Back to Reality: Does the World Cup Still Matter?

As a football spectacle, Germany 2006 was pretty grim: It was all about cast-iron defensive organization and packed midfields strengthened by double columns of steel at their base. It was Italy’s ability to keep a clean sheet, rather than the exploits of its strikers that got it to the final. And even there, they prevailed over France largely by virtue of David Trezeguet’s error by a matter of fractions of an inch in striking his penalty. France had done the bulk of the game’s attacking, although to be fair to Italy, it had taken the game to Germany in the semifinal and reaped the reward. Still, the Italian stars of the tournament are not Luca Toni or Francesco Totti, but Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianlucca Zambrotta and Fabio Grosso – and the magnificent Gianlugi Buffon, easily the best keeper at the tournament. Italy scored 12 goals, you’ll be surprised to learn, in their seven matches (because it always felt like they were getting by 1-0).

France did slightly better with its 9 goals over 12 games, but again, it was rarely Thierry Henry who was bagging ‘em. Henry and Toni, of course, shared the grim task of being a lone forward searching for scraps in front of a five-man midfield. Same as Pauleta for Portugal, Rooney for England, Crespo for Argentina and so on. Germany were the exception among the final four in playing a 4-4-2, although even then their strikers didn’t set the tournament alight. Sure Klose finished methodically for his five goals, he didn’t exactly terrify defenses. Defensive organization prevailed in Germany. As Simon Kuper noted early on, it has now become commonplace for a Cinderella team coached by a well-seasoned Dutch, German or Serbian pro to demonstrate the kind of defensive organization capable of holding just about anyone at bay. Look at Trinidad, who held off both Sweden and would have done the same to England had Crouch not gotten away with using Brent Sancho’s dreadlocks to hoist himself up for the opening goal. And very few teams were willing to play the sort of football necessary to overwhelm a well-drilled defense. Read the rest of this excellent post by Tony Karon…