2014 FIFA World Cup Brasil™ - Germany win again

[Unbelievable]

Dutch team starting as posted earlier. Confirmed by Van Gaal on Dutch telly.

[Deuce]

Belgium in 4 years: Hazard, De Bruyne, Benteke, Lukaku, Courtois, Origi, and Januzaj will all be 27 years old or younger. Fellaini, Mirallas, Defour, Dembele, Chadli, Alderweireld, Mignolet, and Witsel will be 30 or younger.

 

 

Get themselves a competent manager and unearth a couple fullbacks and that's a contender.

 

They have been saying this for years about this very world cup. Like England, their problem is more mental than quality related.

 

Inexperience at this level is what did them in imo. Euro 2016 is going to be another big test, but I'll be very surprised if they don't play much better then, having this tournament under their belts.

 

Colombia seemed to do alright.

 

And so did other teams lacking experience. It's not a 'one-size fits all' answer.

 

And fwiw, many of these Colombian players were on the 2011 Copa America team that won their group.

[Kaizero]

I'm so fucking annoyed beyond comprehension at the constant lack of football knowledge all over the board of "experts". James Rodriguez is the hottest sale object after the WC? Oh? You mean the same Rodriguez who plays for Monaco, one of the richest clubs in the world? The same Rodriguez that was bought for €45 fucking million? Is that the hot unearthed sale object you're talking about? Is it? Fuck your house, experts.

 

I hate the world.

[TRon]

Wilmots such a sour loser on Belgian TV. Accusing Argentina of parking the bus

 

Considering they have lost Aguero earlier in the tournament and now Di Maria in the first half, Belgium couldn't have asked for a better crack at it. They still deservedly lost so I don't know what the whingeing is about.

[Aphrodite]

[LRD]

http://i.imgur.com/JyeBLWw.png?1

[Vinny Green Balls]

They were completely outwitted and outplayed by a well-organized Argentinian team that didn't even need to rely on Messi.  Argentina's approach to the second half was dead on, and their high pressing totally unsettled the Belgian players.  Well deserved victory.

[Nobody]

Dirk fucking Kuyt man

[Deuce]

The Ticos no one wanted are suddenly in demand

 

The Costa Rican national team entered the World Cup hoping to send a message to the world. “That was one of our main goals here in Brazil, letting the world know about Costa Rican football,” defender Giancarlo Gonzalez told reporters on Tuesday.

 

In that respect, it’s been mission accomplished for the Ticos. They’re the shock team of the tournament, beating Uruguay and Italy en route to winning their group and following that up with an extra time victory against Greece to advance to a quarterfinal match against the Netherlands. Though manager Jorge Luis Pinto has a “the team is the star” philosophy, the squad’s performance has drummed up transfer interest in several individuals, namely the superb goalkeeper Keylor Navas and perpetual Arsenal loanee Joel Campbell.

 

But in between the shot-stopper and the striker sits a midfield that has used the World Cup as a stage for redemption. Entering the tournament, the club status of  Costa Rica’s midfielders was less than stellar. The player in the best spot? Probably defensive midfielder Yeltsin Tejeda, a 22-year-old who is yet to make the jump from the domestic league. It gets worse from there.

 

Winger Christian Bolaños has been longtime member of the Costa Rican national team and played regularly for FC Copenhagen but is without a contract and searching for a club. Celso Borges’s Scandinavian side, AIK in Sweden, seems to like him, but when you toss in his several years with a struggling club in Norway, it’s fair to say that his career has largely stalled out after seven years away from his native country. The region has been a popular first stop for Costa Rican players, with the theory that a few successful years there will draw the eye of larger European teams. In reality, only Everton left back Bryan Oviedo, who isn’t on the team in Brazil because of a broken leg suffered in January, made a direct move from a Nordic league to one of the world’s major leagues, when he transferred from Copenhagen.

 

There’s been a bit more success—but not much—going through Belgium. That’s where the fourth member of the midfield, Bryan Ruiz, played before heading to Holland’s Eredivisie and then catching on with Fulham. But this spring he was back in the Eredivisie, on loan to PSV, after falling out of favor at Craven Cottage and in need of minutes before the summer showpiece.

 

Midfield substitute Randall Brenes, a 30-year-old, who, like Ruiz, can also play as a second striker, had his own Norway stint before a return to Costa Rica, which he interrupted a few years back to play fewer than 500 minutes in the Azerbaijani Premier League.

 

Costa Rica didn’t look especially impressive in pre-tournament friendlies. It lost 3–1 to Japan and drew 1–1 draw against Ireland. Once the tournament started, though, the unit played with confidence and cohesion. Down 1–0 after a Uruguay penalty, the right side of the midfield combined with speedy right back Christian Gamboa for the equalizer. Bolaños teed up an excellent set piece that was headed in for the winner by defender Óscar Duarte. Against Italy and again against Greece, Ruiz popped up in the right place at the right time to score the lone goal. Borges, Tejeda, and Jose Cubero (a 27-year-old who has never played outside the domestic league) protected the back three with a side reduced to 10 men against Greece. Borges converted the first penalty of the shootout. “I practiced enough,” he said after the game. “It was important to score the first to give a good feeling to the group.” What’s important, he added, “was not to doubt.”

