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Post by Beady’s Here Now on Jul 9, 2014 21:52:13 GMT -5
Argentina have been the worst team to make it to a semi final, aside from Brazil. The Netherlands were a disgrace tonight as well though. Hope Germany win the cup, since they actually deserve to win it. I've been reading a lot of people's blogs and posts suggesting that Brazil '14 has been the best World Cup since France '98. I wholeheartedly disagree. Maybe it's because France '98 was the first World Cup I followed, and as a 10 year old at the time, there's even more nostalgia attached to that one in particular, but France '98 was immense. How can one possibly say Brazil '14 has been anything remotely above average? England, Portugal, Spain, Italy all exit at the group stage (Ok, to the neutral it's exciting when big teams go out, but the quality thereby suffers as a result). Brazil have been a shitshow of a team: Should have crashed out in the Last 16 vs. Chile, and - while I didn't watch the Quarter Final vs. Columbia - I read about how awful it was with Foulgate (over 50 fouls between the two teams, what's that all about?), and then getting thrashed in the Semi Final to Germany 7-1. How Brazil even made it to the Semi-Final is the real question we all should be asking. [Note: cf. My previous entry re: Knockout Tournament Systems] Then you have Holland, who have been almost as insipid and as lucky as their Brazilian counterparts, culminating in THE MOST BORING MATCH I EVER SAW TODAY vs. Argentina. Not even exaggerating, that was just utter shit. It was even worse than watching Jose's Chelsea. Holland are better than that. Pathetic. And a passing note on France: Am I the only person who failed to even notice France in this WC? Sure, they made it to the QF and Nigeria often prove tricky, but in all honesty France had the easiest group of them all. If England and the USA separately co-inhabited the "Group of Death", then France was immersed in the "Group of Life". We can use this word once again: Insipid. Even more accurate: Uninspiring. Really, the only three "positive" key points of this WC: 1. Argentina may not be the best, but they have been the most consistent. And it's consistency - AND NOT NECESSARILY OVERALL QUALITY - in Cup Competitions that proves decisive. 2. Costa Rica was the surprise of the tournament, and almost pipped Holland for a place in the Semi-Finals 3. Germany is benefiting from playing teams that under performed (Namely: Portugal, & Brazil), very much like Arsenal last season - their strength is being overestimated due to their underachieving rivals. As often with knockout tournaments, there's a lot of deceit and deception. Has Brazi '14 have had its good moments? Yes - Mainly the several penalty shootout lottery system, once again rendering knock out tournaments a useless exercise of rewarding the best team, but produced excitement nonetheless. And it sure as hell has been better than the abysmal South Afria '10 and its corresponding irritant: the Vuvuzelas. Germany '06 was better than Brazil '14. And Japan/S Korea '02 is somewhere in between.... ....But better than or equal to France '98? No. I'm not having that. Concluding with the following ranking - From Best to Worst: France '98 Germany '06 Japan/S Korea '02Brazil '14S Africa '10
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Post by Manualex on Jul 9, 2014 22:35:12 GMT -5
Beady’s Here Now you need two to tango, Argentina didnt wanted to give Netherlands the chance to get counter attacks and likewise Netherlands didn't wanted to give Argentina chances to counter attack. If Netherlands were a bit more effective(ie taking shots and not passing the ball around) in the first half they would have been a bit better on the rest of the match, but a las they didn't and Krul wasn't given the chance to be in the penalties(if RVP wasn't injured or Huntelaar started might have had a chance to use the third sub on Krul again), Vlaar sucks as a penalty taker and the dutch keeper didn't had a chance in the penalty kicks after messi let his one in.
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Post by sgtpeppr on Jul 10, 2014 0:51:33 GMT -5
Jasper Cillessen has never saved a penalty in his entire pro career...granted, thats only 4 seasons, but still. and beady eyed pigeon: totally agree. france '98 was far better than this world cup in my opinion. so was japorea...
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Post by mimmihopps on Jul 10, 2014 1:36:51 GMT -5
Congrats Argentina and the best of the luck on Sunday.
