After watching as much of the first round of the World Cup 2006 as I could find the time to, I projected that we would see Germany and Brazil in the finals. Sure, it was the obvious and easy call but I did have some grounds.
The individual skill and technique on Brazil’s team is unmatched. I could call out Ronaldo and Ronaldinho as examples but only because the talent is so deep on the team that it would take too long to list everyone. Like their coach said, he had no subs, just solutions. After the first game, their playmaking between each other was beautiful…right up ’til their last game.
Germany had the twelfth man advantage. With guys like Klose who were consistently putting the ball in the net, it looked like they could score plenty to take the German team to the end. Plus, Germany’s defense was rock solid—the game against Poland had to be some of the best defensive play I’d ever seen. The team was gelling beautifully…right up ’til their last game.
So what went wrong with my projection? In a word: teamwork (or lack thereof). In both cases, Germany and Brazil were eliminated when their teamwork did not come together for ninety minutes. And it only takes one game for that to be your downfall once you get past the first round in the World Cup.
OK, I know that there are only two teams left but I haven’t watched all of the Portugal – France match yet. I’ll finish watching it from my DVR tomorrow after work, so don’t tell me who won. But let’s look at the last three teams.
The one thing that Italy, Portugal, and France all have in common in this tournament is that they have exhibited consistently solid teamwork in every game. They all have strong talent but they’re all fairly evenly matched. I doubt it will be any individual’s skill or one team’s overall talent that will win the Cup this year. I think it’ll be the teams who fail to meld that’ll be eliminated in the remaining games.
The Progressive Zone 