by Nick Holt
Trinidad only drew 1–1 at home, but a header from centre-half Denis Lawrence won them the away leg. They had the same mix of islanders and English pros as Jamaica in 1998, and their big star was Dwight Yorke, although he was thirty-five in 2006 and played as a creative midfield player not the predatory striker he was in his heyday at Aston Villa and Manchester United. Trindidad’s scorer in the first half was Chris Birchall of Port Vale; a very un-West Indian-looking white guy; Birchall was eligible through his mother, born in Port-of-Spain. The hero of the hour, Denis Lawrence, played for Wrexham, and a move to Swansea after the tournament saw him become an important part of the club’s rise under Roberto Martinez; he has subsequently worked with Martinez as a coach at Wigan and now Everton.
African qualification threw up the biggest surprises. Four new nations qualified for the World Cup nations for the first time, while old hands like Algeria, Nigeria and Cameroon missed out. Togo put out Senegal, winning their last match 3–2 away to Congo. Their strike force of Mohamed Kader and the big, quick Monaco forward Emmanuel Adebayor looked a handful. Ghana won their section handsomely; a weak South African side finished only third, which didn’t bode well for 2010.
The third group was tough: Egypt were a good side but couldn’t match the power up front of Cameroon, who had Samuel Eto’o, or Ivory Coast, who had the powerful combination of Aruna Dindane of Lens and Chelsea’s Didier Drogba. Cameroon beat Ivory Coast home and away, but they lost in Egypt, and when they slipped up in the final match, conceding a late equaliser at home to the Egyptians, it was Ivory Coast who sneaked in with a win in Sudan. Drogba and friends would be a threat, but Africa’s best team would be missed.
Group Four produced an even bigger shock. Angola beat Nigeria at home in their second game with a late goal from Akwá (born Fabrice Alcebiades). From there on it was nip and tuck between the two, and a defeat in Zimbabwe for Angola handed Nigeria a slight advantage. It was going to be close so Nigeria needed to win the return against Angola. Jay-Jay Okocha gave them an early lead but they couldn’t finish it off despite dominating possession, and an equaliser from the veteran Figueireido proved important. Nigeria won their last match easily over Zimbabwe but they were thwarted by that man Akwá, who scored another late winner in Rwanda to send Angola through. They enjoyed the draw for the Finals, too, which pitted them against the Portuguese, their one-time colonial masters.
The North African sides were having a bad time; the top three in each group qualified for the next African Cup of Nations to save another long-winded round of qualifiers, but Algeria couldn’t even manage that, finishing way down in fifth in Angola’s section.
Tunisia and Morocco did better for the region in the last group, which was marred by crowd trouble at the match between Kenya and Morocco when one person was killed in a stampede at the stadium. Perhaps small beer in the wider scale of suffering on the continent, but Kenya’s next game was ordered to be placed behind closed doors. In another tight group the point Morocco dropped at that match in Kenya was crucial, as Tunisia won the silent match and went into their last game needing to draw with Morocco to top the group by a point. They came from behind twice to get the point, defenders Clayton and Chedli scoring the necessary goals.
It was the usual suspects from Europe. Germany were through as hosts. Some pundits thought it just as well; they had the most nondescript side anyone could remember, and may have struggled in one of the better groups. I’m not sure I subscribe to that – the Germans always find a way.
Holland breezed through the first group, with the Czech Republic clinching second and a play-off place. The Czechs scored for fun, with thirty-five goals in twelve matches, nine for the giant six foot seven (and a bit) Jan Koller. Portugal were equally supreme in Group Three, with Pauleta contributing eleven of their thirty-five goals. Slovakia finished second, eliminating an out-of-sorts Russian team.
Italy won Group Five easily, and Norway were an equally comfortable second, five points ahead of Scotland. Italy’s only defeat was away to Slovenia, who started well and faded. Scotland were horribly inconsistent. They had a bad start, losing at home to Norway and dropping points at home to Slovenia and in Moldova. A brave away win in Oslo with two first half goals from Kenny Miller was encouraging but a dreadful performance at home to Belarus and a 1–0 defeat the following month was anything but.
