The Ali Dia Football/Soccer Thread

[takagi_for_the_win]

The biggest problem is that the Brazilian players aren't handling well with the pressure.

Indeed. Fred is having an absolute shocker, I struggle to see what else could be causing him to play this badly but bottling under pressure. He did so well at the Confed Cup last year, it feels like he has suffered a very sharp dip in form in the last month.

Fred's entire career, barring the Confed Cup, has been a total shocker. He's like Emile Heskey but even worse, if that's possible. The fact that Jô, one of the many "goal machines" that City ruined 2005-08, is second choice just goes to show how little quality they have up front. In all honesty, if the refereeing is fair, Colombia should win.

[FullMetalJack]

In all honesty, if the refereeing is fair, Colombia should win.

Colombia will probably win the whole tournament in my opinion.

[DemocalypseNow]

The biggest problem is that the Brazilian players aren't handling well with the pressure.

Indeed. Fred is having an absolute shocker, I struggle to see what else could be causing him to play this badly but bottling under pressure. He did so well at the Confed Cup last year, it feels like he has suffered a very sharp dip in form in the last month.

Fred's entire career, barring the Confed Cup, has been a total shocker. He's like Emile Heskey but even worse, if that's possible. The fact that Jô, one of the many "goal machines" that City ruined 2005-08, is second choice just goes to show how little quality they have up front. In all honesty, if the refereeing is fair, Colombia should win.

Are we watching the same player????? Fred is a better player now at Fluminense than he ever was at Lyon. To compare him to Heskey is nothing short of a crime. Emile couldn't score to save his own life, and Fred is a 20+ goals per season centre-forward. There is no parallel. He's just had a bad World Cup, nothing else.

But yes, Brasil do have a pretty bad shortage of world class centre-forwards. Pato and Robinho were supposed to be destined to be the new front line of Brasil, instead both have seen their careers go backwards and not playing well at all. What I don't understand is the inclusion of Jo, who has done nothing to demonstrate his worthiness to be on the team, whether it be for the national team itself or for his club. He may have spent much of his career in the lower leagues, but Benfica's forward Lima is on good form right now and could have served as a backup choice. Luís Fabiano would have been a solid number two choice...if he hadn't gone off the boil completely in the last year. Filipao has been really unlucky with the selection of forwards at his disposal. Plenty of wingers and attacking midfielders to choose from, but nothing in terms of out and out forwards.

Admittedly Fred is not the same level of world class than Brazilian strikers past; Ronaldo, Romario, Bebeto, Pele, Tosato, etc etc. But he is on a whole other level compared to a mere peasant like Emile Heskey.

[Bleu]

I was very disappointed when I found that the match between Bhutan and Montserrat in 2002 was only a result of Dutch documentary project. FIFA should have made it tradition that two worst team of World Ranking would play against each other few hours before World Cup final.

At the moment, three countries have 0 world ranking points: Bhutan, San Marino, Turks and Caicos Islands.

[W12]

I was very disappointed when I found that the match between Bhutan and Montserrat in 2002 was only a result of Dutch documentary project. FIFA should have made it tradition that two worst team of World Ranking would play against each other few hours before World Cup final.

At the moment, three countries have 0 world ranking points: Bhutan, San Marino, Turks and Caicos Islands.

Bhutan v San Marino needs to happen Anyone got FIFA's number, I think I have a suggestion

[Nessafox]

More rejects are the non-fifa countries: recently Monaco has won against the Vatican City. The Vatican national team has only played 5 games in their entire history, 4 of them were against Monaco, and one against San Marino B-team. Guess what, they never a single match! (seriously, San Marino has a B-team? )

[DemocalypseNow]

(seriously, San Marino has a B-team? )

Well, Davide Gualtieri needs a way to keep his hobby going while selling computers!

[watka]

Brazil playing a lot better than I anticipated tonight and deservedly won through to the semi-finals. Colombia managed to get up to the penalty box quite often but could never find the final ball, which says a lot for Brazil's defensive capabilities. They are proving very difficult to beat even if they aren't that impressive up top.

[Dj_bereta]

Neymar is out of World Cup. This will be a huge down for the brazilian team, since Hulk and Fred aren't playing well.

[Nessafox]

Brazil playing a lot better than I anticipated tonight and deservedly won through to the semi-finals. Colombia managed to get up to the penalty box quite often but could never find the final ball, which says a lot for Brazil's defensive capabilities. They are proving very difficult to beat even if they aren't that impressive up top.

