Football World cup ends with Germany beating Argentina 1-0 in Extra time to lift the Trophy

Football World cup ends with Germany beating Argentina 1-0 in Extra time to lift the Trophy

 First Thing Congratulations to Germany for Becoming World Champions for the 4^th Time equaling Their European Rivals Italy’s tally. Germany is deserving champions who won both the game as well as the Hearts. That’s the reason they are Weltmeister and are known as Well oiled machines. This Match also will be the last world cup for Miroslav Klose who is now the all time top scorer in the world cup. Argentina did well but when Germany went back to their traditional football in the second half, Argentina faltered big way and the same happened in Extra time too.

                So how the match turned out to be, going to the game as favorites Germany picked Kramer in the place of Khedira in order to provide further mobility in the system. Argentina of course retained the same squad that played the semi finals against Netherlands. At the start both teams were waiting to settle down and it took 20 minutes for the first real chance of the game. Catastrophic Header for from Kroos went into the path of Higuan who was one on one with neur but again Neur proved to be winner with Higuan firing it wide, That was a real chance screwed up by Higuan. At 30^th minute Higuan nets the ball but was ruled out as clear offside by the referee, Higuan was celebrating when it was ruled offside. It was yet another sad ending for younger German Kramer who collided with Garay which made him injured and was replaced by Schurrle. This substitution was never expected but was supposed to come in second half. At 36^th Minute Excellent pass by Mueller and Schurrle Shoots but fantastic save by Romero denies the super sub. At stroke of Half time from a corner Howedes header hits the wood work and Germany comes close to scoring.

In second half Argentina made a fatal substitution by removing the best man Lavezzi and injecting Aguero for more fluidity in the park. At 48^th Minute Messi comes very close to score but Boateng makes a clearance for Germany. From this point Germany became more inclined to their traditional formation with the likes of the counter attack which gave more power and pace to Germans. Second half was completely dominated by Germans with them coming close to score in few occasions. Argentina was running out of time and their dependency on single player was killing them. In second half Mascherano and Aguero could have been sent off for their continuous reckless fouling on Schweinsteiger and Lahm. At 88the minute Legend Miroslav Klose was subbed for Gotze which means this will be his last world cup match possibility last match for Germany too. The Game ended nil-nil at 90 minutes and the game headed into Extra time.

At Extra time it was Germany who had the Ball and the ball was right into the Argentina D for most number of times. Mascherano and Aguero tackle on Schweinsteiger was too reckless that could have resulted in an injury for the German. Aguero tackle left the German Bleeding in the face but that didn’t deter him a bit. It looked like the match was heading for the spot kicks. But for long time the left flank of the Germany was unnoticed or Unmarked with markings were completely on Lahm and Schweinsteiger .

At 113^th Minute Schurrle Storms in the left flank and delivers the cross to Gotze who controls it with his chest and scores a volley to put Germany in Front and Driver seat.

Argentina still had 7 minutes to score an equalizer but German defense became unbreakable at this point of time. Again at 116^th Minute There came a Counter attack in which Mueller came close to scoring which would have sealed the match. At 123^rd minute it was over and Germany have been Crowned as the Champions.  The wait for the trophy for 24 years ends in Brazil and with this victory Germany becomes the first European team to win world cup in Latin America and Second team to win world cup outside Europe.

Angela Merkel the chancellor of Germany seems to be overwhelmingly satisfied with the performance as she has been coming to stadium since 2006 and she herself witnessed heart break in 06,08,10,12 and this year it was heart break to others. In a Nutshell it was Germany who won the game and Germany was the team who won the hearts. Being a German fan since 1998 I literally cried the moment Gotze scored and the moment Germany won I went speechless.

Champions	Germany
Runner up	Argentina
Third Place	Netherlands
Fourth Place	Brazil
Golden Ball	Lionel Messi
Golden Boot	James Rodriguez
Golden Glove	Manual Neur
Young Player	Paul Pogba

Carnival ends here and lets meet up in the next edition in 2018 in Russia…Adieu…

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Venkats

@vnktabi

               

Final step of the carnival: Germany takes on Argentina in the Finals of world cup

Final step of the carnival: Germany takes on Argentina in the Finals of world cup

 

30 days of the greatest carnival is coming to an end today with Germany and Argentina flexing the muscles to win the ultimate coveted Jules Rimet trophy today at Estadio Jornalista Mário Filho (Maracanã), Rio de Janeiro at 2000 HRS local time.