England and Poland carved up Group Six between them. England’s early win in Chorzów gave them a head start but a slip in Belfast and a 1–0 defeat to Northern Ireland meant they were five points behind the Poles with two games remaining (Poland had only one). A narrow win over Austria at Wembley meant both England and Poland were through – the two second-placed teams with the best record were in the Finals. As it goes England won the group, Frank Lampard’s winner giving them a fully deserved 2–1 win over Poland in the last game. Had the goal been scored by a South American pundits would have been in raptures; a controlled volley from a cross dipping over a defender that the Chelsea man had to stretch to reach. Superb technique from a world-class footballer.
The game at Windsor Park was a great night for Northern Ireland and their all-time top scorer David Healy, but it was a smokescreen. They lost at home to Wales, and the only other team either of them beat was Azerbaijan. Northern Ireland finished fourth in the group, Wales fifth. Also rans.
In a group where ten of the twenty serious games (i.e. not involving San Marino) were drawn, Spain drew one more than Serbia, and would have to be content with a play-off place. Belgium were a major disappointment and finished behind Bosnia-Herzegovina in fourth. Serbia conceded only goal in their ten matches, to Raúl in Madrid. Watch this space.
The other second-placed team to go through direct was Sweden. They played really well in their group except against Croatia, who beat them twice, both 1–0, both to a goal around the hour mark from wing-back Darijo Srna. Zlatan Ibrahimovic made a good impression in the group; Bulgaria and Hungary made none, the excellent Dimitar Berbatov apart.
Two groups were much closer. Group Two, one of the big seven-team groups, had four fairly evenly matched sides at the top: Denmark, Greece, Turkey and Ukraine. Compile a mini group of results between the four teams and Ukraine are comfortably on top, with Turkey second. The actual group finished in the same order, although a couple of draws against the weaker sides meant Ukraine were only two points clear. Greece, who had won the European Championship with either a tactical masterclass or stifling negativity, depending on your viewpoint, finished fourth, confirming the view that their victory was a freak one-off.
France drew far too many games, and had to recall some of their veterans to dig them out of trouble. With Henry and Trezeguet never as effective for France as for their clubs, they were struggling to find the net, but they qualified with something to spare in the end. Switzerland, Ireland and Israel were pursuing second place, and a lot of draws meant the issue went right to the last game. Israel were on eighteen points but had finished their schedule, while Switzerland, on seventeen, met Ireland (sixteen) in Dublin; this meant Israel’s spot was a false position, as they had a worse goal difference than the Swiss and both their games were drawn. Ireland needed a win and a packed Lansdowne roared them on, but the Swiss were an obdurate, well-organised side and held out for a 0–0 draw.
In the play-offs Spain beat Slovakia 5–1 at home with a hattrick from Luis García and that was that. The Czechs won home and away against Norway, and looked a good side in doing so. The other tie was a stormy affair. Switzerland won the home leg 2–0 against Turkey, but still had to cope with the seething pit of hate that was Istanbul, one of the most difficult cities to visit as an away team. When Alpay’s handball was spotted by the linesman early on, Frei’s penalty seemed to settle Swiss nerves and the tie. Not a bit of it. Turkey mounted a thrilling fight-back and headed goals from Tuncay meant they were 2–1 up at half-time. He pinched the second one off Şükür, but given the contrast in their contribution to the game that was fair enough. Emre bought a penalty after
Streller foolishly stretched out a leg for him to trip over and Necati converted; now the Swiss only had the slimmest advantage of away goals. Streller’s break-away after some careless defending on the left should have finished it but the Swiss weakness on crosses was exposed again as Tuncay grabbed his third from close range.
After the final whistle a massive fight broke out in the tunnel which resulted in six-match bans and fines for Alpay, Emre and Huggel, and a longer exclusion for a couple of Turkish officials, who had been clearly itching to start a fight on the touchline. Alpay should have been banned for longer, he was the principal antagonist. In one night Turkey had undone the good work of 2002.
