...because I thought Argentina would take this cup after Brazil's early exit. So blow my vuvuzela Maradona, FUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
*Picture taken from globoesporte.com
July 03, 2010
It feels good to be wrong about this one...
...because I thought Argentina would take this cup after Brazil's early exit. So blow my vuvuzela Maradona, FUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
July 02, 2010
I warned you about the Dutch...
message sent to another friend which i decided to post...
i told you about the dutch... i guess i had it coming since i slept in my orange sf giants t-shirt i bought the other day.
OK, i know they played easy teams in the 1st round and Slovakia, but so did Brazil (and Italy and France). Of course, losing to Holland is "normal" when compared to losing to or drawing with New Zealand, South Africa, etc...
anyhew, if you remember the other day i wrote you i told you about dunga taking some players the fans didn't agree with. the "main" guy i was talking about was felipe melo. nobody in Brazil understands what the fuck dunga sees in him. maybe he's f'ing him up the ass...(please excuse my french, my foul language hasn't changed much since college).
no really, since the 1st time he was called by dunga, the fans and the press thought: wtf? who is this guy? i never heard of him and i don't even know which club he played for in Brazil, but i know he was playing for below average Italian club fiorentina. in Brazil, the press always raises suspicions on why the national team's coaches call these not-so-popular players. the suspicions are that these players start getting exposure playing for the national team and eventually will get signed by a bigger club and his agent will give the national team coach a "commission". that MAY have happened with felipe melo, but again... these are only suspicions and rumors, i don't have any proof.
as i said, he played for fiorentina, and after dunga called him a couple of times, he signed for Italian giants, juventus, where he also plays his shitty football and is frequently contested by the local fans and press. and dunga's wallet might possibly be a bit thicker now...
anyhew, he was the character of the day today by giving robinho an awesome pass but he then went back to normal and screwed things up by getting in julio cesar's way and being sent off later. you know what? felipe melo kinda reminds me of dunga as a player. they lack the skills and technique, but make up for it in physical soccer and ability to "destroy" plays. when dunga played, it didn't matter where the ball was facing, he would just kick the hell out of it and clear the ball. the difference between them is that dunga was a serious team-player and leader off the pitch and brazil's captain in the 1994 squad that won the cup.
but we cant blame it all on felipe unfortunately. and unfortunately we cant blame the referee or fifa's stubbornness in refusing to use technology. its not that easy. it wasn't "our" day today and we were unlucky too. unlucky for having dunga as a coach and felipe melo in midfield :P first half was Brazil's, but the second was entirely for the dutch. kaka, playing under pain as he says, practically didn't show up today. maybe a bit more on the 2nd half. but i remember asking myself in the 1st half whether he was playing or not. dani alves is awesome at barcelona, but disappointed me today. and the 2 defenders? they are great! lucio and juan are the best 2 defenders the national team has had in a long time, and juan is a freakin' classy player, great technique. not their day today. luis fabiano is above average (not a romario or ronaldo, but he is a team-player and serious about playing) and it seemed like today his job was to attract the defenders, get beat up, so kaka and robinho could attack more, rather than creating a play that would result in a goal. it didn't work. all in all, i was surprised robinho played better than i expected. not just today, but in all games he played.
no really, since the 1st time he was called by dunga, the fans and the press thought: wtf? who is this guy? i never heard of him and i don't even know which club he played for in Brazil, but i know he was playing for below average Italian club fiorentina. in Brazil, the press always raises suspicions on why the national team's coaches call these not-so-popular players. the suspicions are that these players start getting exposure playing for the national team and eventually will get signed by a bigger club and his agent will give the national team coach a "commission". that MAY have happened with felipe melo, but again... these are only suspicions and rumors, i don't have any proof.
as i said, he played for fiorentina, and after dunga called him a couple of times, he signed for Italian giants, juventus, where he also plays his shitty football and is frequently contested by the local fans and press. and dunga's wallet might possibly be a bit thicker now...
anyhew, he was the character of the day today by giving robinho an awesome pass but he then went back to normal and screwed things up by getting in julio cesar's way and being sent off later. you know what? felipe melo kinda reminds me of dunga as a player. they lack the skills and technique, but make up for it in physical soccer and ability to "destroy" plays. when dunga played, it didn't matter where the ball was facing, he would just kick the hell out of it and clear the ball. the difference between them is that dunga was a serious team-player and leader off the pitch and brazil's captain in the 1994 squad that won the cup.
but we cant blame it all on felipe unfortunately. and unfortunately we cant blame the referee or fifa's stubbornness in refusing to use technology. its not that easy. it wasn't "our" day today and we were unlucky too. unlucky for having dunga as a coach and felipe melo in midfield :P first half was Brazil's, but the second was entirely for the dutch. kaka, playing under pain as he says, practically didn't show up today. maybe a bit more on the 2nd half. but i remember asking myself in the 1st half whether he was playing or not. dani alves is awesome at barcelona, but disappointed me today. and the 2 defenders? they are great! lucio and juan are the best 2 defenders the national team has had in a long time, and juan is a freakin' classy player, great technique. not their day today. luis fabiano is above average (not a romario or ronaldo, but he is a team-player and serious about playing) and it seemed like today his job was to attract the defenders, get beat up, so kaka and robinho could attack more, rather than creating a play that would result in a goal. it didn't work. all in all, i was surprised robinho played better than i expected. not just today, but in all games he played.
