FIFA 2014 World Cup all-purpose thread | Page 74 | Syracusefan.com

FIFA 2014 World Cup all-purpose thread

More college football to soccer teams.
France = Michigan
Switzerland = Michigan State
Belgium = Baylor
Portugal = Georgia
 
Alsacs said:
If soccer teams were college football teams.
England = Notre Dame.
Germany = Southern California
Brazil = Alabama
Argentina = Auburn
Netherlands = Clemson
Spain = Florida State
Italy = Florida
Mexico = South Carolina
Uruguay = Penn State

Anyone got anymore. I can't do a USA one yet I was thinking Boise State but not sure
Expand...
Is the USA as Oklahoma State good?
 
Bortukal said:
Congrats to SUfanNC for winning the Syracusefan.com ESPN World Cup bracket challenge with an eye-popping 94.3 percentage.

I, apparently, know dick about soccer, managing a shameful 27.1. Oh Lord
Expand...
Impressive In Canadian's preview thread I had 12 of 16 but had Brazil winning it all. Good job by SUfanNC.
 
cmr27 said:
1.) Best team won the whole thing
2.) Mascherano was unbelievable.
3.) Schurrle was all over the ball night. Great to see him set up the goal.
4.) Goethe looks like one of Harrison Ford's neighbors from "Witness"
5.) Best I can tell, there are six cameras in a world cup game. Five take shots of the field. One looks for hot women in the stands. Interesting to see if this can be duplicated in the US now.
6.) Agreed Messi had no help. They traded support for sublime defense.
7.) Germany could very easily repeat.
Expand...
#4!
 
This Germany win goes down as one of the top moments of my "sports life" and I'd like to explain why.

The pinnacle of my sports watching life was the 2002 world cup. It was played in Korea which is a 12 hour time difference, and I was in my first year of law school and did not have a job. The result was a sleepless summer where myself and a few close friends stayed up all night every night drinking and completely immersing ourselves in soccer.

Germany made it to the finals that year and lost to an all-time great Brazil team. Most countries would find no shame in that, but I remember Germany calling themselves "Ballack and a bunch of tall stiffs" and I remember when Jogi Loew began rebuilding German football from the youth level all the way up to the top professional level, trying to implement more skill into the game.

The 2006 world cup was the introduction of this new German philosophy. If I remember correctly they were the youngest team in the world cup. A teenage hellion of a winger named Bastian Schweinsteiger made his debut, as did a controversial 5'6 defender who never would have gotten a second look on the "tall stiffs" Germany team. His name was Philip Lahm. These guys would grow into Germany's "Golden Generation" but at this time they were teenage nobodies, and expectations for Germany were extremely low. When they finished third in the tournament it felt like a huge victory.

The 2010 Germany team had the right combination of experience and youth. Klose was still around from the 2002 team, but was young enough to still be at the top of his game. Skilled youngsters from the new Germany football machine by the names of Ozil and Khadera, came on board to join "Golden Generation"guys like Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Mertesacker, and Podolski. Germany was a good enough to win the world cup, absolutely destroying both England and Argentina by putting 4 goals past each of them on route to a meeting with Spain. Germany's team was great, but Spain might have had the best team ever assembled and they deserved the 1 - 0 win they got. Again, Germany finished in 3rd place, but this time it felt like a failure.

Nobody knew quite what to expect from this 2014 Germany team. Everybody knew they were good, but Marco Rues (if you are not familiar with him, he might be Germany's best player, and also might be the best player to not participate in this world cup) and Bastion Schweinsteiger both got hurt right before the start of the world cup, and with only 36 year old Klose as a striker, Germany's attack was out of sorts. Loew went with Muller as a false 9. He played fine, but his supporting players (Gotze and Ozil specifically) were terrible. Plus Schweinsteiger being on the bench forced Lahm into a defensive midfield role which forced Germany to play Boateng out of position at right back. With Howedes already a weak spot at left back and Mertesacker aging and lacking pace in center back, Germany had real questions both offensively and defensively. Jogi Loew proved, though, that he is as good tactically during games as he has been influential outside of games while changing the way the entire country plays soccer. He had faith in his players and stuck with his shaky formations as long as he possibly could, rope-a-doping opponents, until the time to pull out his big guns arrived. That time was the game against France. Suddenly 36 year old Klose was starting again (with relatively fresh legs), giving Germany a true striker and allowing Muller and Ozil to play their proper positions (while benching the Gotze whose form was off). Suddenly Schweinsteiger was back healthy and dominating in the mid field. Suddenly Lahm was back at right back and Boateng was back at center back and Germany looked like champions. Loew had played his hand at JUST the right time. Everybody knows what happened next, the 7-1 dismantling of Brazil.

