After a very interesting 2014-15 NBA season where the seedings and the composition of the playoff teams don't quite matched what we expected in September or October of last year, it's time for another playoff run. The magic number is 16. 16 teams with a chance of lifting the Larry O'Brien trophy and 16 wins needed to do so. Now let's take a look at the teams
Western Conference
1 Golden State Warriors (Pacific champions; 3rd consecutive playoff appearance) vs 8 New Orleans Pelicans (returns to playoffs after 3 year drought)
Key Players: GSW Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andrew Bogut; NOP Anthony Davis, Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday, Omer Asik
4 Portland Trailblazers (Northwest champions; 2nd consecutive playoff appearance) vs 5 Memphis Grizzlies (5th consecutive playoff appearance)
Key Players: POR Lamarcus Aldrige, Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum; MEM Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Zach Randolph
3 Los Angeles Clippers (4th consecutive playoff appearance) vs 6 San Antonio Spurs (18th consecutive playoff appearance)
Key Players: LAC Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Deandre Jordan, JJ Redick; SAS Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili
2 Houston Rockets (Southwest champions; 3rd consecutive playoff appearance) vs 7 Dallas Mavericks (2nd consecutive playoff appearance)
Key Players: HOU James Harden, Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza, Donatas Motiejunas; DAL Dirk Nowitski, Rajon Rondo, Tyson Chandler, Monta Ellis, Tony Allen
This western conference looks stacked. All 8 teams have at least 1 championship caliber player and it will be a fight to the very end of each game. I'm not saying we're looking at 7 7-game series from the West but not even Warriors vs Pelicans looks like a sweep, especially considering the Pelicans managed to beat the Warriors and the Spurs in the dying days of the regular season to find their way in the playoffs at the expense of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Warriors, Rockets, and Trailblazers appear to be the favorites to make the finals but the Spurs, Clippers, and Grizzlies look tough and even the Mavericks and Pelicans can cause some problems for the heavyweights.
Eastern Conference
1 Atlanta Hawks (Southeast champions; 8th consecutive playoff appearance) vs 8 Brooklyn Nets (3rd consecutive playoff appearance)
Key Players: ATL Paul Millsap, Al Horford, Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver; BKN Brook Lopez, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Thaddeus Young
4 Toronto Raptors (Atlantic champions; 2nd consecutive playoff appearance) vs 5 Washington Wizards (2nd consecutive playoff appearance)
Key Players: TOR DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Jonas Valanciunas, Terrence Ross; WAS John Wall, Paul Pierce, Marcin Gortat, Bradley Beal
3 Chicago Bulls (7th consecutive playoff appearance) vs 6 Milwaukee Bucks (returns to playoffs after 1 year drought)
Key Players: CHI Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noam, Pau Gasol, Derricke Rose; MIL Brandon Knight, Michael Carter-Williams, Jabari Parker, Giannis Antetokounmpo
2 Cleveland Cavaliers (Central champions; returns to playoffs after 4 year drought) vs 7 Boston Celtics (returns to playoffs after 1 year drought)
Key Players: CLE Lebron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, JR Smith; CEL Jeff Green, Avery Bradley, Isaiah Thomas, Jared Sullinger
I'm not so optimistic this side of the playoffs. A few really good teams like Cavs, Hawks, and Bulls, but some teams whose best players are a few years away from their best days. A lot of the players I listed look like future all stars but for now, I see some sweeps and not many close series. Even though Cavs, Bulls, and Hawks are all strong teams, if they are the East's hopes of winning the championship, I like my odds with the powerhouses of the West.
Predictions
First Round
Warriors win 4-2 over Pelicans: A lot of pressure on my favorite team to go far and the Pelicans are looking dangerous, but I think the Warriors will be fine.
Blazers fall 4-2 to Grizzlies: Close one but Grizzlies seem like just the better team
Clippers fall 4-2 to Spurs: Spurs are playoff experts and the Clippers are hot and cold. Spurs are rarely cold in April and I can't see them gone so soon.
Rockets win 4-3 over Mavericks: Closer than seedings suggest but I see the Rockets finding their way narrowly over an interesting and threatening team.
Hawks sweep Nets: Brooklyn are lucky to be here and have been underachievers matched up against an overachieving team.
Raptors fall 4-3 to Wizards: Expect the Toronto curse to continue. In a world where their baseball, hockey, and soccer teams fall below their expectations, basketball fail to offer much better.
Bulls win 4-1 over Bucks: Bulls have too much star power over an inexperienced Bucks side.
Cavs wins 4-1 over Celtics: Similar to Bulls and Bucks. Crystal clear for me but maybe some warning signs for Cavs.
Conference Semifinals
Warriors win 4-3 over Grizzlies: Grizzlies will push Warriors far but not far enough.
Spurs wins 4-3 over Rockets: Spurs playoff magic continues and Rockets will be left wondering how can they go further next season.
Hawks win 4-2 over Wizards: Could be an interesting matchup but how much will Wizards have left? Can't see them progressing.
Cavs wins 4-2 over Bulls: Good series hopefully but Cavs remain relatively unchallenged.
Conference finals
Warriors win 4-3 over Spurs: I may get some crap for this but Warriors have what it takes. Will not be easy at all.
Cavs wins 4-3 over Hawks: Cavs click and deny a surprise package from an even more incredible season.
Finals
Warriors win 4-2 over Cavs: West over East. Simple as that. And Warriors would make worthy winners.
We'll see how my predictions shape up. Let me know your thoughts.
Friday, April 17, 2015
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Spring Break Ends but Sports Are Just Beginning
I write this blog entry a day before I begin Spring Quarter at UC Davis (updated: I finished it late due to recovering from being sick, I'm better now!), and I think to myself this is the beginning of an exciting time if you're a sports fan. For me basketball and soccer have always been my favorite sports so I'm especially excited about those, but you can't ignore what the beginning of baseball season and the culmination of hockey season means as well. I'm going to take a look at the biggest storylines you should look out for in the next four months.
The Fantastic Final Four
Where else to start than March Madness? It's lived up to its name despite 3 #1 seeds making it this far (Villanova being the one to miss out, another reason for Roxanne Chalifoux to simultaneously cry and play the piccolo). Kentucky is 38-0 this season and has already made history with that record but it won't mean much if it ends up being 38-1 or 39-1 as opposed to 40-0. Wisconsin's team lead by the dynamic duo of Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky did well to validate their #1 seed, and it's always hard to discount Duke with US National team coach Mike Krzyzewski (if I spelled his name wrong, please don't hate me). Speaking of coaches, the Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo is probably one of the big reasons why the title of Cinderella seems weird for Michigan State. Yes they are a #7 seed but the man's wealth of experience cannot be ignored. 18 NCAA Tournaments, only 5 times he's failed to make the sweet 16 as a coach. And as anyone who's been watching March Madness this year or any year knows it is a tough tournament for any team, even the 1 seeds. Kentucky and Duke may appear as favorites to meet in the final in Indianapolis on April 4, but all four of these teams have legitimate reasons for why they can end up in the winner's circle.
Skating on Thin Ice
Out of the four major sports league in the USA (Five if I include MLS, and every year its ability to make it a Big Five as opposed to a Big Four increases), NHL is the one I follow the least. It's still a great sport, I guess I've just been a better Air Hockey player than Ice Hockey. For my local team the San Jose Sharks after a frustration early end to their post season in 2014, it might end even more frustrating and early this time because they're in a tough spot in the race for playoff positions. Here's how things stand so far, and the way this works is the NHL is split up into East and West and then East is split up into Atlantic and Metro while West is split into Central and Pacific. Top 3 teams each from Atlantic, Metro, Central, and Pacific automatically qualify along with the next 2 best teams each from East and West (regardless of Atlantic/Metro/Central/Pacific classification).
East:
Atlantic 1.Montreal (clinched) 2.Tampa Bay 3.Detroit
Metro 1.NY Rangers (clinched) 2.Pittsburgh 3.NY Islanders
Wild Card: 1.Washington 2.Boston
Outside looking in (points behind Boston Bruins) 3.Ottawa (3) 4.Florida(4) 5.Philadelphia(12) 6.Columbus(13) 7.New Jersey(15) 8.Carolina(22) 9.Toronto(27) 10.Buffalo(41)
West:
Central 1.Nashville (clinched) 2.St.Louis 3.Chicago
Pacific 1.Anaheim (clinched) 2.Vancouver 3.Calgary
Wild Card: 1.Minnesota 2.Winnipeg
Outside looking in (points behind Winnipeg Jets) 3.Los Angeles (2) 4.Dallas(6) 5.San Jose(7) 6.Colorado(8) 7.Edmonton(33) 8.Arizona(36)
For the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Nashville Predators, and Anaheim Ducks, they're all breathing easy because they are going to the playoffs. They could slip up and be seeded lower, but in NHL seedings mean less here than in any other playoff format except maybe the MLS. NHL is known for its upsets in the postseason, so the cliche of "you just have to be in it to win it" is as true as it can be. Even Giants can fall through the ice and out of the playoffs easily. Even though the race for playoffs remains tighter in the West than the East (might help that they only have 14 teams as opposed to the East with 16), both conferences should have some good matchups from the get go as the fight for the Stanley Cup begins soon. One things for sure: it'll mean a lot for Red Wings fans if Detroit make it to the playoffs this season as it will extend their playoff appearance streak to 24 seasons, tying for 4th with Montreal Canadiens 1970-71 to 1993-94.
Davids running the Goliaths out of the NBA
No one would've expected the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks to be leading the West and East Conferences respectively at this point of the season, let alone with this much breathing room at the top. Warriors are ahead of 2nd place Rockets (and 3rd place Grizzlies who have the same amount of wins as the Rockets but one more loss) by 10 games and the Hawks are ahead of 2nd place Cavaliers by 7 games. As a Warriors fan I am very happy with the way things have been going so far but it's all about the playoffs, and just as easily as the Warriors as an 8 seed upset the Dallas Mavericks in the 2007 Playoffs, the same can happen to them. This is especially true in the NBA this season, where in both conferences you can identify 2 or 3 top class players, which is especially true for the loaded Western Conference, where the Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans, despite their winning records which would not only put them in the playoffs in the Eastern Conference but knock the Milwaukee Buck down from a 6 to an 8 seed, are on the outside looking in with the Kings, Lakers, Jazz, Timberwolves, and Nuggets out of luck for this season. As for the East, there's still a chance for 12 of the 15 teams (sorry Magic, 76ers, and Knicks....ok not sorry, especially to the latter two who were all kinds of awful) with the Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers, and Boston Celtics circling around the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat like vultures waiting to strike and take one of those playoff spots. Seeing teams like the Pistons, Knicks, Lakers, and Celtics who have had a lot of success a decade or two ago and even further back while teams like the Warriors, Hawks, Cavaliers, Raptors, Wizards, Grizzlies, and Trailblazers are in the spotlight is definitely a breath of fresh air for the knowledgeable basketball fan and to loyal fans whose patience has payed off to some extent as now their teams are doing quite well.
Even though the Warriors seem unstoppable, especially after some big road wins against Western Conference Rivals Portland Trailblazers and Memphis Grizzlies, it'll be a tough road to the NBA Playoffs. A road that could be traveled by the likes of (takes a deep breath) Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldrige, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Dwight Howard, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Dirk Nowitski, Rajon Rondo, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, and of course the star studded playoff wizards known as San Antonio Spurs, where long time trio Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, and Tony Parker are as dangerous as ever. A lot of tough tasks ahead for Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Andrew Bogut, Klay Thompson, and the rest of the Warriors if they are to end up on top in what has been one of the best seasons in Warriors history.
UEFA Champions League: Favorites, Underdogs, and no British Clubs?
It would've been a massive shocker had Real Madrid not reached the quarterfinals, but they limped past an impressive Schalke 04 and now have a big task to defeat rivals Atletico Madrid, who have had Real Madrid's number every time they met this season. It feels like we're at the height of the second galacticos era for Real Madrid, a team that once had Brazilian Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Raul, and Jonathan Woodgate (I'm joking about the last guy. If you know the history of Real Madrid you'll understand) has shifted to stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, James Rodriguez, and Karim Benzema. However over the last season and this season, Atletico Madrid's often underrated collection of players are making their names known proudly. Being a less wealthy club than Real Madrid, they have a tougher time of keeping their talented players such as Diego Costa, Filipe Luis, and Thibaut Courtois (who now all play for Chelsea), but the ones they keep they develop well and it's not like Antoine Griezmann and Mario Mandzukic are bad replacements for Diego Costa. Even Fernando Torres who's constantly been struggling has improved since coming to Atletico for Real Madrid. Atletico's underdog status may not last much longer if they continue to show the bigger clubs they're in their same weight class.
Juventus and Monaco have a point to prove as one of them will be in the semifinals in this year's champions league. Not only will they want to beat the other comfortably to boost their position among Europe's elite clubs but once this quarterfinal tie is over they'll probably face a stronger opponent and will have to prove that they do belong this far in the competition. Juventus are the favorites because on paper with players like Arturo Vidal, Alvaro Morata, Carlos Tevez, and Paul Pogba (although a few of them have had injuries) compared to Monaco's power players like Dimitar Berbatov, Joao Moutinho, and Geoffrey Kondogbia, Juventus are the stronger team and Juventus are back to back to back Serie A champions while Monaco have been near the summit of the Ligue 1 table but they're only in their 2nd Ligue 1 season since being promoted. However if any other teams underestimates them or if they underestimate each other, it could be bad.
Bayern Munich have a tricky test against Porto, with many young talented players. For a club like Porto it's tricky. To be fair they have a small chance of winning the Champions League but they have a chance and they'll want to go as far as they can, but the farther they go the more interested bigger teams will want to buy their players. The big teams in the Portuguese League (Porto, Benfica, Sporting Lisbon) are big fishes in a small pond and I'm not entirely convinced Jackson Martinez or Yacine Brahimi envision spending their entire career at Porto. Bayern Munich shredded Shakhtar Donetsk in the previous round but despite being of one (and arguably the) strongest teams in the world, they can quickly go from large win to narrow win and the odd defeat. Bayern will have to be at their best to go as far as their fans expect them to go, and Porto will hope to pull a Wolfsburg and stun the German giants.
Barcelona and PSG is a rematch from the group stage where each team won at home. PSG got one revenge job complete by avenging their elimination at the hands of Chelsea in the 2013-24 campaign with a win this time. Whenever Barcelona beats their rivals Real Madrid, it's always a good boost to the rest of the season. Both teams have strong players all around the pitch and while the average fan might think Barcelona has it in the bag, that's not entirely true.
Also, what happened to the BPL? I won't bother asking Celtic, they just haven't been the same since the Rangers were relegated and as a whole the Scottish League has declined. But Liverpool exited in the Group Stage, and Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchested City lost to PSG, Monaco, and Barcelona respectively in the first round of the knockout round. This has posed a lot of questions about the state of the Barclays Premier League. All I can say is that the BPL will have to do a lot worse to not be one of the best leagues in the world but it does seem like the big clubs are overrated to some extent and maybe they care more about Domestic Glory than European Glory (I don't know why, but it's possible.) We know they're big spenders but we'll see if this summer they can be wise spenders to help get back to where they'd prefer to be: still in European competition in April.
