Deyan's Mid-Tournament Review

It is a great time to be a soccer fan. While there hasn't been a game that has blown our minds away like Netherlands vs.Czech in last Eurocup or a goal on par with Ibrahimovics running floating back heel, it is still very early and there has still been many bits of brilliance that show why soccer is THE BEAUTIFUL GAME. Here are some things I have noticed so far that are worth pointing out.

5 Things I Already Knew About Before And Nothing Has Changed My Mind
1. Having a good goalkeeper matters a lot. When before the tournament started, Germany were the oddsmakers favorites to win it all, the only thing i could do was laugh. Surely they are in by far the easiest group (AGAIN!!! CONSPIRACY???) but without a steady goalie i would never put my money on them even if the other 11 players were named Christiano Ronaldo. Even though Lehman has had a fantastic career in goal, if he is benched for a relatively no name keeper it has to be for a reason (i can watch him kicking the ball into his other foot a million times over it has to be one of the top 10 funniest soccer goofs of all time), and if he is benched the entire season for his lack of form then why is he playing for his national team at all? On the other hand Casillas, Czech, Van De Saar (i gotta say he just keeps getting better and better with age), and Buffon (not as much so but there was really nothing he could have done on the first two goals against the dutch oven when its co!
oking
soo well) have shown why they are the cream of the crop in net.
2. Christiano Ronaldo is by far the best player on the planet. I dont need to say much except that even when he loses the ball its when he is triple teamed and it either goes out of bounds and/or he has no help. He also is the best player I have ever seen (including my beloved Zizou) at taking the pressure of his defence by attacking the ball upfield. O ya he can also score goals every which way possible.
3. Every team has at least one position of weakness. The powerhouses of the tournament- France (striker), Holland (defensive mid), Italy (left mid), Portugal (left back), Spain (left back), and Germany (Goalie) need improvements at at least one position before i can agree that they are 100% the best team in the world. Henry, Saha, and Anelka have either been injured or off-form all year and Benzema, Gomis are too young and inexperienced. Ambrosini should not be playing for any team regarded as the defending world champions. Ferreira barely played for Chelsea this year and I cant recall one game where he played left-back. Capdevila is rubbish. Enough said above of Lehman. The only team/player that has made me second guess is Holland (especially the play of De Jong) because there is not much bad one could say about a team that has demolished the two finalists from the last world cup. Only if Fabregas could play for Italy, Evra could play for Spain/Portugal, etc.
4. Sneijder is a superstar. Not only was his goal brilliant, his defense stubborn, and his passes perfect. He can shoot/pass with both feet, has speed/quickness, is a tenacious ball-winner, and do just about everything great. I would put money that he could probably be the starting keeper of Germany by next world cup if he wanted to. Arguably (with his teammates Van De Vart and Van Der Sar) he has been the best player of the tourney.
5. Scorelines and goalscorers can be very misleading. When i told my friends that Spain beat Russia 4-1 and Villa scored 3 goals, the replies were "Damn Russia sucks" to "Villa needs to go the Premier League, he's the best striker in the world" and everything in between. But for those who watched the game we all know that the first two goals were essentially tap ins, and that Russia is a very strong squad who didn't play up to par and were a little unlucky. Similarly, the Swiss have zero points and are already out of the tournament but were by far the better team against the Czechs and lost to Turkey in the last minute by a crazy deflection. My point is that dont judge the best team by the final score or the best player by the amount of goals, watch the game and see who the best really is. Christiano of course!

3 Things That Have Suprised Me or You
1. The refs have not been horrible. After the last World Cup where yellow cards were given out like money and that the Intramural Refs at Tulane seemed better equiped for the challenge, I was expecting the worst. However, all we have gotten is a blown call here or there. The offsides against Italy and particularly Greece were horrendous (did it not seem like the linesman in the Greece game was pulling a Donaghy in order to guarantee a Russia win? I know that Nick will at least back me up on that one)
2. The amount of fantastic players rarely or not playing due to coach's bad decision making and/or quality of their respective teams- Fabregas, Quaresma, Miguel, Huntelaar, Van Persie, Clichy, Clerc, Diarra, Nasri, Cassano, Shweinsteiger, ENGLAND, etc. Some teams have so much quality and depth that they can field an entire starting eleven from their bench that would be favored over the US's best squad. Only if Rossi wasn't so young and stupid we could have had a very nice attacking threat for the next 2 or3 World Cups (can you imagine Rossi and Altidore forming one of the most profilic partnerships up top for both Villareal and the USA and winning championships for both at the same time??? Well i refuse to let myself so lets move on)
3. Germany is not very good. Arguably, in any other group Germany would be done. Toast. Finito. Couput. Instead they will somehow find a way to win against very inferior opposition tomorrow, make it to the next round, get a huge lucky break against the powerhouses of Portugal and keep advancing. It seems to happen all the time. I just hope it wont this time and Christiano crushes them like Kobe did to the Celtics in Game 4. Haha only if dreams were reality.

Best Players of Tournament so Far
Goalie- Van Der Sar
Defence- Pepe
Midfield- Van DerVart/Sneijder
Forward- Christiano (For those who would say Villa i laugh at you and Ronaldo is far more a forward then a midfielder (its like those who argue that Duncan is a power forward because he is listed as one but how can he be a power forward when he does the tip, gets the most blocks and rebounds, is the biggest player on the team, and guards the other teams biggest player??? Someone please explain to me how.))

Biggest Disappointments so Far
Goalie- Buffon (while he hasn't been dreadful and only one goal was arguably his fault, he has officially lost his title as best goalie in the world)
Defence- Metzelder/Ramos (for some reason i see Pepe starting EVERY game for Madrid next year)
Midfield- Ballack (Modric or shall i say mini-Rosicky dominated this matchup)
Forward- Toni (way too many good crosses from Zambrotta, Ambrossini, and especially Grosso to have not have scored a goal against Romania)

Best Team so Far
While Portugal has looked amazing and Spain cant stop scoring, this is the Netherlands by a mile.

Worst Team so Far
While everyone could wuss out and pick Austria because they are the worst team on paper, I have to go with France. In the last month when I watched France play in its friendlies, they looked dreadful. However, because I love Henry, Ribery, and co. i still picked them to come out of the Group of Death. And instead they repay my faith in them by having the least attacking threat of any team in the tournament. Sorry Ribery, but you are going to have to play out of this world in order for you to advance now.

New Predictions
Still Spain over Germany 2-1, not because thats what I believe will happen but because it is too late to change my predictions now.