Familiar rivals close in proximity from one another took each other on in some interesting quarterfinal matchups. Which two out of Brazil/Colombia and France/Germany will meet in the semifinals?
Quarterfinal: France vs. Germany
Result: 1-0 win for Germany
Goalscorers: 13' Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund)
Bookings: 54' Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), 80' Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich)
Lineups
France (4-3-3)
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham, captain); Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle United), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool), Patrice Evra (Manchester United); Paul Pogba (Juventus), Yohan Cabaye (PSG), Blaise Matuidi (PSG); Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Antoine Griezmann (Real Sociedad)
Changes from last match
Change from 4-5-1 to 4-3-3 formation. Laurent Koscielny (who covered for the then injured Sakho) and Olivier Giroud replaced by Sakho and Griezmann in the starting lineup.
Subs:
Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal) 72' for Mamadou Sakho
Loic Remy (Newcastle United) 74' for Yohan Cabaye
Oliver Giroud (Arsenal) 84' for Mathieu Valbuena
Germany (4-2-3-1)
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich); Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich, captain), Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Benedikt Howedes (Schalke); Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid); Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal); Miroslav Klose (Lazio)
Changes from last match:
Change from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 formation. Shkrodan Mustafi (injured), Per Mertesacker, and Mario Gotze left off the starting lineup allowing Hummels, Khedira, and Klose to start. Lahm moves from midfield to his preferred right back position
Subs:
Andre Schurrle (Chelsea) 68' for Miroslav Klose
Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich) 83' for Mesut Ozil
Christoph Kramer (Monchengladbach) 90+3' for Toni Kroos
A matchup that caused the internet to erupt with World War 2 jokes and references was actually pretty interesting on paper. Both teams are coached by intelligent coaches, Didier Deschamps for France and Joachim Low for Germany, we've seen a lot of different players from both sides excel during their respective paths of the tournament, and both these teams along with Netherlands seemed like the most likely of the European teams that survived the group stage to win the World Cup. However, right away we remembered why Germany were so good: they waste no time to get ahead in most matches (vs. Algeria wasn't one of those matches): An early Toni Kroos free kick found Mats Hummels who beat Hugo Lloris with a well-placed header. Mats Hummels became the first defender of this World Cup to score two goals, and his contributions on both offense and defense in this match should definitely cement his starting position at least for the remainder of Germany's tournament barring any injury or suspension (sorry Per Mertesacker). The rest of the match was mostly blown opportunities by France who looked the more inspired side after that goal. Thanks to a block from Mats Hummels and some good saves from Manuel Neuer (and the post on one occasion), the best of France's chances failed. Germany handled the situation well enough for one goal to be all they needed to make it to the semifinals for a record 4th consecutive time at the World Cup. Germany appeared a bit too calm throughout that match but they got the job done and that's all that matters. I think this formation with Klose starting and Lahm in right back works wonders for them, and I understand people are concerned about Klose playing for 70-90 minutes but Germany have more than enough options to make that work.
Elimination Analysis: France
At this day and age one great World Cup run won't be enough to appease French fans. One day you're in the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup defeating Brazil, the next Zinedane Zidane gets a red card in the final for a headbutt and the day after that Nicolas Anelka is being kicked out of the squad. However at least for right now things look good for France. They have a wealth of talented players playing for a lot of Europe's best clubs like Real Madrid, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, PSG, and Arsenal. Young players like Raphael Varane, Mamadou Sakho, Paul Pogba, and Antoine Griezmann have yet to reach their full potential. They'll definitely remain as one of Europe's best teams but the next step is trying to become the best, like they did in their sole World Cup triumph in France 1998.
