Batista's final roll of the dice

It was said this week that if everyone in Argentina had put their views on the national football team to paper the Amazon would no longer be standing.

It is probably just as well for the world’s eco-system that the ferocious conversation of the nation’s cafes rattle along at a speed no author could keep up with. In a country where the salt shaker and sugar bowl are used just as much as tactical props as for seasoning and sweetening, the last week has produced a torrent of painful debate.

The opening stage of the Copa America is often just an ice-breaker to the real competition, with eight of the 12 sides progressing to the quarter-finals. For Argentina on home soil it should have been nothing more than a procession round the provinces before the real stuff started. Instead, two games and two draws against Bolivia and Colombia later, a national crisis looms.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of the coverage has surrounded Leo Messi and his struggles to recreate his best form in an Argentine jersey.

Criticism of Messi’s performances at international level in the past have often been overstated. He was excellent in this competition four years ago, instrumental as Argentina won Olympic gold in Beijing, and far better in his role as a facilitator last summer’s World Cup than many who didn’t look beyond the scoresheet gave him credit for.

However, against Colombia on Wednesday evening he looked as lost and bereft as he ever has on a football pitch. And he wasn’t alone. Argentina were incredibly lucky to escape with a point as Colombia missed two glorious opportunities when presented with an open goal in the first-half and were denied on multiple occasions by goalkeeper Sergio Romero in the second. The centre-back pairing of Gabriel Milito and Nicolas Burdisso provided as many assists to the Colombian frontline as Los Cafeteros own midfield did, the midfield three of Javier Mascherano, Esteban Cambiasso and Ever Banega looked devoid of creativity and lacking in ideas, whilst on either side of Messi, Carlos Tevez and Ezequiel Lavezzi were industrious at best.

In fairness to Tevez and Lavezzi they are not being played in their natural positions. Obsessed with the Barcelona model in the year leading up to the tournament, coach Sergio Batista said he would build his side around Messi in the Catalans distinctive 4-3-3 formation. The problem is that while the lead role may be played by the same character, the supporting cast doesn’t come close.

None of the midfield three have a fraction of the vision of Xavi, nor the inclination to move beyond the ball like Iniesta. Tevez and Lavezzi don’t provide the same movement cutting inside as a Pedro or Villa. Most crucially of all, however, Argentina don’t get any width from their full-backs.

Against Colombia, Batista started with Javier Zanetti and Tevez on the left meaning there was no naturally left-footed player on that side of the field. As a result it became easy for the Colombian defence to push any threat down that side inside into the congested central area.

In tournament football years worth of plans can go down the drain in a matter of minutes. For Batista - after refusing to change after the Bolivia game - it has taken 180 minutes to realise his mistakes. A much changed side including Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero and Angel Di Maria will start in a must win match against Costa Rica this evening.

Messi will not be operating in the false nine position he has to devastating effect at club level, but should have better options ahead of him in a 4-2-3-1 with Di Maria providing some much needed width on the left.

It is a plan B that simply must work if the hosts are to avoid the ultimate embarrassment. Their opponents are a Costa Rica side consisting heavily of under-23 players, but one strong enough to do what Argentina couldn’t in handily disposing of Bolivia 2-0 in their last outing.

Fail to win and the talk in the water holes of Argentina may not solely focus on Messi. With Batista’s position untenable, the possible return of Diego Maradona as manager would strike fondly in the hearts of many followers of La Albiceleste.

Chile add style to a Copa America desperately needing a show

Little over a year ago with only two group games still to be played at the 2010 World Cup, the pre-tournament favourites sat on the brink of elimination. Needing to win, Spain were understandably edgy that their World Cup dreams could blow up in their face in the most embarrassing fashion. Their nerves though stemmed not only from their perilous position, but their opponents – Chile.

12 months ago La Roja entertained the world royally with their unique 3-3-1-3 formation, ruthless pressing and extroverted coach Marcelo “el loco” Bielsa. One of only four sides to win their opening two fixtures, they starred where others stuttered early on. Indeed, the course of history could have been very different had Bielsa’s side made the most of their territorial advantage in the opening half hour against the eventual World Champions before a combination of Spanish brilliance and Chilean indiscipline saw them 2-0 and a man down by half-time.

A second-half consolation combined with Switzerland’s inability to beat Honduras saw them still advance, but only in second place which meant a meeting with Chilean football’s kryptonite, Brazil, in the last-16. In their past seven meetings Chile’s record reads: W-0 L-7 F-3 A-24.

