Deutschland ist Weltmeister!

[gus]

Boring, boring game. Calculating and tactical definitely has a place in a World Cup semi but when you play that way for 120+ while taking very few chances you resign yourself to the crapshoot that is PKs.

Rooting for the Dutch but was surprised they didn't push forward harder at the end of regulation. Oh well

Am I reading this right? The dutch didn't have their first shot on goal into the 98th minute? Wow. What a dull game.

I'm sorry FDD -- losing on PKs in the semis stinks.

[theAlaskanBear]

Only in America can a sports announcer lead with "listless" after a PK semi-final finish. An evenly matched game, very tense.

[OldPhiKap]

Whoever wins, congrats. You played hard. You played clean. You did your country proud.

Sorry fdd, I was pulling for y'all.

Guess I will root for Argentina, no fun in rooting for the Overwhelming favorite.

In the Saturday game, curious to see if Brazil shows up for pride and fans or whether the bus has already left town.

[YmoBeThere]

Added benefit would be a meaningful -- very meaningful -- 3d place match. Given Brazil's fragility -- a massive understatement re team and country -- Brazil-Argentina for 3d place would be every bit as unneighborly and tense, conceivably more so, as Germany-Netherlands.

This is the only thing I think that could have motivated the Brazilian team. Having lost in spectacular fashion to end a decades long unbeaten streak, I figure they will be "meh!". They don't strike me as the type to say, "Another decades long unbeaten streak starts HERE today!" Or if they say it, they wouldn't really mean it.

[YmoBeThere]

I curious why the Dutch manager didn't substitute goalies? Wasn't it effective in the prior match?

[pfrduke]

I curious why the Dutch manager didn't substitute goalies? Wasn't it effective in the prior match?

He had used all his subs.

[YmoBeThere]

He had used all his subs.

Thanks, I was only able to see the last couple minutes of play before the penalty kicks.

[NSDukeFan]

This is what a semi final should look like. Conservative, calculated, boring.

Love it.

Hup Holland Hup!

Two very disciplined teams that didn't seem to make many mistakes, yet always pressured the ball. I hate how Robben embellishes and flails his arms, but I absolutely love watching him play. He is electric, but wow, what a game by Mascherano and what a wonderful slide save on one of Robben's very few chances. Messi isn't too shabby either and his balance is amazing. Those were two teams going very hard at each other with most touches being challenged, but Messi (who is certainly not a big man) just does not get knocked off the ball. Credit to the Dutch defence who cleanly tackled Messi more than all the teams Argentina has played so far, or at least it seemed that way. I would have liked to have seen more scoring chances, but nice to see to very solid teams go at it.

[gumbomoop]

Two very disciplined teams that didn't seem to make many mistakes, yet always pressured the ball. I hate how Robben embellishes and flails his arms, but I absolutely love watching him play. He is electric, but wow, what a game by Mascherano and what a wonderful slide save on one of Robben's very few chances. Messi isn't too shabby either and his balance is amazing. Those were two teams going very hard at each other with most touches being challenged, but Messi (who is certainly not a big man) just does not get knocked off the ball. Credit to the Dutch defence who cleanly tackled Messi more than all the teams Argentina has played so far, or at least it seemed that way. I would have liked to have seen more scoring chances, but nice to see to very solid teams go at it.

Agree with several good points here, re Robben embellishing-but-often-electric, Messi's super-balance, Dutch hard-but-clean tackles.

Maybe US newcomer enthusiasts for football will have been turned off by nil-nil, "dull" game, but I agree with NSDF that we witnessed two disciplined teams. Such opponents, when evenly matched, rarely create enough chances to produce an exciting game, but, as today, they do threaten enough to produce a gripping game. I posted earlier that I hoped for 3-2, somebody, in OT. But I wasn't disappointed in the way this one developed.

Mascherano and Messi v. Die Mannschaft. Germany's midfield look so strong.

No idea how Brazil will play on Saturday. I guess there's little chance of regaining any respect, even with a remarkable turnaround and beautiful performance. If their performance is listless, will they be even more despised? Is that even possible?

[A-Tex Devil]

Agree with several good points here, re Robben embellishing-but-often-electric, Messi's super-balance, Dutch hard-but-clean tackles.

Maybe US newcomer enthusiasts for football will have been turned off by nil-nil, "dull" game, but I agree with NSDF that we witnessed two disciplined teams. Such opponents, when evenly matched, rarely create enough chances to produce an exciting game, but, as today, they do threaten enough to produce a gripping game. I posted earlier that I hoped for 3-2, somebody, in OT. But I wasn't disappointed in the way this one developed.

Mascherano and Messi v. Die Mannschaft. Germany's midfield look so strong.

No idea how Brazil will play on Saturday. I guess there's little chance of regaining any respect, even with a remarkable turnaround and beautiful performance. If their performance is listless, will they be even more despised? Is that even possible?

Soccer is weird, so who knows what will happen. But it's an interesting matchup Sunday. I think any outcome is possible, including a blow out either way. Germany's midfield is spectacular, but if Argentina gets a lead, I'm not sure Germany is built to come from behind against a world class team. They are more tika taka then even Spain these days (see all the side foot passes into the net on Tuesday). I am, honestly, ambivalent, but my BIL is a huge fan of La Albiceleste, so I guess I'll root for them. If I do, I think I want Aguero in there instead of Higuain in front of Messi, right?

[burnspbesq]

ARG has far too many Man City guys, and they wear Carolina blue. Easy call. Deutschland!

