Football Ramblings

Messi, a man who almost couldn’t play football because of his size, has now become the best soccer player in the world.It all started when he had to move to Barcelona because the club agreed to pay for his growth deficiency treatment. Barcelona saw something special in him, so they signed a deal with Jorge Messi on a napkin. Messi was put on the Barcelona youth team, then having some problems with his stamina and not being able to run for long periods of time. In time, that improved, and he burst onto the Barcelona A team. He scored his first ever Barcelona goal at age 17, becoming the youngest player ever to score for them. Since then, he has mesmerized us day in and day out. He has broken so many records, I have lost count. Winning 4 Ballon Dors , scoring 91 goals in a calendar year, and becoming Barcelona’s all time top goalscorer are just a few of his marvelous records. His style is perfection, based on simplicity and technique. That left foot is almost as deadly as a cobra. Messi...

Today was not a very productive day in the United States because citizens, and the whole world for that matter got the prospect of seeing the US get out of possibly the toughest group of the tournament and into the knockout stage of the World Cup. This group was the closest and intense group of the tournament, and from 9:00 to 11:00, I could not sit still. It was a sentimental game for coach  Jürge n Klinsmann  because he used to coach the German national team. Along with that, there were 5 German-Americans in the 23 picked by Klinsmann. Jermaine Jones had even played 3 friendlies for the German team before transferring to the USMNT. Both coaches said they were going out there to win, but in the first 10 minutes, I really doubted that the US was. They were just sitting back and parking the bus for the first 10 minutes, and when they did get the ball, they couldn't keep it for more than 5 seconds. As the first half wore on, they grew into the game a little bit more, with the defense...

On a day when everyone was talking about how the U.S. would perform against the Portuguese, fans were confident that the U.S. could beat Portugal and knock Portugal out of the World Cup, while also advancing to the round of 16. Those fans were silenced in the opening minutes of the match, with Geoff Cameron making a sliced clearance that fell to Nani, who blasted it home.  After that, it was U.S. all the way. They created opportunity after opportunity, with the main threat coming from Fabian Johnson down the right hand side. However, they were frustrated that they were doing everything but not getting the ball in the back of the net. It took a moment of magic from Jermaine Jones to equalize. He bended the ball into the far corner from about 30 yards out. It was a peach of a goal, with Beto thinking it was off target. U.S. didn’t back down then, with the U.S. searching for a winner. They brought DeAndre Yedlin on, who played right wing as oppose to right back. Then the moment happened. ...

Today, Brazil and Mexico went to the round of 16 in Group A with Brazil topping the group. Holland and Chile also went through in Group B, with Holland topping the group. These are my predictions for which teams we will see in the knockout phase of the World Cup.  Group C- Columbia and Ivory Coast with Columbia topping the group Group D- Costa Rica and Italy with Costa Rica topping the group Grou p E-France and Switzerland with France topping the group Group F- Argentina and Nigeria with Argentina topping the group Group G- Germany and U.S. with Germany topping the group Group H- Belgium and Algeria with Belgium topping the group These are my contenders to win it all at the Maracana and why. Italy- They have Andrea Pirlo, who at the tender age of 35, can change the game with one pass or set piece. They also have Balotelli, who can be frustrating at times, but when he is in the mood, can be a devastating player France- They have 3 of the world's brightest talents(Griezmann, Pogba, a...

Argentina were poor on the day against Iran, but in the end, a shining star emerged in a very messy team. Argentina, with each minute passing by, with each opportunity missing the target, were getting more and more frustrated. Iran, with all 11 men behind the ball at all times, produced a very admirable performance, and it would have been one for the ages.  Would have are the key words here. They had held Argentina at bay for 91 minutes before the magic of Messi broke down Iran to tears. In the first half, Argentina missed many chances from set pieces as well as some brilliant saves from the Iranian goalkeeper. In the second half, Iran by far had the better of the chances on the counter attack. Reza headed straight at Romero in the 53rd minute. Then, Iran was wrongly disallowed a penalty, after Zabaleta took down Dejagah in the box, after those 2 were chasing a loose ball. The Argentinians showed glimpses of what they could do after that, but they couldn't put the ball in the bac...

