World Cup Preview

Article by our newest contributor Peter Neal with illustrations by Ben House, click on the FTW pictures for a full size version.

We go through a lot of bottles and cans at our house. Some beer and some otherwise. We put those cans and bottles in a tub in the alley behind our house. They never last more than a couple hours. The homeless people in our neighborhood are running the most efficient social service in Portland. It is a multi-pronged attack that works in teams and patterns.

Being efficient will be the key to this summer's World Cup. In the same vein as the homeless people here in Southeast Portland, there are a handful of teams who stand out for their efficient style of football. Spain, Holland, England and Brazil all progressed easily to the World Cup Finals in South Africa.

Spain as a team boasts a staggering 9 players listed at 5'9'' or less on their initial 30 man roster. While its seems inconceivable that a team of tiny people could beat a team of full sized humans; we all saw how effective the Munchkins were in Oz. Spanish coach Vicente Del Bosque’s toughest job may be finding minutes for his multitude of talented midfielders. Xavi Hernandez, David Silva, and Andres Iniesta helped Spain run the park in Euro 2008. Cesc Fabregas, Juan Mata, and Xabi Alonso will all fight for time in South Africa. Barcelona’s axis man Xavi will surely be the first name on the Spanish team sheet. Hernandez’s game is brilliantly simple, his skills remind me of the 8 Bit Nintendo controller. He may only have an A and B button, but his one touch passing drives the flowing Spanish attack.

Holland and England similarly cruised to qualification. The Dutch allowed 2 goals in qualification. The late season form of Arjen Robben and Rafael Van der Vaart should be very encouraging for the Orange clad masses who will descend on Jo-Burg on June 14. No one travels quite like the Dutch. That support will can expect a flowing and aggressive attack. Barring upsets the men in Orange could face Brazil in the round of 16 in a match up that would be easily labeled appointment viewing.

Fabio Capello has converted England into a ruthlessly efficient machine. One need look no further than the 4-1 demolition of Croatia in qualification. England seemed to score with every attack that night in Zagreb. The Boy Wayne Rooney has been fantastic all year for club and country. Rooney’s tender feet will replace the Gerrard/Lampard debate as the key issue in England’s success. Blazer fans should feel pretty comfortable watching the Three Lions: BRoy's role of overly depended upon superstar is played by Rooney, crafty bench veteran will be played by Jamie Carragher, not Juwan Howard, and the ultra talented youngster is Theo Walcott rather than Nic Batum. The role of pouting underperforming Spaniard will continue to be played by Rudy Fernandez.

Brazil have been solid if far from spectacular. A roster with names like Robinho, Dani Alves, Elano and Kaka would seem to be high on style. The reality is that Dunga has built a new form of Brazil; a team that defends and puts opponents to the sword via the counter attack. I would say Brazil is typified not by stars Alves and Kaka but by Felipe Melo. The big midfielder is not your typical Brazilian footballer. This is a man who can be found on Youtube celebrating a tackle.

Lastly the measure of inefficiency is Argentina. Little Leo Messi has been fantastic in almost every appearance for Spanish Champions Barcelona. He is yet to burn with the same brightness for the Albiceleste. In addition to Messi, Argentina could field a man who scored 27 goals for Real Madrid (Gonzalo Higuain), a man worth 60 Million Euros (Kun Aguero), and, ho hum, a 23 goal scorer from the Premiership (Carlos Tevez). That bag full of riches was mangled by Diego Maradona to the point that they nearly missed qualifying for the World Cup. It would have been like what Isaiah Thomas did to the New York Knicks, only done in 1 year instead of over the course of 4. This much wasted talent is the literal definition of inefficiency.

Final 4: England v Brazil and Argentina v Spain.
Final: Spain v Brazil.
Wearing the crown: Spain.
Dark Horse teams to watch: USA, Nigeria, and Denmark.

Players to watch:
Bastian Schweinsteiger - someone will need to step up in the absence of Mr. Germany Michael Ballack.
Yoann Gourcuff - I saw France play in Euro 2008 and it looked like they were unsure how to play without Zidane in the middle of the park. Gourcuff could be the man to settle this issue.

Golden Boot: David Villa - Spain will score goals and win games. My guess is Villa helps with both.

-Article by Peter Neal with illustrations by Ben House