Barcelona had just scored eight goals without reply at Almeria the previous week, which prompted Cristiano Ronaldo to dismissively say: “I’d like to see them get eight on Monday”. They got five in the end, but it was a performance so complete, it probably felt like an eight-goal thrashing. The result was an era-defining one. They had destroyed their arch-rivals, who had fielded the most expensive side in history, costing €292m. They had rendered the tactics of Real Madrid manager Mourinho, so often the scourge of Barcelona with his exploits with Chelsea and Inter Milan, impotent.
The statistics were also damning. Barcelona had completed 636 passes to Real’s 279. They scored with their first four shots on target, the second being a twenty-pass move accompanied by a chorus of olés. Strangely, Lionel Messi (who has scored a record number of goals this calendar year with an insane total of 58 goals in 54 games) didn’t get on the score-sheet but did assist twice. Surely this game finally ends the pointless debate concerning who is the better player – Messi or Ronaldo?
There were fewer dribbles and less fantasy in Messi’s game, as he adopted the team ethos in precision passing, which humiliated Real Madrid. Xavi, now generally recognized as the best midfielder in Spanish history, hit a 100+ passes for the sixth time this season, completing 114 of his 117 passes. He also scored the opener, before Pedro, Villa (2) and Jeffren Suarez completed the rout. Real were reduced to kicking Barcelona off the pitch and bemused looks at one another, wondering how to cope with such genius.
Barcelona 1-0 Inter Milan (28/04/2010)
Mourinho called this result “the most beautiful defeat of my life”. Inter lead this Champions League semi-final 3-1 from the first leg in the San Siro. This was a clash of vastly different philosophies – tiki-taka and catenaccio. The clash in styles of further emphasised as Mourinho altered his starting line-up minutes before kick-off, replacing the “injured” Goran Pandev for the more defensive Christian Chivu.
In the opening leg, the Catalans had complained that the pitch had been altered to suit Inter’s tactics. This time, the grass had been cut short and watered to Guardiola’s specifications. Barcelona, as expected, monopolised possession, as Inter defended admirably. It was a much harder task as Motta was sent off for a second yellow, catching Sergio Bursquets lightly in the face. The Spaniard went down in a comically inept fashion, holding his face, before sneaking a look to make sure his opponent would be sent off. Inter battled manfully, with Barcelona’s eventual breakthrough coming in the 84th minute through a smart turn and finish from defender Gerard Pique.
Then Bojan fired the all-important goal in the 91st minute as the Nou Camp erupted, only for the goal to be disallowed because of a harsh handball call on Yaya Toure in the build-up. Perhaps it was karmic retribution for Busquet’s douchebaggery earlier in the game, but for Mourinho, it was vindication for the transcendental negativity of his tactics as he took Inter to their first European Cup win since 1965. It wasn’t a great game but the tension alone made it one of the defining games of the year.
It is a well known fact that some of the greatest amounts of natural resources on the planet lie within the geographical boundaries of Russia and Qatar. It is also common knowledge that neither of these nations has ever hosted a World Cup. They present FIFA and its sponsors a clear opportunity to exploit new markets and continue the world football governing body’s rampant commercialism in the Blatter era. When you combine financial possibilities with bikini-clad models (as Russia did in their final presentation at the FIFA ExCo hotel in Zurich), it is no surprise that Russia were chosen as the hosts of the 2018 World Cup and Qatar as the 2022 hosts.
England’s bid team are left in a problematic place. The Chief Executive Andy Anson criticised the timing of the BBC Panorama investigation, while the bid team essentially denounced any accusations of corruption directed towards FIFA as false. Any moral or ethical high ground was lost when the notion of a free press was lambasted. Despite, being one of the strongest bids in terms of the independent technical report, England accrued only two votes from the twenty-two Executive committee members.
After the disappointing outcome and first round bidding exit, Anson called for FIFA to reform the bidding process. Sadly, his opinion lacks any credibility and smacks of rank hypocrisy, given the uncomfortable amount of sycophancy directed to FIFA President Sepp Blatter and his followers prior to the final announcement. Where the English bid failed was that it failed to wholly relinquish its morals and buy completely into Blatters’ agenda that FIFA is essentially a force of good for humanity.
After another calendar year of football, there have been some fantastic goals and LiberoFootball is back to look back on some of the best:
Martin Palermo – Best Header (04/10/09)
Before this goal, in a 3-2 win against Velez Sarsfield, Martin Palermo was most famous for missing a trio of penalties in a 1999 Copa America first round tie against Columbia in a 3-0 loss. He never wore the Argentina shirt until a call-up this year by a desperate Diego Maradona, where his last-gasp winner against Peru gave their faltering campaign a much needed boost.
Velez Sarsfield goalkeeper German Montoya came out of his box to clear the ball, which sailed harmlessly, at head height, towards the centre circle, where Palermo was standing, 38.9 metres from goal. The rest is history. The veteran striker said afterwards, “It always happens to me. When I look for similar stories of other players there aren’t any. Things happen to me that I can’t explain”.
