Whose World? What Cup? (Day 25)

This is the last day of the 2010 World Cup. Lots has been said about how neither of the two teams, the Dutch and the Spanish, have contested this final fixture before. For me, I think the interesting thing is that this is the first time we've seen two monarchies contend on the field of battle for a very long time, and certainly, the first time at the World Cup.

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At the end of a nervy first half in which Mark van Bommel was lucky not to already be off, the score is 0-0. Arjen van Robben has been his usual threatening but sometimes lazy self on the right, and the Dutch have somehow contrived to look both awful and yet dangerous. Spain always look good in possession, but being tackled painfully a few times seems to have slowed them down a bit. Not a nice half at all. Rather ungentlemanly in spots. Perhaps the main talking point was a Dutch attempt to return the ball to the Spanish, almost ending up as an accidental goal!

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Amd here we are at the end of extra time, and Spain have won 1-0 thanks to a neatly taken goal by Andres Iniesta. I'm glad my pre-Cup prediction came true, although I am astonished by how few goals Spain scored to make it come true — only 8 goals!

Whose World? What Cup? (Day 22)

So it has come down to the Netherlands meeting Uruguay in the first semi-final of the 2010 World Cup. It is like watching a polished and wary assassin fighting for his life against a skilled street fighter who will do anything to win. The do-or-die heroism implicit in both can turn ugly—for both.

I have an instinctive preference for the Oranje tonight. They've cheated less. I wonder if Robben's hoods will leave Diego forlorn.

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And in the 17th minute, Giovanni von Bronckhorst, of ALL people, scores a long-range strike a la David Villa. 1-0 to the Orangemen!

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In the 40th minute, Diego Forlan, surely in the form of his life, equalises with a long-range up-the-middle shot. Stekelenburg is caught flat-footed by the power and slight rightward curve on the shot. 1-1, and this is shaping up into a tight fight...

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At half-time, I still think Uruguay are marginally dirtier and more reckless. But they're dangerous. They are, after all, the last South American team from a federation in which the lowest-ranked team (Peru, I think) is about #55 worldwide.

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A lot of weaving and ducking, with Forlan firing on all cylinders. But it's Wesley Sneijder who pulls the trigger in the 69th minute, after a wave of dangerous Oranje attacks. 2-1 to the Dutch, and perhaps more to come, at this rate.

Ha, I had just typed the previous line when Robben made it 3-1. Looks like the assassin beats the street-fighter tonight...

Maxi makes it 3-2, but the Dutch are through! Maybe it will be Dutch vs Deutsch. Heh.

Whose World? What Cup? (Day 20)

Does so much come down to this? The distillation of two groups, the heart and sinew of the game, the Orange play the... Blue? Brazil in unfamiliar colours. The Dutch were unbeaten; the Brazilians likewise. And now, at half time, we have Brazil up by one.

Michel Bastos enacts bastardy and is not sent off for a second yellow card. But justice is done from a lovely kick from Sneijder that sends the ball into the Brazilian net via some deflections. It is 1-1. I am happy. Bastardly deeds should not go unpunished.

Some people at this point might quibble and say, "Surely you meant 'dastardly'?" No no no, I meant 'bastardly'. It was a very low and illegitimate act to tackle an opponent like that and not get a second yellow card. I hope Bastos gets bastinadoed, figuratively speaking.

I sit back, sip my coffee, and watch on.

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At 67 minutes, Sneijder takes on the Lords of Karma and cashes a chip. Or rather, converts it to a goal in post-Kuytal activity. 2-1 to the Netherlands! Double, Dutch! Haha!

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At 73 minutes, Felipe Melo gets red-carded for a terrible stamp on Robben. I am happy with that too. Good football needs nothing of that sort.

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At 84 minutes, I see wizardry from Kaka; it is not born of inspiration, but desperation. And it is ultimately fruitless.

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This is fascinating. Will the Orange peel? Or will the Nuts crack? A few minutes remain... three extra ones to be precise.

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YES the Dutch have won!!!!!!!!!!!! I am more than happy now.

My headline would read, "ORANGE PIPS BRAZIL NUTS".

Whose World? What Cup? (Day 18)

Tonight we watch the Netherlands, a strong outsider (well, ranked in the Top Five) for the Cup, meet Slovakia. They are likely to do well, European team on European team. It's hard to call though. That Vladimir Weiss vs Arjen Robben duel will be interesting.

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It was as I was typing that that Robben scored in the 18th minute. Ho ho. Der Fliegende Holländer.

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It took an hour of the most boring football seen at this round so far, before the Dutch scored again via Sneijder. It looked as if the Slovak defence were trying to mark the long-substituted van Persie, and were confused because they couldn't figure out where he was. 2-0 to the Oranje. What on earth is Skrtel doing?

