Escapes to Victory (Part 1)

-
This World Cup has not been normal by any stretch of imagination, and the Round of 16 stage shows why. There were clear favorites to win the 8 matches played, but in all the matches, the underdogs showed great team spirit to make it difficult for the favorites.  Only the Belgium and US game is remaining, but the 7 games so far have had thrills, spills, and nail biting moments. 

The round started with the host nation taking on Chile. Brazil were far from their best, and disappointing to say the least. The game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes, with the second half being the worst 45 minutes I have ever seen from Brazil. It went into extra time, with nothing changing there. On we went on to penalties, with Brazil ultimately winning the shootout with a score of 5-4. 

The next game was Columbia and Uruguay. Uruguay were not settled from the beginning, and James Rodriguez produced the goal of the tournament to put Columbia ahead. A player with talent a month ago turned into a global superstar with one swing of that magical left foot. He then scored another in the second half, scoring a tap in from 6 yards out to hand him the golden boot temporarily. 

Netherlands tackled Mexico next, and in the opening 15 minutes, Netherlands lost Nigel De Jong for the tournament. Mexico were by far the better team for the first 60 minutes, and they got rewarded with a low finish from Giovanni Dos Santos outside the box. Netherlands couldn't score till the 87th minute, with Sneijder firing a great finish low. Then, things got worse for Mexico, with Robben winning a penalty after getting the beating of 4 players. Huntellar converted, and so the long wait for Mexico to get to the quarterfinals continue. 

Later that day, Costa Rica faced Greece. Bryan Ruiz scored in the 54th minute, and Sokratis equalized in the 91st minute. The game went on to extra time, and then to penalties. Costa Rica won the shootout, and their fairy tale story continues. 


These were the first 4 matches of the second round, with the next 4 matches proving to be as exciting.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Messi Mania

-
It took Lionel Messi 28 years to get around to playing a competitive game in the U.S. It was worth waiting for. After sitting out Argentina’s first game in the Copa America Centenario, Messi entered the second match, against Panama, as a second-half substitute, then scored three goals and assisted on a fourth in just 29 minutes. In less than half an hour, Messi was tied for the tournament lead in scoring and had taken his team through to the quarterfinals. Entering Monday’s games, seven of the 16 teams in the tournament hadn’t scored as much. All of which raises one big question heading into the final day of group play Tuesday: What will Messi do for an encore when Argentina, the world’s top-ranked team, plays win-less Bolivia, at No. 82 the lowest-rated team in the tournament.  If you believe Messi, there’s a lot of room to improve after he sat out two weeks with a bruised back. But Messi has a lot more to accomplish than simply getting his groove back...
Read more

Argentina vs. Bosnia - Day 4

-
Yesterday was an a great day in the World Cup. All the teams I wanted to win won. Switzerland got a stoppage time winner to make it 2-1, and France won 3-0 comfortably. Goal line technology was used for the first ever time in World Cup history on the own goal. There was a lot of controversy with that goal as to whether it should be an own goal or Benzema's goal. Eventually, he got 2 goals, but in  my opinion, he should have had a hat trick because of that goal. The game I want to talk about is the Argentina and Bosnia game. I want Argentina to go all the way. Sabella started with a 5-3-2 formation. Argentina will not win if they keep playing with this formation. It takes Messi out of the game completely. Messi was terrible in the first half. In the second half, Sabella brought on Gago and Higuain. They changed to a 4-3-3 formation, which brought Messi into the game a lot more. He scored a magical goal to seal the points for Argentina after a own goal 3 minutes in from a Messi freek...
Read more

Decline of Spain

-
The decline of the Spanish empire has been one of the most shocking events of this legendary World Cup. 2 years ago, after their Euros win against Italy, they were speculated to be the best international team in the history of the beautiful game. Even a year ago, they got to the Confederations Cup final, where they got easily beaten by Brazil 3-0. That may have been a sign for the whole planet, bu t no one took it seriously. The Barcelona players of Spain had an average season based on their very high standard. This may have been a big blow on their confidence and team spirit. The Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid players of the Spanish team ended their season late because of the Champions League Final. The final was May 24, which was just 13 days from the start of the World Cup. I don't think the team had enough time to get together and recover from the long season that preceded it. Along with those issues, they had some problems with the team selection. I don't know why Del Bos...
Read more