Image by Vectorportal.com

All eyes were on Argentina/Portugal, billed as the Messi v. Ronaldo clash by just about everyone, but I like to think of it as the inferior version of El Clasico.  Barcelona and Real Madrid are better than Argentina and Portugal in just about every way, mostly thanks to the Spanish internationals playing at the peak of their careers right now.

I don’t mean to snub great players like Ever Banega, Esteban Cambiasso, Joao Moutinho or Raul Meireles, and I am aware the match was a friendly and so the players, mindful of upcoming games, may not have given everything.  And I do not think that only the Spanish contribute to the superiority of the club teams, but Casillas, Valdes, Xavi, Pique, David Villa, Puyol, Xabi Alonso, Ramos, Iniesta, and Pedro would surely find their way into the international set-up of either Portugal or Argentina.  Similarly, I think other Barcelona/Madrid players would do the same, especially Dani Alves, Mesut Ozil, Kaka and Eric Abidal.

While many rightly focus on Messi and Ronaldo as the two centerpieces of their teams, I believe last night’s match was really a battle between the coaches, and I can say that both won, despite the 2-1 scoreline favoring Argentina.  The underwhelming World Cup performances of both Argentina and Portugal were probably due to bizarre selection, and even stranger tactics from Argentina’s and Portugal’s respective managers.

Last night, finally, after an excruciating World Cup where Messi would collect the ball at the halfway line and attempt to create chances/dribble the entire opposition, Lionel was advanced to positions where he could much more effective.  The first goal even looked like one of those vintage Messi moments that have become his trademark of genius: the Argentine, on the right, ran at the (terrified) defenders at pace, cut in left at the top of the eighteen yard box, ran parallel to the goal line while skipping around two challenges, and then, when everyone was expecting a glory-finish, La Pulga split two more defenders with a pass so perfectly weighted that Angel di Maria could tap it around the goalkeeper with his weaker right foot.

If the top left corner of the eighteen yard box is called “La Zona Del Piero” in Italian football, the top right must now be called “La Zona Messi” in Spanish football.

And, finally Cristiano Ronaldo he has stopped being the lone center forward of Portugal.  While he certainly has the attributes of no. 9 finishers (pace, two-footed shooting, heading, goal-hunger bordering on selfishness, quick reactions), I think the new Ronaldo is better behind a forward, even a not-so-thrilling one like Hugo Almeida.  And while CR7 still has the tendency to try huge shots from distance that rarely come off, Ronaldo is more likely to pass with someone in front of him, to involve players like Nani in the buildup, etc.  Portugal look much better for this tactical shift.  The painful long passes to Ronaldo that we all saw towards the end of Portugal/Spain in the World Cup are hopefully things of the past.

The new coaches of Argentina and Portugal, it seemed to me, may have swallowed their egos, their desires to find new ways to field the best players in the world and be hailed for it, and simply did the obvious: they played no. 10 and no. 7 in the positions from which they have profited the most at the club level.  There is no shame in taking lessons from great coaches, and if Paulo Bento and Sergio Batista were inspired by the style of Frank Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola, Alex Ferguson, and Jose Mourinho, then two of the best national teams in the world can only benefit.

1. Croatia – Malta

Croatia beat Malta, no surprises there.  The only reason I start with this match is its status as a qualifier.  And to talk about Niko Kranjcar.  Harry Redknapp is unappreciative of the obviously gifted Croatian and the rumors are flying that he’s looking to leave.  I’d urge Mr. Redknapp to reconsider, especially after this performance.

While a brace against Malta is no brace against Spain, Kranjcar is the sort of player that Spurs should learn to manage in order to become more competitive.  He’s got the goods to play for a top team, and a sale to an EPL club would hurt their ambition.  With Lennon still not delivering, and over reliance  on Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart becoming problematic in the face of injuries, why not give Kranjcar a spot as a right sided attacking midfielder?