The final brought new challenges as Khadera injured himself minutes before the game started, then his back up was injured just minutes after that. Germany was now forced to change their winning formation at the worst possible time - against a well schooled and disciplined Argentina team who knew exactly who they were and how they needed to attack Germany. Again Jogi Loew proved up to the task, moving the slight but pacy Ozil to midfield, asking the world of Scheinsteiger (who could barely walk by the end of the game) and his center backs, and playing without a defensive mid. Somehow he kept Germany together with band-aids until they figured out their new form about an hour into the game. Germany was pretty much in control going down the stretch but Argentina was never going to let in an easy goal. It took a breathtaking bit of skill from Schurrle and Gotze to get the winner. These were the two youngest players on the pitch. The first two German internationals, in fact, to be born in a unified Germany. They were both small children when Loew made it his personal mission to rebuild the German national team from ground up, and began building youth programs to his specifications. That breathtaking bit of skill that won Germany the world cup can be directly attributed to Loew's vision and brilliance. And watching him rebuild Germany from conception to world champion actualization was, for me, as much fun as anything in sports ever can be.
 
General20 said:
This Germany win goes down as one of the top moments of my "sports life" and I'd like to explain why.

The pinnacle of my sports watching life was the 2002 world cup. It was played in Korea which is a 12 hour time difference, and I was in my first year of law school and did not have a job. The result was a sleepless summer where myself and a few close friends stayed up all night every night drinking and completely immersing ourselves in soccer.

Germany made it to the finals that year and lost to an all-time great Brazil team. Most countries would find no shame in that, but I remember Germany calling themselves "Ballack and a bunch of tall stiffs" and I remember when Jogi Loew began rebuilding German football from the youth level all the way up to the top professional level, trying to implement more skill into the game.

The 2006 world cup was the introduction of this new German philosophy. If I remember correctly they were the youngest team in the world cup. A teenage hellion of a winger named Bastian Schweinsteiger made his debut, as did a controversial 5'6 defender who never would have gotten a second look on the "tall stiffs" Germany team. His name was Philip Lahm. These guys would grow into Germany's "Golden Generation" but at this time they were teenage nobodies, and expectations for Germany were extremely low. When they finished third in the tournament it felt like a huge victory.

The 2010 Germany team had the right combination of experience and youth. Klose was still around from the 2002 team, but was young enough to still be at the top of his game. Skilled youngsters from the new Germany football machine by the names of Ozil and Khadera, came on board to join "Golden Generation"guys like Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Mertesacker, and Podolski. Germany was a good enough to win the world cup, absolutely destroying both England and Argentina by putting 4 goals past each of them on route to a meeting with Spain. Germany's team was great, but Spain might have had the best team ever assembled and they deserved the 1 - 0 win they got. Again, Germany finished in 3rd place, but this time it felt like a failure.

Nobody knew quite what to expect from this 2014 Germany team. Everybody knew they were good, but Marco Rues (if you are not familiar with him, he might be Germany's best player, and also might be the best player to not participate in this world cup) and Bastion Schweinsteiger both got hurt right before the start of the world cup, and with only 36 year old Klose as a striker, Germany's attack was out of sorts. Loew went with Muller as a false 9. He played fine, but his supporting players (Gotze and Ozil specifically) were terrible. Plus Schweinsteiger being on the bench forced Lahm into a defensive midfield role which forced Germany to play Boateng out of position at right back. With Howedes already a weak spot at left back and Mertesacker aging and lacking pace in center back, Germany had real questions both offensively and defensively. Jogi Loew proved, though, that he is as good tactically during games as he has been influential outside of games while changing the way the entire country plays soccer. He had faith in his players and stuck with his shaky formations as long as he possibly could, rope-a-doping opponents, until the time to pull out his big guns arrived. That time was the game against France. Suddenly 36 year old Klose was starting again (with relatively fresh legs), giving Germany a true striker and allowing Muller and Ozil to play their proper positions (while benching the Gotze whose form was off). Suddenly Schweinsteiger was back healthy and dominating in the mid field. Suddenly Lahm was back at right back and Boateng was back at center back and Germany looked like champions. Loew had played his hand at JUST the right time. Everybody knows what happened next, the 7-1 dismantling of Brazil.

