2014 FIFA World Cup™ Quarter-Finals: France vs Germany|Fri, Jul 4, 12:00 PMET

It's such a shame that this is a QF match and not a semi at least. These two teams are in the top 4 of the tournament, so I really wish one of them wouldn't be knocked out prematurely (especially not my team!), but it is what it is! The nerves are already starting to kick in, but I'm trying to remain positive.

It's kind of annoying that France and Germany play on the same day as Brazil despite the fact that Brazil's round of 16 game was a whole two days before France and Germany's! I know people have different opinions on whether or not the weather plays a part in a team's performance, but having two extra days rest is a definite advantage that cannot be argued with. It's not going to affect France and Germany's game since they both played on the same day, but the winner is definitely going to be at a disadvantage in the semi final.

 

Ever since FIFA automatically places the host in Group A the host had the longest rest periods in the tournament, Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010 were the same. Interestingly Spain were in Group H in 2010 and therefore had the shortest rest periods between games

Btw, I noticed Mario Goetze on the photo above, I really hope he won't be playing on Friday, his WC has been terrible so far. Most people expect Schuerrle to start instead

 

Oh I know, I wasn't crying conspiracy or anything, just commenting on how annoying it is.

 

I sometimes wonder whether long rest periods in tournament football are really positive. This isn't like club games where players lead their normal lives between matches. Here the players are locked in together inbetween matches and some teams can cope better with that than others. Brazil had almost a week of nothing to do which isn't always positive

 

I guess it depends for each team. The French team, for instance, seems very unified and all the videos I've seen of them before/after the games shows that they are truly a group of friends. The environment they're in is really important (WC 2010 really proved that, at least for France), so I think the extra days is a good thing if there is a real sense of unity within the team. If there isn't, then yeah, I can definitely see the extra days being detrimental.

 

Either way whoever starts, whether it is Schurrle or Gotze, Varane, who arguably has been our best performer honestly (so in a similar vein it should be his pic up there, and not Benzema), will need to continue to defend the way he has. After being injured for the Nigeria match, Sakho will come back into the starting lineup. It's expected Griezmann will start at LW, leaving Benzema to be the central striker in the 4-3-3.

Like my compatriot pandore said, it really is a shame that it is a QF and not a SF or final, as I do humbly believe we are the two nations who would be the strongest European contenders not only at this tournament, but will be so when Euro 2016 comes around as well.

To further note the similarities, the pattern at work for building our teams. After hitting a quasi rock bottom, I would say similar paths were taken.

Germany:
Euro 2000: Very disappointing appearance as defending champion.
WC 2002: Unexpected run to the WC Final.
Euro 2004: The nadir. Humiliation.
WC 2006: A run to the semifinals with a team which introduces several young (at that time) staples such as Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Mertesacker.
Euro 2008: Run to the Euro final, and a year later Euro U-21 Champions with a great generation.
WC 2010: Semifinal appearance and strong tournament with a new foundation (Neuer, Ozil, Muller).

France:
Euro 2004: Very disappointing appearance as defending champion.
WC 2006: Unexpected run to the WC Final.
Euro 2008: One can argue WC 2010 truly was the nadir in terms of overall embarrassment, but Euro 2008 in just footballing terms was just as bad as we had a dull draw with Romania, and two embarrassing losses (4-1 to Holland, 2-0 to Italy). And Domenech was not fired!
WC 2010: No one needs to say anything. But on the positive side, the 1991 generation wins the Euro U-19 championship, beating Spain in the final.
Euro 2012: We did not quite match in that sense, but a year later we would be World U-20 Champions with a great generation.
WC 2014: If we're to match, we need to win on Friday! Although new foundation is in place (Pogba, Varane, etc.)

 

Can't wait, what a cracker this could be

 

This is of course very important. Another huge factor is how experienced the teams and coaches are with tournaments like the World Cup and how knowledgable they are when it comes to restitution. When you have short rest periods you obviously need to be good at restitution. Four days rest should not be a problem really. Inexperienced players and coaches sometimes train with too high intensity when they get longer rest periods; there's competition amongst the players to earn a start and some coaches don't fully understand the physical strain of a tournament like WC and demand too high-quality training sessions. What you need to do on the days you don't play is actually one of the biggest reasons experience is so important.

 

Honestly, I totally agree, I'm so surprised Varane has barely gotten any recognition, especially from people who aren't supporters of the EDF. I, too, would place him above Benzema in terms of our best player so far. Don't get me wrong, Benzema has been great and I'm sure there's more greatness to come from him, but Varane has been ridiculously solid.

As for Griezmann starting, not only did he make a noticeable difference against Nigeria (even apart from the goal), but Benzema also looked a lot better once he came on. Not to take anything away from Giroud, who was excellent against Switzerland, but it makes more sense for Griezmann to start on friday. At the same time, I wouldn't fault DD for going with Giroud though; he clearly knows what he's doing.

 

France will win if the line up is right vs. 4 CDs.

 

The only other reason why DD could start Giroud would be because he had a good game against Germany in a friendly which was one of his first internationals, though I agree, Griezmann would be, at least the way that I see it, the better choice.

 

I'm a French fan as you all know and I think very highly of Hugo Lloris. Though for me, Neuer is and has been best of his generation. Due to my age, I can't say I know any goalkeeper prior to 1997 when I was in elementary but to me the best I have seen would be (in no particular order) Buffon, Neuer, and Schmeichel.

 

I would be happy with either team facing Colombia afterwards.

 

i think France will face Colombia afterwards.

 

A dream match for me.

 

As a Brazil fan, and assuming our team can get through Colombia, I really hope we get Germany in the semis. Not because it would be easier, but if France takes us out of a 4th WC out of the last 8 (of which we won 2), I think our countries will have to cease diplomatic relations.

 

Living in France i want France to take it, it will be crazy out on friday evening

but as far as i'm concerned it's very balanced with slight advantage for Germany...i think Germany might be to France what Spain was to Germany these last years, you can sense that even if it's close, Germans will do what it needs to get further..at least it's the feeling i have but i hope France will surprise me.

 

Tough choice. I have picked Germany, but I am not going to pretend much confidence in that choice. France is equally meritorious and this game will be decided by how things go when the game starts. Neither starts with a clear advantage over the other.

 

I reckon France could break German defense, but lately it seemed Benzema and Giroud didn't get along well against Nigeria and i fear it will disturb the squad unless Deschamps makes another choice.

 

As aforementioned, Griezmann may well get the start on Friday. I am somewhat surprised that at the time of this posting France are getting more votes than Germany. That kinda makes me nervous considering that I'd assume more would pick Germany. And with good reason. Just on paper, they are the favorites, and historically they have edge on us as well. We've done very well though against them lately, especially the Zidane/Henry generation, but obviously both sides have different players now.

I think there is significantly quite more pressure on Germany than us, but at the same time I think there is a self-belief in our squad that we're better than quarter-finalists. One nation will be ecstatic come Saturday, and another disappointed, may the best team win.

 

You clearly haven't seen much of Neuer in the last year or so. He plays like this by design, it was Guardiola who realised that Neuer was a very good footballer with great passing and ball control and had qualities that goalkeepers typically don't have. Since posession play is king for Guardiola he started to use Neuer in a semi-sweeper role and integrated him into the buildup game. Under Guardiola Neuer is not allowed to kick the ball high into the opposition half as all other goalkeepers do (he only does it at Bayern in exceptional circumstances) but must pass his way out of his half so that the team can retain the ball. So Neuer's sweeping are not moments of panic but designed to occur like that. Whether or not that's a wise strategy is another matter