Spain are the best team in the world of football but will they be crowned the World Champions?

The World Cup final on Sunday will feature some of the greatest footballers around the world. Footballers whose records outshine superstars such as Ronaldo, Rooney & the stars of France & Italy who usually get all the media attention but who faded away in this World Cup.

It is broadly acknowledged that the pillars of the success of the great Barcelona side of the last few years led by Lionel Messi are in fact Inesta, Xavi (above first & second from right) & their inspirational Captain Carlos Puyol ,whose goal took Spain to the final of the World Cup.
In Casillas Spain arguably have the best goalkeeper in the world & in David Villa (no 7 above) the striker with the best average goal scoring record in the world. Add to this players such as Piquet & Sergio Ramos, & Pedro who replaced the out of form Torres against Germany & it is easy to see why Spain are such a great side. Even their lesser known players like the no 11 (above) Capdevila of Villarreal have ended up being amongst the stars of the tournament.

It is difficult not to admire Spain & the way they play. They are simply irresistible to watch & play football they way the beautiful game is meant to be played. Commentators, players, coaches, journalists & past great players are all tipping Spain to win the final on Sunday. Even Johan Cruyff, the Captain of the legendary 1974 Holland team credited for creating the concept of total football believes this great Spanish side (& no doubt they are great to watch) will be crowned World Champions on Sunday.

Nevertheless, despite all the well deserved accolades & all the media hype I believe Holland will be crowned Champions on Sunday!

Whilst Spain are superior in tactical & technical terms & have better individual players overall, most media commentators are ignoring the main worrying signs in the Spanish side & idealistically concentrating on the attractive way they play. Yes! Spain have been one of the more attractive teams of the tournament to watch, but they can not be given so much compliment when they have only crawled their way into the final by three hard fought 1-0 results, a 1-0 loss to Switzerland & only above average performances against Chile & Honduras! This is despite the fact that Germany & in particular Italy have in the past won the World Cup despite mediocre performances on the way to winning the Cup.

Nevertheless, my main reason for suggesting that Netherlands will win the final lies in the great performances of the players in the above photo (photo from Euro 2008). Wesley Sneijder & the fit again Arjen Robben have been underestimated by everyone to their benefit!

For the first time in many years (including Gus Hiddink's Holland side of the 1998 World Cup) Bert Marwijk has managed to instill a great team spirit in the notoriously fickle & egotistic Dutch camp, and a team which achieves much more than the sum of its individual players suggests on paper. ie Here's my point:

Spain as a team have produced much less than the sum of their brilliant players on paper would suggest whilst Holland, led by the magnificent four ie Sneijder, Robben, Van Bommel & Van Bronkhorst have prodced much more than their individual players would suggest.

My other reason to believe Holland can win the final is the fact that 7 of their players have scored in this World Cup whilst Spain have been wasteful, missed many goal scoring opportunities & only 3 of their star studded players have scored their miserly 7 goals in six matches. Whilst many commentators have pointed to at times some less than impressive periods by Holland against Uruguay, they have ignored the fact that they have proven they can score goals & come back from behind, whilst Spain have been struggling to score & lost the one match they fell behind as a result of their inability to score.

So my prediction is we can expect an exciting & tactically enticing world class final, perhaps the best since the 1986 final between Germany & Madonna & Argentina, with Holland to win 2-1.

As for the third place play off which is becoming more & more of a prestigious match, I would like to see Germany to cap off a great World Cup with a big margin win, and for Klose to become World Cup's all time highest goal scorer! That's the least Bastina Schweinsteiger, Philip Lahm (above) & the exciting brave German side deserve after their great displays in becoming the first team since the legendary Brazil side of 1970 to score 4 goals in three World Cup matches.

The young German lions' path to the final overcomes another hurdle: Germany 4 Maradona's Argentina 0

Miroslav Klose equalled Gerd Muller's 14 WC goals in the 4-0 win vs Argentina & will be aiming to surpass Ronaldo's all time 15 goals in the next two matches

The young German lions did it again! For the second time ina week they scored 4 goals in a World Cup match. This time they systematically disposed of the over the top antics of Maradona & his surprisingly below par & up to now impressive Argentine side.

And in doing so Miroslav Klose equaled the legendary Gerd Muller's record of 14 World Cup goals for Germany, the last of which was scored in the 1974 final win vs Holland.

In my predictions, I have set up my approach for a potential Holland vs Germany final & I hope Klose will break Ronaldo's all time World Cup record of 15 goals in the next two matches.

