From: Joachim Parsch on


Werner Pichler schrieb:
> two great teams battling it out relying on
> their footballing skills and their tactical nous alone, helped
> along by an excellent referee as Kassai.

No, Germany wasn't great yesterday. Somehow they didn't believe,
that they could win this. After about 15 minutes I already had
this hopeless feeling. Just a few comments:

- I disagree about the ref. Ramos' tackle of Podolski was not only
similar, but outright identical to the tackle, that got Ribery correctly
sent off in the CL semifinal. Ramos wasn't even booked. Ramos
then should have been sent off just before half-time, for
his foul on �zil (in itself close to a red, because he was the
last man there). Would have changed the match, though we didn't
deserve it, of course. Maybe it's balanced by the England goal.

- I was missing the spirit in the Germans. Not only did they
play like a rabbit in front of a snake, they didn't even try to
pull themselves out of that hole. After �zil being clearly fouled
by Ramos, no one even complained. A clear sign of having already
resigned. Yes, Spain were better, but they are Spain and had big,
big problems of actually creating scoring chances. The Urus showed
on Tuesday, how you can come close to an upset. Germany didn't try.

- as for the German spirit: compare it to the Spaniards. When Alonso
leg-scissored Khedira in midfield, playing also the ball in the
process (as you automatically do, when leg-tackling the player,
who holds the ball), he was complaining loudly. This showed, that
they were fighting to win this match. Germany didn't.

Spain played better than Germany, which can happen on any day,
but yesterday they also showed more fighting spirit. For a German
team in a WC semifinal that was a rather uninspired performance,
on all bases.

In a way, the defeat yesterday hurt much more than the loss against
Italy four years ago. Against Italy, Germany did their best, but couldn't
cope against a better team. Yesterday they also lost deservedly against
a better team - but there was much more possible. I mean, the team
plays without spirit, without heart and still loses by just the
cheapest goal imaginable, a header from a corner? Come on,
U Kannot B Sirius...

And yes, missing Ballack hurt us yesterday. Perhaps Schweinsteiger
will be in his footsteps in 4 years, yesterday he was not yet completely
ready (though he was one of the best in the team).

> So maybe it was no 'all time great football match' but it
> was memorable, for the clean spirit in which it was played,
> for the tactical precision both teams showed and for the pure
> class that the Spanish team exhibited. In 30 years or so
> it will be them that will be remembered as 'legends'.

I'm still not convinced by Spain. Which means, that they probably
will win the big prize, because the international football god seems
to take great pleasure in annoying me for quite some years now.
They still do not much more than pass the ball around the box.
Just as Barca so hopelessly did in the return leg against Inter.

Question: What is the difference between handball and Spanish football?
Answer: In handball the refs whistle for time waisting, if you pass
the ball uselessly around for 10 minutes...

As for Sunday, I really hope in Sneijder, Bommel and Robben. So
it's curtains for the Dutch.

All this post can be summarized in the true words of wisdom of
Futbolmetrix, the resident football philospher:

Football sucks.

Joachim

P.S.
Hey Daniele: That's the 8th final in a row with Bayern players
on the field. Now where are those guys from Juve? ;-P
From: Werner Pichler on
On 8 Jul., 10:05, Joachim Parsch <s...(a)bunuel.franken.de> wrote:
> Werner Pichler schrieb:
>
> > two great teams battling it out relying on
> > their footballing skills and their tactical nous alone, helped
> > along by an excellent referee as Kassai.
>
> No, Germany wasn't great yesterday. Somehow they didn't believe,
> that they could win this. After about 15 minutes I already had
> this hopeless feeling. Just a few comments:

This is giving Spain too little credit. The reason Germany
couldn't play like against England or Argentina is that
Spain didn't allow it. The Germans delivered an honourable
battle in midfield, and even they came up short in the end,
they gave the Spaniards enough reasons to worry.
Like a venomous snake that only snaps twice, but each
occasion (Özil & Kroos) could have spelled a semifinal
exit for the Spaniards. My impression was that the game
was actually on the edge for the longest time.

I admit I overlooked the Ramos incident, which should have
warranted a yellow. Still, very few fouls in this match. Of
course, Germany could have played more aggressively,
"durch den Kampf ins Spiel zurückfinden" and all that, but
I very much prefer them if they don't. But then, I'm no
German fan... :)

And I don't think Puyol's header was a 'cheap' goal, it
was the logical conclusion of the continual wearing
down of the otherwise extremely disciplined and
resourceful German defence. One slip is all it takes,
not only in this respect football is very much like chess.

Ciao,
Werner
From: Mark on
On Jul 8, 12:30 am, Mehdi <Be...(a)soccer-europe.com> wrote:

> There will be a new name on the Jules Rimet trophy this Sunday.

I thought it was just the old trophy (the one that Brazil kept after
winning it again in 1970) that was called the Jules Rimet trophy?
From: RED DEVIL on
On Thu, 8 Jul 2010 03:21:04 -0700 (PDT), Mark
<Pammiesheart(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

>On Jul 8, 12:30�am, Mehdi <Be...(a)soccer-europe.com> wrote:
>
>> There will be a new name on the Jules Rimet trophy this Sunday.
>
>I thought it was just the old trophy (the one that Brazil kept after
>winning it again in 1970) that was called the Jules Rimet trophy?

You are correct, this world cup is not the Jules Rimet
RED DEVIL
From: RED DEVIL on
On Thu, 8 Jul 2010 03:21:04 -0700 (PDT), Mark
<Pammiesheart(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

>On Jul 8, 12:30�am, Mehdi <Be...(a)soccer-europe.com> wrote:
>
>> There will be a new name on the Jules Rimet trophy this Sunday.
>
>I thought it was just the old trophy (the one that Brazil kept after
>winning it again in 1970) that was called the Jules Rimet trophy?


Actually the Jules Rimet trophy was kept by Brasil after they won it
in 1970 but then was stolen and melted down. Brasil paid for a new
trophy to be made.
RED DEVIL