I for one am starting to get World Cup fever. Ever since i was 8 years old i have watched just about every game in every tournament. England have little to no chance but there are some good teams and could be some wonderful games. Germany are my dark horse tip to win it.
You may go with Brazil. Just don't go to Brazil to watch it. If you do and get robbed don't say anything bad to them or they just might kill you.
I think Germany has a good chance even though tge games are not played in Europe. They have 13 players from 2 of tge best clubs in the world Dortmond & Munich. With an assortment of other great players.
Normally WC teams are allstar teams. These guys have played as a team together and really know each other as an opponent.
Belgium has a nice team. They will win their group. They will face the second place team in the German group. They are more them capable of beating the second place team no matter who it is.
Spain can do the same I don't know who is on their team. But if the put a lot of Barca and Real Madrid players on that team. They hacpve a change.
But I hate that fu king game it is for girls right?
I'm really looking forward to this. I can't see Spain winning their fourth straight personally, my pick is Germany but they've always been the best during the start of the tournament before crumbling in the later stages. Brazil are going to have it tough to get by the second round regardless of them being at home, i can see either Spain or Holland beating them assuming they are the two who make it through Group B. I can't say this is one of the great Brazil world cup squads, Neymar,Ramires,Oscar,Dani Alves and Marcelo are the only big players of theirs i can think of.
England will find it tough to get through their group imo, i see a great tournament for Italy and Uruguay were Semi Finalists in 2010. Whoever gets through the group should easily make it to the quarters though because Group C is terrible. The thing i'm looking forward to seeing is if Argentina and particularly Messi will perform well. Can't say he's had a great international career yet.
At this point i'd say Argentina are a dark horse. It might sound weird that a team of their history would be an outside chance but look at their squad, outside of Di Maria, MessiAguero and Higuain. Who do they have? It looks like a hollow squad with a few world class players thrown in, i'd actually say Englands squad has a lot more depth.
Who did they have Romario who almost was not added to that team. They had the great Babetto and a supporting cast. They had a lot of good mids and backs, but not spectacular players
That was it and it evidently was enough to win it. They had a good wing mid forget his name who was booked red carded, and out of the tournament for his horrible foul on Tab Ramos in the game against the US.
Who did they have Romario who almost was not added to that team. They had the great Babetto and a supporting cast. They had a lot of good mids and backs, but not spectacular players
That was it and it evidently was enough to win it. They had a good wing mid forget his name who was booked red carded, and out of the tournament for his horrible foul on Tab Ramos in the game against the US.
How do I remember all this I hate that game?
WTF are you talking about? The only team with a better overall squad was Italy, i hope your not trying to imply that the 2014 squad can be compared to 94? No idea who Babetto is, but Bebeto was certainly a major influence on that team.
The 94 brazil team had two great players Romario and Bebeto sorry about the spelling I did not like school like you evidently do.
The rest were good players that the coach made into a team. Would brazil had won in 94 without Romario or Bebeto? No fucking way.
My point was that you missed was Argentina could be a team like Brazil was in 94. If that happens they can win.
Damn I hate this game
Again the only superior team to Brazils in 1994 was Italy, while there's clearly at least five better than this Argentina squad.
You are unfairly underrating players like Jorginho,Dunga (who was better than Bebeto), Paolo Sergio,Aldair, the captain Rai, and one of the best fullbacks ever Cafu.
I don't know what type of school you went to, but mine didn't have lessons devoted to the spelling of 90's football players names .
If you hate the game so much you shouldn't talk about it.
Dunga was a defensive Minded player I think he was a defensive mid not an attacking player. So he was better then Bebeto on attack?
Hey US played Brazil what was the score? Did Brazil beat them 5 -0?
I will ask you again could brazil have won without Romario or Bebeto yes or no?
How old are you? I know a lot about things I hate
Dunga was a better player than Bebeto.Yes he was a defensive midfielder. Why would he have to be better on attack to be better? Why would brazil have to beat the US 5-0 to make them a world cup worthy team? Spain practically beat everyone 1-0 in 2010, and Italy drew 1-1 with the US as well as beating Australia 1-0 with a last minute penalty in 2006.
Do you seriously think asking if a team could win without two of their best players is a valid point? Would England have won without Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore? Would Germany have won without Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller? Would Italy have won without Paolo Rossi and Dino Zoff? etc
How about this what players make more money offensive attacking players or defensive mids? I was a back (yes i played) but I could understand that reasoning.
Yes it is a valid point for that particular team. The Brazilians did not like the game their coach brought to that team. But they did like the result in the end.
Incidently, I knew Parreira when he managed the Metrostars.
How about this what players make more money offensive attacking players or defensive mids? I was a back (yes i played) but I could understand that reasoning.
Yes it is a valid point for that particular team. The Brazilians did not like the game their coach brought to that team. But they did like the result in the end.
Incidently, I knew Parreira when he managed the Metrostars.
Offensive players of course, but that's clearly because they bring more entertainment than the defensive players, it in no way means they're better or more important to their teams. I was a right back myself.
It's not a valid point for any team in any sport. Why on earth would it fit the Brazilian 94 world cup team more than say the German 74 world cup team?
For someone to be a good defender they have to now how to tackle. They have to know when to tackle and when not to tackle. They have to be organized as a group.
To be a good defender takes hard work on the practice field.
To be know as a great player a dangerous player you have to be dangerous on attack.
As a back here's how I looked at it. I looked at it from your point of view. You can stop the attacker 99 percent of the time. Then make one mistake and they score you cost your team the game.
Your an attacker you fail 99 percent of the time. Then you score or do something to help your team score and you win. Your the star of the game.
Belgium a good squad so they could get quite far and you can never write off German, of course i want England to do well but i can't see them getting out of the group but they have exciting young players in the squad,A European nation has never won the WC in South America..
Brazil may have revolutionized the game even more then the Dutch.
I am pretty sure they invented the zone defense in soccer. they did not have to chase opponent attackers all over the field like other teams did
Which also led to getting their offensive shape right after they won the ball faster then anybody else.
They communicate with each other on their short passing game by the dribblers foot position on the ball when they make a pass. As far as I know no other country's team can do that.
They get super fast double teams on a player when they make a bad pass in their short game. Their dribbler when he sees he made a bad pass and his short pass receiver converge on the ball.
The United States is going to kick arse or is it going to get their arse kicked?
The US have a decent chance of getting through their group imo. At the end of the day anything could happen, but i believe
Germany will top the group and the second place is up for grabs.
Portugal is the logical second choice, with CR as one of the best players in the world but it's questionable how much help he has, for instance Nani has been abysmal for Man U recently.
Ghana were cheated out of a semi final place in 2010 imo, and i think it's clear that they're the most succesful world cup African team since they reached the quarters in a 32 team tournament, as well as reaching the last 16..
The US are the least likely imo, but even though they are secondary to Mexico talentwise in North America, they have had their best success at the world cup.
I thought Jurgen would bring certain things to the US game that I have not see the US do before.
The Germans and the Dutch short pass movement for creating space I thought was the best in the world at one time. I thought he would bring that off ball movement to the team. It is not a ball skill. It is just movement without the ball. The US is still doing triangulations and movement in a diamond shape to create space for their short passing game. I am very disappointed on not changing that short pass movement.
He had the team long enough to not only play a possession game, but also to play a quick strike counter attack game. If we have a counter atracking game I have not seen it.
We are also open to be counter attacked by opponents. We let that happen its 3 and out definately.
So I would like us to do well as a patriot. But in my head I am pretty sure I know what's going to happen
I hope old Hodgson gives young Ross Barkley a chance. He can be anything he wants to be in the game. England have little chance but with him in the side from the start we could throw a surprise or 2.
Anyone of a dozen sides could win it to be honest.
Yogi got this from one of the soccer sites I am on. God do I hate that game as most people in the US love to say. ----- I also read an article by Dave Kidd in the Daily Mirror tabloid today that sums up a lot thats wrong...
'ACADEMIES BOTTOM OF THE CLASS'
AFTER Fulham youth coach Steve Wigley led the club's Under-18s to their first ever FA Youth Cup Final, I asked him what the FA's commission should recommend to help the development of young English players.
Wigley argued persuasively that youth coaches needed to be properly rewarded so they could specialise as academy coaches, rather than quitting for more lucrative posts among the backroom staff of first-team set-ups.
Wigley was right. As he proved two weeks later, when he quit the Fulham academy to become Stuart Pearce's No2 at Nottinghman Forest.
We do need to promote English coaches and players in the Premiership. We are overrun with foreign players and coaches, many help promote the best league in the world, many do not.
Our authorities have announced measures to try and help our national game but we will have to wait and see what happens!!
Jurgen as a guaranteed contract for at least 4 years he Has security. No matter how the US does in this world cup.
Donovan is still fast, he can still pass, he has good ball control, he has soccer sense, he can finish a chance or a half chance and he has experience under pressure.
He can't go all out the whole game, but how many players over 30 can?
What he can do is pace himself to the right moment and do something to help his team win.
Now he can't do that.
When it comes to the World cup the future is always now. After its over then you look towards the future.
No surprise it mostly monitors Luis Suarez health . There's also a group stage prediction as well and if it was accurate the second round would look like this -
Brazil - Chile Spain - Croatia Colombia - Italy England - Greece
France - Nigeria Argentina - Switzerland Germany - South Korea Belgium - Portugal
How Important is the coach in football? Yes, the coach is very important.
At this level the players should be technically excellent in the skills of the game.
They should have very good football sense. Where to move when they don't have the ball and anticipation on how best to see how to attack.
They should have great vision of what's going on the field while they have the ball and when they don't have the ball.
So again how important is the manager really?
They have to put all the pieces together to form an attacking and defending game plan against each team. That can best lead to victory?
They also have to know how to reach each player physiologically to get the best out of them. All players are not the same you can't reach them all in the same way.
That carries over to the team in general.
However, can you think as a coach you are more important then your players I say no to that.
If you start thinking that way your not going to win. Your going to destroy any team unity that is there if you do.
What do you guys think. I think that is what is happening to the U.S. national team. They ave enough going against them in this world cup. They did not need this and the fault rests with Jurgen.
Hopefully the racist Suarez will be out injured and give England a better chance..
Despite how much of a complete dick Suarez is, i think the cup would be duller without him. Love him or hate him he is one of the best strikers and overall players on the planet and is Uruguay's best hope. As Liverpool are my favourite English team, i of course have mixed feelings. It's like the way i feel about Ronaldo, i don't particularly like the personality he tries to show and he makes me cringe constantly, but i highly respect him as a player.
I wouldn't miss him if he wasn't there to be honest. He cheated Ghana out of a semi final in 2010.
I agree with that, it was harsh what happened to Ghana in 2010. At the end of the day though, if the same thing happened and England benifitted from it i doubt you'd be complaining . Saying that luck always seem to work against Englnd, like the hand of god and Lampards goal against Germany in 2010 being ruled out.
