[demonrail666]

I went for Messi, but don't look at me, I made Bernard captain last night. As if just buying him wasn't stupid enough.

[!@#$%!]

ha ha ha! poor bernard. when he crashed into neuer it was hilarious.

[demonrail666]

Not convinced they will but I really want Argentina to win this.

[!@#$%!]

i wanted a south american finalist but i think it will be a replay of 1974

what country is queen facha rooting for?

---


eta: this is more contested than i expected! here goes messi…

--

eta: i picked robben as captain and he's neutralized. meanwhile, mascherano is being awesome and i passed him over!

i'm really pleased with argentina this first half.

[demonrail666]

Yeah, Mascherano's having a great game. Losing the ball a bit too much but seems to have neutralised Robben very well. Meanwhile Levezzi seems to have Martins Indi in his pocket. Argentina's only problem is they haven't made many clear cut chances. Holland haven't really clicked at all yet.

Loving the game so far.

[!@#$%!]

wow, it's loosening up

here's to no overtime!

--

damn. TENSE!

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Did I mention I fucking HATE shootouts?? What a lame way to end a match. The only reason this 0-0 match wasn't entirely a bore was because the Final is at stake! The offsides killed the attack of BOTH sides, ridiculous, refs should have been looser with the flags on the offsides, it totally neutered the offense..

[demonrail666]

I really enjoyed it. Very cautious, especially from Holland but in the end Messi was as shut out as Robben. Mascherano had a monster game. Definitely man of the match. Neither team were brilliant but I think Argentina just about edged it overall.

[Bertrand]

Vlaar was great for Holland, Kuyt was extremely shy, never ventured forward (had he forgotten who he was?), Robben was neutralized but it didn't seem that hard, he was probably as exhausted as RVP.
Mascherano was the best Argentinian, with Demichelis (if you ignore his fouling and intimidation).

I hope Argentina doesn't win the final, boredom should not prevail.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

I really enjoyed it. Very cautious, especially from Holland but in the end Messi was as shut out as Robben. Mascherano had a monster game. Definitely man of the match. Neither team were brilliant but I think Argentina just about edged it overall.

Mascherano man of the match can't be denied especially after playing final 10 minutes with gauze hanging out of his mouth..

I think the Dutch played a bit better, their attacks were more threatening and they seemed to have better ball movement and control, as well as a few more exciting clearances on the defensive side BUT the Argentinians played better where it counted. It seemed both teams learned from Brazil's mistakes yesterday and controlled the spacing better so that effectively both teams attack was neutralized however that being said, I still feel like the offsides was killing it. Part of that is teams playing a bit to fast on their attacks to try and counter the defenses and open up space though to be sure many were just sloppy plays.. Still, the side refs really had a big impact on this match. Dutch used all their goal keeping magic in their last shootouts, it was inevitable that if they didn't score in the match they'd lose when it came to kicks, you could feel it growing as Holland sped up its aggression in the final 40 minutes..

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

Mascherano had a monster game.

i was just coming in to post this. he was IMMENSE. when nobody could contain robben he was there to stop his shot.

---

while the dutch played slightly better towards the end they weren't good enough to score, and you can't win a match by "deserves".

netherlands-brazil should be interesting. the brazilians will seek to redeem themselves, not sure what the dutch will be after but damn they're going to be tired.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by Bertrand

Vlaar was great for Holland, Kuyt was extremely shy, never ventured forward (had he forgotten who he was?), Robben was neutralized but it didn't seem that hard, he was probably as exhausted as RVP.
Mascherano was the best Argentinian, with Demichelis (if you ignore his fouling and intimidation).

I hope Argentina doesn't win the final, boredom should not prevail.

Vlaar was excellent. It was definitely the more defensive players that shone most for both teams. I was more disappointed with Holland though. Van Gaal seemed more set on stopping messi than really looking for a way to win the thing.

And I really hated the dutch goalkeepers' intimidation tactics in both shootouts. I hated it just as much when Hart tried it against Italy in the Euros.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

i was just coming in to post this. he was IMMENSE. when nobody could contain robben he was there to stop his shot.

Robben impressed me in this match because he was so hard to contain even after Argentina refused to concede any spacing. Dutch gave it their all but Argentina's defense stepped up big. However they should be very concerned going up against a German side who has proven time and time again since their first match in this Cup that (a) they came to to play to win and (b) they can defend as well as any team in this Cup but they also have the most potent scoring offense. That is a lot for the Argentinians to handle if they aren't scoring well themselves..

not sure what the dutch will be after but damn they're going to be tired.

I think fatigue defined this match. While Holland had an unimaginable amount of energy left in the tank to increase their attacking in the final minutes of regulation and the first overtime 15 it was very clear around the 111' that they were just out of gas and that all the extra mileage from their previous overtime and shootout matches finally caught up with them. Respect to Argentina, they clearly scouted their opponent better than Brazil did and it showed.

What have we learned about this World Cup now that we are at the Final?

