World Cup Final Preview

After a month of tremendous international football, we have made it to the final in Rio: a match between the European powerhouse Germany, and the South American Powerhouse Argentina.  Germany decimated host Brazil 7-1, and Argentina took down the Netherlands in penalties after a 0-0 tie.

            

If you have been reading my blog, or if you haven’t been under a rock for the past 4 years, you know that Lionel Messi is considered the best player in the world. You also know that Germany has been questionable at times, however since the Quarterfinal match against France they have shown that they are the dominate team. Germany is solid all around the field with Klose up front, Ozil, Mueller, Khedira, and Schweinsteiger in the middle, and Mertesacker and Lahm on defense; this is the most complete team in the tournament. With Messi, Argentina think anything is possible. He has been instrumental in every game of this tournament, and if Argentina are to have a chance today, Messi will have to be better than he has ever been.  I do not see that happening. Germany is playing the best football they have played all tournament. Argentina has shown that they may not be up for the best competition in their match against Holland, especially without world class midfielder, Angel Di Maria.

I expect a 2-1 German Victory.

World Cup Semi Final Preview

With four teams remaining, the world cup is 6 days away from closing. It has been a very memorable event so far. This Tuesday begins the semifinal round, the final four of International soccer.  The final four teams are Brazil, the host, who will be without star player Neymar and team captain Thiago Silva, Germany, a team who too many were the pre-tournament favorites, who have been inconsistent at times during this tournament.  The Netherlands who have exceed many peoples expectations, including mine; however the team has been mostly Arjen Robben with not much assistance from the rest of the team. Then finally Argentina, the team with one of the best players to ever exist Lionel Messi, but similar to Holland, the rest of the team has not shown up on several occasions.

The first match of the semifinals is Brazil and Germany, a matchup filled with two of the biggest favorites in the tournaments; the teams people consider being the top two in the world.  Unfortunately Brazil will not be at top strength without Neymar and Thiago Silva, but neither will Germany. Germany has been without attacking midfielder Marco Reus this entire tournament. Despite both of these issues this is still a great matchup against two sides filled with class and quality. I had picked Brazil to win the tournament, and I would love nothing more to pick Brazil to go through, however recent injuries force me to reconsider. The offense went through Neymar, and Thiago Silva was without a doubt the emotional and defensive leader of the team, the home crowed will lead them to great heights, but Germany will prevail.

The second match on Wednesday is Argentina and the Netherlands, a matchup between two people who have been the top players in this tournament, Lionel Messi and Arjen Robben.  Both play on top teams in Europe, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and both have performed admirably for their country. It also seems that both people have carried their team through the world cup this summer. This is a match where both teams will look to them to perform, that being the case if they cannot, which team will be able to pick up the slack. Argentina have lost Angel Di Maria, but gained prolific striker Sergio Aguero, the Dutch have world class striker Robin Van Persie, who despite two highlight reel goals he has been absent for the last couple of games in this tournament. That being said, the Van Persie can get the service, the Dutch will win this match.

Round of 16 breakdown and Quarterfinals preview

Tomorrow begins the Quarterfinal of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, there are 4 great matches on tap, with Germany v. France, Brazil v. Columbia on Friday, with Argentina v. Belgium on Saturday, but first let’s revisit the Round of 16.

Brazil, Colombia, Netherlands, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Argentina, and Belgium all punched tickets to the Quarterfinals, however Brazil, Argentina, Belgium, Germany,  and Costa Rica had to go all the way to extra time, with Brazil, and Costa Rica going to penalties showing that the teams are beatable, but they are still going to be a tough out. With the round of 8 coming up we have 4 great games coming on a holiday weekend, meaning there is no excuse to not be watching.

 In the first match we have France v. Germany, a matchup of European Giants. France has been playing exceptionally well, however they have yet to be tested, Germany will be their first great test.  Germany has not created the chances that the world thought they would, where France has done so in droves. I initially had Germany winning this match, but if they play the same game they have all tournament, France will win, all of that being said, I will stick with the Germany.

