Carlos Alberto Parriera: No more beautiful game
Klinsmann's Germany is playing exhilarating soccer. We usually do not associate the word exhilarating with German soccer. It is usually reserved for the Brazilians.
Under Carlos Alberto Parriera there has been a change. He believes in his old stars like Cafu, Emerson, and Roberto Carlos. His faith in their skills is touching even though they seem to have not done much of note this World Cup. He is suspicious of new talent, like Robinho putting him on as a substitute much later in the game. He has muted the natural grace and creativity of Ronaldinho and Kaka, for that word that was the staple of German soccer: Safety. We should not expect the dazzling play, the type of sleight of foot tricks that are reserved for ads like Joga-Nike.
What Carlos Alberto Parriera wants are results. It matters little if they play dumb down soccer and achieve that. The games that have been played against Croatia and Australia were not aberrations, they are now the norm.