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What To Watch Among All These International Friendlies Today

February 29, 2012 — by Suman

Xherdan-Shaqiri.jpg

It’s yet another FIFA day of international friendlies today.  The ones involving European teams are getting more interesting, as we’re just a handful of months away from Euro2012 kicking off in Poland/Ukraine, and hence managers are starting to sort out their squads.

Given that, here are a handful of matches that might actually be worth watching (all times ET, with US TV/streaming info via WaPo’s SoccerInsider):

Switzerland vs. Argentina: 2:30pmET, GolTV

Italy vs. USA: 2:30pmET, ESPN2, Galavision, ESPN3.com

Germany vs. France: 2:45pmET, ESPN3.com (tape at 6 p.m. on ESPN Deportes)

England vs. Netherlands: 3pmET, Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Deportes

Spain vs. Venezuela 3:30pmET, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com

Here are some reasons why these matches:

Switzerland vs. Argentina: We got interested in the Swiss squad last week–in particular that they’ve got a contingent of ethnic Albanian kids born in Kosovo around the time Yugoslavia was slipping into civil war.  We came across this from watching first Napoli–who have not only Swiss captain Gökhan İnler (born in Switzerland to Turkish immigrants) but also Blerim Džemaili (born in Macedonia to Albanian parents)–and then Basel (Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri) in the Champs League last week.

Plus it’s Argentina. Not only Messi, but also Mascherano (also Barcelona), Gago and Lamela (both Roma), Kun Aguero (Man City), and Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid). Though apparently Angel di Maria (also Real Madrid), Javier Pastore (PSG), and Ever Banega (Valencia) are not in the squad this time–the latter because he broke his ankle last week in an “automobile mishap“–he forgot to set the handbrake on his car while filling up with gas.

England-Netherlands: Can’t way we’re all that interested in the England squad (as usual, the English press is hyperventilating about things like who caretaker manager Stuart Pearce has named captain). We’re more interested to see who Holland plays, as a guide to who Bert Marwijk will take to Poland/Ukraine this summer (where his side should be 3rd favorites, behind Germany and of course defending world and Euro champions Spain). In the midfield, will Marwijk stick with the experience and pragmatism of de Jong, van Bommel and Sneijder (although the latter has been struggling with Inter, to the extent that Mr Zonal Marking recently wrote a column for ESPN titled “What’s wrong with Wesley Sneijder?“).  Or will he give younger, more dynamic midfielders like Kevin Strootman, Georgino Wijnaldum (both PSV) and Urby Emanuelson (who’s impressed lately playing for Milan) a chance?  He has plenty of big-name experienced options up front: Dirk Kuyt, Klaus Huntelaar, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie.  From a column about the Oranje in today’s Guardian:

Van Marwijk’s successful route to Poland and Ukraine was founded on the firepower of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (12 in eight games), Van Persie (six in six), Dirk Kuyt (six in nine), Ibrahim Afellay (three in six) and Sneijder (three in eight).

It’s a real shame Affelay tore his ACL back in September, getting ready for his first full campaign with Barcelona (after joining them from PSV last January.)  The good news is that he recently resumed training, with the possibility that he may yet appear for Barcelona this spring, and hence receive consideration for the trip to Poland/Ukraine.

The more experienced strikers above are joined on this squad by three younger attacking guys that still play in Eredivisie: Luuk de Jong, Ola John (both Twente), and Luciano Narsingh (Heereveen).

Italy-USA: Balotelli not chosen for Italy–in his place a 20yo kid named Fabio Borini, who’s currently playing for Roma (on loan from Parma?).  For the US, one headline we saw was that Klinsmann included yet another son of a US serviceman, who plays for Borussia Dortmund’s reserve squad.  See TheShinGuardian comprehensive match preview here.