Don't Ignore Europa
In a way the Europa League to the UCL is like what the National Invitation Tournament is to March Madness: A second chance tournament. To be fair though, with so many interesting teams in Europe it's a good thing this tournament exists to give them something to do but it's an good tournament and you bet the teams in it are gonna fight like hell to win it. Like in the UCL, the Europa League is at the Quarterfinal stage
Sevilla (Spain) vs Zenit St.Petersburg (Russia)
Club Brugge (Belgium) vs Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine)
Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) vs Fiorentina (Italy)
Wolfsburg (Germany) vs Napoli (Italy)
Club Brugge and the duo of Ukranian clubs have been suprise packages, having sent (relatively) big names home like Everton, Ajax, Besiktas, and Olympiacos. Wolfsburg, Napoli, and Fiorentina have hit another level in this competition and with their very talented teams they look like teams you'd think deserve to compete in the Champions League next season. Sevilla and Zenit have been solid as well. Winning the Europa League may not seem like as big of a deal as the UCL, but it should be an exciting finish to this Europa League campaign.
USA and the Beautiful Game
Did you know Harvard University will be teaching a course on soccer: "Why Soccer is Called the Beautiful Game?" That's only the beginning of the fun for the USA. Major League Soccer kicked off its 2015 season with the addition of two new clubs: Orlando City SC (featuring the likes of Kaka and Brek Shea) and New York City FC (featuring David Villa and Mix Diskerud). Things were tense and controversial with elongated player union strikes and the expansion of the playoffs, but if the season ends how this season has begun, it should be really good. A few more USMNT players like Jozy Altidore and Sacha Kljestan have returned from season in Europa, and many notable European players have joined the league including Laurent Ciman(Belgium), Shaun Maloney(Scotland), and most interestingly Sebastian Giovinco(Italy), who signed for Toronto FC. A 28-year old who was (and still is, hopefully) in the Italian national team picture decided to play in the MLS. That shows how far the league has come.
Anyway here are the current standings
West: 1.New York Red Bulls(7 pts) 2.DC United(6) 3.NYCFC(5) 4.Orlando City(5) 5.NE Revolution(4) 6.Columbus Crew(3) 7.Toronto FC(3) 8.Chicago Fire(3) 9.Montreal Impact(2) 10.Philadelphia Union(2)
East: 1.FC Dallas(10) 2.Vancouver Whitecaps(9) 3.SJ Earthquakes(6) 4.LA Galaxy(5) 5.Real Salt Lake(5) 6.Houston Dynamo(5) 7.Sporting KC(5) 8.Seattle Sounders(4) 9.Colorado Rapids(3) 10.Portland Timbers(3)
It's still early in the season so there can't be too much of a gap between first and last from each conference. However, I do find it interesting how both expansion teams are doing well so far and some teams are going way above or way below their expectations (even this early in the season it feels weird seeing Seattle at #8). Also, if you had to look at this table, who do you think is the last MLS team alive in this season's CONCACAF Champions League?
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If you guess Montreal Impact, you were right! Yeah, they're not doing well in the MLS season but they knocked out a strong Mexican team Pachuca and are currently leading on aggregate against Alajuelense (the Costa Rican club that beat DC United). In the other semifinal, another Costa Rican club Herediano is leading 3-0 on aggregiate against the big Mexican club Club America. Speaking of Liga MX, there's 7 games left for each team before the Clausura Liguilla (Playoffs). Currently the teams that would participate with their seeds are 1.Tijuana 2.Veracruz 3.Guadalajara 4.Cruz Azul 5.America 6.Atlas 7.UANL 8.Toluca, but there's a sizeable chase pack consisting of Chiapas, Pachuca, UNAM, Monterrey, and Leones Negroes hot on Toluca's heels.
European Title Chasers
Here's an update on the title races from some of the big leagues in Europe
Barclays Premier League (England): 1.Chelsea (67 pts) 2.Manchester City (61) 3.Arsenal(60) 4.Manchester United(59)
Add a game in hand, it's Chelsea league title to lose. However it's very tight for 2nd and 3rd place which provides a spot in the UEFA Champions League, with 4th place having to go through some qualifying matches to get there.
Bundesliga(Germany): 1.Bayern Munich(64 pts) 2.Wolfsburg(54) 3.Borussia Monchengladbach(47) 4.Bayer Leverkusen(45)
The rest of the Bundesliga is closing the gap on Bayern Munich compared to last season where by now Bayern Munich had already won. However, it's still Bayern's to lose and I don't see them losing it.
La Liga(Spain): 1.Barcelona(68) 2.Real Madrid(64) 3.Valencia(60) 4.Atletico Madrid(59)
A tighter race between 1st and 2nd that the two leagues above. The big clubs have dropped points against some unlikely opponents so it's far from over. Keep an eye on Valencia. If they can avoid being robbed of too many of their key players this summer, who knows they might be able to shake things up like Atletico Madrid did last (and this) season.
Ligue 1(France): 1.PSG(59) 2.Lyon(58) 3.Marseille(57) 4.Monaco(53)
You wouldn't be as confident betting on PSG to win their league as you would Bayern Munich or Juventus, that's for sure. Overall the quality of the league as a whole has seen an improvement this season as Monaco showed in the Champions League and Lyon and Marseille have shown domestically
Serie A(Italy): 1.Juventus(67) 2.Roma(53) 3.Lazio(52) 4.Sampdoria(48)
This is kinda depressing. Even with the injury problems they've had Juventus has almost a 5 game lead. With 10 games to go mathematically it's not over but, it's over. Remember when I said Napoli and Fiorentina have played well in Europa League and with their talent they would be cool to watch in the Champions League? Looks like they've been saving their best games for Europe and not Italy. Look at Sampdoria though. How are they in the top 4? Let alone the top 10! Impressive.
Battle of Nations
2016 UEFA Euro Qualifiers, International friendlies, the Copa America in June, the Gold Cup in July, and the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada this summer. A lot of good matches to enjoy this spring/summer season, spoiled for choice. And let's not forget World Cup Qualifying has already begun...albeit for small teams like Belize and India (by small I mean relative soccer power, obviously India is a big country in size and population).
So yeah, it's good to be a sports fan at this time of year. Oh yeah, and baseball season's almost here. I'll leave you guys with a reminder of the groups for Copa America, Gold Cup, and the Women's World Cup
Copa America (Host: Chile, CONMEBOL winner earns a spot in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup)
Group A: Chile, Mexico(invited), Ecuador, Bolivia
Group B: Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Jamaica(invited)
Group C: Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela
Gold Cup (Host: USA; CONCACAF winner earns a playoff with the USA for a spot in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup; If USA wins, they qualify automatically)
Group A: USA, Panama, Haiti, Honduras
Group B: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Jamaica, Canada
Group C: Mexico, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba
Women's World Cup (Host: Canada)
Group A: Canada, China, New Zealand, Netherlands
Group B: Germany, Cote D'Ivoire, Norway, Thailand
Group C: Japan, Switzerland, Cameroon, Ecuador
Group D: USA, Australia, Sweden, Nigeria
Group E: Brazil, South Korea, Spain, Costa Rica
Group F: France, England, Colombia, Mexico
Leave a comment with your thoughts on anything I covered. Thank you for reading!
-Ivan Ornelas
The Fantastic Final Four
Where else to start than March Madness? It's lived up to its name despite 3 #1 seeds making it this far (Villanova being the one to miss out, another reason for Roxanne Chalifoux to simultaneously cry and play the piccolo). Kentucky is 38-0 this season and has already made history with that record but it won't mean much if it ends up being 38-1 or 39-1 as opposed to 40-0. Wisconsin's team lead by the dynamic duo of Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky did well to validate their #1 seed, and it's always hard to discount Duke with US National team coach Mike Krzyzewski (if I spelled his name wrong, please don't hate me). Speaking of coaches, the Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo is probably one of the big reasons why the title of Cinderella seems weird for Michigan State. Yes they are a #7 seed but the man's wealth of experience cannot be ignored. 18 NCAA Tournaments, only 5 times he's failed to make the sweet 16 as a coach. And as anyone who's been watching March Madness this year or any year knows it is a tough tournament for any team, even the 1 seeds. Kentucky and Duke may appear as favorites to meet in the final in Indianapolis on April 4, but all four of these teams have legitimate reasons for why they can end up in the winner's circle.
Skating on Thin Ice
Out of the four major sports league in the USA (Five if I include MLS, and every year its ability to make it a Big Five as opposed to a Big Four increases), NHL is the one I follow the least. It's still a great sport, I guess I've just been a better Air Hockey player than Ice Hockey. For my local team the San Jose Sharks after a frustration early end to their post season in 2014, it might end even more frustrating and early this time because they're in a tough spot in the race for playoff positions. Here's how things stand so far, and the way this works is the NHL is split up into East and West and then East is split up into Atlantic and Metro while West is split into Central and Pacific. Top 3 teams each from Atlantic, Metro, Central, and Pacific automatically qualify along with the next 2 best teams each from East and West (regardless of Atlantic/Metro/Central/Pacific classification).
East:
Atlantic 1.Montreal (clinched) 2.Tampa Bay 3.Detroit
Metro 1.NY Rangers (clinched) 2.Pittsburgh 3.NY Islanders
Wild Card: 1.Washington 2.Boston
Outside looking in (points behind Boston Bruins) 3.Ottawa (3) 4.Florida(4) 5.Philadelphia(12) 6.Columbus(13) 7.New Jersey(15) 8.Carolina(22) 9.Toronto(27) 10.Buffalo(41)
West:
Central 1.Nashville (clinched) 2.St.Louis 3.Chicago
Pacific 1.Anaheim (clinched) 2.Vancouver 3.Calgary
Wild Card: 1.Minnesota 2.Winnipeg
Outside looking in (points behind Winnipeg Jets) 3.Los Angeles (2) 4.Dallas(6) 5.San Jose(7) 6.Colorado(8) 7.Edmonton(33) 8.Arizona(36)
For the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Nashville Predators, and Anaheim Ducks, they're all breathing easy because they are going to the playoffs. They could slip up and be seeded lower, but in NHL seedings mean less here than in any other playoff format except maybe the MLS. NHL is known for its upsets in the postseason, so the cliche of "you just have to be in it to win it" is as true as it can be. Even Giants can fall through the ice and out of the playoffs easily. Even though the race for playoffs remains tighter in the West than the East (might help that they only have 14 teams as opposed to the East with 16), both conferences should have some good matchups from the get go as the fight for the Stanley Cup begins soon. One things for sure: it'll mean a lot for Red Wings fans if Detroit make it to the playoffs this season as it will extend their playoff appearance streak to 24 seasons, tying for 4th with Montreal Canadiens 1970-71 to 1993-94.
Davids running the Goliaths out of the NBA
No one would've expected the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks to be leading the West and East Conferences respectively at this point of the season, let alone with this much breathing room at the top. Warriors are ahead of 2nd place Rockets (and 3rd place Grizzlies who have the same amount of wins as the Rockets but one more loss) by 10 games and the Hawks are ahead of 2nd place Cavaliers by 7 games. As a Warriors fan I am very happy with the way things have been going so far but it's all about the playoffs, and just as easily as the Warriors as an 8 seed upset the Dallas Mavericks in the 2007 Playoffs, the same can happen to them. This is especially true in the NBA this season, where in both conferences you can identify 2 or 3 top class players, which is especially true for the loaded Western Conference, where the Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans, despite their winning records which would not only put them in the playoffs in the Eastern Conference but knock the Milwaukee Buck down from a 6 to an 8 seed, are on the outside looking in with the Kings, Lakers, Jazz, Timberwolves, and Nuggets out of luck for this season. As for the East, there's still a chance for 12 of the 15 teams (sorry Magic, 76ers, and Knicks....ok not sorry, especially to the latter two who were all kinds of awful) with the Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers, and Boston Celtics circling around the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat like vultures waiting to strike and take one of those playoff spots. Seeing teams like the Pistons, Knicks, Lakers, and Celtics who have had a lot of success a decade or two ago and even further back while teams like the Warriors, Hawks, Cavaliers, Raptors, Wizards, Grizzlies, and Trailblazers are in the spotlight is definitely a breath of fresh air for the knowledgeable basketball fan and to loyal fans whose patience has payed off to some extent as now their teams are doing quite well.
Even though the Warriors seem unstoppable, especially after some big road wins against Western Conference Rivals Portland Trailblazers and Memphis Grizzlies, it'll be a tough road to the NBA Playoffs. A road that could be traveled by the likes of (takes a deep breath) Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldrige, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Dwight Howard, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Dirk Nowitski, Rajon Rondo, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, and of course the star studded playoff wizards known as San Antonio Spurs, where long time trio Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, and Tony Parker are as dangerous as ever. A lot of tough tasks ahead for Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Andrew Bogut, Klay Thompson, and the rest of the Warriors if they are to end up on top in what has been one of the best seasons in Warriors history.
UEFA Champions League: Favorites, Underdogs, and no British Clubs?
It would've been a massive shocker had Real Madrid not reached the quarterfinals, but they limped past an impressive Schalke 04 and now have a big task to defeat rivals Atletico Madrid, who have had Real Madrid's number every time they met this season. It feels like we're at the height of the second galacticos era for Real Madrid, a team that once had Brazilian Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Raul, and Jonathan Woodgate (I'm joking about the last guy. If you know the history of Real Madrid you'll understand) has shifted to stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, James Rodriguez, and Karim Benzema. However over the last season and this season, Atletico Madrid's often underrated collection of players are making their names known proudly. Being a less wealthy club than Real Madrid, they have a tougher time of keeping their talented players such as Diego Costa, Filipe Luis, and Thibaut Courtois (who now all play for Chelsea), but the ones they keep they develop well and it's not like Antoine Griezmann and Mario Mandzukic are bad replacements for Diego Costa. Even Fernando Torres who's constantly been struggling has improved since coming to Atletico for Real Madrid. Atletico's underdog status may not last much longer if they continue to show the bigger clubs they're in their same weight class.
Juventus and Monaco have a point to prove as one of them will be in the semifinals in this year's champions league. Not only will they want to beat the other comfortably to boost their position among Europe's elite clubs but once this quarterfinal tie is over they'll probably face a stronger opponent and will have to prove that they do belong this far in the competition. Juventus are the favorites because on paper with players like Arturo Vidal, Alvaro Morata, Carlos Tevez, and Paul Pogba (although a few of them have had injuries) compared to Monaco's power players like Dimitar Berbatov, Joao Moutinho, and Geoffrey Kondogbia, Juventus are the stronger team and Juventus are back to back to back Serie A champions while Monaco have been near the summit of the Ligue 1 table but they're only in their 2nd Ligue 1 season since being promoted. However if any other teams underestimates them or if they underestimate each other, it could be bad.
