South America versus Europe.

We are now down to the nitty gritty, and once again it’s the usual suspects. There are four teams remaining in the 2014 World Cup and the semi-finals to be played in the next couple of days are:

Brazil (5 wins) v Germany (3)

Argentina (2) v Holland (finalists 3 times)

Brazil defeated Columbia 2-1 in a bruising encounter and with great cost. Neymar,their superstar in the eyes of the Brazilian adoring public, fractured a vertebrae in his lower back following an unceremonious knee jerk from a Colombian defender, and will miss the rest of the World Cup. They didn’t play like choir boys themselves and kicked lumps out of Colombian striker James Rodriguez.

The quarter finals on the whole were very disappointing,  and didn’t provide the level of entertainment and excitement that we enjoyed during the group stage of matches. Holland scraped through via a penalty shoot out, but didn’t win any friends by allowing their goal keeper to behave like a complete moron. The Dutch Coach sprung a surprise by substituting his goal keeper for the understudy Tim Krol two minutes from the end of extra time who he believed was better at saving penalty kicks. His record in the past three seasons in the Premier League didn’t support the Coach’s theory because he only managed to make 2 saves from 20 spot kicks. Nevertheless he made two saves in the penalty shoot out which gained the upper hand over gallant Costa Rica. Maybe Arsene Wenger will give Joel Campbell a game at Arsenal next season.

Germany showed their usual machine like efficiency against France. They scored early in the 13th minute and placed a strait jacket on their opponents for the remainder of the match. Similarly Argentina scored in the  8th minute to remove the sting early from their opponents. Belgium abjectly managed only one shot on goal compared to the 28 they showered on USA. Different day, different opponent, I guess.

Brazil v Germany could be a classic encounter between two giants of international football comprising 8 World Cup wins between them. Brazil has the advantage of being hosts with fervent fan support. However, a greater loss to the team than Neymar  could be their Captain and star defender Silva who is suspended after receiving two yellow cards. Does Germany have a weakness? They had glaring ones in their back four until the coach made some subtle personnel changes for their quarter final match. Germany’s goal keeper Nuer is arguably the best in the World Cup  and it will take something special to beat him. I’m picking the Sauerkrauts over the Brazil Nuts.

Holland has become more defensive minded since the group stage, and their 5-1 trouncing of holders Spain is a distant memory compared to  the dour encounters they have supplied in the knock out rounds. It is fairly evident that no team deserves to be described as great, but Argentina has the only great player remaining in the World Cup, Lionel Messi. Argentina could also be accused of being unimpressive on their way to the semi-finals, but they now appear to have found their shape and looked and performed like a team in their quarter final against Belgium. The loss of de Maria was a body blow, but I believe the Corn Beef will overcome the Dutch Cheese. Holland’s cynical gamesmanship in the shape of Robben’s incessant diving and Krul’s trash talking has lost them many friends, and it’s time for them to go home.

 

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