The final brought new challenges as Khadera injured himself minutes before the game started, then his back up was injured just minutes after that. Germany was now forced to change their winning formation at the worst possible time - against a well schooled and disciplined Argentina team who knew exactly who they were and how they needed to attack Germany. Again Jogi Loew proved up to the task, moving the slight but pacy Ozil to midfield, asking the world of Scheinsteiger (who could barely walk by the end of the game) and his center backs, and playing without a defensive mid. Somehow he kept Germany together with band-aids until they figured out their new form about an hour into the game. Germany was pretty much in control going down the stretch but Argentina was never going to let in an easy goal. It took a breathtaking bit of skill from Schurrle and Gotze to get the winner. These were the two youngest players on the pitch. The first two German internationals, in fact, to be born in a unified Germany. They were both small children when Loew made it his personal mission to rebuild the German national team from ground up, and began building youth programs to his specifications. That breathtaking bit of skill that won Germany the world cup can be directly attributed to Loew's vision and brilliance. And watching him rebuild Germany from conception to world champion actualization was, for me, as much fun as anything in sports ever can be.
Expand...
Nice post, i was cheering for Argentina but you give plenty of reasons why Germany is a great champion.
 
General20 said:
This Germany win goes down as one of the top moments of my "sports life" and I'd like to explain why.

The pinnacle of my sports watching life was the 2002 world cup. It was played in Korea which is a 12 hour time difference, and I was in my first year of law school and did not have a job. The result was a sleepless summer where myself and a few close friends stayed up all night every night drinking and completely immersing ourselves in soccer.

Germany made it to the finals that year and lost to an all-time great Brazil team. Most countries would find no shame in that, but I remember Germany calling themselves "Ballack and a bunch of tall stiffs" and I remember when Jogi Loew began rebuilding German football from the youth level all the way up to the top professional level, trying to implement more skill into the game.

The 2006 world cup was the introduction of this new German philosophy. If I remember correctly they were the youngest team in the world cup. A teenage hellion of a winger named Bastian Schweinsteiger made his debut, as did a controversial 5'6 defender who never would have gotten a second look on the "tall stiffs" Germany team. His name was Philip Lahm. These guys would grow into Germany's "Golden Generation" but at this time they were teenage nobodies, and expectations for Germany were extremely low. When they finished third in the tournament it felt like a huge victory.

The 2010 Germany team had the right combination of experience and youth. Klose was still around from the 2002 team, but was young enough to still be at the top of his game. Skilled youngsters from the new Germany football machine by the names of Ozil and Khadera, came on board to join "Golden Generation"guys like Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Mertesacker, and Podolski. Germany was a good enough to win the world cup, absolutely destroying both England and Argentina by putting 4 goals past each of them on route to a meeting with Spain. Germany's team was great, but Spain might have had the best team ever assembled and they deserved the 1 - 0 win they got. Again, Germany finished in 3rd place, but this time it felt like a failure.

Nobody knew quite what to expect from this 2014 Germany team. Everybody knew they were good, but Marco Rues (if you are not familiar with him, he might be Germany's best player, and also might be the best player to not participate in this world cup) and Bastion Schweinsteiger both got hurt right before the start of the world cup, and with only 36 year old Klose as a striker, Germany's attack was out of sorts. Loew went with Muller as a false 9. He played fine, but his supporting players (Gotze and Ozil specifically) were terrible. Plus Schweinsteiger being on the bench forced Lahm into a defensive midfield role which forced Germany to play Boateng out of position at right back. With Howedes already a weak spot at left back and Mertesacker aging and lacking pace in center back, Germany had real questions both offensively and defensively. Jogi Loew proved, though, that he is as good tactically during games as he has been influential outside of games while changing the way the entire country plays soccer. He had faith in his players and stuck with his shaky formations as long as he possibly could, rope-a-doping opponents, until the time to pull out his big guns arrived. That time was the game against France. Suddenly 36 year old Klose was starting again (with relatively fresh legs), giving Germany a true striker and allowing Muller and Ozil to play their proper positions (while benching the Gotze whose form was off). Suddenly Schweinsteiger was back healthy and dominating in the mid field. Suddenly Lahm was back at right back and Boateng was back at center back and Germany looked like champions. Loew had played his hand at JUST the right time. Everybody knows what happened next, the 7-1 dismantling of Brazil.

