World Football Postulant

After Liverpool’s defeat of Standard Liège, it was announced that Steven Gerrard would undergo surgery Thursday morning to correct a groin problem that has bothered him for the last month. The Reds’ captain decided to play through the pain this weekend against Middlesbrough as well as tonight, though against the Belgian champions he was a none factor and Rafa Benitez probably would have been better served with somebody else in the lineup. That Liverpool does not have somebody to fill that spot may have contributed to the decision to play Gerrard, and thanks to the upcoming break in the club schedule for World Cup qualifiers, Liverpool should only have to go one match without Stevie G.

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Liverpool may be one of the eight teams in the top pool for tomorrow’s Champions League group stage draw, but they were the closest of the thirty-two teams to being out of the tournament after the final round of qualifying finished today.

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At the onset Nigeria made themselves to be Argentina’s toughest Olympics opponent, using their superior athleticism and strength to move their quicker, more skilled opponents off the ball as they tried to dribble into the attack.  But as the game wore on the Nigerians wore down, less able to use their physicality while dealing with an opponent who had adjusted to playing longer, direct balls into the attack, running onto those passes instead of trying to dribble through the defense.  Ultimately, it was a Lionel Messi ball that sprung Angel Di Maria for the match’s only goal, giving the Argentines their second consecutive gold medal.

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Yet another rumor surrounding Fluminense attacker Thiago Neves, though there is another suitor mentioned in this one.  This time, it is Manchester City, a team who is still looking for that marquee name after being used by Ronaldinho early this summer.  Neves, who just finished his Olympics commitment to Brazil, would fill that role, even if expectations of him are a bit high at this point.  Atlético Madrid has also been strongly mentioned in some reports, but Neves’s representation is speaking openly about a City move, something that is both a good and a bad sign.

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Hamburger SV have accepted a bid from Manchester City for 22-year-old right back Vincent Kompany.  No personal terms have been agreed to yet, but a move seems likely as Hamburger wants to rid themselves of their formerly prized prospect after a rift has formed over the Olympics.

Hamburg had negotiated a deal with the Belgian football federation that would have their player return from Beijing for last Friday’s Bundesliga start at Bayern Munich.  When Kompany complained about having to leave the Olympics, Hamburg became defensive, publicly noting an agreement had been in place for some time.

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Schalke 04 exhibited a new, powerful approach during their 3-0 victory over Hannover on Saturday.

Bundesliga Standings Rank Club GP PTS DIFF 1 Hoffenheim 1 3 3 2 Schalke 1 3 3 3 Stuttgart 1 3 2 4 Hertha Berlin 1 3 2 5 Borussia Dortmund 1 3 1 6 Wolfsburg 1 3 1 7 Karlsruhe 1 3 1 8 Arminia Bielefeld 1 1 0 9 Bayern Munich 1 1 0 10 Hamburger SV 1 1 0 11 Werder Bremen 1 1 0 12 Bayer Leverkusen 1 0 -1 13 1. FC Koln 1 0 -1 14 VfL Bochum 1 0 -1 15 Borussia M’gladbach 1 0 -2 16 Frankfurt 1 0 -2 17 Energie Cottbus 1 0 -3 18 Hannover 1 0 -3 Results August 15, 2008 Bayern Munich 2 2 Hamburg SV August 16, 2008 Bayer Leverkusen 2 3 Borussia Dortmund Arminia Bielefeld 2 2 Werder Bremen Karlsruhe 1 0 VfL Bochum Schalke 3 0 Hannover Energie Cottbus 0 3 Hoffenheim Wolfsburg 2 1 Koln August 17, 2008 Borussia M’gladbach 1 3 Stuttgart Frankfurt 0 2 Hertha Berlin Next Week Home Away August 22, 2008 Hannover Energie Cottbus August 23, 2008 Hoffenheim Borussia M’gladbach Stuttgart Bayer Leverkusen Hamburger SV Karlsruhe Borussia Dortmund Bayern Munich Werder Bremen Schalke 04 Hertha Berlin Arminia Bielefeld August 24, 2008 1. FC Koln Frankfurt VfL Bochum Wolfsburg

When you stack their lineups against each other, Bayern Munich’s seems better, but it is surprising how much talent Schalke has. Announcing it to Europe in their Champions League challenge to Barcelona last season, Schalke is on the verge of transcending the perception of plucky, over-achieving club to league title contender. In round one of the Bundesliga campaign, they were the league’s best team.

