2014 FIFA World Cup

rhombus · **Reply #60 on:** June 28, 2014, 04:14:44 PM

^ 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.

Nick22 · **Reply #61 on:** June 28, 2014, 05:02:54 PM

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.

Ducky123 · **Reply #62 on:** June 28, 2014, 06:19:12 PM

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

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

). I consider Columbia strong enough to make it in the quarter-final against Brasil

The Chronicler · **Reply #63 on:** June 28, 2014, 08:50:31 PM

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.

jansenov · **Reply #64 on:** June 29, 2014, 05:08:13 PM

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.

Ducky123 · **Reply #65 on:** June 29, 2014, 07:14:30 PM

I was hoping for Mexico to win but the Netherland made two "last-minute" goals.

Costa Rica has beat Greece much to my relief

Imagine what happens if they beat the Netherlands as well... that'd be a surprise!

The Chronicler · **Reply #66 on:** June 29, 2014, 09:30:58 PM

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.

jansenov · **Reply #67 on:** June 30, 2014, 06:32:12 PM

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.

Ducky123 · **Reply #68 on:** June 30, 2014, 06:53:27 PM

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

The match against France will be tough without any doubt.

The Chronicler · **Reply #69 on:** June 30, 2014, 10:00:16 PM

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.

Ducky123 · **Reply #70 on:** July 01, 2014, 07:15:05 PM

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.

rhombus · **Reply #71 on:** July 01, 2014, 07:50:53 PM

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.

The Chronicler · **Reply #72 on:** July 01, 2014, 10:30:16 PM

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.)

Ducky123 · **Reply #73 on:** July 04, 2014, 08:44:54 PM

Germany won against France!

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

The Chronicler · **Reply #74 on:** July 04, 2014, 10:30:17 PM

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!

). 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. -_-

jansenov · **Reply #75 on:** July 05, 2014, 07:02:17 PM

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.

Ducky123 · **Reply #76 on:** July 05, 2014, 07:14:53 PM

^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

The Chronicler · **Reply #77 on:** July 05, 2014, 09:32:40 PM

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.

Ducky123 · **Reply #78 on:** July 08, 2014, 04:30:43 PM

Wtf is going on?!? 5:0 for Germany and only 30 minutes played

rhombus · **Reply #79 on:** July 08, 2014, 04:31:33 PM

My goodness! Brazil is getting utterly routed. It is 5-0 with only 29 minutes of the game in.

(lol.

looks like Ducky and I had the same reaction)