Quietly winning World Cups

We have our final eight teams and with one major exception, they are much as expected: Brazil, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, Argentina, Colombia and Costa Rica. According to FIFA, who are wrong about nearly everything, even Costa Rica isn’t that great a surprise - the surviving teams are ranked no. 2, 3, 5, 8, 11, 15, 17 and 28 in their pre-tournament listings.

Among many stories of the Cup so far – including the success of incisive attacking, the failure of Asian teams and (sigh) Luis Suarez, one key factor that’s been overlooked has been the success of the understated. The ever-increasing queries as to Suarez's psychological capacity to cope with big occasions now creates even more questions for one-day fantasy sports owners.

Arguably the three most impressive teams this cup – the Dutch, French and Colombian outfits – are all helmed by managers with impressive track records yet who have been (remarkably, in some cases) quiet about their team’s chances. No sweeping statements, no auspicious team selections – simply an almost-implacable certainty in their players and tactics.

It helps that all three teams have enviable talent pools from which to draw – albeit reduced by the absence of some of the world’s best – but managing precocious talent requires more than rolling the ball out and saying “Let’s play” (sorry, ‘Arry). All three teams came to the Cup hopeful, but hardly expecting Finals berths – the Netherlands were tipped by many not to exit Group B, France took years to right their imposing battleship the friendly-fire that was Raymond Domenech, while the 2014 World Cup is Colombia’s first in nearly two decades.

Not only does a tournament tactical plan need to be suited to his players (Spain) and capable of defeating their opposition (Chile or Mexico), but that plan also needs to be communicated effectively.

That communication then influences – and is in turn influenced by – a coach’s public persona, which governs their interactions with the slavering world media. Louis van Gaal, Didier Deschamps and Jose Pekermann have done that in spades. France’s clinical forward play and late-game Dutch heroics are contrasted by Colombia’s languid brilliance, but the players are obviously playing for a coach and a system in which they collectively believe. The message is good – but its communication might be even better. 

France's qualifying woes actually reflects well on FIFA - sort of

Today's UEFA World Cup playoffs will see France attempt to overturn a 0-2 deficit in hopes of qualifying for next year's football fiesta. Apparently local hopes aren't high, with one poll stating 84 percent of French citizens think the task will be too great for Les Bleus.

Ask the French Football Federation, and they'll intimate that the team shouldn't be in this position in the first place. This is because playoff seeding weights group-stage matches more heavily than friendlies. Because France drew a qualification group with four teams instead of five, Les Bleus were unable to achieve enough FIFA rankings points to demand a seed. Thus, Franck Ribery et al are now underdogs in a two-legged playoff against a quality Ukraine team who might boast one of the best home field advantages this side of Iceland. (And the US.)

France always contribute to the World Cup, whether because of sparkling football, a soliloquising coach or just because of their general combustibility factor (see: Anelka, Nicolas and Zidane, Zinedine). The Cup will miss them - as it will Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Cristiano Ronaldo, whichever player should not qualify. Plenty of teams are unlucky during the qualification process and thereby miss the Cup; four years ago, France got lucky when Thierry Henry's handball was instrumental in the Republic of Ireland missing out on a trip to South Africa.

FIFA are certain to want France to qualify for the sake of marketability and improved TV ratings, but may benefit indirectly by the absence of such a major nation. For many years - and especially since the farrago that the winning Qatar World Cup bid has been - the game's governing body has been seen as a laughable entity defined by factional and personal self-interest. Not "rigging the draw" to ensure all of Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo, Mexico and France's qualification is the first principled stand FIFA have made in years.

We can now celebrate Sepp Blatter and co. actually getting something right! Unfortunately, as recent events have come to light - predominantly surrounding football's newest/tiniest powerbroker, Qatar -  this stand is comparatively small. 

As will be the comfort taken by French football fans should Didier Deschamps’ men not triumph handsomely at the Stade de France this evening.

Alternative XI: Euro 2012 Overachievers

As is usual for a major tournament, Euro 2012 has allowed us to witness the full spectrum of players from World's Best to those who walk a matter of metres to the ground that's always been their home. This tournament, we've had the opportunity to see players previously anonymous make a stamp on the football world – in fact, many of the best performed players aren't paid by Real Madrid, Liverpool or Juventus, but by smaller clubs. The tournament is made brighter by those who rise from anonymity.

Here's a previously relatively-unheralded XI who've made their name at Euro 2012:

GK – Przemyslaw Tyton (Poland): Despite entering the year the fourth-choice Poland keeper, made himself a home-country hero by saving a penalty with his first touch of the tournament. Whether he is replaced by the shaky but better-credentialled Wojciech Szczesny is now a legitimate question, a prospect unthinkable before the tournament.

RB – Theodore Gebre Selassie (Czech Republic): Kills the grass on the right side of the pitch at Slovan Liberec, who will compete in the 2012-13 Champions League after winning the Czech Gambrinus Liga. The might do so without their right back, who will doubtless have admirers after his two performances so far at Euro 2012.

CB – Mats Hummels (Germany): How can the most desired young centre-back in world football, playing for the second-best attended club in Europe, be classified as an emerging player? Simple: Mats Hummels is elegant on the ball and resolute off it and gets his work done with the absolute minimum of fuss without courting attention at all. Releasing him will haunt Bayern Munich for years.

