The Official Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup thread

[Milltown Row2]

glad to see switzerland go home as they are a very hard team to watch. are there any teams now left that will be parking the bus?
while argentina were poor yesterday, i think they will get more space against belgium.
when the usa put them on the backfoot in the second period of extra time the belgian defence didn't look great.
semis will be brazil v germany and holland v argentina - and i think these are the pairings most neutrals would like to see.

Bar Spain this would have been the main or likely semi final parings. All the teams that played in the last 16 were well matched for most of the game, the extra bit of class finally came when it mattered, I'd like to see Costa Rica and Columbia get a go at a semi final be interesting to see a final with a long shot in it. Not a lot between the teams

[seafoid]

glad to see switzerland go home as they are a very hard team to watch. are there any teams now left that will be parking the bus?
while argentina were poor yesterday, i think they will get more space against belgium.
when the usa put them on the backfoot in the second period of extra time the belgian defence didn't look great.
semis will be brazil v germany and holland v argentina - and i think these are the pairings most neutrals would like to see.

Bar Spain this would have been the main or likely semi final parings. All the teams that played in the last 16 were well matched for most of the game, the extra bit of class finally came when it mattered, I'd like to see Costa Rica and Columbia get a go at a semi final be interesting to see a final with a long shot in it. Not a lot between the teams

The last 16 matches were all fairly tight. Lots of really good defences and having a top class striker makes the difference.
There doesn't seem to be any outstanding team either.

[NAG1]

glad to see switzerland go home as they are a very hard team to watch. are there any teams now left that will be parking the bus?
while argentina were poor yesterday, i think they will get more space against belgium.
when the usa put them on the backfoot in the second period of extra time the belgian defence didn't look great.
semis will be brazil v germany and holland v argentina - and i think these are the pairings most neutrals would like to see.

Bar Spain this would have been the main or likely semi final parings. All the teams that played in the last 16 were well matched for most of the game, the extra bit of class finally came when it mattered, I'd like to see Costa Rica and Columbia get a go at a semi final be interesting to see a final with a long shot in it. Not a lot between the teams

The last 16 matches were all fairly tight. Lots of really good defences and having a top class striker makes the difference.
There doesn't seem to be any outstanding team either.

Is there an argument then that this is indeed a poor world cup for overall team quality.

Must pundits saying that no team has a great defence, none of the main number 9's hitting their mark.

If it wasnt for a few individuals on certain teams, Neymar, Messi, Muller and Rodrigeuz, would we be talking this tournament up so much?

Granted the entertainment value has been decent but maybe the overall quality down or am I reading too much into it?

[imtommygunn]

I think the standard of international football overall is quite poor compared to what it used to be. If you have a well structured team you will go far. The best teams will generally have the best players and win out but as the us showed last night you can do well with a system people buy in to etc etc. That is why Trap got us to the euros and close to the world cup.

The standard of the likes of the champions league is well above international game standard. I think the money has polluted it a bit to be honest.

[laoislad]

For entertainment value alone it has to go down as one of the best ever to be fair.
Maybe it's a good thing there have been no stand out teams.
How many times have we seen big games hyped up in the Premier League or elsewhere only for both teams to cancel each other out.
The 2nd half of extra time last night was fantastic. I was roaring at the TV hoping USA would get a second goal.
For me the World Cup is about entertainment and it is delivering it in spades.

[Mayo4Sam]

I think the standard of international football overall is quite poor compared to what it used to be. If you have a well structured team you will go far. The best teams will generally have the best players and win out but as the us showed last night you can do well with a system people buy in to etc etc. That is why Trap got us to the euros and close to the world cup.

The standard of the likes of the champions league is well above international game standard. I think the money has polluted it a bit to be honest.

So you're saying theres no great teams anymore? What about real teams? Or serious contenders for that matter?

http://www.dangerhere.com/the-charter-of-reality-who-are-the-real-teams/

[AZOffaly]

I suppose the answer to that is what do you watch the games for? I always get suspicious when people talk about 'standards', especially when trying to downplay or pour cold water on a game or tournament.

I like watching soccer for moments of skill, goals, excitement and human drama. This world cup has provided all of that. Rodriguez' goal v Uruguay, Neymar's flicks and tricks v Cameroon, Messi's goals, Cahill's strike, the Belgian Move that nearly saw Kompany scoring last night, Pirlo's passing v England (because they didn't press him!!!), The penalty shootouts, the tears, the joy, the biting, the denial, the ban, the apology. Uruguay going mental. Algeria going mentler, Mexico's manager, USA's spirit. Ghana's implosion.

To be honest this World Cup is right up there in terms of entertainment, and that's what I judge the tournament on. There has been some poor goalkeeping, some poor defending overall, but to counter against that, we have had some seriously positive attacking play, and teams just going for it.

So to me it's a great tournament, and I wish it was still back in the first round so we'd have all these games to look forward to still.

[rodney trotter]

It's been an outstanding tournament, and a lot more entertaining then the 2010 World Cup.

Don't mind who wins as long as it's not the Germans

[Billys Boots]

This is tournament football - it has everything that's good and bad about the game (ref. AZ's list up there).  The game is played by teams that don't routinely play together, and managed by coaches who see the players for about 20 days each year.