Tevez has also been left out of the Argentina team but he's a trouble causer and there better off without him..
That's less surprising since Teves hasn't played for Argentina for years. Teves has always seemed like he doesn't want to be a football player, he couldn't care less about awards or trophies but makes sure he plays well enough to get his paychecks. Wasted talent imo. It reminds me of Salieri in Amadeus being pissed of at god for giving an idiot like Mozart those talents.
Hopefully the racist Suarez will be out injured and give England a better chance..
Our young defender Paul Dummett who apparently crocked him ( I say apparently cos he never touched him) has since been plagued with death threats from cheesed off Uruguayans!!!!
I seriously doubt he even thought twice about the threats, it's just idiots on twitter and facebook who won't even remember his name in a few months. Suarez himself has alot more serious death threats to worry about since the whole racist debacle.
Will anybody be setting up a fantasy team of something..
I did the Suns Euro 2012 one. I actually finished 3rd in my brother in laws works league. I guess i'll do it again, here's the website apparently it's coming soon. https://www.dreamteamfc.com/roadtorio/
I like Belgium they should win their group. I like Germany to win in their group. Belgium most likely will play Portugal in the next round, and Belgium is talented enough to beat Portugal.
Ok the last time I saw Iran actually play a game was years ago when they played and beat the US. This is what I remember about them back then. They bunker on defense and they counter on attack. They had a pretty good counter back then.
They had one real good player he has to be retired now. He looked like an oriental in fact he looked a lot like Jackie chan if I remember right.
I have not seen costa rica in a long time also. They can do more things on attack. But how good can they be playing in a weak division. They also at one time hired Steve Sampson to be their coach not a good sign
I think of the two at least back then Iran would have won if they played each other at least back then.
Its scary the amount of talent Belgium have got in there squad and most of them play in the premiership..
It's safe to say that the current Belgian squad is the most talented the country has had in years. Courtois, Kompany, Hazard and (in my opinion) Dembele are all world class. Januzaj (who chose Belgium over Kosovo) has incredible potential as well. Being from Belgian myself, I hope they'll get far.
For one thing, I'm a bit sick of Spain. If they're going to win the tournament again, I'm going to shoot myself in the groin.
Belgian clubs are worried by the growing trend of England's elite swooping for their top young talent. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian Not everything that Michel Sablon writes down goes to plan. At Italia 90, Sablon was part of Belgium’s coaching staff, and a couple of minutes before the end of extra time in their last-16 match against England, he compiled a list of the penalty-takers. He had just finished scribbling the names when David Platt, in one of those iconic World Cup moments, spectacularly hooked the ball past Michel Preud’homme. “A great goal by Platt. But I was so disappointed,” Sablon says. “I threw the list away.”
A little more than a decade later Sablon started with another blank piece of paper, this time with the intention of revolutionising Belgian football in his role as the federation’s new technical director. At its headquarters in Brussels, Sablon proudly hands over a copy of the original blueprint, dated September 2006 and titled “La vision de formation de l’URBSFA”. He smiles when asked whether going to this summer’s World Cup finals as fifth favourites was what he had in mind. “For sure, no”.
Belgium’s emergence as one of the strongest nations in world football has exceeded all expectations. A country with a population of only 11m, with just 34 professional clubs competing across two leagues, has produced – and there are no reservations in Belgium about using this term because it is widely accepted as the only description befitting of their talent pool – a golden generation of footballers.
Marc Wilmots’ 23-man squad for the World Cup is replete with stellar names, players who have changed hands for hundreds of millions of pounds and in the majority of cases belong to Premier League clubs. It is also a group that could stay together for years to come – all but six are aged 27 and under. Daniel van Buyten, the Bayern Munich defender, is the only player in his 30s. “It’s excellent,” Sablon says. “But when those guys come together in one group, I think it’s a little bit lucky also.”
Eden Hazard is arguably the most talented of the current roster that also includes Romelu Lukakua and Vincent Kompany. Photograph: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty For the federation, the watershed moment came in 1998 when Belgium were eliminated at the group stage at the World Cup finals in France. Bob Browaeys, who has coached Belgium youth teams at every level and played a major part in putting together Sablon’s blueprint, says there was “no unified vision on youth” at that point. He remembers 30 federation coaches, drawn from the Dutch- and French-speaking parts of the country, meeting to discuss a radical change in approach.
“You have to know that at the end of the 90s in Belgium, they all played with individual marking, sometimes with a sweeper, it was 4-4-2, it was even 3-5-2, we got a lot of results with our A team, because we played very organised. But it was defensive, a culture of counter-attack,” Browaeys says.
Tapping into philosophies and training methods in the national setups in Netherlands and France, their neighbours in the north and south, as well as at clubs such as Ajax and Barcelona, Browaeys and his colleagues proposed that every Belgium youth team would play 4-3-3 and that work should begin on producing a totally different type of player.
“It was a massive shift but we believed that 4-3-3, at that moment, was the strongest learning environment for our players,” Browaeys says. “We felt that we had to develop dribbling skills, we said at the heart of our vision was 1v1, the duel. We said when a boy or girl wants to start playing football, you must offer first the dribble, let them play freely.”
By the time Sablon took over as acting technical director in 2001, there was a playing philosophy but little in the way of structure. Sablon provided that and more. His arrival was also well-timed. Belgium had just co-hosted Euro 2000 with the Netherlands and, although they played poorly and failed to get out of their group, they made a tidy profit off the field.
Sablon made sure a chunk of that money was invested in youth development. A new national football centre was built in Tubize, on the outskirts of Brussels. The number of people enrolling on the entry-level coaching course increased tenfold after the federation made it free. Double PASS, a subsidiary of the University of Brussels, were appointed to audit all the youth systems at club level and make recommendations (the Premier League started using the same company nine years later).
Around the same time Sablon commissioned the University of Louvain to carry out an extensive study on youth football in Belgium, which involved filming 1,500 matches across different age groups. He had worked closely with the clubs for some time, holding regular meetings with academy directors to exchange ideas and encourage them to contribute towards the changing face of Belgian football, but not everyone was convinced.
The university’s results, Sablon says, were a turning point. “That’s why we started with scientific analysis. If we showed the clubs the figures of young boys and girls playing at under-eight and under-nine, and they touched the ball twice in half an hour, no one can say that it’s good. We had the proof. We had the figures. And this was people who were known in football. The guy who made the analysis, Werner Helsen, was a player and a coach in the second division, so he’s a professor in university but also a real football man.”
Michel Sablon was on Belgium's coaching staff at Italia '90 and became the federation's technical director in 2001. Photo: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian One of the findings in the university research was that there was far too much emphasis on winning and not enough on development. There was also evidence to support the federation’s theory that 2v2, 5v5 and 8v8 were the best small-sided games to encourage children to practise the skills – dribbling and diagonal passing – that were central to their philosophy of playing 4-3-3.
Determined to get the message through at all levels of the game, Sablon delivered more than 100 presentations. “I gave an explanation with videos and everything. And then I went to the pitch with the coaches who were preparing the boys. It was about four hours in total,” he says.
“On one occasion I said to a president: ‘I don’t start [this presentation].’ He said: ‘What’s happened?’ I said: ‘I asked the clubs not to put up the rankings for the small boys, from under-7 and under-8.’ Can you imagine what it was like with 300 people in the hall waiting? They moved the rankings with hammers and nails. I said to them afterwards: ‘Rankings is the wrong way. Make the development of your players the first objective.’”
There were also problems to contend with inside the federation when results suffered. “I was responsible for all national teams and we played 4-3-3 from one season to another,” Sablon says. “We lost games, people said: ‘Why did we change it?’ I was once a member of the executive committee, it was an advantage – I could convince people at the top of the federation. Some would shoot me of course, they said: ‘You are crazy.’ They said: ‘We play European Championship and you pay more attention to the playing system than to be qualified.’
I said: ‘Yes, you are completely right.’”
Although Eden Hazard, Thomas Vermaelen and Jan Vertonghen left Belgium as teenagers to continue their football education abroad, crucially the federation was able to have a direct influence on the development of the majority of the country’s elite players.
A joint initiative with the government saw eight Topsport schools introduced between 1998 and 2002, with the aim of providing the most talented boys and girls, aged between 14 and 18, with additional training during the normal curriculum to increase their chances of reaching the top. Those sessions – four mornings a week and two hours at a time – continue to be taken by coaches that work for the federation.
The premise behind it is not dissimilar to the Football Association’s former national school at Lilleshall, which closed in 1999 because of the introduction of Premier League academies, except the Belgian system has a couple of major advantages. With eight Topsport schools dotted around a small country, the players selected are able to commute from home, the corollary being that they are free to train with their clubs four times a week in the evening.
All of which meant that the selected players were receiving twice as much coaching as they did before. As for the success rate, seven of the World Cup squad – Thibaut Courtois, Dries Mertens, Kevin de Bruyne, Mousa Dembélé, Steven Defour, Axel Witsel and Nacer Chadli – came through a system that many of Belgium’s leading clubs have now replicated by collaborating with local schools to increase contact time with their own players.
Jean Kindermans provides a tour of one of the two schools in Brussels that Anderlecht use as part of their “Purple Talents” project, which was launched in 2007 and counts Romelu Lukaku among its graduates. Kindermans, Anderlecht’s director of youth, says that the three-times-a-week one-hour training sessions at school, which are exclusively based on the development of technical skills, have made a huge difference.
Romelu Lukaku came through the Purple Talents project, before signing professional terms at Anderlecht in 2009. Photo: Bruno Fahy-John Thys/Press Association “My ambition was to have more hours to develop young boys,” he says. “Lukaku, you have to know, we took him when he was under-13. He was a good player but not very good technically. He was fast and strong but we had to polish him.”
Education, though, is not allowed to suffer. At the start of the morning session Kindermans welcomes back a group of academy players who were prevented from training at school for a period because their grades dropped off. He explains how he believes Anderlecht have a duty of care that stretches beyond trying to produce another Vincent Kompany or Lukaku.
“In Anderlecht, every day 220 young guys, from under-six to under-21, are dreaming about a future professional career. Explain to me how many from the 220 are going to reach professional level? Maximum 10%. When you are not a good educator, you say the 200 guys that will not reach a professional level is not my problem. I say: ‘Yes, it is my problem.’ We have to tell them that if they don’t reach professional level, because of injury, confidence, bad development, a family situation, if you stay in Anderlecht as long as possible, you will have a degree at school that will give you the opportunity to find a job, to be a human being with intellectual skills.”
While Kindermans praises the work that has gone on within the national setup – he describes Sablon as a “brilliant visionary” – he believes “there is no unique factor that is influencing the good period of the Belgian team”. He is also quick to stress – and these views are later repeated at Genk – that Anderlecht “don’t blindly follow what the federation is asking us”.
By way of example, Kindermans points out that Anderlecht play 3-4-3, rather than the federation’s favoured 4-3-3, up until the age of 14. He offers an interesting explanation for that decision. “Every time we play a match we try to have 70% of possession. So it means if you are going to play with four defenders, you are going to put them at an early age in a comfortable situation. We are playing with three defenders at a lower age to put them in difficulty.”
