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Archive for July 6th, 2010

When Asamoah Gyan missed that penalty I first swore loudly and then let out a long mournful vuvuzela moan into the shocked Sea Point air. Watching Gyan’s reaction I felt more for him than I did for the team. In context penalty kicks don’t get bigger than that one. The opportunity to be the first African side to reach the world cup semi-finals and on African soil clearly weighed on Gyan’s mind. With Ghana the only remaining African side still in the tournament, the entire continent and millions of neutrals around the world (pretty much everyone outside of Uruguay) held our collective breath – but no Cinderella ending this time. Gyan fluffed his lines on the biggest stage of them all – one kick was all it took to change his life for ever.

He is not the first to miss a penalty at a world cup; he’s actually in excellent company;  Zico, Platini, Baggio the list goes on. Gyan came into the game a hero having scored the winner against the USA in the previous round and this time was inches away from getting the freedom of the continent and becoming an all time African hero – the line between hero and zero is a thin one.

The next day once emotions had calmed down I started thinking about that moment. For me that will be the moment of the world cup. The Cinderella ending, while making us feel warm and fuzzy, is never quite as interesting as the drama when things don’t go according to the wanted script. Gyan did well to get up and convert the first penalty of the shootout and let’s hope this moment doesn’t ruin a promising career. Life is tough but it’s those moments that can make or break you. Good experiences are great and we all want them but its bad experiences that we learn more from and that in the end are often the more memorable. Asamoah Gyan might disagree.

So my predictions for the quarters were lousy and I barely managed 1/4. In fact I picked Spain to win by 3 so 1/4 is quite generous. Time for the semis.

And then there were four:

Holland v Uruguay

Brazil looked good for the first 30 minutes but the Dutch managed to rattle them and the Brazilians fell apart. They didn’t respond with the flair and magic of Brazilian teams past, instead they resorted to trying to kick the Dutch off the park, so much for the beautiful game. A pity really, this team has potential and they certainly have the players but it seems they are a bit shy of  BMT. Well done Holland you deserved your place in the final four, I’m officially going Orange, which is probably not a good thing for Dutch supporters.

Keen: Going orange at Glen Beach

Uruguay continue on,  defined more now by another infamous handball then for great soccer, but they deserve their spot in the final four and Uruguayans must be dreaming of a possible third title for La Celeste.

You broke our hearts in the first round and in the last round – enough! Holland will have to restore some African pride of sorts.
Holland by 2

Germany v Spain

Germany rolls on and in some style dispatching Argentina and probably their loony manager as well. A lesson in football for the South Americans and its hard to see if anyone, even the Spanish can live with them at the moment. Maradona tried the all out attacking approach but we know that doesn’t win tournaments. It’s fabulous to watch but a solid defense is essential. Whether they lost because they were just not good enough or because of a lack of strategic acumen by their manager is anyone’s guess, probably a bit of both.

The Spanish battled their way to the Semis with a hard fought but fairly entertaining 1-0 victory over the Paraguayans. Torres has flattered to deceive and it’s a tricky one for the coach. Play him again, he’s got to score soon, or start him on the bench and give one of their other talented strikers a start. But at this stage the Spanish must be saying – just give it to Villa.

If the Spanish fire this could be a high goal thriller so I’ll pick Spain to win by the odd goal in five.

So a Holland/Spain final it is.