Okay, how many soccer fans out there are really surprised that Brazil and Argentina crashed out of the World Cup in the quarterfinals?
Are Brazil and Argentina any less talented than their teams in the recent past? Not at all, and you can even make a case the 2010 versions are as good or better than they have been in a decade.
So what happened?
Quite simply, it was the coaching. Or, to be honest, the lack of it.
Diego Maradona and Dunga were great players. In Maradona’s case, a legendary player. But they had no real coaching experience. And if you think that didn’t make a difference you’re just not seeing the whole picture.
There are times when coaches in any sport get in the way, when it’s better for them sit back and let talent take over. But in a tournament such as the World Cup, where talent tends to even out with each round a team advances, there has to be something more.
At that point, tactics become very important. So does experience, whether at the club or national team level.
And as hard as it is to believe, players — even great ones — want to be told what to do, especially when adversity sets in.
During the first four games of the World Cup, when Argentina was cruising past the likes of Nigeria, South Korea, Greece and Mexico, Maradona was lauded for allowing Argentina to play a free-flowing, attacking game.
But the philosophy of ‘we can outscore anybody’ just doesn’t cut it in the World Cup, and the decision to not put experienced players like defender Javier Zanetti and midfielder Esteban Cambiasso on the roster was a clear mistake.
When Germany scored three minutes into their quarterfinal, Argentina had no response. It wasn’t until Argentina was losing 2-0 in the 68th minute that Maradona made his first substitution, 21-year-old midfielder Javier Pastore, who earned his first cap May 25.
Four minutes later it was 3-0 Germany, and Maradona’s response was to insert Sergio Aguero — his son-in-law — in the 75th minute. Shockingly, Maradona never used his third sub.
Dunga, who was fired Sunday along with his staff, had a different issue. He was a defender on the 1990, 1994 and 1998 World Cup teams for Brazil and, as captain, held up the trophy at the Rose Bowl when Brazil beat Italy on penalty kicks in the 1994 final.
The criticism toward Dunga was his defensive approach to the game. Critics said that he took the samba away from Brazil and turned his back on ‘the beautiful game.’ That he turned Brazil from an attacking 4-3-3 team into a traditional 4-4-2.
The fact is, Brazil is a European team. Of the 23 players on the roster, 20 play in Europe. Only defender Gilberto (Cruzeiro), midfielder Kleberson (Flamengo) and forward Robinho (Santos) play in the Brazilian league, although Robinho is on loan to Santos and likely headed back to Europe.
The point is, Dunga left a number of talented young players off the roster, such as Alexandre Pato and Neymar, as well as some proven offensive veterans like Ronaldinho, Adriano and Diego. So when Brazil faced its first bit of offensive adversity in the second half of the quarterfinal against the Netherlands, Dunga had very few attacking options off the bench.
Down 2-1, Dunga brought in Nilmar for Luis Fabiano — a forward for a forward — in the 77th minute. He, too, never used his third sub in the game.
The four remaining coaches were all players, too, but are very experienced behind the bench. Uruguay’s Oscar Tabarez started coaching in 1980, the Netherlands’ Bert van Marwijk in 1982 and Spain’s Vicente del Bosque in 1985. Even Germany’s Joachim Loew, the youngest at age 50, began as a player/coach when his playing career was winding down and became a full-time coach in 1996.
All four have seen it all. When adversity hit, they didn’t panic. Even more important, they had answers. Spain lost its first game. Germany lost its second. Uruguay played a scoreless tie in its first game and was behind in the group. The Dutch trailed Brazil at halftime.
Maradona and Dunga were great players but have no background in tactics or game plans or strategy. You can’t sit back, like Dunga did, and believe that talent will win out, or be a rah-rah guy like Maradona and rely on positive vibes.
There’s a lot more to coaching than that.
ETC.
U.S. national team striker
Kenny Cooper
broke his ankle during training with 1860 Munich in his first session since returning from his loan with Plymouth Argyle. Cooper, 25, was operated on Thursday night and the club said everything went well. ... U.S. defender
Frank Simek
left Sheffield Wednesday and signed a two-year contract with Carlisle of England’s League One. ... U.S. defender
Steve Cherundolo
signed a contract extension that will keep him at Hannover through the 2011-12 season. ...
Edson Buddle
, who didn’t score a goal at the World Cup, netted his Major League Soccer-leading 10th goal Sunday night — off a
Landon Donovan
assist — when the Galaxy defeated the Seattle Sounders, 3-1. ... The Colorado Rapids, who have hosted a July 4 game for the past 15 years, are 11-2-2 in those games following Saturday night’s 1-1 tie with the Red Bulls. ... ESPN has decided to keep broadcaster
Martin Tyler
for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. ... Uruguay’s
Sebastian Abreu
, whose audacious chip on a penalty kick clinched the World Cup quarterfinal shootout victory over Ghana, has 30 career goals, one short of the Uruguay record held by
Hector Scarone
. Scarone ended his career as a World Cup winner at the inaugural tournament in 1930. ... At 23,
Cesc Fabregas
reached 50 caps faster than any other player in Spain history. ... Portuguese coach
Fernando Santos
, who guided PAOK Thessaloniki for the past three years, is the new coach of Greece, replacing
Otto Rehhagel
, who stepped down following the World Cup. Santos, 55, was given a two-year contract. ... With Japan coach
Takeshi Okada
believed to be stepping down, former Argentina coaches
Jose Pekerman
and
Marcelo Bielsa
are believed to be frontrunners for the job. Bielsa was Chile’s coach at the World Cup. ... South Korea coach
Huh Jung-moo
said he will resign as coach. ...