Germany vs. France: Germany are co-favorites to emerge triumphant in Poland/Ukraine this summer.  In fact, some observers think that on recent form they’ve actually nudged ahead of Spain.  The lineup is stacked with young dynamic talent.  Of course there’s a large contingent of Bayern Munich players (Manuel Neuer, Jérôme Boateng, Thomas Müller, Toni Kroos), even though usual captain Phillip Lahm is apparently sitting this one out.  And there’s the two players that have moved to Madrid, Mesut Özil and Sami Khedira.  In fact, those two and Miroslav Klose are the only three on today’s squad that play outside the Bundesliga.  We’re interested in seeing some of those young players, who play outside of Munich: up and coming star Marco Reus (Borussia Mönchengladbach); Marcel Schmelzer and Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund); André Schürrle and Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkeusen).  It’s a shame Borussia Dortmund’s Mario Götze is still out with a pelvic injury–hopefully we’ll see him in action this spring (as Dortmund looks to hold off Bayern to repeat as Bundesliga champions) and summer.

We threw in Spain-Venezuela only b/c we’re interested in seeing who Spain plays–beyond the usual suspects. Headlines in the English press last week were that Torres didn’t make the cut for this one (and hence looking unlikely for Euros this summer), but it’s interesting to see that it was not only Soldado that got picked up front, but also this kid Iker Munian (19yo) that plays for Athletic Bilbao. In fact, Athletic has as many players in the squad as Real Madrid (4 apiece)–and no Barcelona or Madrid players among the strikers chosen. The squad:

Victor Valdes (Barcelona), José Manuel Reina (Liverpool), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid); Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Carles Puyol(Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Andoni Iraola (Athletic Bilbao), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Jordi Alba (Valencia); Javi Martínez (Athletic Bilbao), Xavi (Barcelona), Andrés Iniesta(Barcelona), Cesc Fábregas (Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid),Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Santi Cazorla (Malaga), Thiago Alcântara (Barcelona), David Silva (Manchester City), Jesús Navas(Sevilla); Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao), Juan Mata (Chelsea), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla), Roberto Soldado (Valencia)

Breakdown by club:
Barcelona: 8
Real Madrid: 4
Athletic Bilbao: 4
Valencia: 2
Sevilla: 2
Malaga: 1
Liverpool: 1
Chelsea: 1
Man City: 1

On the other side of the ball, note that Venezuela also features an Athletic Bilbao player (defender Fernando Amorebieta, who was born in Venezuela to Basque parents.  From A Football Report piece about Athletic Bilbao’s Basque-only policy:

Here’s the story with Amorebieta.  He was born in Venezuela in 1985.  His parents, however, were Basque, from a small town in Bizkaia called Iurreta.  They were in the Americas on business, and while in Venezuela, Fernando was born.  When he was two, the family moved back to Iurreta, and it would be another twenty years before Fernando returned to the country where he was born.  What makes Amorebieta able to play for Athletic is the fact that, despite being born in Venezuela, he comes from Basque parents and a Basque family, and he essentially grew up in the Basque Country.  Thus, Athletic had no issues with signing him in 1996 to play in the youth system despite not having been born in Spain.

GermanyPreview

What to Watch This Weekend: Moenchengladbach-Munich Today

January 20, 2012 — by Suman

Rolls-Reus.jpg

After a month’s hiatus (due primarily to an extended internet-free trip to India–see below), we’re back with a TV guide to the weekend.  As usual, we provide US TV listings with ET kickoffs, since that’s where we reside. For our non-US readers, we’ve included a link to livesoccertv.com for each match.

Check back in over the course of the weekend, as we’ll post our Saturday and Sunday selections.  But since our first selection kicks off in less than an hour, we’re posting now:

Friday, Jan 20

Germany, Borussia Moenchengladbach-Bayern Munich (2:30pmET GolTV): A good matchup in the Bundesliga’s Friday Night Lights offering.  They’re just returning to action this weekend in Germany, after the longest holiday break in Europe.  In fact, Bayern Munich took a little training trip to Asia earlier this month–some training and a friendly match in Doha, followed by a friendly in India–and they happened to land in Delhi while we were there.  We’ll write that up in a separate post.  For now, we’ll note that Munich is back to full strength–Bastian Schweinsteiger returned to the lineup in their friendly against the Indian national team, with Heynckes playing his top XI against the Indians (with the sole exception of Ribery, who came on in the 2nd half): Neuer, Boateng, Badstuber, Lahm, Kroos, Robben, Tymoshchuk, Schweinsteiger, Rafinha, Gomez, Muller.

