I haven’t had the time to type up the answer to yesterday’s quiz, so instead why not a World Cup open thread? It was pretty easy to discern the pattern in the quarterfinals, where Portugal beat England, Italy beat the Ukraine, France beat Brazil, and Germany beat Argentina — all of the Eurozone squads were victorious, while those nations still puttering along with their local currencies were left to go home and lick their wounds. Hooray for globalization!
But what is it that separates Les Bleus and the Azzurri, victorious in the semifinals, from their opponents? I mean, besides a bluish tinge, a strong wine tradition, almost identical flags, and amazing goals? (And being picked by me to lose?) Eventually it hit me: these were the countries that have been home to Popes! Sometimes simultaneously!
So what will happen in Sunday’s final? Italy has had more Popes, but France has been more of a leader in unifying Europe. A titanic struggle between the temporal and spiritual realms awaits. Allez les Bleus! Forza Italia! (I will, at the time, actually be in Italy, so I’m leaning slightly Forza over Allez, but I wouldn’t bet against that Zizou guy in his last professional game.)
I suspect 0-0 after 90 mins, and either 1-0 to Italy in extra-time or we go to the penalty shootout (the winner of which I won’t predict). I think Italy are a marginally better team. I think the most amazing goal of this tournament was the one that Argentina constructed against Serbia: 24 passes in the build-up, very pleasant to watch. Indeed, Argentina played most beautifully; it’s a shame that they lacked the self-belief to continue playing their natural game after going 1-0 up against Germany with almost half the match remaining. Closely following were the two African teams, Ivory Coast and Ghana, whose fast midfield play was a sight to behold.
2 X 0 France, and then you have the chance to see some Italians really angry and complianing with their hands 🙂 . Enjoy Trieste!
Defense vs Offense
“Defense wins Championships”
These low-scoring games, reminds me of similar things in Hockey & pitcher-duels in Baseball. I haven’t been watching the games closely, I get the feeling the teams are taking a conservative approach: concentrating on a suffocating Defense (shutting out their opponent) & hoping for a “chance” on offense. Taking “risks” for an offensive score could leave one vulnerable for a “transition opportunity” for your opponent.
In Hockey (or Basketball), teams with a lead will get into a defensive-mode..lose their agressiveness on Offense. Their leads will diminish, or lose it altogether. There’s a *balance* of offense & defense. Teams with star-players will design a system for offensive chances. Chicago Bull had a “clear out” for M. Jordan (to let him go 1-on-1 against his defender), Florida Panthers will leave Pavel Bure (aka the “Russian Rocket”) near the blue-line hoping for a break-away opportunity (to leverage his speed).
[ I’m a real fan of Russian hockey-players:
“Strengths: Butsayev is a two-way center who plays a strong defensive game
and also chips in from time to time offensively. Yuri has tremendous grit
and character, and never takes a shift off. He is a strong on draws, works
tenaciously along the boards, and never gets caught out of position.
Butsayev has superb work ethic and hustles on every shift at both ends of
the ice. Yuri also possesses a sixth sense with the puck, a common trait
among Russian players, and he uses his teammates effectively.”
Russian hockey (“Communism” is based on the Communal effort) is famous for its teamwork, great passing (leading to beautiful goals). The Detroit Redwings had an all-Russian line (aka “the Russian 5”) to utilize this “system”: Larionov, Fedorov, Kozlov, Fetisov, Konstantinov ]
The NHL loosened it up recently, & changed the rules to prevent teams from going overboard on Defense. Carolina Hurricanes (who won the Stanley Cup this year) traditionally use this strategy, & it leads to low-scoring boring games. NHL is in trouble (bad ratings), so they want more offense to make it more Entertaining.. (same deal with Science Funding..Space Shuttle, ISS, Manned Mars halucination, “They [ Govt ] want something SEXY!”/Dr. Zirin/Caltech told me)
I’m studying the patterns in Defense/Offense in Sports, to give perpspective on the problems in Research.
Defense: no mistakes, no junk-papers (“Acting”), no infighting
Offense: spirited attack on a problem, energy & talent
I’m amazed at the infighting I see in research-community (mine & others). They have no training in Sports philosophy (it’s never taught), it’s primarily an “individual sport”. “Win as a Team, Lose as a Team”. This stuff is spotted immediately in Sports, & players (or managers) are fired/traded/demoted to eliminate any division. Team chemistry is important.
“On race-day, you can never win it..YOU CAN ONLY LOSE IT”
— Ray Evernham, crew-chief for Jeff Gordon
[ emphasizes the importance of not-making-mistakes, i.e. a Defensive Mode ]
I don’t understand why the Italian team has this reputation of “acting” or diving.
Is that because of the PK with the Australia-Italy game? In that case anyone who has ever played soccer knows that as a defender you cannot allow yourself to be on the ground in the box and attempt to tackle your opponent, as it happened at the 90th minute of the game.
The general consensus was that it was a penalty kick if it had happened in the first half, but not at the 90th minute. I cannot disagree more with this opinion. A PK is a PK, it doesn’t matter if it’s in the first, second or overtime.