The decline of the Spanish empire has been one of the most shocking events of this legendary World Cup. 2 years ago, after their Euros win against Italy, they were speculated to be the best international team in the history of the beautiful game. Even a year ago, they got to the Confederations Cup final, where they got easily beaten by Brazil 3-0. That may have been a sign for the whole planet, bu t no one took it seriously. The Barcelona players of Spain had an average season based on their very high standard. This may have been a big blow on their confidence and team spirit. The Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid players of the Spanish team ended their season late because of the Champions League Final. The final was May 24, which was just 13 days from the start of the World Cup. I don't think the team had enough time to get together and recover from the long season that preceded it. Along with those issues, they had some problems with the team selection. I don't know why Del Bos...

We finally got revenge for all the pain and suffering Ghana has caused us over the past 8 years. When I finished eating lunch and went back to my room to watch the game, the U.S. had already scored. Dempsey and Jermaine Jones combined. Dempsey drove past a defender, and he struck a low left footed shot to the far post. This was the fastest U.S. goal in world cup history, with an official time of 3 4 seconds After that, it was all Ghana. They had the ball a lot of the time after the goal, with Atsu providing the main threat down the right hand side. The U.S. then lost a vital player for them with a strained hamstring. It was Jozy Altidore, the man who was just getting back into form after a torrid season with Sunderland. Aaron Johaansen was then brought on. At half time, Besler came off after hurting his hamstring a little bit. The U.S. bench said it was just precautionary, but it was still a worry for them. John Brooks then came on. The second half was then controlled by Ghana, who fin...

Day 5 of the World Cup was a day full of thrills, spills, and quite a lot of goals. The morning game was one of the most anticipated games of the group stage part of the tournament. It was a mouthwatering clash for me because I wanted to see how Ronaldo would do in a big game on the big stage. The truth is that he was outclassed by the German team as a whole. A single man cannot win a game by hims elf, and this was a perfect example. The Portuguese were disorganized defensively, and were not in sync in the middle of the park or in the attacking third. Ronaldo had a couple chances in the opening 10 minutes, but he didn't take advantage of them. After that, it went downhill for Portugal. It all started with the penalty that Mario Gotze won, and Thomas Muller buried it. The Germans took control from there. Control of the midfield, and control of the ball. When Portugal lost the ball in the attacking third, Germany powered forward on the break each and every time. Hummels then scored a...

Yesterday was an a great day in the World Cup. All the teams I wanted to win won. Switzerland got a stoppage time winner to make it 2-1, and France won 3-0 comfortably. Goal line technology was used for the first ever time in World Cup history on the own goal. There was a lot of controversy with that goal as to whether it should be an own goal or Benzema's goal. Eventually, he got 2 goals, but in  my opinion, he should have had a hat trick because of that goal. The game I want to talk about is the Argentina and Bosnia game. I want Argentina to go all the way. Sabella started with a 5-3-2 formation. Argentina will not win if they keep playing with this formation. It takes Messi out of the game completely. Messi was terrible in the first half. In the second half, Sabella brought on Gago and Higuain. They changed to a 4-3-3 formation, which brought Messi into the game a lot more. He scored a magical goal to seal the points for Argentina after a own goal 3 minutes in from a Messi freek...

The World Cup has had ridiculous calls, huge upsets, and lots of goals. Brazil got of to a great start as host nation, but Spain, not so much. Brazil shouldn't have won, but got lucky with some ridiculous calls. Spain's performance was horrendous, but more so, Iker Casillas. He said that it was his worst performance of his career. Costa Rica pulled off a huge upset as well, beating Uruguay 3-1. It is now Day 4, with the matches yet to start. Today, I want Switzerland, France, and Argentina to win their respective games. I want Argentina to go all the way to Rio in the final, and win the World Cup. This will be a great World Cup.