Official World Cup Soccer Thread

[HybridSquirrel]

yeah 230pm EST kickoff as they always have been!

sweet. im waiting to board the plane now...hopefully can hobble my ass over to the espn zone on crutches for kick off.

 

[dfuze]

Hope Germany embarrasses Spain and scores 4 goals again. I really liked how they put pressure on the whole game, not grab a lead and then sit back and pass the ball around.

 

[Cuda1447]

Hope Germany embarrasses Spain and scores 4 goals again. I really liked how they put pressure on the whole game, not grab a lead and then sit back and pass the ball around.

Whoever wins, the final is going to be a great game. The Dutch have a few really skilled players that aren't well known. They were very entertaining yesterday. That said, David Villa is phenomenal. I expect him to score at least once against the Germans.

 

[HumblePie]

Hope Germany embarrasses Spain and scores 4 goals again. I really liked how they put pressure on the whole game, not grab a lead and then sit back and pass the ball around.

Might be harder for them to do without Muller.


Basic German tactics thus far have been to use a nice two prong attack to spread the defense. Both Klose and Muller are threats. As such the defense has to spread out to cover them and anyone else making a rush to the goal up the middle. The other thing the Germans do is MAKE the runs to open lanes. They have the line behind them follow for the drop back pass if needed. They make an attack on one side and see if it works. If not, they attack from another angle. They don't give up. When the forwards get a bit tired they play a little more defensive for a time until they can go on attacking again. Since the guys are always making runs where they should be, the person with the ball knows exactly where they have support to pass the ball. They don't try to be dribbling super stars and play as a team very well.

However, without Muller, their tactics may or may not work for the Germans. Klose will now be initially heavily defended and if the replacement from Muller fails to be a threat of his own, then they will have a hard time against the Spanish defense. If the replacement can be a threat, then the Spanish may overlook him to their regret.

As for Spanish tactics, it has all been about the short game in the midfield. It's control, control, control the ball for their mindset. They do constant short passes around the mid field and hope to tire out their opponents who are hopefully chasing after the ball. Their style of play is much slower than the Germans as they sit back and hold on to the ball while they wait for the defense to make a mistake for an opening. When the defense screws up, the Spaniards hope they are in the right position to capitalize. This is one of their weaknesses as they rely on Villa too much to capitalize for them. It has worked for them thus far in the WC up until now at least. Most of the Spanish games have been low scoring with a late goal by Villa. This speaks of a patient team with an aggressive defense. They have skill and talent, but their offense in my opinion has too much riding on one man. Don't get me wrong, Villa is incredible and has come through for Spain thus far, but can he continue to do so?


The Germans only lost the one game to Serbia thus far who was a fairly defensive minded team. The other teams they've played since were not teams focused upon defense and control of the ball. They are now going up against Spain who is a defensive team that likes to control the ball and they are doing so without Muller. However, the Germans have a precision while attacking the goal the Spanish lack. It is hard to determine the outcome of the clash today. I will say that these two teams currently playing could play any number of games and I believe the winner could be different every time. As such, I will have to pick a winner not based on who I think will win but on personal preference. I really have no clue who will win and am happy either way really, but my support will be for Germany today.

 

[Zargon]

todays game should be great, but I really think NED ESP would make the best final to watch

 

[Gooberlx2]

I think Germany's fitness has been nearly unparalleled this tournament. They fight hard and, more often than most, succeed in winning the ball. They also play a control game and pass around the midfield, to both tire out the other team and formulate an attack. It will be interesting to see how it works between two midfield-heavy and talented teams.

My wife has been watching me be all excited during this tournament (I really don't care about any other sports). So she surprised me this morning with a couple tickets to the Rapids game on the 17th. What a sweet gal!

 

[HumblePie]

I think Germany's fitness has been nearly unparalleled this tournament. They fight hard and, more often than most, succeed in winning the ball. They also play a control game and pass around the midfield, to both tire out the other team and formulate an attack. It will be interesting to see how it works between two midfield-heavy and talented teams.

My wife has been watching me be all excited during this tournament (I really don't care about any other sports). So she surprised me this morning with a couple tickets to the Rapids game on the 17th. What a sweet gal!

Actually Germany is not the controlling team at all. If you look at their possession time it has been only as high as 55% and as low as 46% when they beat Argentina 4 to 0. Average possession time is about 51% for them. They are an attacking team with unparalleled precision, speed, and tenacity. However, they are not a team that sits back and controls the ball at a slow pace.

Spain on the other hand is. They have possession times as high as 69%. They average around 59% possession time thus far as that is what they like to do. They like to play the short passes in the midfield and wait for the other team to tire. They look for a chance to score while playing a slower game.

 

[bigrash]

Go spain!!

 

[Barfo]

go germany!!

ftfy

 

[bigrash]

ftfy

That doesn't make sense. Why would you fix it to the team that's gonna lose?

 

[KeithTalent]

Viva Espana!

Nervous, but hopeful here. Sure the Dutch are unbeaten in the tournament, but nobody has looked as dominant as the Germans. Still, anything can happen and I'll be rooting my boys on.

KT

 

[Vonkhan]

go go germany!

 

[KeithTalent]

I'm wearing my Barca jersey under my shirt and tie; made for a warm walk in to work this morning. It's been good luck so far (I wore it for the entire Euro 2008 too). Let's hope it keeps working! :awe:

KT

 

[GasX]

I'm wearing my Barca jersey under my shirt and tie; made for a warm walk in to work this morning. It's been good luck so far (I wore it for the entire Euro 2008 too). Let's hope it keeps working! :awe:

KT

You'd be better off with an Arsenal or Liverpool jersey, eh?

 

[KeithTalent]

You'd be better off with an Arsenal or Liverpool jersey, eh?

Nah, they can almost field a full squad of Barca players if they bring on the right subs.

KT

 

[Zargon]

stupid barca


more like stupid real madrid for imploding

 

[KeithTalent]

stupid barca


more like stupid real madrid for imploding

Close one, but the two losses to Barca in El Clasico certainly didn't help. :awe:

KT

 

[Zargon]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=806751&sec=europe&cc=5901uh....wtf how does that happen??

 

[Gooberlx2]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=806751&sec=europe&cc=5901uh....wtf how does that happen??

What? soccernet.epsn is blocked at work (and yet they don't block espn3....thankfully *knocks on wood*)

edit: Had to RDP in to home. LOL...that sucks!

 

[KMFJD]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=806751&sec=europe&cc=5901uh....wtf how does that happen??

Not sure, but i don't understand how Real Madrid stays in business....oh and...

Ouch best dive of the tournament

 

[KeithTalent]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=806751&sec=europe&cc=5901uh....wtf how does that happen??

Ugh, good lord. That's not good.

KT

 

[Gooberlx2]

GO Germany!

 

[Gooberlx2]

Fan running on the field! No nakedness though.

 

[KeithTalent]

Ugh, get off the pitch you moron. Only hot naked women should do that.

KT

 

[Gooberlx2]

Nice play. C'mon Germany pick it up.