Brazil 2014: the last minute revision guide

Much like students across the country, football fans are beginning to feel the strain. The pressure of everything falling to pieces when it matters most is almost too much to bear thinking about. The wall chart’s blu tac’d  above the telly, the Panini Album is bursting at the staples with shineys and swapsies and the request book at work has been meticulously filled in so as to avoid the indignity of missing a minute of  Bosnia vs Iran or Algeria vs South Korea.

But, as is the case with exams, a last minute cram session never hurt anyone. So POAHT enrolled the help of Matt Oldfield, commander in chief at Of Pitch and Page, to recommend the books you need to be reading in order to be fully prepared for the month long smorgasbord of pig skin thumping that will explode into our lives a week today . . .

 

By Matt Oldfield

 

Brazil

 

As hosts and favourites, Brazil has to be the starting point for any World Cup homework. For a fuller history of the nation and its dramatic relationship with the beautiful game, try Futebol by Alex Bellos or Futebol Nation by David Goldblatt. However, considering Brazil’s underwhelming performances in Germany and South Africa, as well as the solid but unspectacular look of Scolari’s squad, Shocking Brazil seems the most useful one-stop shop. Regular Guardian Football Weekly guest Fernando Duarte looks at six of the Seleçao’s worst moments, from the infamous Maracanazo defeat to Uruguay in 1950 through to Ronaldo’s convulsions in 1998 and the more recent disappointments of Ronaldinho, Robinho and Kaká. ‘A third consecutive failure in the World Cup could have serious consequences for Brazil’, Duarte concludes ominously.

 

Argentina

While we wait impatiently for Jonathan Wilson’s mammoth history of Argentinian football, why not try Guillem Balague’s biography of Messi, or alternatively kill nine birds with one stone by reading ¡Golazo!, Andreas Campomar’s excellent history of Latin American Football. Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, Brazil – each of these nations receives decent stage time, but Argentina and Uruguay are undoubtedly the headline acts. The stories of the Río de la Plata rivals make for fascinating reading; the former’s arrogance masking ‘the fear of being perceived as uncivilized’ and the latter’s individualism resulting in ‘winning when it mattered least and losing when it mattered most’. Throw in some of Eduardo Galeano’s flair (Soccer in Sun and Shadow) and you’ve got the perfect Latin education this summer.

 

Germany

For a nation boasting three World Cup victories, Europe’s trendiest league and some of the best players ever, Germany and its footballing history have got lost in translation for us English speakers. Luckily amongst the slim pickings, a jewel shines bright. Updated to cover the 2013 Champions League final, Uli Hesse’s Tor! is comprehensive and entertaining, and yet still small enough to get through before June 12th.

 

Spain

La Roja’s recent treble – Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 – was the culmination of a large-scale footballing initiative, started by the late Luis Aragonés and continued with phenomenal success by Vicente Del Bosque. At its core, their project has focused on ‘skill, vision, technique, planning, youth development and loving both the ball and winning’. Those are the words of Graham Hunter, whose book Spain brilliantly charts the meteoric rise of a team that had never bettered a fourth-placed World Cup finish in 1950. Many are writing off Spain’s chances in Brazil but as Hunter points out, with the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Casillas and Ramos, we’re dealing with ‘some of the most remarkable men I’ve met and am ever likely to meet: hungry, dedicated winners.’

 

 

 

France

The successes of the French have never exactly topped the English reader’s wish-list. As a result, studies of their footballing history are few and far between. Fortunately, Lonely at the Top, Philippe Auclair’s biography of legendary frontman Thierry Henry, is brilliant on the highs and lows of Les Bleus in recent years, from the ‘black-blanc-beur utopia’ of 1998 to the humiliation of 2002, from Zidane’s grand farewell in 2006 to 2010’s strike of shame. If you learn one thing, it’s to predict France’s fate at your peril. If you don’t have time for the whole thing, the ‘Shattered Mirror of Knysna’ chapter is essential reading.