BTW, this was a physical match. i saw robinho's face in a close up during the 1st half as he argued with the ref and he looked like he was posessed by an evil spirit, i never saw him that nervous. maybe he knew what was coming. emotions were high on both sides and sometimes the players forgot to play the ball and went for each other. that's football, right? still, no excuse for felipe melo's foul on robben. dirty player. the dutch wanted revenge after 1994's and 1998's losses to Brazil and they deserved this one today.
well, now i will support Uruguay on one end of the bracket (because lugano, the skipper, used to play for sao paulo and he still loves the club!) and on the other side of the bracket, Spain, of course. and before i forget, screw Argentina and Maradona!
June 26, 2010
Dunga - a job tougher than the President's
I was asked by a friend, "Why do people complain about Dunga in Brazil? I think he's a good coach."
The Answer: Well, they say that being brazil's soccer coach is tougher than being the President, and it's true. It is an ungrateful job! As a player, Dunga was "average", a defensive midfielder who was responsible for destroying plays, rather than creating and scoring. In other words, he played ugly football, very physical.
Because of that background, everybody assumed, when he was appointed as Brazil's coach, that the team would play very defensively, forgetting about "joga bonito" and play only enough to win games. People (Brazilians) want to see the national team play with style, offensively, scoring goals, but Dunga would much rather win by "half" a goal than run the risk of playing too "open" and loose a game. Besides all that, he is very rude to the press.
But one positive thing is that he has been very coherent in the players he has called. There might be discussions about why he didn't take this player or that player, but he has stuck to his choices since the beginning and is respected for that. He dropped Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and other "stars" who do not play with their heart and only think about money and partying. That is another good thing -- he stopped the partying and all the party atmosphere around the team (press, women, parties, managers and agents in the hotel and practices).
To be honest, I am not convinced by the way the team is playing, but I see Brazil as a team, and not a bunch of talented individual players, and that's what you need to win. I haven't been convinced by any team so far, I think this world cup has had very poor quality games, teams, excitement... I haven't seen any team that stands out and you say to yourself: "watch out for these guys"... So when this happens, all that is left from this point on is tradition and luck, and that will decide which teams move forward...
Anyhow, lets see... before the Cup started I was betting on England and Spain, but neither have shown the quality to go all the way. Brazil and Argentina are always favorites. To me, Holland has shown the best football out of the 16 that went through to the next phase. Brazil might play them in quarter finals, just like in '94, when Brazil beat them 3-2... and if Brazil makes it to the final, they might play Argentina or Spain...
This is the first post of hopefully many more :P
The Answer: Well, they say that being brazil's soccer coach is tougher than being the President, and it's true. It is an ungrateful job! As a player, Dunga was "average", a defensive midfielder who was responsible for destroying plays, rather than creating and scoring. In other words, he played ugly football, very physical.
Because of that background, everybody assumed, when he was appointed as Brazil's coach, that the team would play very defensively, forgetting about "joga bonito" and play only enough to win games. People (Brazilians) want to see the national team play with style, offensively, scoring goals, but Dunga would much rather win by "half" a goal than run the risk of playing too "open" and loose a game. Besides all that, he is very rude to the press.
But one positive thing is that he has been very coherent in the players he has called. There might be discussions about why he didn't take this player or that player, but he has stuck to his choices since the beginning and is respected for that. He dropped Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and other "stars" who do not play with their heart and only think about money and partying. That is another good thing -- he stopped the partying and all the party atmosphere around the team (press, women, parties, managers and agents in the hotel and practices).
To be honest, I am not convinced by the way the team is playing, but I see Brazil as a team, and not a bunch of talented individual players, and that's what you need to win. I haven't been convinced by any team so far, I think this world cup has had very poor quality games, teams, excitement... I haven't seen any team that stands out and you say to yourself: "watch out for these guys"... So when this happens, all that is left from this point on is tradition and luck, and that will decide which teams move forward...
Anyhow, lets see... before the Cup started I was betting on England and Spain, but neither have shown the quality to go all the way. Brazil and Argentina are always favorites. To me, Holland has shown the best football out of the 16 that went through to the next phase. Brazil might play them in quarter finals, just like in '94, when Brazil beat them 3-2... and if Brazil makes it to the final, they might play Argentina or Spain...
This is the first post of hopefully many more :P
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