World Cup Matches of the Day; [R] 6/27/06

[AreliusIV]

My predictions:
Brazil 2 : 0 Ghana
Spain 1 : 0 France

[montgjules]

My predictions:

Brazil 1-1 Ghana (Ghana wins it on PKs... OKay, I'm dreaming but I'd LOVE to see Ghana win this game or at least have a good showing)
France 2-1 Spain

[AreliusIV]

Cultural, historical and footballing links between Ghana and the world champions are numerous.

The whole of Africa is behind Ghana this afternoon. Ghana symbolises the success story of Africa, at least in terms of its breakthrough into football's global elite. Brazil are the supreme undisputable giants and this is the clash of the tournament: the underdog against the superpower. The match promises to be exciting on the pitch and very interesting in terms of the subjects it raises off the ball.

If Ghana hadn't made it this far most of Africa would probably be rooting for Brazil. The many and varied layers of links between these two countries surpasses anything I could have imagined.

Take Carlos Alberto Parreira for starters. He was a young PE trainer who had studied English when he went to Ghana and landed his first job as a football coach. He was in his early twenties then and remembers days of "camping in army tents". That role qualified him to step up to assistant coach of Brazil when the dictatorship there decided to remove the communist manager João Saldanha and appoint Zagallo instead, prior to the 1970 World Cup. Ghanaians say their football was shaped by Brazil. It could be argued that Parreira's career was shaped and moulded by Ghana.

Football was brought to Ghana by the English, but it was Parreira's reign that initiated the modern era of the game. What the English first took to Ghana was imperial trade nous - first cocoa and then cocoa workers. In those days Ghana was known as the Gold Coast, and the bulk of the slaves "exported" across the Atlantic went to Brazil, where slave trading was legitimate until 1888.

Until the late 1800s the slave population of Brazil exceeded the free. This has had an enormous influence on Brazilian culture: music, dance, rituals that combine the two have their roots in African traditions. Brazil is the most African country outside Africa.

What has this got to do with football? As the thousands of comments - angry, informed, fascinating, passionate - posted on Guardian blogs since the beginning of the tournament show, football has much to do with nationalism, identity, cultural inclinations, patriotism and the weight of history and tradition.

Pele visited Ghana in the 70s and it was he who proclaimed that one day an African country would win the World Cup. His visit to war-torn Nigeria nearly 40 years ago led the two sides to declare a ceasefire - at least for the duration of the game.

Some years ago I met Nii Lamptey, the Ghanaian footballer who as a teenager was hailed as the new Pele. His story, harrowing and full of drama, is not unlike that of hundreds of footballers the world over, particularly African ones. Lamptey's dream of becoming Pele was smashed by the harsh realities of the laws governing the transfer of minors to European clubs, the immigration laws and work permits that affect foreign footballers, the bizarre requirements of international matches played in order to qualify for the above, the strains of foreignness and cultural otherness which make an individual vulnerable and unable to cope with adversity.

If Nii was the new Pele his native Ghana has been hailed as the "Brazil of Africa". A few days ago I was asked for an opinion: "How come Brazilians and Argentinians are so good at possession?" I reeled out my stock answer: most players in both countries come from poor backgrounds where groups of children with no toys can derive hours of entertainment from playing with a ball or bundle of rags. Good weather and hours of daylight mean they do this often and the fact that many are sharing the ball means each makes the most of his turn. Possession is the chance for self expression, the individual child's turn to enjoy. It is the object of the game. Surely, I was asked, that would be the same in Africa then? Of course it is. And in the tower blocks of Liverpool as well as the Gaza strip.

Brazil (and Argentina) have a history of success based on the ability to combine this individual desire to play with the ball with a long tradition of exposure to European professional football. Real success does not lie in raw talent alone, but in the ability to combine it with competitive efficiency.

For almost as long as Fifa has existed, Brazil has occupied a prominent role in the organisation of world football. The World Cup, Fifa's biggest business venture, has stirred up the debate on the role of football and international relations to such an extent that it has even been suggested that Fifa should replace the UN.

Imagine a world where Joao Havelange sat in Kofi Anan's chair.

I know. Best not. Eyes on the ball then. That's what will be writing history today.

--Marcela Mora y Araujo

[AreliusIV]

How Parreira was good for Ghana and Ghana was good for Parreira

Carlos Alberto Parreira described Ghana as no longer a team of football "innocents" and he should know: he was one of the men responsible for modernising their game. Almost 40 years ago, the Brazilian's first job as a professional coach was at the helm of Ghana's national team.
"Ghana should have played their first World Cup a long time ago," Brazil's coach said. "They deservedly qualified into the last 16. They are one of the powers of Africa. Finally, justice has been done."

