The Real Talk Football Awards: World Cup Edition

Player of the Tournament

Winner: Andres Iniesta
Runner Up: Bastian Schweinsteiger
Honourable Mention: Carlos Puyol

The winning goal in the World Cup final is every players dream, and Iniesta’s dream came true in extra time at the Soccer City Stadium. No doubt the added break Iniesta took during the season with Barcelona through injury, helped his performances at this year’s tournament, strolling through all the games since that defeat to Switzerland. Iniesta stats didn’t lie in this tournament, although he only scored 2 goals, both were vital in wins over Chile (2:1) and of course Holland (1:0). The 26 year old had a 73% pass completion rate, and covered over 41 miles during the tournament.


Bastian Schweinsteiger, an admiral runner-up, had an excellent tournament and has now established himself as a world class central midfielder, taking up the new role as “The Metronome” as the way the Bayern Munich midfielder dominated and dictated the play is a joy to behold. Just 25 years of age, two more World Cup’s are possible, and more medals are a serious possibility.

Carlos Puyol, he is vital for Spain, and has continued his brilliant Barcelona form onto the world stage and help his country only concede two goals at this year’s tournament. He scored the winner in the semi-final



Young Player of the Tournament

Winner: Thomas Mueller
Runner Up: Mesut Ozil
Honourable Mention: Asamoah Gyan

Thomas Mueller, the 20 year old Bayern Munich attacker, has had a brilliant World Cup and has burst onto the World Stage. He took Europe by storm last season, helping Bayern reach the Champions League final. He played 6 games at this year’s tournament, scoring 5 goals, laying on 3 assists and being voted man of the match for his performances in the wins against England and Uruguay. Collect both the Golden Ball and Best Young Player award.



Mesut Ozil, another German youngster, had a brilliant tournament and again caused real interest in his and Germany’s performances. The 22 year old helped himself to 1 goal, 3 assists, with a 71% pass completion rate. Another youngster with a very bright future.

25 year old Asamoah Gyan held up the hopes of Arica, helping Ghana reach the quarter-finals in just their second tournament. He scored 3 goals in 5 games, and helped gain the respect of many pundits as a very good lone striker. The only blight on his performances was that penalty miss against Uruguay, but expect the lively Ghanaian to bounce back and be even stronger for the next tournament.



Biggest Shock

Winner: Switzerland 1-0 Spain
Runner Up: Italy 2 – 3 Slovenia
Honourable Mention: New Zealand finishing 3rd in their group

Goal of the Tournament

Winner: Giovanni Van Bronckhorst vs Uruguay
Runner Up: Fabio Quagliarella vs Slovenia
Honourable Mention: Mesut Ozil vs Ghana





Team of the Tournament

Winner: Ghana
Runner Up: Spain
Honourable Mention: Germany

Ghana, who beat Serbia and USA in this campaign, were deemed the moral victors of the World Cup after the controversial quarter final defeat to Uruguay. A team packed full of youngsters, mixed with older and more experienced individuals, who flew the flag for Africa after a poor showing from the other nations at the tournament.

Spain, the winners of their first ever trophy, playing the best football at the tournament, and deservedly collecting the World Cup title. The likes of Iniesta, Xavi, Puyol and Casillas are talented natural born winners and deservedly leave South Africa with a winner’s medal.

Germany would have surely been on route to the final if they hadn’t met Spain in the semi final. Destroying pre tournament favourites England 4-1, in tournament favourites Argentina 4-0, were some of the highlights of the Germans campaign.



Goalkeeper of the Tournament

Winner: Iker Casillas
Runner Up: Samir Handanovic
Honourable Mention: Eduardo

Real Madrid’s number one, had an average season this year, but is a completely different individual for Spain. The way the Spanish keep the ball means the opposition rarely get attempts on goal, however in the final, Arjen Robben broke through the defence twice and was one on one with the goalkeeper, with Casillas stopped the Dutchman twice. Winner of the FIFA golden gloves, and a well deserved accolade.