Their 3-0 victory over Hannover did not do them justice.  Playing without high-profile summer acquisitions Jefferson Farfán (winger/forward from PSV Eindhoven) and Orlando Engelaar (holding midfielder from FC Twente) - both of whom were hurt in the middle of the week during the club’s impressive Champions League victory over Atlético Madrid - Schalke still exhibited the firepower that should make Bayern, who could have trouble with Farfán and Kevin Kurayni working together, scared.

Bayern limped to a tie against visiting Hamburg without Luca Toni, Franck Ribery and Martin Demichelis.  In round two, they play at a Borussia Dortmund team that confidently put three goals on Bayer Leverkusen in opening their season with a win.  If Bayern does not get healthy for their second match, they could find themselves four or five points behind a rolling Schalke 04 team that plays at a Diego-less Werder Bremen.

Four or five points may not sound like much, but in a Bundesliga that looks a little top heavy, the elite teams may face fewer teams capable of stealing points.  With four fewer matches in the Bundesliga season (compared to the big three leagues), a four or five point gifted Schalke now could be the type of thing Jurgen Klinsmann rues at season’s send.  And if there’s any club that knows about elite teams piling up points in the Bundesliga, it’s Bayern.

Werder Bremen was a near-elite last season (there was only one true elite last season), but without Diego they are a completely different team.  There may be no single player more important to his club than Diego, who is in Beijing for the Olympics.  Seeing them struggle to tie Arminia Beilefeld this weekend, Bremen’s desire to keep the Brazilian playmaker out of the Olympics suddenly made sense.  They weren’t involved in Champions League qualifying like Schalke or Barcelona, but even one match without Diego is a huge loss for this club, whose whole style of play is predicated on the young star’s ability to distribute.

Markus Rosenburg’s two surgical strikes helped Bremen get a point from a Bielefeld side that used the visitor’s wide-open style of play to their advantage.  Bremen is unlikely to alter their style for their match against Schalke, so expect Ivan Ratikic and company to have a big day.

In addition to Round 2’s Dortmund-Bayern, Bremen-Schalke headliners, Stuttgart hosts Leverkusen in another potentially defining match.  Stuttgart efficiently dealt with a Moenchengladbach team that, while having chances, lacked the firepower to play with Thomas Hitzlsperger and Mario Gomez.  Now Stuttgart hosts Bayer with a chance for a six point start.  If they get their win, Bayer will have gone without a point in their first two matches, an early hole for a team that has European aspirations.

There was bad news on the injury front from Round 1’s action.  Dortmund’s Dede, who gave Leverkusen so much trouble on Saturday, suffered a major knee injury and should be lost until spring.  And although Schalke has looked the league’s best team, their depth will take a major hit of midfielder Jermaine Jones, who missed almost all of last season with injuries, is out for more than just Wednesday’s Germany friendly.  Jones is doubtful for Joachim Low’s team.   The German-American midfielder is proving to be a vital cog in Schalke’s attack, running off of Kurayni and onto Farfán’s crosses, but any injury scare is twice as frightening for Jones, given his recent injury history.

World Football Postulant Bundesliga Rankings

As their result was injury related, there’s only so much I’m willing to drop Bayern, though they have looked poor all preseason. Likewise, I can only drop Werder so far, seeing as Diego is in Beijing.

With so many clubs who should finish in the top half of the table playing each other this weekend, a lot of teams have three points without being very high in my first rankings set. Those clubs have thirty-three more rounds to show me their value.

And just as was the case with the Ligue 1 rankings, this early in the season, the whole endeavor becomes worthless pretty quickly. We just need to have fun with it.

1. Schalke 04
2. Bayern Munich
3. Hamburger SV
4. Borussia Dortmund
5. Werder Bremen
6. Bayer Leverkusen
7. Stuttgart
8. Hertha Berlin
9. Arminia Bielefeld
10. Hoffenheim
11. Hannover
12. Karlsruhe
13. VfL Wolfsburg
14. Borussia M’gladbach
15. VfL Bochum
16. Koln
17. Frankfurt
18. Energie Cottbus

Argentina’s impressive quarterfinal performance made them slightly favorites to beat an underwhelming Brazil side in today’s Olympic semifinal, but there still seemed to be something missing from a team that was expected to be much more dominant than they have been. With Sergio Agüero’s two goals today, we were shown what that missing element was. The Atlético Madrid star, voted best player in Spain last season, pushed Argentina into the final, one match away from repeating as goal medalists.