The final brought new challenges as Khadera injured himself minutes before the game started, then his back up was injured just minutes after that. Germany was now forced to change their winning formation at the worst possible time - against a well schooled and disciplined Argentina team who knew exactly who they were and how they needed to attack Germany. Again Jogi Loew proved up to the task, moving the slight but pacy Ozil to midfield, asking the world of Scheinsteiger (who could barely walk by the end of the game) and his center backs, and playing without a defensive mid. Somehow he kept Germany together with band-aids until they figured out their new form about an hour into the game. Germany was pretty much in control going down the stretch but Argentina was never going to let in an easy goal. It took a breathtaking bit of skill from Schurrle and Gotze to get the winner. These were the two youngest players on the pitch. The first two German internationals, in fact, to be born in a unified Germany. They were both small children when Loew made it his personal mission to rebuild the German national team from ground up, and began building youth programs to his specifications. That breathtaking bit of skill that won Germany the world cup can be directly attributed to Loew's vision and brilliance. And watching him rebuild Germany from conception to world champion actualization was, for me, as much fun as anyvthing in sports ever can be.
Expand...
You forget Ballack was suspended for the Final after a stupid yellow in the semifinals against Korea after he scored the goal. That yellow is why the rules were changed to get rid of yellows after the quarterfinals so nobody would miss a final again. If Ballack plays against Brazil that match is totally different. Ballack scored the Germans solo goals in their quarterfinal and semifinal wins over the USA and S. Korea.
 
ImperialOrange said:
I was getting mad at Argentina for time wasting and then Goetze scored and all the sudden they were fine and the Germans couldnt get on the ground fast enough.
Expand...

I'm pretty sure Schweinstieger means "lay on the ground like a feral pig" in German. He should have received the "Golden Arse" for how much time he spent on it yesterday. What he did in Extra Time was soooooo bushleague.
 
PeteCalvin said:
I'm pretty sure Schweinstieger means "lay on the ground like a feral pig" in German. He should have received the "Golden Arse" for how much time he spent on it yesterday. What he did in Extra Time was soooooo bushleague.
Expand...
Got to disagree on Schweinsteiger. He took a beating yesterday, including the gash under his eye. The only flops I took issue with were from Muller.
 
NailstheCusefan12 said:
Got to disagree on Schweinsteiger. He took a beating yesterday, including the gash under his eye. The only flops I took issue with were from Muller.
Expand...

I'm speaking more of the personal time-out he took at the very end. He sat on the ground for the last 1:30 of the Extra Time nursing his shin after late contact HE initiated. Yeah, he hustled all game, and even on that play, but he got to the ball late on that one and was stepped on incidentally. That's why Argentina got the free kick. That was gamesmanship. You're gonna win it, so get your arse up for the last minute and a half and play it out. If Argentina had scored in that final EXTRA extra time the ref added because Schweinsteiger sat for so long I would not have felt sorry for Germany. The fans are screaming for the ref to blow the whistle, but I think he did the right thing and gave Argentina a sliver of additional time to make s couple of plays.

The winning goal was a thing of beauty, BTW. The better team won.
 
PeteCalvin said:
I'm pretty sure Schweinstieger means "lay on the ground like a feral pig" in German. He should have received the "Golden Arse" for how much time he spent on it yesterday. What he did in Extra Time was soooooo bushleague.
Expand...

I wasn't a fan either but read after the fact he could barely walk off the field. Guy was just gassed which makes it a bit more understandable. You found any number of Argentinian's doing the same until Germany scored.
 
Alsacs said:
You forget Ballack was suspended for the Final after a stupid yellow in the semifinals against Korea after he scored the goal. That yellow is why the rules were changed to get rid of yellows after the quarterfinals so nobody would miss a final again. If Ballack plays against Brazil that match is totally different. Ballack scored the Germans solo goals in their quarterfinal and semifinal wins over the USA and S. Korea.
Expand...

