Germany and Brazil are in the final 4 to face each other. I agree with Corey that the Germans still haven't played their best game. Against Brazil they will HAVE to play their best game. In interviews after the game, the Brazilian players said that the loss of Neymar and Thiago Silva is too bad, but it won't change anything they do. I believe them. They haven't lost an important game in their home country since 1975... Today's games: Argentina v Belgium The world's longest running soap opera continues... Costa Rica v Netherlands Can the Cinderella Ticos pull off one more miracle?
Would anybody have predicted 3 Euro teams in the Semi-Finals in a Cup played in South America? Of course it could just as easily be 1 Euro team and 3 South/Central American teams.
Argentina 1 Belgium 0 Three of the Final Four are now in and it's the usual suspects: Brazil, Argentina and Germany. The only hope to crash the party is tiny Costa Rica who will play the Netherlands in about two hours... This game was very similar to yesterday's German victory over France. It was a very methodical execution of an inferior opponent by the Argies. For most of the game, Belgium couldn't get possession of the ball. Argentina controlled the ball and the clock with superior skills...
I love this tournament so much. I don't think the Colombians were any dirtier than the Brazilians. I thought those were 2 teams who were doing everything the ref let them get away with in the match. The biggest joke was James Rodriguez getting a card. He'd been hacked a dozen times in the match. He had just been taken down 3 times in the past few minutes. Finally, he went and clocked someone (he didn't touch the guy but it was a bad challenge) and he drew a yellow. Once again, great game terrible officiating.
Netherlands 0 (4) Costa Rica 0 (3) This Costa Rican team will never be forgotten. The talent gap between the Ticos and the Dutch was the greatest ever seen in a quarter final. I lost count of how many times the Netherlands hit the posts or the cross bar with their shots. It might have been five or six, but each time it failed to go in. Somehow...some way, the out-manned Costa Ricans held on through 90+ minutes and two overtimes to force a shoot out, which they lost. The Dutch looked terrified most of the day and they should have been. The Costa Rican coach had stated that his goal in this World Cup was to create "an annoying team that no one wants to play." It's fair to say that he succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams... Many are already calling this the greatest World Cup of all-time, and I'm not going to argue with them. It's the best I've seen......ever. Before all this began, the bookies established the probable Final Four as: Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Spain. They only missed one. That's how they stay in business... Brazil v Germany We've seen this one before and I never get tired of it. Argentina v Netherlands Corey and I have seen some classics between these two and I look forward to another one. It really doesn't get any better than these four. This greatest of all World Cups is coming down to what might be a climactic finish for the ages...
Still the best definition of soccer I've read 22 players chase a ball for an hour and a half and at the end.....the GERMANS win!
:shock: :shock: That Dutch coach has made amazing substitutions through this entire tournament. Several times he's put in a sub just in time to have him score. I believe that he'll be the new head coach at Manchester United when the World Cup is over...
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that's a shame. he's been a great ambassador for the sport. I think about all of the shameful ambassadors this sport has had in the past (Maradona, the POS French dude *pick one*, among others). This was a lot to put on a kid and he held it with dignity. The Brazilians won't find much sympathy from the Germans. Not just because they're German, that's a given, but rather because Germany made the trip to Brazil missing 3 guys who were regular starters including their best player. Both of these sides basically reload. I wonder how Germany's back 4 (who are not fleet of foot) will handle the speed of Brazil. I wonder how much discipline the Brazilians will hold when the Germans counter attack. This should be fun. As for Argentina and Holland, as JOCO briefly mentioned, this was the matchup that literally changed my life and love for the sport.. Mario Kempes vs Johan Cruyff and the Clockwork Orange. It was one of the best memories of my young life and it showed me a whole new sports world that I didn't know existed. These 2 have a long history and it doesn't always end well for the Dutch.
At least the announcers are calling it like it is, an appalling effort by Brazil. If Brent and Herby were calling it, they'd be digging deep to find some more lipstick for the pig.
:shock: :shock: Germany 7 Brazil 1 There's never been anything as bad as this. It was the worst defeat in Brazilian history and it could have been worse. The Brasileros quit on the field and they quit in the first half. A team that hadn't lost at home since 1975...before any player on either team was born...just took the gas. They were booed out of their own stadium.... I refuse to analyze this game. If they don't care, I don't care. Congratz to Germany which continued to operate with their usual ruthless efficiency. They were missing their best player, Marco Reus, and several others, but they didn't blink. They even brought in a sub for the final 25 minutes who almost scored a hat trick. What a wonderful example of playing full-tilt for 90 minutes the Germans gave... Tomorrow: Argentina v Netherlands The Netherlands has never won a World Cup. If the Argies win this one...... in Brazil......they will NEVER let the Brazilians forget it...
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sooner or later, the Brazilians will be forced to acknowledge that they need to change the way they play football... or at least consider playing some defense.
No one can believe this. Not even the Germans themselves. One of their major newspapers ran a headline that said something like "No Words" then ran 8 pages of pictures. How efficient was the German offense? In the entire match they only attempted 10 shots on goal......and scored on seven of them. A 70% rating on offense? Has a baseball player ever batted .700? These are numbers from the Twilight Zone... So how could this happen? When you watch the replay of every goal, you notice someone missing from the picture: David Luiz. He's supposed to be the highest paid defenseman in the world after his $50 million sale from Chelsea to Paris Saint Germain in France. But without the stern captain Thiago Silva to keep the erratic young star under control, he simply wandered away from his responsibilities. He fancies himself to be a goal scorer and spent much of the game in front of the German net. He also fancies himself to be a midfielder, a position that he used to play and one that he prefers......again deserting his outnumbered teammates in front of his own goal. Watch the replays of the German goals. He's simply not there or arriving way late behind the play... http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/worldcup/brazil-vs-germany-world-cup-2014-david-luiz-shocker-prompts-floods-of-jose-mourinho-reaction-memes-on-twitter-9593630.html
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