Third Eye
Quazi Zulquarnain Islam
With the way the world is nowadays, too often terms like 'perfection' are used to describe even half-way decent performances by teams. The thing is whenever you get a victory without conceding a goal and playing better than the opposition you are lauded for putting in a 'perfect' performance. June 16th however, was just that bit different as the term perfection was pushed to its limits by a rampant Argentina team that truly played “joga bonito” (the beautiful game).The fact that a Brazilian coined the term is one we can disregard for now because Argentina turned in a performance that is worthy of comparison with the best showings in the World Cup and one which will be spoken of in admiration in the years to come. The 6-0 scoreline, in and of itself worthy of notice, was still not the best part. And that is saying something. Argentina played the kind of football that we haven't seen from them since USA '94 and once and for all banished the ghosts of Korea-Japan 2002. They showed great team spirit and the players never looked worried throughout the entire game. You have been warned. And that Jose Pekerman could afford to bring on the likes of Messi and Tevez with them sitting on a 3-0 lead is enough to show you the depth of the team. The icing on the cake was the second goal, however, which will, bar another special, be the goal of the tournament. Argentina strung no less than 25 passes (the 25th ended up in the Serbia and Montenegro net) with almost every player in the field touching the ball and some more than once. All that culminated in lovely interplay between Riquelme and Crespo to set up Cambiasso stab it home. It's a goal that will dominate highlight reels in the coming years and is arguably the best collective goal in the history of the World Cup. Argentina played with an elan and panache that we haven't seen from them in a while. This was a special performance -- one that showed the best talents of this generation making their World Cup debut and coping with pressure in an amazing fashion. It was akin to a performance by their dominant youth teams and Pekerman it seems has successfully made the transition. Also to note is that the sorry Serbians conceded only one goal in ten qualifying matches. As I have said before. The collective world, have been warned. And if that wasn't enough, yesterday was also party to the Dutch facing the Ivory Coast in a thrilling encounter at Stuttgart as the Group of Death exploded to life. In a pulsating encounter the Dutch took the lead through a thunderous Robin Van Persie freekick before Ruud van Nisterooy put them two ahead. At one stage the Dutch looked likely to run away with it but Ivory Coast midfielder Kone scored a stunning goal to bring them back level. Had it not been for a moment of misjudgement by Didier Drogba the game may well have finished level at the half. As it was it stayed 2-1 to the end in spite of the generous probings by an Ivorian side that now leave the tournament with heads held high. They showed enough to suggest that they will be a force in years to come and players like Didier Zokora and Kone may well earn themselves blockbuster moves. The Dutch too guarantee qualification and the next match against Argentina will now decide who goes through as champions of the group. After such adrenaline pumping action, the final game of the night was an anti-climax that saw Angola earn their first ever World Cup point against a dispirited Mexico side that never really looked like winners. In spite of the late night no-show it was perhaps the best day of the World Cup so far, as far as entertainment goes. And of course, the performances weren't too shabby come to think of it!
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