His commitment to developing footballers, in the purest sense, is absolute. “You have to know that tackling is forbidden in Anderlecht. You can only anticipate or intercept, till they come to Under-21 team, in the second team of Anderlecht,” Kindermans says. “Our main motivation is we want to create technically skilled football players. If our centre-backs try to provide a solution by tackling and putting the ball out, I don’t like it. I want to educate as good as possible: ‘When do I have to anticipate? When do I have to drop off?’ I want to create intelligent players, not butchers.”
He also wants to be able to keep hold of those intelligent players for longer – something that has become increasingly difficult over the last few years, when Belgium’s rise to prominence has coincided with foreign clubs, in particular those from the Premier League, trying to sign the next generation of stars earlier and earlier. The worry is not just for the club that loses the player but what the long-term implications are for the national team if a promising talent is denied the chance to play first-team football at a young age.
“Our philosophy in Anderlecht is to be a trampoline for Europe. We only ask one thing: let us educate,” Kindermans says. “Let us have one, two, three years of sportive reward before leaving. Not leaving at 14 or 15 years old, because I think you [the player] take a big risk and we are disappointed.
“We lost a player [Ismail Azzaoui] recently. We proposed him a contract for three years at the age of 16. I felt he was waiting. And in March I received a message from his father, thanking us for the good job we did with him for the last four or five seasons, telling us he’s leaving the club immediately for a foreign club. Now we know that it is Tottenham. So I have difficulties with that.
“Today the difficulty for young Belgian players is to resist ... when I see [Adnan] Januzaj has left, [Charly] Musonda has left to join Chelsea, Mathias Bossaerts has left to Manchester City, Azzaoui left to Tottenham, I am afraid that if every year Anderlecht is losing one, two or three players of our youth education, we are going to work hard but not get the rewards.
“The compensation is small. For Januzaj it was €550,000. It’s Uefa rules. And Manchester United were quite polite, because they gave more than they had to give, because it was an amazing talent. I remember that people from the [Anderlecht] board said: ‘Oh, nice job for a 16-year-old boy.’ I said: ‘Today, this may be good, we are proud that we can take €550,000. But what if within two, three or four years he will play in the Manchester United first team?’ And today maybe you can ask for 50 times more.”
At Genk, Roland Breugelmans, who has worked for the club for 25 years and been in charge of the youth setup for the majority of that time, echoes Kindermans’ sentiments. An entire corridor on the ground floor of Genk’s academy building is decorated with pictures of players who have come through their youth system, including three of the World Cup squad – Defour, De Bruyne and Courtois – yet so many are gone in the blink of an eye. Siebe Schrijvers, a talented 17-year-old forward, could be the next off the production line.Breugelmans is frustrated but also realistic.
“When a young player has an offer from England, we cannot win. We try to say to our players, stay until the end of school in Belgium, when you are 18, and after you have your diploma you can go to other countries when you have a lot of qualities. But we also have young players going to England at 16 years old, when the parents think: ‘Oh, it’s a lot of money.’ And it is a lot of money, €100,000 for one year. We give €10,000 for one year.”
In terms of the broader picture, Breugelmans maintains that the contribution that certain clubs have made to the health of Belgian football should not be overlooked. “I don’t like the federation saying: ‘With the system of our sport schools, that is the basis of the success now of our national team,’” he says. “I think everybody tried to give something to the player, the club and the federation.”
In Droixhe, a desperately poor neighbourhood on the northern fringes of Liège, another side to the story behind Belgium’s footballing renaissance is told – one that just about everyone in the country agrees has had a major impact on the fortunes of the national team.
First impressions are bleak when the No17 bus reaches the end of its journey from the centre of Liège. Ugly high-rise flats circle the area, rubbish litters the streets and a pushchair is half-submerged in a pond. One of the tower blocks is empty after being declared unsafe. Another two have been demolished, leaving a pile of rubble and an area of wasteland where a group of young boys are showing off their ball-juggling skills.
Droixhe is an area largely home to immigrants, chronically lacking in investment, high in crime and low in prospects – apart from when it comes to football. The gravel court where four teenagers are tearing around in the sunshine is the same makeshift pitch that Christian Benteke, Witsel and Zakaria Bakkali played on when they were growing up in Liège. All three have gone on to play for Belgium. All three also have multicultural roots, which is the case with so many of the players whoWilmots has taken to Brazil. They are inspirational figures to the children playing football in the streets and help to unite what can often feel like a fragmented country.
This makeshift gravel court in Droixhe was once home to Christian Benteke and Axel Witsel. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian “It’s not easy for the kids here,” says Kismet Eris, a former community worker in Droixhe, who runs his own football academy in Liège and also represents Benteke. “They don’t have the same chances as the other ones, and that’s why they’re so proud of the national team, because now they are also accepted as Belgian people, because they see some of their own playing for the national team. A few years ago it was not like that. Now it is more open. With the national youth teams, you can see that you’ve got a lot of children of immigrants, or former refugees, representing Belgium. It’s also the country – the country is people like Christian, [Marouane] Fellaini, Axel Witsel, [Jan] Vertonghen, who is Flemish, Courtois, a Walloon. That’s the typical image of Belgium.”
Belgium, as those involved in football in the country are quick to point out, have achieved nothing yet other than qualify for their first major tournament in 12 years and restore some pride. Their progress, though, is indisputable and, furthermore, everything seems to be in place to ensure they keep getting better. Brazil may just be the start.
“It’s going to be the first time this team is going to play in that type of environment,” says Steven Martens, the secretary general at the Belgium FA. “Can they do that? Absolutely they can. Will they do that? It’s very hard to say. Will they do something remarkable over the next two, three World Cups and European Championships? I am absolutely convinced.”
I don't know why Germany have only one recognised striker in their squad but even Spain used to play with a striker, even just the one up front. I think teams are to technical a bit now. The game has not changed that much, score more goals than the other team will always do the job
Will here it is first game starts tommorow Thurday
Game Time Location TV Thurs. June 12 Group A: Brazil vs. Croatia 4 p.m. Sao Paulo ESPN
Fri. June 13 Group A: Mexico vs. Cameroon noon Natal ESPN2 Group B: Spain vs. Netherlands 3 p.m. Salvador ESPN Group B: Chile vs. Australia 6 p.m. Cuiaba ESPN2
Sat. June 14 Group C: Colombia vs. Greece noon Belo Horizonte ABC Group D: Uruguay vs. Costa Rica 3 p.m. Fortaleza ABC Group D: England vs. Italy 6 p.m. Manaus ESPN Group C: Ivory Coast vs. Japan 9 p.m. Recife ESPN
Sun. June 15 Group E: Switzerland vs. Ecuador noon Brasilia ABC Group E: France vs. Honduras 3 p.m. Porto Alegre ABC Group F: Argentina vs. Bosnia 6 p.m. Rio de Janeiro ESPN
Mon. June 16 Group G: Germany vs. Portugal noon Salvador ESPN Group F: Iran vs. Nigeria 3 p.m. Curitiba ESPN Group G: United States vs. Ghana 6 p.m. Natal ESPN
Tues. June 17 Group H: Belgium vs. Algeria noon Belo Horizonte ESPN Group A: Brazil vs. Mexico 3 p.m. Fortaleza ESPN Group H: Russia vs. South Korea 6 p.m. Cuiaba ESPN
Wed. June 18 Group B: Australia vs. Netherlands noon Porto Alegre ESPN Group B: Spain vs. Chile 3 p.m. Rio de Janeiro ESPN Group A: Cameroon vs. Croatia 6 p.m. Manaus ESPN
Thurs. June 19 Group C: Colombia vs. Ivory Coast noon Brasilia ESPN Group D: Uruguay vs. England 3 p.m. Sao Paulo ESPN Group C: Japan vs. Greece 6 p.m. Natal ESPN
Fri. June 20 Group D: Italy vs. Costa Rica noon Recife ESPN Group E: Switzerland vs. France 3 p.m. Salvador ESPN Group E: Honduras vs. Ecuador 6 p.m. Curitiba ESPN
Sat. June 21 Group F: Argentina vs. Iran noon Belo Horizonte ESPN Group G: Germany vs. Ghana 3 p.m. Fortaleza ESPN Group F: Nigeria vs. Bosnia 6 p.m. Cuiaba ESPN
Sun. June 22 Group H: Belgium vs. Russia noon Game of day gallery Rio de Janeiro ABC Group H: South Korea vs. Algeria 3 p.m. Porto Alegre ABC Group G: United States vs. Portugal 6 p.m. Manaus ESPN
Mon. June 23 Group B: Netherlands vs. Chile noon Sao Paulo ESPN Group B: Australia vs. Spain noon Curitiba ESPN2 Group A: Cameroon vs. Brazil 4 p.m. Brasilia ESPN Group A: Croatia vs. Mexico 4 p.m. Recife ESPN2
Tues. June 24 Group D: Italy vs. Uruguay noon Natal ESPN Group D: Costa Rica vs. England noon Belo Horizonte ESPN Group C: Japan vs. Colombia 4 p.m. Curitiba ESPN Group C: Greece vs. Ivory Coast 4 p.m. Fortaleza ESPN2
Wed. June 25 Group F: Nigeria vs. Argentina noon Porto Alegre ESPN Group F: Bosnia vs. Iran noon Salvador ESPN2 Group E: Honduras vs. Switzerland 4 p.m. Manaus ESPN Group E: Ecuador vs. France 4 p.m. Rio de Janeiro ESPN2
Thurs. June 26 Group G: Portugal vs. Ghana noon Brasilia ESPN2 Group G: United States vs. Germany noon Recife ESPN Group H: South Korea vs. Belgium 4 p.m. Sao Paulo ESPN Group H: Algeria vs. Russia 4 p.m. Curitiba ESPN2
Complete shambles, that must be the worst opening goal in world cup history . Less than 20 minutes in but Brazil look terrible on defence and timid on attack, hoping for a Croatia win here if Brazil don't get their act together.
I thought the first half was both boring and pathetic. A famously attacking (positive) team such as Brazil, crumbling at home. Thumbs up to Neymar,T.Silva and especially Luka Modric who made it a half decent opener.
Pretty disappointed in Brazil's Over all game. It was not just winning when Brazil played it was how you won that really mattered. I guess that is out the window now.
Today the only game I am interested in seeing is Spain v Netherlands. That has the potential be be a great game.
When the game is played right it not a game anymore to me. It becomes more like art. People who don't understand the game just watch what is going on near the ball. Not wants going on off the ball.
I wish when they televise it they can shot it from further away from the ball so you can see both.
The announcers here think you have to dumb down the game to hold American viewers. That is a mistake.
That is why when I watch a game on TV I turn down the sound.
Even when past players comment on the game. They are told not to get to complicated tacticly.
