Sudáfrica 2010 - FIFA.com

3) Intelligent defending around the team’s own
penalty area
Successful teams try to defend close to their own penalty
area without conceding “stupid” or “unnecessary” fouls.
This has become a particularly important tactic as every
single team now has at least one free-kick specialist. Japan’s
Endo and Honda, for example, both scored spectacular free
kicks in their team’s last group match against Denmark.
Korea Republic also scored an important goal against Nigeria
through a free kick, and Germany’s Müller gave his team an
early third-minute lead against Argentina by converting a
free kick from Schweinsteiger that was curling towards goal.
A pre-World Cup quote from Joachim Löw underlines this
perfectly: “In the next few weeks, we will train hard to try
and make sure we don’t give away any unnecessary fouls
around our penalty area. Intelligent tackling will therefore
be an important part of our training as we prepare for the
World Cup.”
The same holds true for corner kicks as teams now have a
whole range of intricate corner-kick routines. The Dutch,
for instance, scored their second goal in their quarter-fi nal
against Brazil from a well-rehearsed corner kick, Kuyt fl icking
the ball on for Sneijder to head home from deep in the
penalty area.
No sliding in
Players who slide in only put their own team at risk.
Defenders need to stay on their feet and try to win the ball
back with controlled aggression without clattering into
opponents.
4) Early pressing and quick transitions to prevent
counter-attacks – in other words, “countering counterattacks”
(usually with two lines of players).
5) Active defending and fl exibility between the various
defensive lines (defence and midfi eld), variety in defensive
play, sometimes with zonal marking and sometimes with
man-to-man marking in the defensive lines.
2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
6) Positive passing/possession
Successful teams try to move the ball forwards and not
sideways or backwards whenever the opportunity presents
itself. Teams that played this way included Spain, Germany,
Brazil and the Netherlands.
7) Quick transitions are a key factor in modern
football. As soon as they have regained possession, teams
try to play the ball forward as quickly as they can as they
know that their opponents are still on the front foot and
they could be disorganised at the back. Accurate and
precisely timed passes can therefore catch opponents off
guard.
8) Successful teams operate as a “unit” all over
the pitch. The team works together when on the
attack, but they try to stay compact and defend as a
unit too. Playing in this manner means that players
have to have high levels of fi tness and stamina. It
should also be mentioned that full-backs have an
extremely important role to play in this regard. Not
only do they have to operate well in defence, they also
have to be able to switch quickly into attacking mode.
This position is extremely important in modern football
as all successful teams have excellent full-backs or
wing-backs.
9) An increasing number of teams are now able to
adapt their tactics according to the state of play
and the scoreline. In doing so, they stay in control and
never lose their composure. Good examples of this were
provided by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Ghana, the
Netherlands, Spain, Uruguay and the USA. To play in this
manner, teams require intelligent and highly perceptive
players who are able to play in a variety of ways. This trend
will probably become even more pronounced in the years
to come as it will ensure that successful coaches have a
“new” tactical weapon up their sleeves depending on how
the match is progressing.
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