Football Cliche No. 426: A Good Old Head Will Always Beat A Young 'Un

The Second Round over, a few days rest before the Quarter Finals kick in, with kick-offs moved to an eminently better time for those of us that do not get out of the office until around four during the week. I was running seriously low on excuses to work from home without coming outright and saying that I just wanted to watch the football.

Last nights’ clash between France and Spain was an intriguing match. The Spaniards went into the game having overpowered the Ukraine and dominated the Tunisians, putting themselves into the frame for the competition with a real chance to shake off the tag of “Perennial Underachievers”. France on the other hand had been pretty awful for most of the Group phase, only coming to life when they had to beat Togo and even then, progress was still out of their hands to a large extent. Much was made of the youthfulness of Spain compared to the old heads of France and yet experience shone through. Spain were a real disappointment and should be disappointed in themselves. Why Aragones put Raul up front when his performances for club and country have been lacklustre for more than eighteen months is something only the coach will know. The midfield was packed with three very similar players in Xavi, Xavi Alonso and Fabregas. All are sound passers of the ball but they hold similar ground on the pitch, requiring the full backs to get forward to penetrate the flanks something that they could not do with enough regularity last night as both Malouda and Ribery have enough pace to exploit the gaps that would have been left. The way the Spanish team set themselves, it was obvious from the start that they were more obsessed with not conceding rather than scoring two or more to win the game. Whether this was out of respect for the opposition or out of fear, I am not sure. Certainly for a team that was undefeated in twenty four games, it was an unusual tactic. Surely such a run should have filled them with the confidence and belief they needed to win a competitive match against France for the first time.

As it turned out, France thoroughly deserved their win. They showed more sharpness in attack, created more chances than the Spaniards, fought hard in midfield and defended well. Henry was out of sorts, isolated by the slowness of the build-up play and the Spanish defence defending higher up the pitch than most other nations. The most significant contribution he made was being bodychecked by Puyol for the freekick that led to Vieira’s goal. His reaction to the foul was unnecessary, borne of frustration at his own performance and a need for revenge against the centre half. Neither is an excuse for his theatrics which have been preceded by a huge amount of diving and rolling around by other players on the pitch in previous matches and will no doubt being followed by more in the Quarter Finals and beyond.

It sets up the Quarter Final meeting with Brazil nicely, who cruised through their tie against Ghana. Perhaps the Africans will learn the lesson that conceding a goal in the fifth minute against Brazil makes a hard job extremely difficult. Rolly Polly Ronnie became the highest scorer in World Cup history but his fitness will need to increase for the coming match(es). Unless of course, the Brazilians intend to shoot the ball into his gut and hope that the ripple effect will propel the ball into the net? Roberto Carlos meanwhile displayed the required abilities to become a key player for Chelsea next season, i.e. gracelessness and a complete absence of charm. The arrogance he displayed in denigrating Ghana makes one hope that he gets his comeuppance in the next round. Perhaps an own goal that knocks his country out is what is needed to make him realise the privileged position he is in?

England face up to their nemesis (© every lazy journalist in England) in Gene Hackman when they meet Portugal in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday. It appears that England’s injury woes are finally starting to ease with the news that Gary Neville Neville is returning from his spell in the treatment room. With that in mind, I expect England to once again line – up in a 4-5-1 formation, despite the limitations that were exposed against Ecuador. The team will probably be:

Robinson; Neville, Ferdinand, Terry, Cole; Beckham, Lampard, Hargreaves, Gerrard, Cole; Rooney

The only question will be if Hargreaves replaces Carrick which I think will happen given that the one man United Nations played well in that position against Sweden. Carrick did nothing wrong against Ecuador but Eriksson seems to rate Hargreaves.

The key to winning will be making sure that the defence act as a unit and the midfield track back. If they do not then as the Dutch found out, Deco is not the most dangerous Portuguese midfielder. Ronaldo now expects to be fit but both Coles and Neville are familiar with his one trick which should be enough to keep the Madrid-bound Pony in check.

Todays Tunes come from Oasis, their gig at Earls Court in 1995 providing:

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