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***Official 2014 World Cup Thread*** (1 Viewer)

Eephus said:
" post="16964721" timestamp="1404337425"]
Eephus said:
The 20218 World Cup is scheduled to be held in Russia,
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:o

Soccer will be huge in the US by then.
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I fully expect to be reincarnated and be the one scoring the winning goal in the final. Although by then it may be the 20218 worldS cup and we could be playing vs a distant alien race who population likes the game every four light years but the majority really wishes it would change specific individual rules just to get them to be that 1 more viewer....
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Mjolnirs said:
Corporation said:
Sand said:
So now that we are in the quarters, we have:

Brazil v Colombia

Netherlands v Costa Rica

France v Germany

Argentina v Belgium

Biggest game of those 4? I'm going to be very interested to see that Brazil Colombia match. Colombia has played better thus far but Brazil has the home field.

Final four predictions? Right now I'd go with Colombia, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium.
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BrazilNed

Germany

Argentina

Brazil

Germany

Brazil
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Brazil/Germany would be a semi. Them meeting in the final isn't possible.Oh, another thing the new people might find entertaining ... The third place match.

The losers of the semifinal games play for third place the day before the championship game.
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And it is usually a wide open goal fest.

 
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
sporthenry said:
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
Slapdash said:
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
Argentina -- Unpopular opinion. Outside the admittedly awesome big, game changing moments, I think Messi has played kind of bad for long stretches at a time. So what happens if he really finds his groove? Di Maria also finally began to look like he was getting his mojo against the Swiss. Its just a feeling, but I think this is a team about to click.
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Is this just a rehash of your criticism that Messi doesn't appear to be doing anything a lot of the time? That seems pretty well overstated.
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No. It's not his workrate in this tourney. I think he's misplaying a lot of passes.
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Their whole team looks out of whack. I guess its no different than Brazil and company. Still amazing that as bad you think he looks, I still think he looks best in the world this tournament. Even with a lackluster tournament, he'll still give you 3-4 moments of brilliance just dribbling out of a triple team.

The one criticism I have is that sometimes these attempts at brilliance actually hurt the team. I think he often times tries to do too much. Of course with this criticism, Messi can't win b/c others think he doesn't do enough. I just think one touching the ball to Di Maria or Higuain or Aguero isn't the worst play in the world.
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Yeah, I agree with all that. I've said before that I think that Messi is a complicated guy to get the tactics perfect for. Its why a lot of really awesome players haven't quite meshed with him on the forward line at Barca while a somewhat less talented guy like Pedro (who is hyper aware of his spacing in relation to Messi) has. This isn't a criticism. If I had Messi, I'd want him on the ball all the time.

I guess part of my surprise is that I had seen some of the qualifiers and pre-cup friendlies, and I thought Sabella had cracked the nut by playing Di Maria behind Messi. I had also thought that Aguero and Messi played well together (in limited minutes) in 2010, but Aguero has just gotten in his way in this tourney.

Obviously, you can't find a player (maybe James?) who has produced three moments as good (IMO) as Messi's goal against Bosnia, his goal against Iran, and his assist against the Swiss. Those are three "only Messi" moments. But in terms of 90 minutes where you feel a guy is literally on the brink of a goal every time he touches it, I think Robben has looked dangerous on a more consistent basis.
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Messi is just never given the space to look as dangerous. No one on his team has stepped up and demanded defensive attention, so it is still: bracket Messi at all times, move in an extra guy or three when he actually has the ball.

His passing hasn't been completely on the mark. You can tell that the team isn't on the same page in the final third. Messi's game really suffers from the lack of playing together National teams have. The one touch give-and-goes that he is used to at Barça take a lot understanding. Hopefully they click soon.

I've been really disappointed with Di Maria until the end of that last game and severely disappointed with Higuian and Aguero (when he was in there).

