The sport of soccer is the most popular sport in the world. It’s world cup (tournament to determine which country are world champions) is held once every four years.

So far only teams from Europe and South America have won the tournament. Of them, only the big European or South American teams have won it. This is due to a number of factors affecting the smaller teams and teams from other continents.

They are:

1) Deficient tactics. Teams of the ‘smaller nations’ (we will be using this term to describe any team that has not won or is never considered a strong chance at winning the world cup) have not put in sufficient thought into tactics. We must think of on field tactics as a science or a technology. They are ever advancing. A tactic used by a team 10 years ago would be refuted entirely today.

If you were to take the world champions of say 1998 (France) and were to play them against a reasonably strong international team (who have put thought into tactics) then that 1998 French team would lose.

You must always be studying the tactics of all the best teams. This includes country and club teams. You must find counters to their tactics as well as refute their counters to your tactics.

2) Trying to play like other teams. This is similar to the problem of deficient tactics. Smaller teams will look at countries like Brazil, Italy and Germany (the most successful world cup teams) and conclude that they must play like those teams.

These teams have no business playing like other teams simply because they are only ever going to be the 2nd best Brazil or the 2nd best Italy etc. At best you can be runners up in the tournament.

What people don’t seem to realise is that these teams have developed their tactics through years and years of practice. They have developed and refined the execution of their style of play almost perfectly and have an entire structure around the way they coach young promising talent.

In other words. A team of 11 players who are trained (say for a period of 6 months before the world cup) to imitate the tactics of the Brazilian team are never going to be as good as the actual Brazilian team. This is because each of the Brazilian team were playing (as little kids) like Brazilians do. They were then identified as talented and were funneled through a system that taught them how to play as Brazilians. They have then played in the Brazilian team (which for decades has been training their players to play that way).

That was a long winded example, but it explains why you should not attempt to imitate or play like another team.

3) Lack of Belief. They don’t win, not because they’re not good enough but because they don’t think they can. Now this may sound like self help B.S. but it is in fact true. A team that is so overawed by another team that they are willing to change their tactics at the last minute will not defeat that team.

This happened when Australia faced Germany in their opening match of the 2010 world cup. Australia had good player, a good coach and good tactics. They played defensively and hit on the counter attack. However, just before the game panic set in. The Australian media came out proclaiming that Australia should take the attack to Germany. They advocated a more aggressive and attacking form of soccer.

Australia not only pushed the attack but also attempted to play the offside trap (which they had not done in the previous 4 years). The result was a 4-0 win to Germany.

A team may be tempted to make the same mistake, especially as the psychological pressure builds against an opponent with a formidable reputation. This temptation should be resisted. The only plan B you should have is a plan B you developed well in advance of a game.

4) Thinking they don’t deserve to be there.

This is similar to a lack of belief. There is a difference though. A lack of belief will harm a team on a macro level (tactics, training, player selection etc). Thinking you don’t deserve to be there harms you on a micro level (decision making while the game is being played).

A lack of belief will cause a player to freeze like a rabbit caught in a trucks headlights. We saw this in the 2010 world cup. Chile vs Spain. Chile had been dominating the entire match. They were (controversially) awarded a penalty. If converted the match would have been all but over. However Cardozo (Chilean Striker) missed.

There was something in his mind telling him that his team did not deserve to go to the semi finals. There was something saying ‘Spain are the best, they deserve to be champions.’ As it turns out, that ended up being the case. Spain did have that belief and were rewarded with the trophy at the end.

If you don’t think you deserve to be there you will pass when you should have shot, or freeze when you have a one on one chance with the goal keeper, kicking a lame shot into the keepers hands.

That lack entitlement may also prevent you from putting your whole self in. If two players are going for the ball, it is the one who is willing to die who will get that ball. If you don’t think you deserve to be there, you will not be willing to die to win the game and you will not put in 100%.

5) Not selecting the right players.

This may not be as obvious as it seems. I am not going to tell you to select players who pass more or players who shoot more. I will not tell you to select short players or tall players. But I will tell you to select the correct players based on the situation you are in.

What does that mean?

It means you are not necessarily selecting the best players for your team but the players that will make the best team. Now this isn’t a ‘the sum of the whole is greater than it’s individual parts’ speech. Far from it.

What I am in fact trying to emphasize is that you must select the players that are most likely to win you the world cup. This may on the surface seem obvious but there is an art to it all. A player who plays consistently well for their club week in and week out but chocks in a ‘do or die’ situation is not a good candidate for a world cup player. This player must not make it into your squad.

However, a player who is generally not such a strong player but who will rise to the occasion during a big or important match must make it into your squad.

Sometimes a player is both a consistent performer and one who rises to the occasion. He is obviously a perfect candidate for your world cup squad.

Coaches often make the mistake of selecting players who play in the top leagues in the world and who are consistent performers. Unfortunately, not all of these players care as much about their country as others may. They may also crumble under pressure when their team makes it to the knockout stages in the world cup.

Coaches also make the mistake of overlooking players in lower leagues. These days there are so many good players and the game is so competitive that a player in a lower league may be 98 or 99% the skill level of a top league player. If you select a top league player who only plays at 95% of their ability because they do not care about their country then he will not be as good as a player who plays to 100% of their ability but may only be 98% skill level of the top league player.

A lower league player who loves his country and is a big game player may be the best player on the planet during a game that really matters to his country (like a world cup final).

You must also recognize the difference between qualifying for a world cup and winning that world cup once you’re there. You must sometimes select different players for each phase. You may select one player for qualifying and another during the world cup. While this may be heartbreaking for the player who helps you qualify, it is necessary to guarantee the teams success.

Conclusion

The gap between the teams in world soccer today is so small. The gap between a team that misses out on qualifying for the world cup and a team that consistently wins (or comes close to winning) the world cup is a matter of a few percentage points. Quality players can be found not only in the worlds top leagues but in the lower leagues also. In fact a lack of scrutiny of the lower teams and players could serve as a game breaking advantage when playing a higher rated team.

A team that eliminates all the problems above and who puts in 100% of their energy towards winning the world cup will inevitably be successful. It remains to be seen whether or not a lower team has the courage to make this happen.

Regards

-Simon