Man, I keep reading this from people... how do you know? You can't know. They were the better team? OK, but sometimes things go against the run of play. Football doesn't always run to script. It's unpredictable. Germany's defense had also proven itself suspect, conceding what should have been two quick ones. England converted too. It's England vs. Germany, at 2-2. There have been massive shocks in football, but these two teams standing from there, of course either outcome is possible. How would Germany have reacted assuming the 2-2 was given... what they had was lost and England would have been back. But in the second half England were chasing and Germany could exploit on the counter. The ridiculous space to run into wouldn't have been the case, they would be more careful at 2-2. Obviously. A shame these decisions ruined both matches.
Dude, they got pumped 4-1, or 4-2 if you prefer. And Germany looked like they could've scored even more before and after the goal that never was. There is really no doubt who the better team was...
Nope. But we know that England won one out of four, and could not beat the US and Algeria... Honestly, I have no particular feeling for the Germans, but they seem way more a Top-8 team than England. With that said, an unfortunate event.
I'm biased if you hadn't noticed xD. We all wouldn't know, now everyone are saying "what if...", it probably would of made a difference, but I don't think by that much. England might have gone with more confidence had it been allowed, but even so, Germany would still create chances. I'm not sure, but did you watch the game against Serbia? If you have, then thats my explaination why they would of still won. Even if they lost that match to Serbia and played with ten men, they still went on and dominated play and should of scored,Podolski stuffed up his kick but other than that he and Ozil had other chances as well. The German defense isn't that formidable, I can agree with you on that, but the Germans were just better against England, they were calm and they didn't rush like the English. Also, you could tell that Manuel Neuer was pretty much ashamed of that Lampard goal, and the Germans were shaky after that, but they shrugged it off later and just moved on. Scotch is right. They could of been a few more goals up Germany, despite them having lower possession percentage than England. To be fair, it was Englands fault for coming second after the US, they could of avoided this match.
Japanese referees have been critiscised alot on this forum, but it seems our friend Mr. Nishimura is making a very positive appearance at the World Cup. He's already done 4 matches, and did a very good job today as well in the Brazil-Holland match. Chances are he is in contention of getting another match as well. And if I remember correctly, didnt the Japanese referee in the 2006 WC go all the way to be in charge of the bronze-final? So can it be that Japanese referees arent as bad as we think, or is Nishimura only an exception...?
Not an exception, I always defended our referees because I knew they were good. Nowadays, there's a big target on every referee to explain all the problems.
Awww... What a game! Suarez showed tonight what it means to risk! It was a hand but that showed how football is beautiful - from zero to hero! And I hope Gyan's mother didn't apoligezed for that PK...
I think many of the asian refs have been doing really well. Nishimura has been the most decent ref in the whole tournament.
Wow, germany playing like Italy (in the good old days): six defenders and blitzkrieg counterattack. Surely the best team seen so far. Messi and Tevez whenever they get the ball are surrounded by five players. Mission: Impossible, since nobody else from Argentina is stepping up...
Not really surprised about 4 goals for Germany, but that Argentina didn't score. Argentina's defence looked like amateurs, didn't help that Samuel and Zanetti weren't there. Heinze has always been a clown, Demichelis is a joke, Burdisso is tad inexperienced, and who the hell is Otamendi? There's my FIERY analysis. Did I go overboard? It all looks good for Germany but will they go all the way? Anything can happen.
Man, living in Germany, I never did and still do not like them to win. And now it's not even the typical German brand of winning through their will, everyone loved to hate... but Maradona showed that he doesn't have a game plan at all. Didn't see any tactics except to rely on individual skills. Germany was perfectly comfortable the whole time, making it even the easiest match in the whole WC for them after scoring early.
We knew that Argentine's sideback were crappy. The Germans knew too... Unbelievable how NONE of Messi shots in this WC went in!! The final toll: Rooney = 0 C. Ronaldo = 1 (vs North Korea) Messi = 0 Okazaki = 1 Lee Jung-soo (DF) = 2
Torres - 0 And it will stay at zero. No way Spain can score against Paraguay, who are the perfect team to frustrate Spain. As I said in another thread, I predict a red card for Spain at some point, and a 1-0 Paraguay win in extra time. Or it might go to PKs again, and that's a crapshoot. But I do not see Spain scoring or going through any way other than PKs.
Paraguay is taking it to Spain. The Spanish will be wishing they had Japan's backline if this keeps up.