The second match is Brazil v. Colombia in a matchup of South American powerhouse. Brazil has been playing well, they have shown the brilliance and class necessary to win this tournament, however they have been inconsistent. Colombia will challenge them with James Rodriguez and their offensive attack. They will give the Brazilians all they want, but they will not provide the test that will give the Brazilians a hard time. I will stick with my pre-tournament winners, Brazil.

 The third match is Argentina and Belgium. I said in my last post the Belgium appeared to be playing more for themselves then the jersey in my last post, they have yet to prove me wrong. They are a young national team, with a lot to learn. Granted Argentina does not have a whole lot going for them on the defensive side, including a goalie that does not get consistent playing time with his club, I will stick with Lionel Messi and Argentina.

U.S Belgium Breakdown

All good things must come to an end. This includes the United States Men's National Teams run In the 2014 FIFA world cup,  despite a tough loss to Belgium the United States have a lot to be proud of, getting away from the extremely tough group is a victory in itself, regardless of all of this we must revisit today’s match.

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•           Michael Bradley- By far the biggest disappointment of the tournament for me. The reason the diamond formation was enacted was so to allow Michael Bradley to go up into the attack ad assist the forward, for most of the tournament, Michael Bradley was invisible. They needed a top notch outfield player, and he was not it.
•             Tale of two half’s- In the first half the team was good, they played hard and maintained possession for the majority of the half, however they did not have a quality chance. In the second half Belgium took over, they had every opportunity, and every opportunity looked like the ball was going into the net, but Tim Howard played absolutely out of his head, and put on the best performance of his life.
•            Tim Howard- If no one believes he is one of the Top 5 goalkeepers in the world they should now. He found every possible way to prevent Belgium from putting it into the net, if you can think of 4 better ones, please tell me.
•             The future of U.S Soccer- Despite a great performance, there are still issues that need to be addressed. For example the Americans are a play hard power team; they don’t have a guy who has a lot of Technical Ability. They also do not have a star that will catapult them into stardom, a guy who they can look to for a big play, and someone that has the ability to make the starting XI at a top club like Barcelona or Manchester United. However I do see people like Aron Johannsonn, Julian Green, and Deandre Yedlin being these types of players. I am thankful that we have someone like Jurgen Klinsman to lead the team into the future.

Knockout Round Predictions

After seeing that my last World Cup prediction bracket has pretty much been burnt to smithereens, I figured that I should make some predictions with the actual bracket, so let’s get to it.

Brazil v. Chile: I got this match right the first time around, nothing much has changed here.

Winner: Brazil

Columbia and Uruguay: When Uruguay played without Suarez against Costa Rica they struggled in the second half, it will be much of the same story against Columbia, who is playing great football.

Winner: Columbia

France and Nigeria: France has yet to be tested, Bezema and Giroud looked great in the first two matches, and Nigeria will not provide a test for France.

Winner: France

Germany and Algeria: In an upset, Algeria made it out of their group; however they will be no match for Germany.

Winner: Germany

Netherlands and Mexico:  Mexico did a great defensive job against the Brazil and Croatia; they will have to play a similar defensive strategy against the Dutch. I can see this match going either way, but I think the speed of Arjen Robben will be too much.

Winner: Holland

Costa Rica and Greece: Costa Rica playing will play Greece, a team who cheated to get to this round, easy pick.

Winner: Costa Rica

Argentina and Switzerland: Other than Messi Grandfather, everyone seems pretty happy with his form in this tournament; he alone will help them beat the Swiss.

Winner: Argentina

Belgium and USA: As much as I would love to see the U.S win, my head is going another way.  Belgium has way too much attacking power.

Winner: Belgium

Round 2

Brazil v Columbia: Brazil has quality all around the field, Columbia only have it up front.

Winner: Brazil

France and Germany: Going to be a very close match that will come down to who will have the better Goal Keeper that goes to Germanys Manuel Neuer.

Winner: Germany

Netherlands v Costa Rica: Despite Costa Rica playing great football, they will not have the quality of the Dutch.

