The Gang of Five
Beyond the Mysterious Beyond => Hobbies and Recreation => Sports => Topic started by: The Chronicler on June 11, 2014, 10:30:18 PM
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Tomorrow will be the first match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. That match will be between Brazil and Croatia. I've also read about something rather special planned for the ceremonial first kick, so I'll try to see if I can watch this tomorrow.
Based on what I've been reading online, I don't have high hopes for team USA this time, not that they're a poor team at all but rather they simply got rotten luck in terms of which teams they'll be up against in their group: Germany, Portugal, and Ghana.
For this World Cup, I'd like to see Brazil win. They may have won a record five champions, but they are also the only champion nation (besides Spain) to have never won one of those champions while they were the host country. I think it would be nice to see that change.
For those of you who will be following this, who do you think will win the championship this time?
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Germany and Spain are most likely the win the championship. Brazil isn't particularly strong now. But of course I'm rooting for Croatia. I think that with some luck we can beat Brazil today, or at least get a draw.
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I will be watching the important matches, I believe. Though most of them are really late and maybe "too" late for me to watch at school days :(
Anyway, I think jansenov's guess is pretty good. Spain has been a tough opponent in the last few years (I believe they defeated Germany in the Europe Cup two years ago) and Germany is always getting good results :) I wouldn't rule out Brazil, the Netherlands, France and England though and who knows if an outsider comes far somehow ;)
My hope is that Germany wins, obviously :DD
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Brazil was better, but not as good as the result 3:1 indicates. The referee denied a pure goal to Croatia. It should have been 3:2.
Has anyone else watched the game? What do you think?
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As far as I'm aware, the referee made only one controversial call, and that was giving a penalty kick that allowed Brazil to score their second goal.
The broadcast I watched showed a demonstration of some technology being used for the first time in a World Cup that basically helps determine whether or not the ball actually ended up within the goal. There were no goals close enough in this first match to require it, but I'm sure it'll prove useful eventually.
I don't have the time to watch every match, so for the group matches, I will be watching only the ones with Brazil or the US. The next one I'll be watching is US vs Ghana on Monday.
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^That too. But just before the goal was disallowed in the 84th minute it could be clearly be seen that the Croatian player didn't touch the ball with his arm, but with his head.
But OK, what's done is done. I've read some of the English-language media's reviews of the match, and they all agree that the referee did a quite poor job. I hope he never gets the opportunity to be in a match of this importance again.
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After the early goal for Croatia I was very much in favor of them winning. They played on a very similar level with Brasil so the game should have ended in a draw. The referee was quite poor indeed!
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The referees are on a roll. Today they've robbed Mexico of two regular goals, calling offsides where there were none. After the shameful episode with France and Ireland 4 years ago, FIFA has a huge referee problem that can't be swept under the rug anymore.
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^Yep, the referee was poor again.
The Netherlands destroyed Spain!!! 5:1!!!
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^I know! Amazing gameplay by the Dutch! If they can keep it up, they will be champions.
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Hello:
Well, Chile did win it's first game in this World Cup... let's hope we'll do much better than last time, hehehe :smile .
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Hello:
Well, Chile did win it's first game in this World Cup... let's hope we'll do much better than last time, hehehe :smile .
Yep they kicked Australia's butt.
Australian team sucks..
And thats coming from me-an Australian...our next rivals is Netherlands...then Spain...why...why...
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Hello:
Well, Chile did win it's first game in this World Cup... let's hope we'll do much better than last time, hehehe :smile .
Yep they kicked Australia's butt.
Australian team sucks..
And thats coming from me-an Australian...our next rivals is Netherlands...then Spain...why...why...
Hello:
Well, you are not the only one suffering because of Netherlands and Spain, we are suffering aswell so let's hope Spain's desperation will somehow play in our favor, hehehe. Both our countries got quite a challenging group, hehehe.
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Costa Rica wins 3:1, clearly being the underdog, I might add. Great game and one that lacks of wrong decisions :)
Did anybody watch Columbia vs. Greece? I only got a short insight around min 30. Columbia had one goal at that time.
