2014 FIFA World Cup

bushwacked · **Reply #80 on:** July 08, 2014, 05:02:25 PM

It's like watching a disaster movie... I wish I'd brought some popcorn

Ducky123 · **Reply #81 on:** July 08, 2014, 05:52:51 PM

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...

jansenov · **Reply #82 on:** July 08, 2014, 07:24:54 PM

I'm concerned that this result may cause unrest in Brazil.

The Chronicler · **Reply #83 on:** July 08, 2014, 10:50:12 PM

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.

Ducky123 · **Reply #84 on:** July 09, 2014, 06:51:15 PM

Netherlands vs. Argentinia was so boring that I could play Civ 4 while watching

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

jansenov · **Reply #85 on:** July 09, 2014, 07:48:34 PM

Boo Argentina!

The Chronicler · **Reply #86 on:** July 09, 2014, 10:10:28 PM

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.

Ducky123 · **Reply #87 on:** July 12, 2014, 06:01:22 PM

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

I presume Germany to win but I doubt it'll be easy.

The Chronicler · **Reply #88 on:** July 12, 2014, 09:30:41 PM

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!

jansenov · **Reply #89 on:** July 13, 2014, 06:47:24 AM

^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!

Ducky123 · **Reply #90 on:** July 13, 2014, 05:42:23 PM

Weeeeeee are the chaaaaampions!

What a thrilling match! Both teams played on an equal level.

The Chronicler · **Reply #91 on:** July 13, 2014, 10:30:19 PM

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".)

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #92 on:** July 21, 2014, 11:13:22 PM

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!