I watched all the Italian games really carefully and I did not see one single example of “dirty” play. What I have seen is the German team not returning the ball after it was kicked out to allow for medical assistance on Italian or German players on the ground. Twice.
As for tomorrow I guess I just hope to see good exciting football. And the best team coming out winning.
Sun Tzu, Art of War
They teach this at Business Schools, & the metaphor with War is useful for any sport. I heard:
“all the best laid plans for battle [ Italy vs France ] generally distintegrate at the beginning..chaos ensues. The FIRST combatant to regain order (from chaos), wins the battle”
Click here for a good essay on chaos/order, maybe some physicists can comment on the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics as applied to real-life Game Theory.
The beginning of the finals will be interesting, both sides will be feeling each other out. Possibly, one side might go for a quick offensive strike (high-risk, opening it up to a counter-strike) to surprise its opponent. The team to score 1st has a big psychological advantage..the other team is immediately put under pressure. This is always the case in a winner-take-all final..hockey, football, baseball, etc. Both teams will be nervous initially, there will be mistakes & miscues. If it can be captialize on by a vigilant opponent, it might open the doors to an offensive opportunity.
“It’s all about psychology”
“90% of the game is played above the shoulders”
— Yogi Berra
I think soccer is too individualistic a game to be able to be won or lost by invoking Sun Tzu’s Art of War, something akin to the mean scale of motion being close to the mean free month to render the principles of continuum mechanics meaningless/inoperative.
Game is about to start, Trieste is buzzing. Funny to see every restaurant and bar struggle to set up a TV that actually can receive the game; see, there is something that Americans are good at. Viva Azzurri!
Watching the game right now..a hard foul by Italy on a French player in the “red zone” (the announcers are playing them up for their great defense). Another foul (announcer said the French player “sold it well”..acting?) in the Red Zone..penalty kick to France! Kick, hits the top-post..SCORE!
France scores 1st..this is significant since Italy is stingy on allowing goals (only USA scored on them in tournament?)
France is creating offensive chances (“agressiveness), Italy is responding with fouls. (last one was questionable though).
near goal by Italy off a corner-kick, the announcers are talking about the Italian player “getting away with a push-off” (common illegal tactic in basketball, to get a rebound..push the defensive player out of the way). They are implying, the 1st Italian goal is tainted by a push-off..the header off a corner-kick.
“Art is in the Details”
Call Soccer “Art & Science”, there is artistic creativity & scientific-based tactics/strategy. Some of the “details” are dirty play here & there.
The announcers made reference to a dive (on France?, to get a free kick), & how this tournament has had too much “acting”. The refs are ignoring it, & not interrupting the game-flow. This happens in playoff games in NBA basketball, where the refs will just “let the players play”. This might manifest later in some back&forth fouling by Italy & France, which might lead to “fireworks” (i.e., extracurricular activity)..fights.
For the first time ever, I’m watching soccer on my TV here at home. To keep up the American interest, ABC (the broadcasting company showing the match) is panning to shots of cute babes in the audience and displaying a sports ticker with updated baseball scores at the bottom of the screen.
The announcers are calling the 1st half “very entertaining”. I’m not a soccer expert, but I noticed each team has had exciting offensive chances. Nice passing & ball-control by France..reminds me of Russian hockey. Some spirited attack by Italy, they responded well (“counter attack”) after France’s initial goal.
The coaches will be making adjustments for 2nd half, it will be interesting to see how the teams come out after the intermission.
There was a camera shot focused on a huge firework thing in the stands. How the heck was that incendiary sneaked into a major event? This implies there isn’t a strong enough security “umbrella”, if a terrorist wanted to create havoc. I’m just waiting for that infamous British streaker to make an appearance (he struck at Wimbledon already a few days ago)
France on a breakaway..centering pass, pass to left-winger..he drives to the goal, & goes down! Bad call on referees (according to announcers, replay is shown), clearly a foul on Frenchin the red-zone. France was denied a PK. “Kill the Umpire” is the phrase in Baseball, French fans must be going ballistic!
France was robbed!
Another offensive opportunity for France, she is applying pressure!
“You know I say, pressure busts pipes. & you know
he wants to see if you’re gonna be the pipe that busts”
— Curtis Martin, played 4 seasons w/Bill Parcells (legendary American football coach)
Next team who scores, could have a real advantage.
Italy with a quick strike, header into the goal! Wait, referee is calling offsides..goal denied! WTF?! Analyst is caling the call questionable, but given the bad call denying France a PK..it all evens out. This is what happens in American basketball, the coaches “work the referees” to emphasize their blown call..the refs usually call a bogus foul to even things up.
Both teams are on their game, vigorous action.
DiRossi “flopped”, fans whistled, replay confirms..bad call by referee. They fell for the “act”. Bring on Instant Replay! Nah, that destroys game-flow (like it does in American football).
Overtime. 2 periods (no golden goal), PK shootout. France dominating play in latter stages of regulation, controlling the ball for last 20 min. Announcers are saying Italy is fatigued.