To be honest the goalkeepers at the tournament were quite average, and the Slovenian goalkeeper impressed with his displays in the group stages, and is one of the brightest prospects in Europe with Udinese, and could definitely play for a Champions League club.

Eduardo, formerly of Sporting Braga, impressed at this tournament, although no more than any other goalkeeper to be honest, and has since earned himself a move to Genoa in Serie A.



Defender of the Tournament

Winner: Philip Lahm
Runner Up: Carlos Puyol
Honourable Mention: John Mensah

Philip Lahm, who had a very good previous tournament, has had another excellent tournament this time round, and is undoubtedly the most complete full back in the World, excellent going forward but even better defensively. Germany’s undisputed national team captain.

Again the Barcelona defender has performed excellent at this World Cup, and is undoubtedly the best centre back in the World.

Ghana’s John Mensah receives an honourable mention, despite his awful penalty kick against Uruguay, the 27 year old defender, currently on loan at Sunderland, experience was vital to his countries performance in South Africa, and had some excellent performances against Germany, USA and Serbia.



Midfielder of the Tournament

Winner: Andres Iniesta
Runner Up: Bastian Schweinsteiger
Honourable Mention: Xavi

The reasoning for these awards were highlighted earlier, Spain’s sensational midfield duo of Iniesta and Xavi, tied with Barcelona team mate Sergio Basquets helped Spain dominate teams ultimately culminating in winning the trophy.

Bastian Schweinsteiger was the driving force behing the Germany teams ascendance back onto the World stage.



Striker of the Tournament

Winner: Miroslav Klose
Runner Up: David Villa
Honourable Mention: Diego Forlan

For me, Miroslav Klose was the best striker at this tournament, and is one of the best to play in the World Cup tournament itself. The 32 year old has had a terrible season for Bayern Munich only scoring 3 goals in all competitions, but he has a knack for performing on the world stage. He is the second highest goal scorer in World Cup finals history with 14 goals in 3 tournaments, one behind Ronaldo, and his caused was helped with 4 goals scored in 5 games at this tournament, including Australia, England and a brace against Argentina.

David Villa was vital to helping Spain win the World Cup, scoring 5 goals in 7 games. Slyly anonymous in the semi final and final, that’s why he missed out on the top spot, but he was brilliant nonetheless, causing people to accuse Fernando Torres of being a rubbish striker, rather than a player who has just come back from injury.
Diego Forlan, FIFA’s recipient of the golden ball for the best player at the tournament, but is an admirable third place from Real Talk Football. Excellent goals, and an iron nerve, Forlan guided his country to fourth place at the World Cup.



Star of the Tournament

Winner: Wesley Sneijder
Runner Up: Andres Iniesta
Honourable Mention: Luis Suarez



Underperformers of the Tournament

Winner: England
Runner Up: Italy
Honourable Mention: France

England had another overhyped tournament, and once again underperformed in South Africa. No real excuses can be made for the poor showing, they had a good coach and a sufficient amount of depth within the squad but clearly some of the strange decisions made by Fabio Cappello undoubtedly aided in the second round defeat. Struggling to qualify from the group, as soon as they faced a really good opposition, they crumbled and left the tournament without a whimper and got an extra two week holiday on the luxury island of their choice.

Italy and France’s problems were well documented. Italy were defending World Champions but finished bottom of a group that included Slovakia, New Zealand and Paraguay, while the French, runners-up four years ago, had another awful tournament, also finishing bottom of their group while the big ego’s of players such as William Gallas, Patrice Evra, Thierry Henry and Nicholas Anelka led to in fighting and denial to train. The most unprofessional and shambolic performance I’ve ever seen.



Overachievers of the Tournament

Winner: Ghana
Runner Up: Uruguay
Honourable Mention: Paraguay

Of course no disrespect to Ghana, overachievement is undoubtedly a good thing in the World Cup, and teams will now no longer ignore the African side as they should have made it to the semi finals but were undone by some controversial Uruguayan methods. Second round four years ago, quarter finals this time round, how will they do in 2014?

Uruguay lost 3-2 to Holland in the semi-final so that shows you how close they were to the World Cup final. Some great attacking football, along with some great goals meant Uruguay can be very pleased with the account they gave of themselves in South Africa.