We did have one commentator I liked his name was shamus Malin. He actually has a coaching license so he would use words like shape, negative space and he had an elegant way to describe the game. He did the 94 world cup.
He may still do games in New England. But no WC games anymore.
Not a bad first half, as usual Mexico are one of the most interesting teams that won't make it any further than the second round if even that. I have to say the refs have been appaling so far. After last nights penalty debacle, we now have 2 clear Dos Santos goals being discounted
Van Persies goal was amazing. I thought he was going to wait for the ball to get a little lower so he could volley it with his left foot, but he made the right decision imo. Well taken penalty, but i agree with Gary Lineker that Costa deliberately streched his leg out so there would be contact.
Stunning result! I must admit i overlooked Holland because of their weak defence, but as KillingJoke said They really tore Spain a new asshole . I really loved Van Persie and Robbens goals, especially VP's first one, and now i'm rethinking my position on Holland.
At this point i'm still not ruling Spain out since they also lost their opening game in 2010, it was by alot less but it was also against much weaker opposition in Switzerland. Also imo the result is a bit misleading, while Holland were no doubt the better team, Spain had a better first half imo and even had their chances in the second half. Not to mention the revenge Holland obviously wanted after that brutal 2010 final.
Well no one saw that coming, Holland where fantastic in the second half and Spain could just not cope with Holland.
End of a era for Spain maybe or just a very bad day at the office..
At the end of the day their two best players Xavi and Iniesta are aging and are alot less effective nowadays i think that has been shown in Messi's output last season also. I'd also say that they're missing a potent striker like Villa, while Costa is great he played a bit too much like a playmaker himself tonight imo, which Spain have an overabundance of like Silva,Xavi and Iniesta. They need someone like Villa who is only really looking to finish, even though he also had the occasional flash of technical brilliance.
Noticed something in the Spain game that I never saw before.
There was a foul and a team was given a free kick. The defensive team is supposed to give the taker 10 Yards. Normally an official will place himself ten yards away from the ball, and out stretch his arm. Meaning the defensive team has to be behind his arm.
But in this game the official had a can of spray to mark a line. That the defensive team ad to be behind. I don't remember seeing any official do that before.
Noticed something in the Spain game that I never saw before.
There was a foul and a team was given a free kick. The defensive team is supposed to give the taker 10 Yards. Normally an official will place himself ten yards away from the ball, and out stretch his arm. Meaning the defensive team has to be behind his arm.
But in this game the official had a can of spray to mark a line. That the defensive team ad to be behind. I don't remember seeing any official do that before.
The spraying from the can is quite common in the Dutch and Portugese leagues if that's what your meaning. I have barely watched the Brazilian league, but i imagine it probably is there too, on account of Brazils links to Portugal.
How are you liking it so far Footreads? I have no clue if you were being sarcastic or not earlier, but you seem to be a bigger football fan than any other sport since i haven't seen you active in any other sport threads.
There is no other sport in my eyes other then soccer.
I played both American football and soccer as a kid. My like to hurt people side of my personality loved American football. I stopped playing at around 23 years old.
Soccer started to play at a eleven. Never really stopped playing. Started coaching at 19. Retired from coaching in 1992. Continued to train players for my club in 1994 through 2001. Then started to coach again for another ten years. Then retired again.
I did not like the brazil game because of the way brazil got there PK.
I didn't like the Brazil game because i thought they were shockingly average, and i really thought Croatia deserved a draw at least. As you mentioned the PK shouldn't have been awarded, and imo if it wasnt Brazils 3rd goal wouldn't have happened. Croatia's defence was solid imo, Neymars first goal was just a strike from 20 odd yards before the defence could engage him, the Penalty shouldn't have been awarded, and Oscars goal was the result of an unjustly behind Croatia desperately plunging for an equalizer at the expense of their defence.
Today's Big game England v Italy. Have to tape it because tonight is Dion's concert of Dion and the Bemonts. I am not feeling well, but going any way. Maybe by the time it is on I will feel better.
My heart is saying a England win but my head says a draw.. Come on England..
I'm guessing 2-1 to England. At this point the pressure is off England, nearly everyone is making jokes of how bad England is and that they have a difficult group. I think they'll be relaxed enough to edge out a win.
Three great games today, it's been a great tournament so far. England played well, they were quite unlucky not to come away with a draw. I'd say this is looking like the most promising England side in a while. Congats to Italy, i can see them getting far here.
Even though we lost i'd say it was the best we have played for years, people have been saying we should play the youth, which we did and we still slag them off. Rooney is frustrating at times, but did he get any real service? But he should have took his chance in the second half, stirling was a breath of fresh air to watch and i think he'll terrorise Uraguays aging defence. What Jack Wiltshire brings to the England team is i dont know. I confident we can get something from the next game but we must defend better..
Pirlo is something else, he just dictates the game and gets better with age..
Even though we lost i'd say it was the best we have played for years, people have been saying we should play the youth, which we did and we still slag them off. Rooney is frustrating at times, but did he get any real service? But he should have took his chance in the second half, stirling was a breath of fresh air to watch and i think he'll terrorise Uraguays aging defence. What Jack Wiltshire brings to the England team is i dont know. I confident we can get something from the next game but we must defend better..
Pirlo is something else, he just dictates the game and gets better with age..
Agreed on Sterling he was Englands best player imo, it's hard to believe that he's only 19. There was nothing the defence could've really done about the 1st goal Pirlo's dummy reminded me a bit of the famous Pele one, god knows what the defence was thinking with the Balotelli goal though. Rooney was actually pretty good, it was a good cross for the goal from him and he nearly scored himself late on.
I missed the Italy v England game because of the Dion concert. Forgot to tape the game.
But on a coaching site I was on someone said their was too big of a gap between England's mids and their backs. Did anyone here notice that gap of space. He said Italy exploited that gap.
France has always been a really weird team, they either do great like 98,00 and 06, or terrible like every other tournament since 98. I agree that they're looking good but even though my man Izaguirre is there, Honduras isn't exactly a good or even average team and they still managed to hold a clean sheet until half time.
I have to say i'm still baffled by at Deschamps decision to leave Nasri out. I mean even if he didn't fit into your plans, surely he would've been useful as a sub or a replacement if someone gets injured or suspended.
Apparently Nasri is a bit of a trouble causer as we saw in the Euros. so i guess Deschamps doesn't want people like that around the team a bit like Tevez for Argentina.
Apparently Nasri is a bit of a trouble causer as we saw in the Euros. so i guess Deschamps doesn't want people like that around the team a bit like Tevez for Argentina.
Maybe that is the case, tbh it makes alot more sense. In this article Deschamps disputes your theory which he of course would even if it was true. His reason here is that Nasri does not perform at the same level for France as he does for Man City, yet i've also seen him saying that he doesn't fit into his plans so who knows.
In my opinion they are better off without him, i read that he once refused to be on the bench for France as he thought he was too good. He overated in my opinion,he'll have maybe three decent months in a whole season and is gone missing for the rest.They seemed to coped without him tonight.
In my opinion they are better off without him, i read that he once refused to be on the bench for France as he thought he was too good. He overated in my opinion,he'll have maybe three decent months in a whole season and is gone missing for the rest.They seemed to coped without him tonight.
Again they were playing Honduras, if you think he wouldn't be a major help in games against teams like Germany,Argentina,etc, then i think you just don't like him. Football players of Nasris quality get payed multiple millions a year and get idolized, so they of course have massive egos. If players are to be penalized for temper tantrums, then i actually think Scotland have a chance at the next world cup .
I have to say DE NIRO, after your comments about Suarez (less surprising) and now Nasri, i don't think you're being objective in your ratings of players. You should seperate the World Cup and Premier League, as it's apparent that you genuinely dislike two of the best players on sides that did better than yours this season.
Also Nasri is not overrated in the slightest imo, maybe by Man City fans but that's expected. You don't see him in best player conversations, but most rightfully recognize that he is an elite midfielder. The complete definition of overrated for me, was always when Rio Ferdinand was rated as one of the best defenders in the world
Question is an own goal just a mistake by the defending team?
Or could it be considered a great play by the attacking team? Because when you put a lot of offensive pressure on the defensive team. They are more likely to make a mistake that can lead to an own goal by the defensive team
Question is an own goal just a mistake by the defending team?
Or could it be considered a great play by the attacking team? Because when you put a lot of offensive pressure on the defensive team. They are more likely to make a mistake that can lead to an own goal by the defensive team
Both can happen. For instance this world cup own goal was just idiotic, while it led to the trajic murder of the player if that was actually why he was killed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFjke_ahBYY
The Brazil own goal at the start of this cup suits the latter more imo.
I don't really consider an own goal a mistake by the defensive team most of the time.
I think the attacking team is puttin a lot of attacking pressure on the opponent. If my team was the attacking team I would be pretty happy.
If my team was the defending team and an own goal happened. I think we need more time on the practice field working on the little things that can mean so much in real games.
Today Big Big game Germany v Portugal man I won't miss that one.
Last game America v Ghana it is a big game for me only because I do consider myself a patriot in my own way. But, I do think we could be playing a much better game then we are playing. That does not mean we can't win. But it will make it harder for us to win.
The thing that bothers me most is if we lose Jurgen won't blame himself for the loss. Their are many things i think he left undone.
Their is an old saying "if it is not broke don't fix it" I always thought that made sense.
Until another coach told me "if it is not broke then break it and make it better"
Meaning you should always try to build on the game you already have.
Poor dude from Bosnia didn't stand a chance with his OG last night. You could tell he didn't expect the ball to hit him. Been some decent matches so far
Muller for a second Golden Shoe? It's possible, he so far he has 6 WC goals in total could be a challenger of Ronaldos record later in his career. No idea why Portugal play Nani.
I thought Germany had a good chance to win the WC before the WC even started.
So far it has been a very entertaining WC.
But that spray can thing forget about it.
I was glad to see the official in the German game did not use it.
If I was an official I would be doing tix tac toe games all over the field. Did you ever see the movie Pressure Point with Sidney Portiere and Bobby Darren
Was it fun? The first 38 seconds was definately fun. Then last goal on the corner was fun. But in between those moments where the US could not put three passes together. No that was not fun.
Been to busy watching the games to be here just lately. My thoughts for what they are worth!!
Brazil were not that impressive but got the win. Holland, France and Germany look good, as do Chile, Mexico and Colombia. Italy beat us but I didn't think they were that good (not just sour grapes). We had their legendry defence in all sorts of bother and were worthy of at least a draw.
Spain. Uruguay and Portugal look to have problems. Honduras were horrible, an absolute disgrace!! Costa Rica were superb. Iran and Nigeria stunk the joint out and the USA got a great win. Also for a nation that doesn't like "soccer" they had a huge support there last night!!
All in all a great start to the tournament. Long may it continue
Was it fun? The first 38 seconds was definately fun. Then last goal on the corner was fun. But in between those moments where the US could not put three passes together. No that was not fun.
But at least they won.