Next was Argentina against Brazil in Qatar…

2. Argentina – Brazil

Although Argentina won, I have more to say about Brazil, but first – Mr. Messi.  The real positive for Argentina is that Messi can have a so-so night and still decide to run half the length of the pitch before nutmegging his marker with a low shot that beats the keeper.  Sure it was only one goal and the defense didn’t seem to be moving at 100% pace, but a friendly of this nature is never a friendly.  Second, praise for Javier Pastore, who scored a hat trick this weekend but only partially showed why a big club will almost certainly splash out big money for him this summer.  If he gels with the Argentina front three Los Albiceleste will be a horrifying opponent for everyone.

That being said, Brazil to me looked better on the pitch.  If this were a league fixture I’d say a point a piece would be fair, but since only reputations (in a friendly) were at stake, I doubt many of the players, especially the veterans, will be beating themselves up too much about the loss.

A positive they can take from this is that Ronaldinho is not finished for them.  He was perhaps too much of a fantasia (an attempted back heel goal might have been buried by a swivel and hard shot) but it was his first performance for Brazil since Dunga had decided on the players he would take to the World Cup.

Lastly, Chelsea should take heart from Ramires’ wonderful performances at the center of the pitch.  He was a great marker but also wasn’t a bad when Brazil needed men forward.  If Carlo Ancelotti was watching, he might be considering how to tinker with the Chelsea lineup to get such efforts out of the Brazilian.

3. England – France

England lose and France win; an ancient rivalry marks another event; what else can we take from this?  It certainly seems that Laurent Blanc has go his players singing the national anthem; Fabio Capello doesn’t seem nearly as interested in making his England players display the same patriotic feelings.

As for football matters, the French deserved their victory.  They created more clear chances and looked the senior team, although they, like the Three Lions, had a fresher look about them than the teams of South Africa 2010.  While France’s new faces might be more a matter of long term plan than England’s (which may have been more injury related), the integration has been done more smoothly.

With players who have amassed plenty of club caps but fewer international caps (Adil Rami, Mathieu Valbuena), Les Blues played a more balanced game.  There were no Kieran Gibbs on the pitch for France, a player thrown into England with fewer than 35 Arsenal caps in all competitions, including those tough Carling Cup fixtures!  Instead, the youngsters for France (M’Vila and Sakho) has almost 50 caps in less than a season and a half for Rennes and over 100 for PSG, respectively. Both are considered integral parts of the set up; Gibbs is a fringe presence at Arsenal, especially this season.

Extras:

The Iberian Derby was a total rout.  Sergio Ramos apparently forgot what his teammate Ronaldo can do.  Mourinho seems to have held Ramos in check to great effect for Real Madrid.  Sure, he doesn’t bomb forward to terrorize the opponents as he used to, but Madrid is no longer left exposed to counter attacks.  Perhaps Spain should take a lesson.  Manchester United will be pleased to see Nani’s boast about being a top player wasn’t all talk, either.  As for Spain, the whole world knows how they play.  They seem unwilling to change the (very effective) philosophy.  Top teams with top coaches can exploit this.

So they almost didn’t make it, but in the end won the last two games to make sure they would be part of the World Cup party. It all came down to the final match to get through though. They had to win in Montevideo for the first time in 33 years to make sure they finished 4th in the South American group. Argentina scrambling to finish 4th? Behind those giants of South American football Chile and Paraguay.

Maradona used 102 different players in his first 14 months and the players who didn’t make the squad are probably the biggest surprises of any of the finalised 23 man squads in the competition. No Cambiasso and Zanetti, both imperious for Internazionale this season. No Coloccini or Milito in central defence and no place for Real Madrid’s midfield tyro Gago. Surely 5 excellent players, but deemed surplus to requirements for Maradona in South Africa.

So, the manager cuts 5 players which most people would imagine should be in the Argentinian squad and a relationship with Juan Roman Riquelme that is non-existent at best. A qualifying campaign that almost ended in disaster, a tactical mess that sees the manager play 4 centre backs in defence and an inability to get Lionel Messi to replicate his domestic form. So why do they worry me so. I’ve got this nagging feeling that everything is going to click in to place come June 11th.

