insisted that the way to beat Brazil was to go for it, to run at them “as if your life depended on it”. For the rest of the match, Ghana did precisely this, and were let down only by their lack of confidence in front of goal. Like the Mexicans in their group matches, the Ghanaians seemed to want to walk the ball into the net, frequently missing obvious shooting chances and never trying to beat the Brazilian defenders in the air. And of course, the danger with Brazil is that it only takes them a few seconds to whip the ball up the other end and score, while you’re still rueing your last missed opportunity. That’s precisely what they did for their second and third goals, resulting in a scoreline that doesn’t really reflect the match, which was compelling until the last minute.

Right through this World Cup, one of the catchphrases among BBC and ITV commentators has been: “BRAZIL ARE WINNING COMFORTABLY DESPITE NOT PLAYING THEIR BEST!”. But how do we know they’re not at their best? They looked pretty clever in the Confederations Cup last summer, but still lost to Mexico. This year, the undeniably brilliant individual displays have certainly been marred by a lack of collective organisation, but maybe, just maybe… could this be all there is?

Spain 1 - 3 France

Spain have never beaten France in a competitive match, but the evidence of the past two weeks suggested a change in fortune. Spain qualified comfortably from the group stages despite a lacklustre second-eleven performance against Saudi Arabia, while France had come close to spectacular self-destruction to rival their disaster in 2002. A few days ago, after France had limped unconvincingly through their final group game against Togo, I wondered whether the meeting with in-form Spain would mark the end of this once great team, or whether it would finally spur them into action. I really didn’t expect the latter to happen.

For the first time during Germany 2006, France looked like rediscovering their form of 1998/2000. It wasn’t perfect by any means… they’ve never properly replaced Deschamps and Blanc in defence (and doesn’t Barthez know it!) while Vieira and Zidane are slowing with age and Abidal is no Lizerazu. However, they’re playing with confidence and self-belief and the moves are once again flowing around Zidane, who actually looked like he was enjoying himself on a couple of occasions.

You have to feel for Spain, though… the fans and players must wonder what they have to do to get somewhere in an international competition. No matter how good their players are (their squad is filled with world-class talent this time around) they always under-perform. They’ll look back to their demolition of Ukraine in the first match and wonder how the hell Ukraine managed to progress further than they did. I’m as baffled as they are.

Italy 1 - 0 Australia

While yesterday ended in silent-era slapstick farce (or a Vietnam war movie, perhaps?) today’s play started with full-on soap opera tragedy. The match was no classic, and the Italians spent most of the first half maintaining the status quo, unhurriedly passing the ball about while keeping an eye out for attacking opportunities. The dismissal of Materazzi marked a minor pivotal point in the match, giving the Australians a better chance to play some meaty, determined football, even if they floundered repeatedly against the impenetrable Italy defence. With Harry Kewell on the pitch, even if only for the last five minutes, I’m sure the Aussies could have snatched a goal, but we’ll never know.

Conceding a penalty deep into added time, knowing that the referee will blow the final whistle immediately afterwards, is one of the harshest ways of losing a football match. It’s even more harsh when that penalty is awarded in error.

Ukraine 0 - 0 Switzerland
(Ukraine win 3-0 on penalties)

Artem Milevskiy, I salute you.

After 110 minutes of the most turgid, uninspired football I’ve seen so far in this World Cup, Oleg Blokhin suddenly remembered he had a promising young striker (from Ukraine’s Euro Under-21 runners-up team) on the bench. For ten brief minutes, Milevskiy brought the game to life, making dangerous runs down the wing and providing the missing link in the forward line along with Shevchenko and Rebrov. Then, in the inevitable penalty shootout, he took the first successful penalty with an audacious chip. If Blokhin doesn’t play him from the start against Italy, Ukraine have very little chance of progressing any further.

And what happened to Switzerland? Their goal remained unbreached once again, at least during the standard part of the match, but the goals have dried up completely… they couldn’t even score in the penalty shootout.

Speaking of the penalties, that was the first shootout of this World Cup, and probably one of the worst I’ve ever seen (Spain/Ireland at Euro 2004 was almost as inept). Two of the unsuccessful Swiss penalty takers hit the ball low… a risky ploy, for which they were punished. Even the mighty Shevchenko did the same! Apart from Milevskiy’s cheeky feint-and-chip move, the successful Ukrainian penalty takers did the right thing, aiming for the “unsaveable zone”… shoulder-height, and as close to either post as you dare.

Let’s all pray to the Football Gods for some fast, attacking football tomorrow, eh?