FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil

[Bri]

Van Gaals substitutions were focused on offense. Bring on a fresh winger in the 75th min and a pinch-hitter for a CB in the 106th. I don't think he considered Costa Rica's attack as a major threat.

[justavisitor]

it's almost like Krul reacts after Costa rica player shoots, hoping that the angle and speed of the ball are not good enough (And he is pretty big).

Which makes me to think why most goalkeepers won't wait a bit longer in penalty shootout. At the very least, you won't guess the wrong side, and no player can score through the middle XD

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Evil Rick

Wait, did Robben actually atempted another "dive" move again?


Oh my God he actually did! Sorry to all members here from Holland, but Robben is not a football player, he's a drama queen and an overall jerk!

You and the rest of the Mexicans still crying over this need to move on with your lives already. Plenty of players dive in soccer; including Mexicans ones. The play at the end of the first half of the Mexico-Holland match was a clear penalty, but you and the rest of the country have conveniently decided to forget this. If you wanna see a good round of drama queens, then tune in next time our own league starts.

tl;dr: post another joke and I'll give you a warning.

[Shinndou]

Originally Posted by SigUp

Van Gaal did great, but to deify him? At this World Cup there were a number of terrifc coaching jobs. Costa Rica's coach for example, or Pekerman with Colombia who did an equally good job. Van Gaal does have some blemishes on his record. Like missing the World Cup 2002 with the Netherlands, driving Barcelona into the relegation zone the following year. Or losing the support of his team at Bayern.

Agreed. So far Pinto, Pekerman and Sampaoli have been the most amazing coaches at this World Cup. What they've managed to achieve with these teams and the fine quality of their tactical approaches have really impressed me a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if any big football club would be looking to sign any of them (specially Sampaoli).

Props to Costa Rica, they did everything they could do within their possibilities. Them and the Colombians are the heroes of this World Cup, no doubt.

[Bri]

Cruijff would never let Van Gaal in to the pantheon.

Pinto's offside trap strategy was amazing. I don't think I have seen any team use it so successfully in a high level competition since the rules changes of 2005.

What was so amazing about Pekerman's tactics?

[Shinndou]

Originally Posted by Bri

What was so amazing about Pekerman's tactics?

Pekerman is amazing because he's one of the few coaches who can shuffle his team's cards and formation for each match and still get an excellent display most of the times. He's proven this throughout both qualification stages and during the World Cup.

Usually coaches tend to stick to possibly one or two plans because obviously the players need time to learn all the right movements without the ball. The fact that Pekerman is able to make his team work well even when "trying new things out" is nothing short of impressive.

He's always been extremely underrated but I am glad that his stint with Colombia has managed to put him under the spotlight.

[Eisdrache]

A warning for that would certainly be hilarious in a bad way, even if his post was whining.

Anyway have we confirmed Germany as the winner yet? Brazil is certainly not going to beat them if they keep playing like that and neither will Argentina. Netherlands might be the closest but if the germans play their best it's hard to see how the dutch will survive 90 minutes.

[Jazzrat]

Originally Posted by Eisdrache

Anyway have we confirmed Germany as the winner yet? Brazil is certainly not going to beat them if they keep playing like that and neither will Argentina. Netherlands might be the closest but if the germans play their best it's hard to see how the dutch will survive 90 minutes.

Germany making into the finals? After 4 consecutive knockout on the semi final stage, they are going for a record breaking fifth

But joking aside, they certainly have the team for it this year in terms of both quality and experience on paper. Netherland vs Argentina is going to be a big question mark though. Personally, i think the dutch can beat the Argentina in terms of tactic but it's going to be more tightly contested.

As for the finals, man who knows? Every team here is vying for another star on their jersey (or first star for the Netherland), stats and history usually goes out on the window when trying to predict this kinda match.

[SuitUp]

I know I'm late to the party, but I had to go out and drink a bit to calm down, since it was the first time since 2002 that I've been able to emotionally invest myself into a team, and to see that the fairy tail ended up in such a way made me all kinds of angry, goddamit Bryan Ruiz, you're the captain, and you should have scored...
I would have prefered the dutch to win 5-0 instead of what happened, since that force me to go through the pain of watching them waste away the golden chance they managed to get, honestly, I've nothing but respect for Costa Rica, but it made me so angry to watch them fail when they were so goddam close, like they drowned in a kid's swimming pool after swimming a whole river...
Also, no one seems to be mentioning this, but the ref stole at least 2 penalties clear as day from Costa Rica, maybe that's why he didn't sent Umaña off..

