2014 FIFA World Cup

They *need* to play defensively… Germany pounce on anything otherwise.

I think it will all come down to whether or not Di Maria is fit to play. Messi *NEEDS* someone reliable to whom he can pass the ball out of the nest of defenders routinely encircling him.
 
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They *need* to play defensively… Germany pounce on anything otherwise.

I think it will all come down to whether or not Di Maria is fit to play. Messi *NEEDS* someone reliable to whom he can pass the ball out of the nest of defenders routinely encircling him.

I thought it was established that Di Maria would not be able to play for the rest of the Cup, wasn't it like a torn ligament or something? And even if he can somewhat recover, is an injured Di Maria going at 50% really better than his replacement at 100%?
 
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Netherlands - Argentina - god, that was SUPREMELY boring. First time in my life that I fell asleep during a soccer game… or in front of the TV, period!
I had so been looking forward to see Robben (my favourite player from the group phase, by far) play again and then he touched the ball a whopping 6 times in the whole first half. (and without doing anything remotely interesting with those 6 times...).
Went to bed after 70 minutes.
Whoever wins Sunday, I just hope it will be a more exciting game!
 
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??? - Argentinia won 1986 against us, we won 1990 against them in the finals.
Since then we have beaten them on a regular basis.

Yes, but no European team has ever won the cup when it has been held in the Western Hemisphere
 
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It's gonna be close. My prediction is that whoever scores the first goal wins because the other team will have to open up their game.
 
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I couldn't agree more. The next coach that makes his team play pure defence just so they can have a shot beating a team in penalty time that they couldn't beat otherwise should be made an example of. That has to be seriously the most chickenshit way of playing that I've ever seen.
 
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Well, to be fair, the better team won in the end…. Argentina outplayed the Netherlands throughout the game. But neither played exceptionally well.
 
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I couldn't agree more. The next coach that makes his team play pure defence just so they can have a shot beating a team in penalty time that they couldn't beat otherwise should be made an example of. That has to be seriously the most chickenshit way of playing that I've ever seen.
That's a possible way of playing successful. It's not the choach's job to please the audience, it's his his job to deliver positive results. Results can be achieved by this defensive style of play if you can't compare with other teams on the offensive end. E.g. look at Chelsea FC winning the Champions League in 2012. They weren't nearly as talented as Barcelona, Bayern or Madrid, but had an awesome defending style and teamwork. It was aweful to watch, but successful.

If Brazil had played against Germany the way Algeria played against them, the whole team defending with strict discipline, they may not only have lost by a more decent score but would actually have had the chance to win this game by some counter attacks or in penalty shootout. But they tried to play offensive football, attacking, pressing forward against a team that is just so much better in this playing style. Scolari made a huge error here.
 
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I think the Netherlands gave away the semi-final. They are acctually good at playing offensive football. It would probably have been better for them if Argentina scored so that they would have started playing.
 
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Yep - Germany needs to attack; risk one, two goals by Messi - and shoot three makes it a win!
 
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Woah ! 2 equally strong teams ! 0 goals for anyone ! And it isn't even over yet !
 
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Humbug. Quite a few chances for Argentina tossed away… And Messi was a walking zombie for most of the match; he was practically never around for a counterattack unless he was the one with the ball.
 
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I think the Netherlands gave away the semi-final.
Not really. Shootouts are always a matter of luck no matter what people say.

Congrats Germany!
I believe the tradition is Merkel congratulating players immediately after the game while they're under the shower, not a moment before or after!

28wc48m.jpg
 
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