Finals
The draw was better thought out than last time. Eight top seeds; eight good non-European sides; eight unseeded European sides and seven unseeded non-European sides plus the extra team, Serbia. What you didn’t want, as a top seed, was Ivory Coast from Pot B, Holland or Portugal from Pot C, and USA or Serbia as your supposedly weak team.
Germany got it easy, England were okay, although Sweden would be tough, Mexico drew Portugal but also two weak teams while Brazil, France and Spain were all happy enough down at the bottom of the draw. Italy got the USA, which added to a good Czech side and a strong African qualifier in Ghana left a notoriously slows-starting team with work to do.
The press always like to write up a “group of death” and they did so this time with due cause. Serbia had to be in with a non-European top seed, and it happened to be Argentina. The group needed another European side and drew the Dutch, down in the lower pot after their failure to qualify for the 2002 Finals. The non-European side drawn into this group was Ivory Coast. The group had arguably the strongest team in each pot of the draw.
GROUP A
Easily the most entertaining opening match the tournament has seen. Germany had been written off. They had a shortage of top-class players and their manager, Jürgen Klinsmann, who had little or no experience and to whom they turned in desperation rather than expectation, commuted from the USA and watched Bundesliga games only on video. To make matters worse their best player, Michael Ballack, was carrying an injury and was left out of the first match. But surely they wouldn’t lose to Costa Rica?
No, actually, they wouldn’t. Philipp Lahm, the young attacking left-back at Bayern Munich, advanced upfield and curled a delicious right-footed shot into the corner. Six minutes on the clock. Appealing for offside (wrongly) instead of defending is never a good idea, and Paolo Wanchope took advantage a few minutes later, scampering through in that rather unsteady way of his to level. He did the same again in the second half – this time he was offside but the goal stood. Fortunately Klose had scored twice before that, deflecting Schweinsteiger’s miscued shot past Porras and then converting a far post cross at the second attempt. Frings added a late fourth with a long-range howitzer to make the scoreline a more accurate reflection of the game; worries about the middle of the defence, but a win, at least. Wanchope scored forty-five goals for Costa Rica, although lots were against Caribbean islands with the population of Leicester; mind you, he probably scored against Leicester while he was at Manchester City. He was fun to watch, beating people without ever seeming to have the ball under control, and he had a dangerous skill of shooting with no back-lift and surprising goalkeepers – they like to see the trigger pulled back. And he always smiled when he scored, which was nice, instead of pumping his first or kissing his badge.
Poland were ineffectual against Ecuador, who scored first, defended well and got a late second through Delgado, now back home after his nightmare spell in England. Ecuador’s captain, Iván Hurtado, had a great game; he was thirty-one and playing in Qatar but he had 130 caps and knew his way around a football pitch.
The same two scorers, Carlos Tenorio and Delgado, put paid to Costa Rica, and Kaviedes added a late third. Delgado’s finished was hit with astonishing power; had Porras got in the way it might have killed him! Germany beat a defensive Poland, but needed an injury-time goal from Neuville to get the points.
Ecuador decided to rest a few guys against Germany, and Klose got two more goals in a 3–0 win as Germany sought to win the group. There is always a debate when teams do this: there is the benefit of rest for key players, especially those playing with a niggle or in their thirties and struggling with three games in ten days, to be balanced against the risk of meeting the group winners in the next phase. Ecuador probably took a sensible view in this instance; there wasn’t much between England and Sweden and these two looked certain to be the second round opponents from the next group.
GROUP B
There really wasn’t much between England and Sweden. Neither looked terribly convincing in their opening game. England got an early break against Paraguay when the great Carlos Gamarra deflected Beckham’s free-kick past his own goalkeeper, but the game petered out. There were calls in the press for someone with pace to replace Beckham down the right, but he looked fine in this game, rarely giving the ball away and supplying the usual stream of crosses. Sweden made all the running but found veteran goalkeeper Shaka Hislop in unbeatable form. It was a poor effort against a team reduced to ten men just after half-time, but Dwight Yorke was surprisingly effective in a defensive midfield role, showing a bit of unexpected bite in the tackle and using the ball intelligently.
