What are the chances that the Germans have shot their wad so to speak and will have nothing left for the Final?
Good analogy... Bronco's pummeled the vaunted Patriots and didn't have anything left for the Super Bowl. I wouldn't be shocked if the Germans suffered the same fate as the Bronco's.
you guys both make interesting comparisons. They did destroy Brazil. At the same time, Germany has been a bit of a faceless machine, so they are a lot more like the Seahawks in that regard. They have won using multiple styles. They don't really have a face or personality about them, unless you count mechanized murder as a personality trait. One aspect that not a lot of people seem to be talking about is that this group of players is the product of the Jurgen Klinsmann makeover of German football. They had fallen into the trap of using players too old and tactics too dated. When Klinsmann was made the head of the program, he was instrumental in setting up a training camp specifically for the national football team.
The extra time is broken into 2 segments. btw, this guy makes some interesting points about Brazil. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e5b7e294-077b-11e4-81c6-00144feab7de.html
Argentina 0 (4) Netherlands 0 (2) The final game for the whole world will be Argentina v Germany. No European team has ever won a World Cup anywhere in the New World and the Germans will have their chance. The Argentines will have their chance to win a World Cup in Brazil......the ultimate, in-your-face humiliation for their great rivals, which will leave a scar for the ages... Brazil will play the Netherlands for Third Place in the world's most meaningless game, so the Brasileros will have a second chance to disgrace themselves. If I was the Brazilian coach, I would bench everyone for that game. How could the subs possibly do any worse than the starters who were obliterated yesterday? BTW- for all the griping and sniping about FIFA rankings going into this World Cup, we should not forget that the #2 ranked team in the world going in was Germany. Argentina was ranked #5...... http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/
Games like today's will keep soccer from being embraced by most sports fans in America. The Dutch remind me of the old UNC BB teams playing the 4 corners. They have a stout, physical defense but absolutely no imagination on offense. Their battle plan was to occasionally throw crossing passes into the penalty area hoping for a header in. I'm not sure but I think it wasn't until the 98th minute that the Argentine goal tender made a save on a kick. The Dutch are so poor on offense that the missed 2 out of their first 3 penalty kicks. At times you wondered if they really wanted to take on Germany on Sunday. BTW how is that Brazilian team ever going to get up for the 3rd plance game? Hasen't their coach been fired (or fired upon) yet?
:shock: Netherlands 3 Brazil 0 Bang the drum slowly for the Brasileros. Every great dynasty comes to an end, but not like this. Their collapse was as sudden as it was complete. They were outscored 10-1 in the final two games and got their only goal as time expired at the end of the semifinal match. They never seriously threatened the Dutch and fell behind 1-0 after only two minutes has been played. Their performance in this World Cup was as pathetic and self-pitying as the Netherlands effort was spirited and brave. After 84 years of doing things their way, a change is needed: big, across-the-board changes... The final is later today. The simple analysis is that Germany v Argentina is the best team versus the best player. If only it were that simple. Argentina is a great team, with a defense that shut out the Dutch, the Swiss and Belgium. Their midfielders controlled the ball and the clock in all of those games and they have not been scored upon in any knock-out round game. The Argies aren't just Lionel Messi. The Germans, on the other hand, have many great individual players. They have the best midfielders in the world: Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller, Sami Khedira, Kroos, Gotze and Schweinsteiger. They can't even use them all at the same time. Up front they have Schurrle, Podolski and the greatest World Cup goal scorer of all-time: Miroslav Klose. These were the two best teams at this World Cup and I think it's going to be a good match.
Germany 1 Argentina 0 The two greatest teams on the planet battled into the second OT, before the Germans got a goal to win it. Argentina had their chances...some with wide open nets, but they blew them again and again. Germany couldn't find any space to get near the Argentine goal until the game was just minutes from goal kicks. Space finally opened up; Schurrle made a wonderful cross; then Mario Goetze made a fantastic shot, left-footed on the volley from the left side and the party was on... The best overall team won in the end. Both Schurrle and Goetze were substitutes in this game, but Argentina has nothing to be ashamed of. They out-played the Germans through this entire match, on both ends of the field, but failed to cash in their many (easy) chances and Germany is a team that doesn't need gifts... This was maybe the greatest World Cup ever. It certainly was the most entertaining...
A couple of questions. Since I am only an occasional watcher of soccer, on a scale of 1-10 how good was the winning goal. To me it looked like a 10, taking that ball off his chest and catching it in the air with his left foot and driving it for the winning goal. That looked very difficult. Also, again a newbie here, but I don't get why they didn't do their presentations at the middle of the pitch like they would if it were the Super Bowl. Why the march up the stands? The tophies...yikes they are unimpressive compared to what we would give out here in the US.
I was thinking the same thing, Terry, when watching the trophy presentation. Felt bad that players who spent 2 1/2 hours running 6-9 miles during the game had to climb flights of stairs to be greeted by the corrupt, corpulent FIFA dignitaries. The original trophy was retired 1970 when Brazil won the World Cup for the third time. Unfortunately, thieves later stole the trophy from offices of the Brazilian soccer federation and melted down the gold for sale. Here is a picture of the original cup which looks like it was designed by Albert Speer. The new trophy, I guess, is representative of modern Euro art circa 1970s P. S. Again greatly enjoyed and appreciated Corey's and JoCo's ongoing tutorials which really assisted me in better understanding the nuances of the game and the tournament. .
Doc, To answer your question, in a practice I'd say it's a 5 for a player of this level. In a competitive match, a 7. Given the enormity of it all, I'd give that shot at 8 or 9. It does require a tremendous amount of touch and skill, especially given the gravity of the situation.
Not a soccer fan, but as a sports fan, I love the assists that set up great scores, such as Magics or Birds passes of the day, so with that in mind, that was a pretty good friggin pass by the German player to get it to Goetze.
I looked up that original trophy that Bobda posted, the figure is Nike...I wonder how much Phil Knights dad paid to have the woman named after the shoe company he envisioned his son founding. I'm sure he's disappointed that it was gone by the time his son's company started dominating shoes.