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And a last-minute soft penalty, converted by Vittek, makes it a 2-1 scoreline. Terribly boring. Leaden.

Whose World? What Cup? (Day 14a)

Why am I watching Cameroon v Netherlands and Denmark v Japan?

I really don't know. I suppose I just like the idea of incongruity. In Group E, the Netherlands have already qualified and Cameroon are already out. Probably, the Dutch will get to meet Slovakia, the Italy-slayers and runners-up in Group F. The Dutch national anthem is called The William after William the Silent (yes, irony), Prince of Orange; the Slovak national anthem is called Lightning over the Tatras (whaaaaat? yeah.) The Dutch national anthem was the first full-fledged (words + music) national anthem.

Meanwhile, two whaling nations clash in the murky waters. Whoever wins qualifies from Group E. There will be blood. Incidentally, the Japanese national anthem, Kimi ga yo, has the oldest words of all national anthems in the world; its words date back to the 9th century, although its musical arrangement is much more recent. It became the official national anthem of Japan only in 1869.

This one will be fun. The Danish national anthem has the superscription, "This corner of the earth smiles for me more than any other," in Latin. (Ille terrarum mihi praeter omnes angulus ridet.) You could translate that as, "This corner on the ground is smiling for me first." Watch for set pieces.

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Little did I know how prescient and yet wrong my last sentence was. The Japanese have obviously come up with a brilliant plan which converts one of their relative weaknesses to an improbable strength. The Danes are taller, but that obstructs their goalkeeper's vision. The hapless and unsighted Sorensen has fallen victim to TWO Japanese free-kicks — one in the left corner and one in the right corner, one over the wall and one around the wall. Danish free-kicks have been easily saved because the Japanese goalkeeper can see them coming.

Meanwhile, the Oranje have ground out a 1-0 lead over Cameroon at half-time. At this rate, the Netherlands will top the group (not unexpected) and the Japanese will be runners-up (also not unexpected, as they were ahead of the Danes on goal difference).

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At full-time, the Dutch have topped the group with a gritty 2-1 win over Cameroon, while the Japanese have conceded a penalty and yet run out 3-1 (penalty was saved, but Tomasson managed to score on the rebound) victors. I am a little disturbed by how much schadenfreude I felt at the sight of the Danes being totally outclassed by the nippy (oops, I mean quick and agile) Japanese who seemed to stick to the ball and play it so much better.

Whose World? What Cup? (Day 09)

Having just watched the Netherlands subvert Japan's industry with a 1-0 win (the Dutch were Sneijder but the Japanese were busier), I am thinking that they and perhaps Argentina about the only so-called 'major footballing nation' that are really playing up to the tag. Or at least, obtaining results that fit the tag. Brazil will probably work out that way too, after their next match. But who knows?

It's now Australia 1 Ghana 0 on 15 minutes or so. If Australia retain that lead, every team will have won one game and Germany will be table-toppers on goal difference in Group D, possibly ending up facing the USA in the next round. But again, in this particular World Cup, who knows?

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Who knows, indeed! A red card and straight dismissal for Australia's only striker, Harry Kewell. Handballing on the line in front of goal, and Ghana's Gyan has equalized from the penalty. It looked as though Lucas Neill was also asking for a red card for barging an opposing player down in the penalty box. It's all up in the air.

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And it remained so. 1-1, and Germany, despite losing to Serbia, still top their group.

Whose World? What Cup? (Day 04)

Well, here I sit as the second half of Denmark-Netherlands commences. I am impressed by the tempo sustained in blistering heat by these tall, hefty Northern Europeans (some of whom used to be Northern Africans, from the look of their statuesque frames and darkly-chiselled features). But it is still 0-0.

Denmark is one of the largest countries on Earth, by virtue of its associate country (as of 2009), Greenland. Greenland, at over 2m square kilometres or about 836,000 square miles, was granted home rule by their Danish overlords in 1979 and became an autonomous nation in 2009. That association makes Denmark the third largest power in North America, and the second largest physical presence in the Arctic Circle next to Russia.

The Netherlands is an agglomeration of trading states, the twelve provinces of the Dutch people. Two of those provinces are called North and South Holland, which is why some people persist (to some Dutch irritation) in called the Netherlands 'Holland'. 50% of its land is less than a metre above sea-level; should global warming raise the oceans, the Netherlands could well become the Sunken Lands.

But as I watch the goings-on in South Africa, they haven't sunk yet. Nor do they seem likely to do so.

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Well, 2-0 to the Orangemen in the end. And at half-time in the second match of the day, Japan lead Cameroon 1-0, by the feet of one Honda. A well-placed kickstart, shall we say?