This is the football Man Utd will be playing next year. 1 nil to boring Utd? Argentina have also been dull throughout this world cup yet they have some great individuals. Thankfully the Germans are waiting to destroy either of these terms as if Argentina or Netherlands won the world cup then they be one of the worst teams to ever win the trophy.
Crap game, but it's still nice to see van Gaal and Robben go home, especially via the regular keeper in a shootout.
After krulls ****ty antics v costa rica it is another dose of poetic justice that they lost a penalty shoot out...they got worse as the tournament went on tbh
Germany v Argentina There might be some very old National Socialists with a conflict of interest Did Holland really beat Spain 5-1? A distant memory
I would expect Germany to win the final. But, Argentina will make life a hell of a lot more difficult for them. Then there's always Messi!...
I refuse to believe he actually supports Arsenal. In fact I reckon he is just Alan Sugar's alt account
Lucky for the Turkish ref that Argentina won the shootout after Higuain had a perfectly legitimate goal chalked off for no logical reason: he was onside, there was no foul, and it was definitely in the back of the net - was this the ref pool's parting gift to Brazil? Pretty pathetic (but not unexpected) that a few Brazilians showed up in the first half to jeer Messi, but they appear to have gone home after half an hour, probably because several thousand Argentines reminded them of the previous night's result.
It went wide. Or am I missing sarcasm? Glad the Argies went through. The Dutch would've clogged(geddit?) even more in the final.
This is what happens when you have cats: I was in the kitchen and saw the net billow and a replay showing he was onside, but completely missed the context (and the lack of a replay to show what happened didn't help matters...) Pretty good Independence Day for Argentina: woke up having seen Brazil get Die Mannschaft last night, and took one step closer to the image of Messi lifting the trophy in the Maracana to the backdrop of 201m people having a collective meltdown. The third-place playoff will be interesting, given Brazil's diving and Holland's love for the sort of challenges you see in the NHL.
I'm fascinated by the third place game. On the one hand, Brazil is coming off the most demoralizing defeat in the history of organized sports. On the other, the Netherlands will only have two days rest after playing 120 minutes, and Brazil haven't played a competitive game in a week. Will Krusty stick with Sideshow Bob? I'm also wondering if Van Gaal can come up with any masterstrokes to top picking Vlaar to lead off the penalty shootout against Messi in a world cup semifinal. Finally, the golden boot is still in play, if Mueller can get one or Messi two, plus an assist, though the latter seems unlikely, even for Messi. I hope James hangs on, simply because he deserves it in every way--fewest minutes per goal, fewest games, most outstanding goal, you name it. The two outstanding players in the tournament have been James by some distance over Neymar, I think.
Disappointing match, neither side showed enough determination and risk to win the match despite fielding a number of world class attacking players.
Glad you asked that - thought I'd missed something! Poor old Croydon was Pussy obsessed at the time, so can't blame him
I don't think that is correct in the case of Argentina: Messi, Aguero and Mascherano would be certainties in my 23 man world squad with Zabaletta, Di Maria and Higuain not far off. They've got some other good players too. Germany as a team look better but they would arguably have the fewest world class players of any World Cup winner - just Lam and Neuer for me, possibly Kroos. They've only been really impressive in the Brazil game. I think Argentina will beat them (although given my record in SD's prediction league that should be enough to make Germany the favourites).
As a team they aren't anywhere near the level they should be with the individual talent. Di Maria and Lavezzi have been crap. Higuian has done ok at times but overall unimpressive. Aguero has hardly featured and in terms of their attacking displays they have been one of the worst teams, they just have Messi to make up for their lack of "gelling". Similar to AVB and Bale, generally we played dour hopeless football but Bale would pull off some magic, Argentina are just a more talented version but in terms of the talent they have, they would be one of the worst teams to win the world cup if you look at the quality of football they have played. Germany may not have been at their best throughout the tournament but they have destroyed both Portugal & Brazil. Rescued a draw against Ghana in one of the best matches of the tournament and as a team I would put them as the best team, not to mention the most clinical and ruthless, plus they have Klose (record world cup scorer) and Muller who will likely overtake him, but probably not this year!
It's a cliche, but Germany are typically, as always, a team greater than the sum of its parts; Argentina are the opposite. Germany have some very good players, but they have weaknesses (especially defensively) which they seem to be able to overcome because they are so strong collectively. You feel that Argentina hope/expect that a couple of moments of inspiration will see them through.
Before last night I would have agreed with you. However, I thought Argentina were very well organised and disciplined last night. Mascherano did a fantastic job on Robben....
He has been their best player overall, Barca turned him into a centre back where he looks suspect but as a defensive midfielder, he is outstanding.
Strange to see them play such a tactical game with so much firepower. They need all parts of their game to click - but it never seems to do so at the same time. Even in Maradona's day, it was his brilliance which won the day, not the collective strength of the team.
The fear of losing really dulled the play of the "top" sides in the KO stages. Colombia, Costa Rica etc made me think of Spurs in the CL. Never realistically going to win the thing, but what a breath of fresh air they were for the neutral for that brief moment.