Gerardo Martino
is stepping down as coach of Paraguay. ... Germany defender
Arne Friedrich
, who scored his first goal in 77 games against Argentina on Saturday, left relegated Hertha Berlin and signed a three-year contract with Wolfsburg. ... Spain’s
David Villa
is one goal away from tying
Raul Gonzalez's
national team record of 44 goals. ... Real Madrid will play a preseason friendly against Mexico’s Club America on Aug. 4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Three days later, Real Madrid will play the Los Angeles Galaxy at the Rose Bowl. The game replaces the Galaxy-Inter Milan friendly scheduled for that day. The Galaxy said it had agreed with Inter Milan to try and reschedule the game. ... D.C. United signed
Pablo Hernandez
, a 23-year-old forward from Argentina, who will arrive on loan from Defensor Sporting of Uruguay. ...
Roy Hodgson
, who seemed set to remain as Fulham coach a few months ago when the club reached the Europa League final, signed a three-year contract to coach Liverpool. He was replaced, temporarily, at Fulham by
Ray Lewington
, who was part of Hodgson’s staff. ... Argentine striker
Mauro Boselli
signed a four-year contract with Wigan. Boselli, 25, will transfer from Estudiantes, which won the Copa Libertadores and reached the Club World Cup final last season. Boselli, who scored in both finals, collected 32 goals in 57 games for Estudiantes. At Wigan, he will play for
Roberto Martinez
, who has been doing World Cup studio work for ESPN. ... Despite the fact that Tottenham coach
Harry Redknapp
has gone on record saying the next England coach should be English, the FA decided to retain
Fabio Capello
through the 2012 European Championships. ... Former England midfielder
David Platt
has joined
Roberto Mancini's
coaching staff at Manchester City. Platt played with Mancini at Sampdoria from 1993-95. ... Man City then signed Spain winger
David Silva
from Valencia to a four-year contract, and Ivory Coast midfielder
Yaya Toure
from Barcelona on a five-year deal. ... Israel captain
Yossi Benayoun
left Liverpool and signed a three-year contract with Chelsea. ... Manchester United defender
Rio Ferdinand
, who injured knee ligaments just prior to the World Cup, may be fit to play in the first game of the EPL season on Aug. 14. ... Former Leeds and Aston Villa coach
David O'Leary
signed to coach Dubai club Al Ahli. ... South Korea defender
Cha Du-Ri
is set to join Celtic if he is granted a British work permit. Cha, who signed a two-year contract, was available on a free transfer after being released by Freiburg. ... Japan midfielder
Shunsuke Nakamura
, 32, announced his retirement from the national team. ...
Wesley Sneijder
has been credited with the Netherlands’ first goal in the 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Brazil. Sneijder’s cross in the 53rd minute glanced off
Felipe Melo's
head and into the net and was originally credited as an own goal. Marseille coach
Didier Deschamps
extended his contract by an extra year, through the summer of 2012. Deschamps won the French league title in his first year last season. ... France winger
Sidney Govou
signed a three-year contract with Panathinaikos after leaving Lyon on a free transfer. ... Former Marseille coach
Eric Gerets
is set to become the new coach of Morocco. ... Italy goalkeeper
Gianluigi Buffon
, who suffered a herniated disk in his back at the World Cup, underwent surgery on Sunday and is expected to be out three months. ... Udinese has loaned defender
Marco Motta
to Juventus for the season. ... Bulgaria striker
Valeri Bojinov
is leaving Manchester City and will sign with Parma, where he spent last season on loan. ... Real Madrid agreed to sign Argentina winger
Angel Di Maria
on a six-year contract from Benfica. ... Former Denmark midfielder
Michael Laudrup
signed a two-year contract to coach Spanish club Mallorca. ...
Johan Cruyff
has given up his title as honorary president of Barcelona two days after
Sandro Rosell
became president of the club. ... Former Spain goalkeeper
Andoni Zubizarreta
has been appointed technical director of Barcelona. Zubizarreta, 48, was a key player when Barcelona won the Champions Cup in 1992. He is Spain’s most-capped player with 126 appearances. Former Barcelona midfielder
Guillermo Amor
is the club’s new youth teams’ director. ... Bayern Munich is sending midfielder
Mehmet Ekici
on a one-year loan to Nuremberg. Ekici, 20, played for Bayern’s second team last season and scored 12 goals in Germany’s third division. ... Schalke has agreed to terminate the contract of Brazilian defender
Marcelo Bordon
a year early. ... The Bundesliga season will begin on Aug. 20 with a battle of the past two champions, Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg. ... Czech Republic goalkeeper
Jaroslav Drobny
signed a three-year contract with Hamburg on a free transfer from Hertha Berlin. ... Romania midfielder
Maximilian Nicu
is joining Freiburg, also on a free transfer from Hertha Berlin. ... Once Nigerian president
Goodluck Jonathan
saw the extent of what FIFA’s sanctions could be after he suspended the national team from playing for two years because of its poor World Cup showing, he dropped the threat.
Frank Giase may be reached at fgiase@starledger.com