2014 FIFA World Cup™ Semi-Finals: Germany vs Brazil| Tuesday, Jul 8, 3:00 PM

You would have a problem with Brazil's playing style if the referees had been handing out cards according to the rules. With all that kicking and tactical fouling by the Brazilian players you should be missing more players in the semi-final. I really hope there will be a strong and impartial referee on Tuesday who doesn't succumb to crowd pressure.

Playing defensive like Paraguay is not shameful. It's a legitimate tactic and not against the rules. What Brazil did in the Colombia game was against the rules. They were just lucky that the rules weren't applied to them. Neither were the rules applied to the Netherlands in the 2010 WC final.

 

Tough game for both. My prediction as a fan is 2-0 Brazil. We'll need the entire stadium supporting the team.

A classic... 8 world cup titles in the field...

 

Fred the unstoppable?
Is this some sort of joke? Everyone across Brazil is embarrassed to have him in the team.

It's like we've been playing with one player less for the whole tournament.

 

I think all of Holland felt the same. There would have be some joy in actually getting to lift the Cup for once, but their would no pride in the thuggish tactics used to reach the grail.

 

I ll take fred over Jo anytime. As a matter of fact I ll rather have romario or ronaldo at their age on the field instead of Jo

Scolari made a huge mistake by not taking diego costa to the confederations cup , brazil could ve gain so much with a true world class forward.

 

If Algeria almost did, I am positive Brasil can. Give us that many chances and we will put the ball in the net every time.

 

This match is Germany's first true test, yet against a desperate team. That's right, desperate. If you think Brazil will play better without Neymar and Silvar, you are out of your mind.

 

I haven't seen this before. It's disgraceful and doing that while in Brazil is to play with fire.

 

Well, in fairness Germany are actually a bit lucky that the refs haven't been too harsh on Brazil in terms of cards. The first yellow Thiago Silva received (i believe it was against Mexico) should have been a red. But if it had been a red then Thiago Silva would not be suspended for the semis

 

I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.

 

No. Not everybody in Brazil is. Just the haters.

 

I'm not saying Jo isn't terrible. He is.

In fact, having BOTH Fred and Jo in the national team says quite a lot about the lack of good strikers in this generation.

 

Haters? Ok, go back your bubble in California or something.

 

Stupid post. Really stupid. I guess you want Jô canelada in his place. Que clubismo babaca!

 

Oh, wait. You're a Fluminense fan. Ok, now everything makes sense.
Nevermind.

 

You can't think like that 'if Algeria almost did'. Germany could argue the same way 'if Chile almost did or if Mexico almost did'. It's a new game with different styles. Sometimes teams play better against attacking teams than against teams that bunker even if the bunker teams are technicalky weaker. A slow striker like Fred might suit Germany better than fast strikers like Benzema. On the other hand Brazil's insane pressing could be a huge problem for the Germans.

 

No clubismo. I think we should sub Fred for someone else and play without a classic striker.

 

Referee will be Marco Rodríguez from Mexico who already officiated Belgium vs Algeria and Italy vs Uruguay. I haven't seen the former game. The latter was obviously the one where he missed Suarez bite attack. I think he also missed some other calls, but he wasn't shy to hand out a red card against Marchisio, so maybe he will not let the game slip out of his hands after all.

 

Algeria didn't bunk at all. It only didn't score because their strikers are not very smart.

Both Chile and Mexico are much better than Algeria.

 

Oh, you want to bring Mano back. I get it.

Thiago Silva wouldn't have scored against Colombia if it wasn't for Fred moving in the box.

 

Football wise this will be one ugly game, but it will be a war and that will make it interesting.

 

You don't need a classic striker in order to play offensively.

You know that. Right?

Anyway, the problem is: without Neymar, and considering the 22 players we have in hand, maybe we don't have much of a choice. We will be forced to swallow the cone.

 

Man, after one month of the World Cup I'm so sick of these arguments 'our opponents are much stronger than your opponents', 'our group is much stronger than your group'. Yawn.
Of course Algeria bunkered. They defended with 8-9 in or around the box and played long balls to the lone striker. That worked quite well in the first half and they could have scored but it doesn't change the fact that that was Algeria's approach. Why do you think Neuer came out of his penalty box so often? Because there were so many long balls to lone strikers. Second half and ET the match descended into a contest of how many glorious opportunities German players could miss. It was as if they had a competition going.

 

Fred is the best Brazilian striker in activity. No one in that team knows how to score better than him. The only reason he is not appearing much is because the team focus on Neymar and Fred stays in the box to hold the defenders with him. With Neymar gone Fred will be able to shine. Taking him out would turn to be a fatal mistake.