 
Sebowski said:
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
sporthenry said:
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
Slapdash said:
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
Argentina -- Unpopular opinion. Outside the admittedly awesome big, game changing moments, I think Messi has played kind of bad for long stretches at a time. So what happens if he really finds his groove? Di Maria also finally began to look like he was getting his mojo against the Swiss. Its just a feeling, but I think this is a team about to click.
Click to expand...
Is this just a rehash of your criticism that Messi doesn't appear to be doing anything a lot of the time? That seems pretty well overstated.
Click to expand...
No. It's not his workrate in this tourney. I think he's misplaying a lot of passes.
Click to expand...
Their whole team looks out of whack. I guess its no different than Brazil and company. Still amazing that as bad you think he looks, I still think he looks best in the world this tournament. Even with a lackluster tournament, he'll still give you 3-4 moments of brilliance just dribbling out of a triple team.

The one criticism I have is that sometimes these attempts at brilliance actually hurt the team. I think he often times tries to do too much. Of course with this criticism, Messi can't win b/c others think he doesn't do enough. I just think one touching the ball to Di Maria or Higuain or Aguero isn't the worst play in the world.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I agree with all that. I've said before that I think that Messi is a complicated guy to get the tactics perfect for. Its why a lot of really awesome players haven't quite meshed with him on the forward line at Barca while a somewhat less talented guy like Pedro (who is hyper aware of his spacing in relation to Messi) has. This isn't a criticism. If I had Messi, I'd want him on the ball all the time.

I guess part of my surprise is that I had seen some of the qualifiers and pre-cup friendlies, and I thought Sabella had cracked the nut by playing Di Maria behind Messi. I had also thought that Aguero and Messi played well together (in limited minutes) in 2010, but Aguero has just gotten in his way in this tourney.

Obviously, you can't find a player (maybe James?) who has produced three moments as good (IMO) as Messi's goal against Bosnia, his goal against Iran, and his assist against the Swiss. Those are three "only Messi" moments. But in terms of 90 minutes where you feel a guy is literally on the brink of a goal every time he touches it, I think Robben has looked dangerous on a more consistent basis.
Click to expand...
Messi is just never given the space to look as dangerous. No one on his team has stepped up and demanded defensive attention, so it is still: bracket Messi at all times, move in an extra guy or three when he actually has the ball.

His passing hasn't been completely on the mark. You can tell that the team isn't on the same page in the final third. Messi's game really suffers from the lack of playing together National teams have. The one touch give-and-goes that he is used to at Barça take a lot understanding. Hopefully they click soon.

I've been really disappointed with Di Maria until the end of that last game and severely disappointed with Higuian and Aguero (when he was in there).
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All of this is true but their half of the draw looks decidely weaker. Belgium's lack of pace from their fullbacks is exploitable and I don't entirely trust Axel Witsel in front of the back four. I think Costa Rica has less chance of denying Argentina for 120 minutes than Switzerland did. Nobody likes Nigel De Jong but his loss hurts Holland because they don't have a lot of depth in midfield. ARG-NED could be a goalfest which probably means it'll be 120 scoreless minutes.

 
Time killer while we wait for Friday:

Build a starting XI using one player from each of the QF teams and three US players.

Here's what I came up with on a first pass:

Brazil - Marcelo

Colombia - James

France - Pogba

Germany - Lahm (moving to RB)

Netherlands - Robben

Costa Rica - Gonzalez

Argentina - Messi

Belgium - Lukaku

USA - Howard, Besler, Jones

Howard

Lahm-G. Gonzalez-Besler-Marcelo

Jones

Pogba - Messi - James

Lukaku - Robben

Looking at the remaining rosters, I think you could probably build a better team by not using Messi. Curious to see what other folks come up with.

 
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Brazil - Luiz

Colombia - James

France - Benzema

Germany - Hummels

Netherlands - Blind

Costa Rica - Navas

Argentina - Messi

Belgium - Hazard

US - Bradley, Johnson, Jones

Navas

Johnson - Hummels - Luiz - Blind

Bradley - Jones

Hazard - Messi - James

Benzema

 
I think I'm gonna spend the next week or so deliberately pronouncing people's names wildly different than they should be pronounced, in honor of James.

 
Anyone have updated prices for the WC winner?

My site has Belgium at +700 and Columbia at +850. What are other people seeing? I saw +1200-+1300 here earlier today--are those right?

 
GK: Howard (US)

RB: Johnson (US)

CB: Thiago Silva (BRA)

CB: Kompany (BEL)

LB: Blind (NED)

DM: Matuidi (FRA)

CM: Bradley (US)

CM: Borges (CR)

AML: James (COL)

AMR: Messi (ARG)

ST: Muller (GER)

Tempted to go Benzema over Matuidi, but I think from a team-building standpoint I'm better off dominating the midfield.

