Posts Tagged Iker Casillas

The World Cup 2010: All the Winners

July 12, 2010 at 1:10 AM · Filed under FIFA, Football, World Cup ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

World Cup 2010  Winners : Spain

All it took was a goal from Andres Iniesta in the 118th minute of the match for Spain to create history and win their first ever World Cup. Spain who have long been bugged by the ‘underachievers’ tag took it upon themselves to set some new records. They are the only team to have won the World Cup after losing their  first game and the second team since West Germany to be both European champions as well as World champions. The World Cup final may have been far from the goal-fest many had expected but it surely was a very intense affairs with both teams terrified of making mistakes and desperate to win. Netherlands came with a plan which took the term ‘battle’ a little to literally while Spain worked hard at staying unruffled by the Dutch. Spain waited patiently for an opening and Andres Iniesta one of the coolest players on the pitch found the solitary goal of the match.

adidas Golden Boot: Thomas Muller (Germany) – 5 goals, 3 assists

If you haven’t heard of Thomas Mueller, get ready because you will be hearing a lot of the young Germany and Bayern Munich player who was quite rightly voted the young player of the tournament. This was Mueller’s first World Cup and  he was tied on goals scored(5), with Spain’s David Villa and Netherlands Wesley Sneidjer. The 20-year-old however, led the tie-breaker on most assists (3) which won him the coveted adidas Golden Boot award. David Villa and Wesley Sneidjer won the adidas Silver boot and adidad Bronze boot. Muller is the third German player to receive the accolade after Franz Beckenbauer (1966) and Lukas Podolski (2006). He has walked into an exclusive club which boasts of the greats of  the game like Pele and Beckenbaur.

“The honour will be with me for all time. It’s a terrific confirmation of the work I’ve put in over the last year, and it’s a huge honour to be part of a group including the likes of Beckenbauer and Pele. It also points to the excellent quality of our youth development work in Germany, so I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff at Bayern Munich and the Germany national set-up, and the coaching team, who have always kept faith with me. I’ve really enjoyed my football with the lads here,” said the overjoyed winner, although he confessed to one slight regret: “What I really wanted was to win the World Cup as part of a team.

adidas Golden Ball: Diego Forlan (Uruguay)

Uruguay’s Diego Forlan was award the adidas Golden Ball officially making him  the “Best Player of the 2010 World Cup”. He beat Netherlands Wesley Sneidjer and Spain’s David Villa to win the prestigious award which is decided by votes cast by accredited media representatives. Diego Forlan’s leadership and attacking skills which saw him score 5 goals was one of the main reasons behind Uruguay’s successful World Cup campaign which saw the nation make it to the last four of the tournament for the first time in 40 years. Netherlands Wesley Sneijder and Spain’s David Villa won the adidas Silver Ball and adidas Bronze Ball.

adidas Golden Glove: Iker Casillas (Spain)

Iker Casillas was overcome by emotion when Andres Iniesta scored the goal which would prove to be the winner and lead Spain to World Cup glory. The Spain captain has conceded only 2 goals in World Cup 2010 and made many stunning saves. Spain won five of their matches by a single goal margin and if it weren’t for great goal-keeping by Casillas, they wouldn’t be World Champions today. Casillas put in great performances against Germany and in the final against Netherlands but probably his most crucial save came in second-half  of  Spain’s quarter-final match against Paraguay when he saved a penalty by Paraguay’s Oscar Cardozo.

FIFA Fair Play Award: Spain

It is a tribute to the beautiful game when the team that lifts the World Cup trophy also wins the FIFA fair play award and Spain have done both. Manager Vicente Del Bosque’s men collected only eight yellow cards in the course of the tournament, only Korea DPR had fewer yellow cards but the Asians played only 3 matches and went out of the competition quite early.