Race vs Endurance
It’s now come down to an issue of Endurance. France has 2 substitutions left, Italy none (I assume this extends into overtime periods?) Announcers say that Italy has the ability to score quickly (2 goals against Germany?).
France is one of the 2 oldest teams, avg age is 29. Endurance usually favors the younger team, but..”Experience is a Great Teacher”
ABC is showing shots of Boston?!
France almost scores on a penetration by Ribery..
“It’s not a matter of IF, but WHEN”
France is controlling the ball, & applying constant pressure. It almost was a game-breaker.
Near score by France! Header (“deflection”) by Zidane, off a nice setup..great save by Italy goalkeeper. Announcers are saying Italy players are walking..not running: bad sign. Fatigue.
The above play reflected this, it was an easy setup.
Italy is getting lucky, in avoiding getting scored on. Chance for Italy to score a lucky goal (“out of the blue”), & devastate team France.
They may have a strong wine tradition, but I doubt very much any member of the two teams drinks wine on a regular basis… (not good for athletes!)
Zidane (France) head-butts an Italian player in the chest..shown on replay. At 1st, the fans whistled..to imply an Italy “flop”.
Red card, Zidane is out!
[ “player of that stature in a classless act” ]
There was an “exchange” between the 2 players, so maybe my statement about a fight (“fouling getting out of control, not called by refs”)..
An “opening” for Italy, France lost its leader..
overtime over, now the final is decided on PK shootout. Last time it happened was in ’94, I believe it was Rose Bowl in Pasadena (I was here when it happened). Announcers are saying it could come down to the “goalkeeper who comes up big”. A team & tournament has come down to a defensive-stop by a goalkeeper.
“An Army of One”
Well, that was a deeply unsatisfying end to the world’s biggest sporting event. I do wonder what happened with Zidane and the head butt. Nevertheless: congrats Italia!
Italy wins! The PKs were unstoppable, the missed France PK into the cross-bar was the difference.
France deserved to win, but I guess Italy “stole it” at the end. Italy lost the shootout in ’94 (against Brazil), but “turnaround is fair play”.
Announcers are talking about the soccer scandal rocking Italy, & the bad play by Zitane (France).
Announcer brought up a good point: “that foul by Zidane should NOT have been shown”, because a referee’s call is always based on the an on-field observation (not a TV replay). If they allowed the Zidane call, then should have allowed a PK on the foul by Italy on the French penetration in the Red Zone. (replay clearly showed a foul). Would have been an almost sure-goal by France, 2-1 France at that point. Game outcome surely altered.
They are showing referees gettting medals..well BS!, the missed the call (the girl analyst mockingly said she’s never seen officials get medals).
There is talk of the Italy scandal, about officials being influenced by $$. “The fix is in”. Just like the infamous cheating scandal in Ice Skating (the female French judge pressured by another judge, to give the incumbent skaters favorable marks).
“It’s all rigged”
— xxx, ex-Northrop engineer
[ about getting US Govt contracts for fighter-aircraft, “there’s no fair play” in the contract-bidding system ]
Same deal with Science Research, is more about “Salesmanship & Schmoozing” (“The golden rule: He who has the Gold, Rules”), as per IPAC/Caltech (written by one of K. Thorne’s ex-PhD students). Same thing with NASA becoming more of an “Entertainment” agency (halucination w/manned-Mars mission), than one which funds projects that supports Science. I heard that Stanford is more interested in projects which bring $$ into the university (as opposed to the quality of Research)..this is true for most Universities (to varying degrees).
Were the refs “paid off” by wealthy Italian-based mafia? Conspiracy Theories are welcome! Given all the Sports Scandals (blood doping in this years Tour De France..3 major riders thrown out: Basso, Ulrich, xxx, Baseball’s steroids scandal..B. Bonds trainer thrown in jail recently, et al), you have a situation called “Preponderance of Evidence”. Can’t give “benefit of the doubt”, there’s too much cr*p going on..
“The Almighty Dollar”
“Money talks, BS walks”
I am truly baffled by Zidane. Ok, he’s not precisely known for being a sweetheart, but this just isn’t him…
That being said, I think one of the “problems” with americans and football is that they rarely watch any game, and when they do it it’s (evidently) the final. Which may seem like a boring game, being so much at stake, and in this case, having 2 teams with excellent defences. I remember all my american friends complaining after the final in ’94 (Brazil – Italy, the other final to be decided in PK’s). What I remember from that world cup was the game Argentina – Netherlands, one of the finest matches I will get to see in my life. In this one, it may be too soon to tell, but I think I will not forget Mexico – Argentina in a while.
But the referee did confer with the linesman and then meted out the punishment. Perhaps the linesman was unduly influenced by the replay …
But I think it’s a fair outcome as the chain of events that ensued put Italy as heavy odds as both Zidane and Henry were not on the shootout roster as the rule requires that only the men standing in the field after the extra time qualify to participate in the shootout. So even if the first ten players scored for either team, Italy would still have been one up …