Deutschland Uber Alles and the rest

I would be lying if I said I wasn't loving this World Cup. Not only have most of the teams I dislike or don't fancy been knocked out, my top favorite teams have made it to the semi finals in Germany and Holland (or Netherlands). Also seeing Germany pre-tournament I had said to a number of people that they play an exciting brand of football, imagine my pleasure to see them deliver the best brand of International football seen in a world cup for years! Without a doubt Germany have been the team of the tournament thus far.

They started out very strong against Australia but for some insane reason people decided to start doubting them after the loss to Serbia. They played the same brand of exciting football with 10 men for almost one hour against a solid Serbian team. It is during this game that it showed how tough they were. They created 2 clear goalscoring opportunity, hit the cross bar and missed a penalty. It remained to bee seen if they could bounce back from the disappointment and they did against strong Ghana. A lot of people are attributing their emphatic wins to the poor form of the opposition. England might have been off form and Argentina tactically naive but no one puts 4 past Argentina and England in recent history.

Joachim Loew dissects the opposition style of play and figures out their weaknesses and then rips them to shreds. His players understand what is required from them and deliver it gladly. They play for their coach and for each other. Players like Klose and Podolski have repaid their coach for having faith in them although they have had their worst ever footballing seasons. Klose is one goal away from tying Ronaldo as the greatest goal scorer in the history of the World Cup with 14 goals (he is now level with Gerd Muller). The whole team is enjoying their football and having fun playing. It was obvious England were not. Schwinestieger has stepped up into the role of Ballack brilliantly, he is truly one of the players of the tournament with his dribbling, passing and both attacking and defensive capabilities. The young-lings Khidera, Ozil and Muller have been a breath of fresh air with their direct running and skill. Add a solid defensive unit and you have a got a world class team. Germany is to international football what Barcelona is to club football.

Guess what? Germany are going to be basically playing Barcelona in the Semi Finals. Spain are a great team and Muller will be deeply missed against them. They have a very good coach and technically gifted players. However for some reason they had not kicked into gear yet. They have played good opposition but no great teams, and have struggled. If not for the fantastic David Villa they would not be in the semi finals, ohh and Oscar Cardozo too:P. On the other hand if and when they click they are virtually unstoppable and it remains to be seen if the collective of Germany can exploit the slow rhythm of Spain and their shaky defense.

It has become obvious in this World Cup that you can't possibly go far without having an excellent coach behind the team. Argentina had sadly a clueless Maradona solely dependent on Messi. If Messi creates, Argentina wins but if he is closed down like against Germany, nothing. It is OK to depend on your superstars to unlock games but you should have a system they can work if things don't go according to plan. Maradona played a 4-4-2 diamond of some sort with only Mascherano to provide cover for the back 4, who for most of the game would stand at the back. Diego didn't fear the Germans and he was brutalized. How can Mascherano have a chance against Khedira, Schwinestieger, Ozil, Podloski and Muller? His problems were compounded by a very slow defensive line and Heinze was played off the park by Muller who was quicker and more intelligent. You would have to feel for the Argentine back 4 , constantly put in 5 against 4 and 5 against 5 situations!

Dunga was better than Maradona but seemed to focus more on the defensive aspect. Going forward Brazil looked dangerous but what was their undoing was their extreme lack of discipline. I was shocked to see the whole team start arguing about every ball against Holland. They should have had 2 red cards but got one. Melo must be insane! Dunga surprised me a bit when he was changing players not for tactical reasons but for fear of them being sent off . Is the Brazilian team that indisciplined that Bastos had to be subbed for a player with half his ability? I have never seen a team that wore the yellow and blue crack after conceding an equalizer. You would usually see them punish opposition for such a transgression, not Dunga's boys. They jut faded away. When Brazil needed to attack they had no options on the bench and Dunga reaped what he had sowed. Instead of having Ronaldinho and Pato on his bench, both great talents and game changers he had Nilmar and Grafite, the rest were Central and Defensive Midfielders?

Holland for me have been outstanding. They are solid at the back, although Brazil ran rampant against them in the first half, and have a lot of creativity going forward. They get the job done with out much hassle and seem to be picking up steam and confidence game after game. With the return of Robben to support the magical Sneijder and Van Persie starting to find his touch I don't think Uruguay will be able to beat them especially with no Suarez.