The Argentinians will meet Nigeria in a final that was expected to be an encore to the Argentina-Brazil main event, but with the Screaming Eagles beating Belgium 4-1, the final now looks like the main attraction it is supposed to be. Nigeria needed a win over the United States in its last group match to make the medal round, but once there they beat a strong Ivory Coast team 2-0 before dispatching Belgium. Given the United States was undefeated before running into the Nigerians, the Super Eagles have been the tournament’s most impressive team over the last three matches.

If Agüero can play against Nigeria as he did against Brazil, it may not matter. Whereas Lionel Messi carried the Argentinians over the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, Agüero stepped up, scored his first goals of the tournament, and returned the favor against the Brazilians. One (or both) of the two star strikers will need to ascend to similar levels in this weekend’s gold medal match, as Nigeria will be their toughest test of the tournament.

Brazil was not up to that label. Argentina went up 2-0 in the second half on Agüero goals that came six minutes apart, but they were the better team even before breaking through. After the goals, Brazil showed some brief life before becoming frustrated by the Argentinians. That frustration came to a head when Thiago Neves as Lucas Leiva were both sent off for a tackles on Javier Mascherano. For a Brazil side disappointed on again missing out on a gold medal, it was an apt end to their hopes.

Brazil will take on Belgium in the bronze medal game, a rematch of a group phase game the Brazilians won, 1-0.  Their inability to reach the gold medal match will hit Brazil hard, as the team brought the biggest name in the tournament, Ronaldinho, as an overage player in an effort to win their first goal medal.  Although Ronaldinho showed some flashes of his former self, Brazil never played up to their talent.  Dunga’s search for a cohesive lineup over the last two matches failed, and Brazil again missed out on Olympic goal. They not only missed out. They crashed out, losing 3-0 in a match that they rarely contested.

Argentina should not expect such little opposition in the final. Nigeria has come to dub their squad the Dream Team and have high expectations. Their athleticism will keep them in the match, their overage Lokomotiv Moscow star Peter Odemwingie is capable of stealing a winger should the the Nigerians stifle Argentina.

While they should be expected to win their second consecutive gold, the tournament has changed for Argentina. Their toughest match will no long be their semifinal, as was expected three weeks ago. Nigeria will be more than Brazil.

Links
Aguero inspires Brazil demise
Nigeria to meet Argentina
Nigeria reach Olympic final
Argentina routs Brazil to reach another final
Argentina knocks out rivals Brazil
Brazil humiliated by final-bound Argentina
Quick Report: Argentina 3-0 Brazil
Nigeria routs Belgium 4-1 to reach Olympic final
Super Eagles dispatch Belgium
Nigeria 4-1 Belgium: Nigeria reach Olympic final
Nigeria’s four-star show
Nigeria thump Belgium to reach Olympic final
Slick Nigeria crush sorry Belgium
Quick report: Nigeria 4-1 Belgium

When I saw the score yesterday, I thought it a great result for Martin Jol.  For him to go to München and get a point from Bayern in his league debut with Hamburger SV was a great start, I thought.  It is an even better result considering the defending league championship were up two half way through the first, with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski having taken control of the match.

Bayern can be forgiven a bit if they let Hamburg back into the match.  The ended up playing without Franck Ribery, German Footballer of the Year, who is still recovering from an ankle injury suffered during the European Championships.  München were also without Luca Toni, the league’s leading scorer last term, who has been recovering from a hamstring injury for the last month.  Their starting lineup was also absent center back Martin Demichelis, a loss which have would have been big enough without his partner Lúcio picking up a knock in the fourth minute.  With Breno at the Olympics and Willy Sangol out, Bayern coach Jürgen Klinsmann was without any back-ups at center half.  München adjusted by having Daniel van Buyten do all the roaming while the Brazilian stayed at home.

In that context, Bayern’s 2-2 draw with Hamburger look less a capitulation and more survival.  It speaks to how deep and talented Bayern is compared to the rest of the league that they were still able to compete with the team that finished fourth in last year’s Bundesliga.

This is not to say Bayern had a completely incapable side.  They still had Podolski and Miroslav Klöse up top, with Schweinsteiger, Zé Roberto, Mark van Brommel in the midfield and Philip Lahm at the back.  Zé Roberto helped set-up Schweinsteiger’s opener, while Podolski scored his goal from a penalty kick.

Hamburg fought back and ended with a well deserved draw.  Peruvian José Guerrero pulled them within one with a great first-half goal that came amidst a very impressive performance.  A symmetry-building penalty kick got them even in the second.  The call that led to the penalty kick was not the kind of clear-cut, no-doubt circumstance that you hope for in a tying goal, but given how the visitors had played throughout the match, Piotr Trochowski’s goal did not yield an unjust result.

