World Cup 2010 Semi-Final Day Two
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From: Mehdi on 7 Jul 2010 19:30 7 July 2010 GERMANY 0 SPAIN 1 (Puyol 73) Villa almost gave Spain the perfect start when he stretched to meet Pedro through ball, Neuer had his hands ready but missed the ball completely, it bounced off his left shin and out to Podolski. Spain worked a short corner, Iniesta swung a fantastic cross into the box, Bam Bam Puyol connected with a spectacular diving header but was a foot over. Ramos stamped on the top of Podolski's left foot. The ref, Viktor Kassai, saw it and of course did nothing. Trochowski, wrongly picked ahead of Kroos, had Germany's first shot on target, a grasscutter from 30 yards which Casillas parried for a corner. In first half injury time Klose turned Puyol and released Ozil, Ramos clipped him on the edge of the box, he went down inside it, no penalty. It should have been a free kick and a (second) yellow for Ramos. Kroos replaced Trochowski on the hour mark and unfortunately for Germany his first touch was also Germany's best chance, a volley straight at Casillas. Spain were much improved in the second half but most of their 'chances' consisted of shots from the edge of the box. After all their pointless tikki-takki they scored from a corner, Bam Bam Puyol with a bullet header from a Xavi cross. Pedro should have finished Germany off on the break but for some bizarre decided to skin Friedrich twice, on the second occasion the defender got a touch with Torres unmarked in the centre. Torres was guilty of the same mistake four minutes later and once again it was Friedrich who got in a tackle with two Spaniards waiting in support. An awful match. Germany failed to get their counter attacking game going, Schweinsteiger was so deep he wasn't able to support the others breaking forward which makes Trochowski's selection all the more perplexing. The third place play-off should give chances for Klose and Muller to finish as top scorers, and Forlan if he's fit. As for Spain this was trademark tikki-takki - boring, pointless, aimless possession, lots of square passing. There will be a new name on the Jules Rimet trophy this Sunday. The game will be contested between the dirtiest teams in the tournament. The Dutch, with leg breaker Van Bommel and diver Robben and the Spanish with 'dirty' David Villa, Pedro and a host of other play-actors and divers. Hopefully the referee will be quick to stamp out any shenanigans and hopefully the Dutch will win. Attendance : 60,960 Assist : Xavi -- http://soccer-europe.com Rss feed : http://soccer-europe.com/RSS/News.xml
From: Werner Pichler on 7 Jul 2010 19:43 On 8 Jul., 01:30, Mehdi <Be...(a)soccer-europe.com> wrote: > 7 July 2010 > > GERMANY 0 > SPAIN 1 (Puyol 73) > > Villa almost gave Spain the perfect start when he stretched to meet > Pedro through ball, Neuer had his hands ready but missed the ball > completely, it bounced off his left shin and out to Podolski. Spain > worked a short corner, Iniesta swung a fantastic cross into the box, Bam > Bam Puyol connected with a spectacular diving header but was a foot > over. Ramos stamped on the top of Podolski's left foot. The ref, Viktor > Kassai, saw it and of course did nothing. Trochowski, wrongly picked > ahead of Kroos, had Germany's first shot on target, a grasscutter from > 30 yards which Casillas parried for a corner. In first half injury time > Klose turned Puyol and released Ozil, Ramos clipped him on the edge of > the box, he went down inside it, no penalty. It should have been a free > kick and a (second) yellow for Ramos. > > Kroos replaced Trochowski on the hour mark and unfortunately for Germany > his first touch was also Germany's best chance, a volley straight at > Casillas. Spain were much improved in the second half but most of their > 'chances' consisted of shots from the edge of the box. After all their > pointless tikki-takki they scored from a corner, Bam Bam Puyol with a > bullet header from a Xavi cross. Pedro should have finished Germany off > on the break but for some bizarre decided to skin Friedrich twice, on > the second occasion the defender got a touch with Torres unmarked in the > centre. Torres was guilty of the same mistake four