Bielsa and with it the intense pressing may have gone, but again in a tournament in which the big guns have failed to live up to expectations, Chile have been a refreshing wash of attacking bluster on a stale low-scoring canvas.

The best side at the tournament by a distance, new coach Claudio Borghi has retained the 3-3-1-3, however it is not so much the system but the fluidity and movement with which it is operated that makes Chile so pleasing on the eye.

With opposition defences understandably most occupied with Alexis Sanchez, space is created for the likes of Mati Fernandez, Jean Beausejour and Humberto Suazo to cause problems.

Another impressive aspect of Chile’s play has been the depth of their squad. Again like last year, when Mark Gonzalez made significant contributions from the bench, Chile’s unbeaten start owes much to the contribution of substitutes. Esteban Paredes had barely come on when he poked home the crucial equaliser against Mexico and the introduction of Jorge Valdivia against Uruguay swung the game significantly in Borghi’s side’s favour. With Valdivia occupying the space that Fernandez had done more successfully against Mexico than his replacement Luis Jiminez did against Uruguay, the Chileans were able to pick holes in the Uruguayan defence. It was Valdivia’s excellent pass that sent Beausejour free on the left to set up Sanchez for the equaliser.

Unfortunately, obvious weaknesses remain and are likely to be found out as the tournament progresses. Suazo, prolific in Mexican club football, has found finding the net just as difficult as he did in South Africa. It is significant that for all Chile’s attractive play that of their three goals so far two arrived from set-pieces and the other when Sanchez found himself in the centre-forward position.

They also appear vulnerable at the other end of the field. Mexico’s only effort on goal found the net thanks to an error by goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, and Uruguay’s opener on Friday evening was aided by a degree of ball-watching in the Chilean backline.

Of even greater concern though for the Chilean players and public might be who await in the quarter-finals. Should Chile as expected top Group C with victory over Peru on Tuesday, the curse of Brazil could haunt them again in the quarter-finals.

No width and no wins for Argentina on home soil

After Friday’s frustrating 1-1 draw against Bolivia Leo Messi summed up the thoughts of a nation in a sentence, “it is not what we expected,” he said.

Harsher critics might argue that disappointment with the national team is something that Messi should be used to by now, after another poor performance in their 0-0 stalemate with Colombia it is certainly a feeling he is getting used to in this competition.

Indeed it could and should have been much worse for the hosts. Colombia have improved steadily over recent years but goalscoring has remained a cronic problem. With the proflic Radamel Falcao García leading the line they had hoped that finding the back of the net wouldn’t be such an issue in Argentina. Unfortunately with the chances not falling to the Porto man they took their ineptitude in front of goal to a new level in Santa Fe.

Twice in the first-half they passed up glorious opportunities. Firstly Gustavo Ramos spooned the ball over from three yards out after a slick counter-attack. Then after a horrendous backpass from Gabriel Milito let Ramos through on goal, Nicolas Burdisso slid in to deny the Hertha Berlin striker and was lucky not to concede a penalty as the ball rolled on to Dayro Moreno, with the empty goal gaping he fired wide.

Colombia didn’t create the same quality of opportunities in the second half but they were still the more dangerous side, particularly on the counter-attack against a horrifically slow Argentine backline. It says everything about La Albiceleste’s performance that goalkeeper Sergio Romero was by far their man of the match.

The essential problem for Argentina is that coach Sergio Batista has tried to force his square pegs into round holes in an attempt to replicate Barcelona’s 4-3-3 system. The idea – to let Messi feel as comfortable as possible – has had the completely opposite effect. Without the movement of Pedro and Villa ahead of him, the service of Iniesta and Xavi behind him and, an often overlooked part of Messi’s play, the outball to Dani Alves on the right, Messi looks lost and frustrated at not being able to produce his magical best. Moreover, by trying to accommodate the World Player of the Year Batista is making his other star players play in unfamiliar roles.

Carlos Tevez was expertly handled by Colombian right-back Camilo Zuniga and was far too predictable in cutting inside from his wide left position. Similarly Sergio Aguero, when he was introduced to replace Ezequiel Lavezzi, couldn’t have the influence on the game as he does at club level because he wasn’t playing from a central position, receiving the ball from the midfield and driving at defences. It was no surprise that the one Argentine substitute who did make a difference was Gonzalo Higuain who was played in his natural no.9 position.

The major consequence of playing forwards more akin to playing centrally than on the flank is a lack of width. This can be resolved by a pair of attacking full-backs (with holding midfielders in front of the back four to cover any spaces left by the full-backs pushing forward). It is a system the Brazil have mastered over the years but one that Argentina have never got to grips with as they have never produced the type of winger turned full-backs that their neighbours have churned out with spectacular regularity.