Head to Head

Total: 20

Argentina: 9

Germany: 6

Draw: 5

In 2006 and 2010, Argentina lost to Germany in the quarter finals. In 1986 Argentina won the world cup by beating Germany in finals 3-2. In 1990 Germany came back to win 1-0 against Argentina to win the world cup. So expect the worst battle today.

For Germany this will be record 8^th Finals and For Argentina its 5^th Finals. In past 4 world cups remember the team who beat the 3^rd place team in semifinals have won the world cup. But in 1990 Germany beat England but it didn’t 3^rd but finished 4^th. Klose will be the only player who played in 2002 who will represent their country. Klose went on to play 2 finals and 2 semifinals and he becomes the highest scorer in world cup with 16 goals. Thomas Mueller needs one more goal to win the Golden boot and if he does it then this will be first time a player will win golden boot consecutively. As much as 5 players playing today are in fray for Golden Ball award and they are Lahm, kroos, Neur, Messi, Di Maria. Also Neur is favorite to win the Golden Glove award this year. So being a German fan I want all awards to land in Germany this year.

Line ups (Probable)

Germany: 4-2-3-1

Neur: Lahm – boating – hummels – Howedes; Schweinsteiger – Khedira; Ozil – Mueller – kroos; Klose

Argentina: 4-3-3

Romero; zabaleta – demichellis – garay – rojo; bigila – mascherano – perez; messi – higuan – lavezzi

Hope Germany wins as they have been able to reach later stages consistently in recent years.

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Venkats

@vnktabi (twitter)

Battle for Bronze: 3rd Place play off today between Brazil and Netherlands

Two losing semi finalist will lock horns today at Estadio Nacional, Brasilia for the third spot playoffs. Both teams already mentally upset would want to push hard to win the 3^rd spot which is always set to the loser spot. But again that’s always something which we require to count because this meaningless match sometimes can make a player Golden Boot Winner or Even Golden Ball winner, so Teams who say the match as meaningless will focus more to win the match. Also this match may be the last match for both the Coaches Luis Scholari and Van Gaal.

Semi finals result

Germany vs Brazil: 7-1 Germany win.

Netherlands vs Argentina: 0-0 (4-2 Pen) Argentina win.

Netherlands will take on the home team in order to grab the Bronze medal in the World cup. This match is the penultimate match with Just Finals which is remaining in the world cup.

Stake:

Netherlands: Arjen Robben (can try to put an impressive performance to boost his Golden ball and Golden Boot Chances). For Louis Van Gaal it might just be another day to experiment on the squad.

Brazil: Having nothing to lose Brazil will try hard to break Dutch attack and win the match. No specifics in the case of Brazil.

Prediction:

Netherlands win:  50 % in 90 Mins

Brazil wins: 20 %

Netherlands win after 90 mins: 30%

Trivia:

• This match will be Netherlands 2^nd time playoff appearance. Earlier it appeared and came fourth.
• For Brazil this match will be 4^th appearance with earlier 2 times they came 3^rd and once 4^th.
• If Robben can score a Hat trick and assist one after which Mueller doesn’t score tomorrow then Robben will win Golden Boot. At the same time if he puts a excellent performance and win today he has a strong chance to win Golden Ball.

All the best to both the teams...Pitching for Netherlands win.

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Venkats

@vnktabi (twitter)

Germany Storm into Finals breaking their Semi Finals Jinx with Brazil Crashing out

Germany Storm into Finals breaking their Semi Finals Jinx with Brazil Crashing out

First thing Hearty congratulations to Miroslav klose for scoring his 16^th goals which will the new world record surpassing the existing 15 goal record. Since 2002 I have been a supporter of Miroslav Klose and today he has made be cry today when he created the record…THANK YOU KLOSE…

 You can Check for other 15 goals in the below link.

http://abionsoccer.blogspot.in/2014/06/klose-ronaldo-and-15-goals-in-world-cup.html

Before the match started it was widely expected to see Schurrle replacing Ozil in the match. But on contrary it was Ozil who was started on the Right with Kroos in centre and Mueller in left wide. Klose started upfront as lone striker with Lahm returning back to favorite Right back position. For Brazil it was Dante who made his first World cup appearance in this game. Right from the beginning the game was aggressive with Germans going all out on the Brazil Team and at 11^th minute first corner conceded.

