Germany - Uruguay

2-0 for Germany


Yeah !

Brazil-North Korea Recap

Brazil 2 – 1 North Korea
First of all, do not panic. It’s the first match of the World Cup, played on a very cold night, at very high altitude. The best part is that Brazil came out with all three points.
Dunga stated after the match, “The opener is always harder. There is the anxiety, the players are more nervous than usual, trying to do too much. But we are satisfied.” Correct.
That being said, this was not Brazil’s best match, and there are some correctable things that need to be worked on in training.
Starting with the positives.
Both the right back AND left back for Brazil were very solid tonight. Maicon played like his usual self. Michel Bastos looked vastly improved from the Tanzania match. If he plays like this for the remainder of the tournament, Brazil isn’t going to allow more than a goal, ever.
Robinho deserved to get on the score sheet. He worked very hard tonight, and was very creative from the start of the match. He definitely looks like a solid pick by President Lula to standout at this World Cup.
Now the negatives.
Brazil only played dominant football for about 35 minutes in this entire match. The good news is there is nowhere to go but up, I really believe that. A 2-0 scoresheet would have looked a lot better than 2-1.
A very poor closing to the match allowed North Korea to score with minutes remaining. Lucio does not make many mistakes, so to get this one out of the way in the first match, and a win for that matter, makes it better to deal with. The North Korean goal was definitely on him.
Kaka and Elano were predominately poor in this match. When their play turned, so did the team’s. Kaka should kind of be expected as he is still progressing towards 100% fitness. I thought he did get better as the match went on, which is a very encouraging sign.
Elano I felt was very lazy on the pitch up until his goal. Those of you following the live blog today know I wanted him off the pitch a split second before he scored. The goal masks what I thought was a mediocre performance.
I would bet on Dunga starting Dani Alves or Ramires in the next match. Ramires picked up a careless yellow in the second half after coming on, so Dunga might be more apt to give Alves the nod, which is an intriguing thought of seeing him on the right with Maicon.
I thought Felipe Melo was improved during this match. There were two problems I had with him today though. First, he looked slow at times in the first half, very slow. Secondly, the North Koreans gave him room to come up towards the box that he was very reluctant to utilize.
Perhaps that is Dunga now allowing it. However, he should have made deeper runs and attempted to put a shot on goal from outside the box. It is lower percentage? Yes. However, with this ball at this tournament, just putting it on goal might lead to a second, rebound chance. I think this would have helped offensively in what was a very frustrating first half.
Regarding the first half, Dunga stated, “In the first half we didn’t play well, we weren’t moving the ball quickly enough. In the second half, it got better.” He is absolutely correct.
I said during the live blog the pace of passing desperately needed to increase. The team made that adjustment at halftime, and it showed immediately in the second half.
A tremendous amount of credit should go to the North Koreans. There tactics made this a close match. They will give problems to the Ivory Coast and Portugal. I would not be surprised to see them get a result. Their lone forward Jong Tae Se was very active, and played with a great deal of pace.
Dunga gave the North Koreans credit following the match. He stated, “When you face a team that attacks you, it opens up spaces. It’s hard to face a team that just defends. You have to move the ball well and create spaces. If you look back at the footage, the way that North Korea moved to close the spaces was almost perfect.” True statement.
Breaking through a team who is going to put nine in the box when you have possession is always going to be difficult. Any team or player in the world will struggle to score if that is the case. Ronaldinho would struggle to score against those tactics. The Spanish would struggle against those tactics. How do I know? Watch the Champions League semi-final match in Barcelona between Barca and Inter Milan, where half of Spain’s starting midfield could not breakthrough.
The North Koreans played with a sweeper and as a result, always had a back line of five defenders. They then created a compact diamond with four other players in front of that line. Matches against this type of opponent are always difficult until you get the first goal. Once that goal comes, everything changes, and certainly that was the case in this match.
After the first Brazilian goal, things opened up, and for nearly the entire second half Brazil was dominant. They created many solid shots on goal, and controlled the ball in the North Korean half for long periods up until the final five minutes or so.
The team became WAY too relaxed with the match at hand in those final five minutes, and North Korea exploited a defensive miscue to score late in the match. Correctable problem.
So, before you panic, know that we will not see as defensive of tactics from here on out. Yes we are playing Sven and the Ivory Coast. However, they need points after a 0-0 draw against Portugal earlier in the day. I think they will be defensive, but not nine in the box defensive at all times.
Every match from here on out will be better from a tactical point of view because teams will need to play to win. All Brazil needs is a little space. Just a little. And then everything will take care of itself.
Now, if the seleção play poorly against the Ivory Coast, then we can officially start to raise the red flags. However, until then, lets just take the three points, take the Michel Bastos performance, and know that it will only get better.
Player Ratings:
Julio Cesar, 7, Didn’t have to do much, and when he did, he was up to the challenge.
Maicon, 7.5, Outstanding match from Maicon, and was my man of the match. Active on both ends of the pitch. Showed a lot of leadership. Played like a man who could be wearing the captain’s armband in the future.
Juan, 6, Looked slow at times. Almost beaten for a goal, but recovered nicely. Needs to play better to hold off a potential Luisao or Thiago Silva challenge.
Lucio, 6, He is human. I cannot see him making the mistake he made today very often, perhaps ever again in this World Cup.
Michel Bastos, 7.5, What a relief! I thought he was good on both ends of the pitch. All we need is for him to be average, and he was above that today. Made good tackles, had a few cracking shots. Needs to be a little more accurate, but a very promising performance.
Felipe Melo, 6.5, Better performance from him as well. See my comments above why he has the rating I gave him.
Gilberto Silva, 6.5, Invisible, which is how he plays. Would have liked to have seen him come up a little more frequently.
Elano, 6, Scored a great goal, but was very, very average before that. Lazy with his passing, and deserved to come off for Dani Alves.
Kaka, 6, As I said, got better as the match went on. However, he was MIA early in the match. Needs to show improvement.
Robinho, 8, Very lively. I thought he played very well, and was a big problem for the North Korean defense. Deserved to get on the score sheet. Played an excellent ball to Elano for a goal.
Luis Fabiano, 6, He got frustrated at times. He worked extremely hard without anything to show for it.
Subs:
Dani Alves, 6, Didn’t get his name called too often after coming on.
Nilmar, 7, Was very dangerous for the short period of time he was on the pitch.
Ramires, 5.5, Picked up a really stupid yellow after coming on in the second half.
BRASIL 2 X 1 COREIA DO NORTE
Julio Cesar, Maicon, Lúcio, Juan e Michel Bastos; Gilberto SIlva, Felipe Melo (Ramires), Elano (Daniel Alves) e Kaká (Nilmar); Robinho e Luis Fabiano.
Técnico: Dunga.
Myonge Guk, Jong Hyok, Chol Jin, Jun Il, Nam Chol e Kwang Chon; In Guk (Kum Il), Yun Nam, Yong Jo e Yong Hak; Tae Se.
Técnico: Kim Jong Hun
Gols: Maicon, aos dez, Elano, aos 26, e Yun Nam, aos 43 minutos do segundo tempo.
Cartões amarelos: Ramires.
Estádio: Ellis Park (em Joanesburgo).
Data: 15/06/2010.
Árbitro: Viktor Kassai (HUN). Assistentes: Gabor Eros e Tibor Vamos (HUN

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