Looking forward to England vs. Italy. I'm for England :)
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^I didn't get to see it. I'll try to watch England vs Italy. I'm for Italy. :smile
I'm also sorry Australia lost the way it did. It has made tremendous strides in football in the last decade (changing from a total outsider to a team that can hold its own in qualifications), plus there are alway at least several Croats playing in their team, and that's why in Croatia the Australian team is humorously refered to as "Croatia II".
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Although I haven't been following most of the matches so far, I have been reading post-game summaries online. Remember that new goal-line technology I mentioned earlier? Apparently, that was used for the first time in today's France vs Honduras match (which France won 3-0). Apparently, the Honduras goalie accidentally knocked the ball passed the goal line as he tried pull it away from the goal. Many people didn't trust the call at first, likely because they were watching their TV that showed only one angle. The new goal-line technology uses seven cameras around the goal to definitively show if the ball went past the goal line, and if that does happen, the referees are immediately informed by a device on their wrist. In other words, no more bad calls on whether or not a goal was scored.
Tomorrow, I will be watching the match between USA and Ghana (and maybe the Germany vs Portugal match, too). Compared to the American team, those three other teams are pretty good (which is why many people online have been calling it "the Group of Death"). Of the other three teams, I think Ghana is the most likely one for USA to beat. I'm not expecting much, but upsets have already happened, so we'll see.
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Bosnia made a very good impression. Indeed, there are no more bad calls on whether the ball crossed the goal line or not, but in the first matches there were quite a few bad calls in situations very near the gate, which led to the ball crossing the goal line and the goal subsequently being annuled. I hope this clears any misunderstandings.
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I can only second the usefulness of the new technology :) Saw France-Honduras...
Well, I'm almost bouncing around due to the excitement. Germany is going to play in 30 mins :smile
I would love to watch USA-Ghana but my sleep is more important, I reckon... Would start at midnight and I gotta get up around 6am <_<
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Portuguese defence entered the game with a very lax attitude. A wholly deserved 2:0 for Germany after only 30 minutes of play. Go Germany!
Still, I don't think Pepe deserved that second yellow card. Some theatrics were shown by the German player.
Whoa. 3:0 for Germany.
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It ended 4:0 :celebrate Thomas M¸ller made three goals. He should have the most goals in the cup currently :)
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Iran was weak, and Nigeria didn't have much to show either.
The USA, though not a bad team by any means, appears to be a pleasant surprise.
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2:1 USA. I thought that it was going to be a heartbreaking result for the US after a promising start, but then John Brooks' late goal put the US back on top to stay.
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US vs Ghana, now that was an impressive game. The US scored the first goal just 34 seconds into the game. Ghana didn't score until minute 82, but the US scored their second goal just 4 minutes later. After what happened at the last two World Cups, it's great to see the US finally beat Ghana. (I swear, it's starting to seem like some kind of fierce rivalry. :lol: )
The next match for the US will be against Portugal on Sunday. I'm cautiously optimistic, considering that Portugal will be down two players for that match; one for an injury and the other for a red card (a rather well-deserved red card, I have to say). I now doubt Ghana is going to advance, and Germany is almost certain to do so, so I guess this next match could determine which of these two teams will be advancing.
Tomorrow, Brazil will be playing against Mexico. Since I'd like to see Brazil win this year's World Cup, I will be watching this match.
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I'll be watching that one too :) It's the only match that sounds interesting to me today. Mexico played well in their first match so I expect them to pose a considerable threat to Brasil if they play the way they played against Croatia :yes
(a rather well-deserved red card, I have to say)
I agree!
I would like to see USA advancing, actually :smile Wonder how far they could make it :p
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Is it just me or has Brazil's game degraded since Croatia? This is not good. If Mexico wins, my team is screwed.
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Brazil and Mexico stepped up their game. If Mexico continues like this it will be a tough opponent to Croatia. Go Brazil! You can do it, even without the referee's help. :p
Mexico's goalie caught Neymar's ball at point blank range.