Bayern Munich have a tricky test against Porto, with many young talented players. For a club like Porto it's tricky. To be fair they have a small chance of winning the Champions League but they have a chance and they'll want to go as far as they can, but the farther they go the more interested bigger teams will want to buy their players. The big teams in the Portuguese League (Porto, Benfica, Sporting Lisbon) are big fishes in a small pond and I'm not entirely convinced Jackson Martinez or Yacine Brahimi envision spending their entire career at Porto. Bayern Munich shredded Shakhtar Donetsk in the previous round but despite being of one (and arguably the) strongest teams in the world, they can quickly go from large win to narrow win and the odd defeat. Bayern will have to be at their best to go as far as their fans expect them to go, and Porto will hope to pull a Wolfsburg and stun the German giants.
Barcelona and PSG is a rematch from the group stage where each team won at home. PSG got one revenge job complete by avenging their elimination at the hands of Chelsea in the 2013-24 campaign with a win this time. Whenever Barcelona beats their rivals Real Madrid, it's always a good boost to the rest of the season. Both teams have strong players all around the pitch and while the average fan might think Barcelona has it in the bag, that's not entirely true.
Also, what happened to the BPL? I won't bother asking Celtic, they just haven't been the same since the Rangers were relegated and as a whole the Scottish League has declined. But Liverpool exited in the Group Stage, and Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchested City lost to PSG, Monaco, and Barcelona respectively in the first round of the knockout round. This has posed a lot of questions about the state of the Barclays Premier League. All I can say is that the BPL will have to do a lot worse to not be one of the best leagues in the world but it does seem like the big clubs are overrated to some extent and maybe they care more about Domestic Glory than European Glory (I don't know why, but it's possible.) We know they're big spenders but we'll see if this summer they can be wise spenders to help get back to where they'd prefer to be: still in European competition in April.
Don't Ignore Europa
In a way the Europa League to the UCL is like what the National Invitation Tournament is to March Madness: A second chance tournament. To be fair though, with so many interesting teams in Europe it's a good thing this tournament exists to give them something to do but it's an good tournament and you bet the teams in it are gonna fight like hell to win it. Like in the UCL, the Europa League is at the Quarterfinal stage
Sevilla (Spain) vs Zenit St.Petersburg (Russia)
Club Brugge (Belgium) vs Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine)
Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) vs Fiorentina (Italy)
Wolfsburg (Germany) vs Napoli (Italy)
Club Brugge and the duo of Ukranian clubs have been suprise packages, having sent (relatively) big names home like Everton, Ajax, Besiktas, and Olympiacos. Wolfsburg, Napoli, and Fiorentina have hit another level in this competition and with their very talented teams they look like teams you'd think deserve to compete in the Champions League next season. Sevilla and Zenit have been solid as well. Winning the Europa League may not seem like as big of a deal as the UCL, but it should be an exciting finish to this Europa League campaign.
USA and the Beautiful Game
Did you know Harvard University will be teaching a course on soccer: "Why Soccer is Called the Beautiful Game?" That's only the beginning of the fun for the USA. Major League Soccer kicked off its 2015 season with the addition of two new clubs: Orlando City SC (featuring the likes of Kaka and Brek Shea) and New York City FC (featuring David Villa and Mix Diskerud). Things were tense and controversial with elongated player union strikes and the expansion of the playoffs, but if the season ends how this season has begun, it should be really good. A few more USMNT players like Jozy Altidore and Sacha Kljestan have returned from season in Europa, and many notable European players have joined the league including Laurent Ciman(Belgium), Shaun Maloney(Scotland), and most interestingly Sebastian Giovinco(Italy), who signed for Toronto FC. A 28-year old who was (and still is, hopefully) in the Italian national team picture decided to play in the MLS. That shows how far the league has come.
Anyway here are the current standings
West: 1.New York Red Bulls(7 pts) 2.DC United(6) 3.NYCFC(5) 4.Orlando City(5) 5.NE Revolution(4) 6.Columbus Crew(3) 7.Toronto FC(3) 8.Chicago Fire(3) 9.Montreal Impact(2) 10.Philadelphia Union(2)
East: 1.FC Dallas(10) 2.Vancouver Whitecaps(9) 3.SJ Earthquakes(6) 4.LA Galaxy(5) 5.Real Salt Lake(5) 6.Houston Dynamo(5) 7.Sporting KC(5) 8.Seattle Sounders(4) 9.Colorado Rapids(3) 10.Portland Timbers(3)
It's still early in the season so there can't be too much of a gap between first and last from each conference. However, I do find it interesting how both expansion teams are doing well so far and some teams are going way above or way below their expectations (even this early in the season it feels weird seeing Seattle at #8). Also, if you had to look at this table, who do you think is the last MLS team alive in this season's CONCACAF Champions League?
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If you guess Montreal Impact, you were right! Yeah, they're not doing well in the MLS season but they knocked out a strong Mexican team Pachuca and are currently leading on aggregate against Alajuelense (the Costa Rican club that beat DC United). In the other semifinal, another Costa Rican club Herediano is leading 3-0 on aggregiate against the big Mexican club Club America. Speaking of Liga MX, there's 7 games left for each team before the Clausura Liguilla (Playoffs). Currently the teams that would participate with their seeds are 1.Tijuana 2.Veracruz 3.Guadalajara 4.Cruz Azul 5.America 6.Atlas 7.UANL 8.Toluca, but there's a sizeable chase pack consisting of Chiapas, Pachuca, UNAM, Monterrey, and Leones Negroes hot on Toluca's heels.
European Title Chasers
Here's an update on the title races from some of the big leagues in Europe
Barclays Premier League (England): 1.Chelsea (67 pts) 2.Manchester City (61) 3.Arsenal(60) 4.Manchester United(59)
Add a game in hand, it's Chelsea league title to lose. However it's very tight for 2nd and 3rd place which provides a spot in the UEFA Champions League, with 4th place having to go through some qualifying matches to get there.
Bundesliga(Germany): 1.Bayern Munich(64 pts) 2.Wolfsburg(54) 3.Borussia Monchengladbach(47) 4.Bayer Leverkusen(45)
The rest of the Bundesliga is closing the gap on Bayern Munich compared to last season where by now Bayern Munich had already won. However, it's still Bayern's to lose and I don't see them losing it.
La Liga(Spain): 1.Barcelona(68) 2.Real Madrid(64) 3.Valencia(60) 4.Atletico Madrid(59)
A tighter race between 1st and 2nd that the two leagues above. The big clubs have dropped points against some unlikely opponents so it's far from over. Keep an eye on Valencia. If they can avoid being robbed of too many of their key players this summer, who knows they might be able to shake things up like Atletico Madrid did last (and this) season.
Ligue 1(France): 1.PSG(59) 2.Lyon(58) 3.Marseille(57) 4.Monaco(53)
You wouldn't be as confident betting on PSG to win their league as you would Bayern Munich or Juventus, that's for sure. Overall the quality of the league as a whole has seen an improvement this season as Monaco showed in the Champions League and Lyon and Marseille have shown domestically
Serie A(Italy): 1.Juventus(67) 2.Roma(53) 3.Lazio(52) 4.Sampdoria(48)
This is kinda depressing. Even with the injury problems they've had Juventus has almost a 5 game lead. With 10 games to go mathematically it's not over but, it's over. Remember when I said Napoli and Fiorentina have played well in Europa League and with their talent they would be cool to watch in the Champions League? Looks like they've been saving their best games for Europe and not Italy. Look at Sampdoria though. How are they in the top 4? Let alone the top 10! Impressive.
Battle of Nations
2016 UEFA Euro Qualifiers, International friendlies, the Copa America in June, the Gold Cup in July, and the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada this summer. A lot of good matches to enjoy this spring/summer season, spoiled for choice. And let's not forget World Cup Qualifying has already begun...albeit for small teams like Belize and India (by small I mean relative soccer power, obviously India is a big country in size and population).
So yeah, it's good to be a sports fan at this time of year. Oh yeah, and baseball season's almost here. I'll leave you guys with a reminder of the groups for Copa America, Gold Cup, and the Women's World Cup
Copa America (Host: Chile, CONMEBOL winner earns a spot in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup)
Group A: Chile, Mexico(invited), Ecuador, Bolivia
Group B: Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Jamaica(invited)
Group C: Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela
Gold Cup (Host: USA; CONCACAF winner earns a playoff with the USA for a spot in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup; If USA wins, they qualify automatically)
Group A: USA, Panama, Haiti, Honduras
Group B: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Jamaica, Canada
Group C: Mexico, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba
Women's World Cup (Host: Canada)
Group A: Canada, China, New Zealand, Netherlands
Group B: Germany, Cote D'Ivoire, Norway, Thailand
Group C: Japan, Switzerland, Cameroon, Ecuador
Group D: USA, Australia, Sweden, Nigeria
Group E: Brazil, South Korea, Spain, Costa Rica
Group F: France, England, Colombia, Mexico
Leave a comment with your thoughts on anything I covered. Thank you for reading!
-Ivan Ornelas
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
MLS Cup 2014 Review
December 7th, 2014 at the Stub Hub Center, Carson, CA
Western Conference Champion: LA Galaxy
Starting 11
GK: Jaime Penedo (Panama)
RB: AJ DeLaGarza (Guam)
CB: Omar Gonzalez
CB: Leonardo (Brazil)
LB: Robbie Rogers
RM: Stefan Ishizaki (Sweden)
CM: Marcelo Sarvas (Brazil)
CM: Juninho (Brazil)
LM: Landon Donovan
FW: Robbie Keane (Republic of Ireland) Team Captain
FW: Gyasi Zardes
Subs
GK: Brian Rowe
LB: Todd Dunivant
RB: Dan Gargan 91' for Rodgers
CB: Tommy Meyer
CM: Baggio Husidic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 96' for Juninho
CM: Kenney Walker
FW: Alan Gordon 91' for Ishizaki
Manager:
Bruce Arena
vs.
Eastern Conference Champion: New England Revolution
GK: Bobby Shuttleworth
RB: Andrew Farrell
CB: AJ Soares
CB: Jose Goncalves (Portugal)
LB: Chris Tierney
CDM: Scott Caldwell
CDM: Jermaine Jones
RM: Teal Bunbury
CAM: Lee Nguyen
LM: Kelyn Rowe
FW: Charlie Davies
Subs
GK: Brad Knighton
RB: Kevin Alston
CB: Darrius Barnes
CDM: Andy Dorman (Wales) 90+1' for Nguyen
CM: Daigo Kobayashi (Japan) 58' for Caldwell
FW: Diego Fagundez (Uruguay)
FW: Patrick Mullins 72' for Davies
Manager:
Jay Heaps
Result
Gyasi Zardes scored first but Chris Tierney responded which tied the game up 1-1. The game went into extra time but was decided by Robbie Keane, the MLS Season and Final MVP, who scored the winning goal. With a 2-1 score after extra time, the Los Angeles Galaxy won their 5th MLS Cup, now solely in 1st place for most championships won by a single club in the history of Major League Soccer.
Interestingly enough while the Galaxy have won 5, the New England Revolution have now been to 5 MLS Cup finals and lost each of them. Some might say they're the MLS version of the Buffalo Bills. Despite the sting of defeat at the final hurdle being reintroduced to the New England fans, they did very well to get this far, given the amount of attention they received and the kind of team they were perceived to be in the first half of the season.
The first thing that comes to mind is Landon Donovan. A few days after the All Star Game where he was important in the MLS All Stars defeating Bayern Munich 2-1, he announces his retirement at the end of the season. One of the greatest American soccer players of all time, he has done a lot for his national team and Major League Soccer over 14 years or so. His biggest criticism comes from his failed stints in Germany playing for Bayern Munich and Leverkusen, but his brief spell at Everton in between MLS seasons showed that he did have the potential to play in a big European league but instead he chose to play in the United States and help grow the sport there.
Since Donovan became an MLS icon each year it seemed the MLS became a bit more star studded and gained more and more talented players. Not many people when David Beckham joined Landon Donovan in LA Galaxy thought that he would be followed by players such as Robbie Keane, Thierry Henry, Rafael Marquez, and Tim Cahill. In recent years several other important members of the USMNT such as Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, DaMarcus Beasley, and Jermaine Jones, who featured in this year's championship match, left either Europe or Mexico to play the beautiful game in the USA.
Landon Donovan ends his career with many accolades including 6 MLS Cups as well as the record for most goals scored in MLS history. But this is more than just Landon Donovan's story.
Even though Robbie Keane is used to bigger crowds in places like White Hart Lane, he continues to contribute to this leagues growth and his hunger for titles is evident. He's made himself right at home with the LA Galaxy.
It was a significant year for AJ DeLaGarza on and off the pitch. Easily LA Galaxy's most important defender, he had a great season. However, his son Luca was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a serious congenital birth defect. In September, Luca died just at one week old. This only fueled the motivation present in this evidently tight knit group of players.
I could go on and on. From Robbie Rodgers going from retiring after coming out as gay to ending up on a championship team, Jaime Penedo's recent rise to success just over a year after an incredible campaign with Panama at the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the importance of the Brazilian midfield duo of Juninho and Marcelo Sarvas, but you guys get the picture. Ultimately the Los Angeles Galaxy not only seemed destined to win but they were built to win. They had the right pieces in building a strong team and they didn't disappoint. They might not have won the Supporters Shield Trophy like the Seattle Sounders but for the MLS winning the MLS Cup is the biggest trophy you can win....aside from the CONCACAF Champions League, where DC United and Montreal Impact will hope to become the first MLS side to win the trophy in the tournament's current form.
The debate as to whether the playoffs or the season should be more important will go on and on because this isn't the sort of thing that's common in most of the top soccer leagues in the world. Mexico and Australia's leagues have a playoff format, and playoffs are used in England and Germany for promotion and relegation between the different tiers. Ultimately for the MLS the playoffs are just something special that people will have to accept if they want to enjoy this league. And if the amount of people that visit the Stub Hub Center or Century Link Field this season among other stadia to support their team suggests, there's plenty of fans to go around.
It was a good season for the MLS. Sending the 10th most players to the 2014 FIFA World Cup out of all the world's leagues, ahead of leagues such as the Eredivisie, Belgian Pro League, Raiffeisen, and Scottish Premier League and just two behind Portugal's Primeira Liga, as well as attracting some notable players to the league such as the aforementioned and including Jermain Defoe, Rais M'Bolhi, and Julio Cesar, it only continues to grow. MLS without Landon Donovan will be just like MLB without Derek Jeter next season, it's going to feel strange without such an icon and star player around. But Orlando City and New York City FC join the league as we wave goodbye to Chivas USA. Donovan and Henry may be leaving but Frank Lampard, David Villa, Kaka, and maybe some more players will be joining us. 20 clubs next season and with the quality of players currently in the league, hopefully it will be an even better season than this one.