As anyone who has coached a tournament team will probably agree, there's no place for anything very fancy - it's about getting the basics right, so anyone expecting to see Champions League standards will fell short-changed.  This is about doing the basics right and consistently - defending intelligently, passing efficiently through the thirds, keeping the ball for extended periods (without necessarily doing anything constructive), and trying to get possession to your goalscorers in good positions. 

Brazil are probably at an advantage as they've not been involved in qualifying and have had time to work together - the longer they stay in the tournament, the more likely they are to win it - if they make the final, they'll win it.

I've been really impressed by Wilmots as a manager - he has done the old tournament 'trick' of bombarding teams with a certain attacking option for enough time for them to become accustomed to it, comfortable with it, and then he changes the focus completely.  It's now worked for four games in a row - hopefully he has something else up his sleeve, as that may not work in the last-8.

France have also been impressive - I think they'll beat Germany.

[thewobbler]

I think anyone who is quick to suggest the Champions League as the pinnacle of football should remember just how boring and predictable the Group stages at last 32 tend to be.
An average Arsenal side have routinely qualified from this stage since, well, forever.

There's no doubt that from the quarter-finals onwards, when the billionaires face off against each other, that the CL produces an exceptionally high standard.  But for overall quality and competitiveness among 32 teams, a World Cup tournament is on a different level - for no other reason than it's a slightly more level playing field, and the players by-and-large are doing it for national pride, and not as a job.

Billy, there's a lot in what you're saying about tournaments bringing together teams that don't play together, thereby making things a little less structured. But the Greeks, Yanks, Costa Ricans, Colombians and Germans have shown it's very possible.

[Walter Cronc]

I think anyone who is quick to suggest the Champions League as the pinnacle of football should remember just how boring and predictable the Group stages at last 32 tend to be.
An average Arsenal side have routinely qualified from this stage since, well, forever.
There's no doubt that from the quarter-finals onwards, when the billionaires face off against each other, that the CL produces an exceptionally high standard.  But for overall quality and competitiveness among 32 teams, a World Cup tournament is on a different level - for no other reason than it's a slightly more level playing field, and the players by-and-large are doing it for national pride, and not as a job.

Billy, there's a lot in what you're saying about tournaments bringing together teams that don't play together, thereby making things a little less structured. But the Greeks, Yanks, Costa Ricans, Colombians and Germans have shown it's very possible.

Makes no sense whatsoever!! If you had said Ruban Kazan or Olympiacos perhaps that would have had merit.

Rodney your people fight in WWII or something!!

[thewobbler]

I think anyone who is quick to suggest the Champions League as the pinnacle of football should remember just how boring and predictable the Group stages at last 32 tend to be.
An average Arsenal side have routinely qualified from this stage since, well, forever.
There's no doubt that from the quarter-finals onwards, when the billionaires face off against each other, that the CL produces an exceptionally high standard.  But for overall quality and competitiveness among 32 teams, a World Cup tournament is on a different level - for no other reason than it's a slightly more level playing field, and the players by-and-large are doing it for national pride, and not as a job.

Billy, there's a lot in what you're saying about tournaments bringing together teams that don't play together, thereby making things a little less structured. But the Greeks, Yanks, Costa Ricans, Colombians and Germans have shown it's very possible.

Makes no sense whatsoever!! If you had said Ruban Kazan or Olympiacos perhaps that would have had merit.

Rodney your people fight in WWII or something!!

Not sure why Walter?

The CL group stages have 32 teams. It's been at least 5 years since we saw a good Arsenal team, yet they still routinely pass from that group stage to the last 16. For this to happen, it would suggest a lack of quality among the bottom 16 teams every year.

[Canalman]

Not a great fan of using "Argies" as a term. Not sure if it is offensive or not but................

[Bingo]

Its been a cracking world cup.

If anything it emphasis how players/teams can play above themselves when the motivation is to represent your country/people. Money is far from a factor for a lot of the teams. When money is a factor it places limits and introduces tensions into the group - see majority of African countries.

The underdogs have really fought hard to make themselves competitive. If you judged teams on star players and their CL level players, a lot of games would have been landslides.

Even at that, the cream has largely risen to the top and will be interesting to see how the rest plays out. A few big games ahead.

[rodney trotter]

I think anyone who is quick to suggest the Champions League as the pinnacle of football should remember just how boring and predictable the Group stages at last 32 tend to be.
An average Arsenal side have routinely qualified from this stage since, well, forever.
There's no doubt that from the quarter-finals onwards, when the billionaires face off against each other, that the CL produces an exceptionally high standard.  But for overall quality and competitiveness among 32 teams, a World Cup tournament is on a different level - for no other reason than it's a slightly more level playing field, and the players by-and-large are doing it for national pride, and not as a job.

Billy, there's a lot in what you're saying about tournaments bringing together teams that don't play together, thereby making things a little less structured. But the Greeks, Yanks, Costa Ricans, Colombians and Germans have shown it's very possible.

Makes no sense whatsoever!! If you had said Ruban Kazan or Olympiacos perhaps that would have had merit.

Rodney your people fight in WWII or something!!

Eh no Walter, it has no nothing to do with War,