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World Cup 2010 Final: Netherlands vs. Spain

July 11, 2010 at 5:54 PM · Filed under Football, World Cup ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The final of the World Cup between Netherlands and Spain is going to be a fascinating contest considering how similar the two teams are in their style. Both of them have been traditionally talented teams who play attractive football, have a reputation of ‘bottling it’, underachieving at major competitions and have never won the World Cup.

Netherlands

Ranking: 4

Netherlands have a greater World Cup record than Spain and have reached the finals of the competition 2 times before. They have a slight advantage going into this game over Spain in the sense that they had 1 day more rest than the Spaniards. Also, Netherlands is the only team this World Cup who came from behind to win their game and they managed that feat against the mighty Brazil. The Dutch are yet to lose in this World Cup and the team will go all out today, to ensure that it is third time lucky for the Dutch.

The Netherlands manager BertVan Marwijk has no injured players and will most likely go with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Maarten Stekelenburg in goal.Their defence will be lead by their captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Gregory van der Wiel, John Heitinga and Joris Mathijsen. Netherland’s strength is their midfield. They have basically two defending midfielders and 3 attacking midfielders. Mark van Bommel and Nigel De Jong recover balls, keep possession,support the back four and launch attacks while Arjen Robben, Dirk Kuyt and Wesley Sneijder are all capable of scoring and changing games. Robin Van Persie will play upfront as the lone striker and eventhough he hasn’t had a great World Cup, he is in no way not dangerous.

To win and get rid of the tag of  being ‘the best team to never have won the World Cup’, Netherlands must keep possession, take risks and press Spain up front. If they decide to sit back against Spain, they will lose.

Spain

Ranking: 2

Spain can also be called the ‘best team to never have won the World Cup’ and if they lose today that tag will be truer than ever before. The current Spanish team has the best midfield in the world, however, they are still to really convince (and by that I mean score a lot of goals) in this World Cup. However, they have lost only one game so far. Spain were simply brilliant in the way they outplayed Germany in their last match showing that their is a new maturity to this traditionally flamboyant national team. In a tournament where results matter more than how  those results were, Spain have proved to be very very good.  Today they will want to create history by not only winning their first World Cup but also by becoming the only team to have won the World Cup after having lost their first World Cup game.

Spain manager Vincente Del Bosque also has all his starting XI available and will go with a 4-2-3-1 formation and Fernando Torres will probably once again start on the bench, especially since his replacement Pedro put in a great performance in the last match. The youngster was brilliant throughout the game against Germany and didn’t set a foot wrong except when he got a little selfish and cost Spain a sure-shot goal  by trying to score a goal himself rather than pass to David Villa. Iker Casillas will be in goal for Spain with Sergio Ramos,Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Joan Capdevila forming Spain’s defence. Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso sit ahead of them protecting the back four, keeping possession and launching attacks. Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and David Silva will make up Spain’s attacking midfield with David Villa up front.

Spain will be patient and will want to keep possession up front, like they did against Germany and search for openings for David Villa. They will need to be extra careful to keep Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder at bay.

The match is going to spell ecstasy for 11 players and absolute agony for the other 11 and is one of the toughest matches to call even though Spain definitely have an edge over the Dutch going into the game. The Dutch on the other hand have luck on their side considering their defenders have gotten away with some tackles which were close calls, they  won against Uruguay after their Wesley Sneijders’s shot took deflection and no one noticed Van Persie being offside and they got a Brazilian (Felipe Melo) to score an own goal. The stats seem to be on their side too, since they surely must even out not having won despite having reached the Finals. Spain, have the terrible stat of no team having won the World Cup after losing their first game to fight but then again they have octopus Paul on their side!

Manager Speak

“It doesn’t interest me who is the favourite, I don’t care what the world is saying. We will play our own game.” – Bert Van Marwijk, Netherlands manager

“Both have players of great technical ability. It’s going to be great propaganda for world football.” Vincente Del Bosque, Spain manager

Stars to Watch Out For

Netherlands: Wesley Sniejder, Arjen Robben, John Heitinga

Spain: David Villa, Andreas Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Ramos

Go Figure!

