I'll admit that I've enjoyed the Olympics more than I expected. Going in, I assumed that NBC would ruin the Olympics by hausfrau-izing them. I was also thinking that the Olympics are second-rate as compared to the World Cup, the Euros, and other international footie competitions because countries actually care who wins and loses those tournaments. There were no celebrations in the streets when Michael Phelps won his eighth gold medal. The Olympics, like the NFL, represent forced excitement without a soul.
I still think that, but I have enjoyed my individually packaged, plastic wrapped excitement. The swimming caught my attention, as did the totally phenomenal Usain Bolt. (If anyone deserves to be cocky, it's the fastest man in history.) The USA Hoops team has been fun to watch, certainly more so than the pouty, selfish team of four years ago. More than anything else, I've been enjoying the soccer and that enjoyment was leading to a crescendo last night with the Brazil-Argentina match. Brazil have never won an Olympic gold medal in football. This is the only empty spot in their trophy case. Additionally, football at the Olympics is a bigger deal for South American countries because the powers of the continent announced their supremacy in world football by winning Olympic gold in 1924 and 1928. The fact that Brazil and Argentina produce so much young talent probably doesn't hurt their interest in a U-23 tournament, either. You add that context to the fact that Brazil and Argentina are bitter rivals and yesterday's game was shaping up to be a highlight of the Olympics...
Or at least it would have been a highlight if Brazil played like Brazil instead of a second-rate Ireland. To paraphrase Fat Bastard, Brazil were crap. They barely created a good chance in the entire match. True to their recent traditions, the only offense came from the wing backs, specifically Rafinha on the right flank. They don't bother to create any offense in the middle of the park. It's one thing for Brazil not to have a player like Riquelme who can spray perfect passes around; it's another thing for Brazil to not have a player like Fernando Gago, a decent, but not inspirational central midfielder.
We covered this topic last summer when Brazil were looking pedestrian at the Copa America. Oddly, Brazil ended up winning the tournament despite the fact that they never looked very good. At the time, I discussed an outstanding article by Tim Vickery regarding Brazil and Argentina's response to Total Football. The post-script to the article should have been that Brazil bringing home the Copa America title against the run of play was a bad development for Brazil long-term because it delayed the country's reckoning of its own shortcomings. It pushed back the point at which Brazil will look at itself and decide to play like Brazil are supposed to play. Hopefully, a 3-0 hammering by Argentina at the Olympics, combined with a precarious position in World Cup qualifying, will push Brazil to that point. They can start by giving Dunga a pink slip.
And while we're on the subject of Brazil in decline, a word about Ronaldinho. Unfit. Ronnie still has the passing ability and the tricks with the ball, but it's kinda hard to be a top-level footballer when you don't run. He was absent from the game because he never moved. If Ronnie's poor performance at the 2006 World Cup is what started his decline (the Vickery theory), then this showing certainly won't help.
The disparity between Barcelona's present (Messi) and its past (Ronnie) was striking. Ronnie never moved, never linked up with Brazil's left back, and never chased the ball. Messi was chasing the ball from start to finish. His run created the space for the opener, his work in the box set up the second, and then his pass put Aguero in position to draw a penalty for the third. It was an outstanding performance, even though Messi didn't have a goal or an assist. Barcelona fought tooth and nail to prevent Messi from going to the Olympics, but the club is now one game away from a perfect result: Messi returning in form with a gold medal (to go with Xavi's, Iniesta's, and Puyol's medals from the Euros) while the club is virtually qualified for the group stage of the Champions League and perfect in its preseason record.
5 comments:
They were entertaining in 96, I remember. Lost a crazy game to Nigeria 5-3 in the semis. It's too bad they've gone to hell.
What was interesting to me watching the match was how it compared to Copa America 07 final, where Brasil were very physical and kind of muscled {intimidated maybe?} the Argentina team that up till then had played the most beautiful stuff of the tourney by far. The hacked Riquelme/Messi et all, and I thought their physicality played a part in them shutting down Argentina's beautiful technical game- I believe Brasil had 37 fouls in the CA final.
Reminded me of the idea/preception that being physical with the stereotypical finesse Arsenal team was the way to slow down & beat their pretty football in the last few years {06 & 07 this was pretty rampant theory}.
Anyhow, Brasil seemed to try the same thing the other night- it seemed to me like they were hacking the shit out of Riquelme & Messi, but this time they just took their lumps and completely outplayed Brasil. I was just struck that this time around they for whatever reason were able to overcome Brasil's approach whereas last year it seemed to rattle them and take them out of their game.
Different players sure, and I'm not saying this alone was the sole reason for the reversed results {0-3, 3-0}, but just that it struck me as interesting that the similar approach yielded such a different result.
Argentina-Nigeria should be a great game, and is a rematch of the 96 final. Nigeria looked amazing against Belgium {I know, it was Belgium}, but they could have easily scored 6 or 7. Here's hoping the game is as good as it has the potential to be.
I think the difference this time around was that Argentina played a little more conservatively. They learned their lesson from the Copa America final and didn't use Brazil's conservatism as an excuse to push all their players forward. This was the one decent observation that Marcelo Balboa had during the game. Argentina knew that their front three or four could create chances. Also, despite being a little weak during the earlier games, Argentina's defense was more solid this time around. Ayala was very poor in the '07 final.
Peace, I went to that '96 semifinal in Athens. It was a phenomenal game. Brazil blew a 3-1 lead and lost in sudden death. I think Ronaldo hit the side netting when Brazil was up 3-1 and he could have put the game away.
I seem to recall both keepers not having their best days in 96, but I'm not sure who was in goal for either country.
Having avoided the vast majority of the olympics (I did catch a little while out in bars), I'm glad it's over actually. Not watching the soccer was tough, though.
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