Agreed. The only game i enjoyed it more than so far was the crappy Iran-Nigeria game before it. Ghana were better imo, the US only had a couple of chances but at the end of the day they converted them. Congrats to the US, especially to Brooks who was clearly ecstatic that his first goal for his country was that important.
Surprisingly, Dempseys goal is only the fifth fastest after, Robson (27 seconds), Lehner (25 seconds), Masek (16 seconds) and Sukur (11 seconds)
The only thing that ruined the USA v Ghana game for me apart from the BBC's coverage with the nasally little troll Robbie Savage was Jurgen the German's antics after Clint Dempsey got his nose reset by an accidental boot to the face. Jurgen was running around on the side claiming it was a deliberate elbow?? Jurgen wants to remember he was the most famous player in the world once upon a time for throwing himself to the floor at the slightest thing....
He has the USA flying high mind. Intriguing games for them now against Germany and Portugal who really have to win!!!
Germany's game is the same game they always play. There inside game is exactly the same. They do well on set plays
Playing against smaller quicker sides could be a problem for the German defense.
They have nothing to worry about against the US except those clearances the U.S. makes to nobody. But sooner or later Germany will find the back of the net. Maybe multiple times.
Belgium are poor so far. Maybe they have been over-hyped. They have no full backs, they just play 4 centre backs. Lukaku needs support and Hazard needs the ball more, He is the spark for the Belgians. Very special player...but only if he has the ball.
Brazil v Mexico just finish. I never thought I would say this, but I want to be a Mexican today.
Interesting point the Brazilian keeper plays in the MLS the US league.
A really great game. A ton of intercepted passes by the Mexican team. The backs played like they were playing man defense. They would step up on the pass and intercept it.
In the US v Ghana game the US had three player get hamstring injuries.
The field was hard, and that's what happens when you over develop the quadraceps. The contracting muscle (in this case the hamstrings) cannot take an equal amount of stress that the more developed quads.
If the physical preparation fails to accommodate the muscles as a PAIR under similar conditions then the weakest of the two will deteriate and breakdown.
We had a 17 yr old player that we had try out for the Metrostars some years ago. The coach was the same Brazilian coach that led Brazil to the 1994 W.C. Win
He noticed that problem in our player after the practice session. Their is a lot more to coaching players then just teaching them tactics and the skills need to play the game.
Then austrailians had a great chance to get the lead but no dice. Then Netherlands scored final 3-2 Dutch.
In the first half two nices crosses by Austrailians not to up top player, but to trailers. Mids trailing the play. They could have scored on those two crosses.
Not looking good for Spain, it's still early but they have to win this. They just really struggle with only Costa up front, anyone know why Xavi didn't start?
Good stuff, Chile. I wonder how they'll do in the next round, and against Holland for that matter. Group A isn't close to being resolved yet so we can't make an informed guess at who will face who in the next round. I'll take a stab at it anyway.
Brazil - Chile Holland - Croatia
I have been much more impressed with Chile than Brazil so far, so that would probably be my preffered outcome. It all depends on how Croatia do tonight.
Exit England. Jagielka must be the most useless defender in the entire World Cup. Where the hell was this guy? Apart from the moments were he failed to stop Suarez from scoring a goal
This is something I notice in the second half. I missed the first half of the England v Uruguay
I noticed England's receivers stand around to much waiting for the ball to come to them. Instead of moving toward the ball that is passed straight at them. I am pretty sure an opponent intercepted a pass, and then made that long pass on the Suarz goal. It would not have happened if the English player met that pass and not waited for it.
On their crosses it always to the up top players.
I like at least some crosses to the trailer players in support of the up top players.
Although we are not officially done yet we might as well be. After playing well in defeat against Italy we were poor last night. The Suarez winner though was as basic as anything. My boys both play at junior level and are central defenders. If they conceded a goal like that from the other keepers punt I would be annoyed. The most basic form of defence. Shocking!!
Congrats to Costa Rica a draw and they've topped the so called group of death, after everyone (including me) had written them off. At this point it's looking like Colombia vs Italy/Uruguay and Costa Rica vs Ivory Coast/Japan/Greece . It's certainly shaping up to be an interesting world cup.
My prediction for the next round. Brazil - Chile Holland - Croatia Columbia - Italy Costa Rica - Ivory Coast
Really? I can't see anyone from that group getting past maybe the quarterfinals, not even Belgium. To me the closest thing to a Group of death so far has been Group A, ignoring Cameroon, Mexico have been good, Brazil have been dissapointing but are hosts and are still one of the favourites, and Croatia have been one of my favourites here so far.
I think i blinked then France scored a second . Great header by Giroud but i think the keeper should've been able to slap it out, Behrami's backpass . What a time to lose your concentration
Top class from France so far, but still don't see them getting passed the Quarterfinals. I'm going to guess this for the next round - France - Bosnia Argentina - Switzerland .
One of the goals of the tournament there if it stood. Kinda feel bad for Benzema there, because he'd be leading the tournament in goals and it was a really weird time to blow the final whistle.
Sad to hear Ronaldos out, assuming the reports are accurate. I know most people hate him because of his spice boy image, but i have to say he's been the best player of this century after Ronaldo and Zidane and before Messi imo.
Messi has been dissapointing over the last 18 months or so, which imo is a result of Xavi and Iniesta declining. While CR is by far the most consistent and conditioned player on the planet. He's injured now but we all know he'll be back at full form and fitness for the start of next season, and when was the last time he was properly injured before this. When he was 14
Amazing goal by Messi! Much like Brazil, Argentina have been dissapointing so far they're really lucky that they have a player like Messi who can pull goals like that out of nowhere. I feel bad for Iran, their defence has been solid and they've had a few good chances and a strong case for a penalty. 1-0 to Argentina .
US v Portugal at least if your from the US or Portugal.
I can foresee myself throwing my TV out the window Sunday
Your giving the US less credit than they deserve Footreads. While Ghana were much better imo at least, the US still beat a team that the same Germany who beat Portugal 4-0 were unable to. I'd say that Dempseys goal is in my top 3 so far behind, Van Persies diving header against Spain and Cahills volley against Holland.
Portugal tend to get overrated on account of CR being part of their team, but that's pretty much it Cristiano Ronaldo is Portugal, who only qualified thanks to his hat trick against Sweden, as well as all of his other goals when he pretty much set himself up. Not to mention the fact that Portugals already weak defence has been completely obliterated with Coentrão out injured and their best defender Pepe suspended.
I hope your right. I can't be buying new tv's every two minutes.
At this point a draw wouldn't be too bad for them. It all really depends on CR's form imo, he certainly wasn't 100% before the world cup since his pysio advised him to skip to avoid aggravating already existing injuries.
That's Ronaldo for you, pysically incable of being injured has carried some sort of injury at all times during the majority of his career, and is still one of the best player on the planet and potentially of all time.
That was one of the worst games of the tournament so far. Again, Belgium didn't deserve the win. I hope Russia go through with them, but i see South Korea making it.
Not warmed up enough, nerves, afraid to step up on the past. I thought the rest of the first half was pretty good for the US. US had ton of shot in the first half.
In the beginning of the game. We were afraid of making a mistake. When that happens you make mistakes. We gave them every pass.
We play better when we don't have the lead.
When we get the lead or want to keep the draw. We play badly..
Get the lead and play the same way that got you the lead. You can turn a 1 goal lead into a 2 goal lead.
Well we were just seconds away of moving into the next round. Now I doubt that will happen.
Bradley did not have a bad game. He just bought into Jurgens bull shit of trying to hold the lead. Instead of trying to increase the lead at the end. When Portugal was under pressure to attack. We let them attack dumb.
You don't think the US will make the next round Footreads? Even if they loss against Germany, Portugal have - 4 Goal Difference while Ghana have - 1. The US have + 1 so regardless of what happens against Germany i think they'll get through on Goal Difference.
1-0 Holland, i guess they've topped the group then. It's also 2-0 to Spain after Villa and Torres scored, those two were exactly what they were missing imo.
Uruguay - Italy was a pretty good game. What is it with Godin always scoring important goals lol? Didn't watch the Costa Rica game but it's a massive achievment for them staying undefeated in this group. European teams are doing terrible here.
Last night Brazil looked much better but then again they were playing one of the worst teams in Cameroon, who still managed to score against them. The next round so far -
Brazil vs Chile, Holland vs Mexico, Costa Rica vs Ivory Coast, Japan or Greece Columbia vs Uruguay. Only one European team through so far.
Suarez bites a player (in this case Chiellini) again. He's a deadly striker, but I genuinly hate the guy. Not the first time he bites someone on the field, racist and he always looks and acts retarded. I hope he gets suspended for the rest of the tournament.
That pretty much sums up the conversations you have with yourself, or repeat under different usernames like this -
Footreads - All beer is crap to me. Incidently the Rich Germans don't drink German beer they drink czech beer.
When I was a kid the Spanish started to invade italiam Harlem. They would drink beer in our hallways. Then they would piss and throw up.
So when I got home I would smell the beer, the piss and throw up. After that I can't drink a beer without having those smells in my head.
Richie Animal - sounds pretty similar .
I spend a lot of time in Germany. I have an apartment in Berlin which I have so I can see my Grandson Henry more often and check out some soccer games I love that game.
Any way the Germans with money don't by German beer they buy chec beer. Also their German potatoe salad looks like our regular potatoe salad.
I can't drink beer. I am from Italian Harlem. When the government tried to stop tge heroin business there they through down all the tenements and replaced them with the projects. The Spanish moved into the Neighboorhood. They would drink beer in our hall ways then throw up and take a piss. So when I got home from school I would smell that crap. Now that smell is permeantly in my head anytime I smell beer so I can't drink it any more.
Yeah I can't drink beer because of that. Some people used to call me that, but they are not around any more. Some how I out lived them all. My kids heard someone calling me That other name we were laughing about it. They even bought me a Metrostar shirt with that name on it. I never wear it.
A good half for the US. Tim Howard looking very good.
I would love to see our players move up on the pass from the Germans. They do that they can attack of that interception.
The Uzbekistan official is letting them play..
You you can fix this game if you can get to the official. If you had a connection with their army. If he did not call it their way they could kill of his family. I wish I have thought of it before the start of the match.
Michael Bradley was in no mans land most of the game. Never close enough to make a tackle. He did a lot of wasted running because of that. He had a few through passes that were gobbled up the German Keeper. The keeper had a great game. A true sweeper/keeper he would be my man of the match.
Final Germany 1 US 0 even with the lose the US gets out of the group.
I knew the US would make it through. Belgium in the next round, it's still possible that they make the Quarters as Belgium haven't been that good so far.
De Niro watches World Cup with random people in Brooklyn
By Chris Perez
June 26, 2014 | 3:39pm
The USA may have lost — but some fans in Brooklyn were big winners when they got to watch the game with Robert De Niro.
The two-time Oscar winner was filming “The Intern” in Cobble Hill on Thursday when he decided he wanted to watch the game against Germany, according to Business Insider.