This is the first World Cup final that does not involve one of Brazil, Argentina, Italy or (West) Germany

If Holland are the victors they will be the only the second side ever (Brazil in 1970 were the other) to win every match in qualifying and at the tournament itself

If Spain triumph in the final they will be the first side ever to win the World Cup after losing their first game

Spain have completed 3,387 passes at the World Cup – more than any other side

Wesley Sneijder has scored seven goals in his last eight internationals

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World Cup Preview: Germany vs. Spain

July 7, 2010 at 2:49 PM · Filed under Football, World Cup ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The second Semi-Final of the World Cup 2010 has all the elements to make it a classic. It sees a young, vibrant, new-look German side who have been stamping their authority on the tournament round by round take on Spain who have not hit top-form in the tournament yet.

The fixture is a repeat of the 2008 European Championship Final in which Lukas Podolski was head-butted by David Silva in an incident missed by the officials and a Fernando Torres strike broke German hearts settling the match 1-0 in Spain’s favour. The Germans would like nothing more than to turn the tables on Spain today.

Spain who are often labelled as ‘underachievers’ at major tournaments, ‘partly’ got rid of that label with 2008 Euro win but their real test will be winning the World Cup, something they have never done before. Interestingly, Germany who are almost always favourites haven’t won the World Cup since reunification and will want to win it this time with their vibrant, multi-ethnic team.

Germany

Ranking: 6

Germany have been the surprise of the tournament. Joachim Loew’s team with so many young players coming in to replace injured experienced players and most players playing at changed positions was written off even before a ball was kicked. However, Germany in their first match against Australia won with an impressive 4 goals and single-handedly lighted up a World Cup which was till then looking quite drab. Doubters like me, continued to believe that the win was more courtesy of a poor performance by Australia than phenomenal German play. However, to prove that the performance against Australia was no fluke, Germany have since then repeated the feat of scoring 4 goals as they knockout heavyweights Argentina and  England out of the tournament, on their way to the Semi-Final.

Its tough not to support this German side which quite sensibly favours youth and pace over the oft overrated experience and today will be another test for them. Germany are without the suspended Thomas Muellar while both Cacau and Sami Khedira have shaken off their injuries and will be available for today’s match. Thomas Muellar will most likely be replaced by Toni Koos on the right.

Germany manager Joachim Loew will go with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Manuel Neuer in goal and Arne Friedrich, Per Mertesacker, Philipp Lahm, Jerome Boateng at the back. Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger will look to control the midfield.  Mesut Ozil and Toni Koos will combine with Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose to form Germany’s attack.

For Germany to win today, they need Khedira and Schweinsteiger to control the formidable Spanish duo of Iniesta and Xavi Alonso in midfield. Another interesting battle will be the one down the German right and the Spanish left between David Villa and Philip Lahm. David Villa has been absolutely stunning in the World Cup and if the German captain can contain the Spaniard, he would have negated Spain’s most potent goal threat.

Spain

Ranking: 2

Spain came into the World Cup as one of the favourites. They have won every single game since their shock defeat against Switzerland in their World Cup opening match. However, La Furia Roja have yet to have as authoritative a win as Germany’s wins in their matches. Spain have struggled to find goals with Fernando Torres not being able to find form and defensive teams being successful in containing their midfield. Even Spain’s defence hasn’t looked its best. The free-scoring Spain have a reputation to protect today, with  Germany’s 13 goals being more than double the number that Spain have managed so far.

Vincente Del Bosque will be faced with a tough decision about whether or not to keep Fernando Torres in the starting line-up. The striker has struggled to find form and playing him today might be Spain’s undoing. However, he did score the winner in the 2008 Euro and is a super finisher when he is in form.  If the Liverpool striker is dropped he will most likely be replaced by Cescs Fabregas (who probably isn’t 100% fit) or David Silva (of Lukas Podolski headbutt fame).

Spain will go with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Iker Casillas in goal and Sergio Ramos,Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Joan Capdevila at the back. Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso sit ahead of them. Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and David Silva will make up Spain’s attacking midfield with David Villa up front.

