Another day of football drama. Ghana nearly wrote history, Gyan worked hard but again failed to take his time, focus on the moment and keep that sharp Eye of the Tiger and propel the first African nation to a semi-final. But it’s a hard game and 100 minutes of playing on that size of field is no joke.

More surprises this World Cup. Brazil is out. Too bad, I wanted to see a final of Argentina-Brasil. No surprise to me, I didn’t find them convincing enough in the first phase. Too comfortable, too complacent. I’m not a football fan/expert or strategist, but what I am able to read is conviction, intent and drive.

What annoys me most about them is that they have tremendous capability, some of the best technical skills in the world, but since 1998 I just stopped cheering for them, because I cannot stand seeing great potential not realized. You either play or you don’t and with that kind of firepower you have to go all guns blazing, even if you risk increasing the opponent chance of goals.

To use the words of a British TV presenter: “They managed to keep the ship sailing fine in calm waters, but once the waters got rough they discovered they don’t have captains at all.

You could read it in the match Portugal-Brazil. Ofcourse they should play it tactical and avoid getting injuries and yellow cards, but that doesn’t justify playing tic tac with the ball. None of the two teams were playing ball, they were killing time. Terribly boring to see and what about those people who coughed up hundreds or even thousands to pay a ticket to watch that cowardly behaviour. They were booed at the end. If you want to go on to kill, that’s dangerous behaviour. They lost the Eye of the Tiger.

Again, commercial and tactical interest stifle the true spirit of the game and there is so much emphasis on winning that coaches and managers forget that it’s in the first place about playing. If great potential and ability revel in the purity of the moment, results will come automatically.

The message is: if you’re a champion, then play like a champion.

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