yesterday brought forth a significant obit: the only player still remaining from the first World Cup final in 1930. Argentine Francisco Varallo passed away at the ripe young age of 100.
A bit of a reminder while our friends in football don their helmets, and pads and sundry other equipment, that the World’s Game was beautiful years before our little American game developed.
Watching the video shows the game hasn’t changed much although the pass and technical skills have obviously improved. Oh, and it’s time to get my fedora out as Fall arrives!
Missouri State University has a wonderful Library and the Department Head responsible for Special Collections, Dave Richards, recently visited Ghana during the World Cup. Dave is a wonderful speaker, if you ever have a chance to hear him I would highly recommend it. He also maintains a personal blog, Ozarks Yin Yang, that is travelogue regardless of whether he’s visiting Ghana, Chicago or even downtown.
He shares with us his experiences in Ghana during the World Cup and the impact the games had on the population:
I saw the match (USA vs Ghana Round of 16) at a local bar in East Legon, Ghana (near the University of Ghana) with a Ghanaian student and about 50 other Ghanaians. On the first goal, the entire bar erupted with cheers, loud music, and the blowing of about six of those South African horns (I forget what they’re called, but they are VERY loud when you’re sitting just a few feet away from them). The U.S. goal quieted the crowd but everyone was cautiously optimistic that Ghana would score in overtime. Things were pretty tense, some folks in the room were praying!
Then, when Gyan kicked that beautiful gaming winning goal, the place again roared with screams, yells, spilled drinks, jumping, horn blowing, etc. At the end of the game people poured out into the streets and celebrated well past midnight. Car horns, loud music, cars speeding down streets waving Ghanaian flags, etc. My friend, Alex, from Ghana, was stunned. About a half-dozen Ghanaians shook my hand or hugged me to offer their condolences. Alex and I went bar hopping afterwards, and people would start singing the national anthem or dance in the streets. It was quite amazing. In a sense, Ghana was playing not only for their own country, but also for all of Africa. Happy to be able to be a part of it!
Incidentally, the soccer coverage here is very impressive with in-depth analysis, frequent rebroadcasts, and broadcasts available in several languages.
Within the first few minutes of the broadcast of the Championship game of the 2010 World Cup, Martin Tyler mentions whether it will be ‘total soccer’ or ‘title soccer’ for the Dutch. Spain answered that question rather convincingly during the next 120 minutes of play as they put their stamp on the game. It was the Spanish 11 that demonstrated ‘total soccer’ that has forever been associated with Dutch football. The Dutch, in their quest of ‘title soccer’, failed to produce anything close to resembling the style of play that we have come to expect from the Oranje. It was a most inopportune time to produce such a haphazard performance. In each of the previous games, there was always the feeling that the next game would produce more of the Dutch quality in the game, and then when the Final rolled around, they fail to produce with their last chance.
It was the Spanish who played the ‘dutch’ game with fluid movements of passing and interchanging of positions. It was short, quick, crisp, meaningful passes that always landed safely on the foot of a teammate in an open ‘pocket’ of space. It was cat and mouse and the Dutch struggled to catch up with the passes. Positional play was also very important to the Spanish attack as they could always find a player with space on the wing, and at the right time, play a through ball to a player breaking in on goal. They defended with high pressure and forced turnover after turnover, never allowing the Dutch any chance to establish any rhythm in their buildup. The only chances for the Dutch came on the break, and then they failed to take advantage. So, it was the Spaniards who demonstrated the ‘total soccer’ that the Dutch had made famous in years gone by. Johan Cruyff said before the Final that Spain played more of a ‘dutch‘ game than the Dutch themselves.