I disagree, Brazil played like Greece usually does: commiting too many faults, so the the other team can't progress. (Altough i have to admit Colombia did the same things) But that was probably the referees fault to let all this happen, this guy had no control over the game. (in generally, it's an alarming trend that referees ar letting too many faults happen without giving cards, making the rules obsolete, and making matches unwatchable sometimes) Sure, the Brazilians have a lot of spirit, kudos for that, but it was an unwatchable game, in true Greece-style. For the first time since, well, it must have been a veeery long time, i'm going to support Germany next game In fact, the last time i supported Germany was 2002, when Brazil played a horribly bad tournament too, but still won. It's not a coincidence that it's the same coach.
I guess it's a matter of different taste.

[Aerospeed]

Neymar is out of World Cup. This will be a huge down for the brazilian team, since Hulk and Fred aren't playing well.

Oh crap.....

To be fair the Brazilians have a solid defensive line, which should give them a better fighting chance. But with Thiago Silva out due to a suspension, it's not looking good for them. I was hoping for Colombia to pull off the upset, but they were completely overwhelmed during the game. Brazil deservedly won the match today. Now the Germans are next, and I'm cautiously optimistic of them winning, but I'm still unsure...

[Normal32]

Talking about reject matches...I can't wait to see San Marino vs Sark

[Ataxia]

To be fair the Brazilians have a solid defensive line, which should give them a better fighting chance. But with Thiago Silva out due to a suspension, it's not looking good for them. I was hoping for Colombia to pull off the upset, but they were completely overwhelmed during the game. Brazil deservedly won the match today. Now the Germans are next, and I'm cautiously optimistic of them winning, but I'm still unsure...

I disagree, Brazil completely bullied Colombia with cynical tackles and with the home advantage got the benefit of the refereeing decisions. People like Paulinho were hacking and slashing left, right and centre and got off scot-free. Rodriguez makes one bad tackle and it's an immediate yellow.

[Nessafox]

Seriously, Belgium, you didn't even try to win! It really looked as if they accepted defeat before the game started.
It's something i've seen too often this world cup: teams that have a realistic chance, that don't give their all. How and why?

[Barbazza]

I disagree, Brazil completely bullied Colombia with cynical tackles and with the home advantage got the benefit of the refereeing decisions. People like Paulinho were hacking and slashing left, right and centre and got off scot-free. Rodriguez makes one bad tackle and it's an immediate yellow.

I was beginning to think that everyone else was watching a different game, glad to see you agree with me Ataxia!

Brazil behaved like total bullies and got away with it. OK, so Colombia did some rough tackling too, but I'm not going to cry over Neymar getting injured given what Brail were giving out. Fernandinho has been doing it all tournament and so far has.....0 bookings.

I really hope that with Neymar being out and Thiago Silva missing through suspension, things are levelled up a bit for the Germany match. Though I guess it won't matter if there's another referee with a FIFA bung in his back pocket.

The worst Brazilian team since 1994, and at least they weren't kicking everybody non-stop (and had more than 1 decent striker)

[Normal32]

We are at least at semi finals(after 24 years!) thanks to Higuain,but the defence worries me a lot.

Seriously, Belgium, you didn't even try to win! It really looked as if they accepted defeat before the game started.
It's something i've seen too often this world cup: teams that have a realistic chance, that don't give their all. How and why?

Well,Argentina played better than they poor match against Swiss,but still,Belgium wasn't good,

[watka]

I disagree, Brazil completely bullied Colombia with cynical tackles and with the home advantage got the benefit of the refereeing decisions. People like Paulinho were hacking and slashing left, right and centre and got off scot-free. Rodriguez makes one bad tackle and it's an immediate yellow.

I was beginning to think that everyone else was watching a different game, glad to see you agree with me Ataxia!

Brazil behaved like total bullies and got away with it. OK, so Colombia did some rough tackling too, but I'm not going to cry over Neymar getting injured given what Brail were giving out. Fernandinho has been doing it all tournament and so far has.....0 bookings.

I really hope that with Neymar being out and Thiago Silva missing through suspension, things are levelled up a bit for the Germany match. Though I guess it won't matter if there's another referee with a FIFA bung in his back pocket.

