Dunga fired
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As we predicted a few days ago in our World Cup Round up for July 2, Carlos Dunga has been relieved of his duties as coach of Brazil following his team’s 2-1 loss to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
Ok,…so you didn’t have to be The Amazing Kreskin or even Paul the Octopus to see that one coming.
Such was the notoriety Dunga’s squad had achieved through their tactical pragmatism, an attribute never associated with the great Brazil teams of the past, and clearly not one much appreciated by Brazil fans today, the only way Dunga might have kept his job would have been for Brazil to win the World Cup for a sixth time.
And having jumped out to an early 0-1 lead against the Dutch on Friday, the Brazilians looked set to employ the trademark Brazilian football qualities of joyful playmaking punctuated by moments of high-quality, individual skill that would carry them through to next week’s final.
But Brazilian joy was short-lived when Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder evened the score, and a shocked Brazil resorted to the kinds of negative tactics normally associated with lesser teams. Felipe Melo’s sending off for stamping on Arjen Robben later in the game plainly illustrated the caustic mentality that had crept into the Brazilians.
No, it wasn’t Dunga’s tactical pragmatism that caused Brazil’s loss to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals, it was his team’s lack of discipline, encouraged perhaps by Dunga’s own negative antics on the sidelines.
Refs for the Semi-Finals
Uzbekistan’s Ravshan Irmatov has been appointed to officiate the Uruguay-Netherlands semi-final tomorrow, while Hungarian Viktor Kassai has been named the ref for the Germany-Spain semi on Wednesday.
The Uruguay-Netherlands match will be the 5th game in charge for the 32 year-old Irmatov. He handled the opening match of the tournament between South Africa and Mexico, as well as England-Algeria, Argentina-Greece and Argentina-Germany.
Germany-Spain will be the 34 year-old Kassai’s 4th assignment. He previously oversaw Brazil-North Korea, Mexico-Uruguay, and USA-Ghana.
Referee assignments for the 3rd place match and the final will be handed out after the semi-finals.
Top goalscorers in World Cup 2010
Top scorer in the tournament wins the Golden Boot award. Miroslav Klose of Germany won the honor in
2006 with 5 goals. Looking back at some recent World Cups, previous Golden Boot winners were Ronaldo of Brazil (2002, 8 goals), Davor Suker of Croatia (1998, 6), Hristo Stoichkov of Bulgaria and Oleg Salenko of Russia (1994, 6 each), and Salvatore Schillaci of Italy (1990, 6).
Most goals ever in a single World Cup tournament: Just Fontaine of France scored 13 goals in six games in World Cup 1958 in Sweden.
Leading scorers in World Cup 2010 so far:
5 David Villa, Spain
4 Thomas Muller, Germany
4 Wesley Sneijder, Netherlands
4 Miroslav Klose, Germany
4 Gonzalo Higuain, Argentina*
4 Robert Vittek, Slovakia*
3 Luis Suarez, Uruguay
3 Diego Forlan, Uruguay
3 Landon Donovan, USA*
3 Luis Fabiano, Brazil*
3 Asamoah Gyan, Ghana*
* No longer in the tournament
Match Preview: Uruguay-Holland
Uruguay appear in the semi-finals courtesy of the now-suspended striker Luis Suarez, who’s deliberate handball off the line prevented Ghana from scoring the winner in extra-time in their quarter final match on Friday. Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty kick his team was awarded, thus sending the match into a penalty kick shoot out. Ghana lost 4-2 in PKs.
Suarez was red-carded immediately of course, and is unable to play against the Dutch tomorrow. Given that his illegal tactic ultimately resulted in salvation for his team, his one-game suspension is a small price to pay. He’ll be available for the final if the Uruguay squad can get past the Netherlands.
Without Suarez, however, the South Americans will rely primarily on Diego Forlan for goals. Forlan has played well in this World Cup, and also for his club Atletico Madrid. (Manchester United fans everywhere must be asking why Sir Alex let him go.)
In defense the Uruguayans will be concerned about the availability of captain Diego Lugano. Lugano suffered a knee injury in the Ghana clash and is doubtful for the match against the Dutch. Lugano’s availability is all the more important due to the suspension of fellow defender Jorge Fucile.
Dutch defender Joris Mathijsen had to be scratched off the team sheet against Brazil when he injured his
knee in the pre-game warm-up. It was a blow to the Dutch, who suddenly had to call on 35 year-old Andre Ooijer to fill in.
The change in personnel nearly sunk the men in orange as the Brazilians jumped out to an early lead with a pass right down the middle of the park where many a punter might have expected Ooijer to be. Ooijer redeemed himself later, however, with a saving challenge on Kaka that might easily have gone for a goal.
Still, it will be a relief to the Dutch to know that Mathijsen is fit for tomorrow’s match. In particular since defender Gregory van der Wiel is out through suspension along with midfielder Nigel de Jong.
Robin van Persie is fit too. The Arsenal striker suffered an elbow injury in the Brazil match. With only a single goal in the tournament van Persie will be keen to leave a more indelible mark on World Cup 2010.
Khedira and Friedrich miss training on Monday
Word out of the German camp is that midfielder Sami Khedira and defender Arne Friedrich missed training today. Khedira has a hamstring strain and Friedrich a foot injury. Manager Joachim Low, however, expects both men to be available for the semi-final against Spain on Wednesday.
Not available is striker Thomas Muller. Muller is suspended due to a handball in the game against Argentina that the referee considered intentional. It was a very harsh decision.