All common sense points to Argentina continuing the widely chaotic form into the World Cup. I doubt Maradona will change from his rigid 4-4-2 formation to let Messi play as he is used to in Barcelona’s 4-3-3 style, but then again, should Maradona build Argentina around Messi, or alternatively should the Worlds best player be able to adapt to a change in style?

So why do I feel that they could be genuine challengers? What is it that troubles me so? I thought they’d go all the way in 2006, but they fell apart against Germany and limped out of the competition. I’ll be honest, I have a secret admiration for Argentina, I do. I know, as an Englishman, it should be part of my patriotic make up that I should despise them, but I can’t. Maradona, handball aside, is still one of my favourite players ever. I boo Brazil and cheer on one of my countries fiercest footballing rivals.If England don’t win it, I want Argentina to do so. No really.

Yet even through rose tinted spectacles, I still think they were very,very fortunate to get here. Any team who loses a qualifying game 6-1 away from home, is flying by the seat of their pants in regards to being a challenger for the title. Tactically, it doesn’t work, some of the players who haven’t been chosen make me scratch my head and the worlds best player struggles in the system, but still they nag away at me.

They’re in a group that could hold a few surprises, with the effective if dull Greeks, the unfancied Nigerians and the passionate South Koreans. It is a group that could cause them problems, but still I think they’ll have too much to not get through. It’s the one group that I’ll be keeping a keen eye on, purely to see if Argentina can finally make this tactical disaster a beautiful spectacle.

Please leave me your comments and you can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/paulbestall

Pepsi has unveiled one of their new TV adverts for the 2010 World Cup which star Thierry Henry, Lionel Messi, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Andrei Arshavin and Kaka.

Sit back and enjoy the video.

Argentine ace and Barcelona star Lionel Messi has had quite a year.  After leading Barcelona to an unprecedented treble in the Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Ray he is now up for both the Ballon d’Or (European footballer of the year) and the equally prestigious FIFA World Player of the Year.

Last year Messi was beaten to both awards by Portuguese ace Cristiano Ronaldo, then at Manchester United.  Chosing between the two stars is an almost impossible task in all honesty but for me personally Messi just about edges it and he is the favourite for both awards this time round.  After playing a massive part in Barcelona’s success it would be scandalous if he didn’t win one of the awards, if not both.  Ronaldo may have made the mega-money move to Real Madrid and he too enjoyed a fantastic season, but perhaps not quite as fantastic as the campaign he enjoyed when he lifted both awards.

Anyway, here are the shortlists of nominations for both awards.

FIFA World Player of the Year (23 players):

Michael Ballack (Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Diego (Brazil), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast),

Michael Essien (Ghana), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Steven Gerrard (England), Thierry Henry (France), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Kaka (Brazil), Frank Lampard (England), Luis Fabiano (Brazil),

Lionel Messi (Argentina), Carles Puyol (Spain), Franck Ribery (France), Wayne Rooney (England), John Terry (England), Fernando Torres (Spain), David Villa (Spain), Xavi (Spain).

The Ballon d’Or (European footballer of the year – 30 players):

Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux), Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona),

Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Kaka (Real Madrid), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Maicon (Inter Milan), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), John Terry (Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), David Villa (Valencia), Xavi (Barcelona),

Yaya Toure (Barcelona) Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Diego (Juventus), Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Edin Dzeko (Wolfsburg), Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal).

The winner of the Ballon d’Or will be announced on December 1, while the winner of the FIFA World Player of the Year will be announced on December 21.

The majority of these players will be on display at next summer’s World Cup in South Africa.  The French contingent still have to get through a play-off with the Irish, which is by no means a done deal.  Portugal face the relatively unknown quantity of Bosnia-Herzegovina in their own play-off so Ronaldo may not make the tournament in South Africa if the Bosnians pull off an upset.  I wouldn’t dismiss Bosnia either in fairness, they have their own stars such as Edin Dzeko (a fellow Ballon d’Or nominee) amongst others and they will put up a decent fight.  Messi will certainly be at the tournament, and that can only be a good thing for the spectator.