1) Fucking shit, Germany is THAT good. Since they annihilated Portugal and haven't allowed more than THREE goals in five matches meanwhile they've scored SEVENTEEN (repeat 17!!!) goals!! A 14 goal differential has to be a record!! I think they win on Sunday and win easily, and I don't say that based solely on the Brazil stinker, but rather their cumulative performance. They shut out great teams while scoring massive goals..

2) Spain really was THAT bad. They overly inflated Holland's numbers to wrongly persuade us that maybe the Dutch were that good, but back-to-back shootouts clearly suggest otherwise. I like the Oranges, and its been fun following them in this tournament. They humiliated Spain, they pissed the fuck off out of Mexico, I say they had a great run worth celebrating even if they just can't get over that hill to win it all! I really really really thought they could win after their wins against Spain, Chile, and Mexico BUT I think we've discovered that those teams were more flawed than we realize. The Semi-Finals of any tournament reveal just who a team is and what they are really made of, and we found out the Dutch were great, but just not that great!

(3) Fucking shit can we officially say USA had the third best showing in this entire Cup? Look at how Germany feasted on Brazil's mistakes meanwhile could barely score against USA. They eliminated Ghana who played well. They almost managed to hold out 3 of the best teams in the Cup to just one goal (aside from that damned miracle by Ronaldo being Ronaldo) and only allowed Germany to score one, and Tim Howard had an ALL-TIME match against Belgium. Behind the two Finalist I dare say USA was the third best team looking at their opponents strength.

(4) Brazil sucks, and they knew it, but they had a lot of homecooking with the officiating that totally and artificially inflated their performances. In hindsight we knew they were getting really lucky, but Germany utterly exposed them as frauds.

(5) Costa Rica IS that good, and how the fuck they lost to Honduras in the knock out stage of the Gold Cup last year is mind boggling. It should have been USA-Costa Rica for the Gold Cup Final last year, and we know realize how lucky Panama got..

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

Robben impressed me in this match because he was so hard to contain even after Argentina refused to concede any spacing.

It's all about opinions but there really was only one winner tonight between Robben and Mascherano. As Bertrand says, Robben hardly helped himself but Mascherano was just having one of those games where he seemed to be everywhere, stopping everything. I'm sure even Robben would admit Mascherano was a beast tonight.

Although he might feel lucky to have been allowed back on the pitch after appearing to be out cold for a while.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

It's all about opinions but there really was only one winner tonight between Robben and Mascherano. As Bertrand says, Robben hardly helped himself but Mascherano was just having one of those games where he seemed to be everywhere, stopping everything. I'm sure even Robben would admit Mascherano was a beast tonight.

Although he might feel lucky to have been allowed back on the pitch after appearing to be out cold for a while.

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

Mascherano man of the match can't be denied especially after playing final 10 minutes with gauze hanging out of his mouth..

Agreed

[demonrail666]

Ah, stand corrected. Although I think it was Zabaleta with the gauze in his mouth. Another one who had an excellent game.

 

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

Ah, stand corrected. Although I think it was Zabaleta with the gauze in his mouth. Another one who had an excellent game.

 

That is totally right! They both got hit in the head so I mixed them up together in my purple hazy memory!

Then we should give man of the match to him instead yo

[h8kurdt]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

netherlands-brazil should be interesting. the brazilians will seek to redeem themselves, not sure what the dutch will be after but damn they're going to be tired.

I totally disagree. Brazil have been demoralised by a massive loss and since then Brazil gave turned against them pretty hard. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of them didn't want to play come Saturday (not that it's their choice). How can Brazil even hope to redeem themselves after the Germany game? The players know it's a consolation match and would rather just bugger off on their holidays bury their head in the sand for a coupla weeks.

[Bertrand]

You are right, team sheets will be unpredictable.

In past editions, France (as it's the only team I get to watch regularly) played the game for third place twice in a row.
In 1982 Platini & co were so disgusted after their loss in the semi that only 4 of the regulars started (3 defenders and midfield hero Tigana) and lost to Poland; Poland had kept its incisive forwards and midfield threat.
In 1986 it was slightly the same, except that more guys decided they wanted to play that last game, and won it against Belgium.

The questions are: how many want to step up, how many starters are determined to stay away, and what do the coaches want (one is devastated, the other probably not so)?

As for fantasy football, it might be the best game for scoring with an underdog.
Alas, I don't think I'll be able to have access to the internet between tomorrow and the day that will follow the German victory, so I won't get to dump a 6-pointers for a deceptive 4-pointer or change my captain.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by h8kurdt

I totally disagree. Brazil have been demoralised by a massive loss and since then Brazil gave turned against them pretty hard. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of them didn't want to play come Saturday (not that it's their choice). How can Brazil even hope to redeem themselves after the Germany game? The players know it's a consolation match and would rather just bugger off on their holidays bury their head in the sand for a coupla weeks.

Yeah. I always think there's something unnecessarily sadistic about the third place match. It's no more than a spectacle of humiliation for everyone playing than an actual football match. At best both sides will play young or marginal players who didn't feature much before, but then it becomes meaningless to watch in terms of what we might learn. I just wish FIFA would finally show some humility and abandon the fixture forever.