Source: Philip Ella Juico (The Philippine Star)
By the time readers go through this column, one half of the finals cast for the 2010 FIFA World Cup championship on July 11 would have emerged. Uruguay and Netherlands played at 2:30 a.m., Philippine time, today. Germany and Spain
face each other tomorrow, July 8, also at 2:30 a.m., Philippine time. The losers of both matches slug it out for third place on July 10.
Uruguay has to be considered the underdog against the Netherlands for the simple reason that the country won two titles in 1930 and 1950, when most of the world was still preoccupied with keeping its collective body and soul together. Survival was the main preoccupation in the agenda of many nations and the present kings of soccer were rebuilding their communities from the ruins of World War II, notably Germany.
Uruguay won in 1950 against the highly-fancied Brazil right in Rio de Janeiro before a screaming crowd of about 200,000. The Uruguayan player credited with that victory was the diminutive Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia, then a youthful 23-year old right-winger of the Uruguayan squad.
In various accounts, including Alex Bellos’s “Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life”, it is said that Ghiggia “became the legend of Uruguayan and world football when he scored the decisive goal in the de-facto final of the World Cup 1950 in the Maracana Stadium of Rio Janeiro in front of the (home) crowd. Brazil only needed a draw to secure the world title and led at the half, 1-0. After about an hour, Uruguay’s Juan Alberto Schiaffino equalized matters. Ten minutes later however, Ghiggia scored off Brazil’s goalie, Moacir Barbosa triggering a national mourning in South America’s largest nation.
Years later Bellos wrote that the goal of (Ghiggia) and the shot that killed (US President John F. Kennedy) have the same dramatic pattern…the same movement…the same precision of an unstoppable trajectory…They even have the dust in common that was stirred up, here by a rifle and there by Ghiggia’s left foot”.
The Singapore Straits Times Rohit Brijnath, also quoting Bellos, talks of a young female Brazilian customs officer who, in 2000, stared at the passport of an incoming passenger who turned out to be the grey-haired Ghiggia. Ghiggia asked her, “Is something wrong?” The customs officer asked, “Are you the Ghiggia?”. Stunned, Ghiggia said yes and told the lady that was 50 years ago. The Customs lady, too young to be born in 1950, turned to the old footballer and said of the ancient defeat: “In Brazil, we feel it in our hearts every day.”
The impact of Brazil’s defeat was so devastating that www.fifa.com/newscentre quoted Ghiggia as having said: Only three people have ever silenced 200,000 people at the Maracana with a single gesture: Frank Sinatra, Pope John Paul II and I”.
The Uruguayans, ranked 18th, are credited with great teamwork largely because its players have been together for quite some time. The 2010 Uruguayan squad is probably the most talented it has fielded since 1970 when the La Celeste (Light Blue), as the team is called, reached the semifinals.
The fourth-ranked Dutch, sent the top-ranked Brazil packing, 2-1, last Friday in the quarterfinals. In Brazil, the defeat of the Brazilians perhaps took up more air time and newsprint than the story of how the Dutch won. Felipe Melo who was credited with an own goal and was thus the convenient scapegoat, could not escape the verbal assault launched by angry Brazilian fans shortly after returning home from South Africa.
The Dutch are aiming to reach their first final in 32 years. The last time the Netherlands reached the finals was in 1978 when they lost to host Argentina, 3-1. They also finished second in 1974 behind Germany.
The Germany (6)-Spain (2) matchup should be a classic. Spain, the 2008 Euro Cup champion, was a heavy favorite to win the Cup at the start of the tournament. It momentarily failed to live up to its billing with a first-game loss to Switzerland
(26), 1-0, and then scored four consecutive victories on its way to the semis.
Germany has to be regarded as the most exciting team in the Cup with its awesome transition from defense to an explosive counter-attack. Germany has the enviable tradition of winning the title three times (1954, 1974 and 1990), but history is to be set aside when they meet Spain. A big factor in favor of Germany is its youthful squad that has lots of fire in its belly. The Germans are aware of the huge expectations the fans back home and have sworn to become inspirations for the future as they have been inspired by the past.
It could be Germany versus the Netherlands on July 11.