A neighbor said that their apartment building had received an email from Warner Bros. asking if they could help De Niro.
“Our lead actor, Robert De Niro, would very much like to watch the World Cup game, today at 12 p,” the email said. “Would it be possible to place a small portable satellite on the building rooftop ASAP and run a cable to the street to help facilitate this request?”
According to the neighbor, instead of having to watch the game from his trailer, the 70-year-old actor received an invitation to watch the game with people at a nearby house.
“We got another email from a neighbor saying he talked to the crew and apparently he found a house of people watching it and joined them,” the neighbor said.
Production on the set was then halted for two hours, giving De Niro more than enough time to thoroughly enjoy the festivities.
De Niro’s publicist did not respond to a request for comment.
Now that we will start the next round which is a one game elimination where there must be a winner and loser in each match. That could be decided on PKs.
How would you train a team to deal with that PK scenario?
Now that we will start the next round which is a one game elimination where there must be a winner and loser in each match. That could be decided on PKs.
How would you train a team to deal with that PK scenario?
You can't (i assume this was rhetorical). It's the most common England excuse over the years, you can't recreate the pressure in a stadium during a PK shootout. Which is no doubt true but do teams that beat them in shootouts deserve credit taken away for achieving it against them? This is coming from one of the few Scots that supports England at world cups, after Scotland and ROI of course
Before I answer you probably know I don't like the way Jurgen trained the US team.
Even members of the 2006 German team complained after the tournament that JK sacrificed technical and tactical elements in training to focus on the physical. Lahm even said he felt like his legs were heavy and it was too much emphasis on the physical.
JK has a history of this, and he is so consumed with physical preparation that he overtrains in my opinion. We hear it all the time about him; but that's his coaching philosophy. An interview was done with the physio from the 02/06/10 World Cup teams for the US and he said, in his professional opinion, when multiple players on the same team pull their hamstrings before fatigue has set in, there was something wrong with their preparation. Both Altidore and Besler's hamstrings were in the first half, world class athletes like them who have trained for over a month should be able to play 45 minutes without fatigue, and then in the second half Bedoya was holding his hamstring when he was subbed off as well.
Ok back to Pks. In regulation time you can use your specialist to take PK. The keepers percentage of saving PK's are very very low.
But after playing for 120 minutes then player fatigue really commes into play. Plus not every pk takers is a specialist.
Then the potiential of the keeper saving them goes way up if? If he does not guess. Just starts low and just reacts to the shot and takes a step up on the takers approach.
No official will call it if it is only one step up on the takers approach.
A profession keeper who just reacts to the shot and doesnt guess will have a decent chance to stop pks after the taker is fatigued and when they are not specialist taking them. They definately won't get fooled on a pk taken right at them. If they guess a side even an educated guess those pks score.
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Leading up to the WC here is how you can try to simulate real pressure when taking PKs.
After they have a hard practice. You break the team up to play against each other. After 20 or thirty minutes of playing.
1. At the end and the players are ready for a cool down I tell them we will do pks.
2. I then say that this is a Penalty Kick Competition with a difference. THE FIRST PLAYER TO MISS OR HAVE THEIR PENALTY SAVED THEN THE COMPETITION IS OVER - thats it, no more kicks
3. So, in theory, the VERY first penalty taker could ruin it for all that follow. Puts pressure on everyone to make theirs.
4. The Gk/Gks incentive is that IF they save the first pk it's over their side wins.
In PRACTICE this creates enormous pressure and WILL simulate what they will experience in a real penalty kick competition.
You divide them into 2 teams (with a GK each)
The same condition only now the FIRST player to miss or have their kick saved then it is over
Before I answer you probably know I don't like the way Jurgen trained the US team.
Even members of the 2006 German team complained after the tournament that JK sacrificed technical and tactical elements in training to focus on the physical. Lahm even said he felt like his legs were heavy and it was too much emphasis on the physical.
JK has a history of this, and he is so consumed with physical preparation that he overtrains in my opinion. We hear it all the time about him; but that's his coaching philosophy. An interview was done with the physio from the 02/06/10 World Cup teams for the US and he said, in his professional opinion, when multiple players on the same team pull their hamstrings before fatigue has set in, there was something wrong with their preparation. Both Altidore and Besler's hamstrings were in the first half, world class athletes like them who have trained for over a month should be able to play 45 minutes without fatigue, and then in the second half Bedoya was holding his hamstring when he was subbed off as well.
Have i lost my mind or were we talking about penalty kicks ?
1.No idea what you are saying? 2.Footreads gets ejected from the field for being a psychopath. 3.What's a "lit of pressure"? Or a lit of anything for that matter? 4.N/A, that psycho Footreads has already been ejected.
Sometimes I forget I am dealing with just fans of the game and not people who really understand the game. Don't worry I will make no more posts on the actual specifics on how to train to play the game to actually win the game.
Sometimes I forget I am dealing with just fans of the game and not people who really understand the game. Don't worry I will make no more posts on the actual specifics on how to train to play the game to actually win the game.
First of all i was joking, secondly it's hard to understand what you say half of the time and you've alluded to that yourself. Next your PK scenario works in theory only. You offer no incentive for this, all you've presented is a PK shootout training session. You have alienated your players by treating them like children after telling them this pile of fudge - I then say that this is a Penalty Kick Competition with a difference. THE FIRST PLAYER TO MISS OR HAVE THEIR PENALTY SAVED THEN THE COMPETITION IS OVER - thats it, no more kicks
The only result i can see from this is a mutiny to get rid of Footreads
What the heck will I do today? No games today damn it. Oh yeah get a haircut and get that crap watch my daughter gave me for fathers day sized. Have to show her I will wear it. I guess on July 4 then I will put it in my watch grave yard.
Well done to the US for getting through, but Belgium next is a hard ask. But why not?? Play well. keep your shape and take it to penalties!! Been done before.
What a time to score your first goal. It's only 20 minutes into the game so far but this is the most impressed i've been with Brazil so far. Neymar has been great, along with Arjen Robben he's been the best in the tournament so far imo. Followed by James,Messi and Benzema. Brazil really need a second goal because Chile can easily score from a quick counter attack.
I just read that before tonights game there was 136 goals at this world cup, so Sanchez' goal was 138. While in 2010 there was only 145 . Bad call on Hulks goal imo, Webb showed a bit too much confidence in his linesman.
See how the pk percentage goes way down after playing for 120 minutes before you take them.
Chile played very well.
Well it is a very rare match that has more than say 2 Penalties in it, in fact it's quite rare to have more than 1 if even that, so it's not much of a sample for an average to mean anything. It's pretty much 100 or 0% most of the time. Unless there's a PK shootout, average of couse goes down then, because there's at least 6 penalties in a shootout and usually more.
It was a stunning and devastating loss for Mexico with the Dutch tying it in the 88th min and winning it minutes later on a penalty kick. Mexico was the team I'd have been pulling for if the US is knocked out.
All the Dutch did late in the game was make a lot of crosses. Then someone hit a nice goal from outside. Then the Pk happened.
Let's talk about Mexico their players were winning 1v 1 dribbling duals.
They used dummy passing. I don't know why everyone don't try that? All you have to do is make sure the further away pass options line themselves up with the short pass options. And the passer has enough on the ball. Then it is up to the short pass option if he is going to let the ball run or not.if he does then the short option moves up in the flow of play so he can get a return pass.
They tried back heels which look hard, but are easy to complete.
They had three defenders around any opponent who had the ball.
The Mexican team was well coached. __________________
Not everything that Michel Sablon writes down goes to plan. At Italia 90, Sablon was part of Belgium’s coaching staff, and a couple of minutes before the end of extra time in their last-16 match against England, he compiled a list of the penalty-takers. He had just finished scribbling the names when David Platt, in one of those iconic World Cup moments, spectacularly hooked the ball past Michel Preud’homme. “A great goal by Platt. But I was so disappointed,” Sablon says. “I threw the list away.”
Germany up next v Algeria. Incredibly Germany have reach the last 15 WC quarter finals, the last time they didn't was 1950 and they was banned following WW2.
Today Argentina v Switzerland. Looking forward to this game.
US v Belgium
Jurgen is complaining about the official in his match? altidore will see some playing time in this game. If that happens Clint Dempsey will play where other striker probably. So a 4-4-2 or maybe Dempsey at offensive mid and move Bradley to one of the defensive mid positions
The Argies v Swiss was an absolute stinker. Felt sorry for the US last night. Losing to Belgium is no disgrace and they played with great heart and spirit. With Jurgen at the helm the future is bright for you guys!!
Losing to Belgium is no disgrace and they played with great heart and spirit. With Jurgen at the helm the future is bright for you guys!!
Soccer has been picking up interest with the youngsters, but the problem in the US is the wide variety of sports that kids become involved with.....and all those obese kids building up their thumb muscles with their smart phones. The talent pool is diluted. And I hear that there are minimal number of good coaches at all levels.
BTW, Belgium is geographically the size of Maryland with a population the size of Ohio.
I can't agree with that his future with the National team is until the next WC or before when they fire him.
A problem with the team is when they fire a coach. They usually did one thing well. Instead of keeping that one thing that the team did well. They dumped that and start from scratch instead of building on that one thing that the team did well.
I am used to seeing a more complicated game. One weakness a big one is we pass to no one when under pressure. That has to change if we are going to go any where in this game.
The German did nothing to fix that glaring weakness.
If Howard had not had that big game. What would that score ave been 1-2 no way.
Little things are left undone.
On the second goal as good as Howard played. That goal was a keepers mistake.
When Howard came out he left a glaring near post hole of space. You never as a keeper let the opponent score on your near post. You over play the near post. Team matest try and cover the far post. Look at all the space the Belgium player had to shoot at on the near post.
Klinesmann is not the answer. When Alitdore got her where was our back up target man. We had none Bradley kept getting caught in no mans land. That is a relatively easy fix. All he had to do was stay with the dribblers closest back pass option. He was caught in between in the German game and in part in the Belgium game
Yes, he was he had 16 saves. 16 shots on goal. That is too many shots on goal let in by our defense.
There are a lot of little coaching points that can make a difference in our game. Evidently, Jurgen does not consider them important.
One small one is the long pass receiver lines himself up with a short pass receiver. So if the ball misses the short pass receiver the longer receiver can still get to that pass. Or the short receiver intentional lets the ball run to the longer receiver. Then the shorter pass receiver moves up in the flow of play to help the long receiver. You never ever want the receiver dribbler to be isolated from his close support. If that happens the dribbler can lose the ball.
Little things like that. There are a lot,of little things like that that can help the team win. Jurgen evidently does not give a shit about that stuff.
Well played by Germany there, 4 straight WC semi finals. They played the best they have since the Portugal game, i do feel really bad for France though. Imo this is the best France have played since the 98 World Cup, even though they reached the final in 06 they never really looked like a top team.
