issue 28 // volume 40

War of the Words: World Cup Edition

» South American teams shine in Brazil, but will they overshadow the host?

Elliot Chan
Opinions Editor
M opinions
@theotherpress.ca

 

he overwhelming support
and pressure for and on
Brazil will ultimately lead toa

national disappointment for the : :
: Brazil, Argentina, Germany, and :

: in the shadow of Brazil and

: Argentina—even Uruguay and
: Chile—but the future looks

: bright for the Colombians and
: their no.5 FIFA ranking.

host team in 2014. Enough has

been written about the Brazilian
: team will take Belgium lightly,

: but if Romelu Lukaku and

: their youthful stars can come

: up big with some timely goals,

: there is an exceptional chance

: that the country known for its

: chocolate can finally be famous
: for football as well.

team to convince anyone—
including myself—that they
are the rightful champion, but
in a tournament such as the
World Cup, nothing is awarded
for achievements on paper; the
competition is won with actual
merit and a lot of luck.
Ecuador: My dark horse
pick is based around a resilient
team emerging from the wakes
of a tragedy. Christian Benitez,
a 27-year-old striker died in
July 2013 from a heart attack
playing for his club team,
Qatar. Pitted against the other
five South American teams,
Ecuador may seem like the
most inexperienced. Antonio
Valencia of Manchester United
will have to be the electrifying
player he is and score some
goals, while the midfield will
need to support each other in
order to get through Group E,
which includes the Swiss, the
French, and the Hondurans.

Belgium: A team with

: nothing to lose, but everything
: to prove is a dangerous team,

: and I think Belgium epitomizes
: that statement the best in this

: year’s World Cup. Placed with

: Algeria, Russia, and the Korean
: Republic in Group H, Belgium

: is the young up-and-coming

team that can give the likes of

Spain a run for their money. No

Netherlands: Spain versus

: Netherlands on day two will

: truly kick off the tournament—
: no disrespect to Croatia and

: Brazil of course. They've pulled
: consistently good numbers

: in the last several World Cup

: tournaments, and I don’t see

: any reason they can’t make a

: legitimate run again this year.

: Superstars Robin van Persie,

: Arjen Robben, Rafael van der

: Vaart, and Wesley Sneijder

: will play significant roles on

: the team, and if they are able

: to reach their elite level in the

: month-long tournament they

: will have great success. The

: Netherlands has the talent and

: momentum is on their side.

Colombia: If Monaco’s

: striker, Radamel Falcao

: can return in time from his

: ruptured cruciate ligament,

: then Colombia’s chances may

: beamped up even more. But

: the national squad has played

: without him and is very capable
: of winning games on their

own. Colombia often lurks

Argentina: I’m a strong

: believer in legacies; I think

: great players on great teams

: must perform at key times

: in order to earn the title of

: legendary. Lionel Messi is, of

: course, en route to earning that
: honour, at least in my books.

: All he needs is to win the World
: Cup in 2014. No big deal. Yet

: recent historical records have

: not favoured the Argentineans;
: after all, they have not won

: since 1986. But the hopes are

: high, the conditions are familiar
: in Brazil, and their offence is as
: capable as the other favourites.
: Argentina will come up big

: when it counts and prove many
: critics wrong in this year’s

: World Cup, thus earning Messi
: the recognition on the world

: stage he deserves.

 

Argintina Soccer Player Lionel

sports // 19

Messi // By Daniel Ochoa De Olza

 

» The end of Spain’s reign in the plain

Eric Wilkins
Sports Editor

M sports
@theotherpress.ca

 

a

he World Cup is magical.

Purely magical. Thirty-two
teams from around the world
competing for one trophy. One
prize. Ultimate bragging rights
on the line. That sensational
time when the beautiful
game’s feature tournament
transforms your Facebook
feed from a soccer vacuum to a
thriving community of die-
hard fans. Who woulda thunk
that all along little Jenny was
secretly a staunch Portugal
supporter sporting a Ronaldo
jersey under that Marianas
Trench T-shirt? Magical. Along
with the sudden popularity
of soccer every four years in
June, I always find myself
dismissing FIFA’s meddling
hands; my naiveteé still leads
me to believe that ifa team is
good enough, they can beat the
backroom deals and take it all.

