Scholarship table
Missed the first half and, after golf, the beer was flowing, but it seemed to me that the Dutch were the better side and had more of the possession and created many more chances than Argentina. If so, the better side is playing for third place and the luckier side is through to the final. Agree?
The beer clouded your cognition.The Netherlands didn't have a shot on goal until the 95th minute. Robben was invisible until extra time (and even then he wasn't transcendent). I'm not even sure Van Persie played in the match. Their standout performer was a defender. Sneijder's service was awful. That said, it was a match for tactic-heads and technical twerps. Both did a great job neutralizing the other's most dangerous threat. Both suffered from periods of abject sloppiness. Both were poor in the final third. Difference was Argentina's GK kept his head whereas the Dutch GK became a massive douchebag and tried to win through silly antics.
I don't know. I only saw the last 20 minutes. I think Germany is going to win this. An extra days rest and a much easier semifinal. (I wish they would play both semis on the same day.)
Explain?
My wife was born and raised in Argentina and moved to the States for good when she was 15. Her family is big into this and I try to enjoy it with her, but my biggest problem with the sport is a game like yesterday's where both teams were far, far more concerned with preventing goals than with scoring them. You could feel that 0-0 tie coming 20 minutes into the game.
The beer clouded your cognition.The Netherlands didn't have a shot on goal until the 95th minute. Robben was invisible until extra time (and even then he wasn't transcendent). I'm not even sure Van Persie played in the match. Their standout performer was a defender. Sneijder's service was awful.
Germany is the best team in the world by a large margin. They should win on Sunday handily, its a game so we will see but the quality and talent they have at every position is unmatched. I felt they were the second best team in 2010 , but we too young at the time. 4 years later they are playing at their prime. Would have loved to see this team with Reus, i am not sure the casual fan realizes how good he is.
Argentina did not score a goal in their last 322 consecutive minutes of game "action" (3.6 regulation games worth of time), covering their quarterfinal, semifinal and championship games. Despite this, they were thisclose to having a 50/50 chance of winning via penalty kicks the most prestigious soccer tournament in the world. How is this the world's most popular sport again?
Argentina did not score a goal in their last 322 consecutive minutes of game "action" (3.6 regulation games worth of time), covering their quarterfinal, semifinal and championship games. Despite this, they were thisclose to having a 50/50 chance of winning via penalty kicks the most prestigious soccer tournament in the world. How is this the world's most popular sport again?I will say the winning goal was the result of wonderful offensive play, rather than a blunder by the defense.
Because their defense was outstanding.The Argentines absolutely shut down a Belgian outfit that abused your country with offensive chances. The Argentines absolutely shut down a Netherlands squad that embarrassed the greatest generation of a national team in history. The Argentines went toe to toe with Germany, whom many consider the most offensively potent nation in the world at the moment. Defense wins titles. Americans love to trot out that cliche when it comes to "their" sports. Why can't that be the case in the world's most popular sport? Also, there is a major difference between what Argentina did and sitting back to absorb pressure while hoping not to lose. Argentina had chances in all three of the matches you cite. In fact, some in the soccer world felt they were the better team yesterday. However, despite the intractable opinion of some, no team deserves to win on performance alone. You deserve to win when you score more than the opponent.