Yet again, England is being placed as strong contenders for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. All after two giants of world football were dispatched in the Ukraine and Slovakia. Patrick Barclay, now of The Times, has claimed only Spain present a viable threat to England’s quest for global supremacy.
To return from Wembley late on Wednesday night, turn on the television and find Argentina being mangled by Bolivia was to be reminded of just how close England are to world supremacy.
This idea is flawed, with the closest contenders all masters of possession football – a style which England undoubtedly struggle against. Brazil, Argentina, Spain all play a ‘tiki-taka’ or ‘pass and move’ game, and even Lippi’s Italy can play fluid counter-attacking that can expose the holes in a static England. The Germans always perform on the big stage, while a number of other sides are also capable of defeating England in a one-off game and vice-versa. Holland, Russia, Turkey are also strong contenders and it would be logical to place England below that bracket currently, given the failure to qualify for Euro 2008 and the inability to play against sides who can starve England of the ball.
There is no doubt that a number of players from Brazil’s recent triumph at the South American U20 Championships will make the journey across the Atlantic and become successful players. Here are a few from that excellent crop of youngsters from the U20 Brazil side, and others who didn’t join it, but are equally promising.
Dentinho
Bruno Ferreira Bonfim, was ironically given the nickname ‘Dentinho’ meaning ‘little tooth’, as a youngster. In his first season at Corinthians, the striker scored 14 goals as the club regained a spot in the top flight. The youngster played on the left wing for Brazil in the U20 games, revealing his pace and trickery. He could have already arrived in Europe had proposals from Arsenal or Olympiakos not been rejected. A slight figure, his finishing abilities are similar to Henrik Larsson, while his pace and trickery is not unlike Robinho.
Arsenal appear to be experiencing what Bayern Munich and AC Milan did in the past few years. The side has transparent flaws which from the outside seem quite easily fixable, with balance being the buzz word bandied around Arsene Wenger’s recent press conferences, along with the now-famous quotes such as ‘We lacked a little bit of sharpness’ and ‘We played with a little bit of a handbrake’. The imbalance in the side has meant neither priority of goals and clean sheets is fulfilled simultaneously.
Early in the season, creatively and goals were at a premium, unfortunately for Arsenal, at both ends of the pitch. The lack of a midfield shield or enforcer meant too many runners bypassed the ball-watching Denilson and Arsenal were conceding far too many chances. The focus shifted once Fabregas strained knee ligaments in the home clash against Liverpool, with Song the only viable option. The decrease in attacking potency catalysed a shift to a more defensive approach, with Clichy and Sagna reducing the frequency of their attacking forays, Song and Denilson breaking up opposition attacks but creating largely nothing. The pressure of creativity fell largely on the shoulders of Samir Nasri, a promising signing in his first six months of English football. To be fair to the former Marseille youth, he had largely adapted very swiftly, but on several occasions, he has opted to pass back to his full-back rather than attempt to put his marker on the back foot, ending any attacking momentum. The club was also reliant on Robin van Persie for goals and assists; he provided both through the whole of January. Such pressure on two players is in most cases ephemeral.
The whole racism issue in Spain was apparently set to be eradicated after the initial furore about former Spain coach Luis Aragones calling Thierry Henry ‘a black s**t’ in a bid to motivate his then team-mate Jose Antonio Reyes. The measly fine awarded for the incident was a day’s wages in £2000. And the Spanish FA declined to take any action initially, before being forced by the Spanish anti-violence commission.
The Russian side has been the most vocal in the January transfer window, alongside Garry Cook and his failed attempt to sign Kaka and Adriano Gaillani’s desire to keep David Beckham. From the various voices at the club, vastly differing news has come out of St. Petersburg. Together with Andrei Arshavin’s talkative agent Dennis Lachter (the Guardian compiled evidence of his tendency to speak when a mike is put before him); the move of the Russian playmaker has led astray the media who appear to be changing the state of the move to Arsenal with every passing day until the February 2nd deadline.
If Liberofootball.com was an employee of BSkyB or ITV, it would be looking for every single angle to sensationalise yesterdays Champions League draw for the round of 16.
The Anglo-Italian ties have made the headlines as Claudio ‘Tinker-man’ Ranieri returns to Stamford Bridge to face his former side Chelsea with Juventus. The 54 year old Italian tactician has been heavily criticised for his moment of madness against Monaco in 2004: Hasselbaink on the right wing? Clearly the tabloids haven’t gotten over the fact that managers make mistakes.
Well, they did say a week is a long time in football. How relevant that statement is for Real Madrid. After losing 3-4 at home to a Sevilla comprehensively dismantled by Barcelona the week before, and the manager Bernd Schuster intent on relieving himself of his duties by claiming there is no hope of even at draw in the Nou Camp, the fans of los Blancos had the handkerchiefs out in force.