 

England

For the sake of the nation, every England fan should be prescribed a copy of One Night in Turin by Pete Davies. It may be nearly a quarter of a century since Italia 90, but ‘Ghastly press, oafish fans, and 4-4-2’ is a summary that still rings true enough. This year, a Gazza-esque hero will rise and a Psycho-esque villain will fall. The FA is still run by octogenarians ‘bereft of common sense or ideas’, our newspapers still prefer to vilify than to praise, our national side is still dominated by brave but unspectacular grafters, and disappointment, penalties and heartbreak are all still guaranteed. One of the best football books you’ll ever read.

 

Italy

If it’s the murky history of fascism and corruption you’re after, John Foot and Paddy Agnew are your men. But if it’s a more contemporary, positive spin you’d like, you can’t go wrong with L’architetto himself, Andrea Pirlo. In I Think Therefore I Play, the Bearded One emerges as ‘an Italy ultra’ with a ‘pathological devotion’ to the Azzurri. If you’re pushed for time, head for Chapter 5 on his penalty in the 2010 World Cup Final shoot-out, or savour these lines on Antonio Cassano: ‘He says he’s slept with 700 women in his time, but he doesn’t get picked for Italy any more. Deep down, can he really be happy? I certainly wouldn’t be.’ This is Pirlo’s last international tournament; don’t rule out a swansong to remember.

 

Portugal

Remarkably, this is only Portugal’s sixth World Cup but their fourth in a row thanks to the golden generations of Figo, Deco and Ronaldo. Very little is available in terms of Portuguese football history, so visit portugoal.net for the latest news, or read Luca Caioli’s biography of the man on whom all hopes rest, Cristiano Ronaldo: The Obsession for Perfection.

 

 

 

 

 

Holland

Whether you’re looking to brush up on Dutch football past or present, make David Winner your guide. Go with Brilliant Orange for the whole history, but his excellent Dennis Bergkamp biography, Stillness and Speed, for the spectacular near-misses of the nineties. Player Power and Power Player are the key chapters, the first about the personnel problems at Euro 96, the second about World Cup 98, ‘that’ volley versus Argentina followed by the heart-breaking semi-final defeat to Brazil. Van Gaal‘s team look unlikely to buck that ‘nearly men’ trend this time around, but it’s never for a want of skill.

 

* You can follow Matt on Twitter @ofpitchandpage and can also discover more about the finest in football literature on his blog at http://www.ofpitchandpage.blogspot.co.uk

Euro 2012 Review: Another Vintage Year for Los Riojas

Un, Dos, Tres: Spain’s victory at Euro 2012 makes them the first nation to win three major tournaments in a row.

By Alex Norwood and Joe Baiamonte

An unpredictable three weeks ended with an unsurprisingly predictable climax as Spain were crowned European Champions for the third time in Kiev on Sunday after annihilating a plucky Italy 4-0 in the Euro 2012 final.

It meant a place in the record books for Xavi, Iniesta and co as they became the first nation to lift major tournament silverware on three consecutive occasions, making this Spanish team the most successful international team in history. And all in spite of the fact that they seldom played with a striker and were labelled as ‘boring’ by the footballing philistines among us. Oh, and they were without the injured Carlos Puyol and David Villa for the tournament as well.

As well as the all conquering Spaniards, the 2012 European Championships will be remembered as being one of the best international tournaments of all time, wonderfully hosted by Poland and Ukraine, who quelled the hysterical pre tournament fears served up by Panorama to deliver a fine spectacle. From the calamitous Irish and Dutch to the resurgent Italy and Portugal to the phenomenal bevvy of international Francesco (Totti . . . ba-dum!) caught by eagle eyed camera men, the last 16 team Euros (merci Mr. Platini, we think not) served as a reminder to recent World Cups of how an international tournament should be done.

So it was with tremendous difficulty that we set about deciding our ‘best of’ list. No easy task when you’ve been treated to the likes of Iniesta, Pirlo, Ronaldo, Ozil and erm, Milner day in day out for three weeks.

PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT

Al: Despite strong claims from Georgios Samaras and James Milner,  I would, rather surprisingly, have to ignore their fluttering eyelids and portfolio of fuckwittery, to instead, opt for the sheer brilliance of Cesc Fabregas. His outstanding movement in the ‘false 9’ position was a real education. And he showed Craig Levein that you can play a 4-6-0 formation withought using 10 defenders and a goalkeeper.

Joe: You could choose almost anyone from Spain’s team and be justified in doing so without much of an argument, but I’m instead going to opt for Andrea Pirlo. It’s hard to believe Milan allowed him to join Juventus for nothing last season given the way he effortlessly dictated the pace of every game he played in this tournament (with the exception of the final, of course). His performance against England will perhaps be the one that lasts longest in the memory, but for me his exhibition against the fantastic German team in the semis was just as impressive, if not better. An ageless player with an outstanding head of hair.

GOAL OF THE TOURNAMENT

Al: Zlatan Ibrahimovic vs France. Turns out he isn’t complete dogger after all and can actually play a bit. If I had limited football knowledge and was sad enough to watch Soccer AM, this despite the fact that, much like female co-host Helen Chamberlain, its best days are firmly lodged in the early noughties, I would say it was an example of ‘Unbelievable Tekkers’. That said, I just loved Jordi Alba’s goal in the final. Absolutely unbelievable from a left back and on such an important occasion. So I shall plump for that one.

Joe: This wasn’t a tournament of long range screamers, but what we did get was a terrific assortment of well crafted team goals and breathtaking counter attacking efforts. Alba’s goal in the final is of course up there, as is Ronaldo’s second against the Dutch and Kuba’s against Russia but I can’t see past Balotelli’s winner in the Semi Final against Germany. Mainly for it’s lightning quick simplicity; Buffon palms away a German corner, the ball breaks to Montolivo deep inside his own half who pings a beauty of a ball over the top of a static German defence. But even then Mario still had a lot to take care of, and he did it with devastating effect, shrugging off the attentions of an oncoming Philip Lahm to slam a half volley past Manuel Neueur and almost clean through the net.

MATCH OF THE TOURNAMENT

Al: Spain vs Italy. The final of Euro 2012. This game will go down in history, and, despite the numerous examples of Spanish brilliance during their last four years of domination, I believe this game demonstrated their true brilliance and I hope, will alter the mindset of a generation in terms of technique, ball retention, tactical understanding and subsequent application.

Joe: Italy vs Germany. The final was too one sided an affair to be considered ‘Match of The Tournament’, as inhumanly great as Spain were. Therefore I’m going for the Italy/Germany semi final. The parallels of this game and their semi final in the 2006 World Cup were uncanny. An unfancied Italian side coming into a tournament with a match fixing scandal brewing back home up against a strong, confident German team. Cue 90+ minutes of non stop exhilarating drama, the Italians heroically attacking and defending in equal measures, celebrating every last ditch tackle as if it were a winning goal as the Germans attempted to launch Blitzkreig on Gianluigi Buffon’s goal. The result? The same as in 2006. Auf Wiedersehn.

MANAGER OF THE TOURNAMENT

Al: Vicente Del Bosque. For two reasons. One, being the following quote, courtesy of BBC Sport “I didn’t really want to be the coach who wins but the coach who educates. I want to keep preparing them for the future.” And secondly, because during the tournament, I found out an unemployed Del Bosque applied for the vacant West Ham managers position in 1999, but was overlooked in favour of Glenn Rodent..ahem, I mean, Glenn Roeder.

Joe: Paulo Bento. Not the most obvious choice but Portugal surprised a lot of people this tournament, myself included as they weren’t given much of a chance of advancing past Germany and Holland in the group stages. However, by giving Cristiano Ronaldo the supporting cast he’s been longing for at international level for so long, Bento’s Portugal produced some of the finest attacking football at the Euros which saw them come within a lick of paint of putting an end to Spain’s record breaking campaign. Bento’s brought the Figo era flair back to Portugal which should see them be a force to be reckoned with in Brazil in two years time.

DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE TOURNAMENT

Al: Panorama. Was all that pre-conceived paranoia and scare-mongering actually necessary?

Joe: Holland. You’d think the Dutch would have come out all guns blazing to eradicate the memories of the ‘De Jonging’ of the Spanish in 2010. Instead they bickered between themselves and limped out of the tournament without a single point.

BEST MOMENT OF THE TOURNAMENT

Al and Joe: Andrea Pirlo and his perfectly answered penalty in the face of, well, Joe Hart and his stupidly pulled faces.

BEST XI OF THE TOURNAMENT

Al: Playing 4-2-3-1: Buffon; Lahm, Pepe, Hummels, Alba; Pirlo, Iniesta, Khedira, Moutinho, Fabregas, Ronaldo, Balotelli.

Joe: Playing 4-3-3: Buffon; Lahm, Ramos, Pepe, Coentrao; Alonso, Pirlo, Schweinsteiger; Iniesta, Ronaldo, Balotelli.

So, just another two years to wait until the Carnivale that is the World Cup in Brazil.      See you on the Copacabana!

That Was The Round That Was: Review of Euro 2012 Round Two

Wel Done: Danny Welbeck’s audacious winner sends the Swedes home early.

By Joe Baiamonte

If the first round of games at Euro 2012 was a tantalizing teaser of what was to come, then round two was the full monty of footballing emotions. There was the unbridled passion of Poland vs Russia, the depression of the eliminated Swedish and Irish and the utter shock of Nicklas Bendtner and Helder Postiga scoring, which almost triggered off the apocalypse in Donetsk two days later.

Portgual finally cast aside the shackles of the Carlos Queiroz era and started to prove themselves as an attacking force to be reckoned with, despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s wayward finishing in their 3-2 victory over Denmark. Andrea Pirlo effortlessly continued being the best player at the tournament and England scored as many in one game as they did in the entire 2010 World Cup.

So without further adieu, here are the awards for round two . . .

GOAL OF THE ROUND

Jakub Błaszczykowski: POLAND vs Russia

Perhaps it was fitting that a goal of this quality should grace the most dramatic game of the tournament so far. With a good few hundred years of history between Poland and Russia serving as a backdrop to this Group A match in Warsaw, tensions were heightened further with the fact it was being played on Russia Day and many Russian fans intended to march through the streets of Warsaw to the National Stadium. With the streets of Warsaw beginning to resemble a warzone, inside the stadium resembled the Coliseum. Two sets of gladiators setting foot into a 50,000 strong cauldron of cacophonous noise to do battle.

The Russians struck first blood just before half time following Alan Dzagoev’s header, but they couldn’t quite bring the host nation to it’s knees. Instead, Borussia Dortmund midfielder and Poland captain Jakub ‘Kuba’ Blaszczykowski struck right back in the second half in magnificent style. Collecting a pass on the right wing, his first touch evaded two Russian defenders and his second was curled ferociously into the top left corner. Cue scenes of delirious pandemonium and screams of “KUBAAAA!” around Poland.

TEAM OF THE ROUND

GERMANY

Going into a European Championships as many people’s favourites to win is often a burden of expectation that can weigh a team down and cause them to flounder in the spotlight. Not this Germany team. After a professional, if perhaps a tad cagey victory over Portugal in their opening game, the three time champions went into their next game anticipating a wounded Dutch team looking to bounce back from their shock 1-0 defeat to Denmark. With memories of the ’74 World Cup final, Van Basten’s last minute winner in the Euro ’88 Semi Finals and Frank Rikjaard’s phlegm in Rudi Voller’s perm fresh in everyone’s minds, the stage was set for a Euro epic between two tournament favourites.