Western Conference Champion: LA Galaxy
Starting 11
GK: Jaime Penedo (Panama)
RB: AJ DeLaGarza (Guam)
CB: Omar Gonzalez
CB: Leonardo (Brazil)
LB: Robbie Rogers
RM: Stefan Ishizaki (Sweden)
CM: Marcelo Sarvas (Brazil)
CM: Juninho (Brazil)
LM: Landon Donovan
FW: Robbie Keane (Republic of Ireland) Team Captain
FW: Gyasi Zardes
Subs
GK: Brian Rowe
LB: Todd Dunivant
RB: Dan Gargan 91' for Rodgers
CB: Tommy Meyer
CM: Baggio Husidic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 96' for Juninho
CM: Kenney Walker
FW: Alan Gordon 91' for Ishizaki
Manager:
Bruce Arena
vs.
Eastern Conference Champion: New England Revolution
GK: Bobby Shuttleworth
RB: Andrew Farrell
CB: AJ Soares
CB: Jose Goncalves (Portugal)
LB: Chris Tierney
CDM: Scott Caldwell
CDM: Jermaine Jones
RM: Teal Bunbury
CAM: Lee Nguyen
LM: Kelyn Rowe
FW: Charlie Davies
Subs
GK: Brad Knighton
RB: Kevin Alston
CB: Darrius Barnes
CDM: Andy Dorman (Wales) 90+1' for Nguyen
CM: Daigo Kobayashi (Japan) 58' for Caldwell
FW: Diego Fagundez (Uruguay)
FW: Patrick Mullins 72' for Davies
Manager:
Jay Heaps
Result
Gyasi Zardes scored first but Chris Tierney responded which tied the game up 1-1. The game went into extra time but was decided by Robbie Keane, the MLS Season and Final MVP, who scored the winning goal. With a 2-1 score after extra time, the Los Angeles Galaxy won their 5th MLS Cup, now solely in 1st place for most championships won by a single club in the history of Major League Soccer.
Interestingly enough while the Galaxy have won 5, the New England Revolution have now been to 5 MLS Cup finals and lost each of them. Some might say they're the MLS version of the Buffalo Bills. Despite the sting of defeat at the final hurdle being reintroduced to the New England fans, they did very well to get this far, given the amount of attention they received and the kind of team they were perceived to be in the first half of the season.
The first thing that comes to mind is Landon Donovan. A few days after the All Star Game where he was important in the MLS All Stars defeating Bayern Munich 2-1, he announces his retirement at the end of the season. One of the greatest American soccer players of all time, he has done a lot for his national team and Major League Soccer over 14 years or so. His biggest criticism comes from his failed stints in Germany playing for Bayern Munich and Leverkusen, but his brief spell at Everton in between MLS seasons showed that he did have the potential to play in a big European league but instead he chose to play in the United States and help grow the sport there.
Since Donovan became an MLS icon each year it seemed the MLS became a bit more star studded and gained more and more talented players. Not many people when David Beckham joined Landon Donovan in LA Galaxy thought that he would be followed by players such as Robbie Keane, Thierry Henry, Rafael Marquez, and Tim Cahill. In recent years several other important members of the USMNT such as Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, DaMarcus Beasley, and Jermaine Jones, who featured in this year's championship match, left either Europe or Mexico to play the beautiful game in the USA.
Landon Donovan ends his career with many accolades including 6 MLS Cups as well as the record for most goals scored in MLS history. But this is more than just Landon Donovan's story.
Even though Robbie Keane is used to bigger crowds in places like White Hart Lane, he continues to contribute to this leagues growth and his hunger for titles is evident. He's made himself right at home with the LA Galaxy.
It was a significant year for AJ DeLaGarza on and off the pitch. Easily LA Galaxy's most important defender, he had a great season. However, his son Luca was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a serious congenital birth defect. In September, Luca died just at one week old. This only fueled the motivation present in this evidently tight knit group of players.
I could go on and on. From Robbie Rodgers going from retiring after coming out as gay to ending up on a championship team, Jaime Penedo's recent rise to success just over a year after an incredible campaign with Panama at the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the importance of the Brazilian midfield duo of Juninho and Marcelo Sarvas, but you guys get the picture. Ultimately the Los Angeles Galaxy not only seemed destined to win but they were built to win. They had the right pieces in building a strong team and they didn't disappoint. They might not have won the Supporters Shield Trophy like the Seattle Sounders but for the MLS winning the MLS Cup is the biggest trophy you can win....aside from the CONCACAF Champions League, where DC United and Montreal Impact will hope to become the first MLS side to win the trophy in the tournament's current form.
The debate as to whether the playoffs or the season should be more important will go on and on because this isn't the sort of thing that's common in most of the top soccer leagues in the world. Mexico and Australia's leagues have a playoff format, and playoffs are used in England and Germany for promotion and relegation between the different tiers. Ultimately for the MLS the playoffs are just something special that people will have to accept if they want to enjoy this league. And if the amount of people that visit the Stub Hub Center or Century Link Field this season among other stadia to support their team suggests, there's plenty of fans to go around.
It was a good season for the MLS. Sending the 10th most players to the 2014 FIFA World Cup out of all the world's leagues, ahead of leagues such as the Eredivisie, Belgian Pro League, Raiffeisen, and Scottish Premier League and just two behind Portugal's Primeira Liga, as well as attracting some notable players to the league such as the aforementioned and including Jermain Defoe, Rais M'Bolhi, and Julio Cesar, it only continues to grow. MLS without Landon Donovan will be just like MLB without Derek Jeter next season, it's going to feel strange without such an icon and star player around. But Orlando City and New York City FC join the league as we wave goodbye to Chivas USA. Donovan and Henry may be leaving but Frank Lampard, David Villa, Kaka, and maybe some more players will be joining us. 20 clubs next season and with the quality of players currently in the league, hopefully it will be an even better season than this one.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
MLS Playoffs: The Stars Align
For most of MLS's short history, parity was part of the identity. The gap between the 1st place team and last place team in the league usually looked minuscule compared to the gaps between the best and worst teams from leagues such as La Liga and Bundesliga. However the final 4 remaining clubs in the MLS Playoffs are exactly what most people expected, as they were probably the most star studded teams this season.
11 of the 28 players who were at some point on the roster for the 2014 MLS All Star Game against Bayern Munich come from clubs still in the playoffs: Clint Dempsey (Sounders), Osvaldo Alonso (Sounders), Obafemi Martins (Sounders), Landon Donovan (Galaxy), Tim Cahill (Red Bulls), Thierry Henry (Red Bulls), DeAndre Yedlin (Sounders), Bradley Wright-Phillips (Red Bulls), Omar Gonzalez (Galaxy), Robbie Keane (Galaxy), and Chad Marshall (Sounders) (although Gonzalez, Keane, and Marshall ultimately did not play due to injuries or unavailability). And even players who didn't make this roster such as Marco Pappa (Sounders), Luis Robles (Red Bulls), Gyasi Zardes (Galaxy), Lee Nguyen (Revolution), and Jermaine Jones (Revolution; summer transfer from Turkish club Besiktas) have been among the most talked about players this season.
From a neutral's perspective it's probably the best Western Conference and Eastern Conference playoff showdowns you could ask for.
The more anticipated of the two are LA Galaxy vs. Seattle Sounders. They've had a lot of big encounters all season long, and you simply can't wait for Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane to bump heads with Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey. Throw in other talented players like Omar Gonzalez, DeAndre Yedlin, Marco Pappa, and Gyasi Zardes and it will definitely be a good one. The biggest storyline of all is will this be the end of the road for Landon Donovan's career?
Red Bulls vs. Revolutions aren't to be overlooked though. Bradley Wright-Phillips for New York and Lee Nguyen for New England have been big revelations this year for their respective clubs as they are having the seasons of their lives. These two have a longer rivalry than their Western counterparts and no less fierce. And parallel to Donovan's storyline is Henry's, who is considering retirement as well.
My predictions: Sounders and NYRB in the MLS Cup final
Sunday, October 26, 2014
MLS Cup Playoffs 2014 Begins
Another MLS Season comes to a close, and before even more expansions and off season moves are afoot, 10 teams remain with one goal in mind: The MLS Cup
Playoffs are an American thing. Probably not the best way to put (especially since Canada can claim to have as much of a connection to playoffs as the USA) it but it's the easiest way for me to defend the playoffs format. Australia's Hyundai A-League, Mexico's Liga MX, and England's Football League Championship (between the 3rd-6th place teams to determine the 3rd and final promoted team that season) are just a few examples of league around the world who use some sort of playoff format in soccer. There is an argument that there needs to be some more important recognition for the team that won the regular season since that shows which team from start to finish was "the best". Well for that in the MLS we have the Supporters Shield, which the Seattle Sounders won this season, along with the right to compete in the 2015-2016 CONCACAF Champions League. So it's not like winning the season isn't important and only finishing in the top 5 in the West or East is. Plus the higher seed gets homefield advantage. But this is just the way we do things here in the USA and Canada, that's just how it is. Growing up watching playoffs in other sports such as the NBA and NFL, I can't imagine the MLS any other way.
So who made the playoffs? Unfortunately the San Jose Earthquakes didn't, and other notable absences include the high spending Toronto FC, Vancouver and Seattle's Cascadia rival Portland Timbers, and playoff regular and 2011+2012 MLS Cup runners up Houston Dynamo.
West
1.Seattle Sounders
2.LA Galaxy (4-time Champions, 3-time runners up)
3.Real Salt Lake (1-time Champions)
4.FC Dallas (1-time runners up)
5.Vancouver Whitecaps
East
1.DC United (4-time Champions, 1-time runners up)
2.New England Revolution (4-time runners up)
3.Columbus Crew (1-time Champions)
4.New York Red Bulls (1-time runners up)
5.Sporting Kansas City (Defending Champions, also 2-time Champions and 1-time runners up)
First up on October 29th is FC Dallas vs. Vancouver Whitecaps. Whitecaps are the only of 3 Canadian teams to make it to the playoffs, while FC Dallas can exist in the playoffs out of the more successful Texas team's shadow. It'll be an interesting matchup but it'll be tough for the Whitecaps's defense to survive FC Dallas's attacking talent so I see FC Dallas coming out on top.
Red Bulls vs. SKC appears to be the more interesting of the two wildcard matchups, with more recognizable names by European fans such as Tim Cahill and Thierry Henry, as well as US soccer fans such as Graham Zusi and Matt Besler. Interestingly these two teams met in the last game of the season as well which decided the seeding. It ended in a NYRB victory, and there's no reason why the story should change this time around. A lot has changed in a year. NYRB look stronger, SKC look a bit weaker, and in what could be Thierry Henry's final season, the Red Bulls aren't about to let their Playoffs run end at the first hurdle.
This is only the beginning of what can be an exciting playoffs. Fans who more commonly follow leagues such as La Liga or Barclays Premier League may see little purpose in following along. The players in MLS aren't exactly as talented as those from bigger European clubs and leagues but it's still an exciting time of the season and it's worth giving it a go.
Playoffs are an American thing. Probably not the best way to put (especially since Canada can claim to have as much of a connection to playoffs as the USA) it but it's the easiest way for me to defend the playoffs format. Australia's Hyundai A-League, Mexico's Liga MX, and England's Football League Championship (between the 3rd-6th place teams to determine the 3rd and final promoted team that season) are just a few examples of league around the world who use some sort of playoff format in soccer. There is an argument that there needs to be some more important recognition for the team that won the regular season since that shows which team from start to finish was "the best". Well for that in the MLS we have the Supporters Shield, which the Seattle Sounders won this season, along with the right to compete in the 2015-2016 CONCACAF Champions League. So it's not like winning the season isn't important and only finishing in the top 5 in the West or East is. Plus the higher seed gets homefield advantage. But this is just the way we do things here in the USA and Canada, that's just how it is. Growing up watching playoffs in other sports such as the NBA and NFL, I can't imagine the MLS any other way.
So who made the playoffs? Unfortunately the San Jose Earthquakes didn't, and other notable absences include the high spending Toronto FC, Vancouver and Seattle's Cascadia rival Portland Timbers, and playoff regular and 2011+2012 MLS Cup runners up Houston Dynamo.
West
1.Seattle Sounders
2.LA Galaxy (4-time Champions, 3-time runners up)
3.Real Salt Lake (1-time Champions)
4.FC Dallas (1-time runners up)
5.Vancouver Whitecaps
East
1.DC United (4-time Champions, 1-time runners up)
2.New England Revolution (4-time runners up)
3.Columbus Crew (1-time Champions)
4.New York Red Bulls (1-time runners up)
5.Sporting Kansas City (Defending Champions, also 2-time Champions and 1-time runners up)
First up on October 29th is FC Dallas vs. Vancouver Whitecaps. Whitecaps are the only of 3 Canadian teams to make it to the playoffs, while FC Dallas can exist in the playoffs out of the more successful Texas team's shadow. It'll be an interesting matchup but it'll be tough for the Whitecaps's defense to survive FC Dallas's attacking talent so I see FC Dallas coming out on top.
Red Bulls vs. SKC appears to be the more interesting of the two wildcard matchups, with more recognizable names by European fans such as Tim Cahill and Thierry Henry, as well as US soccer fans such as Graham Zusi and Matt Besler. Interestingly these two teams met in the last game of the season as well which decided the seeding. It ended in a NYRB victory, and there's no reason why the story should change this time around. A lot has changed in a year. NYRB look stronger, SKC look a bit weaker, and in what could be Thierry Henry's final season, the Red Bulls aren't about to let their Playoffs run end at the first hurdle.
This is only the beginning of what can be an exciting playoffs. Fans who more commonly follow leagues such as La Liga or Barclays Premier League may see little purpose in following along. The players in MLS aren't exactly as talented as those from bigger European clubs and leagues but it's still an exciting time of the season and it's worth giving it a go.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
2014 FIFA World Cup Final Review
A month of football/soccer magic is what we have just witnessed. A tournament that began with 32 teams from all corners of the globe who had worked hard to make it to the world's biggest stage has now culminated with 2 teams left fighting for the crown. Germany and Argentina meet in the World Cup Final for the 3rd time in the tournament's history with Argentina winning their 2nd title in 1986 and Germany winning their 3rd title in 1990. Who made it best two out of three?
Final: Germany vs. Argentina
Result: After extra time, a 1-0 win to give Germany a 4th star on their crest
Goalscorer: 113' Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich)
Bookings: 29' Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), 34' Benedikt Howedes (Schalke), 64' Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), 65' Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Lineups
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); Christoph Kramer (Monchengladbach), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich); Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal); Miroslav Klose (Lazio)
Changes from last match
Due to an injury in the warmups, Sami Khedira was ruled out of the final, meaning Kramer had to fill in.
