Football World Cup 2014

Dutch 2-1. Lovely strike by MoM Robben.

2-2, advantage Holland.

Schneider buries it. 3-2 to Holland.

3-3, advantage Netherlands.

Kuyt buries it - 4-3

The pressure on the last Dutch striker is going to be immense.

Unless, of course, the keeper comes up with another save.

Keeper saves again. Masterstroke by van Gaal.

Dutch deservedly make the semis!!!

Holland v Argentina then; and Germany v Brazil.

A Holland v Germany final would spoil the party.

What a call from the new Man Utd manager... could be the difference between him coming to his new job as a World Cup winner rather than having gone out to Costa Rica!

Great effort from their opponents though, probably fair that a second shoot-out proved a bridge too far and they didn't carry that much attacking threat tonight but along with the Yanks and Mexicans have done that continent proud. Took out three past world champions, a European champion and almost another European powerhouse.

The Dutch will need to find a bit more to get past "Sporting Messi" though...

skully wrote:

Paul Keating wrote:

skully wrote:And we are going to penalties. Dutch sub the keeper just before the 120 min mark.

Is he a shoot out specialist?

Apparently van Gaal thinks so.

The keeper who has only saved two penalties from 20 attempts in the premier league saves two in five in a world cup penalty shoot out. He also picked the right way with the other three Costa Rican penalties.

He's not the Messi, he's just a natty boy.

The WC has descended into oh hum ness as it does most years after the second round. 4 pretty ordinary matches in the QF and you can't see any of the remaining matches being much different.

Aye, at least one more penalty shootout to go, probably. Maybe two. Germany to beat Holland on penalties in the GF?

lardbucket wrote:Aye, at least one more penalty shootout to go, probably. Maybe two. Germany to beat Holland on penalties in the GF?

That would be fine if it was 3-3 after 90 mins and 4-4 AET.

But it won't be.

Agree. Penalties to break a 0-0 deadlock.

Semis and finals are usually cagey, whether it be World Cup, Champions League, FA Cup or whatever... the end-to-end classic is the exception to the rule.

Although I think the lack of goals in this knockout stage, particularly the round before this, was more down to great goalkeeping and last-ditch defending and poor finishing than anything else.

The opposite of the first QF - the last QF was a bit too much full of chess moves. Not only from the obvious underdogs. There was a lot of slow-slow-back-to-the-goalie-for-the-fcking-fourth-time-in-a-row from the Cloggies too.There's waiting for a best positional chance, and there is hypnotic torpor.

Except in the (eventually) thrilling second period of ET, when it was end to end stuff and anything was suddenly possible.

CR paid the penalty for having far too little to offer (too little ambition? - the fact is, probably too little skill) in penetrative passes to men in an any way attacking position. They defended like demons, but you don't necessarily get to win even penalty shootouts that way. It's exhausting when the great majority of a match, you're running just to cover, block, gain possession and try to get repeatedly futile attacks started (and almost always give possession away again after only two passes).

Most of the Nederlanders were disappointing. Robben was always a threat, though often he ran into trouble, Kuyt gave everything in his tireless if rarely very precise way (his penalty was the most decisive and accurate thing he did all night), and only Sneijder was outstanding.

The Man Utd manager has balls of steel, all right. I didn't like Geordie Krul's mouthy antics right up in the penalty takers' faces, or his going walkabout for half a minute each time  - surely that tonnage of gamesmanship can't be allowed to go on? - but FunHHaaal certainly knew which goalie would be freshest, and the most combative gladiator of his three, when the (semi-)final chips were down.

I've come to the conclusion there's one round too many in this tournament.

That, or let's get back to 24 teams max (I know - won't happen).


You can have too much attrition. And fatigue.

Second round could go. Only group winners go through to quarters ...

Wins and goal scoring in group stages would become more important.

The same 8 would have gone through this time; but then again, the group stage saw the best bits of football of this tournament so far.

It's that last statement which is the key one.

Maybe just have the group stage, and whichever team scores most goals, whoever they were against, wins the pot? ...

I think they're all linked.

PeterCS wrote:I've come to the conclusion there's one round too many in this tournament.

That, or let's get back to 24 teams max (I know - won't happen).


You can have too much attrition. And fatigue.

I think it's only going to expand further, so might even need a second group stage... there's an increasing number of competitive countries who won't want to be left out, and Blatter will want their votes.

Stand by for a penalty shootout between Belize and Burma.

The Dutch doing their usual trick of starting the tournament impressively and then increasingly tailing off as it goes on.

Van Persie has looked like a frail old man in the last two games.

It's quite an effort for a side to look so ordinary is spite of Robben and Sneijder really excelling. The other nine players were tragic.

Nice little bluff sending on Krul for the penalties, though. He didn't have to be a specialist penalty stopper, he just needed a couple of Costa Ricans to believe that he might be.

Argentina v Germany final, then.