Spain’s Carles Puyol who has been known to lose his focus sometimes cannot afford to do so today as he tries to keep Germany’s ‘national’ goal scoring machine Miroslav Klose at bay. Sergio Busquets is another player whose performance could be crucial for Spain. The Barcelona star  must contain one of the stars of the 2010 World Cup and the most likely to win ‘the best young player’ award for this World Cup Mesut Ozil from supplying  to Germany’s attackers, for Spain to frustrate Germany.

Spain have the best midfield in the tournament while Germany have the best attack in the  tournament. Spain must not make the mistake Argentina and England made against Germany and need to control the game and keep their organisation to win. So far, Germany have been defying the odds and winning. However, Spain are still Spain and can’t be written off just because they aren’t in top-gear yet. They can turn it on anytime and are dangerous even when they aren’t at their best.

Manager Speak

“Spain do not have one Messi. They have more than one Messi. Especially in attack there are many players who can decide a game. Spain are not like England and Argentina, teams that make mistakes.” – Joachim Loew, Germany manager

“We know we can play better than we have done so far, hopefully it will be an open match and a good advert for football.” – Vincente Del Bosque

Lucky Charms

Germany

Okay, so the octopus has ditched Germany by predicting a Spain win. However, Germany have another potent weapon in Joachim Loew’s blue jumper which the manager was wearing when Germany beat Argentina and England. Loew will be wearing the blue jumper today and so far whenever he dons the blue sweater, Germany score 4 goals. Spain you have been warned.

Spain

If Germany have their blue sweater, Spain have Rafael Nadal. Yep, the Spanish tennis star.  The last time Nadal won the Wimbledon (his first Wimbledon title), Spain won the Euro. He has won the Wimbledon again. Germany you have been warned.

Stars to Watch Out For

Germany: Miroslav Klose, Mesut Ozil, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Lukas Podolski

Spain: David Villa, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Ramos

Go Figure!

Thomas Müller could be missed – he has scored four goals from four shots on target in this tournament

David Villa is one goal away from equalling Raúl’s record as Spain’s all-time top scorer (44)

Xavi has completed more passes at the World Cup (404) than any other player

All 14 of Miroslav Klose’s World Cup goals have come in open play and from inside the box, and half of them have been headers.

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World Cup Preview: Paraguay vs. Spain

July 3, 2010 at 4:59 PM · Filed under Football, World Cup ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This match will see history created regardless of which team wins as both Paraguay and Spain have never reached the Semi-final of a World Cup.

Paraguay

Ranking: 31

Paraguay were never expected to reach the quarter-finals. They got a little lucky as all teams in their group didn’t play to their potential with Italy being the guiltiest of that crime. Paraguay managed to draw their games against Slovakia and Italy.  Against Japan, Paraguay won on penalties after goalless draw courtesy a Japan side that can defend beautifully but just can’t score. Today’s game against Spain is Paraguay’s chance to leave cynics dumfounded.  Gerardo Martino will most likely, go with a 4-4-2 formation with Nelson Valdez and Roque Santa Cruz leading Paraguay’s attack. Victor Caceres, who missed the match against Japan due to suspension, will be available for today’s match and should make the starting XI alongside Enrique Daniel Vera, Miguel Riveros and Aureliano Torres in midfield. Carlos Bonet, Paulo Da Silva, Antolin Alcarez and Claudio Morel will form Paraguay’s back four with Justo Villar in goal.

Spain

Ranking: 2

Spain lost to Switzerland in their World Cup opener. This shock was probably the best thing that happened to La Furia Roja because since then Spain have simply got better and better with every game. Spain were sublime in their 1-0 win against Euro Finalists Portugal. They completely outplayed Portugal; the 1-0 score line not really doing justice to their performance. Spain undoubtedly have one of the best attacking line-ups and their coach Vincente Del Bosque will most likely put out a 4-3-3 formation. Fernando Torres will keep his position in the starting XI despite being terribly out of form. He along with David Villa and Andres Iniesta will lead Spain’s attack with Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso making up Spain’s midfield. At the back, Spain have quite a solid defence. Segio Ramos,Gerrard Pique, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevilla form Spain’s defensive backbone with captain Iker Casillas in goal.

