France have the home advantage and their frantastic 4. Germany has 4 starters injured or banned. France are the clear favorites
Our defense can serve as your fantastic four. I don't think we are the favorites being at home. But of course I think we are helped by Germany's absences. I think we have a better chance than we did in 2014, but I would say Germany are still the favorites.
Loew said in the PC that Schweinsteiger will definately start the match, meaning he is at 100% . I think that will give Germany the edge because of the better defense and GK. It will be much harder to score for France then in all other games. Looks like there will be 9 World Champions in the German starting-11. My money is on them...
I think Germany. Seriously France are not that good. That 5-2 win over Iceland was kind of a fluke. Remember last world cup France beat Switzerland 5-2, but that seemed to just be a fluke as well. France are better than Switzerland and Iceland no doubt, but those scorelines were both sort of flukes. Don't let those convincing wins fool you. Germany is at least two steps up from any other team France has played in this tournament. Germany have more team spirit and a better gameplan, and their record vs home teams is really good, so I think Germany will win.
I think Germany will win too, but how the hell was that a fluke? It's not like we beat Spain or Italy by that many goals. Iceland had a phenomenal display this year, but that doesn't mean our result against them should be invalidated. Germany are not Iceland. No one believes we'd beat them by that much. Most of us are actually predicting a Germany win.
Germany lineup will possibly be: Neuer Hector, Hoewedes,Boateng,Kimmich-- Schweinsteiger,Kroos-- Draxler,Oezil,Goetze-- Mueller That's a lot of experience and that might make the difference. The key-players of France: Pogba, Griezmann,Payet, Giroud definately don't have that in big tournaments. But they might get it with a win today ;-) Will be a much more exciting match to watch compared to Portugal vs Wales for sure! Hope the winner will also be the Champion 2016!
I mean sort of a fluke. I think you would have beaten Iceland any day, but it wouldn't have been by that margin anytime. Basically I am referring to the 5-2 win over Switzerland in 2014 World Cup. That was kind of a fluke. You were better than Switzerland but Switzerland are not nearly as far behind as that game might have indicated and same with Iceland.
A three goal difference is not that much. Switzerland are very overrated and while Iceland had a fantastic tournament, I don't agree that we wouldn't be able to beat them by a three goal margin in the future. Sure, if we played many games against them, I'm not saying they'd all end in 3+ goal wins, but I don't think that this past game was a fluke. If we won against a team like Spain or something 5-2, THAT would be a huge fluke. That would never happen though, sadly.
To me this game comes down to a couple of things. Can Germany take advantage of France's back line? Going into the tournament we all knew their defense was suspect and Germany will have chances to break it down with their attackers. Also, it will be interesting to see who wins the midfield. IF France can take control and keep possession that will open up things up offensively and then the Defense won't need to be perfect. They would just need to be able to hang on. Should be a great match.
Pogba and Griezmann have not had experience in big games like this for their Senior National team. However Pogba was influential in the U20 World Cup and they both played in the last World Cup and have reached the Champions League Final. A different kind of pressure of course but still pretty good experience in tough games.
Ronaldo and Nani Take Portugal to the European Cup Final 2016 http://www.damnmagazine.xyz/2016/07/ronaldo-dan-nani-bawa-portugal-ke-final.html
Lets be honest, Germany hasn't exactly blown-away the competition in this tournament either. In terms of France having it easy up until now, well that is true for most teams - its a product of the expanded tournament. Okay, Germany played Italy but they didn't beat them and didn't look impressive either. Apart from that one so-called tough match, their opponents have been around the same level as France' opponents and they're getting similar results (i.e. 1-0, 0-0, etc.).
wow, what a game we have for us today portugal doesn't have a great record against either of these teams. it will be a very tough final for us no matter who wins this game hopefully this battle of juggernauts lives up to expectations. good luck to both sets of fans, hopefully the better team comes out on top!
Can someone explain to me why anyone in their right mind would replace Kante with Sissoko in the starting lineup? Madness, unless he's injured.
That looked like a penalty to me after watching the replay. But I was so scared before watching the replay because I know that all "neutrals" would cry about favoritism. I'm curious to see what others thought. Germany by far the better team though. You've answered your own question - Deschamps is not in his right mind.
France deserved the penalty, but they are just so lucky to be ahead. The Sissoko - Matuidi - Pogba midfield is being ripped apart.
if kante started instead of sissoko, griezmann would have to play on the wing, where he is less of a goal threat.
Not like he's been anything of a threat so far... And I have no idea why replacing Kante for Sissoko requires Griezmann to play on the wing... Kante is the same player, just vastly superior.