Subs:
Andre Schurrle (Chelsea) 31' for Christoph Kramer
Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich) 88' for Miroslav Klose
Per Mertesacker (Arsenal) 120' for Mesut Ozil
Argentina (4-4-2)
Sergio Romero (Monaco); Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City), Martin Demichelis (Manchester City), Ezequiel Garay (Benfica), Marcos Rojo (Sporting CP); Enzo Perez (Benfica), Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Lucas Biglia (Lazio), Ezequiel Lavezzi (PSG); Lionel Messi (Barcelona, captain), Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli)
Changes from last match
Just the change in formation which put Ezequiel Lavezzi as a midfielder as opposed to a striker
Subs:
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) 46' for Ezequiel Lavezzi
Rodrigo Palacio (Inter) 78' for Gonzalo Higuain
Fernando Gago (Boca Juniors) 86' for Enzo Perez
Unfortunately for Sami Khedira, a last minute injury ruled him out of the World Cup final. His replacement didn't last long either with Christoph Kramer suffering a concussion, leaving Jogi Low no choice but to use a substitution early on to bring Andre Schurrle into the mix, his first half debut at this World Cup. Argentina looked very impressive in the first half and had the best chance which Gonzalo Higuain, to use one of the more kinder words, squandered. Germany weren't being dominated but they were facing a worthy adversary for sure. Both teams played skillful defense despite a number of cards being given out (nowhere near the number that were distributed at the World Cup Final 4 years ago, thankfully). Both teams wanted this win but they couldn't want it hard enough to take the chances that came their way, with Neuer and Romero doing their bit to keep their respective sides' chances at winning optimum. In the 2nd half, Germany's closest attempt hit the post while Rodrigo Palacio mishit a golden opportunity for Argentina. Miroslav Klose did come off in the 88' minute playing his final match for Germany after 13 years and 4 World Cups worth of achievements and memories. And you couldn't have scripted it any better with the man who replaced the top German goalscorer of all time scoring the goal that decided the match: Mario Gotze. Despite Argentina's solid defense in this game and this tournament, Andre Schurrle's cross was able to find Mario Gotze to score the decisive goal late into extra time. Argentina found themselves in an awful position and were desperate to get back in the match with what little time remained. Their final chance was a dangerous looking free kick with Lionel Messi to take it. This would've been his chance, possibly, to turn things around and to complete his World Cup legend in the best of lights. Unfortunately the free kick was too high to do anything and Germany become World Champions after an incredible run and after 24 years of waiting.
Golden Ball: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
This was the most controversial of the awards given out because Lionel Messi didn't play as well as he usually does for his club in this tournament, but every game it was apparent to me how vital Messi is for Argentina and how tough it'll be when Messi is no longer around (though that won't be for a while since he is only 27). If not for Messi, not only are they screwed for getting to even the quarterfinals, they'd be tied with Iran with 2 pts in the group stage getting knocked out there with Nigeria and Bosnia-Herzegovina advancing. Lionel Messi is the heart and soul behind this Argentine team and their run to the World Cup final. The importance of other players like Javier Mascherano and Angel di Maria is not to be forgotten, but Lionel Messi did a great job to make his team better and get them farther, just like Diego Maradona did.
Best Young Player: Paul Pogba (France)
One of the many French players to shine brightly in the World Cup, Pogba made it very difficult for the midfielders of any of France's opponents (except for eventually winners Germany) to have any sort of foothold in the game. Leading up to the World Cup it was not a mystery that he is something special, it takes talent to be a key player in a team like Juventus (the club that inherited Pogba after an unsuccessful period with Manchester United, who will be kicking themselves for letting a player of his quality slip away). He's the next Franck Ribery, and in Ribery's absence he showed that. A smart player and good sport for someone his age, he could well go on to do many more great things with Frane.
Golden Gloves: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
So many great goalkeepers at this world cup: Tim Howard, Guillermo Ochoa, Jasper Cillessen, Keylor Navas, Vincent Enyeama, David Ospina, Hugo Lloris, Diego Benaglio....you get the idea. With a team as richly talented in the outfield positions as Germany it's easy to underestimate the importance of having a world class goalkeeper in the mix of things. But they've certainly found one in Manuel Neuer. Neuer was first given a chance when Rene Adler was ruled out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup due to injury, and he made the #1 goalkeeper position for Germany his with an impressive showing in South Africa, and he's been amazing for club and country ever since. His athleticism, intelligence, and reflexes have done well to put less pressure on the rest of his teammates who would be able to do their job knowing Neuer is fully capable of doing his. Even in the match against Brazil when Germany had the game all wrapped up early on he stayed focused to preserve Germany's massive win.
Golden Boot: James Rodriguez (Colombia)
Ramadel Falcao's injury threatened to derail Colombia's World Cup dreams but James Rodriguez certainly kept them alive by scoring 6 goals in 5 matches for Los Cafeteros. The player who had the biggest surge in popularity through this World Cup (yes, shockingly even more than John Brooks haha), he had big shoes to fill but passed the test with flying colors, promoting a beautiful style of play echoed by the other Colombian players, making Colombia one of the most entertaining and impressive teams at this World Cup. Several big clubs will be chasing the Monaco superstar down now, while the rich French club will not be modest in paying him to keep him around for the future.
Elimination Analysis: Argentina
In every championship game there's a winner and loser. Everyone knows that going into it but it's little consolation to the team or player(s) that lose it. Knowing you were that close to glory. The look of Lionel Messi's face receiving the Golden Ball award, which many would argue he didn't even deserve to win that but I thought he did. I don't think one individual was more important to a team in this World Cup than Lionel Messi was for Argentina. The closest were Neymar and James Rodriguez, but it came down to how early they were needed in the group stages the majority of both Brazil and Colombia squads shined brightly, while Lionel Messi scored 4 of Argentina's 6 goals, the others coming from Marcos Rojo and a Sead Kolasinac own goal. Despite Argentina not cruising through their "easy group", they still did just enough to get the 9 points, even if there was some controversy along the way, most notably against Iran were Iran felt they deserved a penalty. Ultimately though it did seem like Argentina benefited from a bit of luck time and time again, and it caught up to them in the final where their luck ran out by wasting golden opportunities. But they also benefited from a lot of players other than Messi. Argentina's entire backline along with Javier Mascherano and Lucas Biglia were very organized, and Angel di Maria had a great tournament before his injury. Sergio Romero, the backup goalkeeper for AS Monaco, proved to the world that he is better than that and hopefully he'll be getting 1st team action wherever he may end up. Argentina should be proud of getting this far and giving Germany their biggest challenge but ultimately it just wasn't meant to be. Even though they had their best World Cup run since 1990, being eliminated from the last 3 World Cups by Germany (the 1st time the same team has been defeated by the same opponent 3 World Cups in a row) will not be something they'll let go of easily
My team of the 2014 FIFA World Cup
Goalkeeper
Starter: Manuel Neuer (Germany)
Backups: Sergio Romero (Argentina), Keylor Navas (Costa Rica)
Honorable mentions: Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico), Tim Howard (USA), Jasper Cillessen (Netherlands)
Defenders
Starters:
Philipp Lahm (Germany)
Ron Vlaar (Netherlands)
Mats Hummels (Germany)
Daley Blind (Netherlands)
Backups:
Pablo Zabaleta (Argentina)
Jerome Boateng (Germany)
Thiago Silva (Brazil)
Pablo Armero (Colombia)
Honorable mentions: Benedikt Howedes (Germany), Ezequiel Garay (Argentina), Mario Yepes (Colombia), Vincent Kompany (Belgium)
Midfielders
Starters:
Javier Mascherano (Argentina)
Sami Khedira (Germany)
Arjen Robben (Netherlands)
Backups:
Toni Kroos (Germany)
Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
Angel Di Maria (Argentina)
Honorable mentions: Mario Gotze (Germany), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Mathieu Valbuena (France), Kevin de Bruyne (Belgium), Paul Pogba (France)
Forwards
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
James Rodriguez (Colombia)
Thomas Muller (Germany)
Backups:
Neymar (Brazil)
Miroslav Klose (Germany)
Alexis Sanchez (Chile)
Honorable mentions: Robin van Persie (Netherlands), Karim Benzema (France)
Before I wrap things up, I'll just take one last glance at each of the 32 teams, give them a letter grade and summarize their World Cup in 1-2 sentences. Their letter grade is based on their expectations going into the tournament, how they actually did, how they did it, and what impact this will have. And how bright their future looks.
Cameroon (1-0 loss to Mexico, 4-0 loss to Croatia, 4-1 loss to Brazil)
Grade: F
Future: Questionable, needs work
Summary: They weren't favorites in their group but they were expected to put up a much better fight but they completely fell apart. Scoring against Brazil was the highlight of their World Cup
Honduras (3-0 loss to France, 2-1 loss to Honduras, 3-0 loss to Switzerland)
Grade: F
Future: Not good.
Summary: I mean winning a game would've been a generous prediction for this team but they just didn't look like they belonged there at all. Definitely a reason why Group E looked weak.
Australia (3-1 loss to Chile, 3-2 loss to Netherlands, 3-0 loss to Spain)
Grade: C
Future: Optimistic, but possibly good
Summary: They did lose every game but they lost after putting up a series of great fights. Tim Cahill's goal is by many considered to be the goal of the tournament and a great way for the Aussie legend to end his World Cup career.
Japan (2-1 loss to Cote D'Ivoire, 0-0 draw with Greece, 4-1 loss to Colombia)
Grade: D
Future: May be brighter
Summary: Not a great tournament for the 1st team to qualify for this World Cup. So many talented individuals shining for great clubs but they couldn't beat a 10-man Greece.
Iran (0-0 draw with Nigeria, 1-0 loss to Argentina, 3-1 loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Grade: B-
Future: On the right track
Summary: When your most famous players play for minnows across Europe and the rest play in Asia, expectations are rock bottom, but they made their nation proud playing much better than anyone expected, especially against Argentina.
South Korea (1-1 draw with Russia, 4-2 loss to Algeria, 1-0 loss to Belgium)
Grade: D+
Future: Not something to get excited about
Summary: You get a draw against Russia from a goalie mistake and you let Algeria put 4 past you. Even if you're South Korea that's not really good, so meh.
England (2-1 loss to Italy, 2-1 loss to Uruguay, 0-0 draw with Costa Rica)
Grade: D+
Future: With a lot of young players, possibly bright
Summary: They had a horrible tournament but it could've been a lot worse for the Three Lions. They gave Italy and Uruguay a good fight but it's nothing like even the 2002 or 2006 England teams right now, but they could be soon.
Ghana (2-1 loss to United States, 2-2 draw with Germany, 2-1 loss to Portugal)
Grade: B-
Future: Promising
Summary: A team very much in transition that needs to make a few adjustments to get better. Full of talent, gave all of their group of death opponents great games and a 2-2 draw against Germany at the World Cup looks great now that they won the whole thing
Russia (1-1 draw with South Korea, 1-0 loss to Belgium, 1-1 draw with Algeria)
Grade: C-
Future: Very unclear
Summary: Russia were their own worst enemies. They were one big mistake away from the Round of 16 and despite their domestic league producing more and more dark horses to make deep runs in Europe, they're still nowhere where they want to be.
Spain (5-1 loss to Netherlands, 2-0 loss to Chile, 3-0 win over Australia)
Grade: D+
Future: Good if right decision are made
Summary: It was a nightmare tournament for Spain who were supposed to own this group. Their tika taka football should be buried by now and they have to find a new way to succeed.
Italy (2-1 win over England, 1-0 loss to Costa Rica, 1-0 loss to Uruguay)
Grade: B-
Future: Great potential
Summary: Italy was unlucky to be eliminated in the group stage for the 2nd straight World Cup. They played hard and well but their main problem, even with Balotelli in the mix, is scoring goals.
Cote D'Ivoire (2-1 win over Japan, 2-1 loss to Colombia, 2-1 loss to Greece)
Grade: D+
Future: Not great
Summary: No excuses for them to get out this early this time with a very reasonable group they were put in. Check Tiote's mistake let Greece take a spot in the final 16 they've wanted desperately since 2010.
Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-1 loss to Argentina, 1-0 loss to Nigeria, 3-1 win over Iran)
Grade: C
Future: Bright
Summary: Even with the Nigeria controversy they failed to reach their potential, with some of their best players unable to step up most of the time. But I'd be shocked not to see them again 4 years from now.
Croatia (3-1 loss to Brazil, 4-0 win over Cameroon, 3-1 loss to Mexico)
Grade: B
Future: Looks good
Summary: They couldn't have fought harder and more impressively in their opener, and despite their collapse against Mexico the quality in this team was plainly visible.
Portugal (4-0 loss to Germany, 2-2 draw with United States, 2-1 win over Ghana)
Grade: C-
Future: Needs sorting out desperately
Summary: Portugal looked very fragile throughout their World Cup and fought hard to earn as many points as they did. They need to find out what new players they can depend on because Ronaldo will be 33 when 2018 Russia takes place.
Ecuador (2-1 loss to Switzerland, 2-1 win over Honduras, 0-0 draw with France)
Grade: B-
Future: They likely won't be giants soon but in a manageable spot
Summary: So few start players on this team but they produced a few results and 1 last minute Swiss goal denied them a spot in the final 16. Enner Valencia looked very impressive, especially.
Nigeria (0-0 draw with Iran, 1-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, 3-2 loss to Argentina, 2-0 loss to France)
Grade: B-
Future: Possibly bright despite some aging key players
Summary: Their scrappiness and their dependance on luck on one big instance prevents them from getting a better grade, but at least they survived the group stage. Amhed Musa and Vincent Enyeama notably inspiring.
United States (2-1 win over Ghana, 2-2 draw with Portugal, 1-0 loss to Germany, 2-1 loss to Belgium in extra time)
Grade: B+
Future: Bright
Summary: They had their blunders and rough patches but in a American perspective they couldn't have asked for much more. Revenge against Ghana, preventing Portugal from getting their revenge, and surviving the group of death=amazing.
Algeria (2-1 loss to Belgium, 4-2 win over South Korea, 1-1 draw with Russia, 2-1 loss to Germany in extra time)
Grade: B+
Future: Bright
Summary: Where did this Algerian team came from? They played admirable soccer and did well to give their nation their best World Cup performance by far.
Greece (3-0 loss to Colombia, 0-0 draw to Japan, 2-1 win over Cote D'Ivoire, 0-0 against Costa Rica then losing on penalties)
Grade: B
Future: Biggest names running out of time.
Summary: They weren't always the team I enjoyed watching most but they did what they had to do to get the results and for them to get this far was impressive.
Uruguay (3-1 loss to Costa Rica, 2-1 win over England, 1-0 win over Italy, 2-0 loss to Colombia)
Grade: B
Future: Up in the air.
Summary: Once again despite needing to go through playoffs to get here, once they did they made an impact and were a reason why England and Italy's tournaments ended after 3 matches, but when playing without Suarez they looked uninspired.
Switzerland (2-1 win over Ecuador, 5-2 loss to France, 3-0 win over Honduras, 1-0 loss to Argentina in extra time)
Grade: B+
Future: Promising
Summary: Did they deserve to be a seeded team? No, stupid FIFA rankings. But were they entertaining and was Xherdan Shaqiri among others fun to watch, yes they were.
Mexico (1-0 win over Cameroon, 0-0 draw with Brazil, 3-1 win over Croatia, 2-1 loss to Netherlands)
Grade: A-
Future: Bright
Summary: Miguel Herrera's antics aside he did well to make Mexico such a force to be reckoned with in a short amount of time. Many Mexican players had decent showings but of course Guillermo Ochoa steals the spotlight.
