Well it was a frustrating night for Brazil and a mixed day for Bo as their failure to beat Mexico broke my 4 fold acca at its third stage although Belgium’s recovery from a goal down to Algeria earlier in the day to win 2.1 was a vital result as I have backed the Belgians to win their group in at least 2 of my pre-tournament accas and with Korea and Russia sharing the points in the late game, this was a vital turnaround which gives the Belgians a super chance to win their group. The Belgians looked ordinary in their opening 45 minutes and going into the break a goal down, it looked somewhat bleak for the waffle and chocolate specialists but following second half goals from substitutes Marroaune Fellaini and Dries Mertens, the Belgians are back on track but they will need to raise their game if they are to make a significant impact on this summer’s tournament. A sigh of relief for Bo following those 2 late goals. Brazil meanwhile were very poor in the 9pm game and in the end could easily have lost to a Mexican team who have improved greatly since their struggles to qualify last year and in the end they more than deserved their point and but for some wayward finishing, could easily have snatched a winner. The Selecao were ordinary cumbersome and lacking in creativity while their central “striker” Fred was an abomination with an inability to stay onside and offering next to nothing in the way of movement or link up play. How has it come to this, that Brazil should be so bereft of striking options? In the last 20 years they have had Ronaldo, Romario, Bebeto, Rivaldo, Ronaldihno and others to call upon and now they have Fred, Jo and Bernard! Not only are they lacking the necessary quality in the attacking areas (with the exceptions of Neymar and to a lesser extent Oscar) but what happened to the names of their strikers? Fred? Jo? Bernard? They sound like the local lawn bowling over 65 team, in an old English country village rather than the strike force of the most feared nation in world football. Maybe if they changed their names to Fredinho, Jomario and Bernardele they would strike a little more fear into oppostion defenders. Lining up against a man known simply as "Fred" might make you think you are about to take on your grandpa at football although in the case of Fred, it wouldn't be far from the truth given his lack of mobility and penchant for falling down when hardly touched. Having backed Brazil to win the tournament, I am now having serious reservations about their selection with at least 6 teams impressing more. The likes of Holland, France, Germany, Italy, Colombia and Argentina have shown more in their opening fixture to suggest that they have a superior team than the one offered up by the hosts. Still, it is early days and they are indeed the hosts and and will need all the backing of their support to carry them to the final and while it is still early days, coach Scolari has much to ponder, especially in the attacking areas where Fred seems to be nothing more than a passenger in a team that can ill afford anyone who is not up to the task. It was perhaps worrying to read that Scolari felt the team performed well in this game. Clearly the Brazilians need to improve hugely if they are to meet the nation’s expectations and changes have to be made but whether Jo can adequately lead the line remains to be seen but I would be stunned to see Fred continue in this role for the remainder of the tournament. A solution needs to be found and found quickly but as I mentioned earlier, it is early days, and it is not a sprint but this team have some serious work to do if they are to find a level sufficient to win the trophy. The situation of Fred reminds me of the French national team in 1998 who had the much maligned Stephane Guivarch as there central striker, a man unable to find the back of the net or provide quality in the final third yet they still won the tournament and it would be fair to say that both are at a similar level of ordinariness and this must give Scolari some comfort to know that a World Cup can be won without a decent striker. Oh how he most long for the days of the great phenom, Ronaldo to allow him to sleep more comfortably at night. Belgium also failed to impress against Algeria but they will be energized by their comeback and should emerge from the group to face whoever finishes second to the Germans in Group G. The late game between Russia and South Korea was never going to be a cracker and after a turgid opening 45 minutes, the second half picked up and both teams deservedly grabbed a share of the spoils in a 1.1 draw with old warhorse Kerzhakov coming off the bench to level after a horrendous error from Akinfeev had gifted the Koreans an opener. Overall it was a disappointing day with Brazil performing in such a flat manner and the Belgians lucky to overcome a plucky Algeria but tonight’s action promises much more in the way of excitement with Spain v Chile certain to be a classic in what is virtually the first knock out tie of the tournament. I will be backing BTTS but will post a preview this afternoon. Comments are closed.
|
Categories |