minutes later and > once again it was Friedrich who got in a tackle with two Spaniards > waiting in support. > > An awful match. Germany failed to get their counter attacking game > going, Schweinsteiger was so deep he wasn't able to support the others > breaking forward which makes Trochowski's selection all the more > perplexing. The third place play-off should give chances for Klose and > Muller to finish as top scorers, and Forlan if he's fit. As for Spain > this was trademark tikki-takki - boring, pointless, aimless possession, > lots of square passing. > > There will be a new name on the Jules Rimet trophy this Sunday. The game > will be contested between the dirtiest teams in the tournament. The > Dutch, with leg breaker Van Bommel and diver Robben and the Spanish with > 'dirty' David Villa, Pedro and a host of other play-actors and divers. > Hopefully the referee will be quick to stamp out any shenanigans and > hopefully the Dutch will win. > > Attendance : 60,960 > Assist : Xavi > > --http://soccer-europe.com > Rss feed :http://soccer-europe.com/RSS/News.xml No, no, no. I'm usually *very* sympathetic towards your reviews but this will not do. This is what you wrote about the semi-final four years ago: 'One of the all time great football matches played in a wonderful spirit by two adventurous teams matched by Mexican referee Benito Archundia's officiating. High on precision, high on flair and composed defending, especially from the Italians.' The composed defending this time came from the Germans. and the Spanish midfield was just too good to let Germany become adventurous, but apart from that the feeling I had watching this game was not too dissimilar from the one I had back then - two great teams battling it out relying on their footballing skills and their tactical nous alone, helped along by an excellent referee as Kassai. 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'. Agree with you about van Bommel though, mind. Ciao, Werner
From: Alessandro Riolo on 7 Jul 2010 20:26 "Mehdi" <Benny(a)soccer-europe.com> wrote in message news:P68Zn.95423$U%7.72311(a)hurricane... >7 July 2010 > > GERMANY 0 > SPAIN 1 (Puyol 73) > > ... BTW, the chap who invaded the pitch with the Italian blue jersey, he had done that before, he is a big fan of Cassano and that is way to ask for the manager of the NT to call up the guy ... -- ale http://ale.riolo.co.uk
From: forssberg on 7 Jul 2010 21:06 On Jul 7, 7:30 pm, Mehdi <Be...(a)soccer-europe.com> wrote: > 7 July 2010 > > GERMANY 0 > SPAIN 1 (Puyol 73) > > An awful match. Germany failed to get their counter attacking game > going, Schweinsteiger was so deep he wasn't able to support the others > breaking forward which makes Trochowski's selection all the more > perplexing. The third place play-off should give chances for Klose and > Muller to finish as top scorers, and Forlan if he's fit. As for Spain > this was trademark tikki-takki - boring, pointless, aimless possession, > lots of square passing. I agree with your Germany's assessment. In my opinion, the young Germans choked miserably. Their passing was awful for most of the match and gifted possession to the Spaniards time and time again. An inferior Italian team did a much better job against Spain in 2008. It was a letdown for me as I had high hopes for the Germans.
From: Ginyussan on 7 Jul 2010 23:25
On Jul 7, 9:06 pm, forssberg <andyforssb...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > I agree with your Germany's assessment. In my opinion, the young > Germans choked miserably. Their passing was awful for most of the > match and gifted possession to the Spaniards time and time again. An > inferior Italian team did a much better job against Spain in 2008. > It was a letdown for me as I had high hopes for the Germans. The Spanish team was always going to matchup better against a team that WASN'T parking the bus in a 10-0-0 formation. Their previous best match had beena gainst Chile. Also the Spanish defenders are better than any Germany had faced. Better, more experienced, mature team won that's all, nothing more nothing less. Germans have a good future. Euro 2012 looking competitive with the Dutch, French (Blanc will revitalize them), Germans and Spaniards around. |