Chile (3-1 win over Australia, 2-0 win over Spain, 2-0 loss to Netherlands, 1-1 against Brazil then losing on penalties)
Grade: A-
Future: Bright
Summary: Knocking out Spain and being very close to knocking out Brazil definitely shows how good this Chilean team were and how unlucky they were not to stick around longer.
Costa Rica (3-1 win over Uruguay, 1-0 win over Italy, 0-0 draw with England, 0-0 with Greece then advancing on penalties, 0-0 with Netherlands then losing on penalties)
Grade: A
Future: Might be one hit wonders but hopefully not; we'll see
Summary: No one would've dreamed in a million years that Costa Rica would've gotten this far. Being one of only three teams to not lose a game this World Cup alongside Netherlands and Germany is something to be proud of.
France (3-0 win over Honduras, 5-2 win over Switzerland, 0-0 draw with Ecuador, 2-0 win over Nigeria, 1-0 loss to Germany)
Grade: A
Future: Bright
Summary: A complete 180 from the disaster of 2010 South Africa. Played well even without Franck Ribery and the depth of the squad was apparent as well.
Belgium (2-1 win over Algeria, 1-0 win over Russia, 1-0 win over South Korea, 2-1 win over United States in extra time, 1-0 loss to Argentina)
Grade: A-
Future: Bright
Summary: The chemistry still has much room for improvement but the quality this team has was very apparent.
Colombia (3-0 win over Greece, 2-1 win over Cote D'Ivoire, 4-1 win over Japan, 2-0 win over Uruguay, 2-1 loss to Brazil)
Grade: A
Future: Bright
Summary: James Rodriguez was the breakout star and golden boot winner. Aside from him, the entire squad looked in sync and at home throughout most of their journey in this World Cup
Brazil (3-1 win over Croatia, 0-0 draw with Mexico, 4-1 win over Cameroon, 0-0 against Chile then advancing on penalties, 2-1 win over Colombia, 7-1 loss to Germany, 3-0 loss to Netherlands)
Grade: C-
Future: Very hard to say
Summary: The grade would've been much higher if it weren't for being outscored 10-1 in their last two games; certainly not how I or anyone envisioned Brazil's World Cup journey culminating. A World Cup journey riddled with controversy, egos, and luck along the way and most non Brazilian firmly believe that if this World Cup was held elsewhere Brazil wouldn't have a prayer
Netherlands (5-1 win over Spain, 3-2 win over Australia, 2-0 win over Chile, 2-1 win over Mexico, 0-0 against Costa Rica then advancing on penalties, 0-0 against Argentina then losing on penalties, 3-0 win over Brazil)
Grade: A
Future: Bright
Summary: Many of their players who had little expected of them stepped up big and Netherlands performed very well in this World Cup despite modest expectations after a disappointing 2012 UEFA Euro run.
Argentina (2-1 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1-0 win over Iran, 3-2 win over Nigeria, 1-0 win over Switzerland in extra time, 1-0 win over Belgium, 0-0 against Netherlands then advancing on penalties, 1-0 loss to Germany in extra time)
Grade: A
Future: Seems good
Summary: They had a very slow start and there was never really a period where they couldn't stop scoring countless goals. But they stayed unified as a team, fought to the very end, and with an amazing effort against Germany justified their appearance in the World Cup Final
Germany (4-0 win over Portugal, 2-2 draw with Ghana, 1-0 win over United States, 2-1 win over Algeria in extra time, 1-0 win over France, 7-1 win over Brazil, 1-0 win over Argentina in extra time)
Grade: A+
Future: Without a question bright as the sun
Summary: It was the perfect tournament for Germany; they didn't crush every opponent but they did well in every match and had an interesting journey along the way to end up deservedly winning the title. Now that they've had a taste of victory and with a large group of talented players that exceeds their 23 man World Cup roster, there's no limit to what they can achieve.
I'd like to thank everyone who took time out of their regular schedules to read what I wrote, it definitely means a lot. Whether you read one article or all of them I appreciate it and I sincerely thank you. Feel free to suggest sports related topics or events you'd like me to write about in the future and feel free to share these with as many people as you'd like. It feels fitting to end this World Cup series of articles with one final look at the team that won the 2014 FIFA World Cup: Germany
1 GK Manuel Neuer (Age 28) Bayern Munich
12 GK Ron-Robert Zieler (Age 25) Hannover 96
22 GK Roman Weidenfeller (Age 33) Borussia Dortmund
2 DF Kevin Grobkreutz (Age 25) Borussia Dortmund
3 DF Matthias Ginter (Age 20) SC Freiburg
4 DF Benedikt Howedes (Age 26) Schalke 04
5 DF Mats Hummels (Age 25) Borussia Dortmund
15 DF Erik Durm (Age 22) Borussia Dortmund
16 DF Philipp Lahm, captain (Age 30) Bayern Munich
17 DF Per Mertesacker (Age 29) Arsenal
20 DF Jerome Boateng (Age 25) Bayern Munich
21 DF Shkodran Mustafi (Age 22) Sampdoria
6 MF Sami Khedira (Age 27) Real Madrid
7 MF Bastian Schweinsteiger (Age 29) Bayern Munich
8 MF Mesut Ozil (Age 25) Arsenal
9 MF Andre Schurrle (Age 23) Chelsea
13 MF Thomas Muller (Age 24) Bayern Munich
14 MF Julian Draxler (Age 20) Schalke 04
18 MF Toni Kroos (Age 24) Bayern Munich
19 MF Mario Gotze (Age 22) Bayern Munich
23 MF Christoph Kramer (Age 23) Borussia Monchengladbach
10 FW Lukas Podolski (Age 29) Arsenal
11 FW Miroslav Klose (Age 36) Lazio
Coach: Joachim Low
Congratulations Germany on your 4th World Cup title, 2014 World Cup Champions!
Final: Germany vs. Argentina
Result: After extra time, a 1-0 win to give Germany a 4th star on their crest
Goalscorer: 113' Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich)
Bookings: 29' Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), 34' Benedikt Howedes (Schalke), 64' Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), 65' Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Lineups
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); Christoph Kramer (Monchengladbach), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich); Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal); Miroslav Klose (Lazio)
Changes from last match
Due to an injury in the warmups, Sami Khedira was ruled out of the final, meaning Kramer had to fill in.
Subs:
Andre Schurrle (Chelsea) 31' for Christoph Kramer
Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich) 88' for Miroslav Klose
Per Mertesacker (Arsenal) 120' for Mesut Ozil
Argentina (4-4-2)
Sergio Romero (Monaco); Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City), Martin Demichelis (Manchester City), Ezequiel Garay (Benfica), Marcos Rojo (Sporting CP); Enzo Perez (Benfica), Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Lucas Biglia (Lazio), Ezequiel Lavezzi (PSG); Lionel Messi (Barcelona, captain), Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli)
Changes from last match
Just the change in formation which put Ezequiel Lavezzi as a midfielder as opposed to a striker
Subs:
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) 46' for Ezequiel Lavezzi
Rodrigo Palacio (Inter) 78' for Gonzalo Higuain
Fernando Gago (Boca Juniors) 86' for Enzo Perez
Unfortunately for Sami Khedira, a last minute injury ruled him out of the World Cup final. His replacement didn't last long either with Christoph Kramer suffering a concussion, leaving Jogi Low no choice but to use a substitution early on to bring Andre Schurrle into the mix, his first half debut at this World Cup. Argentina looked very impressive in the first half and had the best chance which Gonzalo Higuain, to use one of the more kinder words, squandered. Germany weren't being dominated but they were facing a worthy adversary for sure. Both teams played skillful defense despite a number of cards being given out (nowhere near the number that were distributed at the World Cup Final 4 years ago, thankfully). Both teams wanted this win but they couldn't want it hard enough to take the chances that came their way, with Neuer and Romero doing their bit to keep their respective sides' chances at winning optimum. In the 2nd half, Germany's closest attempt hit the post while Rodrigo Palacio mishit a golden opportunity for Argentina. Miroslav Klose did come off in the 88' minute playing his final match for Germany after 13 years and 4 World Cups worth of achievements and memories. And you couldn't have scripted it any better with the man who replaced the top German goalscorer of all time scoring the goal that decided the match: Mario Gotze. Despite Argentina's solid defense in this game and this tournament, Andre Schurrle's cross was able to find Mario Gotze to score the decisive goal late into extra time. Argentina found themselves in an awful position and were desperate to get back in the match with what little time remained. Their final chance was a dangerous looking free kick with Lionel Messi to take it. This would've been his chance, possibly, to turn things around and to complete his World Cup legend in the best of lights. Unfortunately the free kick was too high to do anything and Germany become World Champions after an incredible run and after 24 years of waiting.
Golden Ball: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
This was the most controversial of the awards given out because Lionel Messi didn't play as well as he usually does for his club in this tournament, but every game it was apparent to me how vital Messi is for Argentina and how tough it'll be when Messi is no longer around (though that won't be for a while since he is only 27). If not for Messi, not only are they screwed for getting to even the quarterfinals, they'd be tied with Iran with 2 pts in the group stage getting knocked out there with Nigeria and Bosnia-Herzegovina advancing. Lionel Messi is the heart and soul behind this Argentine team and their run to the World Cup final. The importance of other players like Javier Mascherano and Angel di Maria is not to be forgotten, but Lionel Messi did a great job to make his team better and get them farther, just like Diego Maradona did.
Best Young Player: Paul Pogba (France)
One of the many French players to shine brightly in the World Cup, Pogba made it very difficult for the midfielders of any of France's opponents (except for eventually winners Germany) to have any sort of foothold in the game. Leading up to the World Cup it was not a mystery that he is something special, it takes talent to be a key player in a team like Juventus (the club that inherited Pogba after an unsuccessful period with Manchester United, who will be kicking themselves for letting a player of his quality slip away). He's the next Franck Ribery, and in Ribery's absence he showed that. A smart player and good sport for someone his age, he could well go on to do many more great things with Frane.
Golden Gloves: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
So many great goalkeepers at this world cup: Tim Howard, Guillermo Ochoa, Jasper Cillessen, Keylor Navas, Vincent Enyeama, David Ospina, Hugo Lloris, Diego Benaglio....you get the idea. With a team as richly talented in the outfield positions as Germany it's easy to underestimate the importance of having a world class goalkeeper in the mix of things. But they've certainly found one in Manuel Neuer. Neuer was first given a chance when Rene Adler was ruled out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup due to injury, and he made the #1 goalkeeper position for Germany his with an impressive showing in South Africa, and he's been amazing for club and country ever since. His athleticism, intelligence, and reflexes have done well to put less pressure on the rest of his teammates who would be able to do their job knowing Neuer is fully capable of doing his. Even in the match against Brazil when Germany had the game all wrapped up early on he stayed focused to preserve Germany's massive win.
Golden Boot: James Rodriguez (Colombia)
Ramadel Falcao's injury threatened to derail Colombia's World Cup dreams but James Rodriguez certainly kept them alive by scoring 6 goals in 5 matches for Los Cafeteros. The player who had the biggest surge in popularity through this World Cup (yes, shockingly even more than John Brooks haha), he had big shoes to fill but passed the test with flying colors, promoting a beautiful style of play echoed by the other Colombian players, making Colombia one of the most entertaining and impressive teams at this World Cup. Several big clubs will be chasing the Monaco superstar down now, while the rich French club will not be modest in paying him to keep him around for the future.
Elimination Analysis: Argentina
In every championship game there's a winner and loser. Everyone knows that going into it but it's little consolation to the team or player(s) that lose it. Knowing you were that close to glory. The look of Lionel Messi's face receiving the Golden Ball award, which many would argue he didn't even deserve to win that but I thought he did. I don't think one individual was more important to a team in this World Cup than Lionel Messi was for Argentina. The closest were Neymar and James Rodriguez, but it came down to how early they were needed in the group stages the majority of both Brazil and Colombia squads shined brightly, while Lionel Messi scored 4 of Argentina's 6 goals, the others coming from Marcos Rojo and a Sead Kolasinac own goal. Despite Argentina not cruising through their "easy group", they still did just enough to get the 9 points, even if there was some controversy along the way, most notably against Iran were Iran felt they deserved a penalty. Ultimately though it did seem like Argentina benefited from a bit of luck time and time again, and it caught up to them in the final where their luck ran out by wasting golden opportunities. But they also benefited from a lot of players other than Messi. Argentina's entire backline along with Javier Mascherano and Lucas Biglia were very organized, and Angel di Maria had a great tournament before his injury. Sergio Romero, the backup goalkeeper for AS Monaco, proved to the world that he is better than that and hopefully he'll be getting 1st team action wherever he may end up. Argentina should be proud of getting this far and giving Germany their biggest challenge but ultimately it just wasn't meant to be. Even though they had their best World Cup run since 1990, being eliminated from the last 3 World Cups by Germany (the 1st time the same team has been defeated by the same opponent 3 World Cups in a row) will not be something they'll let go of easily
My team of the 2014 FIFA World Cup
Goalkeeper
Starter: Manuel Neuer (Germany)
Backups: Sergio Romero (Argentina), Keylor Navas (Costa Rica)
Honorable mentions: Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico), Tim Howard (USA), Jasper Cillessen (Netherlands)
Defenders
Starters:
Philipp Lahm (Germany)
Ron Vlaar (Netherlands)
Mats Hummels (Germany)
Daley Blind (Netherlands)
Backups:
Pablo Zabaleta (Argentina)
Jerome Boateng (Germany)
Thiago Silva (Brazil)
Pablo Armero (Colombia)
Honorable mentions: Benedikt Howedes (Germany), Ezequiel Garay (Argentina), Mario Yepes (Colombia), Vincent Kompany (Belgium)
Midfielders
Starters:
Javier Mascherano (Argentina)
Sami Khedira (Germany)
Arjen Robben (Netherlands)
Backups:
Toni Kroos (Germany)
Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
Angel Di Maria (Argentina)
Honorable mentions: Mario Gotze (Germany), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Mathieu Valbuena (France), Kevin de Bruyne (Belgium), Paul Pogba (France)
Forwards
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
James Rodriguez (Colombia)
Thomas Muller (Germany)
Backups:
Neymar (Brazil)
Miroslav Klose (Germany)
Alexis Sanchez (Chile)
Honorable mentions: Robin van Persie (Netherlands), Karim Benzema (France)
Before I wrap things up, I'll just take one last glance at each of the 32 teams, give them a letter grade and summarize their World Cup in 1-2 sentences. Their letter grade is based on their expectations going into the tournament, how they actually did, how they did it, and what impact this will have. And how bright their future looks.
Cameroon (1-0 loss to Mexico, 4-0 loss to Croatia, 4-1 loss to Brazil)
Grade: F
Future: Questionable, needs work
Summary: They weren't favorites in their group but they were expected to put up a much better fight but they completely fell apart. Scoring against Brazil was the highlight of their World Cup
Honduras (3-0 loss to France, 2-1 loss to Honduras, 3-0 loss to Switzerland)
Grade: F
Future: Not good.
Summary: I mean winning a game would've been a generous prediction for this team but they just didn't look like they belonged there at all. Definitely a reason why Group E looked weak.
