Calderyon |
02-07-2014 04:30 AM |
Brazil vs Colombia -> Colombia advances
Brazil has been kind of good as of now, mainly because of Neymar. However they have definite vulnerabilities on their game and the pressure for them to success is enormous. They have to control their emotions or they are in for a disappointment of a lifetime. Neymar has to be incredible and Cesar has to provide a superior showing against the Colombian offense. If Brazil can relax and focus on going forward and answer to the team effort of Colombia, they can beat team. If they panic and become too stressed, they are out.
Colombia has played great. They topped their group without much problems and also got rid of Uruguay quite easily. Next is their biggest test yet. They are about to face the hosts, who have a loud home crowd on their side, along with a killer offense and a great goalie. But so do they, excluding the home crowd thing. They have excellent first striker in Rodriguez, a great goalie, good midfield and a good defense. And a great chemistry amongst their players which has shown as a great team game and results. If they can continue the way they are going, they are close to winning and dropping the hosts out of the tournament.
France vs Germany -> Germany advances
A clash of the titans. Both have been quite great and both are quite equal in terms of team ability and execution. Both have great offensive and defensive strength as well as tactical knowledge and an ability to execute it successfully. If both sides play like they have played thus far, itīs going to be an even match till the end. Most like both try their hardest to avoid mistakes, play very carefully and because of that we might be in for a scoreless draw, meaning extra time and most likely a penalty kick contest. Which i think will favor the Germans more.
Netherlands vs Costa Rica - Netherlands advances
Last championships runner-ups versus the surprisers/dream makers.
Netherlands has a stellar offensive machine which has the capability to control games without the opponent to get any good chances to score, forcing them to defend most of the game. Their weakness might be that they sometimes forget to to defend, causing their players to bee too deep in the offensive zone, which leaves their defensive zone a little vulnerable at times. If Netherlands can take the full control of the game offensively, preventing Costa Rica from attacking too much, they will easily go for the win.
Itīs unbelievable and fascinating how far the Ricans have advanced, when everybody expected them to be the last of their group with 0 points. They have maybe the most positive surprise of this tournament as of now. They can still do it, if they can match the Dutch attack machine on their own offense and at the same time keep a tight defense. They also have to have effective counterattacks and force Netherlands to defend often. Their goalie has to be awake at all times too. They need a bit of luck too in terms of succeeding on shots/corners/free kicks and stuff. If they can be an equal opponent to Netherlands, defend/strike on counterattacks then maybe they can do the "impossible" and continue their fairy tale.
Argentina vs Belgium -> Argentina advances
So far the Argentinians have been a bit of a disappointment. Their offense hasnīt been that great apart from Messi and they have made quite a lot of mistakes in the matches and frankly they have not been as good as many thought they would. Thankfully their defending and goalkeeping has been on form most of the ti, to avoid them from total failure and it shows up on the fact that they have not allowed that many goals. But if that fails, they might be in for a world of hurt. If they can get their attacking department sorted with Messi on form and avoid careless mistakes, they should be all right.
Belgium has a talented team, which can anything if they want to. They have not been that good as their hype suggested, but regardless they are in the top 8 of this World cup. That said their 2nd half of extra time was maybe their best 15 minutes yet and they controlled the lower part of the 2nd half of regular play. If they can be that good and challenge Argentina in their offensive zone, forcing them to defense regularly, they might be able to cause an "upset" and advance to the last 4.
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