Written by Gareth Freeman, a sports writer who provides World Cup 2010 betting news for Betfair.

Now that Argentina has qualified to the World Cup ensuring the presence of star player Lionel Messi, barring any injury or outlandish suspension,  how does one evaluate the comments made by FIFA President Sepp Blatter? Prior to the decisive qualifiers which yielded  Argentina’s qualification to South Africa as well as Portugal’s opportunity to do so through a  two-legged playoff clash with Bosnia & Herzegovina, Blatter declared that the World Cup will not be affected if Messi or Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo were missing.

Obviously, some will attribute Blatter’s remarks as a way to minimise the adverse effects the World Cup tournament might have suffered had any star players missed on South Africa. On current form, Messi is probably one of the world’s best players if not the best and he is listed as a nominee for the title of world footballer of the year by French magazine France Football which hands out the Ballon d’Or. Also on that list is current holder Cristiano Ronaldo who joined Real Madrid for a record fee. With Messi’s presence in South Africa 2010 now guaranteed, will the tournament need Ronaldo to be a successful one in terms of TV viewership, sponsorship and overall appeal or will his potential absence be overcome by Argentine Messi’s qualification?

The World Cup is by far the most prominent football trophy and is considered the top attraction for fans worldwide so it would have been unlikely that Messi’s or Ronaldo’s absence could drastically affect the event. The very talented and much-maligned French team of 1994 missed on the World Cup and yet the tournament was not doomed. The World Cup itself serves as a stepping-stone and centre stage for emerging and unknown talents with the likes of Italy’s Salvatore ‘Toto’ Schillaci and Russia’s Oleg Salenko claiming the scoring crown  in 1990 and 1994 respectively yet failing to shine afterwards. Thus, the tournament is a distinct feature from club football and most of the club and international football matches which took place prior to the event are set aside and considered meaningless. It can be argued that missing Ronaldo and Messi would have been damaging, yet Blatter might have a point this time when he claims that the World Cup would not have been hindered by their absence.

Most of the heavy favourites have already qualified for the World Cup due next summer in South Africa. Previous World Cup winners such as Brazil, Germany, England, Argentina and Italy (also current WC Winners) all booked their spot in South Africa following a long and arduous road. Some teams such as Argentina have struggled while others such as England have cruised, yet the World Cup stage is a different playing field and previous results will not count. The only two teams with an outside chance that have yet to qualify are France and Portugal while the Spaniards have impressed in their group following their 2008 triumph in Europe.

Spain cannot be overlooked due to its rich talent, in particular the likes of David Villa, Xavi Herndandez and Fernando Torres among others. Other than Spain, the English national team under Italian Coach Fabio Capello had an impressive tally of points after convincingly navigating the qualifying group stage. Capello can count on the likes of Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, and Steven Gerrard to carry England all the way into the final stages.

The Brazilians and the Germans as well as the Italians often perform their best when it matters most. Brazil has a plethora of talent beginning with current Real Madrid star Kaka and stretching to right-back Maicon who plays for Inter Milan. The Italians are current World Cup holders so there will be additional pressure on the Azzurri to perform following  a relatively uninspiring qualifying campaign. It will be wrong to undermine Italy’s chances when considering that Gianluigi Buffon is recapturing his best form which had him labeled as the best custodian in the world while Daniele De Rossi remains a considerable driving force in the midfield engine room.

While Argentina had a horrendous sequence of results before securing qualification  in the very last match, it is not wise to exclude the Argentines from the list of potential winners though Diego Maradona as a coach has shown over and again that he not only lacks the know-how but also is clueless when it comes to strategies, team selection and tactics. After all, Argentina still has Lionel Messi though he continues to underperform when compared to his exploits with Barcelona.

Will one of the traditional powers (i.e. Brazil, Germany or Italy) or will an emerging nation (Spain and England) or a new rising team (Ivory Coast) triumph in South Africa? For the record no European team has ever won outside Europe and the trend could very well continue if Brazil performs up to expectations or perhaps a surprising African package rises to the occasions just as the South Koreans did in Asia 2002 when they made it to the semi-finals.