Cillessen has done a good job during the game. It is what it is now, so don't look back, but bring it on Saturday. Oranje are still one of the final best 4.
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Post by Let It 🩸 on Jul 10, 2014 5:32:51 GMT -5
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Post by eva on Jul 10, 2014 6:15:22 GMT -5
Germany have the best squad overall, quality subs, they have one more day to rest, no ET, no penalties drama... If we concede less than 7 goals in the final, I'm gonna call it a success Anyway, I hope the players analyse the matches vs Ghana and Algeria, because unless they were doing it on purpose for some weird pleasure, they were clearly outplayed. And of course, the semifinal, you don't want to be humilliated like Brazil
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Post by sgtpeppr on Jul 10, 2014 7:02:05 GMT -5
Germany have the best squad overall, quality subs, they have one more day to rest, no ET, no penalties drama... If we concede less than 7 goals in the final, I'm gonna call it a success Anyway, I hope the players analyse the matches vs Ghana and Algeria, because unless they were doing it on purpose for some weird pleasure, they were clearly outplayed. And of course, the semifinal, you don't want to be humilliated like Brazil its all about fast wingbacks and counters if you want to beat germany. if you try and break them down when theyre behind the ball you got very little chance... saying that, no matter how the argies play, im confident of a win.
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Post by Fishtank on Jul 10, 2014 10:33:28 GMT -5
I hope Germany win for the sake of football. Argentina are bland and boring and dont deserve to win anything. Apart from Messi they are basically England. 3-0 to the Krauts
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Post by sgtpeppr on Jul 10, 2014 12:01:48 GMT -5
I hope Germany win for the sake of football. Argentina are bland and boring and dont deserve to win anything. Apart from Messi they are basically England. 3-0 to the Krauts messi is the one thing im worried about. the dutch proved you can strong arm him out of a game, but it only takes a second with a player like him...
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Post by matt on Jul 10, 2014 14:11:19 GMT -5
Argentina have been the worst team to make it to a semi final, aside from Brazil. The Netherlands were a disgrace tonight as well though. Hope Germany win the cup, since they actually deserve to win it. I've been reading a lot of people's blogs and posts suggesting that Brazil '14 has been the best World Cup since France '98. I wholeheartedly disagree. Maybe it's because France '98 was the first World Cup I followed, and as a 10 year old at the time, there's even more nostalgia attached to that one in particular, but France '98 was immense. How can one possibly say Brazil '14 has been anything remotely above average? England, Portugal, Spain, Italy all exit at the group stage (Ok, to the neutral it's exciting when big teams go out, but the quality thereby suffers as a result). Brazil have been a shitshow of a team: Should have crashed out in the Last 16 vs. Chile, and - while I didn't watch the Quarter Final vs. Columbia - I read about how awful it was with Foulgate (over 50 fouls between the two teams, what's that all about?), and then getting thrashed in the Semi Final to Germany 7-1. How Brazil even made it to the Semi-Final is the real question we all should be asking. [Note: cf. My previous entry re: Knockout Tournament Systems] Then you have Holland, who have been almost as insipid and as lucky as their Brazilian counterparts, culminating in THE MOST BORING MATCH I EVER SAW TODAY vs. Argentina. Not even exaggerating, that was just utter shit. It was even worse than watching Jose's Chelsea. Holland are better than that. Pathetic. And a passing note on France: Am I the only person who failed to even notice France in this WC? Sure, they made it to the QF and Nigeria often prove tricky, but in all honesty France had the easiest group of them all. If England and the USA separately co-inhabited the "Group of Death", then France was immersed in the "Group of Life". We can use this word once again: Insipid. Even more accurate: Uninspiring. Really, the only three "positive" key points of this WC: 1. Argentina may not be the best, but they have been the most consistent. And it's consistency - AND NOT NECESSARILY OVERALL QUALITY - in Cup Competitions that proves decisive. 2. Costa Rica was the surprise of the tournament, and almost pipped Holland for a place in the Semi-Finals 3. Germany is benefiting from playing teams that under performed (Namely: Portugal, & Brazil), very much like Arsenal last season - their strength is being overestimated due to their underachieving rivals. As often with knockout tournaments, there's a lot of deceit and deception. Has Brazi '14 have had its good moments? Yes - Mainly the several penalty shootout lottery system, once again rendering knock out tournaments a useless exercise of rewarding the best team, but produced excitement nonetheless. And it sure as hell has been better than the abysmal South Afria '10 and its corresponding irritant: the Vuvuzelas. Germany '06 was better than Brazil '14. And Japan/S Korea '02 is somewhere in between.... ....But better than or equal to France '98? No. I'm not having that. Concluding with the following ranking - From Best to Worst: France '98 Germany '06 Japan/S Korea '02Brazil '14S Africa '10Germany 06 was complete crap. It's all about entertainment, and this World Cup is the most entertaining I remember (can't remember 98). Plus England going out put us all out of our misery - why punish the world with that crap? Last time England played well at the World Cup was the first half against Argentina and Denmark in 02, since then they haven't participated in one quality game, only offering up the usual shower of shit.
