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2014 World Cup


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Yeah, Howard's performance was incredible. The US has been an entertaining team at this WC. Credit to their tenacity. But finally a performance of Belgium to be proud of, the win was in the end wholly deserved.

I may have been the only person in the US rooting for Belgium. :D Not that I watched a second of the match. I'm even surprise I knew not to call it a game. :xp:

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Yeah, Howard's performance was incredible. The US has been an entertaining team at this WC. Credit to their tenacity. But finally a performance of Belgium to be proud of, the win was in the end wholly deserved.

 

It's like the USA's defense decided to not show up to the game. Plus, once I saw Lukaku burning all the defenders I knew the US wasn't going on. Speaking of Belgium, I'm a bit surprised they weren't able to score a goal against Argentina, especially after letting an early one in. Plus, was anyone expecting Costa Rica to take the Netherlands to penalties?

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Speaking of Belgium, I'm a bit surprised they weren't able to score a goal against Argentina, especially after letting an early one in.
Well, I think they were a bit too tame, they showed a bit too much respect. And ultimately, the attacking players, Hazard first and foremost, have disappointed.

 

Didn't see the Netherlands, but I wasn't that surprised. They haven't impressed at this tournament. Neither has Argentina, to be honest. If I had to take a guess, the winner of this World Cup is the winner of Brazil-Germany.

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Germany 7-1 Brazil :D

 

Gentlemen, we just witnessed football perfection, not to mention history (Miro Klose ending up the all time World Cup leading scorer, highest win in semi-finals, most goals conceded by Brazil, etc). Brazil has proved that without Neymar (and a little help from the ref) they're a second-rate squad at best. I'm just disappointed they scored that one goal, because they didn't deserve even that.

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The game was really fun to watch, the Germans really put on a show. At one point I saw a Brazilian fan waving a Mexican flag towards the ref lol.

 

No disrespect for the Brazilian squad, because they really are great footballers, but they just didn't deserve to make it to the top 4 when compared to the rest of the teams competing, just saiyan...

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Glad to see Brazil finally get what was coming to them. Their performance yesterday proves exactly how poor a team they really are without Neymar scoring goals or Silva calling the shots out back. A shame, because they do have some great individual talent that just wasn't allowed to shine properly this tournament. The internet seems to have coined the match "The Belo Blitz", which I think ranks right up there with "The Orange Wedding" for Holland's defeat of Spain.

 

Looking forward to the Netherlands v. Argentina game this afternoon. Barring any more pro-South American officiating it looks to be shaping up to be a good match.

 

I want to bring up a discussion here though that's only half related to the World Cup itself. I wanna talk about the national anthems. Initially - in the group stages, I mean - I found the South American penitent for continuing the national anthem for a second verse despite the music stopping to be... well, mildly amusing, if a bit obnoxious. I wanted to watch a game, not a choir practise. But whatever. But as the tournament progressed I found myself bothered by it more and more, and I've finally come to find it not only obnoxious but outright disrespectful.

 

To me, the World Cup - indeed, football/soccer in general - is about respect. It's about nations from all over the world coming together over something they all have in common, and where everyone is willing and able to follow the same rules, traditions, and customs as everyone else. That's why traditions like exchanging the flags at the start and swapping the captain's jerseys at the end of a match exist. That's why nations have ended wars and created new holidays in the name of the World Cup. Because it's important. And through showing this respect, you bring just as much honour to your nation (or club, or district, or whatever level you're playing at) as you do when you bring home the trophy itself.

 

Now, I realise that Latin nations are fiercely prideful, and that a nation's anthem is a symbol to its people - something to be proud of in itself. But when you decide that your national anthem deserves more time than someone else's, you're deciding that your honour is more important than theirs. You're intentionally and willfully violating the rules and customs by which everyone else has agreed to abide in the name of patriotism. I find this incredibly disrespectful, both to the opposing side as well as one's own nation, whose honour you have now tarnished by violating the rules which you agreed to follow while representing it.

 

I acknowledge that the crowd is an animal all its own, and there's little that can be done about them. And really it doesn't bother me that the fans continue singing. But when the players refuse to step onto the pitch upon the end of the anthems, they're willfully violating the attitude of respect that the world has come to expect of the Beautiful Game. I'm of the believe that it should be treated as delay of game - the entire team should be ordered to the pitch, and if they continue singing they should be shown yellow. Harsh, maybe, but all in all what the World Cup represents is more important than any single nation's pride if you ask me.

 

I'm coming off a bit sanctimonious, I know, but there it is. Anyone else have any thoughts on the matter?

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It's not like a second verse got them a sixth World Cup, so I'm hoping they shelve that idea in the future anyway. I'm not sure it's disrespectful per sé and I don't think it was intended as such, but I definitely found it obnoxious. I personally don't put much worth in national anthems, so others might disagree. Too much patriotism or nationalism scares me anyway.

 

And I'm happy Brazil lost. Which is weird to say, considering I was rooting for Brazil in almost every World Cup I saw, including the 2002 final which they won against Germany. But all the obnoxious fringe activities, the overconfidence and the abysmal football they played (a farcry from the 'jogo bonito' that previous Seleçao have shown) have made me turn against this team and so I relished in this crushing defeat. Also, let's not forget how well Germany played. To me, it's the only team that really deserves this World Cup (not only based on their football, but through their hard work and the long term planning of German football in general that lead to this moment).

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And now, here we are, merely a few hours away from witnessing the final battle between Messi's La Albiceleste and Muller's Panzers. Who's gonna win? My money's on Germany tonight, although I support both teams. I hope we get see exceptional football tonight. What do you folks think?

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Neither deserved to win that game.

 

I think the Netherlands did. They seemed to have given much more effort.

 

And now, here we are, merely a few hours away from witnessing the final battle between Messi's La Albiceleste and Muller's Panzers. Who's gonna win? My money's on Germany tonight, although I support both teams. I hope we get see exceptional football tonight. What do you folks think?

 

I'm with Germany on this one.

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I think the Netherlands did. They seemed to have given much more effort.
That's all relative. Apparently their first real chance on goal happened in the last minutes of the first 90 minutes. They do have a good plan, though (courtesy of Van Gaal) that compensates for their lack of quality. So a deserved win against Brazil, at least (even though Brazil was again very, very poor).
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Good job Germany, totally deserved. Anyone else thought this game was quite dirty, though? Both teams could (should!) have gotten red cards.

 

The only thing that left a bad taste in my mouth is Messi winning the Golden Ball. I would have given it to Müller, Robben or Kroos.
Yep, I think there were a lot of players that deserved to win it more than Messi, including those three.
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  • 2 months later...

I might be just a tiny bit late here, but I honestly thought that Germany did an outstanding performance in the World Cup and deserved to win. In my opinion, Brazil and Argentina's teams were overrated while Germany and Holland were ripping through everyone while being underrated. Now we wait for the Euro...

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