I just read that FIFA have David Luiz ranked as the best player in the WC so far. He's been good so far but i think James has been the best followed by Robben then Messi then Neymar then Benzema. Messi's apparently not in the top 10 but Verthongen,Perisic and Djourou are .
Columbia has plenty of time to win . I'm going to be really pissed if this average Brazil team knock out the best team of the tournament so far, after they did the same to Chile. Good goal though.
Im sure it's fixed for Brazil to win the WC, the ref last night was awful..
Usually i'd say you're crazy but some of the decisions in Brazil's favour have been shocking. It's not looking too good for them anyway, Neymar is injured and Thiago Silva is suspended.
They have an inside game that can work near their attacking goal. But it won't work against smaller quicker backs. They have a clear advantage attacking in the air.
A south American team that has a short on the ground inside game can beat the German backs.
How are they doing on fks? They always had a lot of guys who can hit them.
They constantly rehearse how they attack on a half field.
The Germans have a real sweeper keeper so it would be hard to through pass against when the ball is just before they get to the offensive half of the field. That is the best place to through pass from.
I wonder who will officiate that game? He better have some balls so he can with stand the influence that would be put on him anytime he makes a call against Brazil.
Brazil have been so unimpressive but are still there. The gypsy boy Neymar may be a big miss but to be honest he has done little since the first game against Croatia!!
My original tip, the Germans, are still there and looking very ominous.
Beligum had their new plan to bring them the WC this year. But having a plan and executing the plan in real games don't always work.
Like Portugal for years they had the best youth teams in the World. So everyone was expecting Portugal to dominate the WC when those players became adults.
It never happened Carlos Quieroz he ran the Portugeses youth soccer program back them.
He later became the Metrostar soccer coach here in NYC. Never won anything here. Then he had a plan for The United States winning the WC By 2010. I have it some where did not exactly work either did it?
A sensational sub by Louis Van Gaal, to bring on a sub goalkeeper in the last minute of extra time just for the penalties, don't think i have ever seen something like that before. And it worked like a peach.
I think the winner of Germany or Brazil will go on to win the WC.
I posted the same thing on a soccer site recently.
On how to deal with pks.
I tried that 25 years ago. I felt my starting keeper was a better keeper. But, I thought my sub was better on pks.
The sub did not win that game for us maybe too much pressure. My starter was insulted by what we did. He felt he got us here he should have been left in.
I have read that Brazil have appealed to FIFA against Thiago Silvas suspension, normally teams can only appeal against red cards. If it does get rescinded then we will know that FIFA are doing there best to help Brazil win the WC.
Agreed on Manuel Neuer's performance so far, it's interesting to note that even though he's a keeper his idol is the ultimate sweeper; Franz Beckenbauer (who played for the Metrostars before you repeat it Foot ) .
There's a German comedian in Britain right now that some may be familiar with called Henning Wehn, alot of his jokes are told in an exaggerated German accent and usually include the (positive) stereotypical view of germans as an efficient machine stemming from WW2. That pretty much describes the Germans IMO, they've looked mediocre since the Portugal game but have worked their way to the semis yet again. It's difficult to bet against them and if you look at the first page of this thread me and Yogi picked them .
I'm hoping for a Germany - Holland final. Holland have been the most consistent imo followed by Germany, and Argentina and Brazil have barely scraped into the semis. Holland may've been fortunate to have beat Mexico, but they dominated their group and should've beat Costa Rica by two or three goals.
I completely agree about the officials here too . Usually there's 2 or 3 controversial matches during a WC at most, pratically every match here has had a terrible decision. It's also telling that the two teams who have benifited from them the most is Brazil and Argentina . Foollowed by Holland who didn't deserve that PK against Mexico imo.
No Beckenbauer never played for the Metrostars. He played for the old Cosmos.
I think Germany should beat Brazil.
If I think with my head the Netherlands should beat Argentina.
But I rather think with my heart so I hope Argentina beats the Netherlands
Why do you want Argentina to win? IMO they've been the worst out of the remaining teams. I guess it would be fitting; Messi winning a WC, as well as Aguero even though he has done nothing at all, but the rest of them .
Well I spent some time living there. I knew and liked Dr,Bilardo he was the coach when Argentina won the WC in 86.
Plus he would come back here unanounced and work with the players in the Spanish league where the old worlds fair was held. He did that for years.
He came to Brooklyn one year with the US national team coach by that incompetent Bob Gansler to run a clinic at Brooklyn College. I was the only coach there brought an 14 team from my club at the time Gjoa.
Well I spent some time living there. I knew and liked Dr,Bilardo he was the coach when Argentina won the WC in 86.
Plus he would come back here unanounced and work with the players in the Spanish league where the old worlds fair was held. He did that for years.
He came to Brooklyn one year with the US national team coach by that incompetent Bob Gansler to run a clinic at Brooklyn College. I was the only coach there brought an 14 team from my club at the time Gjoa.
That's some of the reasons
So you were friends with both the winning managers of the 1986 and 1994 WC winning managers.
The only shocking thing here is that, Richie Animal is gracing us with his legendary presence . This site seems a bit low key for someone of your stature.
Well I spent some time living there. I knew and liked Dr,Bilardo he was the coach when Argentina won the WC in 86.
Plus he would come back here unanounced and work with the players in the Spanish league where the old worlds fair was held. He did that for years.
He came to Brooklyn one year with the US national team coach by that incompetent Bob Gansler to run a clinic at Brooklyn College. I was the only coach there brought an 14 team from my club at the time Gjoa.
That's some of the reasons
So you were friends with both the winning managers of the 1986 and 1994 WC winning managers.
The only shocking thing here is that, Richie Animal is gracing us with his legendary presence . This site seems a bit low key for someone of your stature.
Shit I played in both! I'm big time too! No? Different countries each time, being I'm a dual citizen and all.
Well I spent some time living there. I knew and liked Dr,Bilardo he was the coach when Argentina won the WC in 86.
Plus he would come back here unanounced and work with the players in the Spanish league where the old worlds fair was held. He did that for years.
He came to Brooklyn one year with the US national team coach by that incompetent Bob Gansler to run a clinic at Brooklyn College. I was the only coach there brought an 14 team from my club at the time Gjoa.
That's some of the reasons
So you were friends with both the winning managers of the 1986 and 1994 WC winning managers.
The only shocking thing here is that, Richie Animal is gracing us with his legendary presence . This site seems a bit low key for someone of your stature.
Shit I played in both! I'm big time too! No? Different countries each time, being I'm a dual citizen and all.
Well I spent some time living there. I knew and liked Dr,Bilardo he was the coach when Argentina won the WC in 86.
Plus he would come back here unanounced and work with the players in the Spanish league where the old worlds fair was held. He did that for years.
He came to Brooklyn one year with the US national team coach by that incompetent Bob Gansler to run a clinic at Brooklyn College. I was the only coach there brought an 14 team from my club at the time Gjoa.
That's some of the reasons
So you were friends with both the winning managers of the 1986 and 1994 WC winning managers.
The only shocking thing here is that, Richie Animal is gracing us with his legendary presence . This site seems a bit low key for someone of your stature.
Shit I played in both! I'm big time too! No? Different countries each time, being I'm a dual citizen and all.
You played in both of what ?
Really? It was a joke! World Cups since you can't follow a subject
What's the problem man so I know a lot of people in football so what. A lot of the people I know in the game was because of my association with some some soccer clubs in New York. I can't also be a fan of the game?
I can't want some team to win the game because I am a fan of the way they play. Maybe they don't have enough players to win. But, you never know what can happen in a game. That's why they actually play the game.
Don't worry if you know no one in the game. I don't think any less of you for that.
@Longshoreman: You played in both was clear, but you telling me you were big time too; as well as you being i'm a dual citizen and all made me hope you were mentally challenged and if not then.....
What's the problem man so I know a lot of people in football so what. A lot of the people I know in the game was because of my association with some some soccer clubs in New York. I can't also be a fan of the game?
I can't want some team to win the game because I am a fan of the way they play. Maybe they don't have enough players to win. But, you never know what can happen in a game. That's why they actually play the game.
Don't worry if you know no one in the game. I don't think any less of you for that.
Well you've just decided recently that you also worked with Bilardo. Simply because i asked you why you want Argentina to win. I want Holland to win because Louis Van Gaal is my godfather of course, but i was Joachim Low's assistant at Stuttgart and i race Gonzalo Higuain on most weekends.
@Longshoreman: You played in both was clear, but you telling me you were big time too; as well as you being i'm a dual citizen and all made me hope you were mentally challenged and if not then.....
Nope, neither actually. It's called a "lead" but I'll leave it alone. Some just don't have humor which needs imagination. However speaking of mentally challenged, you mentioned two world cups in your prior post. Therefore I was piggy backing those. Memory presents challenges for some.
Well you've just decided recently that you also worked with Bilardo. Simply because i asked you why you want Argentina to win. I want Holland to win because Louis Van Gaal is my godfather of course, but i was Joachim Low's assistant at Stuttgart and i race Gonzalo Higuain on most weekends. [/quote]
Evidently you don't understand English. I did not say I worked with him.
I forgot I had words with you once before. Let's just say I want Argentina to beat the Dutch in this fucking game,
I have read that Brazil have appealed to FIFA against Thiago Silvas suspension, normally teams can only appeal against red cards. If it does get rescinded then we will know that FIFA are doing there best to help Brazil win the WC.
Im really looking forward to the semis
Silvia is out for this game. The appeal was not up held
Cinco Shito. I was preparing dinner and just wanted some noise in the background and see how the game was doing. I think that big statue of Jesus might fall off that mountain. Was that Brazil playing or some actors dressed as futbol players. There might be some suicides, murders and riots after this. If I were a German player, or a Brazil players, I would fear for my life.
Brazilian players were crying. Brazilians from years commented that they did not want to see the players cry. I agree with that crying is for the weak.
The coach brought his team close to him and told them the lose was on him and not them. That's a coach even if the lost.
The game was truly astonishing, never have i seen a team score 5 goals in the first 30 minutes, Brazil where awful but Germany was brilliant.. If they don't win the WC now then last nights result will be a waste..
The game was truly astonishing, never have i seen a team score 5 goals in the first 30 minutes, Brazil where awful but Germany was brilliant.. If they don't win the WC now then last nights result will be a waste..
4 goals in 6 minutes in a WC semi is unbelievable. Last night was seriously embarrasing for Brazil considering Germany drew 2-2 with Brazil and Algeria took them to extra time.
Messi doesn't have enough help. He had the one winger, but he got hurt. I feel to win the thing you got to have three dangerous players, and good supporting players.
On the 86 argentine team you had the amazing Maradona, you had Valdano and Burruchaga and a very good supporting cast.
This Argentine team does not have those players.to win Messi has to takeover the game at some point. By his passing, by his inside attacking game or by hitting a free kick.
Germany as usual has many impact players on that team. They are very well coached. They can attack in a lot of ways. They also do the little things you need to do to win. There team as a group can play together as a team. Most of their team is made up of the two top teams in the Bundesliga and in the world they can play together
On paper they should win the WC easily. But they actually play the game for a reason so I will wait and see what happens.
