Match 62 (SF) - Germany v Spain - Post-Match Thread [R]

Nonsense.

Hungary and Czeckoslovakia have been runners up the same number of times as the Dutch.

10 teams have gotten higher in the World Cup than Spain ever has, some multiple times.

spain's best finish until now ( third) is the same as the USA's

 

depends, mediocre compared to what? i think reaching 3. place in the last 2 WC's is pretty damn good. every other nation would be extremely happy about that, see uruguay. but for Germany, this is just "mediocre"? dude, you are spoiled. and i the end, they maintained their performance, unlike italy for example. i know, you cannot win the WC every 4 years, but the cap between winning WC and loosing in first round is a little too big for my taste. i think the german NT has future. since they reached the EC 2008 final, i can already seem them taking the cup 2012 with both hands this time. you'll see.

 

You are a favorite now. Go and get it.

 

certainly no other contenders....

 

Watching the game again, amazing how much the Germans laid off the Spanish on the ball.

 

Well said. Spanish at its peak with their one touch football and Germans at the beginning of their new cycle with devastating counter attack. People forget that Spain was schooled by Zidane and France in 06. They lost 3-1. It was a similar squad but they were young and on the rise. This year's Germany is on the right track. It is exciting football. But they had some holes and Spain was ready for them. I don't think Germany could have done much better. It's unfortunate that Muller was out to make full assessment.

 

It's seems they were just too lazy this night in order to practise a smart pressing against Spain's midfield (as happened against Argentina) ... instead they decided to sit back and just run without much brain after very skillful & clever opponents until they got tired (same happened in the EC 2008 final after 15-20 minutes). Heck, they didn't even have enough power & will to kick those Spanish "ball masters" (unlike the Dutch...

I think that the Spanish players & coaching staff still can't believe what a toothless & tactically naive opponent they had been facing in this semi-final. Nevertheless, Germany could have won that game if Kroos & Özil had been more clinical in their finishing ...