The Power of Twelve

We finally have the line-ups for finals. Italy and France came through in their battle against Germany and Portugal respectively. It was bag of mixed feelings for me. I loved Italy beating Germany, but France getting through was a bitter pill to swallow. I can only hope now that France will lose in finals.

Germany tried valiantly to defeat Italy. They have the home advantage, but their tide broke against the Great Wall of Italy and The Power of Twelve. Italian defence was great, especially Cannavaro. I became a huge fan of him watching this world cup. Everytime Germany looked dangerous, Cannavaro was there to control the threat. He was simply amazing. He stood like a Wall before the Italian goal. Italian also had Power of Twelve to their advantage. Every twelve years since 1970, they make it to World Cup finals, and this time was no exception. The goal in the end by Grosso was a master-piece. This game was easily the best one in this world cup.

Though, I donot like France's game, they deserved to win the semi-finals. I was surprised by the performance on Portugal. They didn't seem to have confidence that they can score a goal. Everytime they reached the 'D' near France's goal, they just dive and appeal for penalty. It was ridiculous. A player like Ronaldo, who has immense skill, should try to score goals in legitimate ways than using such devious means.

Statistics do not give a clear verdict to either teams in the finals. I can only hope Italy can beat France. If they play anywhere close to what they did against Germany, France has no chance.

Portugal's cup

We are through the quarter-finals of world cup. As I expected, Brazil got knocked out. They appeared complacent most part of the match. They attacked after going a goal down, but it is always going to be a tough task with experienced defenders like Thuram before French goal. England on the other hand, played well and created an array of chances inspite of being 1 man down. I thought it was a strong decision to send away Rooney. He didn't deserve a red for what he did. After all Ronaldo and he were team-mates at their club, and a bit of pushing is acceptable. It was painful to see England knocked out via the penalties. I thought it was a bad decision to start penalties with Lampard. Lampard never came close to the goal in this world cup inspite of a record number of attempts. This should have been a sufficient hint not to try him with penalties.

I have a strong feeling that it is going to be Germany vs Portugal in the final. Luis Scolari is going to be the difference between France and Portugal. This guy is a master tactician and knows how to make the best use of available resources. This could very well be Portugal's first world cup.