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World Cup Final - Match Thread: Germany v Argentina

yankspurs

Enic Out
Aug 22, 2013
41,883
71,188
David Luiz is getting into many worst XI's of the tournament. Thankfully.

Yet FIFA puts him in their team of tournament. Shameful.

"This is where you want him. About 80 yards away from his own goal." - Craig Burley on Luiz's free kick goal:ROFLMAO:
 

ohtottenham!

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2013
7,497
13,029
I wanted Argentina to win, but Germany deserved it. The 2 best teams fought it out, and either one of them could have taken it. Germany are great going forward, and any poorly set-up defences like Portugal or Brazil will get royally served just like they did! The manner of those victories made Germany look way more invincible than they actually are.

They have frailties at the back, particularly vulnerable to simple pace used against them like Ghana showed, and a half-decent attack will worry them; a decent one will give them fits! The Argentina attack was just half-decent yesterday! Could get great chances, but simply blew the f..k out of them! The absence of Di Maria and playing a half-fit Aguero was the difference today IMO, but those are the margins and breaks in every World Cup.

Craziest and most exciting World Cup I can remember, mainly for the upsets and unexpecteds...Costa Rica, U.S.A., Colombia and Chile; the crazy results - Spain, Brazil etc.,

But I don’t think there were any great teams in this tournament, like Brazil ’70, Holland, Germany ’74, Brazil ’82, Argentina ’86, France ’98 or Spain 2010.

I think if Germany get more mobility in their defence, they could become one of the great teams. Muller’s pretty much the complete player and will only get better! Kroos the same - scary to think of him and Modric directing the midfield at RM if he goes there!

Lastly, agree with some posters’ comments about Messi. He looks totally spunked! Definitely not the player of 2-3 years ago! He used to regularly accelerate past defenders like he did first half with Hummels, and he was one of the best at defensively pressing at Barcelona; that energy just hasn’t been there for a while. I can only think that a player that conserves energy like he does now, only does that because he knows he has very, very limited physical resources.
 
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teok

Well-Known Member
Aug 11, 2011
10,836
33,607
Sublime goal to win it. He must be seriously buzzing after that.
 

Bobbins

SC's 14th Sexiest Male 2008
May 5, 2005
21,548
45,031
RD3dmtS.gif
 

Gassin's finest

C'est diabolique
May 12, 2010
37,353
87,819
Never has the old adage "take your chances" been proven more true. Argentina had plenty of chances to win it, and bottled them all. Germany on the other hand, while initially seeming to struggle with Argentina's pace on the break, were relentless and mentally strong. So fair dues to that.

Just... fucking Germany... again! There's going to be no living with them now.
 

markieboy

Well-Known Member
Aug 1, 2013
1,356
1,471
The best team won, and that has been a healthy feature of this world cup.


There's been some good football played at this WC and some very decent individual performances, Rodriguez of course showed some real quality as did Robben as ever. Messi had the odd moment. But for me this was the world cup of the team. The best team won, and it was a real collective effort from goalie, to CB's, to full backs, to attackers but at the hub of the team covering every blade of grass, kicking ass but playing a bit too was Schweinsteiger. My MVP.

Schweinsteiger had a fantastic game in the final and was easily the man of the match but up until then he had been overshadowed by Kroos ................who,to be honest, had a poor game in the final.
 

WalkerboyUK

Well-Known Member
Jun 8, 2009
21,658
23,476
Messi has played like that for seasons at Barca whenever I have watched them. He will stand around and conserve his energy and only press when really needed to. There have been discussions about it for years, I read once they tolerate it because it allows him to do maximum damage with the ball and meant he could play for 90 mins most games. Personally I think he has always had problems with stamina and endurance, maybe to do with his growth deficiencies as a kid, and now they seem to be affecting him more... For the last year I have thought he has lost some of his explosiveness and some speed endurance. Maybe its an injury, maybe he is burnt out, who knows.

Hopefully he rediscovers top form, he hasn't done badly at all overall but it is a shame that he hasn't fired on all cylinders this tournament.

Started reading "I Am Zlatan" this morning, and in the first chapter alone Ibra has a LOT to say about Messi & the Barca system.... and none of it is positive!