What transpired was rather different. Germany mercilessly beat the Dutch into submission. The talents of Van Persie, Sneijder, Robben and Afellay were anonymous as Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mesut Ozil bulldozed and mesmerized them in equal measure. Schweinsteiger in particular was immense in his domination of the midfield, like a Bavarian Roy Keane running, tackling and passing for the full 90 minutes, not to mention laying on both of Mario Gomez’s first half goals.

Gomez himself deserves praise for the expert taking of his second and third goals of the tournament. The first a devastating combination of expert control and immediate finishing, the second a sumptuously elegant, angled finish into the top, left corner of Maarten Stekelenburg’s goal.

The only negative to take away from Germany’s performance was that their dominance didn’t deliver more goals. Although we imagine they’ll more than make up for that as the tournament progresses.

GAME OF THE ROUND

Sweden vs England

The final day of round two served up more shocking events than the rest of the tournament combined. Shocking weather in Donetsk which led to France’s victory over Ukraine being abandoned for an hour. Shocking defending by both Sweden and England in Kiev and the triple shock of England not only playing well but also demonstrating a plan B and scoring more than one goal in a tournament game for the first time in six years.

Opting for the height and power of Liverpool’s much maligned Andy Carroll to partner Danny Welbeck in attack, Roy Hodgson looked to trouble the fragile Swedish backline which had proven to be so vulnerable to aerial attacks during their 2-1 loss to Ukraine four nights previously. The tactic work as the ponytailed powerhouse rose to meet Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard’s pinpoint cross to head England into the lead before Half Time.

Despite the optimism of a successful first half, it looked like business as usual for England in the second as dreadful defending from two set pieces first saw Glen Johnson unfortunately put through his own net followed by an Olof Mellberg header to give the Swedes a 2-1 lead.

Enter Theo Walcott and England’s much searched for plan b. Within minutes Walcott’s looping long distance effort had defied Andreas Isaaksson to draw England level. Then on 78 minutes, Walcott utilised his Bugatti like pace to torment the Swedish defence before crossing for Welbeck to audaciously backheel in the winner. Five goals and breathless entertainment. Why can’t all England matches be like this?

DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE ROUND

Arjen Robben

Diva: Robben’s theatrics after being substituted against Germany were an embarrassment.

Ok, so Arjen Robben isn’t the most well liked footballer on the planet. Neither is he the most professional given his reputation for play acting and petulance. What Robben is however, is a phenomenally gifted footballer . . . when he wants to be. Time after time we have seen him carve defences open with lightning fast slalom’s and sublime finishing. Who can forget his thunderous volley which sent Manchester United crashing out of the Champion’s League Quarter Finals in 2010 or his string of match winning performances at the last World Cup?

Yet it won’t be as easy to remember Robben for his on field antics from this tournament. Where he was unlucky not to score against the Danes in the previous round, Robben was lucky not to be hauled off by Bert Van Marwijk sooner during his anonymous display against Germany. He offered little outside of constantly trying to cut inside and shoot at goal, a failed tactic that he attempted to deploy to no effect against Chelsea in the Champion’s League Final. Then when Van Marwijk had finally seen enough, Robben’s number was up. Rather than do the sporting thing and trundle off the pitch, shake your replacement’s hand and take your place on the bench, the Bayern Munich man hopped over the advertising hoardings on the far side of the pitch and took his time to strop round the running track before sitting on the floor like a child on the naughty step. When Holland needed a hero, Robben gave them a villain.

PLAYER OF THE ROUND

Bastian Schweinsteiger

I’ve already waxed lyrical about Schweinsteiger in this piece, so I can let the video do most of the talking, but what is worth noticing is just how much he resembles both former Germany captain Michael Ballack and Bavarian colossus and Bayern legend Stefan Effenberg. Schweinsteiger marauded around the midfield, swallowing up Dutch space, halting attacks before starting one of his own, constantly providing himself as an outlet and laying on both of Germany’s goals. A world class performance by a world class talent. All hail the new Kaiser.