Score 1-0 Mueller scores for Germany – 11^th minute

Corner for Toni Kroos and Mueller brilliantly spot it in. It is Mueller’s 5^th Goal in world cup.

Post first goal Brazil tried to rally and kept the ball rolling but German defense thwarted all the half chances and sent the ball right in to the German midfield who catered the ball around the Brazil wall. Klose was literally creating spaces for others to pitch and trying to bully the Brazil Defense. In Next 5 minutes four goals were scored by Germany and so ended the Brazil’s dream of winning the world cup at home.

Score 2-0 Klose scores for Germany – 23^rd Minute

Toni kross pass to Mueller and the shot by Mueller is saved but ball comes to play which is slotted in to the net by Klose. Goal number sixteen and the world record created by Klose.

Score 3-0 Kroos scores for Germany – 24^th Minute

A cross for lahm in to the box which is received by Mueller and Mueller sees Kroos empty and pass to Kroos and Kroos brilliantly slot the ball in to the net.

Score 4-0 Kroos scores for Germany – 25^th Minute

Kroos passes to Khedira who is in the Box and Khedira gives it to Kroos and Kroos scores. Second goal for  Kroos.

 Score 5-0 Khedira scores for Germany – 28^th Minute

Khedira to Ozil to Khedira and Khedira Scores the goal.

At this time Brazil was completely disappointed and clueless of what was happening in the park. At the half time the score line was 5-0 for Germany and Brazil fans where all booing the visitors which is actually a ritual. Brazil replaced Fernandinho and Hulk with Paulinho and ramires and Germans replaced Hummels with Mertesacker as to safeguard Hummels for Finals. In early 15 minutes of the second half Brazil seemed to be more motivated and trying to score and they came to close to scoring in 4 places. But it was all Neur who stopped every single attempt of Brazil players to make sure the home team doesn’t get any advantage. AT 58^th minute the Legend Klose was replaced by Super Sub Schurrle. Again right form that moment on the game again shifted to Germans with Mueller coming close to score his 6^th goal of the season. The next goal for the Germans came at 68^th minute and within next ten minutes 7^th goal did come.

Score 6-0 Schurrle scores for Germany – 68^th Minute

Khedira passes to Lahm who in the Box and Lahm finds Schurrle un marked and passes. Schurrle scores from Lahm assist.

Score 7-0 Schurrle scores for Germany – 78^th Minute

Mueller to Schurrle and he scores. Second of the day for Schurrle.

There did come a consolation goal for Brazil which was scored by Oscar at 90^th minute

There ends the semifinals. It was the match which Germany was expecting for more than 10 years. Every semi finals they wanted to know where to hit the opponent but today they exactly nailed it and it was a perfect plan and they went all out on the opponent. Its not just an attack but it was total annihilation. So what next for Brazil, its just Pride that is left and they need to make up their minds and get the bronze medal and leave on a high. For Germany it’s the ultimate prize which is the target.  Germany is just 90 minutes away from the Julius Rimet Trophy. That ultimate prize will be the fitting farewell for KLOSE…

Records of the match

·         Klose scores 16 goals which will be the new Record for highest number of goals in World cup

·         Germany win by 7-1 is highest in the world cup. The Previous record was 6-1 which was also created by Germany against Austria

·         Most goals conceded by Brazil at World Cup

·         Germany have now scored 221 World Cup goals, to move one ahead of their hapless opponents as the tournament's highest ever scorers.

·         Toni Kroos' first-half double, which came in just 69 seconds, was the fastest brace in the history of the competition.

·         Fastest four goals scored in World Cup history. Joachim Low's side scored four goals in the space of six minutes (from 23 to 29). That has never been done in World Cup history.

So its happy ending for German fans like me and other way round for the Brazil Fans…I wish good luck to both the teams for remaining one match.

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Venkats

twitter: @vnktabi

Football World Cup Semi Finals starts: Germany vs Brazil

Football World cup nearing completion as Semi Finals starts today. The first semi finals will be between the Giants of Football Brazil and Germany at Belo Horizonte today at 15:00 HRS Local time (1:30 AM IST).