[Kakurin]

Originally Posted by Jazzrat

Germany making into the finals? After 4 consecutive knockout on the semi final stage, they are going for a record breaking fifth

Germany made the finals in 2002 and 2008 at the European Championships.

Still don't think Germany's the favourite, even against a Brazil without Thiago Silva and Neymar. The Brazilians now will come out hot and very motivated with an attitude to prove everybody that they are not a one man team. They'll also continue their rough play and it is doubtful the referee of that match will hold them in. That spells trouble for Germany, because some of Germany's better players are terrible when dealing with physical play. Özil, Kroos or Götze and to a lesser degree also Schweinsteiger disappear when you rough them up.

[Lorhand]

Originally Posted by SigUp

Germany made the finals in 2002 and 2008 at the European Championships.

They'll also continue their rough play and it is doubtful the referee of that match will hold them in.

I actually think after what happened in the Brazil-Colombia game, the refs will book players earlier to stop this kind of play. Seriously, over 50 fouls and only four yellow cards. This can't be right.

In my opinion, Low should replace Ozil already. He usually plays Kroos' position, but can't. Playing with Klose at the beginning and Muller as right winger isn't such a bad idea. Gotze or Draxler can replace Ozil. Bring Schurrle when everyone is tired.

[Jazzrat]

Originally Posted by SigUp

Still don't think Germany's the favourite, even against a Brazil without Thiago Silva and Neymar. The Brazilians now will come out hot and very motivated with an attitude to prove everybody that they are not a one man team. They'll also continue their rough play and it is doubtful the referee of that match will hold them in. That spells trouble for Germany, because some of Germany's better players are terrible when dealing with physical play. Özil, Kroos or Götze and to a lesser degree also Schweinsteiger disappear when you rough them up.

Well it would be great if they can prove themselves as a team and not extras for Neymar but I would still favor Germany to beat them. You have a team that have been around for 3 world cup and a new team that is missing their key player/mascot. I don't think there's any big difference in motivation between the two at this stage of the tournament.

Even with Neymar around, i don't think he has the experience and maturity needed to beat the German defense much like how poorly he did in the Chile match.

As for the rough play, well knows what's going to happen? Muller certainly knows how to get people sent off and i would certainly love to see Hulk trying to go up against Mertesacker which have been cool as ice in his tackle. I doubt FIFA and referee is going to let this match become another MMA fight again after Fernandinho's excessive foul and Neymar's injury.

Also, Ozil have been terrible even without rough play on field makes no difference to me anyway.

[Pellissier]

Great display by Costarica but Holland deserved and now we have the two most spectacular semifinals. Never once I remember in history 12 matches between 1/8 and 1/4 Finals where all 12 favourite teams win with zero surprises. Even statistically, it's almost unbelievable. More so if we think that half of these matches were very close and could have ended with the opposite result.

Originally Posted by Lorhand

I actually think after what happened in the Brazil-Colombia game, the refs will book players earlier to stop this kind of play. Seriously, over 50 fouls and only four yellow cards. This can't be right.

And of those yellow cards, only one was for a serious foul. The others were for a non foul (James), the penalty foul and T.Silva's interference. Harsh play wasn't kept under control and it escalated.

Curiously, it was made to prevent Brazil to get too many yellow/red cards since they used systematic foul since the beginning, but it actually turned against Brazil since with a severe referee and many yellow/red cards there probably wouldn't have been such a hard foul on Neymar. With this kind of ref, players basically felt legitimated to do whatever they wanted.

Now let's see who's going to ref Brazil-Germany. When Brazil got Webb against Chile, it was easy to predict they wouldn't have favouritisms. Likewise, when they got V.Carballo, it was easy to predict they were going to be helped. I fear they could send Mazic who is another who likes to stick with the home side and has very few personality. I don't know if Proença is still in after Holland-Mexico, that is a ref I tend to trust.
I also predict Webb for Argentina-Holland, he's the best referee right now but he already did the final 4 years ago and they never gave the final twice to the same person. I doubt they'll put him with Brazil again so the other semis is almost automatic.

With yesterday's results, Brych (Ger), Ricci (Bra), Pitana (Arg) and Kuijpers (Hol) are all officially sent home.

[Guardian Enzo]

Indeed, terribly sad for Neymar but there's a certain kismet here - the referee's unwillingness to check Brazil for their unrelentingly dirty play, especially towards Rodriguez, is what led to Neymar being injured. When FIFA leans on referees to favor one team, good things rarely result.

