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OT: *** 2014 FIFA World Cup ~ Brazil ~ 6/12-7/13 [ESPN] ***

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jniklast said:
Where do they have more depth? At center forward and at coaching I'd agree, but else?
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Hummels is great, but the rest of the Central deffenders is meh compared to belgium

Central defense. Kompany, Van Buyten, Vermalen, Vertonghen

First goalie Courtois, Backup goalie Mignolet.

Central defense and goaltending.
 
TollefsenFan said:
Hummels is great, but the rest of the Central deffenders is meh compared to belgium

Central defense. Kompany, Van Buyten, Vermalen, Vertonghen

First goalie Courtois, Backup goalie Mignolet.

Central defense and goaltending.
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Funny how van Buyten and Vermalen are behind Boateng and Mertesacker at their clubs. And Neuer + Weidenfeller certainly isn't worse than Courtois and Mignolet.
 
Without dissecting the back 4...

I have to say that hands down, the best goalie in my opinion (in the world) is Neuer.

That being said, Germany's back 4 is abysmal, and I fully expect them to lose to a fast team that can control possession - i.e. Columbia and especially Brazil. France could even knock them out if Benzema plays at his peak.

As for Belgium, they'll most likely embarrass Argentina. Argentina doesn't have the defense that Belgium has seen in the first 4 games that they've played. Now you may look at me and say... Ken, do you mean to tell me that the US, Algeria, Russia, and South Korea all have better defenses than Argentina? And the answer to that question is no... but they also won't hole up and play 8 in the box the way that all of those teams played. Argentina will try and play to their strengths - their offense. They'll be open, and Belgium should be able to capitalize on that.

Not that it matters who wins this game, IMO... I've been predicting a Columbia vs. Netherlands game for a little over a week now, and still believe in this prediction.
 
Rust Heisenberg said:
Without dissecting the back 4...

I have to say that hands down, the best goalie in my opinion (in the world) is Neuer.

That being said, Germany's back 4 is abysmal, and I fully expect them to lose to a fast team that can control possession - i.e. Columbia and especially Brazil. France could even knock them out if Benzema plays at his peak.

As for Belgium, they'll most likely embarrass Argentina. Argentina doesn't have the defense that Belgium has seen in the first 4 games that they've played. Now you may look at me and say... Ken, do you mean to tell me that the US, Algeria, Russia, and South Korea all have better defenses than Argentina? And the answer to that question is no... but they also won't hole up and play 8 in the box the way that all of those teams played. Argentina will try and play to their strengths - their offense. They'll be open, and Belgium should be able to capitalize on that.

Not that it matters who wins this game, IMO... I've been predicting a Columbia vs. Netherlands game for a little over a week now, and still believe in this prediction.
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Germany's back 4 is bad because Löw is stupid. With proper (fast) full backs it would be OK. Hummels and Boateng (who is fast) could be a very good pairing. But alas Löw is trying to mask his inability to install a defensively stable system by fielding four central defenders.
 
Hodgy OFWG said:
I think this isnt Belgiums world cup to win but to get a taste of what is to be expected in 2018, their whole core is ridiculously young.
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Agree completely. 2018 will be their time to shine. Generational talent.
 
jniklast said:
Funny how van Buyten and Vermalen are behind Boateng and Mertesacker at their clubs. And Neuer + Weidenfeller certainly isn't worse than Courtois and Mignolet.
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Mertesacker is slow, but tall. Thats why he Plays alot for Arsenal. Size matters alot in EPL. Still Vermalen is a great Central deffender and a more Complete player than Mertesacker. Im not bashing Germany. Im just pointing out that this Belgian Squad is extremly talented.
 
jniklast said:
Germany's back 4 is bad because Löw is stupid. With proper (fast) full backs it would be OK. Hummels and Boateng (who is fast) could be a very good pairing. But alas Löw is trying to mask his inability to install a defensively stable system by fielding four central defenders.
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True!
 
jniklast said:
Germany's back 4 is bad because Löw is stupid. With proper (fast) full backs it would be OK. Hummels and Boateng (who is fast) could be a very good pairing. But alas Löw is trying to mask his inability to install a defensively stable system by fielding four central defenders.
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He certainly didn't look it against Algeria. Mertesacker was exposed but you would expect that. He's a tall ****er who has a role. Boateng shocked me with his lack of pace, on the other hand.
 
Vidic15 said:
He certainly didn't look it against Algeria. Mertesacker was exposed but you would expect that. He's a tall ****er who has a role. Boateng shocked me with his lack of pace, on the other hand.
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I think you could see how fast he was when he caught Slimani in extra time when it looked like he was clear on goal. Boateng sometimes is rather slow reacting.
 
They are better than Holland. Belguim got far better goaltending. A much better Central defense. The Dutch got a little better offense With Van Persie, Huntelaar and Robben, but Lukaku and Hazard are still very good offensive players. Lukaku scored 15 goals for Everton and Hazard got the Young player award in EPL. Scoring wont be a problem.

Argentina got some of the best strikers in the world, but thats about it. They need better goaltending and defense when they face better competition. Germany got a very good team on paper, but imo Belgium got more Depth than Germany.

I would say that Belgium is the most talented team in this tournament, but they lack world cup experience. That lack of experience might be a problem.
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Lol, stick to hockey dude cause this post made me laugh out loud.
Till today Belgium faced average teams, now they face a rate A country and 0 chances they had. Also USA should have won the game against them 1 minute before time.