What a game! If Mexico had won, the Croatian team could have started packing for the voyage home already. But since it didn't, we still have a chance.
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Probably the best match I've seen in a long while that ended 0:0... Mexico's keeper did an awesome job!
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I hope Russia wins.
A weak first half of the match.
Well, this was a poor performance by Russia and South Korea.
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Sensational play by Australia! :DD
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Bravo, Chile! :exactly
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Chile wins 2:0
SPAIN IS OUT! What a surprise!
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Hello:
Chile just won it's second match! 2-0 against Spain (the current world champions, heheh)
C-H-I CHI!!!!!
L-E LE!!!!!
CHI-CHI-CHI-LE-LE-LE VIVA CHILE!!!!!! :DD :smile
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Croatia won 4:0. Apart from Croatia's gameplay, Cameroon's temper got the better of them.
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^Sounds like I should've watched it :o Cameroon have a rough style anyway...
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A nice match between Cote d'Ivoire and Colombia. Cote d'Ivoire missed two 100% chances.
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Uruguay showing how it's done. ;)
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Uruguay has won against England 2:1. Rooney scored for England, Suarez twice for Uruguay. England has only a slight chance of reaching the next stage if Italy wins tomorrow. Another big name about to fail at the first stage of the cup.
EDIT: Darnit! jansenov beat me to it :p
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That was supposed to be a penalty kick for Costa Rica, in the 42nd minute! Fortunately, Costa Rica is so good that despite this injustice it still leads 1:0 against Italy.
Costa Rica won. England goes home, and Italy is in a precarious situation as well. There is not an insignificant chance that only Germany of the "Big European Five" (I personally consider the Netherlands to be far more deserving of being in the five than England, France or Italy; heck, even Croatia is not all that far from it) qualifies for the next round.
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After years of mediocre performance, France is playing just like in the old times. :o
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(I meant to post right after Brazil's match against Mexico earlier this week, but haven't had the time, so I'll say my thoughts on that now.)
For Brazil's second match, I noticed the referee ignored quite a lot of fouls. At least with that match a tie, all Brazil needs to do is not lose against Cameroon (and against a team like that, I'm expecting a team like Brazil to dominate). That means Croatia's upcoming match against Mexico is a must-win, but considering the kind of goalie that Mexico has, I'm honestly doubtful of Croatia's chances.
In a group against three former champions, Costa Rica is proving to be quite a surprising competitor. Since they're now advancing, that means at least three former champions have been knocked out of the group stage: Spain, England, and either Italy or Uruguay (we'll see how that match plays out).
Tomorrow, I'll watch the match between Germany and Ghana, and the following day I'll watch USA vs Portugal. Also, anyone focused on this group (Group G) should keep an eye on Group H, because it is the winners of that group that will be going up against the winners of this group at the first round of the knockout stage. (I can't help but think of how interesting it would be if USA were go up against Russia. I mean, when's the last time we saw those teams compete? :lol: )
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Aww, too bad I was going out yesterday... All matches were interesting, seemingly :smile
Anyway, I'm quite surprised (but also happy) that Costa Rica made it. They deserve it. In general, I have this feeling that we will be seeing at least one unexpected team making it to the semi-finals.
I suppose Cameroon to lose against Brasil too though they managed to play 2:2 in a match against Germany two weeks ago so they can't be that bad.
Speaking of Germany, I'm fairly sure that we can beat Ghana though considering the surprising strength of some underdog teams... :p
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Argentina was barely, just barely better than Iran. Iran looked like a completely different team compared to its first match.
Also, Ghana being something of a party pooper for Germany.
What a battle! What a battle! Ghana fought like lions. So did Germany fight tooth and nail near the end. Even blood was spilled. Either could have won, and yet, the draw stands. Fantastic game.
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^I agree! Great match and fair results :yes If USA wins we're very likely to make it into the next round. If Portugal wins... we might need to win.