When Bert van Marwijk interviewed with the KNVB for the National Team job, he told them his goal was to win the World Cup. He knew all the history of the Dutch National teams and how they imploded over the years and he took the approach that a change was necessary to have a chance for the title. His approach yielded wonderful results as they did not lose a game until the Final. But the ‘title soccer’ approach only got them to the same point of disappointment that they have been before, but not beyond. So, at the end of the day, when the dust settles, it was Spain that produced the best soccer and even had Holland scored on one of their chances, it would have been an injustice to the quality that the Spanish produced, against all the recklessness of the Dutch.
On a personal note, being a staunch supporter of the Oranje, Dutch Vision and ‘Total Soccer’, it is extremely disappointing that they could not deliver the goods at the right moment. It is ironic because one of the biggest coaching points in the dutch philosophy is to play in the right moment – to do the right thing, in the right way at the right time to the right place. To pass the ball at the right time, with the right speed, to the right place, in the right way — that is the basis of their play. Unfortunately, with the whole world watching, waiting and wanting to see the best of the best, they failed to hold up their end of the deal. It was a moment that could erase the emptiness of ’74 and ’78 and put that first star on their jersey, but to me, more importantly to show the world their quality. Maybe, when you deviate too much from makes you special, you come up short. ‘Total soccer’ carried them a long way, ‘Title soccer’ left them a bit short.
The final two matches of the 2010 World Cup are this weekend. As has been his habit for the entire tournament, Bill Griffith’s and his staff at Farmer’s Gastropub downtown will open their doors for fans of the world’s game. Join us for excellent food, beverages and futbol.
Saturday’s 3rd Place game between Germany and Uruguay kicks off at 1:30 pm as does Sunday’s Final between Spain and the Netherlands kicks off at 1:30 pm. Pre-game broadcast begins at 1:00 pm.
Come early for best seating and enjoy a great meal prepared from locally sourced foods. Viva Espana!
Miroslav Klose, Germany by John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images
What a match up eh. Everyone thought Argentina vs Germany would determine the champion, but after the dismantling of the South American team it’s hard to tell whether they were truly challengers. Now it seems this match is considered the key game. Of course there’s always the actual final, this Sunday at 1:30 pm, and I’ll be at Farmer’s Gastropub to enjoy the action as the Dutch face…. who?
I used to hold German citizenship, having been born in Munich, so it’s hard to root against the boys but I did pick Spain prior to the start of the World Cup so it would be satisfying to see that result as well. And how can anyone root against Netherlands? So as my buddy Brad mentioned once the USA went out, “Cool, now I can quit worrying and just enjoy some fantastic soccer”.
Here’s my usual survey of what other’s are saying. What about you?
There are countries with more footballers than we have people,” Oscar Tabárez said last night while assessing the chances of Uruguay, the team he coaches, making it through today’s World Cup semi-final against Holland. But out of their tiny population the Uruguayans have conjured a wonderful football history studded with remarkable individuals. One of them, a key figure in their early international success, was José Andrade.
World Cup greatness is sometimes denied the greats. A bewitching Holland lost the finals of 1974 and 1978 to the host countries, West Germany and Argentina. In the second of those tournaments, the quality continued to be high even though Johan Cruyff had retired from international football. In the circumstances it is confusing that the current squad should hope to take the prize that eluded their illustrious predecessors.
Mourning the demise of “Total Voetbal” these days makes as much sense as lamenting the switch from black and white to color television or the disappearance of horse carriages from city centers. The Dutch moved on decades ago. Most casual observers have simply been too lazy to notice it.
As always, throughout the World Cup, the best watch party in town is located at Farmers Gastropub in downtown Springfield. Kick off is at 1:30 pm, get there early for a late lunch and a great semifinal game!
We made it back from the Siemens We Are Energy! Soccer Cup tournament in Germany. With 40 teams from 26 different countries the event was truly a memorable experience. This event gave us a chance to meet people from other Siemens companies.
