. . . . . . The Daily Soccer . . . . . .

Since we’re down to the final four teams, I thought it would be a good time to clear out some of the random thoughts that have been building up in my head:

France – Brazil: A very entertaining match (just like France-Spain) where both teams just wanted to play rather than practice their acting (do you hear me Portugal?). Zidane continues to amaze. He’s my favorite player of all time so to watch him in his final days is something to savor. He always seems to have absolute control over the ball while effortlessly navigating past numerous defenders.

While Zidane is getting most of the credit for France’s resurgence and rightly so, the reason that they have gotten this far has been the return of Makelele and Thuram who returned to the team at the same time that Zidane did. The work that those two did along with Gallas and Viera was nothing less than spectacular. Those four made the middle of the field impassable to Brazil’s elite attackers and when they tried to attack from the wings, Sagnol and Abidal give them little to work with. Usually, Brazil’s backs can always get into the attack, but both were unable to yesterday. Cafu seemed too slow, perhaps showing the effects of age and major knee surgery earlier this year while Roberto Carlos was too busy trying to lock down the elusive Franck Ribery. Before this World Cup, Ribery had no caps for France and was a long shot to make the roster. Now, he is arguably one of the true breakout players in the WC.

Poor Brazil, they just never seem to perform well in a WC when they are the overwhelming favorites (similar to ’82).

Italy: I don’t know if anyone has realized this, but the US is the only team to score on Italy in this WC so far. True, it was an own goal, but that 1-1 result in group play is starting to look better and better each day. The Italians seem galvanized by the match-fixing scandal and are getting better each game. Good for them to focus on the WC since many of them will be playing in Serie B next year unless they can get transferred.

ESPN/ABC: While I won’t spend anymore time bashing Dave O’Brien since he’s so bad and hasn’t improved one iota, he has actually made Cello worse (if that was possible). When you compare them to DellaCamera and Harkes, it’s like night & day (and that includes some of Harkes’ mispronounciations). They are truly terrible together and it goes to show you that, just like in the corporate world, the best and most talented people don’t always rise to the top.

Their pre-game and half-time shows aren’t bad. Each of the three hosts (Revsine, Rece Davis and Mussberger) do a very good job of running the show. I have actually been impressed by Mussberger’s performance.

Their analysts aren’t bad either…Foudy can make some good points, Wynalda is there to serve as a daffy Bill Walton type with outlandish statements, Chinaglia must have taken some charm lessons since ’02, etc., but the one thing that bothers me is why Alexi Lalas is there? Besides offering no worthwhile analysis, I can’t get past the fact that he has a full-time job with the Galaxy. So that gig doesn’t keep him busy enough? Aren’t the Galaxy in last place? Shouldn’t he be trying to fix that rather than being on ESPN’s WC team? Can some please explain this to me ‘cause I just don’t get it.

USA Aftermath: While much is being made about Arena’s supposed negative comments about MLS, I think his point is valid. MLS is great at developing young players into good ones, but has yet to evolve into a league that can make good players into great ones. True, MLS players performed well in the WC (i.e. – Dempsey & Conrad), but in order for them to make the next step, they need to go abroad. If you look at what happened to someone like Donovan who played great in ’02 and has not really progressed since, you can see Arena’s logic. Plus, when good players leave MLS, other players need to step up and take over their roles which helps increase the player pool in the US. Perhaps someday, MLS will be a strong enough league where talented players won’t need to leave it to reach their full potential, but that day is pretty far down the road right now. I think that Rafa Marquez’s comments about Mexican players needing to go abroad in order to get better show that this is not just a problem isolated to the U.S.

The other point that I want to make is that Arena needs to leave his post as US manager. Even though he is the best and most successful coach in US history, eight years is a long time for any manager and he seems like he needs a change. It’s only natural that players start to tune the manager out after all this time. At this point in time, the team & federation need some fresh ideas and bringing in a new coach will achieve this. While everyone is calling for Klinsmann, there are others out there that need to be considered (i.e. – Scolari).

Predictions: I’m going with Italy (2-1 over Germany on a late Totti goal) and France (2-0 over worn out & ill-tempered Portugal side) to make it to the Final. (George)