World Cup Round Up by Anthony Yazaki

World Cup Round Up
by ANTHONY YAZAKI

Now that the 2010 World Cup has come and gone, it is increasingly clear that this year's edition of the world's biggest soccer tournament represented a realignment of world soccer powers and a shift in international soccer culture. A competitions full of surprises, many of the traditional powerhouse nations failed to live up to their billing while other countries less known for their soccer prowess were able to prove that they were more than just cannon fodder. Leading up to the tournament, Japan was expected to struggle mightily in their group against the pace and power of Cameroon, the guile and experience of the Danish, and the creativity and technique of the Dutch, who would go on to play in the final against Spain. The fact that Coach Takeshi Okada predicted a top four finish heaped unrealistic pressure on a team that lost all four of its friendly matches in preparation for the Cup. Heading into the tournament, it would have been a massive understatement to say that the prospects looked bleak for the Japanese who had never won a World Cup game on foreign soil. Some pundits even claimed that it would have been a coup for the Blue Samurai to score a single goal.
Instead, Japanese fans were treated to a magical run through the group stage which featured a 1-0 win over Cameroon, a highly respectable 1-0 loss to the Netherlands, and a crucial 3-1 win over Denmark, to put Japan through to the knockout stages for only the second time in the nation's history.
Though capable of putting together some silky passing moves, many had wondered where Japan's offense would find goals. With no clear first choice forwards, the often unpopular Okada opted to move his best player out of a crowded midfield to spearhead the Japanese attack. Keisuke Honda, the midfield playmaker for CSKA Moscow of the Russian league, welcomed the role and was the key player in all of Japan's games. With support in the midfield from reigning Asian Player of the Year, Yasuhito Endo, and captain Makoto Hasebe from Wolfsburg of the German Bundesliga, Honda found himself able to influence the game from a more advanced position than he is normally used to. In scoring two of Japan's four goals, Honda made it clear that he is the heir apparent to the title of Japan's king of soccer, a title unofficially held in the past by Kazuyoshi “Kazu” Miura, Hidetoshi Nakata, Junichi Inamoto, and most recently Shunsuke Nakamura.
In fact, Arsenal's manager, Arsene Wenger went as far as to call Honda a “genius” and said following the group stage that Honda “has shown what a top class player he is. For [Wenger] he's the best performer of the competition so far.” Coming from a man known as one of the world's most renowned identifiers and cultivators of young talent, these words will carry extra weight. It is no surprise, then, that Honda's skills are rumored to have caught the eyes of executives at A.C. Milan who are looking to bring young talent into an aging squad. Having moved to CSKA Moscow from the Netherlands' VVV Venlo only seven months ago, it may take a hefty sum of money to obtain Honda's signature, but A.C. Milan's front office knows it needs to make some drastic changes to turn around a team that finished 12 points behind last season's Italian and European champions, Internazionale.
This lack of youth has not only begun to characterize some of Italy's top club sides, but their national team as well. One of the biggest disappointments of the tournament, the 2006 world champions were unable to muster a single win in their group and finished dead last behind the likes of Paraguay, Slovakia, and New Zealand, who were making only their second ever appearance in a World Cup. Unwilling to make drastic changes to the already aging side that won it all in 2006, Italy played stale and unattractive soccer, proving many of Coach Marcello Lippi's detractors right.
The other finalist from the 2006 was France, whose implosion was the most highly publicized by the press. During halftime of their group game against Mexico which France would go on to lose 2-0, forward Nicolas Anelka decided he had seen enough of the ever-unpopular Coach Raymond Domenech and chose to express his dissatisfaction by insulting Domenech and his mother. Though Anelka was promptly sent home for his insubordination, this was only the beginning of the end for the French, who had only reached the World Cup because of a dubious hand ball by Thierry Henry during a one game playoff against Ireland in November. Following Anelka's dismissal, the French chose to boycott a public training session which meant that the footage of the event was seen by fans worldwide. Like Italy, France finished dead last in their group, meaning that both finalists from 2006 met unceremonious ends without recording a single win in the 2010 World Cup.
On the other hand, Germany, who finished in third place for the second consecutive World Cup showed that by making adjustments to their squad and their style they could maintain their place near the top of international soccer. Deprived of their long-time captain and focal point in the midfield, Michael Ballack, Germany opted to field the youngest team in the tournament, with an average age of only 25 years old. This shift in personnel brought with it a shift in playing style as they traded in their traditional rigid efficiency for a fast, fluid, and direct counter-attacking style. Though they were unable to overcome Spain, the eventual champions, in a rematch of the 2008 European Championship final, dominant victories over England and Argentina in the knockout stages showed that they will be a force to be reckoned with when the 2014 World Cup kicks off in Brazil.
Overall, this year's World Cup brought with it all of the emotion and excitement that is expected of the world's biggest sporting event. From the heart stopping finish to the match between Uruguay and Ghana to the uncounted goal in the match between Germany and England, there was no shortage of drama and controversy. Certainly, nobody likes to be on the wrong end of a last gasp goal or a contentious call, but in the end, these are the things that keep us watching.

P.S. This is a published news article in a local paper in San Fransisco. Anthony Yazaki is yet to provide me with the link to the website where this article is published. This blog got his permission to publish this article. Sorry for the delay but I had to wait for his permission to publish it.