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Subject: World Cup Qualifying
No action for South Africa this week. But there has been some other action in the group. The New Zealand - Brasil game is worth a watch if you have nothing better to do (spoilers follow).
Taylor (New Zealand's keeper) was the proverbial brick wall in this one. He's certainly capable of that kind of performance, though he never once did that for me while I was in charge. :D New Zealand's tactic looked suspiciously like one I left on the chalk board, but then again 532s often look similar. And it wouldn't be anything to be proud of anyway, as Brasil had a ton of chances, but just couldn't score. The draw is probably a good thing for South Africa. It would have been better (from South Africa's perspective) for USA (the team that dropped points last week) to be shedding points. But at this point it's hard to know if it's Brasil or USA that will be most vulnerable at the end of qualifying.
Taylor (New Zealand's keeper) was the proverbial brick wall in this one. He's certainly capable of that kind of performance, though he never once did that for me while I was in charge. :D New Zealand's tactic looked suspiciously like one I left on the chalk board, but then again 532s often look similar. And it wouldn't be anything to be proud of anyway, as Brasil had a ton of chances, but just couldn't score. The draw is probably a good thing for South Africa. It would have been better (from South Africa's perspective) for USA (the team that dropped points last week) to be shedding points. But at this point it's hard to know if it's Brasil or USA that will be most vulnerable at the end of qualifying.
Wow, Taylor did an amazing job. The woodwork helped a couple of times as well. ;)
All set for today's match against USA. Unfortunately I won't be around for the live match - today is my Mother's birthday, so we're heading over there for lunch.
The American team is one I know fairly well, and has a number of players I quite admire. Lucas is a dream DM. Smuckers is a fantastic winger. Ritch leads a solid midfield, and Madsen is one of the best strikers in Sokker. Even if the South Africa tactic works perfectly (no guarantees there :D) it will take a fair bit of luck to get a result in this one.
Goliath is back on defense, which is reassuring. Robert's form ticked up this week, so hopefully he's got another strong match in him. I'm worried about midfield - mostly because of the class of the American's, but in part because form (particularly on Baloyi and Mabizela) is in an issue.
The American team is one I know fairly well, and has a number of players I quite admire. Lucas is a dream DM. Smuckers is a fantastic winger. Ritch leads a solid midfield, and Madsen is one of the best strikers in Sokker. Even if the South Africa tactic works perfectly (no guarantees there :D) it will take a fair bit of luck to get a result in this one.
Goliath is back on defense, which is reassuring. Robert's form ticked up this week, so hopefully he's got another strong match in him. I'm worried about midfield - mostly because of the class of the American's, but in part because form (particularly on Baloyi and Mabizela) is in an issue.
My apologies. A very disappointing result.
As the underdog, I felt it necessary to gamble. USA had used the same tactic every match this season. I felt I had little choice but to assume that tactic would be used again, and built South Africa's tactic to counter. But apparently USA considered South Africa a threat, and unveiled a new formation. :S
Given the strength of the US squad, there was no way to prevent them dominating possession. So I went with deep CBs, hoping the FBs would induce the American midfield to pass the ball early to the strikers. The strikers would then be forced to take a long shot, or run at well positioned defenders. Worked for the most part. Problem was that even with a positioning advantage, South Africa's defense had trouble dealing with the US strikers (particularly the Patterson vs. Solomos duel). The other problem was that Roberts, though he made some nice stops, wasn't as sharp as he needed to be, and conceded some goals I think he probably should have stopped.
J Sait got a quick run hoping to use his technique to get an opposing defender in trouble, maybe opening up some space for Mabizela. Sait actually looked pretty good. Mabizela didn't accomplish anything at all (hampered by form).
Permall got very little service. The South African midfield came to life after the Mapela substitution, and he got some wonderful chances - some shots not taken well, and some glorious opportunities where he (frustratingly) didn't get the shot away. A consolation goal would have been meaningful. Instead, USA got a 25 yard freekick goal from a defensive midfielder. Little salt in the wounds. :P
The loss isn't unexpected - and doesn't end South Africa's qualification hopes. But the -5 is not cool. Undoes all the good work done in the first week, and means the strikers really need to find their groove from here on out.
As the underdog, I felt it necessary to gamble. USA had used the same tactic every match this season. I felt I had little choice but to assume that tactic would be used again, and built South Africa's tactic to counter. But apparently USA considered South Africa a threat, and unveiled a new formation. :S
Given the strength of the US squad, there was no way to prevent them dominating possession. So I went with deep CBs, hoping the FBs would induce the American midfield to pass the ball early to the strikers. The strikers would then be forced to take a long shot, or run at well positioned defenders. Worked for the most part. Problem was that even with a positioning advantage, South Africa's defense had trouble dealing with the US strikers (particularly the Patterson vs. Solomos duel). The other problem was that Roberts, though he made some nice stops, wasn't as sharp as he needed to be, and conceded some goals I think he probably should have stopped.
J Sait got a quick run hoping to use his technique to get an opposing defender in trouble, maybe opening up some space for Mabizela. Sait actually looked pretty good. Mabizela didn't accomplish anything at all (hampered by form).