It was more of the same against England and a second point looked possible until Peter Crouch rose to head Beckham’s deep cross in under the bar. He owed the team a goal after missing a sitter in the first half (although he wasn’t the only one). John Terry spared earlier embarrassment with a terrific hook off the line after a mix up at the back. Steven Gerrard added a second in injury-time with a rising left-footer. Sweden left their winner against Paraguay late as well; Freddie Ljungberg’s finish from Allbäck’s header back across goal was just enough.
England won the group with a draw against Sweden, but it was another laboured effort that drew fierce criticism from the press. England actually played well in the first half, especially after having to bring on a sub in the second minute when Michael Owen’s leg went from under him. He played no further part in the tournament.
Eriksson brought in Owen Hargreaves as the defensive midfielder at the expense of Gerrard. The change was greeted negatively but Gerrard hadn’t played well and Hargreaves had a super game, full of good, crisp tackling and energetic runs. Joe Cole looked really lively on the left and he gave England the lead when he chested a clearance and volleyed it back over the goalkeeper’s head into the top corner. A special effort. Cole started to confirm his promise in this tournament, but Mourinho clearly didn’t fancy him at Chelsea and he stayed there a couple of years too long.
England showed huge fallibility on crosses in the game, both Sweden’s goals came from deep crosses and both Allbäck and Mellberg came close from set pieces. Gerrard, on for a fitful Wayne Rooney, who started for the first time since his pretournament injury, headed England back in front, but Sweden deserved Larsson’s injury-time equaliser.
GROUP C
The group of death was, after all the pre-tournament baloney, a quick death for two of the teams. Drogba’s power and pace gave Argentina one or two anxious moments, but they were too skilful and kept the ball too well and Drogba’s late goal was mere compensation for a good effort on his part than a serious threat to Argentina.
Argentina’s next game was a master class. With Verón gone Juan Román Riquelme had taken over as playmaker. Often dismissed as one-paced, when surrounded by hard-working but neat players like Cambiasso and Mascherano and Sorin, Riquelme was just gorgeous. His orchestration of the annihilation of Serbia was the ultimate puppet-master performance, his awareness of angle and space was magical and he barely misplaced a pass all game, although he seemed to have the ball every thirty seconds. I’ve been critical of Argentina’s attitude throughout the book, and I stand by all of it, but they gave one of the all-time great displays in this match.
On six minutes Juan Pablo Sorín slipped a
sweet ball through to Saviola and his cross was met by Maxi Rodríguez who tucked it past Jevric without breaking stride. After eighteen minutes a flick from Riquelme found Saviola, he held off a challenge to move the ball tight to the advancing Cambiasso. To the edge of the box and Cambiasso played it short to Crespo, who ran to his right and then back-heeled the ball into space for Cambiasso, who hadn’t stopped. The finish was exact, high and handsome to the right as the goalkeeper dived to the left. One of the great World Cup goals, an absolute joy.
The next was all down to Saviola, who won a tackle on the right and advanced to hit a shot that Jevric half-saved; Maxi Rodríguez was first to the rebound. With Mateja Kezman off the field after a dreadful two-footed challenge, Pekerman sent on the eighteen-year-old prodigy Lionel Messi. Messi’s cross from the left was his first contribution, providing an opportunity Hernán Crespo couldn’t miss. Saviola had gone before the hour to have a well-deserved rest and leaving to a rapturous reception. Now his replacement, the bull-necked Carlos Tévez, got in on the act, breaking through two weak tackles to score with a curled finish around the unfortunate Jevric, who had done little wrong. A neat passing move played in Messi for his first World Cup goal. There would be tougher challenges ahead than a disappointing Serbia, but the tournament had clear favourites. Holland were also through after Ivory Coast again ceded a two-goal lead before mounting a fight-back.
It was no surprise that neither Argentina nor Holland bared their teeth in the third match, which was entertaining enough but lacking a couple of key players on either side. Holland fielded the speedy left-back de Cler instead of the ponderous but skilful van Bronckhorst and he did well against a nervous Messi, but Tévez looked well up for it (when doesn‘t he) and came closest to scoring with a rasping drive saved by his future Manchester United colleague Edwin van der Sar.