World Cup: Day 25

Hi Soccer Fans --

This South American tournament has finally shifted, as Europe won all three of its quarterfinal matchups and is guaranteed at least one spot in the final.

The quarterfinals opened Friday with a couple of spectacular games. Brazil-Netherlands has always had a warm place in my soccer heart. Their unbelievable match in the quarters of my “first” World Cup in ’94, with 5 second half goals, helped hook me on the competition and was followed up by the ’98 semis where Holland equalized late before losing on penalty kicks.

This time, the Dutch finally got through the samba, coming back after falling behind early. The game featured the first autogol ever given up by Brazil at this level – and the first time they have ever lost after leading at the half. Brazil has played a lot of World Cup matches making this quite a remarkable achievement for the Dutch, especially having to play in their wooden shoes and all.

Uruguay-Ghana presented a situation I’ve often pondered: when would it behoove a defender to deliberately block a sure goal with his hands? From an objective measure, the calculus is lose a player for the rest of the game (and the next) in exchange for the chance that a penalty kick is missed and no goal is awarded – maybe a 20% chance. Generally it wouldn’t make sense because if you are playing with 10 men for any length of time, your chances of eventually winning the game are diminished considerably.

But, if you consider the situation at the end of the match with no time on the clock, Uruguay just has to beat the 50/50 proposition of penalty kicks. At that point, I’d say Suarez’s move gave Uruguay a 10% chance of advancing versus the certainty of going home (preserving his dignity by watching the knock-out ball sail over his head). I’m not sure why he was so upset in the tunnel there -- 40 years is a long drought for a proud soccer nation like Uruguay. I’d say he’s a national hero no matter how it goes. I understand that soccer is different from typical American sports, with an ethical code that says you shouldn’t use your hands, shouldn’t take a dive, shouldn’t pretend a chest tap is an elbow to the face. But ultimately, “cheating” works and I think needs legislation if it’s to be avoided.

Anyway, onto the sad day Friday for the Argentines, who got steamrolled by the Germans 4-0. Spain and Paraguay followed by an exciting 1-0 match, that could have gone either way with back-to-back missed penalty kicks on both sides of the field.

The semifinal matches are Germany-Spain on Tuesday, followed by Uruguay-Holland on Wednesday.

The pool has a new leader, Chile’s Fernanda Villasenor with three of the final four correct. You’ll see a new column in the scoring “Best”. This is the highest possible position for the entry (subject to final double check). 25 of us still have a shot at getting something back, but if you don’t see a number by your name you are done for this pool. Note that Kirk Swann has locked in 100th place with the losses by Argentina and Brazil.

Enjoy!
Chris