Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/335393
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 25 JUNE 2014 Sport 23 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 25 JUNE 2014 Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday WEATHER: Fine with some high clouds at times VISIBILITY: Good WIND: South force 3 to 4 locally force 4 to 5 SEA: Slight to moderate SWELL: Negligible becoming low Southerly SEA TEMP: 23 °C A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 White to play and mate in four moves A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Last week's solution Sudoku rules are extremely easy: Fill all empty squares so that the numbers 1 to 9 appear once in each row, column and 9x9 box. PARTLY CLOUDY 32 º C / 23 º C UV INDEX: 8 Today's Weather Chess Sudoku Pursuits OPINION Across 9. Reechoed sound (13) 10. Plaything (3) 11. Not either (7) 12. Rind (4) 13. Slay (4) 15. Something that is put in (5) 17. Arid areas (7) 19. Contraction of has not (5) 21. Burdensome charge (3) 23. Skin openings (5) 24. Inhabitant of Africa (7) 25. Shrimp (5) 27. Tailless amphibian (4) 28. Fruit (4) 30. Drunk (7) 32. Speck (3) 33. Not practicable (13) Down 1. Fabricated (7,2) 2. Elude (5) 3. Small songbird (4) 4. Advocate of feminism (8) 5. Clean dishes (4,2) 6. Pillar (4) 7. Inherent (9) 8. Faithful (5) 14. Brittle (5) 16. Next after the second (5) 18. Given to the use of sarcasm (9) 20. Person who makes tents (9) 22. Salt of xanthic acid (8) 26. Parka (6) 27. Subject to tides (5) 29. Foyer (5) 30. Drinks slowly (4) 31. Web-footed swimming bird (4) DESPITE a rare patch of sunshine, England is a grim place this summer. Those white and red flags no longer flap in the summer breeze, the pubs have dried up, England's football team were sent packing as they crashed out of the group stages for the first time since 1958. My early predictions were validated: England did not make it through the group stage and the reasons are this time I believe purely tactical. Blam- ing the system and the lack of a winter break is the easy way out, however I feel that England lost their games to Italy and Uruguay before a ball was even kicked. Against Italy, the three Lions walked away with pride, however their lack of man marking against Uruguay showed a lack of experience and qual- ity. Prior to the all important clash Roy Hodgson proved he was not capa- ble of putting pressure on the opposi- tion as he argued that Luis Suarez was not a world class player. Even if that is Roy's opinion, its best not to air it before one of Suarez' biggest games of his career. He is the type of player who thrives under pressure and loves to prove others wrong. If anything, all Hodgson managed was to motivate him more than his own players. Moreover, with him singling out Suarez, the England defence did noth- ing to stop him from running riot on the day. Centre back Phil Jagielka could not get a sniff of him and I be- lieve perhaps England showed a bit of arrogance on the day. Smaller teams (a category I believe England should be part of) have a tendency to man mark the main threats, a tactic group rivals Costa Rica managed success- fully against both Italy and Uruguay. Italy's flavour of the tournament was Andrea Pirlo, a player who roamed freely against England spray- ing passes all over the pitch. Yet when it came to the Costa Rica game you hardly saw Pirlo getting next to the ball. The Costa Ricans literally took it in turns to mark him out of the game and Italy's main threat was neutral- ized. Why England could not adopt a similar philosophy was beyond me, particularly as Jack Wilshere would have been a good match for Pirlo. For a change this year England headed to Brazil with no pressure. The nation did not expect, and they were not surprised at all. England did well to get themselves back into both games, however that touch of arro- gance was their flaw. A point would have done against Uruguay with an eye on beating Costa Rica, however they pushed up too much and their hopes lasted a mere 10 minutes after Rooney's equalizer. Against Italy they had a fine per- formance and did well against a solid Italian back line and goalkeeper, but make no mistakes here, Italy deserved the win and at times its that class and tactical awareness (which England completely lacked) that can take you through. Manager Roy Hodgson received full backing from the FA to carry on in his role with the focus immedi- ately switching to the qualification for France 2016. For what my opinion is worth they are right to stick by him as chopping and changing manag- ers won't help sustainable growth, however I do feel that despite being a good, intelligent manager he has got it all wrong. The Spanish question Spain this year shocked everyone. If you told English fans they would reach as far as Spain would in the World Cup, they would have loved it. Not this time however as Spain crashed out of group B with just three points after a bizarre start. If their 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands was a kick in the teeth, the 2-0 defeat to Chile was a lesson in football. On the day Chile were tactically sound and in my opinion gave one of the best performances of the summer. To give the departing World Cham- pions a football lesson is a massive statement but not an understatement in the slightest. They matched every movement of their opponents like Cheetahs spotting prey in the wild and Spain had no answer to their perfection. Chile studied their op- ponent's plan from before hand and highlighted the importance of doing your homework. As for Spain it's a case of a great era, one of the greatest ever, coming to an end. Two mistakes from Iker Casillas in that game, and more during the Netherlands defeat might show us a sign of things to come for Spain as the 155 time capped captain's reign might be coming to a halt, with David de Gea looking to take over. It is both hard and sad to watch football cycles grad- ually fade out however Spain deserve credit for a decade of dominance and the Dutch are pinching themselves as they could not beat them in the 2010 final instead of this year! Mark Strijbosch England and Spain's weaknesses highlighted If Spain's 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands was a kick in the teeth, the 2-0 defeat to Chile was a lesson in football c7+ Nb5 cxb8=Q+ Kd7 Qxb7+ Ke6 Bb3+ Kd6 Qg3# (Qf6#, Qf4#, Qh2#) .... Kf5 Qbe4#