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Post by Beady’s Here Now on Jul 10, 2014 14:24:36 GMT -5
I've been reading a lot of people's blogs and posts suggesting that Brazil '14 has been the best World Cup since France '98. I wholeheartedly disagree. Maybe it's because France '98 was the first World Cup I followed, and as a 10 year old at the time, there's even more nostalgia attached to that one in particular, but France '98 was immense. How can one possibly say Brazil '14 has been anything remotely above average? England, Portugal, Spain, Italy all exit at the group stage (Ok, to the neutral it's exciting when big teams go out, but the quality thereby suffers as a result). Brazil have been a shitshow of a team: Should have crashed out in the Last 16 vs. Chile, and - while I didn't watch the Quarter Final vs. Columbia - I read about how awful it was with Foulgate (over 50 fouls between the two teams, what's that all about?), and then getting thrashed in the Semi Final to Germany 7-1. How Brazil even made it to the Semi-Final is the real question we all should be asking. [Note: cf. My previous entry re: Knockout Tournament Systems] Then you have Holland, who have been almost as insipid and as lucky as their Brazilian counterparts, culminating in THE MOST BORING MATCH I EVER SAW TODAY vs. Argentina. Not even exaggerating, that was just utter shit. It was even worse than watching Jose's Chelsea. Holland are better than that. Pathetic. And a passing note on France: Am I the only person who failed to even notice France in this WC? Sure, they made it to the QF and Nigeria often prove tricky, but in all honesty France had the easiest group of them all. If England and the USA separately co-inhabited the "Group of Death", then France was immersed in the "Group of Life". We can use this word once again: Insipid. Even more accurate: Uninspiring. Really, the only three "positive" key points of this WC: 1. Argentina may not be the best, but they have been the most consistent. And it's consistency - AND NOT NECESSARILY OVERALL QUALITY - in Cup Competitions that proves decisive. 2. Costa Rica was the surprise of the tournament, and almost pipped Holland for a place in the Semi-Finals 3. Germany is benefiting from playing teams that under performed (Namely: Portugal, & Brazil), very much like Arsenal last season - their strength is being overestimated due to their underachieving rivals. As often with knockout tournaments, there's a lot of deceit and deception. Has Brazi '14 have had its good moments? Yes - Mainly the several penalty shootout lottery system, once again rendering knock out tournaments a useless exercise of rewarding the best team, but produced excitement nonetheless. And it sure as hell has been better than the abysmal South Afria '10 and its corresponding irritant: the Vuvuzelas. Germany '06 was better than Brazil '14. And Japan/S Korea '02 is somewhere in between.... ....But better than or equal to France '98? No. I'm not having that. Concluding with the following ranking - From Best to Worst: France '98 Germany '06 Japan/S Korea '02Brazil '14S Africa '10Germany 06 was complete crap. It's all about entertainment, and this World Cup is the most entertaining I remember (can't remember 98). Plus England going out put us all out of our misery - why punish the world with that crap? Last time England played well at the World Cup was the first half against Argentina and Denmark in 02, since then they haven't participated in one quality game, only offering up the usual shower of shit. The first half vs Italy was immense, tbf
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Post by allingoodtime on Jul 10, 2014 14:47:36 GMT -5
I'm an Italian supporter but i'm rooting for Argentina this year for the simple reason that I don't want Germany to have 4 WC's As for the best World cups I agree with 98 and 2006 (06 was better imo obviously..) 2002 should have definitely been investigated. What Korea did to Spain and Italy couldn't have been any worse, if you don't remember search it on Youtube its disgusting. 2010 was shit This year there have been some very highs and some real lows. Italy beating England was epic. Spain/Portugal/Brazil getting thrashed were all unexpected, a lot of big teams went out early which is exciting for the neutrals but the fact that they went out made it more boring overall in general. I'd rather watch Colombia Italy/England for example rather than Uruguay and Costa Rica
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Post by frjdoasis on Jul 11, 2014 9:18:05 GMT -5
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Post by uǝɥʇɐǝɥ on Jul 11, 2014 11:04:16 GMT -5
Diego Kosten, what a joke!!!