Personal opinion is that Messi hasn't been the best player in the world for the last 18 months to 2 years. He certainly wasn't player of the tournament, but he's an Adidas sponsored player, and Adidas sponsor that award, so go figure.
The Barca set-up under Pep was to ensure he was the man who got the ball when it mattered most. Once Pep left the system changed slightly and I think it will change again with Luis Enrique in charge. As good as it looks on paper, I don't think Messi, Neymar & Suarez will work on the pitch.
 

Lufti

Well-Known Member
Jan 3, 2013
7,994
16,635
Drool.......

Lucky guy, she is so dam cute!



:love:


That channel is a little creepy, links to all the other players celebrating with their girlfriends o_O

Also, she's the lucky one really, they've been together since fifth grade, and having stuck with him they're now both rich :p
 

WalkerboyUK

Well-Known Member
Jun 8, 2009
21,658
23,476
Has he?

He has had some good moments but his great moments came against Iran, Nigeria and Bosnia, as well an assist against Switzerland.

Hardly great meanwhile Muller, Kroos and Schweinsteiger who has been struggling with fitness have put in some great performance not to mention Rodriguez

Also the voting is done at half time.

I'd say that's where Neymar has also been found out a little. His international goal record is phenominal for someone his age, but the majority of goals were against piss-poor opposition. Scotland, Bolivia, Panama, China, Japan, South Africa, Iraq & Australia account for 17 of those goals.
 

tototoner

Staying Alert
Mar 21, 2004
29,387
34,059
More than 20 million UK viewers tuned in to watch Germany beat Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday, which was simulcast on BBC One and ITV.

The BBC's coverage drew a bigger audience, averaging 12.1 million viewers and peaking with 16.7 million during the match's final five minutes.

ITV averaged 2.9 million viewers, peaking at 3.9 million in the last 10 minutes before the 90-minute whistle.
Germany scored eight minutes before the end of extra time to win 1-0.

Across the coverage, the BBC's audience share was 50.3%, accounting for about three out of four football viewers.
ITV's share was 12.1%, overnight figures show.

The BBC said it was "delighted" with its World Cup coverage and were "particularly pleased to have reached such a wide audience for the final".

"Brazil 2014 has really captivated the nation and we're very proud to deliver this to audiences across the UK," it said.

The total numbers are slightly down on 2010's World Cup final, where a peak of 17.9 million fans saw Spain beat the Netherlands on BBC One and 3.8 million on ITV.

England's defeat at the hands of Uruguay on 19 June was the most-watched match on British TV during the tournament.

According to overnight figures, an average 13.1 million viewers saw the game on ITV, peaking at 20.2 million when Wayne Rooney scored his first World Cup goal.

It was the most-watched event since the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, which attracted a peak audience of 27.3 million.
 

Shanks

Kinda not anymore....
May 11, 2005
31,159
18,914
No fucking shit BBC won that.

Adrien Chiles hosting, with Andy Townsend commentating.

As much as I dislike mark Lawrenson commenting, it's slightly better than listening to Townsend!
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
Schweinsteiger had a fantastic game in the final and was easily the man of the match but up until then he had been overshadowed by Kroos ................who,to be honest, had a poor game in the final.

Kroos would be a very fair shout, was very good overall, had an excellent game against the brazilian clowns and I'm not saying Schweinsteiger was MOTM every game, but from that Ghana game where Germany struggled without him and were losing until he came on, throughout the tournament he was a constant driving force and played crucial roles in their hardest games (France and Argentina). I think Kroos was able to play better when/because Schweinsteiger was playing.

It's really hard to single out a single German player as so many of them were so consistently good without outshining their team mates. Even Boeteng and Howedes had good tournaments (once Boeteng was moved to CB).

There is a fuck of a lot to admire about this german team. I don't think Low was right to play Klose, I would much rather play Muller as the CF and have Gotze, Drexler or Reuse (when fit) in there. But they have a wonderful balance of skills all over the pitch, have a great work ethic, press cohesively off the ball, are very quick in transition at times, and constantly look to be on the front foot. They are like the international Dortmund deluxe.
 
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