 

That philosophy has permeated the team’s entire run. The midfield nobody wanted brought no doubts to Brazil. Outsiders’ doubts about the players are also fading, at least if the transfer gossip columns are to be believed. Tejeda, the 22-year-old from Saprissa, is reportedly on the radar of clubs like Sunderland and Everton, plus a number of Championship clubs. It’s doubtful Fulham will  keep Ruiz, though a move to a top-four club, as one British newspaper alluded to prior to Costa Rica’s match against England, seems even more unlikely. Liverpool and Leicester are said to be interested in Borges. Only poor Bolaños isn’t being linked with a Premier League outfit, though his chances have probably improved. Gossip only goes so far, but the players’ agents must be thrilled with the way their June progressed.

 

Now the Ticos are playing with house money. If there were few expectations on Costa Rica headed into the tournament, there are even fewer now. Not many will believe the team can topple the Netherlands in the quarterfinal, but to Bolaños it’s a familiar refrain from outside the camp.

 

“They told us that we weren’t going to win a single match, that we weren’t going to score goals,” Bolaños said. The team will be set on proving everyone wrong again, both for the duration of the tournament and after.

 

http://soccer.fusion.net/2014/07/05/costa-ricas-midfield-has-used-the-world-cup-as-a-stage-for-redemption/

[Mole_Toonfan]

Belgium in 4 years: Hazard, De Bruyne, Benteke, Lukaku, Courtois, Origi, and Januzaj will all be 27 years old or younger. Fellaini, Mirallas, Defour, Dembele, Chadli, Alderweireld, Mignolet, and Witsel will be 30 or younger.

 

 

Get themselves a competent manager and unearth a couple fullbacks and that's a contender.

 

Think majority are overrated tbh, the way people speak of Belgium you would think they are players who play in latter stages of CL or best in their respective positions.

 

When in reality, only really Hazard, Kompany and Courtois are in that class.

[Mike]

The Ticos no one wanted are suddenly in demand

 

The Costa Rican national team entered the World Cup hoping to send a message to the world. “That was one of our main goals here in Brazil, letting the world know about Costa Rican football,” defender Giancarlo Gonzalez told reporters on Tuesday.

 

In that respect, it’s been mission accomplished for the Ticos. They’re the shock team of the tournament, beating Uruguay and Italy en route to winning their group and following that up with an extra time victory against Greece to advance to a quarterfinal match against the Netherlands. Though manager Jorge Luis Pinto has a “the team is the star” philosophy, the squad’s performance has drummed up transfer interest in several individuals, namely the superb goalkeeper Keylor Navas and perpetual Arsenal loanee Joel Campbell.

 

But in between the shot-stopper and the striker sits a midfield that has used the World Cup as a stage for redemption. Entering the tournament, the club status of  Costa Rica’s midfielders was less than stellar. The player in the best spot? Probably defensive midfielder Yeltsin Tejeda, a 22-year-old who is yet to make the jump from the domestic league. It gets worse from there.

 

Winger Christian Bolaños has been longtime member of the Costa Rican national team and played regularly for FC Copenhagen but is without a contract and searching for a club. Celso Borges’s Scandinavian side, AIK in Sweden, seems to like him, but when you toss in his several years with a struggling club in Norway, it’s fair to say that his career has largely stalled out after seven years away from his native country. The region has been a popular first stop for Costa Rican players, with the theory that a few successful years there will draw the eye of larger European teams. In reality, only Everton left back Bryan Oviedo, who isn’t on the team in Brazil because of a broken leg suffered in January, made a direct move from a Nordic league to one of the world’s major leagues, when he transferred from Copenhagen.

 

There’s been a bit more success—but not much—going through Belgium. That’s where the fourth member of the midfield, Bryan Ruiz, played before heading to Holland’s Eredivisie and then catching on with Fulham. But this spring he was back in the Eredivisie, on loan to PSV, after falling out of favor at Craven Cottage and in need of minutes before the summer showpiece.

 

Midfield substitute Randall Brenes, a 30-year-old, who, like Ruiz, can also play as a second striker, had his own Norway stint before a return to Costa Rica, which he interrupted a few years back to play fewer than 500 minutes in the Azerbaijani Premier League.