In the current Argentina side, the abundance of talent in the centre-forward, enganche (playmaking) and defensive-midfield positions has meant that the build-up play tends to bottle neck around the opponents 18-yard box and makes it much easier to defend against than it should against players of such quality.

One player who could make a difference and whose involvement has mysteriously been restricted to only 45 minutes across the two Copa matches so far is Angel Di Maria. The Real Madrid man will at least provide width that should in theory stretch the opposition and make it easier to play through the middle.

However, the other problem of this Argentinean side cruelly exposed by the Colombians comes far away from the opposition goal. An abundance of talent in certain areas has masked a dearth in others and with such a weak central defensive pairing as Milito and Burdisso even if La Albiceleste get their attacking mojo working in the next fortnight their 18-year trophy drought looks set to continue.

Caution dominates early going at the Copa America

The first round of matches at the 43rd Copa America has followed a similar pattern to the primary offerings at last year’s World Cup in South Africa. The tales of caution, upsets and the depth in South American football from a year ago have been replicated in Argentina as the lesser lights have kept the traditional powerhouses of the continent at bay.

Indeed with the opening fixtures containing more deadlocks than a bad series of X-Factor, not one of the 10 South American participants have been defeated - that particular pain has only been inflicted upon the two understrength invited nations from the CONCACAF region, Mexico and Costa Rica.

The pattern was set on opening night as an expectant home crowd saw a Leo Messi led Argentina begin their quest for a first title in 18 years against Bolivia. La Verde are often thrown to the hosts as sacrificial lambs for the curtain raiser. But it was the Bolivians themselves who inflicted more embarrassment upon their hosts (their last meeting in the altitude of La Paz had ended 6-1 to Bolivia) with a stubborn performance in a 1-1 draw.

The problems encountered by La Albiceleste were familiar ones. Coach Sergio Batista has continually stressed his intention to play a Barcelona style 4-3-3 with the obvious intention of providing the best platform for Messi to succeed on the international stage. The difficulty in providing that platform is trying to balance a side that is the most top heavy talent to come out of South America since Larissa Riquelme’s animated support of her beloved Paraguay went viral.

With Messi in the false nine position, the onus is on the two wide-forwards to maintain their width to stretch the defence and create space for the Barcelona man between the lines, whilst also recognising when to make the diagonal run across the full-back in behind the defence to meet the deadly Messi through-ball.

However, for all their attacking talent Argentina don’t have those options to play the Pedro and Villa roles that allow Messi to be so effective.

Sergio Aguero – who equalised with a wonderful volleyed finish on Friday – and Carlos Tevez prefer to play in similar areas to Messi as a second striker. Gonzalo Higuain is more effective leading the line and Angel Di Maria provides excellent width but prefers to stay on the left-flank than drifting inside.

Batista bowed to local pressure to start Tevez alongside Napoli’s Ezequiel Lavezzi and Messi in the front three. However both Tevez and Lavezzi failed to impress and the latter was eventually replaced by Aguero.

Batista, somewhat surprisingly, looks set to stick with the same front three that started against Bolivia in Argentina’s next fixture against an improving Colombia side on Wednesday. However, trying to copy the Barcelona model creates another, arguably greater problem for Batista, how do you replicate the creativity of Xavi and Iniesta?

In an attempt to eradicate the tactical malfunction suffered by Diego Maradona in the 4-0 defeat to Germany last summer, when Javier Mascherano was used as a lone holding midfielder and was swamped by the German counter-attack, Batista has filled the midfield with a triple-cinco, three central midfield players with more emphasis on destroying than creating. Mascherano has been joined by Esteban Cambiasso and Ever Banega, but, as evidenced on Friday, this triumvirate can be as equally stale as Maradona’s line-up was cavalier. When Cambiasso was replaced by Di Maria at half-time the hosts were much more fluid in a 4-2-1-3 system.

It wasn’t just Argentina who failed to break the resistance of well-organised opponents on opening day. The unfancied Venezuela and Peru also held the other seeded sides, Brazil and Uruguay, to 0-0 and 1-1 draws respectively.

Brazil were the biggest disappointment of the competition so far. With the focus very much on building towards the 2014 World Cup in home soil, coach Mano Menezes went with a very youthful side in his first competitive outing.

Ganso started only his second game for the senior side in the number 10 role behind a front three of Neymar, Robinho and Alexandre Pato. The Premier League duo of Lucas Leiva and Ramires held in midfield, whilst Thiago Silva partnered Lucio in defence.

Pato was the standout performer and was unlucky to see his fierce drive rattle the bar with the best effort of the match. Neymar only showed flashes of his undoubted ability whilst Robinho disappointed and Ganso failed to make any impact on the game at all.

The most disappointing aspect of the Seleção’s performance however was how it fizzled out so lamely in the second period. Venezuela’s backline, expertly protected by Tomas Rincon, was rarely troubled after a bright start from the Brazilians. The task now for the improving Venezuelans is to be able to take the game to their opponents in the remainder of the competition and the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Perhaps the knives shouldn’t be out for Menezes and his young charges just yet. With 2014 in mind this side does lack experience and is just beginning to learn how to play together. The spine of the side that started on Sunday evening should be there in three years time, by which point the likes of Thiago Silva, Ganso, Neymar and Pato should be among the world’s elite.

However, that promise is unlikely to quell the expectations of a famously demanding Brazilian press and public. With Group B set to be the tightest of all three groups (with no understrength North Americans to prey upon) the pressure will be on for a greatly improved performance against World Cup quarter-finalists Paraguay on Saturday.

Uruguay will be slightly more satisfied with their performance in the 1-1 draw against Peru. The much hyped front three of Diego Forlan, Luis Suarez and Edison Cavani functioned well in spells and Nicolas Lodeiro impressed in the playmaking role, including a nice through-ball to Suarez for the equaliser. Forlan should have given them all three points in the second-half but uncharacteristically blazed over when clean through.

Peru also more than played their part in one of the more entertaining games of the first round and showed more attacking potential than either Venezuela or Bolivia. Paolo Guerrero’s finish for the opener was composed, although the defending more than a bit shambolic, and if Juan Vargas is fit enough to play 90 minutes he has the guile to create opportunities that some other sides in the competition lack.

Overall, the overwhelming trends from the first round symbolised in these three draws provide a mixture of positive and negative points.

On the bright side there is no doubt regarding the strength in depth of South American football. The clearest example of this was provided by Uruguay last summer who finished fifth in South American World Cup qualifying and fourth in the competition itself. Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela and Ecuador (four of the sides that did not qualify for South Africa) showed they are more than a match for the sides who did make it through the qualification stage last time round and gives an insight into how competitive the forthcoming qualifiers for 2014 will be, especially given there is an extra place for South American nations due to Brazil’s position as hosts.

Unfortunately, the other trend followed from the 2010 World Cup is how cagey the opening round of games has become in major competitions. An average of only 1.33 goals a game is even lower than the dire 1.56 offered by the 16 first round games last summer. It appears that the fear of losing the opening game has now engulfed the potential reward of a flying start.

Argentina demands of the only one capable of succeeding Maradona

In the hours immediately following Barcelona’s Champions League triumph at Wembley last month, their main man had already looked beyond the celebrations to his next challenge.

“Today is a very special day! Now I want to do the same with the National Team!”, he told his 18 million facebook followers.

The message not only highlights Messi’s insatiable appetite for success, he had just lifted his third Champions League title and scored his 53rd goal of the season in the process, but also an underlying feeling of unfulfilment.

For all that the 23-year-old has already won more than his weight in gold in club and personal honours, the Olympic title in 2008 apart, he has not won a senior international tournament with Argentina. A barren run that stretches back beyond Messi’s time some 18 years since La Albiceleste won a major international tournament. Now, with the continents finest arriving on their home soil, the Argentine public does not expect that run to end, they demand it.

In their eyes the onus is on one man to deliver it. Messi may now be widely regarded in Europe as one of the all-time greats, but his image in his homeland suffers somewhat from having performed all his best work across the Atlantic.

Comparisons with Diego Maradona have been so rife that even El Diego himself has had to admit that the Rosario born star has come closer than any of the hundreds of ‘next Maradona’s’ to come out of Argentina in the past 20 years. Messi, by his own admission, will never match Maradona’s popularity as a cult figure in Argentina; he doesn’t have the arrogance or indeed the dark side that have made Maradona’s life the best soap opera Argentina ever had.

However, on the pitch Messi is determined to ensure he can go some way towards replicating his former national team manager’s achievements.

To that end, Maradona’s successor on the bench, Sergio Batista, has tried to replicate Barcelona’s 4-3-3 system and style as much as possible to give his star the best platform to shine.

The difference from last summer’s team in South Africa is the addition of two other central midfielders, Esteban Cambiasso and Ever Banega, alongside Messi’s Barcelona teammate and captain Javier Mascherano. The ex-Liverpool man’s attempt to plug a dam with a dish towel as the lone barrier in front of the back four during his side’s 4-0 defeat to Germany last summer was Maradona’s major tactical downfall.

Batista has also attempted to add balance to the front three with Messi dropping into his favoured false nine position, flanked by Angel Di Maria and Ezequiel Lavezzi. Germany coach Jogi Löw described the deployment of a front four of Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain alongside Messi and Di Maria last summer as splitting the team in two. Once Argentina surrendered possession these four were completely by-passed, allowing the midfield area to be swamped by counter-attacking opponents.

The presence of Tevez, however, creates an extra dilemma for Batista. It won’t come as a surprise to any fans in Manchester to know that a public spat between the two had seen Tevez dropped for a series of friendlies earlier in the year. A reconciliation, backed by a vociferous pro-Tevez media campaign has seen the Manchester City striker included in the 23-man squad. Yet, his recall does raise some questions: how long will he tolerate being sat on the bench? Will his apparently testy relationship with Messi cause a problem? And, moreover, are the two even compatible on the field given they both prefer to play between the lines of the opposition midfield and defence?

Those are questions that Batista will have to find an answer to over the next three weeks. But, one thing is for sure, despite the public affection for Tevez, the Argentine public is backing on one man to deliver the Copa America. And the World’s best player and his 18 million facebook friends know it.

Winning: Spain's happiest addiction

Winning, like many things in life, becomes a habit. It is one of life's more favourable addictions, but one that once engrained is as hard for opponents to shirk than any other destructive tendency.

Never was the evidence of a winning mentality so clearly displayed on the football pitch than when Adrián López stole in at the near post to equalise for the Spanish U-21s against Belarus in their European Championship semi-final on Wednesday. As the ball struck the back of the net the entire bench of substitutes, coaches and backroom staff galloped down the touchline to celebrate with the goalscorer. This side of established stars and promising youngsters had once again shown that the nation that used to promise much and deliver little now has an obsession with winning that would put Charlie Sheen to shame (well, one of many things).

Three years ago the Spanish national team won its first international trophy for 44 years. In that time since 2008 they have won a World Cup, the U-17 European Championships, reached the final of the U-19 Euros and are one of the favourites for the U-20 World Cup in Colombia this summer. On the club front, Barcelona have won two Champions League titles and Atlético Madrid won the 2010 Europa League and Super Cup.

Many of the players who have experienced that success have continued to shine in Denmark. Captain Javier Martínez and Juan Mata played in the World Cup last summer in South Africa. Martín Montoya, Thiago Alcântara, Jeffrén Suárez and Bojan Krkić have all played to varying degrees in Barcelona's first team this season and David De Gea and Álvaro Domínguez were part of the Atleti side to win their first European trophies in 38 years.

The lesson for those looking to follow in the Spanish footsteps is as easy to explain as it is hard to implement. Patience is a virtue. In many regions in a footballing context, it is obsolete.

The patience exemplified by the Spanish comes in two forms. Firstly within the game in the way they move the ball from side to side, constantly probing and looking for space. Adrián's equaliser on Wednesday came after a move of over 10 passes when in the dying moments of the game most sides would have opted for the hump it long strategy. Secondly, in the past decade Spanish sides have stuck to their tiki-taka style even when it hasn't been successful. In 2006 Spain lost to France in the last-16 of the World Cup but kept the same system, coach and players and two years later were European champions. In 2008 a Barcelona side containing Xavi, Iniesta and Messi lost the league to Real Madrid by 18 points. With some subtle changes implemented by Pep Guardiola in how they pressed the ball when they didn't have it, in 2009 they won six trophies. Tiki-taka was never questioned.

So what hope for the smaller nations such as ourselves who do not appear to have the attitude or ability to replicate the Spanish model?

Well, look no further than the Spaniard's opponents on Saturday evening in Aarhus. Switzerland have themselves over the past decade implemented a successful youth system that has produced a conveyor belt of talent for the senior national side. In 2009 they won the U-17 World Cup, with four of that side graduating to the squad that has played in Denmark. Of this squad, the wonderfully named, Innocent Emeghara, Admir Mehmedi, Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka all played in the senior side's 2-2 draw with England at Wembley earlier this month.

The emergence of these four players also highlights another interesting aspect of the Swiss youth system, the integration of the immigrant population into a symbol of national identity. All four were born outside Switzerland but have chosen to play for the country of their upbringing rather than their birthplace.

The Swiss may not provide the footballing lesson of the Spanish. But they do display a more realistic and socially positive action plan that should be noted in this country from Hampden to Holyrood.

Is there any point to the Gold Cup?

United States v Mexico and Mexico v United States. Those have been the hardly surprising participants in the last two Gold Cup finals.

Looking further back to its formation 20 years ago there has been a bit more variety in the names on the finals board; Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama and Canada have all made appearances. However, these names hide the sad reality of the uncompetitive nature of football in North America. Those finalists were generally only able to make it that far thanks to favours from invited nations who had knocked out the dual powers of the continent in earlier rounds.* In the nine tournaments to be completed since 1991, Mexico and the US have won eight and on only one occasion (Canada’s victory over Mexico in 2000) has a CONCACAF member outside the big two knocked one of them out.

This year there has been the tiniest of twists in the tale. The States’ 2-1 defeat to Panama on Saturday evening has been the highlight of the competition and a great result for the CONCACAF region as a whole. It silenced critics who had begun to wonder why Mexico and the US didn’t just plat a Confederations Cup playoff every four years and save themselves the hassle of torching minnows in a relatively meaningless competition every two years.

But, as great as it was for Panamese football, did that result make any difference? Whilst it allowed Panama to top the group, the bizarre system that allows 8 teams from 12 to progress from the group stages meant the hosts were never in any danger of not qualifying. The organisers build in insurance clause in the draw, so that even in the unforeseen event of either of the big two not topping their group they would still be kept apart till the final, means that in all likelihood the two will meet again come next Saturday in Los Angeles.

Away from the questions over competitiveness there are other issues that the federation must consider. The most pressing is why there is a need for the competition every two years? Major championships in other regions such as the Copa America, European Championships and Asian Cup all operate under an every four-year format.

The repetition and general uncompetitive nature of the Gold Cup can be draining enough for many international fans and players, that they have to experience it every two years (one without the added incentive of qualification for the pre-World Cup warm up in the Confederations Cup) can make it even more of an non-event.

The only advantage of an every two-year format is to give the smaller nations such as El Salvador, Guadeloupe, Cuba, etc more competitive international experience. However, that brings up another issue regarding CONCACAF’s premier competition.

The past 10 competitions have been hosted or co-hosted (in 2003 and 1993 Mexico co-hosted) by the United States.

I understand the States has the best and biggest stadia, large immigrant populations from many of the competing nations and provides the best advertising and corporate opportunities to cash in on (and we all know how the CONCACAF big wigs like to hear the till bell ring more than most). But if football is to grow in the region, what is the harm in moving the tournament to Canada? Not a big enough fan base? Then Mexico, it certainly has the stadia and numbers to fill them. And what about those smaller countries that a two-year format is supposed to favour? What would be better to boost their participation than hosting the tournament in Honduras or Jamaica, Panama or Costa Rica?

Logistics would obviously be an issue but with only 12 teams and a maximum of 25 games (if the 12 into eight format is continued), four stadia would suffice.

It may sound like madness to many but something radical is needed to shine up the image of the Gold Cup, both on its own continent and further afield, if it is to be a successful and interesting tournament in the coming years.

*In previous years nations such as Brazil, Colombia and South Korea were invited to create a balance in the number of teams competing.

Nearly men no more

The waiting is over. Well, for some at least. The year-long referendum on LeBron James’ decision to team up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami has returned a negative verdict; there will be no establishing of a dynasty this year. But for Dirk Nowitzki, the 7ft German power forward widely regarded as the best ever non-American basketball player, and the Dallas Mavericks the elusive hunt for a championship is finally over.

For many on the Mavs roster the journey to this point has been a long one. A team of veterans who have been there, done it and now finally have the t-shirt. This championship was a first for Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, at the end of his 17th season in the league, Jason Terry, the only other survivor along with Dirk from the side that lost to the Heat in the 2006 finals, and Shawn Marion, the 33-year-old four-time All-Star.

As Terry said afterwards: "All those unique individual stories is what propelled us to this victory."

"Tonight," he said, "we got vindication."

An interesting choice of word because for all the criticism, abuse and vitriol aimed at the Heat and James in particular since his decision to move to Florida last July, vindication is what he sought. Miami was the place, he said, where he could win championships. In his own words, “not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven”, a declaration that riled the rest of the league and lacked substance, not least because he signed a six-year contract.

Now it is one he cannot escape from. James has been pilloried in the media for his performances all series, in particular his production in the fourth quarter which has been almost non-existent. He was marginally better in Sunday night’s 105-95 defeat, scoring 21 points to finish as the Heat’s top-scorer, a role occupied by Wade for the previous four games, but LeBron was as culpable as anyone for the shocking free-throw shooting that ultimately cost them the game.

The Heat missed 13 of their 33 foul shots, James failing on three occasions. To put that in perspective, Nowitzki has hit 175 of his 186 free throws during this year’s playoffs – proof that no matter the sport you can always trust a German from the penalty spot.

The most joyful part of Dallas’ success however has been that it hasn’t all been about the man from Würzburg. Nowitzki may be the lone star but the Dallas story is a collective one, built around a team ethic rather than individual brilliance. Terry top-scored last night with 27 points, Tyson Chandler has dominated the rebounding game, the unheralded J.J. Barea tore the Heat defence apart like he had the Los Angeles Lakers earlier in the playoffs.

In a league that has become so obsessed with constructing teams around multiple stars, the Mavericks collection of old fellas provided a heartening lesson to LeBron and Co that you need not one, not two, not three, but a team full of winners to claim the biggest prize.

"This is a true team," said Mavs coach Rick Carlisle. "This is an old bunch, we don't run fast or jump high. These guys had each other's backs. We played the right way. We trusted the pass. This is a phenomenal thing for the city of Dallas."

LeBron on the brink of proving America right

“This is a big game, probably the biggest game of my life… not probably, it is.”

That was LeBron James’ own declaration on Thursday ahead of Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Unfortunately for James a 112-103 defeat to the Dallas Mavericks saw his Miami Heat fall 3-2 behind in the best-of-seven game series. The year-long referendum on his decision to swap Cleveland for South Beach just one game away from a definitive result.

Over the past week every aspect of LeBron’s game and psyche has been broken down, analysed, dissected and torn apart by the feeding pack of American sports radio hacks. On the one hand it has been the epitome of media overreaction, on the other it has been an entirely predictable reaction of James’ own making.

When the 25-year-old organised a prime-time TV show to tell the world he would be “taking his talents to South Beach” to team up with fellow All-Stars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh last July, he instantly made himself a target to be shot at. And he has been, most notably in Cleveland, but all over the country in visiting arenas, on radio shows, blogs and twitter, it has become a national obsession to have a go at the man who was once the most loved player in the league.

Yet, when he and his teammates defied all the venom to make it to the finals, redemption was within touching distance. LeBron had always defended his move to Miami on the grounds that it was the best way for him to win championships and this was it. Or so it seemed.

The only remaining obstacle was a 7ft tall German who despite being a 10 time All-Star had always had to fight the choker tag. Dirk Nowitzki had managed to quieten those doubters just by dragging his Dallas side to the finals, but as the lone star on a veteran team it was assumed that Dallas wouldn’t be able to live with the athletic triumvirate of James, Wade and Bosh.

For the first 90 minutes of the series they couldn’t. With seven minutes to go in Game 2 Miami were cruising to a 2-0 lead until a Nowitzki inspired comeback sent Dallas home for the next three games on level terms.

When the Heat, led by Wade, responded in Game 3, LeBron laughed off suggestions by one journalist that he was “shrinking” when it really mattered. There was no such humour after Game 4 when James’ astonishing performance got the whole country talking.

However, it wasn’t the kind of wonderment they had been expecting. James disappeared. Hiding in corners, disengaged and ineffective, he had confirmed all his critics’ greatest suspicion that when it came to the crunch this was still Wade’s team and that LeBron, the supposed best player in the world, would defer.

It was an ironic turn of events given that only a few weeks ago James had claimed another principal reason for his need to leave Cleveland had been “to team up with some guys that would never die down in the moment”. Now he was the corpse on court.

Dallas’ DeShawn Stevenson claimed that LeBron had “checked out”, ESPN’s Bill Simmons declared it as “LeBrowndon Part II” – after an equally inept performance had seen his Cavaliers beaten by the Boston Celtics in last year’s playoffs.

Roll on the biggest game of his life on Thursday night and James was beaten again. On a personal level he was fractionally better – his 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists not the embarrassment of his playoff career low eight points in Game 4 – but he was still not the dominant force that saw him become a national obsession and subsequent villain.

Game 5 was the biggest of his career, Game 6 and its one last shot at redemption now dwarves that by comparison. If LeBron doesn’t become LeBron on Sunday, America will rejoice in a collective shower of schadenfreude and salute the German with his maiden championship.

NBA Finals preview: Is it time for the King to win a ring?

“I’m going to take my talents to South Beach”.

Those were the words that shocked a nation as a year of speculation, unlike anything America had ever witnessed in a purely sporting context, drew to a close.

“The Decision” – the hour-long prime time TV programme arranged to announce that LeBron James would be playing his basketball with the Miami Heat for the next six years – was ridiculed and despised in equal measure.

James had been the home town guy made good. A phenomenon during his high school years, he took the increasingly frequent step of by-passing college basketball to head straight into the NBA. When his home state franchise, the Cleveland Cavaliers, won the NBA draft lottery to secure the first pick of the 2003 draft they wasted no time in declaring James would be staying in Ohio.

He seemed destined to end Cleveland’s 47 year wait for a title in any of the four major US sports. As a 22-year-old he single-handedly dragged them to the 2007 finals, producing one of the all-time great performances by scoring Cleveland’s last 25 points in game five against the Detroit Pistons to get them there.

Yet, as Lebron’s star rose – and the expectation with it – year after year he came up short in the playoffs.

In 2009 James won his first Most Valuable Player of the league award, the Cavaliers secured the first seed in the playoffs with a franchise record 66 regular season wins and they even cruised through the first two rounds of the play-offs without dropping a game. When they met Orlando in the Eastern Conference finals, however, they came unstuck. LeBron’s one man show not enough.

Lessons were learned, or so they thought. The Cavs spent big in trying to build a team around James, including bringing in an aged Shaquille O’Neal, but it made no difference. Cleveland were again bounced in the playoffs, a round earlier this time by a veteran Boston Celtics side. LeBron’s performance in the elimination game at the Boston Garden one of his worst as a professional. As he left the court that night and pulled the Cavs jersey from his back, many a Cleveland fan feared they would never see him in one again.

Yet, the process became even more interminable than they could ever have imagined. Their hero kept them and the five other teams who had cleared the salary cap space to compete for his signature in the dark for weeks until on national television “The Decision” was delivered.

As it turned out the real decision had been made a long time ago. James had been convinced by good friend and fellow All Star Dwayne Wade to live the high-life in Miami and become arguably the most feared one-two combination in NBA history.
James was destroyed in the media for the manner in which he had stabbed his home town in the back. The one time declared “Chosen One” was now he was the most reviled one. In Cleveland his jersey was burned, a 212-foot wide billboard of him pulled down and even the Cavs owner Dan Gilbert took a swipe of LeBron’s play-off performances, declaring that the Cavaliers would win a Championship before LeBron did.

Wade and James were joined by a third All Star, Chris Bosh, as Miami tried to replicate the Big Three formula that had brought the Celtics the title in 2008. Not deterred by the degree of vitriol aimed at them, the Heat hosted a championship winning-style celebration for their arrival.

Doubts were raised over whether a team of three stars and very little else could succeed. Indeed they did have their troubles in the early part of the season. A 9-8start a far cry from the prediction of one prominent pundit who claimed they would only lose 10 games all year.

Yet, as James knows more than most, regular season record means little when it comes to playoff time. With the Heat cruising through the playoffs, winning all three of their series to date 4-1, James has proved to be everything his detractors claimed he wasn’t. No one doubted his talent but they claimed he couldn’t close a game or bring it when it really mattered in the playoffs. Match winning performances in games four and five against both the Celtics and Chicago Bulls have well and truly put that debate to bed for now.

Yet, as remarkable as it sounds, James’s story of vindication may not even be the biggest story of this year’s playoffs. For across the court this evening Lebron, Wade and Bosh will be confronted by a 7ft tall German looking to pen the final note on his own story of redemption.



Dirk Nowitzki has been one of the leading NBA players for a decade. Like James did in Cleveland, he has consistently taken the Dallas Mavericks to the playoffs without much of a supporting cast, only to suffer consistent heartache in April and May.
In his only previous trip to the finals in 2006 he also came up against the Heat. Dallas were favoured and sped into a 2-0 lead in the series before coming up against an inspired Wade, with a little helping hand from the officials, as the Heat won the next four games to claim the title.

Until this year that series had been a career defining one for Nowitzki. He was bullied throughout the series by Udonis Haslem, leading to accusations, levelled against many European players in the NBA, that he was soft.

However, the man from Würzburg performances in the past few months, particularly in the 4-0 sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semi-finals, have reopened the debate over where he belongs in the pantheon of basketball greats. Most analysts have already declared him as the greatest international player in NBA history, but at 33 time is running out for him to claim that elusive title.

James and Nowitzki have taken very different paths to get to this point, but both are now just four games away from fulfilling their destiny. The German has America on his side, however, should Nowitzki fall short against Miami again, “The Chosen One’s” decision will have been vindicated.