The Face of South American Dominance

I advise everyone to tune into Univision today the 21st, there will be a 5 min excerpt on (The Argentine fan lifestyle), I came back from lunch yesterday to our hostel in Pretoria & found an Univision crew had already filmed a special with some real blue collar professional fans, disappointed myself that I was unable to make an appearance, this mail might not be enough notification.
On the experience of lodging w/ a rather zealous & not as open-minded crowd as used to traveling alone, this is just one of the many realities of visiting a country during a World Cup. The real face/ identity of the country is wearing a bit of make-up. After a few days it was easy to be put off by such vulgar & uneducated people, but as the time passes, it’s human nature that we warm-up to each other & it has become incredibly entertaining.
Lets cut to the Bizz. I can picture all the Western media harping at the Disappointing performances by the African Nations. All 6 are going home, I myself never did but a 100 on Ghana, & after playing 70 mins w/ an extra man & not even being able to hold onto the ball at the times I have lost a tremendous amount of faith. The main issue lies in the inability to finish. The best atmosphere yet was the Cameroun vs. Dinamarca game on Saturday. There was something refreshingly old school about how the Cameroonian squad warmed-up. Old school West African style stretches, & hugging exercises reminiscent of adolescent soccer camp drills intended to stimulate strong team chemistry. The Cameroonian faitfull was electric, the drums were rocking, dudes in traditional Cameroonian outfits with feather headpieces were gyrating about, Eto’o scored 20 mins in, everyone got excited, (This is it Africa is here to represent!) The drums were pounding, however this was to be short lived. Cameroun showed a lot of heart, but sometimes this is not enough.
I recall my 1st taxi driver in Jo-burg commenting about Cameroun, (Those boys push to much iron, you can see they can’t even move, only Eto’o, he is the only exception!) another businessman from Zambia 2 days back, (Those boys from Cameroun spend more time in the gym then they do training, they’re too big those country boys.) Makoun who plays in Lyon played awful as soon as he came on, directly responsible for the game winning goal by Denmark, you don’t let the man beat you instep, with an easy shot towards goal, if anything you force him to the line so that he still has to play the ball back, that’s just for starters! Emana the number 10 for Cameroun looked more like a body-building stopper. Although Emana played respectively well, it’s when having to create for your teammates, & having poise in front of the net that you have to demonstrate your worth. That Cameroun lost again Denmark showcased all the weaknesses in African football.
I myself never did put 100 dollars on Ghana, & after 70 mins up a man on a mediocre Australia, if one were tuning into the game in the 2nd half, you would never know they had an extra man advantage. It’s clear that being a strong defensive minded team, aside from Anna & Kevin Prince, they almost looked uneasy passing the ball in the midfield. As a whole the West African teams overall want to play defense & then counter attack with pace.
The Brasil game last night was an absolute Samba Baile. Clinical in imposing their will on the game, & I can picture the western media suggesting what an even battle it was going to be since Brasil had initially struggled to figure out North Korea’s communist defense network. For me it was pure intuition that when a great like Luis Fabiano has an awful game one day, (LOOK Out) because he’s coming for blood the next! I predicted Fabiano would get 2 & Brasil would get 4 to silence the critics. (3-1) wasn’t that far off.
The reality is all 6 African teams are going home, save Ghana, if they can manage a tie vs. Germany & or an Algerian win vs. the US. While, it seems clear that all 5 South American teams will make it into the final 16, with potentially 4 of the last 8 being South American, total dominance!
While most want to see the 2nd half vs. Slovenia Estados Unidos team come to play against Algeria, as is when coming to America, you never know what you’re going to get. I myself would give the edge to US on paper, but these games tend to be monumental for so many reasons. Speaking w/ Algerians yesterday, I was given a whole education on the structure of African soccer politics; I’ll give the short version. How the African teams have to go through hell just to qualify for the World Cup. The breed of the Northern African football is distinct from West Africa, not so much run & gun, however they have an ability to impose their swagger on a game, as demonstrated vs. a lack luster England.
I called it last December after the draw, amongst the salty unraveling of a rightfully rubbish French side with a politically backed & awful coach leaving out Algerians like Benzema & Nasri. Zidane himself has been attending the Algerian matches, supposedly the only African Nation to take their independence after a long bloody civil war, HABIBI, let me tell you I would not want to bet against Algeria in the last match. It’s going to be a killer! & remember this, the more physical the match, the more this benefits the Algerians who will go back to instinctively playing pick-up in their dirt yards, drawing fouls & getting under the skin of an over anxious US squad. No attachment one way or the other. Slovenia ties England. & Algeria shocks US 2-1 to go through.