World Cup 2014
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Germany v France 5pm Friday
Germany are the bookies favourites but recent results suggest otherwise, the Germans struggled in a pre tournament friendly to a 2-2 draw with a Cameroon side that lost all 3 games and conceded 9 goals in Brazils group and their form has been little better since accepted they beat a disorganised Portuguese side comfortably but they again looked frail in defence in a 2-2 with Ghana and after completing the group stage with a 1-0 victory over the USA again struggled with their defending against Algeria and looked lucky at times but eventually ran out 2-1 winners after extra time, the main man is obviously Muller who is difficult to contain when he turns it on but they don't really have any other real game changers and you get the feeling that the drastic tactics of their goalkeeper will find them out against a better team.
France have looked thoroughly convincing with a 5-2 hammering of Switzerland and a comfortable 2-0 victory over Nigeria and the loss of Ribery doesn't seem to have affected them to much, Benzema is in top form and with the likes of Pogba in midfield they look very well organised.
Verdict. Germany have made hard work of lesser opposition and I believe France are playing at a higher level than them at the moment and will see off the Germans who can look very shaky at the back.
Brazil v Columbia 9pm Fri
Brazil have looked less than convincing at times and were taken to the wire by a good Chilean side, the fact is some players have taken their time to get to the party and that makes life difficult for the rest, Fred has been a total waste of space in the opening games Hulk has taken his time to warm up to the occasion and Oscar has not exactly covered himself in glory so far but they have made the last 8 and can do much better, Marcelo looks very dangerous with his runs from the back and has provided most support for the supremely talented Neymar so far, Scholari may go 3-5-2 with Paulino possibly taking over from the suspended Guatavo.
Columbia's house seems in good order with Rodriguez scoring what must be the goal of the tournament up to now, the pace and skill of some of their players gliding by opponents is good to watch and Brazil will know they have been in a game after this one.
Verdict. Tough call with the last 4 matches between these 2 all draws, Columbia worryingly have never won on Brazilian soil though much as I like the Columbians you just wonder if a bit of Scholari tinkering will allow us to see a better Brazil performance, it may go to extra time again here but a bit of Neymar brilliance may just edge this one.
Argentina v Belgium 5pm Sat
Argentina have arguably one of the strongest squads here with Messi, Aguero, Higuain and Di Maria but have looked mainly poor so far and without Messi's brilliance would already be back home, whether his genius will be enough to get them past better opposition is open to debate, Messi spends long periods doing very little but when he does get going the effects can be stunning.
Belgium look quality all round and judged by the number of efforts they had against the USA will give Argentina plenty to think about, if Hazard, Origi and Lukaku weren't enough for the opposition to think about Belgium also have Vertonghen charging up from the back, but after coming through a poor group they made hard work of the USA and I wonder if they fully believe they can win this.
Verdict. Belgium have looked good against some pretty ordinary opposition so far and Argentina will provide a much sterner test, Argentina have plodded their way through most of this tournament but we did get a glimpse of what might be in their 3-2 win over Nigeria where Messi showed why he's so revered, if the Belgium's come out to play here it will open up space for the Argentinians to show what they're made of and I think we will see what they really are about and expect them to edge out Belgium.
Holland v Costa Rica 9pm sat
Holland surprised everyone with the ease of their victory over Spain after a convincing 2-0 win over Chile without Van Persie they left it very late against a useful Mexican side, with players like Robben, Van Persie and Sneijder they have more than enough quality to worry any team here.
Costa Rica surprised everyone winning a group with 3 previous world cup winners in it but their narrow penalties victory over a dire Greek team put that into perspective.
Verdict. This will be the shock of the tournament if Holland cant dispose of Costa Rica, the Costa Ricans have been fortunate to meet a Uruguay without Suarez and poor England and Italian teams this is a hurdle to far for them and expect the Dutch to win this comfortably
Germany are the bookies favourites but recent results suggest otherwise, the Germans struggled in a pre tournament friendly to a 2-2 draw with a Cameroon side that lost all 3 games and conceded 9 goals in Brazils group and their form has been little better since accepted they beat a disorganised Portuguese side comfortably but they again looked frail in defence in a 2-2 with Ghana and after completing the group stage with a 1-0 victory over the USA again struggled with their defending against Algeria and looked lucky at times but eventually ran out 2-1 winners after extra time, the main man is obviously Muller who is difficult to contain when he turns it on but they don't really have any other real game changers and you get the feeling that the drastic tactics of their goalkeeper will find them out against a better team.
France have looked thoroughly convincing with a 5-2 hammering of Switzerland and a comfortable 2-0 victory over Nigeria and the loss of Ribery doesn't seem to have affected them to much, Benzema is in top form and with the likes of Pogba in midfield they look very well organised.
Verdict. Germany have made hard work of lesser opposition and I believe France are playing at a higher level than them at the moment and will see off the Germans who can look very shaky at the back.
Brazil v Columbia 9pm Fri
Brazil have looked less than convincing at times and were taken to the wire by a good Chilean side, the fact is some players have taken their time to get to the party and that makes life difficult for the rest, Fred has been a total waste of space in the opening games Hulk has taken his time to warm up to the occasion and Oscar has not exactly covered himself in glory so far but they have made the last 8 and can do much better, Marcelo looks very dangerous with his runs from the back and has provided most support for the supremely talented Neymar so far, Scholari may go 3-5-2 with Paulino possibly taking over from the suspended Guatavo.