Parreira was appointed Ghana coach in 1967 - one of the first foreign coaches to work in Africa. The Ghanaian government had approached the Brazilian foreign ministry with the intention of hiring a Brazilian, and the request was forwarded to Rio's state university, the only one in the country that taught physical education. The institution recommended one of its brightest pupils: 23-year-old Carlos Alberto Parreira.
He accepted immediately. The offer was $100 a week with rent, transport and food thrown in. "Despite the difficulties that it could have meant, it was a golden chance for me in my career and in my life," he told the journalist Ricardo Gonzales in the book Making Winning Teams. Parreira, who was never a footballer himself, had also just completed an English course, which helped his adaptation in Ghana. He remains one of the very few Brazilian coaches to speak English.

On arriving in Accra the young Brazilian immediately brought a change of style to the Ghanaian team. "When they took me to the hotel to meet the players I said hello to them and then sat at the table with them. They looked at me strangely. I thought I had done something stupid or broken a local tradition. It was just that it was unimaginable for them for a coach to sit with them. When I realised this, I carried on doing it - which was great as a way of getting close to them." He also stayed in the same lodgings as the team, instead of going to the best hotel as his predecessors had done. And he banned sex when on duty with the team - which reportedly had a great effect on the players' on-pitch performances.

His first challenge was the 1968 African Cup of Nations - which Ghana had won in 1963 and 1965 - in Ethiopia. The team did well, beating Ivory Coast in the semis. In the final, however, Ghana lost 1-0 to Congo-Kinshasa (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).

In addition to his duties with the national team he was coach of one of the country's main clubs, Ashanti Kotoko of Kumasi. He took the team to the African Champions Cup final, where they played Tout Puissant Englebert from Congo- Kinshasa. The first game was a 1-1 draw and the second turned into a farce.

"We didn't win on the pitch because the final was in Zaire, the stadium was packed and the ref was under lots of pressure, with the army present. Kotoko were winning 2-1 and, almost at the end of the game, my defender chested a ball, the ref said it was handball and gave a penalty.

"So it was 2-2. At the end of extra-time the ref said the winner would be decided by tossing a coin but there was a pitch invasion and it became utter chaos. Afterwards we learnt that a third game had been organised, but no one told us. The team from Zaire were declared champions but I consider myself the winner too." He said his experience in Ghana had been character-building: "I suffered a lot on my own, away from my family. I learnt there to be a man, not to fear hardships."

Parreira's time in Ghana led indirectly to his career with his own country's national team. When Ghana hosted a friendly against Germany he met members of the Lower Saxony FA who invited him to Hanover to study audovisual coaching aids. In 1968, with $2,500 in savings, he decided to go. "[Ghana] wanted me to stay but I needed to invest in my career and went to Europe." Known for his academic approach, he also spent time doing courses at Tottenham and Chelsea.

While he was in Hanover, Brazil travelled to Germany to play a friendly. Parreira visited the team hotel where he met his old teacher Admildo Chirol, who was part of the delegation. Chirol invited him to be Brazil's fitness trainer in the 1970 World Cup. Since then Parreira has been Brazil coach three times - as well as coaching Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. "Ghana was an important watershed in my life," he remembers. "Today those who worked with me during that time recognise the value of the work that I did."

Among the Ghanaian delegation in Germany is at least one of Parreira's young charges from the 1960s. The former international Cecil Jones Attuquayefio says the Brazilian was partly responsible for giving Ghana their one-touch style which he claims leads them to be called the "Brazil of Africa". "He was young like us, a strong guy," said Attuquayefio. "I'd like very much to meet him again, even though I don't think he'll recognise me."

--Alex Bellos

[AreliusIV]

This is the first World Cup encounter between these nations. Spain has never beaten France in a competitive match. The Spanish won't have a better chance to put that right than this evening's game: – on form, France stand no chance against the youthful dynamism of Spain. However, you can never discount a team containing the genius of Thierry Henry.

Team news: Raul and Cesc Fabregas start for Spain. Zinedine Zidane and Eric Abidal return from suspensions for the French.

Key question: Can France start playing as a team, rather than a bunch of high-profile individuals?

[AreliusIV]

Originally Posted by AreliusIV

My predictions:
Brazil 2 : 0 Ghana
Spain 1 : 0 France

Final results:
Brazil 3 : 0 Ghana
Spain 1 : 3 France

[rabble-rabble]

One of the worst non-calls of the tournament was on the second goal for Brasil. Adriano was passive offsides on the original outlet pass to his teammates by about 2 yards. Then on the final pass into Adriano in the box he was offsides again (by a half-step). Ghana coach was so upset he got red-carded at the half.

I'm a Brasil fan once the US is out of it, but really get embarrassed when they get help like this. The passive offsides was very obvious and should have been called.

[dysko]

Originally Posted by rabble-rabble

One of the worst non-calls of the tournament was on the second goal for Brasil. Adriano was passive offsides on the original outlet pass to his teammates by about 2 yards. Then on the final pass into Adriano in the box he was offsides again (by a half-step). Ghana coach was so upset he got red-carded at the half.

I'm a Brasil fan once the US is out of it, but really get embarrassed when they get help like this. The passive offsides was very obvious and should have been called.

Amen!!!

[AreliusIV]

Ronaldo goal against Ghana

[Aerick]

Originally Posted by AreliusIV

Ronaldo goal against Ghana

It was a thing of beauty!