CONGRATULATIONS BRAZIL. Once again history repeated itself when Brazil once again expectedly defeated England in the quarter final today a few hours before. One mistake of a defender means one goal and that was what exactly happened when young Michael Owen was given a golden and easy chance by Brazilian defender to score the first goal of the match. Being opportunist and sure to capitalize on such defensive errors Owen made no mistake. But, besides this goal Owen was just a pale shadow of his otherwise real aggressive self. Captain David Beckam from whom lot was expected also proved to be a failure. The credibility of both these players were wrongly judged earlier on the basis of their strength against the weak opponents. Brazil is Brazil. They are not any other European team which is using hit and run techniques. Soon after conceding an unexpected goal, Brazil proved to everyone why they are called Brazil, the artists of soccer. Artistry in soccer is in their genes and blood, whoever their players may be and that they are artists was proved by Ronaldinho today. His move to score the equalizer by Rivaldo was just a sheer piece of genius normally not seen among players from other countries. Within a split of a moment he dribbled two-three defenders in the box, lifted his one leg in one direction, then moved the ball to other direction with the other leg and flicked it to Rivaldo just to neatly place it into the net with his left foot. Earlier before this equalizer Ronaldo was just unstoppable, his every touch to the ball, his every move was just a terror for English defenders who lost much of their concentration and firmness. With his clever moves Ronaldo really mesmerized the opponents. It was he who attracted the attention of at least two defenders towards him thereby giving more room to his other colleagues for maneuvering. It was very difficult for English team especially their defenders to defend continuously and stop the great Brazilian attacking trio of Rivaldo-Ronaldo-Ronaldinho. Besides this deadly trio the Englishmen were unable to cope up with the heavy pressure put in by the great Roberto Carlos. What a great attacking defender he is having horse’s stamina. It is just a pleasure to see such a fabulous player in this World Cup. Skipper Cafu of Brazil also played his role very well. England had no proper answer to the attacking skills of Brazil though they were defending their citadel well. But how long defenders can defend the continuous onslaught of their opponents? This time Brazil’s defence played well filling the loopholes earlier appreared of course with the exception one silly mistake by Lucio. The second half started well with Brazil and within a few minutes young Ronaldinho’s excellent goal from 30 meters away from the goal in a direct free kick sealed the fate of England who I feel did not deserve victory. If they had to move ahead by fluke I am sure the interest in World Cup would be lost. At least Brazilian moving up into semi final has created lot of interest in this World Cup. For thirty long minutes England had great opportunity to score and not only equalize but also to score more goals and carry the day due to the advantage of having one man more on the field than that of Brazil. Still they could not take advantage of the deficiency of Brazil who played their hearts inspite of having one man less and to play in such a situation and still win the match is not an easy task. The goal that young twenty-two year old boy Ronaldinho scored was very fantastic, it was not an ordinary task to score such a goal when England had a very good custodian under their bar and that this custodian was totally baffled to see the ball into his net itself shows the artistry and mastery of Ronaldinho to score such a beautiful goal. It was sad to see his exit from the field with a red card when he dangerously fouled his opponent in front of the referee. No doubt it was a genuine infringement deserving castigation but surely not the Red Card. Any way, well done Brazil, you deserve to win and go for semi-final while your opponents England do not deserve a place in the semifinal because they failed to beat you when you were having such a disadvantageous position for 30 minutes. The second quarter final of the day between USA and Germany though ended in favour of Germany yet USA deserves more compliments than the winners because USA displayed a very good brand of soccer, a very attractive compared to their rivals and winners Germany. USA should have forged ahead in the beginning itself but due to poor marksmanship, erratic and gutless finishing they failed to score. Even the much needed equalizer could not be acquired only because USA forwards showed lethargic attitude even near the goal mouth. It is great to see USA players having excellent control of the ball, beautiful passing and correct positioning besides abundant stamina to survive for the 90 minutes without any sign of exhaustion. Whether they were robbed of sure equalizer or not will be known in due course of time but the match referee seemed to be more nervous. Germany played with shaky start and due to their long tradition had an upper hand though they looked weak opponents to USA. Their chances to move further are not very bright. Their skipper and custodian Kahn is excellent under their bar and he really proved at two occasions otherwise they would have been down by 0-2 in the first half itself. All the best for both the winners in the semi-finals. A. Veronica Fernandes, Kuwait. _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
