PBP: (EURO 08 Quarter-Finals) Portugal v. Germany [R]

True true.

God, I still feel like a Zombie.
After the final whistle we drove straight to the city centre and celebrated till 2am.
Had to wake up at 5:30 and work was especially stressfull today. I feel dead.
Dead but happy.

I'm in this video by the way but you can't really see much:

[youtube]fARm1MLdrt4[/youtube]

What ever happened to Ballack, he dribled and went past defenders like I expected it of Ronaldo. Great stuff.

Rolfes was so calm and his passes were precise, postioning and decision-making very good, that was the greatest difference compared to Frings imo.
Hope he plays the next game.

The Schwein showed up, no doubt about it.

I would have loved if that awesome Podolski shot went in, that was a rocket. He was still running hard at the end of the game, great to see.

 

Frings has a broken rib.

Just imagine a hard driving ball is kicked into that broken rib, potentially pushing that broken rib into his lung, potentially puncturing it. That's very very very serious, and it's a very real possiblity, however unlikely it might be.

For his own safety, Frings should not be playing. The risk is not worth it. End of discussion.

That said, Rolfes and Hitzelsperger playing behind Ballack proved to be a fantastic formula. It freed Ballack to do his thing (and released his awesome qualities), and helped shut down the gifted Portugal attack, in particular frustrating Ronaldo.

Loew should stick to that formula. It worked.

 

I agree with this wholeheartedly. Ballack is at his best in a system that has other midfielders doing the cover duty, and another helping in attack. A 3-5-2, 4-5-1, or 4-2-3-1, not a traditional 4-4-2, are formations that suit Ballack best. This releases Ballack to do his awesome box to box stuff. And when Ballack is free to do his awesome box to box stuff, he is one of the most complete, gifted, skillful, and impactful players in the world. Ballack's Leverkusen days, and yesterday, proved this.

 

Right on, the formation allowed each player to have one specific role which made their task a lot easier to carry out. In the 4-4-2 everyone was multi-tasking, especially Ballack and Frings and much of the time it was over bearing and haulted the rest of the team.

Glad to hear you had a good and quiet flight, lol.

I'm glad I was always behind Rolfes and his inclusion in the squad.

And I think you might end up disapointed. There is no way Loew is benching a match fit Frings, even in this new formation.

 

Yes, sorry for the typo..it was NOT that.

BTW you lucky basterds, you get a Turkish team we manhandled in the group stage, and now missing half their starting XI due to injury and suspension. You should beat them unscathed, and be fully ready for the final

 

I hope that is the case, my only worry is that the team will either play too conservatively, or to arrogant. We need to turn in a performance like the one against Portugal.

 

I think you will maintain it.

Rolfes seemed to bring the urgency and energy in midfield, and allowed Ballack to play further forward.

 

Yes

I think that if everyone else found their form in one game, so can frings.

 

so at which point are you in the video?

 

Where did that come from? I couldn't believe my eyes? They played well as a team and we saw some strong individual performances out there.

First, good on Jogi and Hansi to convert the second striker into a midfielder. We effectively replaced Frings in midfield with Rolfes and Hitzlperger. Great tactical move. For the first time in this tournament, we had a strong midfield presence, making it difficult for a team like Portugal to break through the middle of the pitch.

Individually, I thought Rolfes played a very strong game. Very impressed by his one-touch passing, positional play, and his tackling. He definitely starts in the next game.

Hitzlesperger wasn't bad either, just more quiet. He's got good off the ball movement, something we haven't seen from Frings in this tournament.

And what a fantastic performance from Ballack. I couldn't believe my eyes watching Ballack take on a couple of defenders. This is probably the best game I've seen him play. If I'm Jogi, I'd play him as the attacking mid again. It worked to perfection against a very good Portuguese team.

Schweini looked awesome. If he played like this regularly, he'd be one of the best midfielders in the world.

This game was won for Germany in the midfield, strong performances and good tactics did the trick. I hope Jogi goes with the same lineup against Turkey.

 

Finally I'm sober again after that huge party from Thursday night!


Congrats to our guys on reaching the semi-final! After the criticism they had to face after the Croatia game, it's time to take the hat off to them for this great performance against Portugal! Well, you should never underestimate "Die Mannschaft"...

We had to improve in comparison to the group stage games ... and thankfully we did! The tactical change (we all demanded) in the midfield was the key for this impressive win ... together with our efficiency & the ability to take profit of their weak points. Unfortunately, our defence (especially Mertesacker) made 2 terrible mistakes as well ... but if you score 3 goals, you can afford that.

Kudos to the team on this performance & surprise, this win can't be rated highly enough after all the handicaps we were confronted with! All players played very well ... however, the "Portugiesen-Schreck" Schweinsteiger, Ballack (in his new role as playmaker) and Lehmann deserve a "special" mention!

Gut gemacht Jungs, wir sind stolz auf euch!!!

 

I think they bluffed against Croatia & Austria in order to get underestimated!

 

I think Frings will be there. Just hope he can adapt to the system very quickly, and I am sure he would.

We will win this match. Probably by a two margin goals, if not more. Geez, someone mentioned that even Nihat cannot play against us.

I will be seriously pissed if we cannot make it in 90 mins. Worse, if we lose.