"Exactly four weeks ago - it seems like ages - I watched the first upset, or so it seemed at the time, as Ecuador began Poland's early packing expedition with a 2-0 win. That followed Germany's official 4-2 thrashing of Costa Rica.
Stuttgart is ready for a game, their residents no doubt preferring any other team to face Portugal later today. But something that two months ago most Germans would gladly have accepted - the third-place game - now smacks of not enough.
I am sure that neither the Germans nor the Portuguese will want to disappoint, especially considering that on Friday no less than eight of the players on view were named by FIFA to the official 23-man all-star squad: Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo, defender Ricardo Carvalho (out with his red card against France), midfielders Maniche and Luis Figo. For Germany, nods went to goalkeeper Jens Lehman, defender Philip Lamm, captain Michael Ballack and likely top scorer Miroslav Klose. The rest come from Argentina, with Hernan Crespo and Roberto Ayala, England's John Terry plus Brazil's Ze Roberto, the only player from the "beautiful game" team. How the mighty have fallen. Out of 23 nominations, 19 grace the final four teams; arbitrary choices of course, but not totally out of whack; at the end, it is still all about players, and the numbers don't lie.
Read Marcos' full report at the Tampa Tribune >>
About Me
- USL
- The largest organization of elite-level soccer leagues in North America, United Soccer Leagues is dedicated to growing the sport at the grassroots level in every community. The USL First Division and Second Division (North American men’s professional soccer), the USL Premier Development League (U23 North American men’s amateur), the USL W-League (North American women’s amateur), the USL Super-20 League (U20 North American men’s and women’s amateur) and the USL Super Y-League (North American boy’s and girl’s elite youth amateur) have provided a platform for thousands of players to reach their dreams since 1986. This vision and commitment to develop a soccer nation by fans, investors, administrators, coaches, and players has created the foundation for the growth of the sport, while presenting affordable, exciting family entertainment in over 100 cities and towns on the continent.