Silverfuel wrote:That sucked. Go Germany.

the narrative iwg set a few pages back is playing out like a fiddle

great world cup (despite the rampant fraud and deception--- at least the narratives made for solid wagers)

gunsnewing wrote:all the games during this world cup have been a bore. power houses struggling to put away historically pathetic teams. A lot of playing for extra time and shoot outs. Only team with legitimate enough talent that you can put up against previous world cup winners is Germany.

a bore? ya think?

i thought this has been one of the better world cups i've seen. seems to be widely seen that way, so interesting comment.

and there were plenty of top teams.

three things to keep in mind. the top german league (bundesliga) has a 6 week break in january compared to other leagues (most of their players play there) and that it is overwhelmingly dominated by one and barely two clubs (bayern munich and brussia dortmond), and many of their players come from those two teams.

i think this is partially why england did poorly because their league is more competitive top to bottom, and has 7 very good to top level teams fighting for the top position and 3 other champions league spots, and is known as more physical. that wonderkid on columbia, rodriguez openly said he preferred to not play in the premier league because of its physicality. that's also why it is attractive to fierce competitors (and the money and exposure, of course). premier league guys have been playing since last july without a break really, and soccer is such a tiring game to play. even worse is the top players are usually on top teams who also participate in the european champions league which means they play even more games.

spain had been successful in part due to their having an easy league dominated by the top teams who all played on those two teams. interesting because this year their league was a bit more competitive with atletico madrid challenging them, and in fact winning their leauge...a shock considering expectations. that i think drained some spanish players, some key players who also play in the english premier league now. yes, some key players may be a bit in decline, but not to be eliminated so early.

i think there is not a coincidence here. germany do play like a team, and are deserving, but bayern and dortmund (to a lesser extent, because their top players, like gotze, are poched by bayern from them too) dominate, especially bayern who are yankees-like, allowing for players to not play full steam every game, or be rested.

anyway, germany has immense talent, there is little question.

sucks my boy aguero is barely fit to play and zabaleta is a warrior american fans would love, and is one of my favs with knick-tough-like attributes (not just after playing when he got smashed in the face), of course messi is freakin amazing (even if he's barely scratched the surface in this tourney)...

but...

i think the germans win this one.

djsunyc wrote:

Tits

WaltLongmire wrote:

IronWillGiroud wrote:either way, great final 4 teams, great final 2 games,

great world cup (despite the rampant fraud and deception--- at least the narratives made for solid wagers)

Yesterday's game was bizarre, and terrible for one side, but Germany's scoring made it palatable, and Brazil's lack of fight made it fascinating.

Today's game was pretty lame, IMO, the kind of game that disappoints semi-interested fans of teams that have been knocked out already who are just watching to see a good game, and puts soccer fanatics on the soapbox where they yell about casual fans not understanding the nuances of the game.

Hopefully Germany vs Argentina is exciting and well played where both teams are playing to win, unlike today's game, where you seemed to think they were playing not to lose.

I think the Brazilian football team took a page out of Japanese proverbs. Nice sig.

IronWillGiroud wrote:break it down suttin like dis doe:

brazil wins because the dutch are tired and worn after two 120 minute games,

oranges are checked out and brazil on a mission to go out strong after the semi final debacle,

brazil 1.62 to advance

and 2.04 to win in regular time.