The soccer cup was a great team building event for all of us as well as other teams. One team in particular, was brought together for the first time as the players were all selected in pairs from five different locations. The result of this ended up bringing them to the playoffs, as the players all came together as if they had been practicing as a team for months (though it was impossible for them to practice as a team prior to the event). Even though we were fortunate enough that our whole team got to practice together prior to the event, we were still out matched. We played the United Kingdom, Portugal, Peru, and Nuremburg (Germany) teams in our bracket. The United Kingdom team went on to the quarter finals but was defeated by Austria 1:3.
Congratulations go to the Brno team from the Czech Republic, who were victorious against Denmark in the finals round!!
The event was very well orchestrated. They had a food/beer garden set up in front of the two main playing fields providing all with good beer and great food. Players also had access to a separate tent, where we were provided with three very filling meals a day. I got to try ostrich steak for the first time and eat some very good bratwurst and sauerkraut there. Also available to players was a massage tent to mend sore muscles. In-between matches we met other teams on the inflatable human foosball court. Opening and closing ceremonies were also well organized and brought all 400 players together.
At the end of each day all the teams would get together to watch the World Cup 2010 games on a massive TV set up on one field. There was a beer stand set up nearby so we didn’t have to walk far for a good drink. The Germany – Australia game was the most exciting to watch as there was an estimated 1000 people on the field watching it with us.
Every team was provided with their own tent, cots, and sleeping bags. They were all set up on the grounds together and provided a place for teams to hang out thru the late night and into the early morning. The sleeping bags provided to us were not quite warm enough for the cool nights in Germany, approximately 50°F.
Siemens Turblex SGF “The best of the WÜRST”
We did not come back empty handed, however. There were five trophies handed out at the event: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, best goal keeper, and best jersey. To our surprise we won the best jersey award. We were admiring some of the other teams’ jerseys and uniforms for their quality. Everyone there loved our team name “Best of the Würst”. I credit the name and logo for our award. Locals had come up to several of our players asking if they could take a picture of the jersey.
Presenting the awards were Gerd Lohwasser, mayor of Erlangen; Joachim Herrmann, interior minister of Bavaria; and Ralf Guntermann, Chief Financial Officer of Siemens Energy.
The event was a great success. We all had an outstanding time playing soccer and hanging out with the other teams. The food, drinks and other amenities provided far exceeded our expectations. I hope when the next World Cup comes around in four years Siemens Energy will have another Soccer Cup tournament as Ralf Guntermann suggested in his speech at the closing ceremony. We would all like to thank all of the organizers and managers who made this event possible.
We’ve reached the Quarterfinal stage and I barely know what to do with my time. Actually I do, a couple of patient clients are expecting to hear from me today! So we have a couple of days to be productive before getting an early start to the holiday weekend with some great games expected. Farmer’s Gastropub will be open for all four of the games so come downtown for good food and fine futbol.
Friday
9:00 am – Brazil vs. Netherlands (ESPN)
1:30 pm – Ghana vs. Uruguay (ESPN)
Saturday
9:00 am – Argentina vs. Germany (ABC)
1:30 pm – Spain vs. Paraguay (ABC)
Just got done trading emails with Paul Molin, an ESPN producer. They now have the original iPhone video I shot of our celebration at Farmer’s Gastropub as Landon Donovan scored the game-winner against Algeria. The plan is to include it as part of the pre-game show today.
We will continue our support of the USA, and the world’s game, at Farmer’s Gastropub. First come first served, there will be extra seating and fewer tables today, including a family section for parents with children. We’ll also be charging a nominal $1 entry fee today, all proceeds will be donated to the Springfield soccer community.
Bill has also been working on improving the viewing experience and in addition to adjusting the large screen and bringing in extra seating and removing some tables, he’s added a TV outside along with a pair of fans and misters to add an outside viewing option.
Farmer’s Gastropub is located at 413 S Jefferson Avenue, in the Wilhoit Building. The Wilhoit Building is directly South of the YMCA on Jefferson Avenue. Parking is available in a lot with entrance on Elm. You’ll see the Pub directly ahead of you when you pull into the lot.
