SRI'S Blog

 It was Germany who had the last laugh. In a tense final that went to  extra time , Germany found the winner through diminutive Gotze . Gotze showed perfect technique to chest down a cross and slam it for the winner. Till then it was Argentina which had more chances. Germans had more possession close to around 64 % .  Messi was so well marked that he hardly got free space .Germans, I think were well prepared for the entire tournament and  it was no surprise that they won this title . And I think that they will not end with this. The team is very young ( yes it has veterans as well but more of the youngsters ) and is a sure bet to retain the title in 2018 in Russia four years from now.  Do not laugh this off – See my link from the 2010 FIFA final – How true it was the Germans will be ready for this title and that  Thomas Mueller will be a star in the 2014 eidtion ? See: http://srisweeklymagazine.blogspot.com/2010/07/fifa-some-of-my-thoughts.html .  ...

Expected Results Spain getting knocked out was expected one for me .. After glory of the Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 , this was bound to happen. Aging players , possession football not helping to score goals saw Spain getting eliminated at the  Group stage. In their match against Chile , they held possession for more than 65  %  but that did not help as Chile pumped in two goals  to send them crashing out. They will play for pride with Australia with no stakes to both teams England was the second one to go out on my expectations. They again played so well but just lost the game ( pun intended ). Suarez continued his fine run from the Premier League and that was enough to pack England off Unexpected one Costa Rica   is turning out to be the dark horse. When they beat Uruguay, there some stir and many believed it was one off .  No --They took on the next top ten ranked team Italy and put them under severe pressure by...