FIFA World Cup 2014

So Germany maintains it's long held dominance over France.  That must really hurt French pride! 

Reminded me of Germany/US, another 1-0 match. The Germans manufacture an early goal, followed by 80+ minutes of ball control, limiting their opponent's opportunities. They are all asses and elbows -- they give you no space to work, no open passing lanes, and they make it impossible for their opponent to get any rhythm going on offense. And when you do finally do get a chance, as Benzema did in the final minute, you have to beat Neuer. Good luck with that!

It's got to help that 6 or 7 starters come from the same Bayern Munich club, and know each other so well.

ATB.

Hook

I agree it's not pretty for the neutral but I'd like England to be able to grind out results like that.

I also agree that Germany must be helped by having so many players from Bayern M.  It's been a long time since any English club has been able to field a majority of the England team. 

MDS

This is the last chance for Löw and many of his long-standing team to win the cup. So there is no brilliant playing anymore like against (ahem) England or Argentina in 2010, only effective game control.

Breath-taking intensity in the first half. Surely Brazil and Colombia can't maintain this pace in the second half. Terrific end-to-end stuff. Don't think I've seen Colombia put under this degree of pressure before. Brazil deserve their lead. Best I've seen them play in the tournament so far. 

Very much agree. And while Luiz (or SideShow Bob, as I prefer to know him) has just scored a super free kick to put Brazil 2-0 up, the free kick that led to it was another example of how hapless this referee is.

Good penalty. Brazil keeper lucky not to see Red. Game on!

This is compelling stuff.

come on Colombia....great game... this is how football should be played...no defending......this World Cup is a breath of fresh air.....oh well not long now before fat Sam kills my interest in football for another season

Well done Brazil. I hope Neymar is fit to face Germany. Great game.

What a game! Colombia will feel aggrieved that the referee favoured the host nation but congratulations to both teams for serving up a football feast. Full of 100% commitment, passion and skill. Brilliant.

Brazil would be unwise to play as openly against Germany in the semi-final. 

One further thought: I hope the wonderful player James Rodriguez wakes up and decides his talents are wasted in the French league. No matter how much he's being paid, a player of his calibre should be playing in the Spanish, German, Italian or English top leagues.

Certainly not the most stylish of games, but both teams showed great pace and intensity.

Brazil controlled the first half, but the second half was pretty chaotic. Great penalty kick by David Luiz for the winner (but poor goalkeeping helped a bit).

For me, the story of the game has to be the refereeing, or lack thereof. Seems clear that the ref made a conscious effort not to card, which obviously helped Brazil with so many playing on yellows.  Brazil can count themselves lucky they didn't lose more than just Silva for the semi-final.

So Silva out, Dante in versus Germany.  Would hurt a lot more if it weren't for Dante's knowledge of the Bayern starters.

The other player that may be questionable for the semi-final is Neymar. The knee to his lower back looked serious. He should have had a yellow (and missed the semi) for charging and blocking the Rodriguez penalty kick -- another example of the ref not having control of the game.

The Brazil/Germany semi should be a lot of fun. I want to say Brazil needs to play better than this to win and go to the final, but hey, they do keep finding a way to win, and they just may do so again.

ATB.

Hook

James for the EPL? Are you sure? Sorry to burst the bubble on a night of exuberant footie but you do want England to do better in 2022 and beyond don't you?!

Chris

The goalie's responsibility was to trust the right half the goal to his wall, and defend the other half. Prior to David Luiz's approach, you could see Ospina cheating (inexplicably) to his right.  Had he stayed in the left half of the goal, or stayed exactly in the middle but leaning to his left, then yes, I do think he would have had a chance to block it.

Not trying to take anything away from David Luiz -- it was a wonderful, sinking ball. But it was also straight as an arrow, and not swerving/knuckling away from the goalie. It would have been a very fine save, but again, doable IMO.

ATB.

Hook

As the majority of England's top players play in the EPL, so doesn't it help them to play against the world's best players?

ATB.

Hook

IMO no. Until recently I've been as laissez-faire as the next guy in believing that the internationalism  of the EPL can only be a good thing. Whilst producing one of the best leagues in the world, it's also part of the problem in developing the national side. That, and the failure to keep the ball, or to have the Adam Lallana style know-how of what to do with it, when they've got it.

So James' arrival here would likely hinder the development of a James of our own for 2022. Maily Telegraph rant over.

Cheers,

Chris

Now we will see how good Brazil really are without Neymar since he has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament due to a fractured vertebrae in his back. Mind you when I watched the tackle at the time I thought it was more than a little deliberate. The Colombian says in interviews that he was defending his shirt and here's me thinking after all these years that you are supposed to be defending your goal.

What a shame for poor Neymar.  At the time I thought the hit on him in the back looked serious. Still at only 22 he has plenty of tournaments ahead of him. Germany will be pleased, though   

From the mechanism of injury Neymar has probably fractured the spinous process of a vertebra. This is a 'stable' injury but he's likely to be out for a few months.

Hi Doc -

Did you see the way he was rolled on to the stetcher and hustled off the field? I cringed at each bump and jostle, and commented to Mrs. Hook that I was surprised there was no ambulance on the field with proper EMTs.  Seemed like they should have done a professional job of strapping him down, and stabilizing him before transporting him to the hospital? If I were Barca's owner, I would be livid at how my player (and yes, investment) was being treated.

Maybe Neymar's flare for the dramatic worked against him, and most thought he was making a meal of it?  Maybe because he could feel his legs, they assumed it was just a bad bruise? I feel very bad for the young man -- you only get so many chances to play in a World Cup, and he was robbed of this chance by a brutal, and apparently, intentional act. How can anyone say that kneeing an opponent in the spine is "defending his shirt"?  What absolute horsesh#t!

Once again, I blame the ref.  As I said above, the lack of any early cards set the tone for the game, and play became absurdly reckless.  Exciting to watch perhaps, but obviously not without consequences.

ATB.

Hook

Have to say that the Ref was poor in the game as so many brutal tackles were just ignored. If he had stamped his authority on the game earlier then what happened later might have been different.

Argentina over Belgium 2-1.  Messi has his team believing they can win it all.

Netherlands over Costa Rica, 1-0.  

Robben is such a great player, but I hope he keeps his theatrics to a minimum today.  In the end, their talent and toughness alone should be enough to prevail.

ATB.

Hook

Agree on your Argentina prediction. Netherlands will win 3-1

Totally agree Hook. Their standard of care was extremely poor considering there was no doubt he had a back injury. It was awful the way he was stretchered of the pitch. If he had an unstable spinal fracture and their actions caused it to move causing cord damage just think how much they, and probably FIFA, would be sued for.