I am a happy man. So far the World Cup has fulfilled expectations and all the top teams who deserved to progress into the knockout stage achieved just that including Ecuador who, as I predicted, surprised many people.
But I must admit to one major disappointment. This was the elimination of Ivory Coast after their “group of death” with Argentina, Holland and Serbia. It played two of the best games and deserved to beat Argentina instead of losing 2-1. Such a shame the World Cup lost the Ivory Coast so early.
I was also sorry to see Australia fall the way it did to Italy on its first appearance back at the finals in 32 years. The penalty right at the end hurt them considerably. The least you could say was that Australia deserved the chance of playing extra time.
I even thought the Australians deserved to win, but the Italians had more experience and played that old defensive game of theirs. It’s easy to criticize Italy for playing that way but that is how it won the World Cup in 1982 and reached the final in 1994. The coaches obviously consider it’s a method which brings results.
Franz Beckenbauer tells me the fantastic atmosphere in the country, with all the flags, is like nothing he can ever remember and that is an important factor for the German team. Its match against Argentina is worthy of the final itself and is one I believe Germany can win.
The hosts have the momentum of four wins in four games, home advantage and an outstanding striking partnership in Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose. Podolski is still young but he made an impression on me last year at the Confederations Cup and, after a blank start, he has now started scoring goals. That is important for any striker’s confidence. I’m also impressed with the good play of the German leftback, Lahm.
My one note of caution is that Argentina’s great strength is in defense where I see Javier Mascherano, who plays defensive midfield, as the key player.
Juan Roman Riquelme is technically good but only going forward. Mascherano is a combative player, he can tackle, he is a good marker and he also knows how to use the ball which makes him crucial to Argentina’s strategy.
I can certainly see Germany beating Argentina but I cannot see a clear winner out of Italy and Ukraine. This tie looks the likeliest to end in penalties. Italy rely on opponents’ mistakes rather than trying to create something themselves and Ukraine will also play it tight, as they did against Switzerland. Then, when it comes to penalties, anyone can win.
By contrast, I can see England beating Portugal, particularly since Portugal will be missing at least two of its best players in Deco and Costinha. England has not played as badly as some of the critics suggest. There is a comparison with Brazil here. People’s expectations are driven too high by all the hype and expectation.
Any team which is serious about trying to win the World Cup must start slowly. The same also applies with David Beckham - just like Ronaldinho. The fans expect too much. Beckham works hard, the other players respect him as a leader and he scored the winning goal against Ecuador. He has nothing to prove.
England could wind up playing Brazil in the semifinals but first, of course, we have to reverse that defeat in the 1998 final by beating France in the quarterfinals. Personally, I would have preferred us to be playing Spain, as France, despite struggling early on in the tournament to reach its old standard, have picked up steam and have a wealth of World Cup experience in players such as Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet, Patrick Viera and Zinedine Zidane, along with some good young players, such as Ribery.
I was also concerned to see the way Carlos Alberto Parreira changed his team for the third group game against Japan. The reserves played well and that creates a note of uncertainty about team selection which can upset a team’s momentum.
Finally, ignore all the criticism of the refereeing which has erupted since the Holland-Portugal game.
I cannot remember one dirty game out of all 48 in the groups. Sometimes, perhaps, the referees were a little too quick to show the yellow card.
But if that is the price we must pay for a clean World Cup then it is one worth paying for the good of the game.
(Pele is the long-time football ambassador for MasterCard, an official sponsor of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. For more information on how consumers can get closer to the game, go to www.mastercard.com.)