Other semi finals will be played on 9^th where 2010 finalist Netherlands will face 1990 Finalist Argentina at Sao Paulo at 15:00 HRS Local time (1:30 AM IST). This year semi finals 2 European heavy weights will battle against the 2 American Giants. So in my opinion the semi final is going to be a cracker of a contest with European teams having the advantage. The below table indicates the teams and its records in the semifinals.

Country	Played (Semis)	Won (semis)	Lost (semis)	Winner (finals)	Runner (Finals)	3rd Place	4th Place
Argentina	4	4	0	2	2	-	-
Brazil	10	7	3	5	2	2	1
Germany	12	7	5	3	4	4	1
Netherlands	4	3	1	-	3	-	1

Going by the statistics of all teams Argentina holds the record of reaching the finals whenever it reached last 4. Next comes Netherlands with 75% record followed by Brazil with 70% record. Germany Stands last with 55% conversion from semi finals to finals but again No team has appeared in 12 semi finals and 4 times in a row other than Germany. If Germany or Brazil Wins today then it will become a new record of 8 final appearances, Currently Germany and Brazil are tied at 7 each. So fans will hope for all out win by their team. On the other hand with Argentina being the only team to have won all the matches in the tournament will try to continue the run in this round too, But its Netherlands who lost 2010 to Spain will make sure the match will be hard fought and they would like to brush away the 2010 defeat and make it possible this time.

Brazil vs Germany Head to Head

Played: 9

Germany Win: 2

Brazil Win: 5

Draw: 2

Brazil vs Germany Head to Head (Before unification)

Played: 20

Germany Win: 3

Brazil Win: 11

Draw: 6

This will be the second time Germany will be facing Brazil in the world cup. The previous one was in the 2002 world cup finals where Brazil beat Germany 2-0. This Time Germany seems to be in full energy in order to break the jinx and proceed to finals. It has been 24 years since Germany last won the world cup, 18 years since last Euro win. On the other hand Brazil which is playing at home will try to win the cup to make things look easy. Even though the head to head tells Brazil advantage, still the Germans look really ripe and ready to pounce on the weakness of the opponent. With No suspension or injury scare in the German camp, Joechim Low will put the best possible line up against the Brazil. On the other hand Brazil coach is looking worried as they will miss the services of their best defender thiago silva who will miss the match due to suspension and Neymar who has been injured. Brazil team will have to cope without their two stars in the crunch stage of the world cup. This gives a psychological advantage for the Germans against the Brazilians.

Possible Line up

Germany: (4-2-3-1)

Neur; Lahm – boating – hummels – howedes; Schweinsteiger – kroos; Ozil – Gotze – Podolski; Mueller

Lahm likely to feature as centre back like in france game. Also podolski could make it back and Mueller will play as forward.

Brazil: (4-3-3)

Cesar; Alves – Marcelo – luiz – maicon; Gustavo – Fernandinho – paulinho; hulk – Oscar – fred

Alves will replace thiago silva and Gustavo will be back as well that is the most likely order in Brazil team.

On the paper Germany looks threatening and on the field as well. In the Defense the Brazil looks good but the mid field battle might take Brazil out the game. The same happened with France too. The Midfield in Germany will be manned by Schweinsteiger assisted by Kroos and Ozil which Brazil might find difficult to stop. Brazilian Subs have so far had not impact but German Sub Schurrle and Klose have made their part big making their team winning when it was required. So far Brazil was hell bent on the services of Neymar and with Neymar out of the world cup Brazil will have to find a way to annul the effect of neymar and stop the Germans from scoring.

Trivia

• Germany or Brazil whoever wins will appear in the finals for record 8^th time.
• Klose is one goal away from creating a new world cup goal record.
• This semi finals mark German’s 13^th semi finals again a record.
• Mueller is 2 goals away from current golden boot race tally of 6 goals.
• Apart from klose, no one plays for both teams who where part of 2002 finals.

Hoping for a Germany win...