Paraguay qualified top of their group, winning the first penalty shoot out of the World Cup, losing to eventual winners Spain in the quarter finals.



Do you agree with the awards? Comment below or on the Facebook page and let me know you opinion.

The best XI of the tournament coming up tomorrow.

Real Talk Football

The Madness of Raymond Domenech

“It is almost a beautiful 0-0. But the result is what it is. They were good, solid in defence."

These simple words, used by France nation team coach; Raymond Domenech, after his side limped to a 0-0 draw against ten man Uruguay in their World Cup Group A match on Friday. A game which in fact Les Bleus seemingly dominated, leading the way on attempts on goal; ten compared to Uruguay’s three, possession; 57% compared to Uruguay’s 43%, and in other areas such as corners and free kicks.

Although France dominated the stats on the night, it was made abundantly clear that France lack the required potential, or firepower to beat teams, let alone cause Uruguay any real concern. This subsequently highlighted the belief that the French team are still stuck in the past, lacklustre and the fact that a team with the array of talents can ultimately fail to overpower a ten man team with only two real quality players, would consequently highlight my belief that the France team have somewhat of a clueless and outdated manager in charge.



Before the start of the World Cup, Domenech made some very strange decisions when selecting his 23 man squad for the trip to South Africa. Most noticeably leaving out Arsenal’s Samir Nasri; who arguably had his best season at the Emirates this year and was one of the Gunners best players this year. Also the rejuvenated Senegalese-born, 33 year old, French legend Patrick Vieira; who left the comfort of the Inter Milan substitutes bench, to return to the Premier League and play for Manchester City, was also left out of the squad. Finally and most noticeably is the somewhat harsh treatment of striker Karim Benzema. The 22 year old joined Real Madrid for €35 million from French side Olympique Lyonnaise, but he struggled to make a consistent impact in Madrid, mainly due to the outstanding form of Gonzalo Higuian and Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as niggling injuries, leaving him to score just 8 goals in 27 appearances. This was deemed insufficient enough for a place on the plane, with Lyon’s Sidney Govou and Djibril Cisse of Panathinaikos in his place.



In the past, the 58 year old has been no stranger to odd selection decisions. It was believed that he left out Robert Pires, who in his prime at Arsenal was left out of the EURO 2004 squad as rumours surfaced that it was believed Domenech’s apparent Astrological beliefs and subsequent “distrust of Scorpio’s” led to his omission from the squad. Domenech then fell out with the man picked ahead of Pires in the squad (Vikash Dhorosoo) leading to the then Lyon player to retire from international football. Similar cases of strange exclusions include leaving both Nicholas Anelka and Champions League winning Barcelona star Ludovic Guily out of the 2006 squad, along with the established AS Roma centre back Philippe Mexes. In 2008, he left out one of the best French strikers in Europe, the in-form Djibril Cisse for the untested at international level Bafetmbi Gomis for the EURO 2008 squad.



Even before the teams first game at this year’s World Cup, Domenech’s troubles began with the French sports minister; Rama Yade highlighted his distaste for the national side’s selection of a 5-star hotel, stating how Domenech would be held accountable for the teams poor performance, if they got to comfortable in their surroundings. Again the causes for concern was highlighted with the French team were seen taking part in a selection of “team building exercises” including buggy riding and cycling, which were recorded by the press and freely used on sports channels. The lack of discipline within the team is evidently when seeing these activities, while adding unnecessary risk to players, no more so then Arsenal’s William Gallas, who is deemed a vital player to the side, arising unscathed from an accident involving his buggy which had toppled over.

