P-Noy takes oath; WC reaches Last 8

Today Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III takes his oath as the 15th President of the Republic of the Philippines. Like the thousands who volunteered their time, talent and some treasure to work for the victory of P-Noy, as President Aquino III wishes to be called, we look with renewed hope and optimism at the presidency of the only son of the late Sen. Ninoy Aquino and Pres. Cory Aquino. P-Noy assumes office amid expectations of change and progress during his six-year term. Only the most wicked and evil person will not wish him to succeed given the dispirited state of the nation and the sorry state in which we find ourselves. So, to all those who, up to now, cannot accept P-Noy’s victory, it would be best to show some amount of humility and join the rest of the country in this arduous task of nation-building, lest they be relegated into irrelevance.

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The quarterfinals cast of FIFA’s 2010 Soccer World Cup is slowly taking shape with the Netherlands, Brazil and Argentina as the earliest qualifiers. Germany, with its young energetic players displaying a spectacular and swift counter-attacking style, demolished England, 4-1, to join the fourth ranked Dutch, the top seed Brazilians and the seventh-ranked Argentines. Brazil shut out Chile, 3-0 and the Netherlands dumped Slovenia, 2-1.

Argentina and Germany meet in the quarterfinals on Saturday. The two-time champion Argentines are confident that they can win their first title in 24 years with coach Diego Maradona being quoted as “It’s (title) ours for the taking.” The Argentines want to completely erase from their memories their 2002 debacle in Asia where they were installed as the overwhelming favorites at the start of the joint Japan-South Korea hosted World Cup only to flop without qualifying for the quarterfinals.

Maradona says that the La Albiceleste (white and sky blue) has more potential than the team that won in Mexico in 1986, the second and the last time they won the title.

The six-ranked Germans bring with them the fearsome record of having won three titles; 1954, 1974 and 1990. They were the losing finalists in 1966, 1982, 1986 and 2002. They dominated their qualifying group on their way to South Africa turning back Russia at home and away, according to the AFP. It must also be noted that Germany was part of Group D that had Australia, Serbia and Ghana, all champions of their respective qualifying groups. It’s unfortunate that Germany and Argentina meet this early in the quarterfinals, with eight teams contesting four slots in the semifinals, and not in the semifinals or the championship itself. The two represent the best football that South America and Europe have to offer. The two teams have five World Cup championships between them.

By the time this column sees the light of day, either Paraguay or Japan would have made it to the quarterfinals. They were to have met 10 p.m., Philippine time, last night.

Japan’s burning ambition is to reach the semifinals but first they have to get past Paraguay which, despite being ranked 30, is no pushover. They made it to the second round or the round of 16 in 1986, 1998 and 2002 and have had four other previous appearances in the World Cup (1930, 1950, 1958, 2006). Paraguay is employing the services of naturalized players, four Argentine-born men in its provisional 30-man squad, according to the South China Morning Post.

Japan, ranked 45th, is on the threshold of achieving coach Takeshi Okada’s goal of a semifinal slot. The controversial Okada has been chastised for his selection policy and tactics and will leave the job after the tournament. If its playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura stays healthy, the Blue Samurai has a chance to upset the more experienced Paraguay squad.

Spain (2) and Portugal (3) slugged it out for another semifinals place today, 2:30 a.m., Philippine time. La Roja (The Red Fury) as the squad is called, is riding high into the World Cup following its Euro 2008 victory. Their best previous performance was a fourth-place finish in 1950. The Spaniards qualified with a flawless record, winning all 10 matches in their European qualifying group but Coach Vicente del Bosque feels that this (counts for nothing) when the tournament gets under way, according to the AFP.

Portugal survived the so-called “Group of Death” (Group G) which included top-rated Brazil, Ivory Coast (27) and North Korea (106). The Portuguese have had four previous World Cup appearances: 1966, when they finished third, their best so far; 1986; 2002 and 2006. They finished fourth in 2006. The team features Cristiano Ronaldo (who plays for Real Madrid), the world’s most expensive player who is known for solid performances in games that really matter.