Outside the Box but Still a Red Card (but not against Brazil)
12/7/14
3rd/4th
Place Playoff
This is usually the game where no one gives a shite about
the result and both teams play all the reserves and just want to get it out of
the way and go home. Brazil are already
home which is why this game actually mattered to them and I guess it mattered
to The Dutch as it was van Gaal’s last game in charge before taking charge of
Manchester’s second club. The question
was if Brazil
would be a train wreck after the 7-1 drubbing they got off the Germans and
within 90 seconds we had our answer as Robben broke through and Thiago Silva
grabbed him and wrestled him to the ground as he burst into the box. It’s got to be a red card but the only
question is whether it’s inside or outside the box. Refeenho gives the penalty and books him and
in doing so, manages to get both decisions wrong. Anyway, up steps RVP and 1-0. A repeat of the German dicking was on the
cards after 10 minutes when a terrible clearing header from Luiz went straight
to Daley Blind who was stood on the penalty spot on his own and he lashed it
into the roof of the net. Brazil
showed no real signs of getting back into it, even without Hulk and Fred who
had been dropped for being abysmal footballers.
Oscar was still playing though and he managed to get booked for a dive. It’s an odd one as Daley Blind clearly fouled
him but Oscar had dragged his feet and was already going down before
contact. If he’d kept running, it's a clear foul but I’m glad the ref booked him as he was looking to cheat. The game chuntered on uneventfully until the
last minute when Wijnaldum fired into the net for 3-0 to prove what we all
expected – that Brazil are piss poor.
Five minutes later, an Argentinian clattered him
13/7/14
World Cup Final
For the biggest game in the World, you have your tactics and
you know what you team is going to be and then someone gets injured in the warm
up. So Khedira was out and Krammer was in.
The new guy was involved in the first major incident of the game as
Garay came across to clear and nearly took Krammer’s head off with his shoulder
as he ran past. It didn’t look
deliberate to be fair but Jesus, did he hit him hard. You really want that to happen to someone
like Pepe or Cristiano Ronaldo. The game
itself is exactly as predicted with the Germans dominating possession and Argentina
sitting back, trying to get the ball to Messi and hoping that he does
something. They are creating the better
chances when they do get the ball and an appalling back header by Kroos puts
Higuain through on goal. As he reached
the edge of the box and took aim, time stood still and I wondered if he was
going to prove me wrong as everytime I’ve seen him play he’s looked like a slow
donkey who doesn’t deserve his massive reputation. 1-0 to me but not 1-0 to Argentina as he shanked it horribly
wide. Allegedly a world class striker
with a 1v1 with the keeper from 18 yards?
Sorry – that was shit.
Ten minutes later and Argentina broke down the right through
Lavezzi and his excellent cross was met by Higuain and this time he buried it,
only this time he was a couple of yards offside. Messi wasn't doing much but when he did, he
burned past Hummels before seeing Schweinsteiger clear his cross.
Maybe this Argentina pressure is due to the fact that
Germany are playing with 10 as Krammer still doesn’t know what day it is and he
comes off and is replaced with Schurrle which on the face of it, is an
attacking substitution. The final two
chances of the half fall to Germany
with Schurrle blasting a shot striaight at Romero who parried it away and then
right on half time, a corner was swung in and Howedes go up superbly and from 5
yards, smacked his header against the post.You have to score from there…. But 0-0.
The second half starts well for Argentina and Messi is through on
left but he screws his shot past Neuer and past the far post. The best German chance fell to Kroos but his
sidefooted effort from an Ozil pull back was shocking in the extreme and just
dribbled wide. Palacio and his rat tail hair
statement is on for Higuain who in addition to missing a sitter has got Neuer’s
knee in the face as he came out and punched a ball. With the 90 minute mark approaching, the
clearly knackered Miroslav Klose is replace with Mario Gotze.
The first half of extra time is quite cagey and Argentina
have definitely settled for penalties.
They have a decent chance though as Palicio and his rat get through but
when presented with Neuer flying out, he shites himself and lobs wide. I’ve given Bastian Schweinsteiger some stick
before, mainly for being the archetypal German with the most German name you
could possibly have but fair’s fair – he’s some player. His latest challenge is to not react as the
Argentinians line up to kick the shit out of him. The worst incident is Aguero going up for a header
and just smashing him in the face. The
referee predictably doesn’t send Aguero off and the commentators predictably
blather on about him “not being that type of player”. The blood pouring out of Schweinsteiger’s
cheek suggests otherwise.
On 113 minutes it happens as Schurrle gets away down the
left and his cross curls to Gotze who controls and swivels and volleys into the
net past Romero in one movement. When he
emerges from the pile of bodies, the look on his face is one of “what the fuck
just happened” and is similar to the look on Krammer’s face when he got smashed
in the head. Argentina have got nothing but they
do get a free kick in the 120th minute. After a long wait, Messi launches the free
kick miles over the bar. It was the
first time I’d noticed him for about an hour.
After the final whistle we had the interminable wait for the
presentation. First up was Manuel Neuer
to collect the award for best keeper, then it was player of the tournament time
and up went Muller, no Schweinsteiger, no Lahm, no Robben, no James Rodriguez….
MESSI – fuck off. OK, he was decent in
the group stages when they had an easy group but nothing since. Is that award sponsored by his mum or
something? Ridiculous.
Anyway, up went the German team and then the party
started. With an average age of about
24, it’s quite scary for the future.
And so it came to pass that 32 teams turned up to play in
the World Cup and the best team won and they totally deserved it. They had an injury in the warm-up, an injury
to his replacement, a change of tactics, some more substitutions and they still
won. The first European team to win the
World Cup in South America – and beating
Brazil and Argentina
on the way. It doesn’t get much better
than that. The big sides who they beat
on their way to lifting the World Cup were the South American giants and Portugal , three
sides who are more or less, through Messi, Neymar and Ronaldo, one man
teams. The Germans are an 11 man team,
23 man squad. That’s why they won it and
deservedly so. It felt odd supporting
Gremany in a game but there’s so much to admire about them that you can’t help
but be impressed…. And Beckham had his kids there in Argentina kits. Probably some sort of symbolic gesture… a man of your profile should have some awareness ... you complete knob.
Usually I’d use that Beckham link to lead into writing about England here
and how we can hope to compete but we’re not worthy of being on the same page
as the Germans. We are light years
behind. In 2000 when both teams got
knocked out of the Euros in the group stages, both teams were shit but only one did anything about it – they
reviewed, came up with a plan, the Bundesliga bought into it and 14 years later
they win the World Cup. We got Sven and
basically did nothing whilst allowing the Premier League and Sky to dictate
everything. The truth hurts but at the
end of the day, it’s the truth. The Germans are travelling home with the World Cup and we are still shit.
Next up is the Euros in 2016 in France . Spain
& Italy will come again,
Netherlands will be there or
there abouts, Belgium will
be a dark horses and England
will be nowhere. Germany will
take some stopping.
Mario Gotze had a good day.
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