Pierre Boisrond has followed soccer and the World Cup
closely for many years and also writes for other websites. We at PWC are proud to have him as
a columnist. He will share his views about the past, present and future of
the World Cup.
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The Messi(ah) saved Argentina in the Iranian inferno
Day 10 of Brazil offered us some great games and was the day for the
African Continent as well. The first game was between Argentina vs Iran. I predicted Argentina to win 5-0. The game ended up 1-0 in
favor of Argentina. A game that all pundits thought would have been extremely easy for the Albiceleste became a very complicated game.
It was a game where the Iranians built a defensive wall in the back to frustrate the Argentines. In the first half, Argentina had several
chances via Higuain, Aguero, Di Maria, and several headers by their defenders, etc., but they could not pierce the Iranian defense.
We expected more from Argentina and they did not deliver in the first half. In the second half, it seems that
Argentina became worst in the second half and looked like a team that had no sense of urgency. The Iranians, on the other hand, started
to believe in themselves that they could cause a major upset. If it were not for Sergio Romero, the Argentine goalie, Iran could have
been up 3-0. The Iranians should have been awarded a penalty kick as well; unfortunately the referee decided not to give it to Iran.
Iran came to play the game and Argentina were like a sleeping giant. The Iranians had a great strategy and it
worked for 90 minutes until the genius of world football, Lionel Messi, invented a moment of brilliance to save Argentina from an Iranian
inferno and gave them their second win in this World Cup and their ticket for the round of 16. To win the world cup, luck is also
needed. So far, the Argentines are not in full speed in Brazil 2014, but they are winning and winning is contagious.
The Argentine coach, Alejandro Sabella, has not found the formula to produce the beautiful football. So far, I
have not seen anything special from the Argentine Strikers (Aguero, Higuain). Argentina need to play the ball in the flanks a bit more
instead of trying to play through the middle for the majority of the game. They need to open the game wide. I am not saying to do it
like Bielsa did it in the 2002 early exit in Korea-Japan. They need to sort out their defensive issues as well. Today, Romero has saved
them against the Iranians who had 3 clear scoring opportunities. The contenders of this World Cup will not be as forgiven as Iran. It is
the job of Alejandro Sabella and his staff to get the best out of his players. So Far, Argentina’s best players are Messi and Romero, the
goalie. Di Maria, Higuain, Aguero and some defenders have not shown up at all. That is why I think Tevez should have been part of this
team to bring some character in that team. They are winning now, but the team cannot depend on Messi alone.
The second game was spectacular between Ghana vs Germany. I predicted Germany to win this game 2-0. The game
ended up tie 2-2. It was a game where both national teams played with a sense of urgency to earn those 3 points. There were lot of
scoring opportunities in the first half but the score was 0-0 at the end of 45 minutes.
In the second half, both Ghana and Germany stepped up their games to the highest level. So far, it is the best
game in the World Cup with players on both sides giving their utmost to get a valuable win for their respective national team. In the
fifty first minute, Mario Goetze, put Germany 1-0. However Ghana came back to tie the game with Andre Ayew in the 54th minute. Since
Ghana needed a win to increase their qualifying chances, they put their attack on overdrive and tormented the backline of jeopardy. That
was football playing at the extreme highest technical level from both teams. Ghana’s persistence paid off in the 63rd minute when
Asamoah Gyan buried the ball in the back of the German net to put Ghana up 2-1.
We all know Germany is Germany, they will play the game with their maximum effort. The German coach brought
Miroslav Klose and in the 71st minute, Klose tied the game 2-2 for Germany and to join Ronaldo of Brazil as World Cup top scorers as
the only two players with 15 goals each. The game ended up 2-2. It was truly a spectacular game, the best game so far in the World Cup.
The last game of Day 10 was between Bosnia-Herzegovina. I predicted Bosnia-Herzegovina to win the game 2-0.
Nigeria won the game 1-0. Both teams played a decent game but I think that Bosnia should have least received a point in this game. A
valid goal from Dzeko was disallowed and that goal would have given Bosnia-Herzegovina the lead. There were quite a few controversies
in this game but it was not the day for the Bosnians.
Nigeria, on the other end, needed three points as well. I think with a bit of help from the New Zealand referee,
Peter O’ Leary, Odemwingie put Nigeria up 1-0 on a controversial goal and eventually won the game. Bosnia-Herzegovina are out of the
World Cup. Day 10 was a very good day for Africa.
In terms of my prediction I was 33%, truly I was 0% since Argentina did not win 5-0. Here are my predictions for
Day 11:
Belgium 2 – Russia 1
South Korea 1- Algeria 0
USA 2 – Portugal 1
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