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Germany-Costa Rica, What Did We Learn
Friday, June 09, 2006 In no particular order... The German attack is strong, and will only get stronger when Ballack returns. At the same time, there is a reason Michael Umana didn't succeed with the LA Galaxy. The German coaches are stubborn (is this really news?). Despite clear evidence that the offside trap was not the way to go, the Germans stuck with it until the bitter end. It cost them two goals, and almost cost them the win. The German backline is highly suspect. The only test they faced in this match was, "can we execute an offside trap?" They failed miserably. On both Costa Rica goals, there was one person on the German backline who didn't step up in time. In fact, it might've been the right back (Metzelder?) on both occasions. In neither goal was Wanchope clearly onside or clearly offside, even after watching the replays. So they were close. When it's close, the flag is supposed to stay down. In my opinion, both Costa Rica goals were legitimate, and the officials did a good job keeping their flags down. The ref did a good job in general. My only criticism is that the refs were supposedly given instructions to be quicker in handing out yellow cards. Given that, there were definitely a couple of fouls that should've been cards that weren't. That said, I don't really want to see more cards, personally. I just find it odd that the ref seemed to ignore his instructions from FIFA, and I worry a little that the officiating throughout the tournament might be inconsistent. Dave O'Brien and Marcelo Balboa, the American announcers, were pretty bad. Balboa seemed nervous and spoke way too fast on several occasions. Also, he was insistent on the offside calls (for or against) after seeing the replays, when I thought he would be much better served saying something like, "this play was very close and you can't really fault the ref one way or the other--the blame for this goal goes to the German defense more than anyone else." And finally, why did he have to go nuts about the ball (and by that I mean the actual, physical ball) after that brilliant strike to seal the game? It was a great goal that had little or anything to do with the ball. I wonder if anyone, anywhere watching the match on some other network, saw that last goal and had the reaction, "man, they really are using a live ball this year!" Come on Marcelo, soccer balls bend when they're struck well. What was so different about that strike that it merited commenting about the ball over the skill of the player involved? O'Brien knows nothing about soccer, but at least he didn't actively take anything away from the experience. (Although I could've sworn Wanchope was pronounced "One-Cho-Pay" not "One-chop"--can anyone confirm or deny this?) I just can't believe these two clowns are calling every US match. Despite getting off to a shaky first few minutes, the Ticos held it together fairly well. I'm hoping they can get some kind of result in their next two matches. We'll have a better idea of how feasible that is after this next game. Enjoy it.
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