I'm not trying to sound vindictive but Neymars injury was the result of a style that benefitted Brazil. The refs allowing Brazil to play to their strength in defense has been apparent sense the Mexico games. They've made and missed very physical challenges the entire tournament because the refs allowed them to for the 1st half without pulling out a card. Its ridiculous because FIFA clearly has encouraged this style of officiating and now the tourney is without 2 great players in Di Maria and Neymar. Without Silva marshalling the back line Germany will have their chances against zDante and Luis. He won't win his appeal nor should he. I think Germany comes out on top to beat Argentina.
I mean....I know Holland hasn't looked stellar, but neither has Argentina. Sneijder from what I can tell is playing better, but Van Persie has been a virtual no show these last few games. Then you have Di Maria out. The Dutch Defense held up well against Mexico, I thought...Costa Rica barely created chances, but they also lack the skill. Argentina neutralized Belguim which was surprising. I think it'll be a very defensive battle with just a few opportunites from each side. It could very well come down to Messi/Robben and who performs better for their team. I say 1-0 Holland. PK's are a real possibility as well.
I want Brazil not just because Neymar is out, but they haven't impressed me and I think they'd be a better matchup for Holland were they to advance. Germany on the other hand has been the most consistent team in the tournament. Every team's weakness it seems is the Defense and now with some of the injuries piling up for the forwards/midfielders, I think Germany, who has basically remained unscathed injury-wise are the favorites...despite Brazil playing in Brazil. Germany 2-0 Brazil. Maybe its in my mind that Germany is a class above everyone else because they're ALWAYS one of the favorites and always so consistent and strong, but I think they are the team to beat by a good margin.
there's something nice about watching the games at work, I can actually post here. I tend to not check in here so much when on my phone watching at home.
France-Germany was a bit disappointing. Game was very stuck in the midfield. I expected more from both teams, especially France which didn't need to go to OT like Germany earlier in the week. Maybe the fact that Brasil-Colombia was so much more exciting also left me expecting more from the European clash. The South American battle was all of that even with questionable actions by the ref. Brasil had their best performance of the tournament so far, constantly putting pressure on Colombia's defense. David Luiz's goal was a beauty. James didn't disappoint even in a losing effort. Early goals proved key in these quarters as Argentina also used one to put away a disappointing Belgium team. Belgium's coach called Argentina ordinary after the game, I'm not sure what that says about his team. Higuain, putting the goal aside, had his best game of the tournament. He was actually active throughout the game and made a difference. My actual reaction to his goal was "Higuain!!! You useless piece of crap! Thank you!". Finally, Costa Rica was disappointing, went from slaying European heads to parking the bus vs Netherlands. It was a valiant effort for sure but I really felt that they could had done more offensively in the process. Navas is the best goalie in the tournament hands down.
Finally, the Neymar and DiMaria injuries are a hard hit not just to their teams but soccer fans. They were both playing very well. I think DiMaria' loss hits Argentina harder than Neymar's hits Brazil. As others have pointed out Brazil has a lot of options there, none of Neymar's level but pretty close. Argentina on the other hand have to hope that: 1) Aguero is ready to go back on the pitch, and 2) Aguero/Lavezzi get their heads out of their ass (not to mention that Higuain keeps his head out of his) and actually start contributing to this team otherwise they have no shot on Wednesday. As disappointing as Argentina has been Sabella's approach has actually paid off defensively so even though I'm not a fan he may just be able to hold off Netherlands' attack ... but Argentina has to score, and those around Messi will need to step up because he'll definitely have a lot of attention paid to him in this game.
Oh, and I said it before so I'll say it again: Van Gaal is on another level as far as coaching in this WC. What he did with Krul and PK's was brilliant (risky/ballsy).
Originally posted by MrOrange:
So who goes to the finals, vrabbit?
I'm not ready to say as I usually like to wait for lineups to see how the game is approached. Right now they're both a toss-up for me. Anything can happen IMO. I did call the Brazil-Germany semi's before the tourney and had Germany moving on and winning it all so I may end up leaning that way. Argentina game is hard to call because I'm obviously biased but I always try to call these things objectively.
I may disagree about Neymar being a lesser loss.....check this stat that Schefter tweeted a few days ago.....
"Value of Neymar, who's now out: He has 4 goals in 5 games at this World Cup; rest of team has 7 World Cup goals in 85 total appearances."
I wasn't disappointed in the GER-FRA game at all. Those two teams have a methodical and technical style of play, and they are both very good, so the effort was largely defensive. Brazil's game is more exciting from an action standpoint because it was so chaotic. Can't really say it was better played though.