Going forward full of cheer

BEFORE yesterday’s final games, the second round of World Cup 2006 had served up a mixed bill of fare to follow the lavish treats of the opening series of matches.

There was one widely acclaimed classic (Argentina v Mexico), one wildly celebrated exhibition of the host nation’s growing power (Germany v Sweden), one multiple car crash, with all the grisly fascination that implies (Portugal v Holland), one moment of cruel drama to break hearts down under (Italy v Australia) and last, and definitely least, a brace of flat-out bores that even an elephant would have no problem forgetting (Switzerland v Ukraine, England v Ecuador).

And so, we looked to yesterday’s games to end the second phase on an upbeat. And thanks to the blockbuster primetime show of France’s stunning defeat of Spain, in Hanover last night — more of which later — we now go forward full of good cheer, if not a little in shock.

Unfortunately, the afternoon meeting of the Samba Stars and the Black Stars in Dortmund frustrated more than it inspired. It might seem strange to term as unconvincing a 3-0 victory for Brazil over a much admired Ghanaian side, but the scoreline hardly tells the full story of a game which started promisingly and then, after a few curious twists, slowly but surely ran out of steam.

Ronaldo’s sleight of foot after just five minutes was lovely to behold but, despite the role of Kaka in setting up the chance, the goal was at least 50% made in Ghana. A recklessly high offside line was always going to cost the Africans, and they paid a similar price close to the end when Ze Roberto made it 3-0 for a minimum of effort.

In between, Adriano’s offside goal right on the stroke of half-time and Gyan’s red card for a blatant dive, combined to rob proceedings of any competitive edge. This, despite the fact that against an often lethargic Selecao, the Black Stars had made all the running — and played much the better passing football — in between Brazil’s first two goals.

And so we are left with something of a conundrum: a serious question mark still hanging over Brazil, despite scoring seven goals in its last two games. But they came against Japan and ten-man Ghana. We will only get the true measure of Brazil when they take on France in the quarter-finals, in Frankfurt, on Saturday night.

France, virtually written off after struggling out of their group, rediscovered their spirit and flair as they beat Spain 3-1 in a wonderful game in Hanover. What was it Hansen said about never winning anything with kids? This vibrant, richly endowed Spanish side will be demoralised to have under-achieved in the traditional manner, but all credit to the French for coming out on top in an absorbing game full of bite and skill and fluent football. Young Ribery and the veteran Vieira did their bit, before Zinedine Zidane put the result beyond dispute with a brilliantly taken goal at the end. France, like Zizou, belatedly came out of retirement last night.

Elsewhere, the pre-tournament favourites are all present in the quarter-final shake-up.

England have done their level best to disown favourite status, which they might have enjoyed in some impressionable quarters before the tournament began. After a string of desperately listless performances which, for those of us who had the misfortune to witness them in the flesh, inspired nothing more than an urge to hurl it like Beckham, they now come up against a Portuguese side weakened by the loss of key personnel following the uproarious chaos of their battle with Holland.

Anything can happen in cup football, of course — think of the Crazy Gang versus the Culture Club — but it’s almost inconceivable to imagine that the England we have seen in this tournament will be able to eclipse Portugal, even if the latter are forced to call Eusebio down from his perch in the VIP stand.

Nevertheless, the usual mixture of hype and hope will still be relentless in the run up to Saturday afternoon, with Sven’s promise that “we can and we will play better football” sounding increasingly like a politician insisting that “reaction on the doorsteps is good” — even as all the polls predict an ignominious exit on election day.

The prospect of a meeting between the England manager on the way out and the England manager who was never really on the way in, adds a juicy sub-text to proceedings, but once the football takes over from the hot air, expect England and their long-suffering supporters to be finally put out of their misery in Gelsenkirchen.

After their near death experience against Australia, enigmatic Italy are unlikely to make the same mistake twice against Ukraine on Friday, though the Azzurri will need to find their shooting boots.

Which is where their World Cup is likely to runneth out, since they will then meet the winners of Germany v Argentina, the biggest game of the tournament so far and also the tie which — begging Brazil’s pardon — looks set to produce the next World Champions.

World Cup 2006 deserves a classic quarter-final game now, and all the indications are that Berlin on Friday will provide just that.