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Post by Let It 🩸 on Jul 11, 2014 13:18:40 GMT -5
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Post by manic on Jul 11, 2014 14:18:09 GMT -5
Rodriguez should get the golden ball, or Kroos. Messi has done nothing to deserve it, likewise Mascherano and Di Maria. Robben and Neymar cheat too much otherwise they would be in contention and all Mueller does is score.
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Post by MG on Jul 11, 2014 15:14:41 GMT -5
Rodriguez should get the golden ball, or Kroos. Messi has done nothing to deserve it, likewise Mascherano and Di Maria. Robben and Neymar cheat too much otherwise they would be in contention and all Mueller does is score. Agreed with Rodriguez, lit up the whole tournament. Went out in an ugly way, Colombia v Germany could of been one of the matches of the World Cup this millennium! Mascharino has been Argentina's best player imo apart from maybe Garay at the back. As you said Muller scores goals but that's what people remember. Kross has been class and delighted he netted a few. Kehrida has been brilliant for Germany from what I've seen. Messi and Neymar are just in there because of their reputation.
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Post by manic on Jul 11, 2014 15:53:31 GMT -5
Rodriguez should get the golden ball, or Kroos. Messi has done nothing to deserve it, likewise Mascherano and Di Maria. Robben and Neymar cheat too much otherwise they would be in contention and all Mueller does is score. Agreed with Rodriguez, lit up the whole tournament. Went out in an ugly way, Colombia v Germany could of been one of the matches of the World Cup this millennium! Mascharino has been Argentina's best player imo apart from maybe Garay at the back. As you said Muller scores goals but that's what people remember. Kross has been class and delighted he netted a few. Kehrida has been brilliant for Germany from what I've seen. Messi and Neymar are just in there because of their reputation. Agreed. Mascherano has been good but he hasn't dominated games or been a positive influence going forward, which in my view is the main criteria for winning the golden ball at the World Cup.
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Post by Beady’s Here Now on Jul 11, 2014 17:00:43 GMT -5
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Post by Let It 🩸 on Jul 11, 2014 19:09:51 GMT -5
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Post by Billy Davey ツ on Jul 11, 2014 19:27:24 GMT -5
it wouldn't be the first golden ball given to Messi as a gift...
I think Muller will get it, specially if Germany wins
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Post by Beady’s Here Now on Jul 11, 2014 23:22:56 GMT -5
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Post by sgtpeppr on Jul 12, 2014 10:35:33 GMT -5
last set of predictions;
winners: germany. 3-1. 3rd: holland. 3-2.
golden ball: rodriguez. golden boot: muller. golden gloves: neur. young player: pogba.
team: neur lahm-vlaar-hummels-zabs robben-mascherano-rodriguez-sanchez messi-muller
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Post by Manualex on Jul 12, 2014 15:33:18 GMT -5
Brazil has been like a slow motion carcrash that you cant avoid watching.
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Post by Let It 🩸 on Jul 12, 2014 15:37:37 GMT -5
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