Trust me I did not forget. I left a lot off for the sake of brevity. Ballack was the heart and soul of that Germany team and one of the four or five best players in the world. The game would have looked very different had he played, but I honestly believe that Brazil team with the likes of Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Cafu, and Roberto Carols were not going to be denied.
 
My power rankings. (Whole Tournament)

1. Germany
2. Argentina
3. France
4. Columbia
5. Chile
6. Netherlands
7. Costa Rica
8. USA
9. Mexico
10. Belgium
11. Greece
12. Uruguay
13. Switzerland
14. Algeria
15. Ecuador
16. Nigeria
17. Ivory Coast
18. Italy
19. Croatia
20. England
21. Ghana
22. South Korea
23. Russia
24. Portugal
25. Japan
26. Spain
27. Australia
28. Iran
29. Honduras
30. Bosnia
31. Brazil (i thought they sucked the entire tournament)
32. Cameroon (turrrible!)
 
CanadianSU said:
My power rankings. (Whole Tournament)

1. Germany
2. Argentina
3. France
4. Columbia
5. Chile
6. Netherlands
7. Costa Rica
8. USA
9. Mexico
10. Belgium
11. Greece
12. Uruguay
13. Switzerland
14. Algeria
15. Ecuador
16. Nigeria
17. Ivory Coast
18. Italy
19. Croatia
20. England
21. Ghana
22. South Korea
23. Russia
24. Portugal
25. Japan
26. Spain
27. Australia
28. Iran
29. Honduras
30. Bosnia
31. Brazil (i thought they sucked the entire tournament)
32. Cameroon (turrrible!)
Expand...
Good list I would put Belgium 8th Mexico 9th USA 10th, Portugal 17th but the rest great job.
 
CanadianSU said:
My power rankings. (Whole Tournament)

1. Germany
2. Argentina
3. France
4. Columbia
5. Chile
6. Netherlands
7. Costa Rica
8. USA
9. Mexico
10. Belgium
11. Greece
12. Uruguay
13. Switzerland
14. Algeria
15. Ecuador
16. Nigeria
17. Ivory Coast
18. Italy
19. Croatia
20. England
21. Ghana
22. South Korea
23. Russia
24. Portugal
25. Japan
26. Spain
27. Australia
28. Iran
29. Honduras
30. Bosnia
31. Brazil (i thought they sucked the entire tournament)
32. Cameroon (turrrible!)
Expand...


Wow, so difficult to judge. How do you account for things like Ghana looking good until their country informed them they were not getting paid, then throwing in the towel? Or Italy getting screwed by bad officiating and a dirty Uruguay team? Or Brazil finishing 4th but never really having a good game, and having without question the worst game of the tournament? Yet they deserve some credit for beating the 4th and 5th ranked teams by your list.

I was impressed by France (minus Ribary no less), and the Netherlands (who I thought were too old but obviously were not).

I think you have the USA way way too high. Should probably be around 20 if we are being brutally honest. They only won one game (against Ghanna) and were massively outplayed in that game. Howard bailed them out.
 
NailstheCusefan12 said:
Still a little shocked Messi won the Player of the Tournament. FWIW, Manuel Neuer completed more passes during the World Cup than Messi did.
Expand...
2405222_full-lnd.jpg


Those dead eyes agree with you.




Golden Ball IMO should have gone to James Rodriguez.
 
General20 said:
Wow, so difficult to judge. How do you account for things like Ghana looking good until their country informed them they were not getting paid, then throwing in the towel? Or Italy getting screwed by bad officiating and a dirty Uruguay team? Or Brazil finishing 4th but never really having a good game, and having without question the worst game of the tournament? Yet they deserve some credit for beating the 4th and 5th ranked teams by your list.

I was impressed by France (minus Ribary no less), and the Netherlands (who I thought were too old but obviously were not).

I think you have the USA way way too high. Should probably be around 20 if we are being brutally honest. They only won one game (against Ghanna) and were massively outplayed in that game. Howard bailed them out.
Expand...

Tough to judge Croatia as well since the refs did them dirty in 2 games.
 
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