 
Spartans Rule said:
Ted Lange as your Bartender said:
Looking at the remaining rosters, I think you could probably build a better team by not using Messi. Curious to see what other folks come up with.
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Who would you want from Argentina in that case? I don't see anyone who offers enough advantage at their position to leave off the world's best player.
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Boom, there's nobody else that has stepped up yet. Messi's back has to be sore....

 
Spartans Rule said:
Ted Lange as your Bartender said:
Looking at the remaining rosters, I think you could probably build a better team by not using Messi. Curious to see what other folks come up with.
Click to expand...
Who would you want from Argentina in that case? I don't see anyone who offers enough advantage at their position to leave off the world's best player.
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You could probably make a case for Di Maria and save your forward spots for 3 of James, Muller, Robben, Neymar, and Benzema
 
sporthenry said:
Spartans Rule said:
Ted Lange as your Bartender said:
Looking at the remaining rosters, I think you could probably build a better team by not using Messi. Curious to see what other folks come up with.
Click to expand...
Who would you want from Argentina in that case? I don't see anyone who offers enough advantage at their position to leave off the world's best player.
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You could probably make a case for Di Maria and save your forward spots for 3 of James, Muller, Robben, Neymar, and Benzema
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I'm as big of a Di maria honk as there is here, but I agree with Sebowski in that he hasn't done much leading up to that last goal. I was hoping for much more from him

 
Screw defense.

GK: Navas

RB: Cameron

CB: Gonzalez

LB: Besler

RM: Robben

RCM: Pogba

CAM: Messi

LCM: Schweinsteiger

LM: Hazard

ST: James

ST: Neymar

 
Spartans Rule said:
Ted Lange as your Bartender said:
Looking at the remaining rosters, I think you could probably build a better team by not using Messi. Curious to see what other folks come up with.
Click to expand...
Who would you want from Argentina in that case? I don't see anyone who offers enough advantage at their position to leave off the world's best player.
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I agree after looking at it more - my thinking was more that there are several other excellent AMs available (Neymar, Cabaye, Sneidjer etc) that you could bulk up a thinner position with another Argentinian, but looking at it more there's no real obvious choice there. Maybe Zabaleta but RB is a pretty deep position of the teams remaining, even including Fabian Johnson.

 
I think the eye-popping ratings of this WC are going to really have an impact.

If packaged right would think premier live soccer events would garner better ratings then say Outside the Lines or NFL live in July during the afternoon. The key is once ESPN, Fox and NBC invest in this they will be running highlights on Sportscenter and such. Will just snowball.

Live sporting events just too valuable.

 
This morning I ran into a doc here at work that is from Germany. He told me that he's hearing at least 6 players are sick. I'm trying to find any news online and it looks as if starting today any website ending in .de is now blocked at work. I'm blinded!

Anybody hear anything? Link?

 
Joachim Löw has confirmed that seven of his Germany players are showing symptoms of illness in the buildup to Friday’s World Cup quarter-final against France.

Days after Mats Hummels was ruled out of the game against Algeria due to sickness, the Germany manager said the problem seemed to have spread, without naming specific players.

“Seven players are slightly ill with flu symptoms,” said Löw. “It is not that bad at the moment and it could be partly about air conditioning, the travel, temperature differences. I do not want to make a drama of it. We hope the situation will ease.”

The coach Andreas Köpke said the midfielder Christoph Kramer was among those struggling with “slight chills”. Hummels, though, tweeted that he was recovering from his infection, writing he felt “almost back at 100%”, while Lukas Podolski is also likely to be available to face France after recovering from a thigh strain.
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Almost 22 million viewers for the US - Belgium game.

Espn just has to be killing themselves over losing the rights to these games the next two cycles.

Also really shortsighted for fifa to bid these out before this year's Cup. These rating have to be crushing expectations.

 
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Premier said:
Almost 22 million viewers for the US - Belgium game.

Espn just has to be killing themselves over losing the rights to these games the next two cycles.

Also really shortsighted for fifa to bid these out before this year's Cup. These rating have to be crushing expectations.
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who has it next?

 
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