(That started offa bit more

jaded than I anticipated.)

The World Cup is, honestly

and truly, really something else.

: Perhaps the greatest irony is that
: the best fans of the game will be

: reduced to miserable physical

: condition for the duration of the
: tourney as they slump in front

: of the big screen putting away

: pounds of junk food and litres

: of beer trying to catch every

: possible moment of the world

: soccer superstars battling on the
: pitch. You may need to be fit for

: sports, but the World Cup is fit

: for lounging. Without further

: ado, here are my top-five squads:

Brazil: The Brazilians are

always in the conversation, and
: this year as the hosts, there’s

: little reason to leave them out

: now. There’s no debating the

: fact that playing at home gives

: ateama boost, and that fact

: continues to apply on the world
: stages. South Korea and Japan

: both outperformed expecta-

: tions in 2002; Germany claimed
: third in 2006; and South Africa
: failed to advance out of their

: group in 2010 but they made

: more noise than most antic-

ipated. The Selecao won last

: year’s ConfederationCupand
: definitely have the talent to stick :
: another major feather in their

: cap this year. Whena team can
: afford to leave former bigwigs

: Kaka and Ronaldinho off the

: team along with some surprise
: omissions in Liverpool’s :
: Coutinho and Lucas, AC Milan's }
: Robinho, Sao Paulo’s Alexandre
: Pato, Atletico Madrid’s Filipe

: Luis, and PSG’s Lucas Moura,

: they’ve got some skilltospare. }
: Look for Neymar to lead the way. !
: : goalscorer over the next few

: weeks since he’s currently tied
: with Gerd Muller on 68 goals.

France: After the shameful

debacle in 2010 with the team

: rebelling against then-manager
: Raymond Domenech, the

: French are ready to return to

: international respectability.

: With anattack led by Franck

: Ribery and the powerful

: Karim Benzema, the team is as
: dangerous as ever. On the back
: end, Hugo Lloris is as solid a

: man between the sticks as one
: canask for. A relatively easy

: group (Switzerland, Ecuador,

: and Honduras) means the first
: real test for the French should

: come in the knockout stage.

Germany: When aren’ the

: Germans in contention? The

country consistently produces

: results with big, strong teams

: anda sprinkling ofsmaller skill
: players. A wealth of star power

: and fun names to pronounce,

: not the least of which: Bastian

: Schweinsteiger, in the midfield
: promise that this year’s edition
: from the land ofautobahns and
: massive mugs of beer could

: be the finest yet. Miroslav

: Klose is hoping to become

the country’s all-time leading

England: That’s not a

: typo. Anything can happen at

: the World Cup so why not an

: English surprise? Past English

: squads have suffered from poor
: goaltending gaffes (see: David

: Seamanvs. Ronaldinho anda

: laundry list of others), lack of

: imagination in the midfield,

: anda forward line too heavily

: reliant on Wayne Rooney. With
: Joe Hart in goal, Jack Wilshere

: providing the spark Joe Cole

: was never allowed to produce,

anda handful of other attacking
: options beside Rooney such as

: Daniel Welbeck, there’s every

: chance the English could do

: something this time around.

USA: Best for last, right?

Amidst the last few decades of

: hate on American soccer, the

: country has quietly (except to

: those paying attention) built

: aquality team. Tim Howard

: has always beena respected

: goalie, but other positions have
: developed stars as well. Michael
: Bradley has had several success-
: ful European stints and is now

: anestablished midfield general.
: Chris Wondolowski is likely

: the most underrated forward in
: the tournament, and that’s to

: say nothing of his fellow strike-
: force led by Clint Dempsey. In

: perhaps the most surprising

: omission of the World Cup,

: Landon Donovan was left offthe
: squad, but the Americans still

: have more than enough talent

: tosee them through. All that

: stands in their way are the refer-

: ees; the’06 Group of Deathand

: several bogus calls come to mind.