On the other side, the only Moenchengladbach player we’ve heard of is Marco “Rolls” Reus–read this column by Guardian Bundesliga correspondent Raphael Honigstein: ‘Rolls Reus’ is the latest star off Germany’s production line. He’s definitely a player to watch. Since the fall all Bundesliga-watchers were well-aware it would be difficult to for Moenchengladbach to hang on to him.  Wrote Honigstein back in October: “Reus, or ‘Rolls Reus’ as Bild has started calling him, was being genuinely targeted in the spring by Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Manchester United.”  And in doing our pregame research for this match, we just learned he will move to the other Borussia this summer, after having spurned Bayern.

Actually we also just came across mention of another Moenchengladbach player to watch: Brazilian defender Dante, who was just praised by Bayern’s Heynckes.  Uh oh..

EuropeHistorySchedule

What to Watch Today: Germany-Netherlands in Hamburg

November 15, 2011 — by Suman

HamburgShowdown.jpg

Out of wide array of matches being played and televised today (a bunch of international friendlies, a few South American World Cup qualifying matches, and the final four qualifying playoff matches for Euro 2012), the one to watch is a friendly in Hamburg:

Germany-Netherlands (2:30pmET, ESPN Classic, ESPN3.com): It’s not really a friendly between these two national sides.  True, this match is worth watching based just on the fact that these two are among the top handful of national sides around right now, and will be the top challengers to unseat Spain as European champions next summer.  But in addition to current form, there’s the history to consider.

It’s a history that on the pitch goes back to the famous 1974 match in Munich, which resulted in (then West) Germany’s first second World Cup title, via a loss that still looms large in the Dutch national memory.

The Oranje got some revenge in 14 years later, beating Germany in the Euro 1988 semifinal, in a match which like today’s took place in Hamburg, on their way to their only major title.  Those two matches got caught up, especially in the Dutch psyche, with a previous, darker history–that of Nazi Germany’s occupation of Holland during World War II.

Two chapters to read for much much more on the Holland-Germany rivalry, and in particular on the legendary 1974 and 1988 matches and their complicated historical context: Chapter 2 of Dutchman Simon Kuper’s Football Against the Enemy, titled “Football Is War”; and Chapter 13 of David Winner’s brilliant Brilliant Orange book, titled “football is not war.”  (At least read them before next summer. If things go according to form, it’s entirely possible these two could meet in yet another Euro semifinal, or perhaps even in the final.)

Remarkably the entire Euro 1988 semifinal Hamburg match is on YouTube, in 10 parts.  Though the last segment ends with the final whistle, and so doesn’t include Ronald Koeman infamously wiping his backside with German midfielder Olaf Thon’s jersey in front of the visiting Dutch fans after swapping shirts.  The description of the YouTube videos does include this quote attributed to Koeman: “1988 didn’t erase 1974 from our memories. The bitterness is still there. Before the match Rinus Michels, who also coached the 1974 squad, told us about that lost final, in order to motivate us. I regret what I did after the match. It was an impulsive reaction, the kind of stupid reaction that follows you for the rest of your life. But for me that case is closed. As I never met Thon again after that, I never had the occasion to apologize.”  Apparently, upon returning to Amsterdam as Euro champions after defeating the Soviet Union in the final and following a water-born parade thru the canals of the city, Michels said to the massive crowd gathered in Dam Square: “We won the tournament, but we all know that the semi-final was the real final.”