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Just a few minutes away from the start of the USA-Portugal match. I can't wait!
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The USA played with great enthusiasm and skill. It is a pity they didn't win.
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That way it'll stay open in group G :p
Today, the final matches in group A and B will be made... though the winners of Group B are already clear :smile
I only wonder which match will be shown on Tv since they are being played simultaneously. I suppose it'll be Brazil and Holland.
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Holland and Chile survived the first round. The match between them was great. They didn't show Spain, only the goals they shot.
Brazil and Mexico also entered the next stage. They switched between the two matches every few minutes so I got a good impression of both matches. Brazil-Cameroon was very interesting at first but then it became clear Brazil would win. Mexico-Croatia was very calm at first only to suddenly explode. Mexico shot like 3 goals in 10 mins.
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Croatia managed to hold out for 70 minutes, and then it all fell apart. The one goal Croatia scored is of little consolance. Mexico won fair and square, and the referee was even slightly biased in Croati'as favor. Congratulations, Mexico! Good luck in the next round.
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For the USA vs Portugal match, while it does stink that Portugal got that final goal in literally the final extra seconds, a tie against a team like Portugal is still impressive. The final matches for Group G on Thursday should be interesting to watch.
I only wonder which match will be shown on Tv since they are being played simultaneously.
Here in the U.S., they are broadcasted on separate channels (ESPN and ESPN2), so it's simply a matter of choosing which one you want to watch.
I chose to watch Brazil's match against Cameroon, since I'm hoping to see Brazil to win the World Cup. Their decisive win means their first match in the knockout stage will be against Chile.
I will be watching USA vs Germany on Thursday. After that, I plan on watching all of the matches of the knockout round. After all, the teams that make it that far are the best of the best, so I'm anticipating a lot of excitement in those final matches.
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The only matches that seem exciting to watch today are just running while I'm not at home :anger Well, I hope the Costa Rica and Uruguay make it in group D.
EDIT: Schnappszahl post: My 3333th :smile
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Half of the groups are now finished. For the Round of 16 matches coming up, the ones that are now confirmed are Brazil vs Chile, Netherlands vs Mexico, Columbia vs Uruguay, and Costa Rica vs Greece. Quite some interesting match-ups (especially that last one). I can't wait to see how the rest of them will turn out.
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I would have prefered Cote d'Ivoire or Japan over Greece and their brand of football, but there you have it.
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Groups E and F are now finished. The resulting match-ups for the Group of 16 will be France vs Nigeria and Argentina vs Switzerland.
Only Groups G and H left to go, tomorrow. I'll definitely be watching the USA vs Germany match tomorrow to see who will be advancing from the "Group of Death".
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The US Germany match wont mean anything id Ghana and Portugal tie. in that case both Germany and the US will advance regardless of the outcome. Portugals chances of advancing are very slim. they'd likely need to blow out Ghana and have the US lose by at least 2 goals to advance. Ghana needs a win and a US loss by 2 goals to advance. if they tie, both are knocked out and the US Germany game is for seeding purposes.
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It was nice watching Nigeria yesterday. Ecuador stood up to France nicely as well.
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Yeah, yesterday's matches were all good (I've seen those two as well). Let's see who's gonna make it in group G. I'm thrilled :lol:
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Great match between Germany and USA. Both made it to the next round.
The match between Russia and Algeria has been rather boring but Algeria has played well. Definitely worth an opponent in the next match. USA is going to face Belgium.
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Unfortunately, I was unable to watch the USA-Germany game, but I am glad to see that both teams are going on to the next round. The US is going to have quite an uphill battle against Belgium.
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And with the results of these last group matches, the last confirmed matches for the Round of 16 will be Germany vs Algeria and USA vs Belgium. I think the US has a good chance of winning this one to advance to the quarterfinals.
Anyway, I plan on watching every single match of the knockout stage. For the Round of 16, that'll be Saturday through Tuesday, two matches each day. In my time zone, that'll be the entire afternoon for each of the four days. I'm ready to set aside enough of my time to watch all of that. :)
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Hello:
Well, Chile lost by penalties against Brazil, but it was one hell of a game and Brazil (who were saying they would win 5-0 easily) were worried sick (just to say it in a friendly way) the whole match.