Australia (3-1 loss to Chile, 3-2 loss to Netherlands, 3-0 loss to Spain)
Grade: C
Future: Optimistic, but possibly good
Summary: They did lose every game but they lost after putting up a series of great fights. Tim Cahill's goal is by many considered to be the goal of the tournament and a great way for the Aussie legend to end his World Cup career.
Japan (2-1 loss to Cote D'Ivoire, 0-0 draw with Greece, 4-1 loss to Colombia)
Grade: D
Future: May be brighter
Summary: Not a great tournament for the 1st team to qualify for this World Cup. So many talented individuals shining for great clubs but they couldn't beat a 10-man Greece.
Iran (0-0 draw with Nigeria, 1-0 loss to Argentina, 3-1 loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Grade: B-
Future: On the right track
Summary: When your most famous players play for minnows across Europe and the rest play in Asia, expectations are rock bottom, but they made their nation proud playing much better than anyone expected, especially against Argentina.
South Korea (1-1 draw with Russia, 4-2 loss to Algeria, 1-0 loss to Belgium)
Grade: D+
Future: Not something to get excited about
Summary: You get a draw against Russia from a goalie mistake and you let Algeria put 4 past you. Even if you're South Korea that's not really good, so meh.
England (2-1 loss to Italy, 2-1 loss to Uruguay, 0-0 draw with Costa Rica)
Grade: D+
Future: With a lot of young players, possibly bright
Summary: They had a horrible tournament but it could've been a lot worse for the Three Lions. They gave Italy and Uruguay a good fight but it's nothing like even the 2002 or 2006 England teams right now, but they could be soon.
Ghana (2-1 loss to United States, 2-2 draw with Germany, 2-1 loss to Portugal)
Grade: B-
Future: Promising
Summary: A team very much in transition that needs to make a few adjustments to get better. Full of talent, gave all of their group of death opponents great games and a 2-2 draw against Germany at the World Cup looks great now that they won the whole thing
Russia (1-1 draw with South Korea, 1-0 loss to Belgium, 1-1 draw with Algeria)
Grade: C-
Future: Very unclear
Summary: Russia were their own worst enemies. They were one big mistake away from the Round of 16 and despite their domestic league producing more and more dark horses to make deep runs in Europe, they're still nowhere where they want to be.
Spain (5-1 loss to Netherlands, 2-0 loss to Chile, 3-0 win over Australia)
Grade: D+
Future: Good if right decision are made
Summary: It was a nightmare tournament for Spain who were supposed to own this group. Their tika taka football should be buried by now and they have to find a new way to succeed.
Italy (2-1 win over England, 1-0 loss to Costa Rica, 1-0 loss to Uruguay)
Grade: B-
Future: Great potential
Summary: Italy was unlucky to be eliminated in the group stage for the 2nd straight World Cup. They played hard and well but their main problem, even with Balotelli in the mix, is scoring goals.
Cote D'Ivoire (2-1 win over Japan, 2-1 loss to Colombia, 2-1 loss to Greece)
Grade: D+
Future: Not great
Summary: No excuses for them to get out this early this time with a very reasonable group they were put in. Check Tiote's mistake let Greece take a spot in the final 16 they've wanted desperately since 2010.
Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-1 loss to Argentina, 1-0 loss to Nigeria, 3-1 win over Iran)
Grade: C
Future: Bright
Summary: Even with the Nigeria controversy they failed to reach their potential, with some of their best players unable to step up most of the time. But I'd be shocked not to see them again 4 years from now.
Croatia (3-1 loss to Brazil, 4-0 win over Cameroon, 3-1 loss to Mexico)
Grade: B
Future: Looks good
Summary: They couldn't have fought harder and more impressively in their opener, and despite their collapse against Mexico the quality in this team was plainly visible.
Portugal (4-0 loss to Germany, 2-2 draw with United States, 2-1 win over Ghana)
Grade: C-
Future: Needs sorting out desperately
Summary: Portugal looked very fragile throughout their World Cup and fought hard to earn as many points as they did. They need to find out what new players they can depend on because Ronaldo will be 33 when 2018 Russia takes place.
Ecuador (2-1 loss to Switzerland, 2-1 win over Honduras, 0-0 draw with France)
Grade: B-
Future: They likely won't be giants soon but in a manageable spot
Summary: So few start players on this team but they produced a few results and 1 last minute Swiss goal denied them a spot in the final 16. Enner Valencia looked very impressive, especially.
Nigeria (0-0 draw with Iran, 1-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, 3-2 loss to Argentina, 2-0 loss to France)
Grade: B-
Future: Possibly bright despite some aging key players
Summary: Their scrappiness and their dependance on luck on one big instance prevents them from getting a better grade, but at least they survived the group stage. Amhed Musa and Vincent Enyeama notably inspiring.
United States (2-1 win over Ghana, 2-2 draw with Portugal, 1-0 loss to Germany, 2-1 loss to Belgium in extra time)
Grade: B+
Future: Bright
Summary: They had their blunders and rough patches but in a American perspective they couldn't have asked for much more. Revenge against Ghana, preventing Portugal from getting their revenge, and surviving the group of death=amazing.
Algeria (2-1 loss to Belgium, 4-2 win over South Korea, 1-1 draw with Russia, 2-1 loss to Germany in extra time)
Grade: B+
Future: Bright
Summary: Where did this Algerian team came from? They played admirable soccer and did well to give their nation their best World Cup performance by far.
Greece (3-0 loss to Colombia, 0-0 draw to Japan, 2-1 win over Cote D'Ivoire, 0-0 against Costa Rica then losing on penalties)
Grade: B
Future: Biggest names running out of time.
Summary: They weren't always the team I enjoyed watching most but they did what they had to do to get the results and for them to get this far was impressive.
Uruguay (3-1 loss to Costa Rica, 2-1 win over England, 1-0 win over Italy, 2-0 loss to Colombia)
Grade: B
Future: Up in the air.
Summary: Once again despite needing to go through playoffs to get here, once they did they made an impact and were a reason why England and Italy's tournaments ended after 3 matches, but when playing without Suarez they looked uninspired.
Switzerland (2-1 win over Ecuador, 5-2 loss to France, 3-0 win over Honduras, 1-0 loss to Argentina in extra time)
Grade: B+
Future: Promising
Summary: Did they deserve to be a seeded team? No, stupid FIFA rankings. But were they entertaining and was Xherdan Shaqiri among others fun to watch, yes they were.
Mexico (1-0 win over Cameroon, 0-0 draw with Brazil, 3-1 win over Croatia, 2-1 loss to Netherlands)
Grade: A-
Future: Bright
Summary: Miguel Herrera's antics aside he did well to make Mexico such a force to be reckoned with in a short amount of time. Many Mexican players had decent showings but of course Guillermo Ochoa steals the spotlight.
Chile (3-1 win over Australia, 2-0 win over Spain, 2-0 loss to Netherlands, 1-1 against Brazil then losing on penalties)
Grade: A-
Future: Bright
Summary: Knocking out Spain and being very close to knocking out Brazil definitely shows how good this Chilean team were and how unlucky they were not to stick around longer.
Costa Rica (3-1 win over Uruguay, 1-0 win over Italy, 0-0 draw with England, 0-0 with Greece then advancing on penalties, 0-0 with Netherlands then losing on penalties)
Grade: A
Future: Might be one hit wonders but hopefully not; we'll see
Summary: No one would've dreamed in a million years that Costa Rica would've gotten this far. Being one of only three teams to not lose a game this World Cup alongside Netherlands and Germany is something to be proud of.
France (3-0 win over Honduras, 5-2 win over Switzerland, 0-0 draw with Ecuador, 2-0 win over Nigeria, 1-0 loss to Germany)
Grade: A
Future: Bright
Summary: A complete 180 from the disaster of 2010 South Africa. Played well even without Franck Ribery and the depth of the squad was apparent as well.
Belgium (2-1 win over Algeria, 1-0 win over Russia, 1-0 win over South Korea, 2-1 win over United States in extra time, 1-0 loss to Argentina)
Grade: A-
Future: Bright
Summary: The chemistry still has much room for improvement but the quality this team has was very apparent.
Colombia (3-0 win over Greece, 2-1 win over Cote D'Ivoire, 4-1 win over Japan, 2-0 win over Uruguay, 2-1 loss to Brazil)
Grade: A
Future: Bright
Summary: James Rodriguez was the breakout star and golden boot winner. Aside from him, the entire squad looked in sync and at home throughout most of their journey in this World Cup
Brazil (3-1 win over Croatia, 0-0 draw with Mexico, 4-1 win over Cameroon, 0-0 against Chile then advancing on penalties, 2-1 win over Colombia, 7-1 loss to Germany, 3-0 loss to Netherlands)
Grade: C-
Future: Very hard to say
Summary: The grade would've been much higher if it weren't for being outscored 10-1 in their last two games; certainly not how I or anyone envisioned Brazil's World Cup journey culminating. A World Cup journey riddled with controversy, egos, and luck along the way and most non Brazilian firmly believe that if this World Cup was held elsewhere Brazil wouldn't have a prayer
Netherlands (5-1 win over Spain, 3-2 win over Australia, 2-0 win over Chile, 2-1 win over Mexico, 0-0 against Costa Rica then advancing on penalties, 0-0 against Argentina then losing on penalties, 3-0 win over Brazil)
Grade: A
Future: Bright
Summary: Many of their players who had little expected of them stepped up big and Netherlands performed very well in this World Cup despite modest expectations after a disappointing 2012 UEFA Euro run.
Argentina (2-1 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1-0 win over Iran, 3-2 win over Nigeria, 1-0 win over Switzerland in extra time, 1-0 win over Belgium, 0-0 against Netherlands then advancing on penalties, 1-0 loss to Germany in extra time)
Grade: A
Future: Seems good
Summary: They had a very slow start and there was never really a period where they couldn't stop scoring countless goals. But they stayed unified as a team, fought to the very end, and with an amazing effort against Germany justified their appearance in the World Cup Final
Germany (4-0 win over Portugal, 2-2 draw with Ghana, 1-0 win over United States, 2-1 win over Algeria in extra time, 1-0 win over France, 7-1 win over Brazil, 1-0 win over Argentina in extra time)
Grade: A+
Future: Without a question bright as the sun
Summary: It was the perfect tournament for Germany; they didn't crush every opponent but they did well in every match and had an interesting journey along the way to end up deservedly winning the title. Now that they've had a taste of victory and with a large group of talented players that exceeds their 23 man World Cup roster, there's no limit to what they can achieve.
I'd like to thank everyone who took time out of their regular schedules to read what I wrote, it definitely means a lot. Whether you read one article or all of them I appreciate it and I sincerely thank you. Feel free to suggest sports related topics or events you'd like me to write about in the future and feel free to share these with as many people as you'd like. It feels fitting to end this World Cup series of articles with one final look at the team that won the 2014 FIFA World Cup: Germany
1 GK Manuel Neuer (Age 28) Bayern Munich
12 GK Ron-Robert Zieler (Age 25) Hannover 96
22 GK Roman Weidenfeller (Age 33) Borussia Dortmund
2 DF Kevin Grobkreutz (Age 25) Borussia Dortmund
3 DF Matthias Ginter (Age 20) SC Freiburg
4 DF Benedikt Howedes (Age 26) Schalke 04
5 DF Mats Hummels (Age 25) Borussia Dortmund
15 DF Erik Durm (Age 22) Borussia Dortmund
16 DF Philipp Lahm, captain (Age 30) Bayern Munich
17 DF Per Mertesacker (Age 29) Arsenal
20 DF Jerome Boateng (Age 25) Bayern Munich
21 DF Shkodran Mustafi (Age 22) Sampdoria
6 MF Sami Khedira (Age 27) Real Madrid
7 MF Bastian Schweinsteiger (Age 29) Bayern Munich
8 MF Mesut Ozil (Age 25) Arsenal
9 MF Andre Schurrle (Age 23) Chelsea
13 MF Thomas Muller (Age 24) Bayern Munich
14 MF Julian Draxler (Age 20) Schalke 04
18 MF Toni Kroos (Age 24) Bayern Munich
19 MF Mario Gotze (Age 22) Bayern Munich
23 MF Christoph Kramer (Age 23) Borussia Monchengladbach
10 FW Lukas Podolski (Age 29) Arsenal
11 FW Miroslav Klose (Age 36) Lazio
Coach: Joachim Low
Congratulations Germany on your 4th World Cup title, 2014 World Cup Champions!
Sunday, July 13, 2014
2014 FIFA World Cup Day 24 Review Final Match Preview
Neither Brazil or Netherlands will get their names on the trophy, but pride and redemption are on the line for two teams who could use a little bit of both but for different reasons.
3rd place match: Brazil vs. Netherlands
Result: 3-0 victory for the Dutch
Goalscorers: 3' penalty Robin van Persie (Manchester United), 17' Daley Blind (Ajax), 90+1' Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV)
Bookings: 2' Thiago Silva (PSG), 9' Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich), 36' Jonathan de Guzman (Swansea City), 54' Fernandinho (Manchester City), 68' Oscar (Chelsea)
Lineups
Brazil (4-2-3-1)
Julio Cesar (Toronto FC); Maicon (Roma), Thiago Silva (PSG, captain), David Luiz (Chelsea), Maxwell (PSG); Paulinho (Tottenham), Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg); Ramires (Chelsea), Oscar (Chelsea), Willian (Chelsea), Jo (Atletico Mineiro)
Changes from last match
Dante, Marcelo, Fernandinho, Hulk, Bernard, and Fred were taken off the starting lineup to be replaced by Thiago Silva (back from suspension), Maxwell, Paulinho, Ramires, Willian, and Jo.
Subs:
Fernandinho (Manchester City) 46' for Luis Gustavo
Hernanes (Lazio) 57' for Paulinho
Hulk (Zenit) 73' for Ramires
Netherlands (5-3-2)
Jasper Cillessen (Ajax); Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahce), Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord), Ron Vlaar (Aston Villa), Bruno Martins Indi (Feyenoord), Daley Blind (Ajax); Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV), Jordy Clasie (Feyenoord), Jonathan de Guzman (Swansea City); Robin van Persie (Manchester United, captain), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)
Changes from last match
Injuries to Wesley Sneijder and Nigel de Jong meant that their World Cup ended in their defeat to Argentina, which also meant Clasie and de Guzman got to start.