Quarterfinal: Brazil vs. Colombia
Result: 2-1 win for the hosts
Goalscorers: 7' Thiago Silva (PSG), 69' David Luiz (Chelsea), 80' James Rodriguez (Monaco)
Bookings: 64' Thiago Silva (PSG), 67' James Rodriguez (Monaco), 71' Mario Yepes (Atalanta), 78' Julio Cesar (Toronto FC)
Significance of bookings: Thiago Silva will be suspended for the semi final against Germany
Lineups
Brazil (4-2-3-1)
Julio Cesar (Toronto FC); Maicon (Roma), Thiago Silva (PSG, captain), David Luiz (Chelsea), Marcelo (Real Madrid); Fernandinho (Manchester City), Paulinho (Tottenham); Hulk (Zenit), Oscar (Chelsea), Neymar (Barcelona); Fred (Fluminense)
Changes from last match
Dani Alves and Luis Gustavo (yellow card suspension) did not start and were replaced by Maicon and Paulinho
Subs:
Ramires (Chelsea) 82' for Hulk
Hernanes (Inter) 86' for Paulinho
Henrique (Napoli) 88' for Neymar
Colombia (4-4-2)
David Ospina (Nice); Juan Zuniga (Napoli), Cristian Zapata (AC Milan), Mario Yepes (Atalanta, captain), Pablo Armero (West Ham United); Victor Ibarbo (Cagliari), Carlos Sanchez (Elche), Fredy Guarin (Inter), Juan Cuadrado (Fiorentina); Teofilo Gutierrez (River Plate), James Rodriguez (Monaco)
Changes from last match
Abel Aguilar and Jackson Martinez replaced by Guarin and Ibarbo in the starting lineup
Subs:
Adrian Ramos (Hertha BSC) 46' for Victor Ibarbo
Carlos Bacca (Sevilla) 70' for Teofilo Gutierrez
Juan Quintero (Porto) 80' for Juan Cuadrado
Two South American teams who look strong and are usually interesting to watch, this definitely looked like it would be a great match. However Brazil's struggles against teams they were supposed to be able to beat easily and Colombia having an easy group were areas of criticism for both teams. Both managers made interesting lineup choices as main stays Dani Alves for Brazil and Abel Aguilar for Colombia didn't start this time. Despite having a slow start against Chile, and knowing that in recent years teams who progressed via penalty shootout were likely to lose in the next round, Brazil got the first goal thanks to a corner kick. Thiago Silva had an easy opportunity since Carlos Sanchez failed to mark him. Then David Luiz scored from another set piece to make it 2-0 to Brazil. Colombia, who had had an amazing run so far in the World Cup and felt confident in their chances to defeat the hosts, were now in a terrible position. James Rodriguez's penalty kick made the situation a bit more pleasant for the Colombians (6th goal of the World Cup for Rodriguez, 2 ahead of his nearest rivals Messi, Muller, and Neymar) but then the biggest moment of the game came when Juan Zuniga recklessly hit his knee on Neymar's back. The challenge resulted in Neymar needing to be pulled out of the match by stretcher and Neymar is ruled out of the World Cup. It's potentially bad news for Brazil's World Cup hopes, but for now Brazil won the match, sending Colombia home and Brazil into the semifinals for the first time since 2002 (after back to back quarterfinals in 2006 and 2010).
Elimination Analysis: Colombia
After missing the last 3 World Cups, the longest drought of any of the 31 nations in this World Cup who weren't making their debuts (this excludes Bosnia and Herzegovina), it's amazing how things have gone for Colombia. Led by previous Atletico Madrid and later Monaco star Ramadel Falcao, Colombia came in 2nd in CONMEBOL qualification for the World Cup. But it wasn't quite until this World Cup that we realized what an impressive supporting cast he had that are probably stars in their own right, especially James Rodriguez. Even if Colombia didn't have the toughest of group stage opponents (they were the seeded team so they were supposed to be the alpha dog in Group C), they surely did impress us with a beautiful style of playing that other South American giants such as Brazil are known for. James Rodriguez is only 22 and other players will likely be around for a while longer too, and with many of these players playing in notable clubs in Europe (especially in Serie A, such as Juan Cuadrado in Fiorentina and Cristian Zapata in AC Milan), Colombia will hope that their status as one of the best teams in the world doesn't fade away too soon.
Up next
The last two quarterfinal matchups
Argentina vs. Belgium
Netherlands vs. Costa Rica
Neighbors Belgium and Netherlands defeated another pair of neighbors USA and Mexico respectively in the Round of 16. Now their opponents come from other new world nations. Surprise package Costa Rica will not want to wake up from this dream run just yet, but if there's any team that can function as an alarm clock in this situation, it is the Netherlands, who shot Spain and Mexico out of dream land. Belgium will likely be unlikely to be able to be wasteful against Argentina, but the same applies to Argentina. Both teams, despite their vast offensive resources, haven't been beating some of their easier opponents by as many goals as they were expected to. In the only South America vs. Europe showdown in this round, a Belgian win could increase Europe's odds of having one of their nations win a World Cup in South America for the first time, while an Argentine win could signal that history is destined to repeat itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment