TalJechin wrote on 10/14/11 at 21:37:07:
Quote:The second-half started off very much in the same vein. Denmark put eight people behind the ball, dropped deep and made Germany try and play through them. Without wide players in the final third, Germany had no method of creating gaps in between the defence and midfield. With Germany and Berti Vogts so stubbornly committed to their 5-3-2 system, there was only going to be one eventual winner.
Well, usually it's a bad idea to back down defending a 1-0 lead, even the Italians have failed at that at times - so if the German World Champions couldn't attack efficiently enough then it's their own fault. Why should the underdog keep on attacking when they already have the lead? Especially since, iirc, the Laudrup brothers and 1-2 other players were boycotting the national team at the time - so they didn't have all that much to attack with anyhow.
Besides, after the infamous game Germany-Austria in the World Cup some years before, the Germans didn't really have any moral upper ground on not wasting time while in the lead... THAT was a boring game - not to mention disgusting...
Brian Laudrup was their star player in that game against Germany, their only truly attacking player according to the link.
I made no claims about what Denmark should have/shouldn't have done, I just commented on how Greece
might have a challenger for the most boring tournament winners.
The reason I mentioned it is because I saw the game highlights and match analysis on ESPN Classic. And the Danish players themselves were saying that it was like some sort of miracle occurred that day and that their best strategy was to line the goal and pass back the ball. From the players themselves.
Italy years ago, like the 70s and 80s were outrageously defensive. However I think this stood out more because they were capable of beating these teams by two or three goals, but instead they went a goal up and defended the rest of the match. In the 1982 final which they won, if you look at their scores they were scoring (and conceding) many goals.
In fact Spain in just the last world cup could be called a boring team and "masters of 1-0". But I would say they were significantly more entertaining than... Greece or Denmark and their direct balls. There's a difference between being efficient and being boring.
Brazil were boring at times when they won in 1994, especially when you think of what we expect from Brazil and their traditional attacking flair. The goalless final of 1994 is regarded by many as the most boring world cup final ever.
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