World Cup makes soldiers generals

In a previous column I unforgivably referred to the Germany-Spain semifinal as the first one. Unforgivable, because just adjacent to my desk are two huge World Cup schedules.

Nevertheless, I trust your forgiveness, like that of the Argentine people, is easily won.

One of my schedules is pencilled in and has been so one month before the South Africa football feast kicked off. It has my predictions.

Only one of the teams I pencilled in made the semifinal – Spain. However, Holland is marked out as an outsider to win and they are in the semis as well.
However, never in my wildest dreams, I have to admit, did I expect Uruguay to make it so far. My mind goes back to the European title that Greece won. They just dug out these 1-0 victories and slipped unnoticed and much to everybody’s dismay (except the Greeks themselves) onto the winner’s podium. Amid all the high-profile casualties of this World Cup, Uruguay have done much the same. Albeit, in a slightly more entertaining fashion.

As World Cup pedigree goes, the South Americans boast two World Cup wins, though one has to go back all the way to the 1950s to remember the last one.
Ironically, my first column on this World Cup was centred around the Uruguayan who scored that winning goal in 1950 – Alcides Ghigga.
What are the chances that my last column will centre on another Uruguayan?

That’s the question that really underlines the actual first semifinal tonight. What chance does an over-performing Uruguay have against a still under-performing Netherlands team?

It brings me to speak about an aspect of team play, which if you have ever represented any school or college team, you are likely to have experienced.
It’s called playing for a greater cause – like your team, your school or at the World Cup – your country. This motivation alone can drive average players to look like stars and drive an average team to rise above and beyond the call of all expectation.

Even with Forlan (but without Suarez), Uruguay make Netherlands look like a superior side. But, like Paraguay showed us against the Spanish, the World Cup turns heroes into superheroes and soldiers into generals.

I expect Uruguay to come out fighting. I expect them to make the Dutch sweat blood before they give in.

Needless to say, a little bit of magic from Robben, Van Persie or Sneijder and the game could be over in the first 15 minutes.
The ball is clearly in the Uruguayan half. Ghigga silenced 200,000 people in the Maracana in 1950 with the winning goal. Can Uruguay silence the hopes of the Dutch nation in South Africa tonight?

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