The worst Brazilian team since 1994, and at least they weren't kicking everybody non-stop (and had more than 1 decent striker)

On reflection, the match was quite heated with plenty of fouls, not what we want to see from Brazil but I'm not sure you can expect any different from an all-South American tie. However, they were still undoubtedly the better team, especially in the first half. They flew out of the blocks, scored an early goal, kept up the pressure for a bit and then contained Colombia (albeit aggressively) for the remainder of the game.

As for Argentina-Belgium, Belgium have been pretty awful in attack all tournament. They look so blunt and really are a group of individuals rather than a team. They are lucky to have got to a quarter final and I honestly think if they were in Group D they wouldn't have done much better than England.

On a more positive note, what a keeper Keylor Navas is. Tim Howard should have a word to put him back in his place.

[Nessafox]

Changing a keeper usually happens when one is injured, but as a tactical change? I have never seen this before

Argentina-Holland will probably become the ultimate borefest. I really have no choice but supporting Germany...

On other news: Zulte Waregem signed Kylian Hazard, and is trying to repeat the trick they have done with launching his brother Thorgan. Will we have 3 of them next world cup?

[The Dutch Bear]

Well, that took more effort than was expected. Goes to show that the tactical skills of van Gaal should never be underestimated.
This wasn't fun. In fact the most fun I had was caused by the Dutch commentator who had forgotten to silence or switch off his phone. It rang a few times during the beginning of the second half, causing him to wonder out loud what 'verdomme' (Dutch for damn) was going on

[Dj_bereta]

OMG 4x0 for Germany in 25 minutes! Brazil give up after first goal.

None team in this world cup played so bad in the first half like Brazil are playing.

[roblo97]

Germany now 5-0 up in the space of 29 minutes
I think Brazil are proving that theyy are a one man team.

[Miguel98]

Oh Brazil. Laughable.

[Londoner]

That stadium is visibly getting emptier as the match progresses.

Brazil's defending has been bathplug appalling. This is the sort of stuff you might see in a Sunday league or something, although going by this, I'd take a Sunday league defence over Brazil's.

[Nessafox]

Words can't express how speechless i am.

And it's not over yet...

[tristan1117]

It seems like even the Brazilian weather is pissed off. A lightning storm has zapped all the power in ESPN's Rio Studio.

[GerhardTalger]

This is laughable. And rightful.

I have seen this just once before, when four years ago in the Dutch compeitition PSV beat Feyenoord 10-0, two teams being usually in the top of the league still (albeit having some poor years of their sort)

This is ludicrous.

[Dj_bereta]

Brazil was lucky to be in the semi-finals. Lucky ends one day, you know. Brazil looks like Helio Castroneves and Germany looks like Scott Dixon, in the 2013 indycar series.

But I'm getting worried about the people around the stadium. Brazilian supporters are well known for being violent, especially in this moments.

[Miguel98]

7-0. This is so laughable right now. This is trully bad. I mean, Reject of the World Cup: Brazil.

[good_Ralf]

And after Spain were knocked out in the first rounds some thought no-one else could possibly claim ROTWC but then this happens...

[roblo97]

Even the Brazilian fans have given up and started giving the "ole's" to Germany.

[Alextrax52]

Well Brazil scored but really that was absolutely terrible from them. The question now is how long will Brazil's players recover from this if at all

[Ataxia]

It was jolly nice of FIFA to let Canvey Island play Germany, but I don't think a Ryman League team should be in the World Cup...

...hang on, what? That was BRAZIL? You're joking, right?

Wow.

[DOSBoot]

Man! That Germany-Brazil match was comedy gold! Reject gold! I'd figured Brazil wouldn't be so good with their star players out. But not THAT badly. It was a miracle they even managed to get a goal by the way they were playing. To say they were terrible would be a huge understatement. Just when you thought that Spain were going to get Rejects of the 2014 World Cup, along comes Brazil. I mean when you lose like that when you're hosting the event, and even when the Brazilians start to cheer for the other team. It's just inexcusable.

[Nessafox]

Brazil still has to play the match for 3rd place. Now imagine if they have to play that match against Argentina... I think heavy riots are inevitable By the looks of it, they are inevitable right now.

[Nuppiz]

And I bet on this match to go overtime. That wasn't a football match, it was a slaughter!

[Normal32]

Oh my,this is a massacre for Brazil,their worst defeat.Inevitable riot if they play against my country.

ROTWC:Brazil

[DOSBoot]

I think I may call this game "The Great Choke". Because that's what it was.

[Ataxia]

[FullMetalJack]

This is a game that we'll be talking about 50 years from now.

[TomWazzleshaw]

I think this just about sums up that match