Brazil 2014--The FIFA World Cup Thread

[Underseer]

For the first 10 minutes, it looked like the kind of game I was hoping for: two soccer giants fighting each other for ball control. Lots of turnovers and everything. Then the Brazilians just... came unglued. The next 20 minutes were as painful to watch as listening to Sarah Palin try to form coherent arguments.

 

[EricK]

I feel a bit sorry for the Brazilian fans, but am glad their team lost. I think throughout the tournament Brazil have played some of the dirtiest football of any team there.

 

[blastula]

And now back to our regularly scheduled scoreless play. Boooooooo.

 

[Perspicuo]

Holland versus Argentina is going to end like Holland versus Costa Rica. Zero to zero then... shootout. Let's see how that goes.

 

[blastula]

Yay for Argentina. Euros are aaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy putoooooooooooos!

 

[MarkW]

Holland versus Argentina is going to end like Holland versus Costa Rica. Zero to zero then... shootout. Let's see how that goes.

You called it.

 

[Perspicuo]

Blastula! Watch your language.

Sneijder missed the goal. And that was the end of it.

The next game is between the semi-final losers, Brazil versus Netherlands, disputing who will take third place.
The final will be Germany versus Argentina.

Germany will definitely win (Deutschland! Deutschland!), but Bra. versus Ned. will be much more interesting.

 

[Underseer]

If Messi wanted to prove his legacy in the World Cup, this was the game to step up and score a big goal. He didn't.

 

[blastula]

This is the game now, then.

 

[rousseau]

If Messi wanted to prove his legacy in the World Cup, this was the game to step up and score a big goal. He didn't.

Statistically, Messi is already one of the best players of the past century. Unfortunately, despite that, scoring big goals isn't entirely under the control of big players in team sports, especially when you're playing a side of players who are also stars in their own right.

 

[laughing dog]

I am looking forward to the final. Both teams are very good defensively and both teams have scorers.

 

[Underseer]

If Messi wanted to prove his legacy in the World Cup, this was the game to step up and score a big goal. He didn't.

Statistically, Messi is already one of the best players of the past century. Unfortunately, despite that, scoring big goals isn't entirely under the control of big players in team sports, especially when you're playing a side of players who are also stars in their own right.

It's well known that winning a World Cup is something he wants for his legacy. The goal is to prove that he's good enough, and part of proving that is doing what Maradona did when he won the World Cup for Argentina. That's the whole point of what Messi is supposedly trying to do.

 

[bilby]

Statistically, Messi is already one of the best players of the past century. Unfortunately, despite that, scoring big goals isn't entirely under the control of big players in team sports, especially when you're playing a side of players who are also stars in their own right.

It's well known that winning a World Cup is something he wants for his legacy. The goal is to prove that he's good enough, and part of proving that is doing what Maradona did when he won the World Cup for Argentina. That's the whole point of what Messi is supposedly trying to do.

He is planning to prove that he is good enough by cheating?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

It is always hard to tell how the match ups will go at this stage. Could be a 4-1 victory or it could go to penalties at 0-0.

Wondering how Brazil will deal with Netherlands. With they defend better than foxes guarding a hen house?

It's well known that winning a World Cup is something he wants for his legacy. The goal is to prove that he's good enough, and part of proving that is doing what Maradona did when he won the World Cup for Argentina. That's the whole point of what Messi is supposedly trying to do.

He is planning to prove that he is good enough by cheating?

I think he meant more that Maradona was involved in 10 of the 12 goals Argentina scored in the '86 World Cup. Almost none of them using his hands.

 

[laughing dog]

Statistically, Messi is already one of the best players of the past century. Unfortunately, despite that, scoring big goals isn't entirely under the control of big players in team sports, especially when you're playing a side of players who are also stars in their own right.

It's well known that winning a World Cup is something he wants for his legacy. The goal is to prove that he's good enough, and part of proving that is doing what Maradona did when he won the World Cup for Argentina. That's the whole point of what Messi is supposedly trying to do.

Without Messi, Argentina would not have made it to the Semifinals. He has scored the winners in a number of games and set up other ones. He has had a good tournament to date.

 

[dystopian]

And the curse continues.

We generally do really well in the world cup; statistically speaking we probably should've won the cup at least once by now. But somehow we've never snagged it. We always seem to fudge things up in the finals or semi-finals. So much so that we even hold the record for losing the most finals. Shame, Germany-Netherlands would've been a historic re-match; more so if we'd gotten there with our traditional famous 'total football' style.

 

[rousseau]

It's well known that winning a World Cup is something he wants for his legacy. The goal is to prove that he's good enough, and part of proving that is doing what Maradona did when he won the World Cup for Argentina. That's the whole point of what Messi is supposedly trying to do.

Without Messi, Argentina would not have made it to the Semifinals. He has scored the winners in a number of games and set up other ones. He has had a good tournament to date.

Yea, without Messi Argentina is an entirely different team, he's a pure play maker. Putting a winner in the net at will is just not a realistic thing in a game like football, but if anyone is better at pushing his odds in favour of doing just that, it's Messi.

For reference on Messi's stats, check out these two articles:

Lionel Messi Is Impossible

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lionel-messi-is-impossible/

Messi Is Better Than Maradona, But Maybe Not Pele

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/messi-is-better-than-maradona-but-maybe-not-pele/

FiveThirtyEight did a more than detailed analysis on his play recently. Turns out he's nearly unstoppable.

 

[doubtingt]

If Germany plays aggressively on offense, I think they will win easily. They have outscored Argentina 17 to 8 in the tournament, which even if you take away 4 of their goals against Brazil, is a sizable difference. They are historically a better scoring Plus, they had many more near scoring chances than Argentina. They are similarly good on defense, but Germany's superior offense and number of different players who can score for them (as opposed to Argentina relying so much on Messi) should allow Germany to press and win. I'd be more surprised by an Argentina win than if Germany wins by 2 or more goals like they did in their 2010 Quarterfinal matchup.

BTW, its interesting to note that the Final is Germany vs. the south American country with 7% of its population being German descent (many Nazis fled there).

 

[Underseer]

And the curse continues.

We generally do really well in the world cup; statistically speaking we probably should've won the cup at least once by now. But somehow we've never snagged it. We always seem to fudge things up in the finals or semi-finals. So much so that we even hold the record for losing the most finals. Shame, Germany-Netherlands would've been a historic re-match; more so if we'd gotten there with our traditional famous 'total football' style.

Does "total football" mean being really organized but not quite as organized as the Germans, but with a lot more flair than the Germans?

 

[chrisengland]

To be honest I think Holland do very well for their population size.