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^ I agree it was a very thrilling match. It doesn't get any closer than that. It is never easy to be knocked out of a tournament like that, but at least Chile can leave knowing that they gave Brazil one heck of a challenge. :yes
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Chile missed winning the game by inches in ot, then got a very unlucky bounce on the last penalty kick. They frankly should have won the game.
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Chile fought and lost. They'd have deserved to enter the next round in my opinion (and playing against Brasil in the semi-finals is scary :lol They're likely to meet us there, provided both teams make it...)
Columbia has played like a pro and won. Both goals were masterpieces (and the player shooting them has 5 goals now... which was the highest number of goals a single player shot in 2010... I even believe it was Thomas M¸ller from germany :p). I consider Columbia strong enough to make it in the quarter-final against Brasil :yes
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Yesterday, I had made rough predictions on who would win each match in the knockout stage (but I won't reveal them all just yet). So far, the first two matches were won by the teams that I had expected, though I was quite surprised by how close it was for Brazil.
It all came down to literally the very last possible moment, but someone had to win and it ultimately was Brazil. Hopefully, their poor performance in this match will serve as a wake-up call for them to be better prepared once they play against Columbia in the quarterfinal.
For today's other match, there's no doubt in my mind that Uruguay never had much of a chance without their best player (who I'm sure we all know by now why he got kicked out for the rest of this World Cup). Anyway, Columbia has now advanced further than it ever has in any previous World Cup, so that's nice to see.
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Mexico was good, but that goal by Sneider was fantastic. A real bomb. The Netherlands did deserve to win in the end.
So far, the game between Greece and Costa Rica has been boring. That's why I don't like the way Greece plays football and want them to go home. The Greeks disrupt the flow of the game on purpose, which is lame and dull.
The game got more exciting towards the end. Especially after Costa Rica lost 1 player. A heartbreaking end for Greece.
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I was hoping for Mexico to win but the Netherland made two "last-minute" goals.
Costa Rica has beat Greece much to my relief :lol Imagine what happens if they beat the Netherlands as well... that'd be a surprise!
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Both of today's matches were won by the teams I had expected to win.
I'll admit, I would not have been surprised if Mexico had won against the Netherlands, especially seeing as the Dutch scored both of their goals within the last ten minutes of the match. That sure was quite a quick turnaround.
I was confident that Costa Rica would win, though I certainly wasn't expecting another match that would go all the way to penalty kicks (that's half of the knockout stage matches so far). Costa Rica will be going to the Quarterfinals for this first time ever, while Greece can at least be proud to have even made it to the Round of 16 for the first time ever.
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Nigeria put up a good fight.
Algeria fought heroically. However, physical exhaustion did them in in the end, as they had to compensate for their relatively lower precision with more running. Also, the goalkeepers were the stars of the game, in my opinion.
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Both matches were fairly exciting since there was no clear dominant team... until the end :) I thought Germany would win this a little easier though :p
The match against France will be tough without any doubt.
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I'll be honest, I had expected France and Germany to win their respective matches more easily. But I suppose that just made the goals much more exciting once they finally came. Also, Germany's win in overtime means that half of the Round of 16 matches so far have gone into overtime (but not quite all the way to penalty kicks this time).
Tomorrow, team USA plays against Belgium. I can't wait to see how that match will go.
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Both games today had their decisions in the extra time... Argentinia eventually defeated Switzerland luckily and Belgium did the same with the US (sorry US people :( )
So the last game in the quarter-finals will be Argentinia vs Belgium.
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It was a rather tough loss for the US, but at least they can hold their heads up high as they gave a good final performance. They forced the game into extra time and even kept fighting after it was 2-0 in Belgium's favor. I will admit that I thought it was over at that point, but they came close to an equalizer at 6 minutes out with a free-kick, but it was not to be. A team can only allow so many chances (Tim Howard apparently made the World Cup record in saves in a single game - at 15) before the other team will eventually succeed in scoring. Belgium was definitely the more aggressive team in this game and as a result they will head into the quarterfinals.