Calling Robben en van Persie slightly better then the attackers from Belgium is laughable, Belgium has 0 stars < 0. Without a star player like Messi, Ozil, Mueller, Robben, van Persie, Neymar in your team the cup will never be won.
 
Vinny said:
Lol, stick to hockey dude cause this post made me laugh out loud.
Till today Belgium faced average teams, now they face a rate A country and 0 chances they had. Also USA should have won the game against them 1 minute before time.

Calling Robben en van Persie slightly better then the attackers from Belgium is laughable, Belgium has 0 stars < 0. Without a star player like Messi, Ozil, Mueller, Robben, van Persie, Neymar in your team the cup will never be won.
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That's too extreme in the other direction. Hazard certainly is a star player and much better than Özil for example (who really hasn't been a star for Germany since like 2010).
 
It's a very solid final 4, all upsets considered if the Dutch win today. No real Cinderella team making it past the final 8.

As to the superstar player... that's what I'm hoping Julian Green can eventually be for the U.S. That's what Belgium needs Lukaku to be next cycle.
 
Vinny said:
Lol, stick to hockey dude cause this post made me laugh out loud.
Till today Belgium faced average teams, now they face a rate A country and 0 chances they had. Also USA should have won the game against them 1 minute before time.

Calling Robben en van Persie slightly better then the attackers from Belgium is laughable, Belgium has 0 stars < 0. Without a star player like Messi, Ozil, Mueller, Robben, van Persie, Neymar in your team the cup will never be won.
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Hazard is a star player, so perhaps u should stick to hockey. He is probably Chelseas best offensive player. Hazard played better than Van Persie last season. Courtois is a star. Winning the La Liga and playing in the champions League final is the definition of star. How many Dutch players played in this years champions League final? Kompany won the premier League With Man City and Van Buyten won bundesliga With Bayern Munich. What does Netherland have? Vlaar?

Edit: The netherlands impressed me today.... noooot!
 
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Fitzy said:
It's a very solid final 4, all upsets considered if the Dutch win today. No real Cinderella team making it past the final 8.

As to the superstar player... that's what I'm hoping Julian Green can eventually be for the U.S. That's what Belgium needs Lukaku to be next cycle.
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Benteke
 
TollefsenFan said:
Hazard is a star player, so perhaps u should stick to hockey. He is probably Chelseas best offensive player. Hazard played better than Van Persie last season. Courtois is a star. Winning the La Liga and playing in the champions League final is the definition of star. How many Dutch players played in this years champions League final? Kompany won the premier League With Man City and Van Buyten won bundesliga With Bayern Munich. What does Netherland have? Vlaar?

Edit: The netherlands impressed me today.... noooot!
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C'mon... you can't discount a country just because they don't have a player that isn't on a championship team. It's not always the teams with the one or two great players that win the championships. It's the teams that play the best. Portugal had Rinaldo (yes, he was hurt) and they went out early. So did Spain. England didn't get out of the group stage either. Belgium has a legitimate star in James and they're going home. It's not about one player.

Comparing it to hockey, who on LA (the Stanley Cup champions) are the best of the best? Kopitar is in the conversation and so is Quick. That's it. Other teams have more "stars" and didn't advance that far. Sports are "team" games. One player can't do everything.
 
mti79 said:
C'mon... you can't discount a country just because they don't have a player that isn't on a championship team. It's not always the teams with the one or two great players that win the championships. It's the teams that play the best. Portugal had Rinaldo (yes, he was hurt) and they went out early. So did Spain. England didn't get out of the group stage either. Belgium has a legitimate star in James and they're going home. It's not about one player.

Comparing it to hockey, who on LA (the Stanley Cup champions) are the best of the best? Kopitar is in the conversation and so is Quick. That's it. Other teams have more "stars" and didn't advance that far. Sports are "team" games. One player can't do everything.
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You mean Colombia, no?
 
I don't watch soccer helluva lot except EPL or major tourneys but holy crap Robben has taken diving to the whole new level. The Diving Dutchman.
 
darko said:
I don't watch soccer helluva lot except EPL or major tourneys but holy crap Robben has taken diving to the whole new level. The Diving Dutchman.
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He and Ribery form the best diving duo in the world. There's a nice YT video of their very best dives (even though it's a couple of years old).

 
mti79 said:
C'mon... you can't discount a country just because they don't have a player that isn't on a championship team. It's not always the teams with the one or two great players that win the championships. It's the teams that play the best. Portugal had Rinaldo (yes, he was hurt) and they went out early. So did Spain. England didn't get out of the group stage either. Belgium has a legitimate star in James and they're going home. It's not about one player.

Comparing it to hockey, who on LA (the Stanley Cup champions) are the best of the best? Kopitar is in the conversation and so is Quick. That's it. Other teams have more "stars" and didn't advance that far. Sports are "team" games. One player can't do everything.
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And what does this have to do With my post? Belgium got Depth. They got Van Buyten (Bayern Munich, Vermalen (Arsenal injured) Kompany (Man City captain) and Vertonghen (Tottenham). All are Central defender. They also got several talented Offensive players in Lukaku (Everton on loan) Benteke (Aston Villa) Hazard (Chelsea)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium_national_football_team

U shouldve replayed vinny. He or she believes that u need a star player to win the cup. I responded to that comment. There is no doubt that Belgium got at least a couple of stars. Courtois and Hazard. Some would say that Kompany is a star.

James is a colombian player. He is not even their biggest star. Falcao (injured) is.
 
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