Winner: Holland

Belgium v. Argentina: I picked Belgium to beat Argentina in this match before the tournament started, I am changing my mind, and Argentina is still playing great, despite losing Sergio Augero. Belgium seems to be playing more for themselves, then for the team.

Winner: Argentina

Round 3:

Brazil v. Germany: I’m not changing my mind on this one; I’m still taking the Brazilians.

Winner: Brazil

Holland v. Argentina:  Argentina does not have the defense to contain Ajren Robben and Robin Van Persie, Dutch will win in a match that some might consider and upset.

Winner: Holland

Final:

Brazil v. Holland:

Instead of Brazil Spain, it will be the team that dismantled them in the group stage, I still like the Brazilians. They have too much quality all over the field.

Winner and New Champion: Brazil.

U.S Germany Breakdown

The final group of of death match for the U.S Mens National Team was a lost to Tournment favorite Germany, however due to the result in the Portugal/ Ghana match, the U.S.A is through to the Top 16 single elimination knockout phase as we play Belgium on Tuesday. This will be a tough game, lets break down where the team is right now.

•          The struggle was real today: The boys were pinned in there own end for the majority of the match today, as the suffered from the German onslaught. When they would attempt to clear the ball, they became more concerned with getting the ball away then trying to maintain a good possession and an attack at the goal. Despite this the team get a great job weathering the storm, and despite a ball the Thomas Mueller finding the back of the net, the defense held, Tim Howard made key saves when he had to, and Omar Gonzalez made a key play to prevent a goal after a terrible clearance to a German player.
•            Michael Bradley: Another bad game for him, largely absent, even in the offensive possessions for the u.s, he was bad against Ghana, he made up for it in spurts against Portugal, and played bad against the Germans, he has to be consistent for the team to progress in this tournament.  Hopefully he continues his pattern and plays well against Belgium.
•           Possesions: I can remember one key possession for the team, it was the very last play, when Phillip Lahm slid to stop a shot from Alejandro Bedoya. This shot should have been better, or this shot should have been made by whoever dished the ball to Bedoya.     
• \                  Key to the next round: It will be the toughest game the U.S have played all tournament, the attacking force of Belgium is strong with Eden Hazard and Romalu Lukaku, however they do tend to start off very slowly, and do not play like the should in this tournament, they gave a bad penalty against Algeria, and did not play well against Russia, a team that outplayed Belgium in the first half of that game. If Belgium continues to play the way they have, Howard plays the way he has all tournament, and we get some magic from Clint Dempsey, anything is possible.

U.S Portugal breakdown

After the 81^st minute of last night’s game against Portugal, it seemed that the U.S was going to sail into the knockout stages after two games. However a perfect ball from Cristiano Ronaldo stopped those thoughts and broke the hearts of every American watching the match, for now. Let’s break it down.

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•      The defense lack got to us: I knew at the beginning of the tournament our backline would be the weak point of the American team.  Geoff Cameron had a terrible clearance to allow the first goal by Nani, and the entire team was caught ball watching as the team failed to get back on defense and Cristiano Ronaldo delivered the perfect ball, if the U.S want to shock the world any more, these issues need to be addressed.

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•       Dominating the game: Despite those two defensive lapses, the U.S was the better team tonight, Portugal failed to get through the midfield most of the match, and the Portuguese defense without Coentrao and Pepe was very vulnerable.

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•       A goal of skill and a goal of heart: The first goal from Jermaine Jones will be on every highlight reel involving the tournament for the next week.  The ball came out to him outside of the box and it was beautifully struck to go into the goal, the next one came after Deandre Yedlin came barreling down the wing, crossed it to Michael Bradley, when Clint Dempsey gutted the ball into the net, it was a typical work hard goal from the Americans, showing that they can

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•                        The U.S have a great chance of making to the knockout stage: For the U.S to not advance, they have to lose to Germany, which to be fair is likely, however Ghana have to win their match by 2 or Portugal have to win their match by 5, both of which I do not see happening, so despite this I see both Germany and the U.S advancing to the next round.