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Make that five out of eight knockout games that have gone into overtime (two of which went on to penalty kicks). Although I was correct seven out of eight on who would win (the only one I got wrong so far was USA, but I doubted they'd get past the quarterfinals anyway), it's pretty clear that all of the great teams have struggled in these recent matches.
Now that the US is out, I'm throwing all of my support behind Brazil. They deserve to win a World Cup on home soil like many of the other former champions have.
(By the way, Tim Howard did indeed surpass the record for most saves in a single World Cup match with 16 saves. The person now in second place, as far as I can recall, made only 9 saves in a game back in 1990.)
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Germany won against France! :celebrate Funny how a few centimetres can make a difference.... imagine the ball went a slightly bit higher...
Brazil and Columbia were rather fighting than playing football but the goals were all good. Brazil won though Columbia dominated the second half of the game. And good news for Germany (we're facing them on Tuesday after all :unsure: ): Neymar might be hurt. Of course, this is sad news, actually...
Looking forward to the matches tomorrow :)
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Of the four quarterfinal matches, I expected the one between Germany and France to be the closest, and I think that what we saw was definitely a close match, especially considering the final score of just 1-0.
I'm pleased to see that Brazil did better against Columbia than they did against Chile, though it came with it's downsides. This match now holds the record for most fouls in a single World Cup match, with a total of 54 (Whoa! :wow ). Silva's second yellow card means he'll be missing the next match against Germany. And, according to recent news, Neymar's back injury means that he'll be forced to sit out the rest of the World Cup.
I was really hoping to see Brazil win this World Cup, but due to all of these new factors, I fear it'll take a miracle for that to happen now. -_-
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I really wanted Costa Rica to win. I really admire them. But it was not to be.
Now a prediction: we will be seeing a European finale.
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^I was supporting Costa Rica just as much as you did :(
I didn't warch the Argentinia match due to celebrating my dad's birthday (was so much more exciting than watching football though ^^) and I only saw Costa Rica - Netherlands from the 80th minute on... It was a great match in the end.
I also assume that we'll see Germany vs. Netherlands in the final.
PS: From what I heard, Neymar has a broken spine :o
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Once again, Argentina wins by just one goal.
Of the four quarterfinal matches, the one that really surprised me was Netherlands vs Costa Rica. Although I had expected Netherlands to win, I was quite surprised that no goals were made at all, which brought the match through extra time all the way to penalty kicks. (Now, of the 12 knockout stage matches so far, six have gone to extra time and three of those have gone to penalty kicks.) What most impressed me was Costa Rica's style of play that always seems to force their opponent into an offside.
Neymar's injury, specifically, is that his third vertebra was fractured. It's not serious enough to require surgery, thankfully, but he will not be able to play for a few weeks so it can properly heal. To say that everyone in Brazil is saddened by this news would be an understatement.
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Wtf is going on?!? 5:0 for Germany and only 30 minutes played :wow
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My goodness! Brazil is getting utterly routed. It is 5-0 with only 29 minutes of the game in.
(lol. :lol looks like Ducky and I had the same reaction)
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It's like watching a disaster movie... I wish I'd brought some popcorn :lol:
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If somebody told me we'd win 7:1 I would have told him that he's being unrealistic... What a match... Brazil is crushed beyond belief...
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I'm concerned that this result may cause unrest in Brazil.
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All I can say is that this particular match is definitely one for the record books. People will continue to talk about it for years and even decades.
When this World Cup started, everyone talked about the last time Brazil hosted the World Cup back in 1950 and lost the final to Uruguay 2-1. Brazilians believed that this would be their chance to forget that humiliating loss. But today, they just received perhaps one of most humiliating losses ever in a World Cup, let alone a semifinal match. The last time Brazil lost by such a huge margin was a 6-0 loss to Uruguay all the way back in 1920. Adding to the humiliation was Klose scoring his 16th World Cup goal in this match, which puts him ahead of Brazil's Ronaldo for most all-time World Cup goals. Now, the best that Brazil can hope for is to win the third-place match on Saturday.