Can't wait.
Do we really want to see a game for third place in this tournament a game that no one will remember the result of in a month? Let me think shit yea. Who can get enough of this not me. __________________
Last nights game was a snore fest!! Argentina have manage to get to the Final without really impressing. You would have to say Germany are favourites!!
There was one part of the game between both teams they just kept hitting the ball almost straight up in the air 8 or 9 times. I could not get over that.
Both teams in the first 75 minutes just wanted to control the ball. No forward movement after a forward pass they back passed. It acomplished nothing except to keep possession. That was the boring part.
In the 1980s their was a team in the Bundesliga I think it was Stuttgart that was the best team in their league back then if I remember right.
Any time they made a back pass their fans whistled their boo. They would have been whistling through most of the game if they saw Argentina v Netherlands game.
Brazils defence is embarrasing . T.Silva is one of my favourite defenders, but David Luiz is dreadful and to think FIFA had him rated as the best player before the semi . Good finish by Blind but he should never of had the chance in the first place.
This is FIFA's announced shortlist for the Golden Ball.
Argentina - Angel Di Maria, Javier Mascherano and Lionel Messi. Germany - Mats Hummels, Toni Kroos, Phillip Lahm and Thomas Muller. Columbia - James. Brazil - Neymar. Holland - Robben.
Toni Kroos or Lionel Messi for me so far, i hope yet doubt James will get at least the Bronze.
Also the former winners.
1930 - Jose Nasazzi (Uruguay)
1934 - Giuseppe Meazza (Italy)
1938 - Leonidas (Brazil)
1950 - Zizinho (Brazil)
1954 - Ferenc Puskas (Hungary)
1958 - Didi (Brazil)
1962 - Garrincha (Brazil)
1966 - Bobby Charlton (England)
1970 - Pele (Brazil)
1974 - Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
1978 - Mario Kempes (Argentina)
1982 - Paolo Rossi (Italy)
1986 - Diego Maradona (Argentina)
1990 - Salvatore Schillaci (Italy)
1994 - Romario (Brazil)
1998 - Ronaldo (Brazil)
2002 - Oliver Kahn (Germany)
2006 - Zinedine Zidane (France)
2010 - Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
The only previous winner of the ones i've seen that i disagree with is Zidane in 2006. He was great and deserved Silver imo, but he was bad against Switzerland and average against South Korea and missed the Togo game through suspension. He was amazing in the knockout stage but i still feel FIFA were compensating for snubbing him in 98 and also because he was retiring. Cannavaro was great in every game for Italy and deserved the award imo. I also feel Iniesta deserved at least the Bronze in 2010.
Messi was good in the group stages but has not done much in the knock out stages in my opinion. I think the award should go to one from Kroos, Muller or Rodríguez. I'm also not sure why Neymar is on the list..
How they got 4th place ill never know, having watched all of Brazil's 7 games, they only played well in the first half against Colombia, poor poor Brazilian team..
Messi was good in the group stages but has not done much in the knock out stages in my opinion. I think the award should go to one from Kroos, Muller or Rodríguez. I'm also not sure why Neymar is on the list..
To be honest i agree with you on Messi, but i didn't wan't to just name a load of German players . James was my favourite of the tournament but there's no chance he'll get even the Bronze ball, he'd be the first Quarterfinalist in a 32 team tournament too if he did.
While Muller has been great i'd probably have Lahm and Neuer ahead of him as well as Messi who has done more for his team as a whole imo. Neuer has obviously not been shortlisted because he'll win the Golden Gloves award, but i think his aforementioned sweeper contributions have been ignored.
Neymar deserved his inclusion imo at least. He was the only presence Brazil had in attack for their first 5 games, seeing him limping into the tunnel in his full kit made me feel horrible for him. I don't think he deserves any awards, but i do think he was one of the top 10 players of the tournament.
The award i'm wondering about is the young player award. I can't think of anyone who's under 21 that's featured prominently enough to deserve it, like Muller in 2010 and Podolski 4 years ealier. Am i forgetting someone?
How they got 4th place ill never know, having watched all of Brazil's 7 games, they only played well in the first half against Colombia, poor poor Brazilian team..
I agree with this, i'll wonder for years how the much superior Columbia or Chile teams would've done against Germany.
Messi was good in the group stages but has not done much in the knock out stages in my opinion. I think the award should go to one from Kroos, Muller or Rodríguez. I'm also not sure why Neymar is on the list..
To be honest i agree with you on Messi, but i didn't wan't to just name a load of German players . James was my favourite of the tournament but there's no chance he'll get even the Bronze ball, he'd be the first Quarterfinalist in a 32 team tournament too if he did.
While Muller has been great i'd probably have Lahm and Neuer ahead of him as well as Messi who has done more for his team as a whole imo. Neuer has obviously not been shortlisted because he'll win the Golden Gloves award, but i think his aforementioned sweeper contributions have been ignored.
Neymar deserved his inclusion imo at least. He was the only presence Brazil had in attack for their first 5 games, seeing him limping into the tunnel in his full kit made me feel horrible for him. I don't think he deserves any awards, but i do think he was one of the top 10 players of the tournament.
The award i'm wondering about is the young player award. I can't think of anyone who's under 21 that's featured prominently enough to deserve it, like Muller in 2010 and Podolski 4 years ealier. Am i forgetting someone?
Off the top of my head i can only think of Paul Pogba for France but he's over 21 i believe .
Messi was good in the group stages but has not done much in the knock out stages in my opinion. I think the award should go to one from Kroos, Muller or Rodríguez. I'm also not sure why Neymar is on the list..
To be honest i agree with you on Messi, but i didn't wan't to just name a load of German players . James was my favourite of the tournament but there's no chance he'll get even the Bronze ball, he'd be the first Quarterfinalist in a 32 team tournament too if he did.
While Muller has been great i'd probably have Lahm and Neuer ahead of him as well as Messi who has done more for his team as a whole imo. Neuer has obviously not been shortlisted because he'll win the Golden Gloves award, but i think his aforementioned sweeper contributions have been ignored.
Neymar deserved his inclusion imo at least. He was the only presence Brazil had in attack for their first 5 games, seeing him limping into the tunnel in his full kit made me feel horrible for him. I don't think he deserves any awards, but i do think he was one of the top 10 players of the tournament.
The award i'm wondering about is the young player award. I can't think of anyone who's under 21 that's featured prominently enough to deserve it, like Muller in 2010 and Podolski 4 years ealier. Am i forgetting someone?
Off the top of my head i can only think of Paul Pogba for France but he's over 21 i believe .
Just checked he's 21, i think you've found the answer good work DE NIRO
What a goal. Germany really deserve this, so hopefully that'll be enough. This was basically the exact same as the 2010 final, late goal in extra time 1-0 win.
Germany are the deserving winners. They're the greatest international team imo, with 4 World Cups and 3 Euros. Now i just want to see who wins the Golden Ball. Also congrats to James for winning the Golden Boot he really deserved to take something away from this WC.
My daughter just sent this you tube they were celebrating the victory in Berlin. Can see much because it's dark out. She played on the Columbia university soccer team when she lived here.
Here's the WC All Star team picked by FIFA. GK - Manuel Neuer. DF - Marcos Rojo, Mats Hummels, David Luiz ( ), Phillip Lahm. MF - Bastian Schweinsteiger, James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos. FW - Arjen Robben, Lionel Messi, Thomas Muller.
Phillip Lahm (06,10,14) becomes the third player to be named to three All Star teams after, Djalma Santos (54,58,62) and Franz Beckenbauer (66,70,74). The only real problem i have with this team is David Luiz, i'm not even sure who i'd replace him with but his inclusion is a joke. I would also probably swap Schweinsteiger with Mascherano.
I wonder if thiago Silva had gotten that red card in the consellation game for their third place game if he even would have even been considered for that honor?
I wonder if thiago Silva had gotten that red card in the consellation game for their third place game if he even would have even been considered for that honor?
Even with that red card and being suspended for the Germany game he was better than Luis. All FIFA were doing with the Luis pick was sticking to their guns, since they picked him as the best player after the Quarterfinals.
Spain's and Barca game will be changing drasticly.
On our coaching site is a coach named Jordi a spaniard who,posts on it from time to time, and wrote a book on how they play.
He just posted this
"Hi, all. Long time without posting and lurking from time to time, and now I see this. I can't go if not say my 2c.
The first thing you have to think about is that probably Barça will be 1 season without any signings, because of the FIFA ban. So, they have to take as much as they just in case of.
The second point is that this Board wants to eliminate whatever that can remind Laporta, Cruyff or Guardiola. If you have followed the last news, the Kit Manager (Txema Corbella), was fired after 32 years serving the 1st team. Also, the cook at the Training Center was fired (he came at Pep's time). According to some people the next ones in danger are Pepe Costa (the link between players and Board and, very close to Messi) and Carlos Naval (Delegate of the 1st team for around 30 years). The bosses at "La Masia" (Amor and Puig), have been fired with no explanation.
Another point is that this Board wants to sell Messi, whatever they say. He is not HIS player. Neymar or Suárez are. So easy.
We could be hours talking about the reform of the Camp Nou or the Tax Fraud Trial, but it's not my idea here.
Back to what is just football, if you put together points 1, 2 & 3, you'll find why so many signings and also why no players are promoted from B team. They are no interested in them, unless it's for selling. You can see that 7-8 players have been released from B team without any money coming in.
All this also is one of the reasons to take Luis Enrique as Manager. He knows the place, he has a strong character and... he won't play "possession style" as we know. Matches will be like hockey matches: up and down, up and down. It's going to be a game of transitions. No Xavi anymore to put the "pace" of the match, no more Busquets as CM (I bet will see Busquets and Mascherano together as a double pivot), etc.
Will we see a good Barça? I think so. Will we see the way of playing that everybody loved around the World? I doubt it a lot
For many time Barça has been "Més que un Club" (More than a Club); now, it's becoming "Un Club més" (Just another Club).
The ban imposed on Barca has been susspended, hence why they have signed a goalkeeper and Suárez, with regards to Messi there is only a few clubs who could afford him, PSG, Man City and Chelski and the fee would be close to £200m. If he did leave he would probably go to PSG,in which i cant see him leaving.
Messi's a weird player imo. While he's probably the best player of his generation, but as soon as Xavi and Iniesta started declining he hasn't been nearly as good. Obviously he was injured for awhile but he was thouroughly underwhelming once he returned. There's also no way he deserved the Golden Ball at the World cup i'd have had him 8th after, Muller,Kroos,Lahm,Neuer,James,Mascherano and Robben in no particular order.
A move for him wouldn't be a bad idea. PSG would be unbelievable with his addition they already have, Silva, Cavani, Ibrahimovic, Motta, Cabaye and now Luiz.
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. Bad call on Hulks goal imo, Webb showed a bit too much confidence in his linesman.
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