Permall got very little service. The South African midfield came to life after the Mapela substitution, and he got some wonderful chances - some shots not taken well, and some glorious opportunities where he (frustratingly) didn't get the shot away. A consolation goal would have been meaningful. Instead, USA got a 25 yard freekick goal from a defensive midfielder. Little salt in the wounds. :P
The loss isn't unexpected - and doesn't end South Africa's qualification hopes. But the -5 is not cool. Undoes all the good work done in the first week, and means the strikers really need to find their groove from here on out.
Agree with that analysis. Their strikers put away some spectacular shots, and some of those through balls just carved our defence open. A couple of times a defender would move forward, probably to cover an empty midfield area, and get pulled out of position.
Sait did look very good, and seemed more likely to pose a threat than Permall. Mapela looked very dangerous, but probably mostly due to having the advantage of coming on as a sub late in the game. I thought Khomane had a solid enough game again.
Sait did look very good, and seemed more likely to pose a threat than Permall. Mapela looked very dangerous, but probably mostly due to having the advantage of coming on as a sub late in the game. I thought Khomane had a solid enough game again.
True, but that's because he didn't play a full match.
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All set for Brasil. By my own reackoning, I put their personnel slightly below that of the US. But that may be because of my familiarity with the US team. Whether even, above, or below, they are very close to the US, as evidenced by their 1st round match up.
Brasil dropped points against New Zealand, but that was a 17-2 shot match where the New Zealand keeper was brilliant. It may well take a similar effort from Roberts to achieve a result in this one. At the bare minimum, South Africa needs 1 win out of the 4 matches against US and Brasil. Would be awesome to get it early. :)
Brasil dropped points against New Zealand, but that was a 17-2 shot match where the New Zealand keeper was brilliant. It may well take a similar effort from Roberts to achieve a result in this one. At the bare minimum, South Africa needs 1 win out of the 4 matches against US and Brasil. Would be awesome to get it early. :)
well they got a draw even before you posted that, so it's a good achievement.
Played with only 10 men from the 20th minute and a goal down, before ending up with the draw. Even had a chance or two to win it, though Roberts saved us quite a few times, not least of all in the 89th minute!
Well done. :)
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Well done. :)
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Thanks. :) I really didn't give us much chance after Khomane was sent off.
Though they out-shot us 3:1, I actually thought the real quality scoring chances were fairly close. The defense, aside from a couple of bobbles, played very well. I was once again very happy with the play of striker Sait, who was able to create some chances all on his own. I would have been even happier if he'd run in a straight line after beating his defender. :P
Tactically, I moved the defense back upfield hoping for some off-sides. Didn't really get very many. I had a feeling I should be putting the fullbacks out wider, but hesitated to do so - I'd shown 5 at the back every WC match, so I felt there was a reasonable chance Brasil might not attack wide. Spread the middle of the defense in expectation of 2 strikers against. Gave up a lot of territory, but followed the "bend but don't break" axiom.
Some of the striker positioning was great ... some not so good. I didn't expect 3 at the back from them. I should have hedged a little more. I pulled the wide mid back thinking it suited Chacko's game a little better. That's my main regret about the match ... not the positioning, but the minutes given to Chacko. He was in mostly in hopes of creating something off a throw-in, corner or freekick. He's pretty useless otherwise. Mabizela played well despite his form. I wish I'd given Mabizela the 60, and Chacko the 30.
A better form Permall would have helped too. He's got better tackling then Mapela. Mapela had several chances to strip a defender, and didn't quite have enough grit. Had Permall been in better form, their minutes would have been reversed.
The draw is a great result, and it certainly doesn't hurt qualification hopes. But I think we're still going to need 3 points off of one of Brasil or USA to get in, and now just 2 chances left to do it. I'm hoping this wasn't our best chance.
Though they out-shot us 3:1, I actually thought the real quality scoring chances were fairly close. The defense, aside from a couple of bobbles, played very well. I was once again very happy with the play of striker Sait, who was able to create some chances all on his own. I would have been even happier if he'd run in a straight line after beating his defender. :P
Tactically, I moved the defense back upfield hoping for some off-sides. Didn't really get very many. I had a feeling I should be putting the fullbacks out wider, but hesitated to do so - I'd shown 5 at the back every WC match, so I felt there was a reasonable chance Brasil might not attack wide. Spread the middle of the defense in expectation of 2 strikers against. Gave up a lot of territory, but followed the "bend but don't break" axiom.
Some of the striker positioning was great ... some not so good. I didn't expect 3 at the back from them. I should have hedged a little more. I pulled the wide mid back thinking it suited Chacko's game a little better. That's my main regret about the match ... not the positioning, but the minutes given to Chacko. He was in mostly in hopes of creating something off a throw-in, corner or freekick. He's pretty useless otherwise. Mabizela played well despite his form. I wish I'd given Mabizela the 60, and Chacko the 30.
A better form Permall would have helped too. He's got better tackling then Mapela. Mapela had several chances to strip a defender, and didn't quite have enough grit. Had Permall been in better form, their minutes would have been reversed.
The draw is a great result, and it certainly doesn't hurt qualification hopes. But I think we're still going to need 3 points off of one of Brasil or USA to get in, and now just 2 chances left to do it. I'm hoping this wasn't our best chance.