Brazil's loss to Germany is now the second of my predictions for the knockout stage that I got wrong, but I don't expect that to affect my remaining three picks (just need to swap Brazil and Germany). For the sake of Brazil, who wants "anyone but Argentina" to win this World Cup, I'll hope to see Netherlands win tomorrow's semifinal.
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Netherlands vs. Argentinia was so boring that I could play Civ 4 while watching :p Argentinia won in the penalties, eventually... If they play like today, the final will be easy for Germany though I have this suspicion it'll be a completely different match.
So we'll see Brazil vs. the Netherlands on Saturday and Germany vs Argentinia on Sunday :yes
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Boo Argentina!
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This semifinal was practically a complete opposite of what the other one was like. Instead of a goal-fest, we had a goal-drought. Of the fourteen knockout stage matches so far, this is now the seventh that went to extra time and the fourth of those that went to penalty kicks.
Netherlands losing to Argentina is now the third of my sixteen picks that I got wrong. Yet, I'm still confident in my final two picks (I just need to swap which matches they'll be played in). I expect to see Brazil beat Netherlands in the third-place match, and for Germany to beat Argentina in the final.
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Brazil continued where they left off in the match against Germany... They played poorly and lost 0:3 against the Netherlands...
Now looking forward to watching the final match tomorrow :smile I presume Germany to win but I doubt it'll be easy.
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And there goes another of my picks. I hope this trend doesn't continue into the final match, because I'm hoping to see Germany win (and I know a lot of others here would like to see that, too).
From what I saw in today's match, the referee made a lot of questionable calls today. Of the three goals, the first should not have been a penalty kick (although a red card should have been given instead of a yellow), and the second should not have been allowed for offside (the third goal at the 90th minute, on the other hand, seemed perfectly fine). In addition, Brazil should also have been allowed a free kick instead of receiving a yellow card for "diving" (the replay showed a clear impact). In spite of all of that, it's still pretty clear that the Brazil team just isn't what it used to be.
Only the final match left to go. Can't wait to see it! :D
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^I agree about the referee. Did you know there was a chance that Nishimura, the guy who ruined the match between Brazil and Croatia, would be the referee in the finale? Fortunately FIFA has decided in the end it would not be a good idea so they chose Rizzoli instead.
Of the referees at this championship the best in my opinion is Irmatov, from Uzbekistan. He always allows games to be a bit rough and exciting, but he stays fair and has almost never made wrong calls at this Cup.
And now go Germany!
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Weeeeeee are the chaaaaampions! :celebrate
What a thrilling match! Both teams played on an equal level.
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Quite a match to watch. Argentina failed to take advantage of many scoring opportunities, so the match ended up in extra time. There were only eight minutes left to go when that goal was scored for Germany's 1-0 win (which is actually not much different from how Spain won the previous World Cup).
This match also had a few notorious moments, most notably to me was all of the head injuries (definitely something I hope FIFA will address in time for the next World Cup).
Technically speaking, all three of Germany's previous World Cup championships were won by West Germany, so this is actually the first time a unified Germany has won the World Cup. No matter how you look at it, I think it's still worth celebrating.
(Something I forgot to mention in yesterday's post. Apparently, the main reason Netherlands brought in their third goalie at the end of their match against Brazil was so they could become the first team ever in a World Cup to have all 23 players be used throughout the tournament.)
(Oh, and one more thing I wanted to mention back at the beginning of this World Cup was that I found it rather amusing that one of the players on Brazil's team is named "Hulk".)
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I'm a little concerned, I haven't heard from my Brazilian friend since their loss against Germany. He hasn't even been online.
Still though, Germany deserved that cup, they were an amazing team to watch from the beginning. What a World Cup!