[Kakurin]

Originally Posted by Lorhand

In my opinion, Low should replace Ozil already. He usually plays Kroos' position, but can't. Playing with Klose at the beginning and Muller as right winger isn't such a bad idea. Gotze or Draxler can replace Ozil. Bring Schurrle when everyone is tired.

The problem with Germany's attacking play is that they have to choose between two player types. Either Özil or Götze for ball circulation / ball control, or Podolski, Schürrle or Draxler for the vertical play best suited for quick counters. While the former lack the drive to the goal, the latter aren't the best for ball circulation as evidenced by Podoski's struggles in the USA game. Here's where the injury to Marco Reus is really hurting Germany, because he can do both equally well.

[Lord of Fire]

Originally Posted by justavisitor

it's almost like Krul reacts after Costa rica player shoots, hoping that the angle and speed of the ball are not good enough (And he is pretty big).

Which makes me to think why most goalkeepers won't wait a bit longer in penalty shootout. At the very least, you won't guess the wrong side, and no player can score through the middle XD

There's 11 meters between the GK and the player taking the penalty. Suppose the average speed of the ball when kicked is around 108 km/h, or 30 m/s. This means the GK has less than a third of a second to intercept the ball. Average human reaction is around 0.215 seconds, so the GK has to react pretty much instantly once the ball has been kicked. If he waits for only half a second, the ball will have already been kicked into he goal. This is why so many penalty kicks go through, and why you see GKs often choose the wrong corner.

However, some players have an affinity for certain spots in the goal, usually dependent on what foot they use to kick the ball with, and if they only slightly hesitate or never deviate from this pattern, the GK could potentially predict where the ball will go, based on their movements and stop it. Our GK from the late 1980's, Hans van Breukelen, used to be very good at that. He knew from almost every player he faced in which part of the goal they would most likely kick a penalty, and stopped a great deal of them when it mattered.

Originally Posted by SuitUp

Also, no one seems to be mentioning this, but the ref stole at least 2 penalties clear as day from Costa Rica, maybe that's why he didn't sent Umaña off..

Maybe no one mentioned it, because he didn't?

Costa Rica were stalling time left and right. One player decided he'd fall down in the penalty box, when no one had hit him (he was only barely touched on the foot by a Dutch defender). And another fell down in the midfield, acted like his leg was on fire, and when he saw the referee didn't buy that either, he walked off as if nothing ever happened. And I'm sure those weren't the only times CR tried crying wolf. Heck, the ref should have sent one off with two yellow cards for his downright dirty play.

[frivolity]

This article illustrates the role of analytics in penalty shootouts, using the Man Utd - Chelsea Champions League Final 2008 as an example.

I thought of that article after watching the Netherlands - Costa Rica penalties because Krul dived in the correct direction every single time. Their scouts might have studied the Costa Rican kicktakers in great detail.

[Kakurin]

To illustrate what I said yesterday, just take a look at those two penalty shootouts. If the kick taker's mentally up to the pressure the goalkeeper has no chance at all. This isn't handball or hockey, where the keepers have a tremendous chance sealing off the goal.

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https://youtu.be/wLlBIJekQTc

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https://youtu.be/izCKtubriis

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[SuitUp]

Originally Posted by Lord of Fire

Maybe no one mentioned it, because he didn't?

Costa Rica were stalling time left and right. One player decided he'd fall down in the penalty box, when no one had hit him (he was only barely touched on the foot by a Dutch defender). And another fell down in the midfield, acted like his leg was on fire, and when he saw the referee didn't buy that either, he walked off as if nothing ever happened. And I'm sure those weren't the only times CR tried crying wolf. Heck, the ref should have sent one off with two yellow cards for his downright dirty play.

Maybe you should have read my comment, since in the end I mention that Umaña should have been sent off, twice, but still, there were 2 penalties clear as day, and those were on the first half, but you convienently decided that I was talking about the extra time....

__________________
On the penalties subject, the dutch have always tried to be prepared and have an advantage over the rest, in 2010, there was this company, that claimed that through statystical analysis have figured out where a player will shoot with a 95% ceirtainty, or a figure close to that, and tried to sell it to diferent football federations, all told them to go blow themselves, except one, who, you may wonder? The dutch, they were the only ones who bought the idea, and in the final against Spain, Stekelenburg had a little piece of paper telling him where to dive in each shot.. a shame it didn't get to that so we could see if the supposed analysis worked.

[Kakurin]

Originally Posted by SuitUp

Stekelenburg had a little piece of paper telling him where to dive in each shot.. a shame it didn't get to that so we could see if the supposed analysis worked.

Lehmann famously had a little piece of paper during the shootout against Argentina in 2006.

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