World Cup 2014

A little missive from Donovan:

http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... nsmann-usa

I'm curious to see what others of you think about these statements.

 

LD was on Colin Cowherd this morning and had quite a few positive things to say about JK. He didn't mention any of the things he said in that article. Besides what Heather pointed out about no mention of Jozy's injury (which threw a monkey wrench into the plans) his assessment of Bradley was a little off base. There were plenty of times he played deeper and Jones got forward, I know he doesn't want to throw teammates under the bus, but he failed to mention the boys (especially Bradley) turning the ball over consistently without pressure from the opposition. The biggest thing I agree on a July 5th showdown w/Messi and the boys would of been amazing and is a lost opportunity.

 

Does it get much better than the double header tomorrow?

France v Germany: Will the all CB back 4 of Germany be exposed by the 'On-Again' French? This is the type of match in the past where you think the Germans are vulnerable and then they come up w/a performance. I will stick w/my France pick from a couple of days ago, but wouldn't surprise me in the least to see Germany advance.


Columbia v Brazil: Columbia has been my favorite team to watch and James Rodriquez has been crazy good. Only one problem, even though they've played better than the hosts this is the stage of the tournament where I can see it coming undone. Pulling for Columbia big time, but Brazil will find a way.

 

:text-+1:

And Los Ticos on Sattidy.

 

Great minds and all that jazz.

 

Columbia looked like the better team for the majority of game, but missed the killer pass in the final third. 2 set piece goals for Brazil's CB's who have more offensive ability than that less than scary pair of Hulk & Fred. Now Neymar is out, and Silva is out of the semifinal after a ridiculous yellow on the GK.

Was it me, or did France look like they didn't realize they needed a goal until there was 5 minutes left or so? 4 Semis in a row for Germany :handgestures-salute: , not a fan of them, but the level of consistency and their habit of getting stronger as a tournament unfolds is something to be admired and respected.

 

I would say that Germany has figured this World Cup thing out.

And now at least fourth for this year.

 

Great pics Lax and worthy of a :text-bump:

Rooting for Belgium and Costa Rica today, and both teams will put up a fight in what will probably be losing efforts.

 

Wow. Tough result for Ruiz and the Ticos, but they deserve a lot of admiration. They'll be a forex to be reckoned with for a very long time.

 

To steal a line from my buddy: 'it looks like Ruiz spent too much time in England working on penalties in a shootout...' Well, I'll be watching on Wednesday w/ my son b/c of his man-crush on Messi. All in all, and as HD stated, maybe insert a Spain or Colombia in there, but this is a final four that all had a high percentage of reaching it.

 

I was finally able to sit down and write out a long blog post about my trip to Brazil for those of you that care -> http://www.socceroverthere.com/?p=16945

Sorry for the length.

 

That was great stuff, LAX. Thank you for sharing.

 

A huge :text-+1: The video from apartment building looking down on the US fans marching to the stadium was amazing.

 

Fantastic stuff, Lax. Hoping I can make a trip like that someday.

 

Just wow! I can't say I saw that kind of thumping coming Brazil's way. Germany looked so comprehensively good and Brazil so incompetent. It is inconceivable that Brazil has to play a consolation game.