We've talked here before about the potential value and positivity of a 0-0 result, and I do still agree with those sentiments...but sometimes a scoreless draw is a damn shame.
Now, Brazil and Portugal were moving on pretty much regardless of what happened in today's Group G matches. Brazil was assured, and Portugal was as close to assured as a team could be, what with those 7 goals they notched against North Korea earlier this week. So I can understand there being a lessened amount of fire on each side - no one wants to get injured now, or pick up a second yellow. But we're talking about two teams that are both quite talented, that are both capable of scoring goals with less-than-maximum effort, and beautiful ones at that. Yet each side today was playing far more casually than I would have expected, even with their spots in the next round secured. I've seen more ambition in meaningless friendlies, and whatever the table looks like, it's still the World Cup, and this is still Brazil and Portugal.
Interestingly enough, somehow 7 yellow cards got racked up between the two sides in just the first half - they weren't attacking the goals but they were sure attacking each other. The shots that were made were mostly long-range efforts lacking in precision or closer attempts put wide for want of better timing. The second half calmed down, seeing no further cards given, but also seeing the pace weaken even further. Eventually, after a ridiculous five minutes of stoppage time, the game ended 0-0. I suppose we're just so accustomed to Brazil being Brazil that even with 19 shots, 60% possession, and a thus far second-best pass completion rate of 78.47%, we still always expect more - something impressive, something amazing. Let's hope they're saving that up for the later games...
Ivory Coast beat North Korea 3-0, but with the aforementioned stomping of the Asian side by Portugal, it was not enough to change the table and the Elephants will be heading home. With zero points and a -11 goal differential, the North Koreans will finish last of all 32 countries.
Heyyyyy Portugal. How you doin'? I'm sure you get this all the time, but you look really good tonight.
I first noticed you when your Meireles was slotting home a shot off a defense-paralyzing pass from Tiago. Thought, "now that one's got some potential." But that second half? Wooo, nothing potential about that. It was one hell of a coming out party.
I don't want to recap 7 freaking goals. The Guardian has you covered there. For me, there were two main takeaways from this game.
1) This was a total team (offensive) effort from Portugal.
Take the second goal, for example: Miguel to Meireles to Almeida to Simao. Pure dissection. Tiago scored twice, Carvalho was controlling the opening minutes, and probably the least-discussed offensive star of the game was Fabio Coentrao with his beautiful passing throughout. They were a little shaky in defense until the game got out of control, but when attacking, every single Portuguese player involved made huge plays.
2) The Ronaldo conundrum
I don't recall him being involved in the first two goals, though he may have been a link in the chain somewhere. If I missed some critical play made by him to get either of those two scores, then you're welcome to disregard everything below. But assuming he was as invisible as he appeared to me in the first 50 minutes of the game (especially compared to all other offensive teammates), this match raises some fascinating questions about Cristiano Ronaldo.
First of all, he played a legendary second half. His precise assist on the 4th goal, the two subsequent passes that set up how-did-they-waste-that misses from Meireles and Coentrao, his long-range blast off the post, the juggling, ball-off-his-head goal to end his national drought, and countless other moments -- Ronaldo imposed his will on the North Koreans.
But he only played that way after the game was in hand. Does that mitigate the performance at all? Because it's pretty easy to recap this game as the story of a guy who was way too tense when it mattered but found it easy to relax after his teammates had put the opponent on life support. That certainly fits with the broader narrative of Ronaldo, whether or not it's fair.
We can all agree that Ronaldo was struggling to make an impact before this game, and we can all agree that he left a crater on this one. Whether he's ready to turn Portugal into a title contender when it matters, only time will tell.
The combined margin of victory must be 10 for Ivory Coast to pass Portugal. If it is 9, then total goals are used. If still level, a drawing of lots will decide who advances.
After the excitement brought on by today's early match, I'm sure we all expected it to continue and increase with the other two games. Considering the countries involved - the #1 and #3 ranked teams, the #27-but-featuring-a-seriously-kick-ass-striker-who-stopped-a-Civil-War team, and a team ranked 105th hailing from a nuke-filled dictatorship run by a man not wholly distinguishable from a cartoon villain - it certainly seemed like headline material.