Oscar Tabarez has done an excellent job with Uruguay. The team runs their hearts out and look very dangerous going forward. Yes they were lucky to reach the semis but overall they have been very good and treat each game differently. The Ex-Milan coach has created history for his country by forging a solid back 4 with excellent wing backs a hard working midfield and an attacking extravaganza upfront lead by the majestic Diego Forlan, one of the players of the tournament for sure. As for Suarez I think he has done what anyone else would have done in his position when he handled the ball and the one match ban is fair enough for the incident in my opinion. He should learn to shut up though.

Ghana might feel a bit hard done by but they have made Africa proud. Milovan Rajevac ever since his run in the Nations Cup has brought discipline to a talented squad. They are no longer going gun hoe in attack and leaving all kinds of spaces at the back. They were one unit. Gyan missed a crucial penalty but like a friend of mine mentioned he looks to be the new Drogba at just 24. With luck Rajevac could and should have been in the semi-finals.

I'm hoping for a Germany/Netherlands final but after seeing Ghana vs Uruguay and Spain vs Paraguay anything is possible and only in football can you see games turn like that. This is what makes football the greatest sport in the world.

The Germans if they win the World Cup will be regarded as one of the best sides to ever lift the trophy. If they lose it they will be one of the greatest sides not to win like Hungary in 1954 lead by Puskas, Portugal in 1966 lead by Eusebio, Holland in 1974 lead by Cruyjff and Brazil of 1982 lead by Socrates!

CAN 2010: Review

The curtains have fallen on the latest installment of the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. It was a tournament where sadly the attack on the Togo national team that left 2 dead has overshadowed the football. Frankly the caliber of football on display throughout CAN 2010 left a lot to be desired. However one team did fit the bill, Egypt. The Pharaohs constantly entertained throughout their successful title defending campaign. Egypt managed to finish off with a host of records and achievements.

a) It was a 3rd successive win for Egypt, a feat that was never achieved in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations.

b) This was a 7th Cup win for the Pharaohs, three clear of their nearest rivals Cameroon and Ghana

c) Egypt have stretch their undefeated record in the competition to 19 games spanning from 2004 ( a 0-0 draw with Cameroon in Tunisia) till the 1-0 defeat of Ghana in Angola 2010

d) Egypt have the joint record (with Ghana) of participating in the Final game of the competition. Both Nations have played 8 finals.

e) Egypt hold the record for most Africa Cup of Nations appearances.

f) Egypt have scored more goals in the CAN than any other nations

g) Egypt have scored the most goals in Angola 2010, 15 goals. Tying their previous record in Ghana 2008

Individually Egypt had a lot to show for as well:

a) Best Player of the Tournament was awarded to Egypt Captain Ahmed Hassan

b) Goal Keeper of the Tournament was awarded to Egypt Shot Stopper Essam Al Hadary

c) Top Scorer of Angola 2010 was Mohamed Naggy "Geddo" with 5 goals to his name.

d) Hassan Shehata became the first ever coach to win 3 successive Cup of Nations.

e) Geddo became the first ever tournament top scorer to win the award off the bench, failing to start a single game in the competition.

f) Ahmed Hassan became the most capped player in Egypt's history surpassing the legendary Hossam Hassan with 172 Caps.

g) Ahmed Hassan became the most capped player in the history of the African Continent with 172 Caps.

The previous list of achievements are facts. To keep things a bit more interesting I decided to make my own awards depending solely on my opinion

Best Goal:

Winner:Abdel Kader Kieta, Cote D'Ivoire vs Algeria.

Coming across the pitch from the right hand side dribbling past players he unleashed a screamer in the top corner worthy of winning any match, it didn't though.

Runner Up:Mohamed Zidan, Egypt vs Algeria.

The striker dribbled to the edge of the penalty area and proceeded to twist and turn Algeria's Belhadj several times showing incredible skill and ball control and then unleashed a left footed strike into the top corner, magical.

Best Team: Egypt, Isn't it obvious?

Black Horse: Zambia, The Copper Bullets looked dead and buried after an agonizing defeat to Cameroon. They came back to beat Gabon and top their group only to lose to Nigeria on penalties in the Quarter Final. Well done.

Best Surprise: Ghana, Missing star players like Muntari, Appiah, Panstil, Mensah and with Essien just recovering from injury their coach was forced to field a lot of youngsters, it did not look good for the black stars. A destructive defeat in their first game against Cote D'Ivoire added to their woes and no on gave them a chance. They reached the final and lost a very close game to Egypt.

