2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil

Van Gaal is very good at provoking. As for the game. Both sides played a tactical game. That makes the game less nice to watch. Both defenses gave nothing away while the attackers were powerless to create anything worthwhile. I think that Argentina was the slighty more dominant side.

As for the 3rd place. Not going to see the match. There is a certain band playing in Uden and I will be there.
 
It was probably Argentina's least-turgid performance of the tournament and they still needed penalties to win. That doesn't bode well for them against Loew's Fourth Reich on Sunday.
 
Agreed Wizard. Germany is the side to beat. Only problem can be is that Germany can only lose. If they (most likely) win we will nod and say"Told you so", on the other hand if they do not win....
 
With Messi anything is possible, but if any team can shut him down then it's Germany. They absolutely crushed Argentina four years ago after all. I am a bit worried about Germany's defence in light of the Algeria match though.
 
So, I am going to Vegas in 30 minutes .. when is the final game and is there any betting avenues I should take advantage of?
 
Sunday.

A German clean sheet wouldn't be a terrible bid considering Argentina's conservative play.
 
does clean sheet mean shutout or just a win in regulation? Pretend I know nothing about soccer .. because I do not
 
bearfan said:
Thanks. That would be a shutout in the US
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I wouldn't be so sure about it.

Argentina scored so far 8 goals in 6 games, that's an average of more than one goal per game. And so far they didn't score in only one game. There's a difference between scoring few goals or not scoring at all.

The biggest difference from football (or "soccer") to other teams sports is that the basic rule in this one is that you only need to score one and not allow any goal, to win.

On the other hand, Argentina so far only allowed 3 goals, and only in two games. So Argentina knows how to defend. That's one of the secrets of this team.
Argentina didn't allowed one goal so far in the second round, so in my opinion as Messi is clearly falling down in his physical level, Argentina actually is now a better consolidated team, than in the group stage.

Germany of course overall is a better team, no question about that, and they are again the favorites.

I think it will be a huge mistake if Germany is only concerned about Messi, even more if Di Maria recovers. Di Maria is fast paced and a skilled player, what Argentina needs the most to break other defenses as Messi seems now rather slow.

Besides, don't forget this Germany-Argentina final is the classic game of the World Cup finals. This generation of Argentinians was born mostly after 1984, so they grew up hearing and watching things about their new God. And Argentina #wants# to be World Champions in the home of their biggest rivals in History and they want to "regain" their 1990 title. So Germany shouldn't never underestimate Argentina. If they are the favorites, this is a final. There's always a chance of the other side to win, even if it's unlikely. Like Mourinho often says, we don't play finals, we win them.
 
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I think Bearfan just meant that a clean sheet was called a shutout in the US. But nice analysis, nonetheless. :p
 
vlaar.0_standard_709.0.png


:D

After Romero saved Vlaar's penalty, the ball rebound and it was almost a good one. Epic stuff.

The God(s) are with Argentina, Perun. lol :bigsmile:
 
I wasn't so sure after watching it on tv.





However, after seeing this you probably right. Even so, it's not very clear.
 
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