If instead of the Germany-Holland “friendly” you’d rather watch some matches that ostensibly “matter”, the four Euro playoff 2nd leg matches are all on ESPN3.com:

CommentaryTactics

WC2010: “The tournament of 4-2-3-1”

July 17, 2010 — by Suman — 1

"Spain have adopted the Barcelona formula, which seems to be the way club football is going"

From a Guardian Football column by one Jonathan Wilson, published just before the WC2010 final between Spain and Holland, and brought to our attention at that time by one otheradamnovy; the column is titled “The Question: What have been the tactical lessons of World Cup 2010?” and open as follows:

This has been the tournament of 4-2-3-1. The move has been apparent in club football for some time; in fact, it may be that 4-2-3-1 is beginning to be supplanted by variants of 4-3-3 at club level, but international football these days lags behind the club game, and this tournament has confirmed the trend that began to emerge at Euro 2008. Even Michael Owen seems to have noticed, which is surely the tipping point.

Click thru for more–much more: commentary on the tactics of Spain, Germany, Holland, Argentina, Ghana, and Brazil, with some notes about all that fit into the context of club football tactics over the past decade , e.g.:

Uncategorized

The secret to Germany’s recent success

July 15, 2010 — by Sean

Germany played stylishly during this World Cup, up until they went into a shell against Spain that is. How very different from past teams that seemed so much more mechanical and forceful. Michael Ballack’s agent has some thoughts on the matter:

The agent of midfielder Michael Ballack has planted his fuß firmly in his mund by branding the current Germany squad ‘a bunch of gays’.

Becker is also reported to have suggested that there was a ‘former German national player who was ready to expose a ‘bunch of gays’ within the current squad’.

In summary, Osang added that homosexuality was ‘a synonym for anything that Becker did not understand’ which is sadly a concept that is all-too depressingly familiar.

Live BlogOpen Thread

3rd/4th Place Game, Germany v Uruguay: Liveblog/Open Thread

July 10, 2010 — by Suman — 3

World Cup 1970 3rd/4th Place Game: Uruguay v Germany (Azteca Stadium, Mexico City)

We live up to our chosen moniker–the 3rd/4th place game is quintessential Cult Football.  We will be liveblogging, and we hope you will join us in the comments!

For a preview, we can do no better than the Guardian:

It’s the most pointless match in all football. An anti-climax like no other. A non-event played out by desperately disappointed, and possibly thunderingly depressed, men who know all too well their only chance of immortailty has gone, some kidding on they still care, others failing dismally to hide their displeasure. All the same, it’s still the World Cup, this, isn’t it. And with 62 matches down, there’s only two to go, after which we’ll be done for another four years. Sniff! Panic! So let’s enjoy it while it lasts, eh?


Open ThreadTactics

2nd Semifinal, Germany v Spain: Preview/Open Thread

July 7, 2010 — by Suman — 13

Probable starting lineups (via ZonalMarking.net)

We’re just 90 minutes away from kickoff in the 2nd semifinal, to decide who will play the Netherlands in the final game on Sunday.  This matchup between European powers is highly anticipated; more so than yesterday’s Holland-Uruguay match was, but we can only hope that this one lives up to the expectations and turns out to be as exciting as yesterday’s 3-2 victory for Holland.

What better way to get a preview of today’s match than to revisit the finals of the Euro 2008 tournament, played on June 29, 2008 in Vienna’s  Ernst Happel Stadion, when Germany and Spain clashed with nearly as much as stake as today.  Spain prevailed that day 1-0, off a goal by striker Fernando Torres–whose struggles to score in this World Cup have become something of a story line for followers of the Spanish side.

On the other hand, the striker who has been scoring for Spain in this tournament, David Villa, did not even play in that Euro final, due to injury.  And on the other side, Germany’s revelation in the midfield, the young and dynamic Mesut Ozil, was not on the German squad.

Hence the indispensable Zonal Marking begins their tactical preview of today’s match (from whence we’ve pulled the probably starting lineup chart above):

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