Surprise Result: Malawi 3 Algeria 0, No one in world football expected this result. Malawi were virtual new comers on the African scene and Algeria were world cup qualifiers. Malawi dominated and was aided with some goal keeping howlers and deserved their win. Sadly they could not capitalize on the win and crashed out from the first round. Algeria picked themselves up and reached the Semi Final.

Most Thrilling Match: Angola 4 Mali 4, The hosts came on strong with goals from Flavio, Gilberto and Manucho and took a commanding 4-0 lead with 15minutes to go. The Angolans were celebrating until Mali constructed one of the most miraculous of footballing comebacks scoring 4 goals in succession. The last two of which came in injury time. No one could believe their eyes!

Most Enjoyable Match: Egypt 4 Algeria 0, This game was very enjoyable to me. The African Champions proceeded to dismantle the Algerian team with calm, cool and lethal display of football. Revenge was sweet.

Best Player: Ahmed Hassan (Egypt), The Egyptian skipper lead his team to a third successive Cup win and a personal fourth. His energetic and experienced displays were a joy to behold. He was critical to Egypt's campaign in both attack and defense. You would never guess that he was turning 35 years old.

Break Out Star: Mohamed Geddo (Egypt), The striker was a virtual unknown quantity to Egyptians and Africans alike. Shehata gambled on him by including him ahead of the likes of Mido and Zaki and he repaid him in spades. Having a soft touch and a clinical eye for goal, Geddo proceeded to score some breath taking goals, coming off the bench in every single game. His master piece was a peach in the final to win Egypt the tournament. He finished off as top scorer and this will always be remembered as the tournament of Geddo.

Best Keeper:

Winner: Essam Al Hadary (Egypt)

Runner Up: Richard Kingson (Ghana)

In a competition which was shaped by goal keeping mistakes these two keepers are the only ones in the tournament that looked at ease between the posts. Both of them were not fantastic but their consistent displays helped their teams to the Final.

Best Coach:

Winner: Hassan Shehata (Egypt),The veteran achieved the unthinkable with the Pharaohs, winning a third successive Cup of Nations. He was criticized severely after failing to reach the World Cup but has gone along way in redeeming himself. Thought to be the greatest ever African and Egyptian Coach.

Runner Up: Milovan Rajevac (Ghana), With a depleted side and forced to start many youngsters from the world champion under 20 side he managed to forge a formidable team. The players were very disciplined and extremely fit and physical. The injured veterans will have a hard time breaking into the squad. Watch out for Ghana in the World Cup.

Honorable Mention: Arnaud Sika (Benin), He is an excellent player and was Benin's best performer. He is also possibly the smallest ever professional footballer at 155cm (5ft 1in).

Worst Player: Rigobert Song (Cameroon), He had previously not missed a single minute in the Cup Of Nations for his country. An appalling display against Zambia, where he was responsible for the 2 goals Cameroon conceded forced his coach to bench him for the rest of the tournament. He looked lazy and unfit. He was a great player and should respect his history and retire after the world cup.

Worst Coach: Fawzy El Benzarty (Tunisia), Having inherited a demoralized team after failing to qualify to the world cup, El Benzarty can be excused for not reaching the next round. However in my opinion the failure to qualify was his fault. He seemed clueless and unaware of what is going on in both the match and the post match interviews. Tunisia deserve better.

We are the Champions!

Egypt have done the unthinkable. We have won the Africa Cup of Nations for an unimaginable record third successive time. Congratulations are in order for Shehata and his men. They have proved once again that it is very unwise to count Egypt out.

The final game was a classic match up between the experience of Egypt and the youth of Ghana. Both teams were playings their record 8th final. The game itself couldn't be further from a classic. To put it in a nut shell it was by all means forgettable. Non the less most finals are tightly contested affairs as the stakes are so much higher in these types of games.

Egypt surprisingly started out with a 4-4-2 formation with Ghaly in midfield instead of the suspended Fathalla. Fathi provided additional cover for the defense, dropping deep when ever it was required. Hani Said moved up into central defense. Other wise it was the exact same team that has started the knock-out stages. Egypt controlled possession in the first half but failed to create any chances. It was ever so evident that Meteb was playing with and injury in addition to fatigue. His ever deadly direct runs all fell short of reaching the ball in any dangerous position. Egypt had no movement about them and it seemed that the effort of playing top teams like Nigeria, Cameroon and Algeria in very close proximity was taking it's toll. Frankly who would not feel tired, yet the Egyptian team was still very disciplined. They were playing a Ghana team who was not just younger but had played 120minutes less than Egypt (1 less group game and no extra time).