The reality? Well, it's a bit of a puzzle. Both games were hard-fought and were interesting to a degree and lively at times - but both also induced some head-shaking and confusion. In the earlier of the two, Portugal and Ivory Coast played to a 0-0 draw. Now, as Marc has said and as I also believe, a draw, even a nil-nil, can be entertaining. I'm not sure if I'd use that word for this match, but I wouldn't go so far as Bobby McMahon did on the Fox Soccer Report tonight and call it "dreadful" either. I think we just really expected something different. There wasn't much attacking in the game - CIV's shot tally was 9(2) and Portugal's was only 7(1) - and there were only a few memorable goal possibilities. Cristiano Ronaldo slammed a shot off the post from about 30 yards out early on, and that was pretty much the only real chance in the whole first half. In the second half, CIV saw a couple of half-chances from Salomon Kalou and Kolo Toure, and then super-super-sub Didier Drogba (who started on the bench due to being mostly-but-not-totally recovered from his fractured elbow) had one bright moment in stoppage time inside the area, but missed the target.
Both sides moved with speed through most of the game, and seemed fairly organized and determined to either push through the other or shut it down (both CIV and Portugal played each role for portions of the match), but nothing really came together. In a game with the likes of Ronaldo, Deco and Drogba (even for only 25 minutes), no goals is surprising enough, but so few chances even more so. Although it wasn't entirely off-kilter - we did get plenty of diving from Ronaldo, as well a bit of argy-bargy when the Ivorians decided they'd had enough of him, so that at least was comfortingly familiar.
The late game of the day was always going to be interesting in a sense, with the top team in the world taking on a generally unknown and mysterious minnow from Asia. When talking about it beforehand, I joked that Brazil would steamroll North Korea to the tune of about 8-0. It was a joke, but to be honest I didn't think it would be far below that. Turns out I was a tad off. I also said, sans snark, that they might do to North Korea what they did to the US last summer - play casually and hang back in the first half, go to the locker room and have a laugh at halftime, then come out in the second and say "Oh yeah, by the way, we're Brazil" and make with the winning. That was a little more accurate.
Brazil seemed content to play at about half the pace and skill they're capable of in the first half, and it seemed clear that they'd gone into the match with very little concern over their opponent, as had many of the viewers, I'm sure. They controlled possession easily (at full time they'd had 63%) and passed the ball around generally well, but were put back on their heels a bit when coming up against a strong and solid North Korean defense. Brazil could hardly break through, and when they did, their fancy footwork was often interrupted by two or more red jerseys. Robinho had a few chances throughout the first half, but saw his passes into the area knocked away and his own shots saved or gone wide. You started to see a bit of frustration creeping into the South Americans near the end of the first half, but they still showed little urgency with their attack and North Korea continued to put a lot of pressure on them, and to show some flashes of speed and skill when they had the chance.
The numbers belie that a bit - Brazil's shots totaled 26(10) (to North Korea's 11(3)); I didn't keep specific track but I'd bet a fortune the majority of those came in the second half. This is when, as I'd imagined, they started to play closer to their abilities. The passing improved (with, for me, the notable exception of Kaka, who looked oddly flat for most of this match), the attack got more focused, and the goals finally came. Maicon put them on the board first in the 55th with an impossible shot from practically on the endline that curled just between the near post and the North Korean keeper. Elano added a second in the 72nd off a beautiful pass from Robinho. The score held at 2-0 until just before stoppage time, when Ji Yun-Nam broke through the yellow shirts and drove a hard strike past Julio Cesar to make the final score 2-1. North Korea walked away with no points, but even nabbing a goal must have seemed like an unlikely dream at the beginning.
Both matches served as good examples of the saying that games aren't played on paper. A goalless end to a game between two strong sides, each with their own shining star of a striker? The best team in the world being tentative and lackadaisical, while a largely derided unknown piles on the pressure? Not what I expected on the day...but then for me, that's part of the fun. You really never know what you're going to see.