Loew's faith in Klose & Podolski has fully paid off. They had scored a miserly 5 goals between the two of them in Bundesliga this year going to the World Cup & Klose had become a bit player in Bayern's run to the final of the Champions League & the German media were putting pressure on Loew to axe Klose & Podolski.

Germany, the ultimate "Tournament Team" as they are known in the world of football, have now enhanced their unbelievable record to 12 World Cup semi final appearances (7 finals) and on this form can surprise any team as long as they stay calm & do not get ahead of themselves.

The only slight blemish in tonight's result was the opening goal scorer, the young Thomas Muller will miss the semi final as a result of receiving his second yellow card. Amazingly, during the prematch friendly in March Maradona refused to attend a press conference with Muller, who was receiving his first cap at that match. Maradona called Muller a ball boy & demanded Muller be kicked out of the press conference or he would leave! (You can see this on Youtube). Muller took 3 minutes tonight to exact his revenge!

Well done to Lowe, his assistants & all German players involved, a fully deserved victory which should put an end to the controversy over Lampard's disallowed goal in the 4-1 win against England, and at the same time put the Socceroos loss to Germany in perspective.

On a final note, as I have mentioned in numerous occasions previously: The English speaking media brainwashes fans into thinking the English Premier League (EPL) players are superior superstars!

Not a SINGLE German player in the 23 man squad plays in the EPL. In fact they all play in the German Bundesliga. It is the German Youth Development system that produces such talented young players, something that the English game is suffering from as a direct result of the foreign influx to the EPL.

I have now predicted the first 3 semi finalists & look forward to seeing Germany avenge their Euro 2008 final loss to Spain in the semi final!

The World Game's beauty, drama, passion, thrill & heartache on show @ World Cup's first two quarter finals

A devastated Asamoah Gyan after Ghana's drama packed elimination this morning

This morning's two quarterfinals of the World Cup 2010 were a perfect demonstration of why football is "the beautiful game" & why it's "The World Game" & why its simplicity must be preserved.

The lionhearted display of Holland, the stunned talented Brazil, the heartache of the Black Lions of Africa, Ghana, Gyan's heartache at missing a 120th minute penalty & the resilience of the magnificent Uruguay & the personal sacrifice of their champion player Suarez!

The magnificent Wesley Sneidger was instrumental in Holland's win

All the thrills, drama, passion, heartache, tears & joys are at display in this World Cup. And at that this has so far been a strange World Cup. Unlike most previous tornaments, the group round matches were dull affairs & so far the knock out stage has been simply great with all the excitement, thrills, drama & most importantly goals! (except the Paraguay vs Japan match)

Are there a few surprises on the cards in the World Cup Quarter Final pairings?

I must start by apologising to the English fans for my choice of blog photo for this post. I just wish to remind the English FA of the money they wasted on Sven Goran Erikson & the 5 million pound a year they are paying Capello! I have news for the English FA! Erikson & Capello at very hefty sums achieved what other major footballing countries do on a regular basis, i.e. qualify for the World Cup! They were both hailed as geniuses for simply managing that! Both flopped during the tournament because they failed to get their individual stars to become a unit!

Let's hope footballing mastery & not refereeing errors & FIFA's gutless administrators decide the results of the quarter finals. Here are my picks for semi finals, having (once again) been surprised by Ghana, I picked 7 out of the 8 quarter finalists correctly. Picking the semi finalists is a much harder task though. However, I am going for the underdogs & my picks will surprise many of you:

Uruguay, Holland, Germany & Spain!

I would love to see an African country in the semi finals & Ghana have already proved me wrong twice! But I am impressed with Uruguay this year & Forlan & Suarez are leading the team very well.

I think Holland are picking at the right pace. For the first time in many years players' egos are absent. With the great arrival of Robben in the last match, Holland are capable of surprising Brazil.
I believe Brazil have so far had a relatively easy path. Portugal vs Brazil was one of the worst matches of the tournament & the entertaining Chile side came up too short against Brazil. Holland are in a different class & are performing like a great tournament team with measured wins so far.

Although Argentina are the undisputed favourites to win the World Cup, I believe like Brazil, they have not played a strong team so far. The fearless young German side would cause a huge upset if they manage to sneak through & beat Argentina. The German players know a thing or two about the weaknesses of the Argentine (& Bayern Munich's) central defender Martin Demichelis! He is prone to lapse of concentration from time to time (e.g. he gifted South Korea a goal) & speedy players can turn him easily & score goals. At any case, there will be lots of very anxious German fans during that match because Germany are the underdogs.