Columbia's house seems in good order with Rodriguez scoring what must be the goal of the tournament up to now, the pace and skill of some of their players gliding by opponents is good to watch and Brazil will know they have been in a game after this one.
Verdict. Tough call with the last 4 matches between these 2 all draws, Columbia worryingly have never won on Brazilian soil though much as I like the Columbians you just wonder if a bit of Scholari tinkering will allow us to see a better Brazil performance, it may go to extra time again here but a bit of Neymar brilliance may just edge this one.
Argentina v Belgium 5pm Sat
Argentina have arguably one of the strongest squads here with Messi, Aguero, Higuain and Di Maria but have looked mainly poor so far and without Messi's brilliance would already be back home, whether his genius will be enough to get them past better opposition is open to debate, Messi spends long periods doing very little but when he does get going the effects can be stunning.
Belgium look quality all round and judged by the number of efforts they had against the USA will give Argentina plenty to think about, if Hazard, Origi and Lukaku weren't enough for the opposition to think about Belgium also have Vertonghen charging up from the back, but after coming through a poor group they made hard work of the USA and I wonder if they fully believe they can win this.
Verdict. Belgium have looked good against some pretty ordinary opposition so far and Argentina will provide a much sterner test, Argentina have plodded their way through most of this tournament but we did get a glimpse of what might be in their 3-2 win over Nigeria where Messi showed why he's so revered, if the Belgium's come out to play here it will open up space for the Argentinians to show what they're made of and I think we will see what they really are about and expect them to edge out Belgium.
Holland v Costa Rica 9pm sat
Holland surprised everyone with the ease of their victory over Spain after a convincing 2-0 win over Chile without Van Persie they left it very late against a useful Mexican side, with players like Robben, Van Persie and Sneijder they have more than enough quality to worry any team here.
Costa Rica surprised everyone winning a group with 3 previous world cup winners in it but their narrow penalties victory over a dire Greek team put that into perspective.
Verdict. This will be the shock of the tournament if Holland cant dispose of Costa Rica, the Costa Ricans have been fortunate to meet a Uruguay without Suarez and poor England and Italian teams this is a hurdle to far for them and expect the Dutch to win this comfortably
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Hope you're wrong about all of them tbh but "the belgium's" is a cracker so good luck!
You have to remember that the Argentinians have been coming up against, for the most part, park the bus tactics. No-one has come to play them, they have come to try and stop them. I feel the Belgians will come to play. Im looking for a game of the tournament from this one. You have 2 teams that dont look all that convincing at the back (i know they havent conceded too many), that prioritize attack over defence. I think they will both go for it. The Belgians seem a more balanced side, with strengths all over the pitch, but the Argentinians havent even hit second gear yet.
Costa Rica's best player, Keylor Navas is an injury doubt. Bit gutted here as I was tipped up about the 500/1 him for top keeper (voted the top keeper in the Primera Liga last year) and didn't react quick enough. By the time I got round to it he had shortened to 100 or 150s so left it.
Fwiw he has an £8m buy out clause in his contract. That is a bargain. Premier League bosses should be all over him.
Fwiw he has an £8m buy out clause in his contract. That is a bargain. Premier League bosses should be all over him.
my last 4 brazil,holland,germany,holland.
no shocks but low scoring games and penalty shoot outs.
back unders in all games.
no shocks but low scoring games and penalty shoot outs.
back unders in all games.
Also at the back for Costa Rica, Duarte is suspended and his replacement, Roy Miller is a doubtful. I don't particularly rate the Dutch but they couldn't have wished for a better opportunity.
I liked Tim Vickery's preview of the Brazil v Colombia and Argentina v Belgium games, probably because we are on the same hymn sheet. He is much more confident that Brazil will edge past Colombia than Argentina will knock out Belgium. He believes as I do that Chile are better than Colombia and that they have been flattered by their results. He made a good point that Falcao's injury has allowed Peckerman to revert to his favoured 4-5-1 formation, protecting the weakness of Yepes and Armero at the back. He also pointed out that as such they are not best placed to chase a game, which they haven't had to.
For this game Fred might be dropped with Dante coming into replace him and Brazil reverting to a back 3. This is on the basis that Fred isn't best equipped to exploit Yepes's lack of pace, and also to counter the absence of Gustavo, who's job it would have been to shackle James.
I liked Tim Vickery's preview of the Brazil v Colombia and Argentina v Belgium games, probably because we are on the same hymn sheet. He is much more confident that Brazil will edge past Colombia than Argentina will knock out Belgium. He believes as I do that Chile are better than Colombia and that they have been flattered by their results. He made a good point that Falcao's injury has allowed Peckerman to revert to his favoured 4-5-1 formation, protecting the weakness of Yepes and Armero at the back. He also pointed out that as such they are not best placed to chase a game, which they haven't had to.
For this game Fred might be dropped with Dante coming into replace him and Brazil reverting to a back 3. This is on the basis that Fred isn't best equipped to exploit Yepes's lack of pace, and also to counter the absence of Gustavo, who's job it would have been to shackle James.
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