World Cup winners and losers: Mexico is all the rage

The fourth day of World Cup action saw Mexico pull off a historic win against current champion Germany, and Switzerland manage a precious tie against favorites Brazil. Here’s a look at the winners and losers of the day.

Winners:

Mexico. El Tri were the biggest winners of the day and the tournament so far. Mexico looked sharp from the start, creating chances by using their speed and finding spaces behind the German backline. Germany came in highly favorited, but they were made to look ordinary by a crafty, well organized, highly energized Mexican squad.

Philippe Coutinho. Coutinho’s opening goal was a thing of rare beauty. Perfectly struck ball, curved in off his magical right foot, off the post and in. Along with Cristiano Ronaldo’s free kick and Nacho’s screamer, Coutinho’s goal ranks atop the hierarchy of best goals at the World Cup after four days of action.

Losers

Jogi Loew and his strange habits .  Nothing symbolized Germany’s impotence during their defeat to Mexico than the sight of Joachim Loew’s in his tight black tee performing his usual strange rituals. Jogi Loew’s response to Mexico’s didn’t go beyond pacing around in his tight black tee and gesticulating nervously. Add in a healthy dose of finger sniffing and we had all the marks of a vintage Loew frustrating outing.

Loew’s decision to leave home Leroy Sane seems to have backfired as the Germans could have used a crafty, pacey winger. As things stood, Die Mannschaft seemed to have no answers for Mexico’s pace and composure on the ball. There was no coherent game plan, no high energy pressure to force Mexico into turning the ball over, no sustained possession with purpose until the last few minutes of play. Loew will need to make some quick adjustments, otherwise Germany’s World Cup campaign can turn out disastrous.

Landon Donovan. Landycakes got himself involved in this World Cup to a higher degree than he did at the last one.  His overt support of bitter rival Mexico, courtesy of a Wells Fargo sponsorship, came as an unpleasant surprise for the USMNT faithful.

The current pro-Mexico support in the US is fairly strong and understandable given the demographic makeup of the country and Donovan is free to support whoever he wants at the World Cup. As such the story was not causing too much controversy prior to Carlos Bocanegra (sort of) calling  out Donovan.

Next: Mexico stuns Germany: Recap, highlights

That’s when Landycakes became the loser of this episode by essentially trying to shame former teammate and USMNT captain Bocanegra.

Many, if not most, US fans understand that overtly rooting for your bitter rival does not a strong soccer culture make.  Bocanegra seems to be firmly in the camp calling out the sellout factor Donovan firmly put on display by accepting this sponsorship that had him become the poster boy for the USMNT’s biggest rival. The fact that Donovan went the extra mile to go after Bocanegra on a personal level in response is a bad, lame look.