Again another problem, arising from the subsequent lack of discipline ever more plain to see amongst this year’s squad, is a story which is believed to be that there is now “disruption” and “revolt” within the camp, as Chelsea star Florent Malouda fell out with the coach before the game over a disagreement at Malouda’s overzealous training, as well as Domenech’s decision to play two holding midfielders (Diaby and Toulalon) rather than the Chelsea man. Then giving Domenech more team issues, aside of a 1-0 defeat to relative football minnows China, a talk of a “revolt” had been highlighted in many of the morning newspapers, and surrounding press, arising from the decision to instil Manchester United left back Patrice Evra as national team captain, rather than the popular 32 year old Barcelona striker Thierry Henry. These examples highlight the poor pre-tournament preparation from Domenech and his staff for France’s conquest onto the World’s biggest football competition. This lack of preparation and consequent disruption has been carried onto the pitch, and was palpably clear in the mediocre performance against Uruguay, the Frenchman now more than ever needs to get a grip of his squad, and the big characters involved it.



The French side before the game, on paper looks good enough to compete with any of the top teams in the World. The side started with Hugo Lloris in goal, Bacary Sagna, Eric Abidal, William Gallas and Captain Patrice Evra in defence. Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby and Lyon midfielder Jeremy Toulalan in the holding midfield, Franck Ribery on the left with the talented Gourcuff on the right with Sidney Govou and Anelka upfront. A solid, experience and technically gifted team, that should be able to pass or play their way through any team in the World Cup, and with all respect a team such as Uruguay, off the pitch. However it was evidently clear within 15 minutes of the match, they were no real nerves from the French nor were there any real concern for the opponents they were facing, but there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm and excitement from the French side to even collect all three points.

During the game, with Uruguayan substitute Nicolas Lodeiro sent off after less than 10 minutes on the pitch, Domenech decided to leave 30 year old forward Sidney Govou on the pitch, as he took off Chelsea’s in-form Nicholas Anelka off for the out of favour Thierry Henry. A decision which baffled many, as Govou’s poor performance was evident for all to see. Subsequent baffling decisions included bring on 6ft 2in centre forward Andre-Pierre Gignac, and playing on the right wing position of the front three while the likes of Florent Malouda was placed as a supporting striker, situated behind Thierry Henry, and Franck Ribery on the left. Is it just me or does this make absolutely no sense. Surely a big powerful centre forward would be better situated upfront next to Henry, with Malouda on the left and Ribery on the right? But for some reason, Domenech’s players looked confused and unsure of where they were playing or even what the tactics were, it seems Domenech’s confused managerial choices had spilt onto the pitch, and confused the players.



Is it unfair to base the France team’s chances on this performance? Or is it just the nerves of playing on the first day of this major tournament hindering their performance? With the experienced and talented individuals on show, it would be unlikely to believe nerves would get the better of a team like this. Let’s not forget France stuttered their way into the finals finishing second in the qualifiers, and beating the Republic of Ireland in the playoffs thanks to the “hand of Henry”. It would seem that France have been out of form for since EURO 2008, all under the guidance of Domenech.

Is this talk of revolt and dispute over the captaincy means that the big names in the dressing room are causing a divide having subsequently losing faith in the manager; it looks more and more like it doesn’t really bother Domenech! And that fact that former Girondins de Bordeaux manager; Laurent Blanc has already agreed to take over. Therefore there is no real pressure on Domenech to get the French national team to perform nor would it seem there is any motivation for success, something which now visibly displayed on the pitch. Is the enthusiasm and excitement shown on the touchlines by other managers such as Joachim Low of Germany and Diego Maradona of Argentina that which is needed? Definitely, but the sooner the 58 year old leaves, the quicker the France national team can get the fresh start it needs, the sooner the French fans can dream of success in the near future.

Countdown to South Africa - Group A

Group A

South Africa

The Tournament hosts as well as the first ever African nation to do so. The Bafana Bafana had no qualifying process to go through, so on one hand should be a lot fresher than the other nations, but on the other the hand, the team haven’t had the necessary competitive experience of playing together. Home advantage is a major factor and the influence and experience of former Brazil national team boss; Carlos Alberto Parreira.



Manager: Carlos Alberto Parreira

He has manager 4 different nations at 5 different World Cup Finals (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Brazil x2) and won the 1994 World Cup with the boys from Brazil.

Key Player: Steven Pienaar

The Everton winger has been excellent this season and needs to perform along with the likes of Aaron Mokoena, Benni McCarthy and Siyabonga Nomvethe. Pienaar has 46 caps for South Africa.

