FIFA World Cup Football Week 3
Week 3 ( yes it has been three weeks ) saw the completion of the group matches and the
tournament getting in to Knock out and Hear break phase.
As predicted , Germany , USA qualified and it was sad
to see Portugal go out from this group.
Playing the first match badly cost them the opportunity to move up . You can
have the Stars in your team but unless everyone plays well including your star
player, you go nowhere .. So much for team work and team dynamics
Greece was the surprise packet from its group along with
Columbia.
Italy got dumped by Uruguay but the man of the match was
Suarez. How on earth can he be doing what he did ?. Not for the first time that
he was found chewing off flesh of his opponent players. FIFA quickly swung in
to action and there is not only a ban on matches but a fixed time period of time that
he has to sit out.
Argentina and Nigeria went through from their group as well
as France and the Swiss from their groups
The final line up saw Belgium and Algeria go through
After a break on Friday it was time for the knock outs and
heart breaks
Brazil Versus Chile
Brazil played exciting attacking football from the start and
it was no surprise that they went one up quickly. But the Chile attacked and
with Alexis Sanchez weaving his way through the vulnerable Brazilian defence ,
a poor pass deep in the Brazil half, gave a chance that Alexis fully utilized.
This just pumped the Chileans up and they were threatening all the time. While
all this was happening , Brazil was denied a goal on a long ball that was
chested down or rather shouldered down by Hulk . Howard Webb the English
referee is no stranger to controversies. We can continue to debate on this decision.
In the end , Brazilians hung on to the repeated attacks by the Chileans and
somehow passed the extra time and then won on their goalkeeper Cesar’s efforts. Alexis Sanchez who played so
well for Chile missed his penalty and that said it all. Not a lucky day for Chile
Columbia Versus Uruguay
Minus Suarez, Uruguay lacked the penetration and the will
and way to win. With James Rodriguez striking it rich for Columbia – his first
goal was a gem . Long range and his technique was great and the execution
perfect. This was probably the goal of the tournament so far.
Columbia meets Brazil in the Quarter final and my prediction
is for a Brazilian win but not an easy
one
Dutch Versus Mexico
Mexico did everything right through this match except for
the last ten minutes. Solid defending and ball possession and moving it forward was the recipe for the
Mexicans. They gave no room to Arjen Robben or Van Persie. Anytime the ball
reached these guys, there will be at least three Mexicans crowding them. The
Dutch looked jaded and they were in deep
trouble when Mexico scored early in the second half. It was an energy sapping
game with two Cooling Breaks given due to the heat in the stadium. The Dutch realized that Mexican defence was
strong and resorted to long balls and Set pieces through Corners to see if they
could break through. Van Persie was taken off and Huntelaar was brought in. In
the 88th minute Wesley Snijder came to the Dutch rescue with a
fierce drive off a loose ball from a Corner. And things went worse for Mexicans.Arjen Robben found space and
Reyes the young defender who was in as substitute for the experienced
Hector Moreno , fouled him and
that was it. Huntelaar scored and that sealed Mexican dreams. The Mexican
goalkeeper had done extremely well , making saves and being very active.
In the end , it did not help.
Costa Rico versus Greece
I did not expect this match
to go in to extra time and in to penalties by which the Costa Ricans came up in
triumphs, A last ditch equalizer in injury time helped Greece draw level but
then penalties settled it
Expect a very tough match for
the Dutch but they will go through in this quarter final against Costa Rica
Most of the South American
teams have done themselves proud in this World Cup so far
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