I thought England was the nemesis of Germany ? Congrats to the Germans. They were impressive..... as usual.
Ok so I only saw the second half, but did France even want to win? No urgency until about the last 10 minutes!
Brazil wins, but at what price? Shitty reffing keeps captain out, one player out on a stretcher (might be drama), and players looking spent. Germany came out looking much fresher, and that may make a difference, especially as the game wears on...
^^ I'm still trying to figure out what I just watched there. Was that South American football or American Football played in South America? 52 fouls with injuries. What I found almost stranger was how both teams fell into each other's arms after the game. Some heart touching scenes there that were in absolute contrast to what had transpired 95 minutes earlier. Bob
That wasn't shitty reffing. It's not the referee's fault that Silva was being a complete moron there.
My favourite part was when Marx passed the ball to Nietzsche. He pretty much has to say that - whether he believes in it or not (he probably does, though). The expectations just are that high. Germany has always been ridiculously successful in World Cups. Not making it into the quarter finals is a disaster and nowadays, even making third place twice in a row is grounds for harsh criticism and calls for Löw's resignation. I expect him to be out of a job if the team doesn't make it into the final. More like arch enemy. France had a strong team but on the German side everyone was finally fit again so that the problems with the defense could be solved. That said, while Brazil isn't brilliant, they do come at you intensely with the audience cheering them on. It can be quite intimidating. I wanted Brazil vs Germany to be the final but it might be Brazil vs. Argentina instead. In case it'll be Germany vs the Netherlands I already have the fitting t-shirt - a replica of Germany's jersey from 1974. I hope he'll recover quickly - and fully. The game really got out of hand.
It is when you see the whole game which was extremely rough and especially so against Neymar who was constantly attacked. Part of the refs duties is also to keep a civil game and if it gets out of hand he needs to act to remind the players to play fair. If he had given out a few yellow cards earlier on the foul quota might have been lower and Neymar wouldn't have been injured (i hope he recovers well). Might be tactless now but the current Brazil situation is a big advantage for Germany.. 2 key players out (Neymar will need several weeks to recover and Silva will be banned from the semifinals because of double yellow cards). If the German team continues with the level they have shown against France they have good chances to advance to the finale.
That was as ugly an excuse for a game of football as I've seen in...well, a bloody long time. Brazil apparently decided to hack Rodriguez in particular out of the game and Colombia weren't any better toward Neymar. The referee really needed to put his foot down early but instead let the mayhem continue. Very disappointing. For all that Brazil were the better side, although their task against Germany is much tougher without Neymar. Here's hoping he recovers very quickly and completely.
I'm a bit tired of seeing some South American teams hacking and slaying their way through the tournament without the referees intervening. As much as I liked Chile their style was very physical and apparently the other South American teams saw that as an example. Brazil and Columbia were very intense tonight basically trying to murder the more skilled players (Neymar and James). What an ugly football. Scholl was right in his post-match analysis saying that the referees allow this to happen and if this continues we'll see a return to the 1980s when being a small, agile player meant you got mutilated by the likes of Jürgen Kohler. Scholl said Germany might as well bench a player like Özil if the referees can't be arsed to protect this kind of creative player. You could tell he was very frustrated and pissed off because he was one of those creative and physically rather weak players back in the days himself. At this point I'm hoping for a Germany vs. Argentina final. Argentina is playing decent football, so is Germany. I wish the German offense would find their ways of 2010 and 2012 again but they still look solid enough. And I just can't stand the Netherlands. Robben is one of the most unlikeable players in the world.
Hopefully that will prevent a rather disappointing and certinly undeserving Brazillian team winning the competition.
Yeah, I'm wavering (to say the very least) on my "I hope Brazil wins" stance. Neymar was pretty much the only player out there who in any way even slightly resembled the great names of the past that made watching them play so enjoyable. Now he's out we're left with...well, players like Hulk and Fred. Good grief. And I agree that Robben is too much of a grub to even contemplate supporting Holland. A different sort of grub to de Jong, but every bit as detestable. My options are becoming very limited at this stage.
This Netherlands-Costa Rica game sure is a cure for insomnia, for some reason I think it's going to be a Germany-Argentina final this year.