 

Costa Rica didn’t look especially impressive in pre-tournament friendlies. It lost 3–1 to Japan and drew 1–1 draw against Ireland. Once the tournament started, though, the unit played with confidence and cohesion. Down 1–0 after a Uruguay penalty, the right side of the midfield combined with speedy right back Christian Gamboa for the equalizer. Bolaños teed up an excellent set piece that was headed in for the winner by defender Óscar Duarte. Against Italy and again against Greece, Ruiz popped up in the right place at the right time to score the lone goal. Borges, Tejeda, and Jose Cubero (a 27-year-old who has never played outside the domestic league) protected the back three with a side reduced to 10 men against Greece. Borges converted the first penalty of the shootout. “I practiced enough,” he said after the game. “It was important to score the first to give a good feeling to the group.” What’s important, he added, “was not to doubt.”

 

That philosophy has permeated the team’s entire run. The midfield nobody wanted brought no doubts to Brazil. Outsiders’ doubts about the players are also fading, at least if the transfer gossip columns are to be believed. Tejeda, the 22-year-old from Saprissa, is reportedly on the radar of clubs like Sunderland and Everton, plus a number of Championship clubs. It’s doubtful Fulham will  keep Ruiz, though a move to a top-four club, as one British newspaper alluded to prior to Costa Rica’s match against England, seems even more unlikely. Liverpool and Leicester are said to be interested in Borges. Only poor Bolaños isn’t being linked with a Premier League outfit, though his chances have probably improved. Gossip only goes so far, but the players’ agents must be thrilled with the way their June progressed.

 

Now the Ticos are playing with house money. If there were few expectations on Costa Rica headed into the tournament, there are even fewer now. Not many will believe the team can topple the Netherlands in the quarterfinal, but to Bolaños it’s a familiar refrain from outside the camp.

 

“They told us that we weren’t going to win a single match, that we weren’t going to score goals,” Bolaños said. The team will be set on proving everyone wrong again, both for the duration of the tournament and after.

 

http://soccer.fusion.net/2014/07/05/costa-ricas-midfield-has-used-the-world-cup-as-a-stage-for-redemption/

 

CONCACAF and all that.

[Deuce]

Belgium in 4 years: Hazard, De Bruyne, Benteke, Lukaku, Courtois, Origi, and Januzaj will all be 27 years old or younger. Fellaini, Mirallas, Defour, Dembele, Chadli, Alderweireld, Mignolet, and Witsel will be 30 or younger.

 

 

Get themselves a competent manager and unearth a couple fullbacks and that's a contender.

 

Think majority are overrated tbh, the way people speak of Belgium you would think they are players who play in latter stages of CL or best in their respective positions.

 

When in reality, only really Hazard, Kompany and Courtois are in that class.

 

At this point, perhaps. The next WC is in 4 years and a lot will change in that time.

[Mole_Toonfan]

True enough.

[henke]

Success at future World Cups, for the Belgians or anyone else, will depend in no small part how far up FIFAs arse the respective FA is.

 

I fully expect to be laughed at for suggesting that FIFA are so corrupt that they influence the outcome of games, but they are and they do. The term "fine margins" is heard everywhere recently and that's exactly how refereeing decisions are swinging games.

 

[Unbelievable]

[Dave]

He'll be alreet.

Neylol.

Neymar milking this s*** for all it's worth.

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boy_Who_Cried_Wolf

 

Sorry for not feeling too sorry for him.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

He'll be alreet.

Neylol.

Neymar milking this s*** for all it's worth.

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boy_Who_Cried_Wolf

 

Sorry for not feeling too sorry for him.

 

Exactly.

[Mike]

He'll be alreet.

Neylol.

Neymar milking this s*** for all it's worth.

 

 

This has been a tense WC on here.

[The Prophet]

I can't think.of much worse than a Brazil-Argentina final. It would be Barca-Realesque in that it looks tasty on paper but expect heavy doses of: niggley fouls, simulaton,  play acting, poor sportsmanship and general tedious and embarassing conduct from both sides.

[Collage]

I can't think.of much worse than a Brazil-Argentina final. It would be Barca-Realesque in that it looks tasty on paper but expect heavy doses of: niggley fouls, simulaton,  play acting, poor sportsmanship and general tedious and embarassing conduct from both sides.

 

If you can't appreciate the prospect of a World Cup final in Brazil between Brazil and Argentina you should stop following football tbh.

[The Prophet]

I can't think.of much worse than a Brazil-Argentina final. It would be Barca-Realesque in that it looks tasty on paper but expect heavy doses of: niggley fouls, simulaton,  play acting, poor sportsmanship and general tedious and embarassing conduct from both sides.

 

If you can't appreciate the prospect of a World Cup final in Brazil between Brazil and Argentina you should stop following football tbh.

 

As I say it looks cracking on paper but both sides must not lose mentality will see it overshadowed by the so called 'dark art's of football.

[The Prophet]

Having said that I am biased in that I'm gagging for a Germany-Netherlands final.

[The Prophet]

Danny Murphy must be sweating his tits off in that jumper.

[Si]

Danny Murphy must be sweating his tits off in that jumper.

 

He looks homeless.

[Guest neesy111]

Howay Costa Rica!