Best Finish: Group Stage

Mainly due to its History, the Country has been banned from many former tournaments, but of the two World Cup tournaments they have been to, 98’ and 2002’, the Japan/South Korea 2002 campaign was indeed their most successful points wise.

Prediction: 2nd Round

I believe they may just sneak through the group stages, mainly thanks to the home support. I believe a win against Uruguay and a draw against an underachieving Mexican side may get them through.



Mexico

The team from Central America qualified through the CONCACAF group by finish second in the behind the USA, and ahead of Honduras. The Mexicans have played in 13 Finals and South Africa will be there 14th.

Manager: Javier Aguirre

A former Mexican International, he played 59 times for his country scoring 14 times. He is currently in second spell in charge and coaches at his first World Cup.

Key Player: Rafael Marquez

The Barcelona played is a very versatile, being able to play both Central or Defensive midfield as well as a centre back. The 31 year old is of the upmost experience and has 88 caps. He is also one of the senior members of the squad along with the legendary Cuauhtemoc Blanco, 109 caps and Gerardo Torrado, 107 caps respectively.



Best Finish: Quarter Finals

Achieved their best finishes in both 1970 and 1986 World Cups, coincidently they were both held in Mexico. In 1970 they lost to eventual finalists, Italy. The 1986 was supposedly meant to be held in Columbia, but couldn’t go ahead due to economic reasons.

Prediction: Group Stage

I think the Mexicans will be slow starters and believe the South African’s will just creep in ahead of them. However don’t be surprised if the Mexicans end up winning the group!



Uruguay

The South American side nicknamed “La Celeste” (the Sky Blues) were the first ever winners of the World Cup Finals, all the way back in 1930 (held in Uruguay), and then won it again in 1950 (Brazil). However they haven’t came anywhere near as close in recent times.

Manager: Oscar Tabarez

The Uruguayan national has managed the side for the last 4 years, and taking them to their second World Cup. His managerial CV reads, amongst others, AC Milan and Boca Juniors.

Key Player: Luis Suarez

The Ajax hit man and Captain is a technically gifted player with an excellent record in the Eredivisie. His club side only just missed out on the league title this season, by only one point. He and other young players including Edinson Cavani and Sebastian Fernandez will need to link up well with the more experienced players such as Diego Forlan, Diego Lugano and Jorge Fucile in order to cause any sort of impact.



Best Finish: Winners in 1930 and 1950

Prediction: Group Stage

Can’t see the South Americans making it out of the group stages



France

When they reached their peak, they were an unstoppable force in the late 90’s. I fully expect the French to get over the heartbreak of the 2006 penalty shoot out defeat, by going far in this tournament also. Some say they shouldn’t be here, as they cheated against the Republic of Ireland, but by no means will they let this affect them now. No Zidane this time round, but with a big number of experienced players and gifted younger players, the French could go far.

Manager: Raymond Domenech

I’ve never personally been a fan of this man. He makes some stupid statements, outrageous player selections and some very strange tactical decisions. However he is now into his 6th year as coach, and led the France to the Runners-up place last time round, so has the competition pedigree. The French side only missed out on automatic qualification by one point from Serbia.



Key Player: Franck Ribery

A mixed season on and off the field this season, the former Marseille winger is one of the most cavorted and sought after players in World football, and the 2010 tournament is the stage in which he can shine.



Best Finish: Winners 1998

Held on home soil, players such as Emmanuel Petit, Zinedine Zidane, Barthez, Lizarazu, Leboeuf, Blanc, Thuram and many more all guided Les Blues to their first ever World Cup title. Some say it was a long time coming, but the French golden generation helped dismantle Mario Zagallo’s Brazil side 3-0, a team boasting the likes of Dunga, Aldair, Cafu, Bebeto, Rivaldo and of course “R9” Ronaldo.

Prediction: Quarter Finals

I fully expect them to banish any cobwebs and win the group with maximum points.