Hamburg continued the strong play they had exhibited throughout the preseason despite not playing Mohammad Zidan (presumably knowing he was to be dealt to Dortmund) and not getting the kind of dynamic play from newcomer Jonathan Pitroipa that led me to believe they would not be as hurt by Rafael van der Vaart’s sale as many believed.  With Mladen Petric coming in, some of van der Vaart’s goal scoring will be replaced, but this team will be fine regardless if they play with the creativity they showed on Friday.  Martin Jol has Hamburger playing with much more ambition than last season.  That may just be an appearance gathered from Ivica Olic running around Bayern’s back line for ninety minutes, but Jol seems to want Hamburg to open up an attack that finished tenth in goals in last season’s Bundesliga.

We will have to wait for Bayern to get healthy to know where they stand, though there is little doubt that they are the class of the league.  At least, they should be considered as such until they show otherwise.  Hamburg, however, may not be in for the downturn many are expecting.  Some see the sky falling without van der Vaart.  Jol seems to have his players believing otherwise.

Links
Jol happy with comeback draw against Bayern
Bayern held to 2-2 draw by Hamburg
Bayern held on Klinsmann’s debut
Bayern 2-2 Hamburg: Trochowski hits equaliser
Bayern held in opener
Klinsmann: Still Work to Do
Champions Bayern held in opener
Bayern Held By HSV In Bundesliga Opener
Bayern held by Hamburg in Klinsmann’s first game
Bayern held on Klinsmann’s debut

Nigeria posted the most impressive result of the quarterfinal, getting and early goal from over-age, Lokomotiv striker Peter Odemwingie to take a lead over Côte d’Ivoire which they never relinquished.  The Screaming Eagles were rarely threatening, controlling a match they put away with an 82nd minute penalty kick goal.

This victory, along with having advanced into the medal round after winning the tournament’s strongest group, has to announce Nigeria as one of the tournaments favorites.  They do not have the talent of either Brazil or Argentina, but they have a history of taking this tournament very seriously, and they have the easier path to the gold medal match.

Belgium’s win over Italy puts them in the semifinals against Nigeria.  Nigeria will be favored, and should they advance will have a puncher’s chance against one of the tournament co-favorites.  If Brazil were to advance to the finals, the Nigerians who face a country that, while wanting their first gold medal, may not have the same hunger for the crown as the Argentina side that won the tournament four years ago.  Argentina, however, looks a bit better at this point in the tournament, and if they advance they will be favored over the Eagles.

For Côte d’Ivoire, it was a well played tournament in which they will get no reward.  They finished second in a group into which they were drawn with Argentina.  They played the co-favorites will, but only finishing second in their group, got matched-up with a strong Nigerian side in the medal round.  Côte d’Ivoire might be one of the top four or five teams in the tournament, but they are out at the round of eight.

Links
Nigeria book last-four date
Nigeria Pop Ivory Coast, To Meet Belgium In Semi-final
Quick Report: Nigeria 2-0 C√¥te d’Ivoire

The Netherlands, of whom so much was expected coming into the tournament, stumbled in the group stage and barley advanced out of their group, garnering themselves a quarterfinal match-up with giants Argentina. That stumble almost turned into Argentina’s bane as the tournament co-favorites were faced with a Dutch side that, playing to their potential, pushed them to the limit. After playing at 1-1 for over seventy minutes, Argentina’s Angel Di Maria scored in extra time to give the favorites their margin of victory.

The win sets up the match all followers have been waiting for. Argentina will face Brazil in one semifinal while the Netherlands goes home medal-less.

Lionel Messi, by reports, was dominant, scoring the Argentina’s first goal and creating numerous chances, including the one for Di Maria’s game winner. His efforts help the Argentines control the match in what might have been their best performance of the tournament. Despite this, the side still needed extra time to dispatch a Dutch team which has to be regretting their not winning Group B.

Messi has the ability to dominate a Brazil team which, while being defensively thrifty in their four matches, has not impressed.  I picked Brazil at the onset, but after overcoming the Netherlands today, Argentina holds the best result out of the two team’s eight matches.  With Dunga now second-guessing his tactic, leaving a lot of his talent on the bench, Argentina looks the better bet for the gold medal.

Links
Quick Report: Argentina 2-1 Netherlands
Messie sets up Brazil semi