Lol, Passlack just answered the Argie provocation with Götze's goal celebration in the world cup final.
FT 4:0 So Germany qualifies for KO round and Argentina out without scoring a single goal in 2 matches Those who had seen this German team in Euro U17 earlier this summer, do you think the team looks impressive compared to what they have done in summer?
The team looks impressive, but both Australia and Argentina looked outclassed. I wonder if we're in a weak group? Perhaps Mexico could be a tougher challenge.
Another German tournament victory over an Argentinian national team. At some point Argies will have to make our players sandwiches after game's end.
As a collective, the Argentinians looked awful. They have no idea how to press together. They left huge gaps in midfield(as Wück expected). They had the same problems against Mexico and they haven't learnt anything. They were 11 individuals, not a team. That's very poor coaching. The German players, on the other hand, have great tactical awareness and knew how to exploit Argentina's weakness. Plus, they are technically very very good (except Nesseler). Man of the match performance by Janelt. This boy has a very high ceiling. RB Leipzig have done really well to snatch him from Hamburger SV(it seems). Mexico will be a bigger test for Germany. They have won two U17 World Cups in the last 10 years and reached the final in the last U17 WC in 2013. Their current team is pretty good despite the 0-0 draw with Australia. They are a much better collective unit than Argentina. They don't have problems creating chances but they seem to struggle finishing them. We can beat them but it probably won't be as easy as it was against Argentina and Australia. Mexico's left winger #8 Pablo Lopez looks like a great talent. The #9 Aguirre has a very good all-round game ( despite wasting some chances, he looks like a gifted player),
After the second round of matches in the group stage, I think it's pretty obvious that one of the following teams will win the tournament : Nigeria, France, Mali or Germany. I really liked what I saw from South Korea, Mexico and Chile but they are unlikely to lift the trophy. Chile lost 5-1 to Nigeria but they are still a good team, IMO. |Their problem against Nigeria was that they were very naive. They played very attacking football and got caught on the break again and again, plus the Nigerian players are much bigger, faster and stronger than them. There is no shame in losing to the defending champions. Anyway, Chile's style of play is great to watch for the neutral. They are full of technical and creative players who combine very well(reminiscent of the senior national team that won the Copa America a few months ago). Tonight they need to beat USA to progress to the round of 16. Hopefully they will. I believe they are better than the Americans + they have the home advantage. Moreover, it would suck to see the hosts crash out of the group phase. Vamos Chile !
USA take the lead in the 10th minute. Dreadful defending by Chile. They could have cleared the ball 2 or 3 times. They won't be going to the next round if they concede stupid goals like this one.
Final score : Chile 4-1 USA.That was a very entertaining game. Deserved victory for Chile. It's good for the tournament that the hosts aren't crashing out in the group stages. But to be honest Chile were far from perfect. They made too many basic mistakes. There were too many rushed passes. Doesn't bode well for their next games. It has to be said that they play with a lot of passion. In the other game, Nigeria looked absolutely awful against Croatia. They were terrible tactically and deservedly lost. And they were supposed to be one of the best teams in the tournament......
Did Nigeria play with a B-team, seeing as they had already qualified prior to the match, which could be a reason for Nigeria playing so badly?
No. Only 1 new player. Germany brings 3 new players tonight compared to the Argentina game. Janelt, Karakas and Nesseler are out, Saglam, Akyol and Busam in. I think Janelt is being rested, he was one of the best players vs Argentina.
I think it was Mexico's organization and pressing that made our players look so lethargic. They have a very good team so there is no shame in losing to them. Our midfield engine Janelt wasn't even brought on in the last 20 or so minutes. Why ? Saglam is clearly not as good as him. This defeat is a good wake-up call. We take on Croatia in the Round of 16. They have a good, physical team. If we beat them, we will face Mali in the quarter finals. They have a very strong team and they eliminated us in the U20 World Cup a few months ago at the quarter final stage.
The Croatian players are pretty big and physically strong so the Nigerians couldn't outmuscle them. Also, Nigeria had no organization and most of their players couldn't pass to save their lives.
Good generation for Croatia. Have not lost in 14 games and dominated one of the favorites of the tournament Nigeria. There will be at least 4 future national team players from this generation.
Time to get Schmidt back in the starting lineup. He's been a beast whenever given time on the pitch. That was classic chemistry in the assist to Eggestein's goal. These two are like the Michael Jordan & Scottie Pippen of U17 football.
http://www.fifa.com/u17worldcup/new...in-a-striker-guaranteed-to-score-2722169.html FIFA's article on Johannes Eggestein, with some great quotes from the lad: “My strengths are my ability to anticipate a pass and my versatility,” the approachable German reluctantly said in an interview with FIFA.com when asked to describe himself. The statistics back up this assessment, as he has so far scored two goals with his left foot, another with his right foot and the fourth with his head. “I also like to run out from the deep to collect the ball – then I can turn and finish straight away or pick out another pass,” he added. “First and foremost I’m focused on the team, then myself,” said Eggestein. “We want to give a good account of ourselves here. If we can play well as a team, then I’ll score more goals.” “We wanted to be group winners so we’re disappointed with that result,” Eggestein explained. “The Mexicans were extremely aggressive and quick to close down space, and we couldn’t deal with that. Our combination play didn’t work as well as it has done recently, so we frequently resorted to trying out the long ball, which doesn’t really fit with our playing style.” “We’ll learn from our mistakes against Mexico and draw the right conclusions from that experience,” Eggestein said at the end of the interview, issuing an early warning to Germany’s upcoming opponents.
It's interesting that Robin van Persie is also an incredible table tennis player - was by far the best at Arsenal and Man Utd-and they(Eggestein and RVP) are both strikers with great technique who are good at scoring goals as well as creating chances for others #StrangeCoincidence. ' The Bundesliga clubs make stars, especially in the last 6 or so years. He must stay in Germany at least until he's 22. If he goes to a Premier League club too early, they will send him on loan 20 times and his career will stagnate. He needs to resist the big sums offered to him now because it will be for his long term benefit.
Patrick Fritsch out of the tournament with a ruptured ACL, and will also miss the next 6 months. Not a main player on this U17 team, but still something you never want to see happen. Especially with these serious injuries at such a young age.
Eggestein should stay at Werder to continue working towards being a pro. Hopefully his older brother will be an influence in this decision. As he's already signed a contract extension and has begun playing this season on the BL level.
Croatia 1-0 Germany at half time The two teams are evenly matched so far. Croatia took 1 of their 4 chances. We didn't take any of ours. We played well in the last 15 minutes and created some good opportunities. Oezcan, Passlack and Eggestein were close to scoring. Croatia are maybe getting a bit tired so they weren't pressing as well in the end of the half as they were in the first 30 minutes. Hopefully we can continue playing like this and we need to be clinical obviously.