Manager Speak

I do not know if all teams have the heart of Paraguay. For over 20 days of the World Cup, nobody has matched us. – Gerardo Martino, Paraguay manager

“We know we’re in good shape. It’s been more than 30 days together training as a team and I think these players want to make history.” – Vincente Del Bosque, Spain manager

Stars to Watch Out For

Paraguay: Nelson Valdez, Roque Santa Cruz, Enrique Daniel Vera, Antolin Alcarez

Spain: David Villa, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez

Go Figure!

Roque Santa Cruz is now without a goal in 799 minutes at the World Cup

Xavi created eight goalscoring chances in his last match against Portugal, no player has created more in a single game at this World Cup

Paraguay will be playing in their first-ever World Cup quarter-final

Spain have never won a quarter-final tie at the World Cup, losing two of their four quarter-finals on penalties including their most recent against South Korea

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World Cup Preview: Spain vs. Honduras

June 21, 2010 at 5:12 PM · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This is a must win game for tournament favourites and European Champions Spain. No one could have predicted that Spain would lose to Switzerland 1-0 in their World Cup opener leaving them not top of Group H but sharing space at the bottom with Honduras making today’s game crucial to their World Cup campaign.

Spain

Ranking: 2

Spain have top-class players and they did very little wrong in their match against Switzerland except that they couldn’t score and conceded a cheap goal to Switzerland due to a miscommunication between the defenders and Iker Casillas in goal. La Roja would have sorted that out and will be raring to go against the Honduras. Vincente Del Bosque’s team knows that this is a must win game for them and they will put their shocking defeat behind them. Also, unlike Switzerland, Honduras cannot afford to draw this match either and therefore cannot sit back and just defend. They will have to go forward and attack which will leave space to the Spanish and everyone know what happens when you give the Spanish team space to play their game… they score plenty of goals. Vincete Del Bosque will probably go with a 4-4-2 formation, with both strikers David Villa and Fernando Torres starting for Spain. This means Sergio Busquets is most likely to be dropped. Another change could be the incorporation of Jesus Navas on the right wing rather than David Silva in attacking midfield. Cesc Fabregas might once again find himself on the bench, awaiting to make his World Cup 2010 debut. Sergio Ramos, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique and Joan Capdevila  will retain their positions at the back. Andres Iniesta who suffered an injury during the Switzerland match  is still not a 100% fit and will most likely not start for Spain.

Honduras

Ranking: 38

Honduras are the weakest link in Group H. They lost only by a goal to Chile and are level on points with Spain as they go into this match. Theoretically they have as much of a chance as Spain to qualify for the knock-stages of the tournament. In reality, Chile’s 1-0 scoreline over them does not tell the entire story of a match where Honduras did not create any chances and in fact they managed only one touch  inside the Chilean opposition penalty area over the entire duration of the game. Secondly, Chile have very limited resources and are struggling with injuries, it would be impossible for them to beat a top-class team like Spain. However, one can never underestimate confidence and belief in football and the Spainiards loss to Switzerland must have boosted the Hondurans in to believing that anything was possible. Reinaldo Rueda’s team are without striker David Suazo and midfielder Julio Cesar Leon who suffered an injury before the Chile match and is still recovering. He will be replaced by Jerry Palacios, who has set of a record of sorts by playing in the same World Cup with two of his brothers Johnny and Wilson. Spain are one of the scariest of all attack minded teams and the Honduran defense lead goalkeeper Noel Valladares will have to remain very focusedor else risk finding out just why their opponents are nicknamed La Furia Roja.