Spain are in the same dynamics as Holland & are peaking in a tournament style & in David Villa possess the right person to break down the stubborn & disciplined Paraguay defence!

Let's hope all four matches finish in regulation or extra time & penalty shoot outs are avoided, and let's pray referees & their assistants do not influence the results in a negative way by making mistakes!

http://ricksamimi-football.blogspot.com/2009/12/ancelotti-is-proving-his-genius-stroke.html

I also predicted Hull, Burnley & Wolves as relegation candidates in the EPL. Two out of three! Wolves survived the drop, somewhat more comfortably than predicted.

However, my & I imagine many other pundits' most crucial tip was Barcelona winning the champions League. But like Chelsea before them & Bayern in the final, Messi & co found the well organised Inter Milan defence almost impenetrable & lost to Mourinho's side in the semi finals.

Now to the start of my World Cup blog: I will start by quickly look at the usual suspects:

I have already mentioned in one of my earlier posts that Germany will have a very difficult World Cup ahead of them, although Germany should never be underestimated (7 times finalists & 4 times semi finalists). Injuries to Ballack, Adler, Rolfe, Tresch & Loew's stubborn refusal to recall Frings & Kuranyi will make matters even more critical for the team. Nevertheless, as he mentioned himself, Loew & his team can learn from Bayern's achievements this year.

My prediction: Quarter Finals

Amongst the other big teams, England, Italy & Argentina seemingly have easier paths to the second round:

• Italy's team is however too old & Lippi's reliance on many of the fading stars will prove fatal. France on the other hand have lacked clear tactical directions under Domenech & owe their qualification to that dubious handball by Henry.

My prediction: Round of 16s for both team

• England on the other hand have flourished under Capello & as long as they sort out the following three major issues they will go a long way
  

a) Goal keeping issues. James is well past his best & Hart & Green are unproven at any level!

b) How to tactically accommodate both Lampard & Gerrard in midfield

c) Over reliance on injury hit Rooney! He can not emulate Maradonna winning the Cup for Argentina!

My prediction: Semi Final

• Argentina have massive technical ability & with Messi & others at least on paper have one of the top teams in this year's World Cup. However, Maradona is not the right tactical coach for such talented team & most likely will make naive mistakes as he did eg in the 1-6 drubbing by Bolivia in the qualifiers. However, Argentina will probably meet Germany in the QFs & go to the semi finals.

My prediction: semi final or final

• Spain & Brazil are my tip to reach the final. On paper they, alongside Argentina have the best squads in the tournament. On top of that both Spain (in particular) & Brazil (at times) are capable of playing attractive attacking football

My prediction: Spain vs Brazil final, Spain to win

My dark horses for the tournament: As per usual Germany, and yet again Holland. In Sneijder & Robben Holland possess two of the best "match winners" (alongside Messi of Argentina) in the world & if Holland manage to avoid the infighting they are notoriously well known for, they may at last lift the Cup!

I will be posting regular posts on my blog during the World Cup.

Early signs of trouble for Joachim Löew & Germany in the upcoming World Cup in South Africa

The German national team, or Die Nationalmannschaft are known as the ultimate "Tournament" team. They usually have a slow start in World Cup tournaments & grind their way into the latter stages whilst more talented teams fall by the way side & get eliminated. Germany (including west Germany) have reached the World Cup semi final 11 times, the final 7 times & have of course been winners in 3 occasions. Outside the 1990 win & the 2006 campaign, they have always been slow starters & at times labeled boring and/or lucky. Nevertheless, Germany's performance & record in the world Cup continues to generate intense envy amongst rival fans.

Germany are currently the Under 17, Under 19 & Under 21 European Champions & the crop of young talent coming through the ranks is almost second to none in Europe. However, with less than 100 days till the start of the World Cup, most the young talented players will miss out on Loew's team selection for the World Cup. Only Ozil, Marin & Kroos have any realistic chance of being selected in the final 23 man squad for the World Cup.

The recent friendly 0-1 defeat to Madonna's hapless Argentina in Munich raised many worrying questions about Germany's prospects in South Africa. The shortcomings were clear in all areas. The following is a list:

1. Loew & his team have failed to sign a new contract with the DBF beyond the World Cup. Whilst both the German Federation & Loew have diplomatically agreed to decide to postpone negotiations to after the World Cup in order to avoid destabilisation, the fact that they have not reached an agreement will by itself cause some disharmony.