Subs:
Daryl Janmaat (Feyenoord) 70' for Daley Blind
Joel Veltman (Ajax) 90' for Jordy Clasie
Michel Vorm (Swansea City) 90+3' for Jasper Cillessen
So yeah, in case you weren't aware or you were still in denial or thought that was just an outrageous dream, Germany beating Brazil 7-1 actually happened. A result that has sent possibly the biggest soccer/football nation in the world in shock, disbelief, and depression. But they still had one game left against another formidable opponent. Wesley Sneijder got injured in the warmup so Jonathan de Guzman was a last minute edition to the starting lineup. This would be Dirk Kuyt's final appearance for the Dutch national team, after playing for Netherlands for over 10 years since 2004 (since his Feyenoord days, which lasted until he moved to Liverpool and now Fenerbahce). What was awesome about both managers Luis Felipe Scolari and Louis van Gaal was how many players they let play in this World Cup. Every field player for Brazil made at least one appearance in this tournament (only backups goalies Jefferson and Victor being left out), while van Gaal went a step further and had all 23 Dutch players (including all 3 goalies) make at least one appearance in this tournament. In this game, quite simply, everything went Netherlands's way. There was some controversy surrounding their first two goals though. Thiago Silva's foul on Arjen Robben forced the penalty but it's debateable whether it was inside or outside the box. If it was inside the box, Thiago Silva should've been red carded and Netherlands should've been given a penalty. If it was outside the box, it should've been a yellow for Silva and free kick for Netherlands. Instead it's a yellow for Silva and a penalty kick for Netherlands. And the ball in that led to the 2nd goal seemed to have happened in an offside position but it was not called. Even then the goal could've been avoided if David Luiz just kicked it out for a corner or throw in. Instead, he conveniently kicks the ball right to Daley Blind to score his first ever international goal. Georginio Wijnaldum's goal was totally legit and it capped what was another frustrating night for Brazil. Brazil did play better, they had more possession and looked more dangerous. But they still lacked that creative spark and killer instinct that seemed essential for Brazil to have with their players from previous generations. For Netherlands it's a positive way to exit the World Cup, for Brazil, it merely added insult to injury.
Elimination Analysis: Brazil
Who could've seen this coming? A year ago Brazil won 5 of their 5 games at the FIFA Confederations Cup, winning the trophy in a stunning 3-0 victory over then reigning World champions Spain. This victory had the proud South American nation where soccer is an integral part of life excited and hopeful for the World Cup the following year. They did have a strong team on paper, with players playing in big clubs like Chelsea, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, but this wasn't anything like a classic Brazilian team no matter what you put it. And despite the confidence you think these Brazilian players had, they lacked the talent and the mental power to sustain the pressure that was put on them by their home fans. Yes playing in Brazil was a boost and like many experts said, maybe Brazil's run would've been a shorter one if this World Cup was played outside of Brazil, but there was an expectation that Brazil needed to win on their home soil to make up for their missed opportunity in 1950 to do it then. Time after time though Brazil had under performed. They really struggled in their opener against Croatia with Marcelo being the first Brazilian player to OFFICIALLY score an own goal at the World Cup (I believe Felipe Melo had an own goal vs. Netherlands in 2010 but it wasn't counted as one). They couldn't score against Mexico in a 0-0 tie. They let Cameroon score on them, one of the weakest and most disorganized teams of the tournament. They had to get through penalties to beat Chile and if Mauricio Pinilla's shot is just a little bit lower it goes in and knocks Brazil out but luckily it hit the post. And a bit of David Luiz magic (who played horribly in the two Brazil games that followed) and Carlos Sanchez sloppiness gave Brazil the win over Colombia. Yes Brazil still made the top 4 but that's not the way we're used to seeing Brazil progress in the World Cup. And this is definitely not the way a team like Brazil should go out of the World Cup: Losing 7-1, their biggest loss EVER in their history, and then losing again 3-0 to lose back to back home games for the first time since the 1940s. Just unbelievable. The most positive thing I can say about Brazil is that they can afford to have one bad spell from an objective point of view. Arguably Brazil has the proudest history in international football with 5 World Cups, 4 Confederations Cups, 8 Copa Americas, and 4 Pan American games, and I might still be missing a thing or two. This will take some getting over, something Brazilians don't do easily because of how much the sport means to them, and we'll see how long Brazil's struggles last, especially now that they have to qualify for World Cups again. Surely these bad days won't last forever and Brazil should be able to be a decent team still, but they will have to earn whatever they can.
Elimination Analysis: Netherlands
Always the bridesmaid never the bride. Another World Cup where Netherlands's run can be best summed up as "so close yet so far". They didn't make it to the final before being denied their first ever World Cup this time, but losing to Argentina on penalties in the semifinals is how close they were to the Maracana. For a Dutch fan it definitely seems frustrating. Yes, they're still a great team and they're still better off than most other teams in the world. They also greatly improved on their 2012 Euro performance and exceeded their expectations at this World Cup (it's weird to think of them that way now, but before the tournament many people favored Spain and Chile to progress and leave Netherlands in the dust). They definitely fought hard to get as far as they did against a stream of decent opponents that included Spain, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, surprise package Costa Rica, and feisty underdogs Australia who scored 2 against them. Unlike their finalist buddies from the last World Cup Spain, this Dutch team was young and much different than the team that played in South Africa. Only 7 of these 23 players were in the 2010 South Africa squad: Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Nigel de Jong, Dirk Kuyt, Wesley Sneijder, Michel Vorm, and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, and those seven plus Ron Vlaar and Tim Krul were the only survivors from the 2012 UEFA Euro Squad. The entirety of Netherlands's defense was pretty inexperienced, but they definitely stepped up, especially Ron Vlaar and Daley Blind. This team played as a cohesive unit throughout the campaign even when missing some players like Kevin Strootman and Rafael van der Vaart. From Robin van Persie's "flying dutchman" goal to Tim Krul's surprise appearance to win the penalty shootout over Costa Rica, they definitely didn't lack in the entertainment department either. It's players like these who keep the Dutch hopeful that someday they will win a World Cup. Though in Russia the likes of Dirk Kuyt, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, and Wesley Sneijder will either be past their prime or not on the team entirely, players like Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay look like they can fill in in a few years time and keep the Orange strong.
Up Next
Final: Germany vs. Argentina
One team survived Portugal, Ghana, USA, Algeria, France, and Brazil. The other survived Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands. One team is known by most through their star player, while the other team doesn't quite have a star player but a constellation that shines brightly as one star. Argentina looks to tie Germany's record with their 3rd World Cup win, with Lionel Messi leading the way in a chance with destiny to write his name in history alongside Diego Maradona. Germany looks to tie Italy's record with their 4th World Cup win. This golden generation, which includes Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Thomas Muller, has come close to the title but not close enough the past 3 World Cups and this is their chance to rid themselves of those demons and win the title they so desperately want. Germany looked the more impressive but despite all the doubt Argentina are still in it as well. The World Cup is on the line and it's coming to it's conclusion. Either Argentina will win the World Cup in their rival Brazil's soil or Germany will become the first European nation to win the World Cup in South America. It will definitely be a tense encounter and hopefully a fantastic game.
3rd place match: Brazil vs. Netherlands
Result: 3-0 victory for the Dutch
Goalscorers: 3' penalty Robin van Persie (Manchester United), 17' Daley Blind (Ajax), 90+1' Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV)
Bookings: 2' Thiago Silva (PSG), 9' Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich), 36' Jonathan de Guzman (Swansea City), 54' Fernandinho (Manchester City), 68' Oscar (Chelsea)
Lineups
Brazil (4-2-3-1)
Julio Cesar (Toronto FC); Maicon (Roma), Thiago Silva (PSG, captain), David Luiz (Chelsea), Maxwell (PSG); Paulinho (Tottenham), Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg); Ramires (Chelsea), Oscar (Chelsea), Willian (Chelsea), Jo (Atletico Mineiro)
Changes from last match
Dante, Marcelo, Fernandinho, Hulk, Bernard, and Fred were taken off the starting lineup to be replaced by Thiago Silva (back from suspension), Maxwell, Paulinho, Ramires, Willian, and Jo.
Subs:
Fernandinho (Manchester City) 46' for Luis Gustavo
Hernanes (Lazio) 57' for Paulinho
Hulk (Zenit) 73' for Ramires
Netherlands (5-3-2)
Jasper Cillessen (Ajax); Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahce), Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord), Ron Vlaar (Aston Villa), Bruno Martins Indi (Feyenoord), Daley Blind (Ajax); Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV), Jordy Clasie (Feyenoord), Jonathan de Guzman (Swansea City); Robin van Persie (Manchester United, captain), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)
Changes from last match
Injuries to Wesley Sneijder and Nigel de Jong meant that their World Cup ended in their defeat to Argentina, which also meant Clasie and de Guzman got to start.
Subs:
Daryl Janmaat (Feyenoord) 70' for Daley Blind
Joel Veltman (Ajax) 90' for Jordy Clasie
Michel Vorm (Swansea City) 90+3' for Jasper Cillessen
So yeah, in case you weren't aware or you were still in denial or thought that was just an outrageous dream, Germany beating Brazil 7-1 actually happened. A result that has sent possibly the biggest soccer/football nation in the world in shock, disbelief, and depression. But they still had one game left against another formidable opponent. Wesley Sneijder got injured in the warmup so Jonathan de Guzman was a last minute edition to the starting lineup. This would be Dirk Kuyt's final appearance for the Dutch national team, after playing for Netherlands for over 10 years since 2004 (since his Feyenoord days, which lasted until he moved to Liverpool and now Fenerbahce). What was awesome about both managers Luis Felipe Scolari and Louis van Gaal was how many players they let play in this World Cup. Every field player for Brazil made at least one appearance in this tournament (only backups goalies Jefferson and Victor being left out), while van Gaal went a step further and had all 23 Dutch players (including all 3 goalies) make at least one appearance in this tournament. In this game, quite simply, everything went Netherlands's way. There was some controversy surrounding their first two goals though. Thiago Silva's foul on Arjen Robben forced the penalty but it's debateable whether it was inside or outside the box. If it was inside the box, Thiago Silva should've been red carded and Netherlands should've been given a penalty. If it was outside the box, it should've been a yellow for Silva and free kick for Netherlands. Instead it's a yellow for Silva and a penalty kick for Netherlands. And the ball in that led to the 2nd goal seemed to have happened in an offside position but it was not called. Even then the goal could've been avoided if David Luiz just kicked it out for a corner or throw in. Instead, he conveniently kicks the ball right to Daley Blind to score his first ever international goal. Georginio Wijnaldum's goal was totally legit and it capped what was another frustrating night for Brazil. Brazil did play better, they had more possession and looked more dangerous. But they still lacked that creative spark and killer instinct that seemed essential for Brazil to have with their players from previous generations. For Netherlands it's a positive way to exit the World Cup, for Brazil, it merely added insult to injury.
Elimination Analysis: Brazil
Who could've seen this coming? A year ago Brazil won 5 of their 5 games at the FIFA Confederations Cup, winning the trophy in a stunning 3-0 victory over then reigning World champions Spain. This victory had the proud South American nation where soccer is an integral part of life excited and hopeful for the World Cup the following year. They did have a strong team on paper, with players playing in big clubs like Chelsea, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, but this wasn't anything like a classic Brazilian team no matter what you put it. And despite the confidence you think these Brazilian players had, they lacked the talent and the mental power to sustain the pressure that was put on them by their home fans. Yes playing in Brazil was a boost and like many experts said, maybe Brazil's run would've been a shorter one if this World Cup was played outside of Brazil, but there was an expectation that Brazil needed to win on their home soil to make up for their missed opportunity in 1950 to do it then. Time after time though Brazil had under performed. They really struggled in their opener against Croatia with Marcelo being the first Brazilian player to OFFICIALLY score an own goal at the World Cup (I believe Felipe Melo had an own goal vs. Netherlands in 2010 but it wasn't counted as one). They couldn't score against Mexico in a 0-0 tie. They let Cameroon score on them, one of the weakest and most disorganized teams of the tournament. They had to get through penalties to beat Chile and if Mauricio Pinilla's shot is just a little bit lower it goes in and knocks Brazil out but luckily it hit the post. And a bit of David Luiz magic (who played horribly in the two Brazil games that followed) and Carlos Sanchez sloppiness gave Brazil the win over Colombia. Yes Brazil still made the top 4 but that's not the way we're used to seeing Brazil progress in the World Cup. And this is definitely not the way a team like Brazil should go out of the World Cup: Losing 7-1, their biggest loss EVER in their history, and then losing again 3-0 to lose back to back home games for the first time since the 1940s. Just unbelievable. The most positive thing I can say about Brazil is that they can afford to have one bad spell from an objective point of view. Arguably Brazil has the proudest history in international football with 5 World Cups, 4 Confederations Cups, 8 Copa Americas, and 4 Pan American games, and I might still be missing a thing or two. This will take some getting over, something Brazilians don't do easily because of how much the sport means to them, and we'll see how long Brazil's struggles last, especially now that they have to qualify for World Cups again. Surely these bad days won't last forever and Brazil should be able to be a decent team still, but they will have to earn whatever they can.
Elimination Analysis: Netherlands
Always the bridesmaid never the bride. Another World Cup where Netherlands's run can be best summed up as "so close yet so far". They didn't make it to the final before being denied their first ever World Cup this time, but losing to Argentina on penalties in the semifinals is how close they were to the Maracana. For a Dutch fan it definitely seems frustrating. Yes, they're still a great team and they're still better off than most other teams in the world. They also greatly improved on their 2012 Euro performance and exceeded their expectations at this World Cup (it's weird to think of them that way now, but before the tournament many people favored Spain and Chile to progress and leave Netherlands in the dust). They definitely fought hard to get as far as they did against a stream of decent opponents that included Spain, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, surprise package Costa Rica, and feisty underdogs Australia who scored 2 against them. Unlike their finalist buddies from the last World Cup Spain, this Dutch team was young and much different than the team that played in South Africa. Only 7 of these 23 players were in the 2010 South Africa squad: Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Nigel de Jong, Dirk Kuyt, Wesley Sneijder, Michel Vorm, and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, and those seven plus Ron Vlaar and Tim Krul were the only survivors from the 2012 UEFA Euro Squad. The entirety of Netherlands's defense was pretty inexperienced, but they definitely stepped up, especially Ron Vlaar and Daley Blind. This team played as a cohesive unit throughout the campaign even when missing some players like Kevin Strootman and Rafael van der Vaart. From Robin van Persie's "flying dutchman" goal to Tim Krul's surprise appearance to win the penalty shootout over Costa Rica, they definitely didn't lack in the entertainment department either. It's players like these who keep the Dutch hopeful that someday they will win a World Cup. Though in Russia the likes of Dirk Kuyt, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, and Wesley Sneijder will either be past their prime or not on the team entirely, players like Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay look like they can fill in in a few years time and keep the Orange strong.
Up Next
Final: Germany vs. Argentina
One team survived Portugal, Ghana, USA, Algeria, France, and Brazil. The other survived Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands. One team is known by most through their star player, while the other team doesn't quite have a star player but a constellation that shines brightly as one star. Argentina looks to tie Germany's record with their 3rd World Cup win, with Lionel Messi leading the way in a chance with destiny to write his name in history alongside Diego Maradona. Germany looks to tie Italy's record with their 4th World Cup win. This golden generation, which includes Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Thomas Muller, has come close to the title but not close enough the past 3 World Cups and this is their chance to rid themselves of those demons and win the title they so desperately want. Germany looked the more impressive but despite all the doubt Argentina are still in it as well. The World Cup is on the line and it's coming to it's conclusion. Either Argentina will win the World Cup in their rival Brazil's soil or Germany will become the first European nation to win the World Cup in South America. It will definitely be a tense encounter and hopefully a fantastic game.
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