Ghana set up to restrict space playing 10 men behind the ball with Gyan upfront supported by Asamoah and another on the break. They looked dangerous on the counter without really threatening in the first half. Defensively they were very solid and Egypt could not find any space. They forced the Egyptian to lose the ball more often than not.

In the second half fatigue was showing even more but credit to the Egyptian players they kept composed and disciplined. Wael Gomaa was a solid rock marking Gyan who was a handful and restricted him to long range shots which were less dangerous than the alternative. Hani Said was everywhere with his covering runs to close up spaces left by Gomaa's tight marking of Gyan. Ghana growing in stature after the poor Egyptian first half came on the offensive and forced Egypt back to their own half. They missed some good chances and left some space at the back which was ultimately their undoing.

With the game heading for extra-time (or a late Ghana winner) substitute Geddo took the ball and ran at the Ghanaian defense. The next 5 seconds were magical. Passing the ball to Zidan who executed an inch perfect one-two with Geddo, who had run close to 25yards now, behind the Ghana defenders. Make no mistake Geddo had still a lot to do. "El Phenomino" of Angola 2010 and the tournament top scorer criminally controlled the ball between 3 defenders while running and critically finished off with a placed shot with his right foot in the far side netting. Game Over! Geddo had done it again and won the game and the tournament for Egypt. I will be looking forward to seeing Geddo more and more in the Egyptian league and against England at Wembley in March. The boy has a fantastic touch and an ice cold finish.

Like all great teams Egypt needed just once chance to win the game. Like all great teams they did not have to play beautifully and win on the night. Tired and exhausted they got the job done. They are definitely in my mind one of the greatest teams in Africa Cup history.

After the game I was extremely happy but continuing to read online about the game caused sadness to creep into my heart. I still can't believe Egypt is not in the World Cup. It is unimaginable to me that come June I will not be seeing these players at the World's greatest stage. Shehata has done a lot to redeem himself for his failure to qualify. I am yet to realize that I will ever forgive him for that but one thing is for certain, after Angola he has without a doubt earned my and all his critics' respect.

CAN 2010: Crunch Time

The quarter finals of the CAN 2010 are done and dusted to devastating effect. We were treated to some of the tournaments best games. Frankly though the level of football this year round has not been up to par in my opinion.

Angola 0 Ghana 1

Angola surprisingly were favorites in this game. They had won their group and put on some interesting displays lead by the formidable Flavio. On the other hand Ghana were a depleted young team that were lacking many of their well known star players, Essien, Muntari, Appiah, Panstil and Mensah to name a few. Ghana scored early and proceeded to defend for most of the game. Their Goal Keeper Kingston saved their blushes a number of time as he was aided by an extremely wasteful Angolan front line. Manucho especially. It finished 1-0 as the hosts crashed out, at the end however it was a result you would expect given the the history of both nations.

Cote D'Ivoire 2 Algeria 3 (a.e.t)

A battling performance from the desert warriors saw them edge tournament favorites Cote D'Ivoire. The kings of under achievement did it again and they had only themselves to blame and their coach. They dominated the first 15minutes of the game scoring a goal and could have gone 4-0 up if not for their lack of concentration. They let Algeria back in the game slowly and were punished before half time with an excellent taken goal by Matmour. The Algerians fought hard for every ball and for each other and they managed an equalizer at the death of the game after Kieta had put the elephants in front in the 89th minute with a cracker of a goal. With all the talent and experience on show you would expect Ivorians to be bale to defend a goal for 4 minutes but no. Bougherra was virtually unmarked in the penalty area as he headed in a cross that frankly average keeper Barry could have done better with. Algeria sealed their famous win in extra-time after some of the worst defending I have ever seen. A Belhadj cross into the box had 4 Algerian attackers against 2 Ivorian defenders. It was a deserved win for Ziani and Co. after a disciplined performance.

Egypt 3 Cameroon 1 (a.e.t)

Cameroon controlled most of this game and will be wondering how on earth they lost it. Good defensive performance from Egypt forced the Lions to take shots from outside the box as they could not break inside the penalty area. 20 Corners for Cameroon in the game showed their dominance and they took the lead on 25minutes when Ahmed Hassan playing his 170th Cap for Egypt scored an own goal from a Emana corner. Hassan is now the most capped player in the African continent. Hassan redeemed himself by scoring a cracker from 35yards that Kameni could have done better with. Egypt looked threatening on the break but Cameroon controlled the game and looked all the more likely to score. In extra time, a short back pass from Geremi let in Geddo through on goal to score with a well taken finish his third goal of the tournament and Egypt's second. Cameroon then had a right to be very aggrieved after a Hassan free kick was adjudged to have crossed the line although replays showed it wasn't even close. This sealed the win for Egypt by utilizing the mistakes of the opposition and by riding the luck of Shehata. Egypt face Algeria tomorrow in a mouth watering encounter and need to be much better than against Cameroon to beat a very confident Algerian side who already beat Egypt to reach the World Cup in South Africa 2010. I just hope for gods sake that the Egyptian players look at this as just a game and not a grudge match. The will to win is very important but too much of it can back fire. Shehata needs to keep his players calm and focused. Only by keeping a cool head and playing our slick passing game can we beat the Algerians.

Zambia 0 Nigeria 0 (4-5 on pen)

Road To South Africa 2010

It's crunch time in World Cup Qualifications. Come the end of November 18th all nations to be present in next year's African World Cup will be determined. As a result I thought of discussing each continent and It's qualification possibilities in a series of articles.

AFRICA

Two teams have already qualified with a round to spare, Ghana and Cote D'Ivoire. For the rest of the Continent it's do or die, not only for World Qualification but also for CAN 2010 in Angola next January.

Group A

Cameroon lead the group by 10 points, 1 point ahead of Gabon with both teams travelling to Morocco and Togo respectively. Cameroon need a win to insure qualification while Gabon need to win and hope the Lions fail to win at Morocco. What makes this more interesting is the fact that both Togo and Morocco need a win to clinch the final qualification spot to the African Cup of Nations next year(Top 3 teams qualify), with Togo needing a win to make sure of that regardless of the other result. Cameroon are back to their winning ways under the guidance of Paul Le Guen and have made a remarkable come back under new captain Samuel Eto'o with 3 wins in a row (twice against Gabon and once versus Togo) to put themselves in pole position.

Manga's Prediction: Cameroon to South Africa, Gabon and Togo to Angola

Group B

Surprisingly Tunisia are clear favorites to qualify from this group. They are 2 points ahead of Nigeria thanks to a remarkable 2-2 draw away to the Super Eagles. Nigeria face failure to qualify for the second year running, a disaster by their standards. A win against Mozambique away from home would ensure the Carthage Eagles of Qualification. A draw with Nigeria failing to beat Kenya in Nairobi would lead to the same result. However if Tunisia fail to win and Nigeria beat Kenya the World Cup Qualification spot would go to Nigeria on Goal Difference.

Nigeria's predicament came via a 0-0 away draw with Mozambique sparking speculation that Tunisia's trip there maybe more difficult than it seems.

Similar to Group A both teams have a fight on their hands as Kenya and Mozambique still have real chances of making it to the Nations Cup with Mozambique ahead by 1 point.

Manga's Prediction: Tunisia to South Africa, Nigeria and Mozambique to Angola

Group C

Sadly for me Algeria lead this group by 3 clear points from top seed seed Egypt. Algeria has had a great run in the campaign having not lost any games and accumulating 4 wins that included to wins against Zambia and a 3-1 thrashing of African Champions Egypt in Algeria. Their only negative point came at the start of their campaign with a 0-0 draw away to Rwanda. Egypt seemed dead and buried after 3 rounds and the encounter versus Algeria in Cairo would have been pointless had Egypt not won two strongly contested 1-0 away wins versus Rwanda and Zambia respectively a feat Egypt had not achieved in god knows how long. This group comes with a twist. Egypt needs to beat Algeria by 3 clear goals to ensure automatic qualification, if they manage to win by only 2 goals a one legged play-off game on neutral ground on the 18th of November will have to be played to decide who qualifies to South Africa since all other tie breaking criteria between the teams would be equal . Any other result or an Egypt win by just 1 goal would hand qualification to Algeria for the first time in 24years. I really can't see Egypt beating Algeria twice in 4 days so I feel our best chance is not to go to a decider. The job must be completed in Cairo. Egypt's task is daunting yet not impossible and the 6 time African Champions need to show what they are truly made of if they are to qualify.

Manga's Prediction: Algeria (by numbers and probability) to South Africa, Egypt and Zambia to Angola