2. In the goal keeping department, Loew's stubborn insistence to allow Lehmann to be the no 1 keeper in Euro 2008, and the subsequent recent tragic death of Robert Enke has left this always reliable area of the German team well short of international experience.
Both Rene Adler of Leverkusen & Manuel Neuer of Schalke have shown promising signs of being able to emulate the feats of their legendary colleagues of the previous years. Nevertheless, the fact remains that between the two of them they only have 11 caps, and neither plays for a clubside which appears in the Champions League regularly. Therefore, both have limited international exposure.

In Central defence, where problems were evident in 2006 & Euro 2008, a reliable long term partner for Mertesacker is yet to be found. Tasci of Stuttgart & Boeteng of Hamburg as well as Westermann of Schalke are all unproven in international level.

Then there is the issue of where to play Lahm! He played so effectively as a left back in WC 2006. But Lahm has appeared as an attacking right back for Bayern all season & has stated he prefers to play in that position. He's also stated it takes him a few weeks to get used to switching from right to left. Should Loew try why he successfully experimented on with in Euro 2006 again? i.e. Use Podolski as a right midfield player & emulate the successful Lahm/Robben combination at Bayern?

Then there's the question of total loss of form by Ozil! The promising talented midfielder has had a poor run of form & the question now is whether he should be selected at all. On top of that, Ballack's relationship with Loew is still at best cordial. This can't be good for team moral.

Nevertheless, there is an abundance of talent in the likes of Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, Sammy Khedira & Marco Marin who will help reduce Loew's tactical headaches (but not selection headaches). Nevertheless, they are all untested on the big stage.

Finally, there are major headaches upfront in attack. Kuryani is the in form German striker right now & he's out of favour. Both Podolski & Klose have been out of form & between the two of them scored a miserly 3 goals all season! I believe Cacau & Kiessling are not of World Cup pedigree & Patrick Helmes will take too long to reach his optimal form after a long injury lay off.

And last but least, as a Bayern & Germany fan, I am yet to understand what the big fuss about Mario Gomez is! He was a total flop in Euro 2006 & his international record is by no means impressive. Yet both Loew & Bayern insist on starting him in every game!

To top it all off, Germany are in the toughest group with Ghana, Australia & Serbia ready to Pounce on any mistake they can!

The good news however is that before every World Cup & European Championships, thousands of obituaries like mine are written about Germany, and they still make it to the latter stages & the finals!

As Gary Lineker famously said (paraphrasing) "Football is a game which 22 men run after a ball & try to score, and at the end Germany wins!"

Enjoy the World Cup & good luck to whichever team you support!

Fabio Capello has made England one of the World Cup favourites. But lack of English born coaches capable of managing England remains a major concern.

I am simply blogging what most fans of international football around the world treat as a joke! The scarcity of English born coaches in the English Premier League!
Fabio Capello is one of the greatest coaches of the modern era & seems to have at last managed to make England a solid & reliable unit as a team. But shouldn't the mother home of the beautiful game be able to manage to produce an English born coach to lead it to the World Cup?
The answer is simply no! It can't! Outside a few true & trusted old hands such as Harry Redknapp of Tottenham & Roy Hodgson of Fulham, there are very few high calibre English born coaches around these days. The late Sir Bobby Robson was probably the last of that generation.
I rest my case by listing the names of the top 10 EPL Teams Managers for those of you who are not aware of their nationalities. This is based on the league table as of 1 March 2010:
1. Chelsea: Carlo Ancelotti (Italy)
2. Manchester Utd: Sir Alex Ferguson (Scotland)
3. Arsenal: Arsen Wenger (France)
4. Manchester City: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
5. Tottenham: Harry Redknapp (England)
6. Liverpool: Rafa Benitez (Spain)
7. Aston Villa: Martin O'Neill (Northern Ireland)
8. Brrmingham: Alex McLeish (Scotland)
9. Everton: David Moyes (Scotland)
10. Fulham: Roy Hodgson (England)
As you can see, only two out of ten were born in England. Of course, as you know the English would protest saying we & the Scots & Northern Irish are all British! That's OK! My question remains the same:
Are there any coaches born in England who can claim to have the calibre to lead a major footballing national side to the World Cup?
I believe the answer remains negative. As a result the international performance of England will continue to suffer & whilst they are a very good side, I don't think they can win the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in July 2010.