Manager Speak

“They are going to play football, it will not be easy to beat Honduras. We will play our game, take the initiative.” -Vincente Del Bosque, Spain manager

“We know we can give more. We have the strength to withstand the demands of Spain.” – Reinaldo Rueda, Honduras manager

Stars to Watch Out For

Spain: David Villa, Fernando Torres, Xavi Hernandez

Honduras: Noel Valladares, Jerry Palacios

Go Figure!

Honduras are winless in their last six matches, failing to score in five of them.

Spain had won 45 games out of 48 prior to their opening group defeat by Switzerland.

Honduras have only ever beaten two European nations – Slovenia and Latvia – in 14 attempts.

Spain’s only loss in 14 matches against a north and central American nation came a year ago at the hands of the USA in Bloemfontein.

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The Sorcerer And The Superstar: Wizard Curses Cristiano Ronaldo

October 15, 2009 at 3:31 AM · Filed under BC First, Cristiano Ronaldo, Football, World Cup Qualifiers ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Barack Obama has added another amazing achievement to his year by winning the Nobel Peace Prize. What a year it has been for him. If he were a footballer, he would be the guy who won FIFA World Player of the Year, European Footballer of the Year, UEFA Club footballer of the Year and had the European Golden Shoe proudly displayed in his ever-growing trophy cabinet. He would be the highest paid footballer in the world. He would be Cristiano Ronaldo! Too bad for Ronaldo that he is not, like Obama, the most powerful and arguably the most respected man in the world.

Footballers have to get used to seeing frivolous headlines about themselves in the tabloids and learn to either enjoy and revel in the silliness of it all or completely ignore it. Also, they realize soon enough, that the bigger star they become, the more ridiculous the stories get. So when the second-largest Spanish daily newspaper El Mundo, broke the news of a Wizard claiming he had been contacted to put on a curse on Cristiano, I am sure the Portuguese superstar smiled his smug smile and patted himself on the back. I mean, could the headline get any sillier?

It turns out ‘Pepe’ – The Wizard is quite the Harry Potter of Football sorcerer. Cristiano Ronaldo joins David Beckham, Carlos Queiroz, Esteban Cambiasso, Brazilian Ronaldo, Iker Casillas, Raul, Cannavaro and Sergio Ramos in the impressive list of people lucky enough to be cursed by our illustrious ‘soccerer.’ But first of all, I’d like to thank you, oh noble Wizard, for thinking us important enough to let us in on your evil plans. It gives us a warm fuzzy feeling. Wizards of the past have been downright rude by not even letting us know before they turn our favorite footballers into bats, or even worse vegetables.

The wonderful Wizard also said that he himself had nothing against the star and that he couldn’t violate the Wizard-Client (weirdo) confidentially law and tell us who the client was. He said his client was a “jilted lover”, “non-European” and “a very wealthy heiress from a well-known family”. Hail, thou Sly Sorcerer!

The story has the makings of a movie of the forgotten Bollywood era, which was obsessed with spells and sly serpentine women. And like the pathetic era, this story should have died a fast death in this super-fast information age. Alas, Cristiano picked up an ankle injury playing in the match against Marseille, which his team Real Madrid won 3-0. The wily Wizard was ‘lightening-quick’ to claim credit for the injury but no one really cared. It was only when Cristiano had to miss the next match which Madrid lost and when Portugal haven’t already claimed their spot in the 2010 World Cup, that fans all over the world started to somewhat fear the mighty Wizard’s ways!

Mr. Wizard, I hope you realize that we fans, are always quick to buy into conspiracy theories when our team loses. We never believe that the other team could have played better than ours. As, for Cristiano, he is currently busy replacing David Beckham in the Georgio Armani ads while he recovers from his ankle injury.So Mr. Wizard, enjoy you few moments in the limelight, `coz as soon as our ‘Wing Wizard’ is back to winning ways, you’ll have to go back to searching for hairs off the tail of a red donkey picked in the light of a full moon; or whatever it is you fake Wizards do for kicks.

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