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| The first good thing a Norwich City player did all year |
1. Situational soccer
The third game of the group stage is about the situation as much as, if not more than, the opponent. This is why no one really game plans all that much in advance for the third game. Your tactics are entirely determined by the result you have to achieve – which will be determined by the first two games – and then there are issues with injuries and suspensions and the like you have to deal with. The Dutch pretty much demonstrated how it's done today. They needed a draw to win Group B, and Van Persie was suspended, so the Dutch backed it up, stalked the midfield and tried to slow the pace way down. Chile had the ball for huge amounts of time but never could find any sort of a functional offensive rhythm. They are an aggressive and imaginative side, yet they're at sixes and sevens when they cannot get out and run. In a slow game, the Dutch were a terrible matchup for the Chileans, since they are the shortest team in the tourney (Dutch score on a header on a set piece), and their back line is held together with duct tape and string (Dutch score on Robben counterattack).
2. This couldn't really happen, could it?
By winning Group B, the bracket opens up remarkably nicely for Oranje, playing Mexico in the 16s with the winner getting a somewhat underwhelming C/D pairing in the 8s. Could it be that the fate decreed by the football gods will end up coming to fruition? Brazil gets Chile in the 16s and, well, they haven't lost a meaningful game at home since 1975, so good luck with that, Chileans.
3. El Tri:1
Not that Mexico is going to go quietly in the 16s. My concerns about El Tri going into this game today stemmed from a) an anemic offense; and b) trying to contain Mandzukic, who is a bear. Well, a) the Mexicans have suddenly become quite adept on the set pieces; and b) Mandzukic wasn't a factor because the Croatians seemed to hardly ever have the ball in a useful position. I like the way the Mexicans are defending with pressure, trying to keep possession and playing to their strengths. Herrera has brought some discipline to the attack and his move to bring back Marquez to keep order, which I wondered about at the time, has paid off nicely. I appreciated the positivity from El Tri in a game that seemed, at times, to be verging on going very negative in tone. Once they had the pace to their liking, and realized the Croatians couldn't keep up, they went from playing for a draw to playing for a win to playing for a big enough spread to win the group! Oh, yes, and Graham Zusi says "you're welcome" once again.
4. One Last Go
It was strange watching the Spaniards take one last victory lap today. They were quite melancholy during their 3:0 thumping of Australia. All of the guys who scored v. the 'roos – Villa, Torres, Mata – knew that it was almost certainly the last time wearing that jersey, of course. This generation of Spaniards have always been classy, savvy and smart on the pitch and a joy to watch. They were so damn good that I guess I always thought it would come to end for them in some epic sort of clash where they were finally vanquished, rather than in this strange sort of slow-motion spectacle.
And now a moment of noise for ...
Every time I see Croatia play, I see guys who are great on the ball, guys who make very fancy sideways passes, and guys who seem to have a remarkably large chip on their shoulder for no apparent reason. (They also seem to keep having crowd problems and stuff like this, which isn't going to win you many friends.) There is always this element of nastiness seemingly simmering just beneath the surface of their games. When the red card came out late today, it was about the least surprising development imaginable. Individual talent certainly didn't mesh into coherent football v. Mexico, and other than Perisic, who scored the late goal and nearly got a second, they capitulated after El Tri got the lead. That third goal they allowed was ridiculous. I watched two of their qualification matches, one where they got manhandled by the Belgians and a 0:0 draw v. 10-man Iceland, and it just seemed like they should be a better team than that. Well, apparently not.
Special appearance by The Good Guys:
You cannot stop the Cougar flag. You can stop the football team from time to time, and usually you can stop the basketball team simply by letting them miss an open shot, but you cannot stop the flag.
