World Cup 2014

[Gillipig]

What's this rumour I heard about seven players in the German team being down with the flu. Has anyone got some more flesh on that?

[betiko]

What's this rumour I heard about seven players in the German team being down with the flu. Has anyone got some more flesh on that?

a german masterplan to make our coach wonder who the hell will be playing tonight for germany and what strategy use! they don't reveal the names, say they don't know who might not play and say 7 players have the flu.... You could still play with the flu if you don't have a bad one, so this is all basically a great mindfuck.
I think that hummels was out for a few days as he had a flu, he came back and gave it to 7 players (or 6+him?)

bottom line for the french: there might or might not be up to 7 changes in the starting team on top of other minor changes.

[demy7]

If germany wants to win a world cup, this is the time.
Klose, Lahm and Schweini would be too old for next world cup.

[betiko]

If germany wants to win a world cup, this is the time.
Klose, Lahm and Schweini would be too old for next world cup.

as if the germans don't have enough talented players in the upcomming generations to replace these guys that aren't the stars of the team anyway. lahm is only 30 and could perfectly play a world cup aged 34 given his position(s) on the field.. klose is a striker aged 36 and he is there after all!... (absolutely crazy that at that age a striker can still be in his national team..).
Schweinsteiger is 29, he will still be playing aged 33 but with all the young talented players germany has in those positions I doubt he will manage to be still there but who knows.

[oVo]

A good match so far, as expected...
no flops for penalties so far.

I can watch this in Spanish, tomorrow the Belgium match
is on National TV, but today the Wimbledon Mens Semis
are only on ESPN.

[Gillipig]

Germany has a well deserved lead, France hasn't been chanceless but Germany has been the better team.

[Agent 86]

Germany's defense is awesome..they could go all the way!!

[Dukasaur]

Germany's defense is awesome..they could go all the way!!

Was chosen by Lloyd's of London, and statistics don't lie.

http://www.propertycasualty360.com/2014/06/16/lloyds-of-london-predicts-world-cup-winner

[oVo]

Both Goal Keepers had big games and France was close
to equalizing at the finish.

Djokovic survives two tie breaks to advance and
meet Federer who advanced in straight sets.

[Trevor33]

It's spelt COLOMBIA. Can we try and get that right for the rest of the thread please?

And that match sucked... although I did miss the first 55 mins.

[Gillipig]

It's spelt COLOMBIA. Can we try and get that right for the rest of the thread please?

And that match sucked... although I did miss the first 55 mins.

WRONG! Kolombia it is. Named after the great european explorer Kolombus. Get it right!

[Agent 86]

I would love Columbia to beat Brazil, game starting in 15min can't wait. Should be a great game, go Columbia!!

[Dukasaur]

It's spelt COLOMBIA. Can we try and get that right for the rest of the thread please?

And that match sucked... although I did miss the first 55 mins.

WRONG! Kolombia it is. Named after the great european explorer Kolombus. Get it right!

No, it's Coulombia. It's named after Charles Augustin de Coulomb. It's so named because the combination of caffeine and cocaine is electrifying!

[Serbia]

This ref is horrible. Clearly Brazil was not 10 yards back on that free kick, they were MAYBE 3 yards away once finally struck. Ridiculous!

Bollocks.

[oVo]

It may just be me, but I thought the refs were terrible
for most of the match... better in the last 20:00.

Even up a goal, Brazil seemed to be nervous late
and their coach is getting greyer by the minute.

[demy7]

as if the germans don't have enough talented players in the upcomming generations to replace these guys that aren't the stars of the team anyway. lahm is only 30 and could perfectly play a world cup aged 34 given his position(s) on the field.. klose is a striker aged 36 and he is there after all!... (absolutely crazy that at that age a striker can still be in his national team..).
Schweinsteiger is 29, he will still be playing aged 33 but with all the young talented players germany has in those positions I doubt he will manage to be still there but who knows.

I see your point but I was mostly referring to their current squad that already has a world cup experience.
Not to forget Casillas, Xavi and gerrard who are blamed for their own teams' failure and lots of talks about their possible retirement are 33-34 either.

Anyway at now seems everything goes well for them, semifinal against brazil without silva and very likely neymar.

[nietzsche]

Neymar has a fractured vertebra, Sucks for him.

Bye bye Brazil.

[Serbia]

Germany should definitely be in the final now. Against who, Argentina? I'm hoping Belgium wins it all now.

Bollocks.

[Pirlo]

Neymar has a fractured vertebra, Sucks for him.

Bye bye Brazil.

When a clueless person reads this, he will probably take it as Brazil over relied on Neymar. In fact, they have been relying on referees more than on anybody else.

I think the man whose team are over relying is Messi... Can't imagine Argentina without him.. They would probably be as shit as England and Japan!

[Steiner75]

Germany should definitely be in the final now.

yes, that would be something , but Brazil is the home team and the Brasil vs. Germany history is in favour of Brazil:

WC Final 2002: GER-BRA 0:2 (0:0)
Test Match 2004: GER-BRA 1:1 (1:1)
Confederations Cup 2005 Semi-Final GER-BRA 2:3 (2:2)
Test Match 2011 GER-BRA 3:2 (0:0)

Against who, Argentina? I'm hoping Belgium wins it all now. Bollocks.

I do not believe I would ever say this, but I think the Netherlands would deserve a title before Belgium does....

[betiko]

yeah don't really know what to think of yesterday. before the world cup, as I wrote in here I saw france finish in quarter finals against germany. I did think we had a good chance though, we didn't play too bad but we weren't super dangerous either. I'm pissed cause I was stuck in a traffic jam and missed the first 15 minutes. Between the time I walked out of my car (where I was listening to the radio and france just had a good ocasion) and the time I walked in the bar Germany scored. The game I saw between the 15th minute and the last one had france with more ocasions, but not clear enough. That game had no drama, no crazy ref stuff, no incredible scenario.... It felt so empty when it ended. I really thought it was a game (before it started) that would end up in a tie with overtime. 1-0 in the first minutes then nothing..... boring!
anyway, we didn't underperform, we didn't overperform in this championship... we did what was expected. At least I see France going in the right direction for the future with many young players that have a good experience now at the highest level of international competition. We had been really shitty fort the past 8 years, between the world cup 2006 and this world cup 2014, now I expect us to be back. See you in 2 years for our home competition, the euro 2016 held in france!

This really hope for Neymar. I'm going with Brazil and Belgium, I hope all you brazil haters will suck it up!

[Pirlo]

This really hope for Neymar. I'm going with Brazil and Belgium, I hope all you brazil haters will suck it up!

I'm not a Brazil hater.. I'm just against favoritism.

[oVo]

I'm not a Brazil hater either, but they aren't
the most impressive team in the semis.

[Gilligan]

Come on Belgium, make it happen

[oVo]

How close can Holland get and not score?

Wtf dudes... standing around offside negating good chances?
Focus, focus, focus. Robben is all over this game,
but Costa Rico can steal it.

90 minutes are done.