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Venkats

twitter: @vnktabi

Knock out Phase: Quarter Finals starts – Germany vs France Preview

Last 8 of the world cup teams will start battling to make it last four from today. For next two days, 8 teams will have to play their games with their highest capability with senses sharp. Of course the first fixture itself is being the mouth watering game which will be played by European Heavy weights Germany and France.Germany will play their 13^th semi final if they win this game and also they will create a record of reaching 4 semi finals in a row. In past Germany has reached 3 semifinals in a row 3 times. France if they win this game it will be their 5^th Semi finals in world cup history. Germany being 3 time winner will try to win this game to push harder for their 4^th star. Germany last won the world cup in 1990.

Game: Germany vs France

Time: 9:30 PM IST, 4th July Friday (1300 HRS Brazil time)

Venue: Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janeiro

How teams are lined up (Possible one)

Germany

Formation:  4-3-3

Team: Neur (GK); Boateng – Mertesacker – Hummels – Howedes; Kroos – Lahm – Scheiwnsteiger; Ozil – Mueller – Podolski

Bookings: Lahm and Howedes one booking away from Suspension.

France

Formation: 4-3-3

Team: Lloris: Debuchy – varane – Sakho – Evra; Matuidi – Cabaye – Pogba; Greizmaan – benzema – Valbuena

Bookings: Mauidi , Pogba, Cabaye and Evra one booking away from Suspension.

Road to Quarter finals

Germany:

Group stages: Won 2 (Against Portugal 4-0 and Against USA 1-0) and Drew 1 (Against Ghana 2-2)

Round of 16’s: Won against Algeria 2-1

France:

Group Stages: Won 2 (Against Honduras 3-0 and Against Swiss 5-2) and Drew 1 (Against Ecuador 0-0)

Round of 16’s: Won against Nigeria 2-0

Today’s match will be an acid test for both the teams in order to progress further and make it to last 4. This match will also be the revisit of the famous 1982 Semi finals where France was eliminated by Germany in Penalties after both teams scored 3 goals each. France will try hard to make it to semis and so will Germany today. Tactically France has been playing their favorite free flowing football which has been their key to success in this world cup and on the other Hand TIKA TAKA type of football played by Germany seems to be unusual and doesn’t suit them as such though they won their matches and made it to last 8. The Key battle in the match will be in the middle of the park where Both French as well as German Midfield will face each other. Its advantage Germany in the midfield as the players has been in good touch and has been able to contain the opponent and retain possession. Another Key area will be Forward vs Defense. France has not been tested by fierce or free flowing attack during this world cup so they might find it difficult to contain Ozil, Mueller and Podolski today, But if the French can contain Lahm and Kroos to Center of the park then the flow of passes to German forward can be cut down. On the other hand, French forwards have been hell bent on Paul Pogba for the supply and today he will hold the key for France. With Giroud unlikely to play and Greizmaan to make it to starting 11, the Accuracy of pogba and Pace of greizmaan with Benzema shooting will hold Key to success for the French Side. If we didn’t miss oen guy over here then it has to German Stopper Neur. He has been Dubbed by Pundits as New age Beckenbeur – Maier Combination who can come out stop of his upto 30 yards to sweep and stop the attack.

Negatives:

Germany: as reported at least 7 players have been infected with Flu which might be key.

France: Defense seems to be shaky to fast opponents and concede fouls in danger areas.

Substitutes:

France: Sissokho , Luke remy and Giroud who might come in late to influence the game for France

Germany: Likely are Klose, Khedira and Schurrle. Schurrle has been dubbed as super sub who influenced the team twice in last 4 fixtures so he again holds the key.

Predictions:

Game likely to go to Haywire (may be I am wrong). Equal chances for both Teams to win the game with Germany holding the edge on the paper.

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Venkats

Twitter: @vnktabi

Round of 16’s Ends, All 8 Group stage winners make it to Last 8

The first knock out stage Round of 16’s ended yesterday with winners of group stages defeating all the runners up and make it to quarter finals.  Since the inception of the knock out stages (round of 16’s) in 1986, this is the first time there will be no teams who finished as runners of the group stages in quarter finals. In past 4 teams that finished as runner up in group have made it to finals (86-Germany; 90-Argentian; 94-Italy; 06-France). The round of 16’s match results are shown in below table.

