Month: March 2014

All the pressure is on Neymar

Whereas his country man, Ronaldo famously buckled under the pressure pre-final versus France 1998 I think Neymar faces a lot more responsibility and it is beginning to take its toll.

The Brazilian superstar has impressed in spells for Barcelona, mainly in the absence of Lionel Messi but having to carry the hopes of a nation, Maradona style and in his backyrad is a lot to handle at such a young age. Added to this he has not competed in a meaningful national game since the Copa America and only had had friendlies and the tiresome Confederations Cup to sharpen his edges.

I hope he doesn’t choke.

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World Cup Countdown : 3 months to Recife

I’ve managed to get 5 tickets for the World Cup but all the tickets are in Recife in the North Eastern state of Permubaco.

Matches
Group C – Ivory Coast v Japan
Group D – Italy v Costa Rica
Group A – Croatia v Mexico
Group G – USA v Germany
Round of 16 – Winner Group D v Runner-Up Group C

The stadium looks finished and pretty impressive but the city has a bad reputation for violence, muggings etc also the sea around the beaches are shark infested.

Luckily, i will be staying in Olinda just to the north of the city. It is a UNESCO protected site and seems to be full of culture and stonking nightlife.Pretty cool hostel to stay in as well.

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World Cup Classic goals: David Narey 1982

Famously described as a toe poke by big chinned gobshite Jimmy Hill, Narey leathered home this opener versus Brazil in 1982. It sparked a brief belief that we might actually beat Brazil in football’s grandest tournament.

As per usual the hubris was cruelly dashed as Brazil got upset and ripped 4 past Alan Rough without reply.

Many Scots prefer the famous Archie Gemmil mazy versus Holland in 1978 but that is mainly to do with it’s inclusion in Trainspotting. For me, Narey’s is the best.

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Classic goals : Roger Milla vs Colombia

Not for the purists but you cannot match it for drama. Roger Milla had already captured football lovers hearts with his display against Romania in Italia 90 but he cemented his World Cup legend with his display against Colombia.

Rene Higuita in a typical act of madness and hubris decided to take the ball for a walk miles from his goal. Milla, wise to Rene’s tricks stole the ball and galloped off to secure his countries win.

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World Cup 2014: Group A: Cameroon

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Cameroon’s progression to Brazil was straight forward enough.After topping a group consisting of Libya, Congo and Togo they moved into a pay-off spot with Tunisia. A 4-1 home win was enough to secure their attendance this summer.

A poor showing in South Africa together with bad showings in recent African Nations Cup’s leave Cameroon as an unknown entity. They certainly have class in captain Samuel Eto’o and Barcelona’s Alex Song which added with a squad mainly from France’s Ligue Un means they are competitive.

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We having waiting for an African team to reach the latter stages of the World Cup for decades now. The Cameroon of Roger Milla were closest to making this a reality, eventually going out to a lucky England in 1990.

This time around will really depend on Eto’o and whether he can pull he recent Chelsea form into the World Cup. Mexico, Croatia and Cameroon are of similar levels but in this tournament I see the Africans going home early, along with Croatia.

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World Cup 2014 : Group A : Croatia

As I said before I think Brazil, with a fervent home supports and a clutch of flair players, shall walk Group A  and claim top spot.

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Group A : Brazil, Mexico, Croatia and Cameroon.

This leaves the remaining 3 to battle it out for 2nd spot. In truth there isn’t much between their squads but Croatia seem to be the weakest.

Croatia bumbled their way to Brazil via the European play-offs. They lost all form in the final stages of group qualification, losing to Belgium and Scotland (home and away). In the end they eeked past Iceland with a 2-0 win at home in the play-offs.

Croatia are a shadow of the side that made it to 3rd position in France 1998. At that time they boasted the like of Davor Sukor, Prosinecki and Boban. Only Luca Modric of Real Madrid comes close to the class of his predecessors. However they do have a modicum of skill in Danijel Pranjic and Mateo Kovacic in midfield and extremely strong attack of Mandzukic, Olic and Eduardo. Their defence may be their main weakness.

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World Cup 2014 : Group A – Mexico

Group A consists of hosts, Brazil, Croatia, Mexico and Cameroon.

Barring a complete disaster it’s hard to see Brazil not coming top of the group, in all probability with a full quota of 9 points from 3 wins.

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Although Mexico have a fair enough record against La Selecao it’s hard to see them troubling Brazil on their home turf. Mexico struggled to the World Cup after a poor qualification campaign: in the end they only secured a play off spot in last minutes of their last qualifier and still needed the gringos to help them. In their play-off they dispatched New Zealand 9-3 on aggregate.

Although Mexico can count on the likes of Andrés Guardado, Javier Aquino and the mercurial Giovanni Dos Santos in their ranks the main bulk of the squad comes from Mexico’s Premier League. Javier Hernandez will be the main attacking threat but his appearances for a poor Mancester United have been fleeting and this must be a concern. Mexico have plenty of experience in their squad but it remains to be seen if coach, Miguel Herrera brings along the likes of Marquez, Dominguez and and Salcido.

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Mexico have a rich World Cup history befitting a nation with a population well over 100 million. They suffered as a result of poor referee decisions in South Africa tumbling to Argentina in the last 16 matching their progress in 2002 and 2006.

I can’t honestly see them doing any better this time round, indeed it may be a struggle to come out of the group in second.

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