CB – Damien Perquis (Poland): Perquis came so close to snatching a win for Poland against Russia while keeping the tricksy combo of Dzagoev and Arshavin from wreaking havoc in the Poland defence. He'll should be acquired by larger French club from Sochaux on the back of his impressive Euros.

LB – Vaclav Pilar (Czech Republic): Pilar has scored twice so far at Euro 2012 and looks to be another smart piece of scouting by Bundesliga club Wolfsburg, who have already arranged for his transfer from Viktoria Plzen.

RM – Mathieu Debuchy (France): It's no wonder he's been linked with clubs as storied as Manchester United and Barcelona. Although typically a right-sided defender, he plays with such attacking zest he fits in well here in the midfield. He was probably the player of the match in France's first match against England despite flying under the radar until Lille's emergence last season.

CM – Roman Shirokov (Russia): Practised Russian football observers such as James Appell tipped the thirty-year old as Russia's breakout player. He lasted all of one match at Euro 2008 at centre-back, but links the beaters in defence (Berezeutsky and Ignashevich) with the seeker in attack (Arshavin and Dzagoev).

CM – Niki Zimling (Denmark): His injury in Denmark's second match allowed the Portuguese a much easier run in the midfield than Danish coach Morten Olson had hoped. Regaining him for their crucial encounter with Germany will be crucial Danish hopes of advancing

LM – Andriy Yarmolenko (Ukraine): The resounding flop of Andriy Shevchenko at Chelsea may have previously kept “the new Shevchenko” at Dynamo Kiev. After wrong-footing a redoubtable Sweden defence on many occasions in the Ukraine's first match, he's unlikely to be playing domestic ball for much longer.

AM – Michael Krohn-Dehli (Denmark): Fizzed the ball between Dutch 'keeper Maarten Stekelenburg's legs to win the Danes their first game of the tournament and leave the Oranje reeling. A constant worker so far this tournament and able to put together moments of brilliance despite middling club form at Brondby.

FC – Mario Mandzukic (Croatia): Took two quality goals in Croatia's first match against Ireland to put the Balkan nation in a great position in a tough group. Another discovery by the tireless Wolfsburg scouting system, he doesn't get much press despite scoring twenty times last season.  

France's racial quota system, unraveled

It was alleged recently by the website Mediapart that some high-up officials within the France national football setup investigated capping the number of "ethnic" players allowed places in national Youth training schemes. This cap, it has been suggested, would enable more white players to progress to the France international team. According to The Guardian, the French football federation is investigating reports that management approved a 30% quota of black players and youngsters north African heritage; harking back to the days of ultra right-wing leaders criticising the racial composition of Les Bleus.

Race in the French national football setup has been more of an issue since the 1998 World Cup Champion French side was accused of being "too black". Such bigoted messages have cropped up irregularly since then but an undercurrent of dissatisfaction remains across national youth lines as several high-profile graudates of French academies now play for other nations - players such as Arsenal centre-forward Marouane Chamakh and Tottenham's centre-back Sebastien Bassong.

While France manager Laurent Blanc (among others) has strenuously denied these allegations, he too is implicated. He recently said the comments were taken out of context and his focus in the reported meetings was to deter youth-system graduates from representing other countries. Blanc, a member of the '98 World Cup Champs, when taking over from Raymond Domenech was charged first with uniting a fractious dressing room which imploded publicly imploded during the 2010 World Cup. Among the most high-profile dissidents in that incident were Patrice Evra, Nicolas Anelka and Franck Ribéry - two black players and a French-born convert to Islam - further fuelling slanderous gossip that the non-white element were the chief troublemakers. This manifested horribly in comments attributed to Blanc that Spain had no problems because they had no black players.

As always, blinkered thinking of this type deserves all the ridicule it receives. It is also, according to French law, illegal and unconstitutional: to even ask a person's religion or ethnicity for the purposes of statistics is an offence. Whether a player is born in Senegal (Patrick Vieira), has Algerian parents (Zinedine Zidane) or is born in Boulogne but converts to Islam (Ribéry) has no bearing on this abiilty to play football. Therefore, any prejudice against these elements is repugnant and petty.

To suggest capping so-called "ethnic involvement" is also eventually self-defeating. To examine such a principle in purely sporting terms, fans appreciate and flock to teams who are either successful or those who play attractive football, thereby supporting them financially. Decreasing results leads to a decreasing fan-base: just ask Paul Roos or the Melbourne Victory. The old adage states that "Success breeds success" and with sport, it administered correctly, the adage is correct: success leads to money, more fan involvement and youth development.

By withdrawing, say, 70% of those of north African heritage or black players from the 1998 World Champions leads perhaps to neither Zinedine Zidane, Marcel Desailly, Lilian Thuram, Christian Karembeu or Patrick Vieira playing for Les Bleus. Only Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet, Bernard Diomede and Bernard Lama remain in the '98 squad. Do you really see France triumphing over Brazil - or even making the second round - without such players? Do the same with Australia's 2006 World Cup squad and watch Australia fail again in the playoff against Uruguay, if even they made it that far.

Ask any football fan if they would prefer a fictitious mediocre uniracial team or an excellent club with players of varying ethic extraction. In 99.5% of cases or more, they'll choose the one that wins most. Although the global situation has improved somewhat from the dark ages of racism, isolated incidents prove that we, as a sporting public, still have a long way to come. Discrimination on the basis of heritage - as well as sexuality, religion or other reasons - has no place in sport. Should Blanc and other nameless faces within FFF be found complicit with such bigotry, they should be removed.