Coming into this World Cup, two of the favorite teams to be lifting the trophy were Brazil and Argentina. But, recent developments have put the kibosh on those plans. Yesterday, Brazil, the favorite to win the whole thing going in, fell to the Netherlands, who were ranked fourth in the FIFA rankings coming into the Cup. Today, Argentina was straight up embarrassed by a German team who has been shredding through their opponents, outscoring the opposing teams 13-2. The Germans beat the Argentinians 4-0, and keeping the world from seeing Argentinian coach Diego Maradona from running through the streets of Buenos Aires in his birthday suit (here's the story if you haven't seen it: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/790643/ce/uk/?cc=5901&ver=us).
Even though when we think about soccer, we think South America, it's still clear that Europe is still first and foremost when it comes to actually winning. For the first time in Cup history, four South American teams appeared in the quarterfinals. Although, South America is the only other continent besides Europe with World Cup winners, and it's won an equal amount of World Cups as Europe (9 apiece), Europe has had 50 semi-finalists in World Cup history, as opposed to South America. Europe also has more elite teams than South America; only four South American teams have made the semis, as opposed to 16 different European countries. While Brazil and Argentina have always been at the head of the class, European soccer's balance of power has varied over time, showing the competition of all the continent's countries.
Coming into last Friday, it looked like South America would finally have the upper hand over Europe, having four of their continent's teams in the quarters, as opposed to just three European teams. Brazil looked like it would have an easy time with the Netherlands, Argentina who was yet to not win a game in the Cup, were the favorites to beat Germany, and Uruguay were favored against Ghana; Paraguay was the only South American team that wasn't favored in their match-up, as they had to go up against Spain.
Well, South American dominance lasted about 24 hours, as the Europeans reasserted themselves in the semis this past Friday and Saturday.
The first game of the quarters saw the Netherlands take on Brazil. If you looked at history this match-up appeared lopsided, but the Dutch are no scrubs; they came into this Cup ranked fourth in the FIFA World Rankings, but it would still take a big effort to take down the top dog and favorite, Brazil. The Brazilian attack started early, as Robinho scored in just 10 minutes, making it seem like it would be another game that Brazil would dominate. Throughout the first half, Brazil still looked strong, but after halftime, it was all Dutch. The Netherlands came out strong in the second half, forcing the Brazilians back on their heels and taking the game under the guidance of balding midfielder Wesley Sniejder and of course a little help from Brazilian midfielder Felipe Melo. Melo was responsible for an own goal in the 53rd minute off of a cross from Sniedjer; the goal that got it all started for the Dutch. Sniejder got the winning goal in the 68th minute, as the Dutch held on in an upset, for their 24th international unbeaten match in a row.
The following game, featured lesser known teams in Uruguay and Ghana. Neither had to take down a giant to get to the quarters, with Uruguay beating South Korea in the first round, and Ghana having beaten the U.S., but they still were able to provide one of the most exhilarating games of the Cup. In the final minutes of the game, tied 1-1, Ghana, with the weight of all of Africa on its back, looked like it would become the first African country ever, to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. With time winding down, Ghana's Dominic Adiyiah's header looked like the shot that would put Ghana into the next round, but Urugay's star striker Luis Suarez had other thoughts, as he put his hand up to block Adiyiah's shot in a move of desperation. Since the shot was clearly going in, Suarez was issued a red card, which seemed meaningless, as Ghana was about to take a penalty kick that most sixth graders could make. But, Asamoah Gyan couldn't. The kick that was supposed to send shock waves throughout Africa and even the world sailed high above the crossbar, as Gyan looked on in confusion and heartbreak. With no goals being scored in extra time, the two teams went to penalty kicks, with Ghana's Gyan being brave enough to go first. Although he made his kick, it wasn't enough for redemption, as Uruguay won 4-2 in one of the more lamentable losses of the Cup.
The next day's first game was Germany versus Argentina, in what was widely regarded, going into the day, as what would be the most exciting, star studded match of the semis. But, Germany stole the show from the usually exciting Argentinian team, serving up a 4-0 beat down. The trouble for Argentina started early as with a Thomas Muller header off of a Bastian Schweinsteiger pass just two minutes into the game. After that it, it only got worse, as Lionel Messi couldn't find a hole in the German defense, leaving Argentina's Carlos Tevez to do all of the work. Going into halftime, there was still some hope for Argentina, only down 1-0, but Miroslav Klose closed the door on that with his goal in the 67th minute. From there, it was just pouring salt on the wound, with a goal from Arne Friedrich in the 73rd minute and then another from Miroslav Klose in the 88th minute. The second goal for Klose, put him into second place on the all-time World Cup goal scorers list, tied with Germany's Gerd Muller and one behind Ronaldo, a record he has a chance to eclipse with two games left. The Argentinians played as if all they wanted to do was just get off of the pitch for the last quarter of the game. But it wasn't all good news for the Germans, as 20 year old phenom Thomas Muller was issued a red card and will have to miss the upcoming match against Spain.
The last game of the quarters was Spain against Paraguay, about the only World Cup quarterfinals match that didn't end in a surprise. The whole game, Paraguay was able to keep up with Spain, possibly doing so because of the six roster changes their coach made for the game. They stuck around and stuck around and stuck around until they couldn't stick around any longer. In the 83rd minute, Spain finally got the goal it needed to squeeze by, when a shot from Spain's Pedro ricocheted off of the post and right into the foot of superstar David Villa who bounced one off of the post as well, but this time into the goal. The Spanish looked like they had the game in hand, ready to go into cruise control, but in the closing minutes of Paraguay showed it wasn't going to give up, taking a great shot that Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas blocked and then another great shot off of the bounce, that Casillas was able to deflect with his foot. The sound of the whistle could not have been any sweeter for the Spanish team, avoiding an upset, and putting them into the semis against Germany.
The European-South American rivalry goes back all the way to colonial times, when South American countries were trying to assert their independence from their father European countries. The game of soccer, seems a bit behind the trend as European countries are still dominating when it comes to taking on South American teams. They are the only two continents to have even made it to a World Cup final, but throughout history, Europe has delivered. Despite the fact that Brazil has won more Cups (five) than anyone else, they haven't gotten much help from the rest of the continent, as Uruguay's two Cups are ancient history, and Argentina's Cups are from 1978 and 1986, and this year being one of their best shots at the Cup.
Today, Uruguay meets the Netherlands, in a match that all are expecting the Dutch to take. Tomorrow Spain takes on Germany, in what should be an intense, high octane game. It's shaping up to be an all-Europe final, which would be the eighth time out of nineteen Cups that, that had occured. South America is certainly moving up on the list, although the only dominant teams from the continent are still Brazil and Argentina. If Uruguay can reassert its dominance and make its first Cup final since 1950, and if teams like Chile and Paraguay can continue to grow, then it could be possible for South America to have another chance in the next Cup. Whether or not the world and its fans are ready to move the headquarters of soccer from old world Europe to new world South America is irrelevant, as the European teams of this Cup have shown us that no matter what anyone says, Europe is still the king of soccer.
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