Official 2014 Brazil World Cup thread

[vennegoor of hesselink]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Preview of the upcoming France-Germany QF, sorta

http://existentialcomics.com/comic/35

Shouldn't Camus be in goal?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/b...oalkeeper.html

[GirlySports]

Petition to change the name of Washington National Airport to Tim Howard National Airport.

[chemgear]

[troutman]

Arjen Robben is a diving cheat - that's why the former Chelsea winger will never be welcomed back to the Premier League

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/wor...-3417085460001

[_Q_]

The American team loses 2-1, yet the star of the match is the American goalie??

Never change America, never change.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by troutman

Arjen Robben is a diving cheat - that's why the former Chelsea winger will never be welcomed back to the Premier League

In before the "but, but, everybody else does it!" from the Robben apologists.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by _Q_

The American team loses 2-1, yet the star of the match is the American goalie??

Never change America, never change.

Meh, it probably should have been 4-1, 5-1 or more if not for Howard. I don't mind him being called the star of the match given how the rest of his team played.

[GirlySports]

all the Howard memes are pretty funny

[seattleflamer]

Originally Posted by _Q_

The American team loses 2-1, yet the star of the match is the American goalie??

Never change America, never change.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Of course Howard was the man of the match. When your team would have suffered the most embarassing knockout stage loss ever without him, credit where it's due. Belgium had 27 shots on target, that is utterly absurd. With some of the goalies we've seen in this tournament that would have been a 9-0 scoreline or worse.

[Igottago]

Agreed, Howard was the only reason the US was anywhere close in that match. Great performance.

[Itse]

And after 60 games the top 4 is possibly the least surprising possible combination

(Although Spain dropping so early was of course a surprise.)

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Itse

And after 60 games the top 4 is possibly the least surprising possible combination

(Although Spain dropping so early was of course a surprise.)

It's like tennis. Everyone gets excited for a couple of weeks but in the end, it's the same 4 guys left

[Ironhorse]

Brazilian team doctor said 4-6 weeks. His WC is done.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

It's like tennis. Everyone gets excited for a couple of weeks but in the end, it's the same 4 guys left

Well, we've seen some half-surprises too.
- Uruguay made it to top 4 in 2010, after a really long time.
- Italy in the top 4 isn't a huge surprise, but them winning it in 2006 was a bit of a surprise, few expected much from that squad before the games.
- Of course never forget South Korea and Turkey both making it to top 4 in 2002.
- 1998 Croatia was a bit of a surprise in the top 4, and France had never won the World Cup.
- 1994 we had Sweden and Bulgaria in the top 4.

So I'd say it's almost more likely that there's an underdog in the top 4 than that there isn't.

Of course those underdogs never make it to the actual final, but that's a different story

Tough to say who's going to win it.
Netherlands seems like the favourite at this point.
Brazil is my other choice, even without Neymar. They're a great squad.
Germany looks like a bridesmaid IMO. Good, but not great. That said, they haven't really been pushed, it's tough to know what they have in store.
Argentina seems like the least likely team, but then again they've been playing better and better every game. And they have Messi.

So it's not like I'm complaining.

[Flamenspiel]

Marco Rodriguez will be the ref for the Brazil game. He reffed the Italy/Uruguay match. I think that should favour Brazil.

[GirlySports]

depends, Brazil love to foul. If he shows yellow cards early then Brazil will foul less.

[PIMking]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

depends, Brazil love to foul. If he shows yellow cards early then Brazil will foul less.

Well and dive.... Müller dives but Brazil is the worst...

I'm worried about not having an evenly called game

[M*A*S*H 4077]

It's going to be 11 Germans against 80,000 Brazilians. I can't wait.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by PIMking

Well and dive.... Müller dives but Brazil is the worst...

I'm worried about not having an evenly called game

Originally Posted by M*A*S*H 4077

It's going to be 11 Germans against 80,000 Brazilians. I can't wait.

You know what they say

"Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win."