Stay tuned for Group B coming real soon

Hand of Henry Breaks Irish Hearts

Hand of Henry Breaks Irish Hearts

Last night I and many other football fans around the world viewed another footballing controversy. In a match of the upmost importance billed as the last ticket to the world cup, pitted football underdogs, Republic of Ireland, against the footballing giants of the last 13 years, France.



In the first match France dominated possession, despite not creating the any clear cut attempts; they were somewhat fortunate in taking the lead via a deflected shot from France's best player over the two legs, Nicholas Anelka. France has 62.2% possession overall, with 11 attempts on goal with 4 on target, compared to Ireland’s 9 attempts, with 3 on target. Some would then say, due to France having the greater share of the statistics, they deserved to win the game.

In the second leg, Coach Raymond Domenech baffled me, with his selection, naming a 4-2-3-1 formation. He selected the brilliant Hugo Lloris is goal, Sagna, Escude, Gallas and Evra making up the back four. A midfield consisting of Alou and Lassana Diarra, two holding defensive minded players, along with Yoann Gourcuff; a creative player plying his trade for Bordeaux in France, and the recipient of the 2008 Ligue 1 player of the year. The French attacking frontline consisted of Anelka, Gignac and Henry. This is probably the best team available, with players such as Toulalon, Diaby, and the best and the most influential player, Frank Ribery unavailable through injury and Arsenal’s Samir Nasri missing through a lack of games and match fitness.

Through out the game, Ireland played well having the better clear cut chances through Duff, O’Shea and Robbie Keane. Their away goal came from brilliant work down the left wing, with a ball excellently being cut back for Keane, who placed the ball into the corner past Lloris. Ireland still had chances to make it 2-0 and win the game, with the France faithful being thankful to the man of the match Hugo Lloris for keeping Les Bleus in the game.

After 180 minutes of tense action, there was still nothing to separate the two sides, with France lacking the cutting edge up front due to a distinct lack of creativity in midfield, Malouda coming on during the second half to no real affect. Anelka’s role consisted of dropping deep, having plenty of possession, as he does with Chelsea, with the only difference being he couldn’t find an end product. André-Pierre Gignac of Toulouse was joint top goal scorer in qualification with 4 goals, and scored 24 league goals last season, was forced out wide into the right channel rather than being the main focal point of attack. Therefore the Toulouse attacker was replaced after just 57 minutes by Sidney Govou. The French rarely trouble the Irish goal from then on, and the game ended up finishing 1-0 to the Republic of Ireland, leading to another 30 minutes of play.

In extra time, the French hardly covered themselves in glory with Nicholas Anelka's resulting to simulation (diving) in an attempt to win a penalty or in an attempt to con the referee into giving a penalty? U decide.

The main moment came with 2 minutes left in the 1st half of extra time, came the controversy. A diagonal free kick, floated over the whole of the Irish defence and bounced once and falling to Barcelona striker Thierry Henry who controlled the ball twice with his hand and squared the ball instinctively with the outside of his right boot, with William Gallas in the right place, at the right time, as he seemingly always is for both club and country, to finish and put one foot on the plane to South Africa. As soon as the ball hit the net, Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given sprinted over to the referee pleading for a handball decision, which seemingly both the linesman and referee both missed.

Irish hopes all but faded after that, as the team were clearly demoralised. France saw out the last 15 minutes without any real trouble, with the referee blowing the final whistle, scenes of jubilation erupted from the bench and amongst the fans. While the Irish players lay on the Stade de France pitch in tears, as they had worked so hard and probably deserved to be on the way to their first World Cup since 2002.

After the game their was the usual blame game, but without going into too much detail (as I’m sure you’ve all read it!), begs the question, if there were the extra officials as there are in the UEFA Europa League competition, surely they would have spotted Thierry Henry’s hand ball? Or Spotted Anelka’s dive? Would it be more appropriate to introduce the use of video technology in order to answer these questions in the future? FIFA feel strongly against any form of video technology and will not consider it until 2011. I’m not too sure how FIFA now feel about the situation after this match and the referees performance, but one thing is for certain, the Irish’s calls for a replay may fall on deaf ears.