Semifinal Predictions
Had 3 of 4 quarters, including spot on the England match. Also, BTW, on the ESPN Soccernet "Germany Cup Pick'em", I'm at the 99.8th percentile.
Germany - Italy.
Everything says I should take Germany. They've played the nice attacking style we all like, they've got the leading scorer in Klose, and they've got home field. So I'm picking Italy. Their defense seems to be in pretty good shape. Nesta is out, but they've got Metarazzi back. They shut down the Germans. Italy 1 Germany 0.
Portugal - France.
Another heart over head, but I'll go with Portugal. They've got Deco back, and Deco, Figo, Maniche, and Christiano Ronaldo will be an interesting matchup for France's midfield. As I said below, France won the Brazil game in their midfield. But maybe, just maybe, their midfield will meet its match in Portugal's midfield. I can also see Miguel making one of those nice runs. Portugal 2 France 1.
Germany - Italy.
Everything says I should take Germany. They've played the nice attacking style we all like, they've got the leading scorer in Klose, and they've got home field. So I'm picking Italy. Their defense seems to be in pretty good shape. Nesta is out, but they've got Metarazzi back. They shut down the Germans. Italy 1 Germany 0.
Portugal - France.
Another heart over head, but I'll go with Portugal. They've got Deco back, and Deco, Figo, Maniche, and Christiano Ronaldo will be an interesting matchup for France's midfield. As I said below, France won the Brazil game in their midfield. But maybe, just maybe, their midfield will meet its match in Portugal's midfield. I can also see Miguel making one of those nice runs. Portugal 2 France 1.
posted by Al at 8:43 AM
4 Comments:
well, al, congrats again on calling italy, even though del piero obviously wanted to deny you getting the score right!
no question that italy was the superior team today.
your predicting track record has been better than mine, but i'm still calling france tomorrow - the zidane farewell tour and all - but certainly cristiano, figo, deco, and maniche are a handful for anyone, so i won't be surprised if it goes the other way.
btw, as for roberto carlos, let's face it: the guy is a fullback in name only. coming in to the world cup, i felt that if brazil fell, it would be because of defensive lapses....
Yes, there was the defensive lapse for Brazil. But Brazil's offense wasn't that great either. After all, France shut them out! Brazil really only had one good offensive performance - against Japan. You would think that with all Brazil's vaunted firepower, they would be able to withstand a single goal against. But they really never got it going, and I think a lot of it falls on the midfield. If you look at the difference between Brazil and France - France had a real #10, setting everything up. Brazil's #10 just didn't show up. Maybe he was just tired, I dunno. But I was really shocked at how poorly he played.
well, to put it slightly differently: the proximate basis of brazil's defeat was defensive sloppiness. the ultimate basis of brazil's defeat is that the team never really jelled, and as you well know, i'm sure, teams that don't jell fail from the middle.
as i've said to several friends, if all you ever saw of soccer was this year's world cup, who would possibly believe that ronaldinho is the best player in the world?
on the possibility that you are tivoing, i won't say anything about france-portugal yet.
Yes, I did TiVo the game, and watched it last night.
You are right that Brazil's midfield never gelled. That was why I was wondering earlier in the tournament where Ze Roberto and Emerson were. You look at the French midfield and, even though they all have different roles, they play together nicely. But Brazil's never did. Ronaldinho never connected with his other MFs, and neither did Kaka. I think Ronadlinho just wore down; if you recall, he wasn't good in the Champions League final either. I would rather they play the World Cup in August, so as to give these guys more time after a long season to recuperate. I guess, though, that if they did that, then people would blame poor play on rustiness. Perhaps a no win situation, and we shouldn't look for excuses and just say they played poorly.
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