The reality? Well, it's a bit of a puzzle. Both games were hard-fought and were interesting to a degree and lively at times - but both also induced some head-shaking and confusion. In the earlier of the two, Portugal and Ivory Coast played to a 0-0 draw. Now, as Marc has said and as I also believe, a draw, even a nil-nil, can be entertaining. I'm not sure if I'd use that word for this match, but I wouldn't go so far as Bobby McMahon did on the Fox Soccer Report tonight and call it "dreadful" either. I think we just really expected something different. There wasn't much attacking in the game - CIV's shot tally was 9(2) and Portugal's was only 7(1) - and there were only a few memorable goal possibilities. Cristiano Ronaldo slammed a shot off the post from about 30 yards out early on, and that was pretty much the only real chance in the whole first half. In the second half, CIV saw a couple of half-chances from Salomon Kalou and Kolo Toure, and then super-super-sub Didier Drogba (who started on the bench due to being mostly-but-not-totally recovered from his fractured elbow) had one bright moment in stoppage time inside the area, but missed the target.
Both sides moved with speed through most of the game, and seemed fairly organized and determined to either push through the other or shut it down (both CIV and Portugal played each role for portions of the match), but nothing really came together. In a game with the likes of Ronaldo, Deco and Drogba (even for only 25 minutes), no goals is surprising enough, but so few chances even more so. Although it wasn't entirely off-kilter - we did get plenty of diving from Ronaldo, as well a bit of argy-bargy when the Ivorians decided they'd had enough of him, so that at least was comfortingly familiar.
The late game of the day was always going to be interesting in a sense, with the top team in the world taking on a generally unknown and mysterious minnow from Asia. When talking about it beforehand, I joked that Brazil would steamroll North Korea to the tune of about 8-0. It was a joke, but to be honest I didn't think it would be far below that. Turns out I was a tad off. I also said, sans snark, that they might do to North Korea what they did to the US last summer - play casually and hang back in the first half, go to the locker room and have a laugh at halftime, then come out in the second and say "Oh yeah, by the way, we're Brazil" and make with the winning. That was a little more accurate.
Brazil seemed content to play at about half the pace and skill they're capable of in the first half, and it seemed clear that they'd gone into the match with very little concern over their opponent, as had many of the viewers, I'm sure. They controlled possession easily (at full time they'd had 63%) and passed the ball around generally well, but were put back on their heels a bit when coming up against a strong and solid North Korean defense. Brazil could hardly break through, and when they did, their fancy footwork was often interrupted by two or more red jerseys. Robinho had a few chances throughout the first half, but saw his passes into the area knocked away and his own shots saved or gone wide. You started to see a bit of frustration creeping into the South Americans near the end of the first half, but they still showed little urgency with their attack and North Korea continued to put a lot of pressure on them, and to show some flashes of speed and skill when they had the chance.
The numbers belie that a bit - Brazil's shots totaled 26(10) (to North Korea's 11(3)); I didn't keep specific track but I'd bet a fortune the majority of those came in the second half. This is when, as I'd imagined, they started to play closer to their abilities. The passing improved (with, for me, the notable exception of Kaka, who looked oddly flat for most of this match), the attack got more focused, and the goals finally came. Maicon put them on the board first in the 55th with an impossible shot from practically on the endline that curled just between the near post and the North Korean keeper. Elano added a second in the 72nd off a beautiful pass from Robinho. The score held at 2-0 until just before stoppage time, when Ji Yun-Nam broke through the yellow shirts and drove a hard strike past Julio Cesar to make the final score 2-1. North Korea walked away with no points, but even nabbing a goal must have seemed like an unlikely dream at the beginning.
Both matches served as good examples of the saying that games aren't played on paper. A goalless end to a game between two strong sides, each with their own shining star of a striker? The best team in the world being tentative and lackadaisical, while a largely derided unknown piles on the pressure? Not what I expected on the day...but then for me, that's part of the fun. You really never know what you're going to see.