[theAlaskanBear]

ARG has far too many Man City guys, and they wear Carolina blue. Easy call. Deutschland!

Booooo! Vamos Argentina!

[Chicago 1995]

ARG has far too many Man City guys, and they wear Carolina blue. Easy call. Deutschland!

Three City guys, even with the unfortunate color (both club and country) is the BEST reason to root for Argentina. They'd be even easier to root for if Demichelis hadn't lopped off his pony tail ...

[gus]

On the flip side, Argentina has a guy whose nickname is the "atomic flea". How do you root against that?

[greybeard]

Robben is ugly when he embellishes but I think that often embellishing serves a game in which fans are more than fans--the game runs through their veins and, when someone on this level, especially like Robben has set up a move that is about to go down and the defender catches that he has been had and does just enough to stop it from happening, perhaps the Greek Chorus should be beseeched to raise their voices. For some players and in some cultures it might not work to be uber embellishing, but the injustices on the pitch, that often are so subtle, just as in life itself, draw a cry in us all. Perhaps part of what makes sport so compelling is the opportunity to give voice to the cry as a collective. In soccer cultures, the melding of life and the Futbol culture it produces are so intertwined, that the Chorus does not simply provide impetus for performance, but are part of it.

Just a thought about the drama that is the entire stadium, not just the pitch, when Fubol is truly afoot, where it mirrors and is of apiece with life. In the grandeur that is the World Cup, perhaps over embellishment by some in some contexts comprises a component that belongs. But it would be nice if Robben could do it without so much ugly.

[gumbomoop]

No need to rub salt in Brazil's wounds, though my opinion is the least of their problems just now. Still, one player whose performance was .... just .... strange .... was David Luiz. He had a few wacky moments at Chelsea, but against Germany, he topped all previous pitch-wanderings.

Here's John Brewin's [London-based ESPN football editor/columninst] hilarious reference, in a broader post on how not to lead-by-real-bad-example: "As Germany tore through Brazil in almost certainly the most punishing World Cup defeat of all -- on their way to a 7-1 win -- Luiz was nowhere to be found. Heat maps published after the match suggested Luiz was either a box-to-box midfielder or an intruder on the field managing to avoid security."

http://www.espnfc.com/blog/world-cup...ead-by-example

To be fair, DL's goal v. Colombia was a stunner.

[gumbomoop]

No cigar, but, whoa ....

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kCqq0oQYRqk

[gus]

No cigar, but, whoa ....

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kCqq0oQYRqk

Wow. Didn't realize that happened. Vlaar was really close to being hit by that ball too.

Would that actually have counted?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/wor...al-defeat.html

[gumbomoop]

Wow. Didn't realize that happened. Vlaar was really close to being hit by that ball too.

Would that actually have counted?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/wor...al-defeat.html

The YouTube video linked in post #857 above probably answers several questions, and poses additional questions.

From the angle behind Vlaar, it appears the ball might have brushed his shoulder/ear, in which case the goal wouldn't/shouldn't have counted, had it actually crossed the line. Would depend on the ref staying with the play, and deciding whether Vlaar influenced the ball's path. Here's where a question arises: (1) Did Vlaar, out of frustration, for a split second think of heading it back into the goal?

Well, if we go to the last half of the YouTube video, the angle from behind the goal, it appears that at the last split second, Vlaar jerked his head away from the ball, and did not touch it. Questions: (2) Did he do that out of an admirable sense of fairness, i.e., he'd been stopped, and heading it back in would have looked petulant? Or (3) did he jerk his head away because he actually knew the rule, knew if he touched it, it wouldn't count as a goal anyway?

(3) Seems highly unlikely, as not only would he have to have known the rule, but he'd also have to have noticed the ball's backspin, and known if he left it alone it would do what it in fact did ...

... Which was to roll nicely back toward to goal, so, so close to crossing the line. In fact, it appears that as the ball slowed to a near-stop, it lacked one last quarter-revolution, as if a seam finally stopped it, and even reversed its motion yet again, a sort of natural backspin to find its level level, smack on the goal line.

Question (4): Had it crossed the line, would the technology have dinged or buzzed or whatever?

Question (5): Then what?

[gus]

The YouTube video linked in post #857 above probably answers several questions, and poses additional questions.

From the angle behind Vlaar, it appears the ball might have brushed his shoulder/ear, in which case the goal wouldn't/shouldn't have counted, had it actually crossed the line. Would depend on the ref staying with the play, and deciding whether Vlaar influenced the ball's path. Here's where a question arises: (1) Did Vlaar, out of frustration, for a split second think of heading it back into the goal?

Well, if we go to the last half of the YouTube video, the angle from behind the goal, it appears that at the last split second, Vlaar jerked his head away from the ball, and did not touch it. Questions: (2) Did he do that out of an admirable sense of fairness, i.e., he'd been stopped, and heading it back in would have looked petulant? Or (3) did he jerk his head away because he actually knew the rule, knew if he touched it, it wouldn't count as a goal anyway?

(3) Seems highly unlikely, as not only would he have to have known the rule, but he'd also have to have noticed the ball's backspin, and known if he left it alone it would do what it in fact did ...

... Which was to roll nicely back toward to goal, so, so close to crossing the line. In fact, it appears that as the ball slowed to a near-stop, it lacked one last quarter-revolution, as if a seam finally stopped it, and even reversed its motion yet again, a sort of natural backspin to find its level level, smack on the goal line.

Question (4): Had it crossed the line, would the technology have dinged or buzzed or whatever?

Question (5): Then what?

#3 seems unlikely -- he was walking away with hands on head.