The reality? Well, it's a bit of a puzzle. Both games were hard-fought and were interesting to a degree and lively at times - but both also induced some head-shaking and confusion. In the earlier of the two, Portugal and Ivory Coast played to a 0-0 draw. Now, as Marc has said and as I also believe, a draw, even a nil-nil, can be entertaining. I'm not sure if I'd use that word for this match, but I wouldn't go so far as Bobby McMahon did on the Fox Soccer Report tonight and call it "dreadful" either. I think we just really expected something different. There wasn't much attacking in the game - CIV's shot tally was 9(2) and Portugal's was only 7(1) - and there were only a few memorable goal possibilities. Cristiano Ronaldo slammed a shot off the post from about 30 yards out early on, and that was pretty much the only real chance in the whole first half. In the second half, CIV saw a couple of half-chances from Salomon Kalou and Kolo Toure, and then super-super-sub Didier Drogba (who started on the bench due to being mostly-but-not-totally recovered from his fractured elbow) had one bright moment in stoppage time inside the area, but missed the target.
Both sides moved with speed through most of the game, and seemed fairly organized and determined to either push through the other or shut it down (both CIV and Portugal played each role for portions of the match), but nothing really came together. In a game with the likes of Ronaldo, Deco and Drogba (even for only 25 minutes), no goals is surprising enough, but so few chances even more so. Although it wasn't entirely off-kilter - we did get plenty of diving from Ronaldo, as well a bit of argy-bargy when the Ivorians decided they'd had enough of him, so that at least was comfortingly familiar.
The late game of the day was always going to be interesting in a sense, with the top team in the world taking on a generally unknown and mysterious minnow from Asia. When talking about it beforehand, I joked that Brazil would steamroll North Korea to the tune of about 8-0. It was a joke, but to be honest I didn't think it would be far below that. Turns out I was a tad off. I also said, sans snark, that they might do to North Korea what they did to the US last summer - play casually and hang back in the first half, go to the locker room and have a laugh at halftime, then come out in the second and say "Oh yeah, by the way, we're Brazil" and make with the winning. That was a little more accurate.
Brazil seemed content to play at about half the pace and skill they're capable of in the first half, and it seemed clear that they'd gone into the match with very little concern over their opponent, as had many of the viewers, I'm sure. They controlled possession easily (at full time they'd had 63%) and passed the ball around generally well, but were put back on their heels a bit when coming up against a strong and solid North Korean defense. Brazil could hardly break through, and when they did, their fancy footwork was often interrupted by two or more red jerseys. Robinho had a few chances throughout the first half, but saw his passes into the area knocked away and his own shots saved or gone wide. You started to see a bit of frustration creeping into the South Americans near the end of the first half, but they still showed little urgency with their attack and North Korea continued to put a lot of pressure on them, and to show some flashes of speed and skill when they had the chance.
The numbers belie that a bit - Brazil's shots totaled 26(10) (to North Korea's 11(3)); I didn't keep specific track but I'd bet a fortune the majority of those came in the second half. This is when, as I'd imagined, they started to play closer to their abilities. The passing improved (with, for me, the notable exception of Kaka, who looked oddly flat for most of this match), the attack got more focused, and the goals finally came. Maicon put them on the board first in the 55th with an impossible shot from practically on the endline that curled just between the near post and the North Korean keeper. Elano added a second in the 72nd off a beautiful pass from Robinho. The score held at 2-0 until just before stoppage time, when Ji Yun-Nam broke through the yellow shirts and drove a hard strike past Julio Cesar to make the final score 2-1. North Korea walked away with no points, but even nabbing a goal must have seemed like an unlikely dream at the beginning.
Both matches served as good examples of the saying that games aren't played on paper. A goalless end to a game between two strong sides, each with their own shining star of a striker? The best team in the world being tentative and lackadaisical, while a largely derided unknown piles on the pressure? Not what I expected on the day...but then for me, that's part of the fun. You really never know what you're going to see.