Team 1	Team 2	Venue	Winner	Goals
Brazil	Chile	Belo Horizonte	Brazil	(1-1) 3-2 Pen
Colombia	Uruguay	Rio de Janeiro	Colombia	2-0
Netherlands	Mexico	Fortaleza	Netherlands	2-1
Costa Rica	Greece	Recife	Costa Rica	(1-1) 5-3 Pen
France	Nigeria	Brasilia	France	2-0
Germany	Algeria	Porto Alegre	Germany	2-1
Argentina	Switzerland	Sao Paulo	Argentina	1-0
Belgium	USA	Salvador	Belgium	2-1

How did the Last 16 fixtures turned out to be.

Brazil vs Chile:  Close game which went to Spot kick. Chile had their flashes in the game most importantly at 121 minute shot hitting crossbar. Else Cesar GK for Brazil won it for Brazil.

Colombia vs Uruguay: Diego Forlan was expected to make up for suarez which he failed and that absence was well capitalized by Colombia and defeated Uruguay comprehensively. James Rodriguez scored 2 goals and currently leading golden boot table.

Netherlands vs Mexico:  Classic match, again Mexico shoots rockets and Netherlands having close range one on one battle. When everyone thought Mexico were to win sneijder, robben and  Huntelaar thought other way round and make Netherlands win. Almost every fan would have felt sorry for Mexico.

Costa Rica vs Greece:  One more encounter where all is not over until final whistle was witnessed. Costa rica scores and in injury time Greece equalize and take to penalties. But in penalties Costa Rica come out victorious.

France vs Nigeria:  An easy encounter (seemed to be) but Nigeria made France to wait till 80^th minute for a goal. Better luck next time Nigeria.

Germany vs Algeria: one word, Algeria stuns the world and Germany. The match that was widely expected to be raining goals for Germany turned out to be a test for them. Algeria put up an excellent defense and made Germany to push to extra time. Of course in extra time Germany scored twice and conceded once and emerged as winners. Neur was the man of the match as he performed the role of goal keeper, defender and Midfielder. If Germany intends to repeat the same performance then World cup is over for them.

Argentina vs Switzerland: How long will Messi carry you? Swiss played brilliantly and came close to scoring in 5 places. The games went to Extra time and at the dying moments of extra time Angel dima aria scores but did you think that was over, at 121 minute Swiss hit the cross bar scaring almost every Argentinean  players. So Argentina if they don’t scale Belgium will beat them for sure.

Belgium vs USA: As expected USA put a good show put Belgium scored twice in extra time and conceded once in extra time. So Belgium can cause a upset and that upset can be Argentina.

So with All group winners in the last 8, predicting the winners is going to be even more difficult as to be frank there will be no favorites in the quarter finals. Now when we go through the above results it is interesting to find the below facts.

• Only 3 Fixtures got completed in normal 90 minutes. Rest all matches made it extra time.
• Out of 5 Fixtures which went to extra time, 2 ended up in penalties.
• Teams Chile and Mexico opened the score line against Brazil and Netherlands, but they ended up losing with Chile losing in penalties and Mexico in Normal time.
• Thomas Mueller, Lionel Messi and Neymar did not score in this round, that gave James Rodriguez the advantage as he scored 2 goals and make it to top of the golden boot table.
• Except for Columbia, Argentina and France all other teams conceded goals.

So the below table indicates how the quarter finals fixtures appear to be.

Team 1	Team 2	Venue	Time
Germany	France	Rio de Janeiro	9:30 PM IST, 4th July Friday
Brazil	Colombia	Fortaleza	1:30 AM IST, 5th July Saturday
Argentina	Belgium	Brasilia	9:30 PM IST, 5th July Saturday
Netherlands	Costa Rica	Salvador	1:30 AM IST, 6th July Sunday

From the Above fixtures we can now say that Germany facing France will probably be the best fixture in the battle for the semi’s with Argentina vs Belgium to be in par with the First one. So the winners of the 1^st game will meet winners of the 2^nd game in semis and winner of the 3^rd game will meet winner of the 4^th game in semis. For now I would say this world cup has exceeded the expectations for the fans across globe.

So now it’s all up to the teams to perform on that particular day to get farther in the tournament. All teams will fight to make it to last 4 and then to final two and at last to become winners. All the best to teams and wish you good luck…

Germany makes it to last 8 by beating Algeria – Final score Germany 2- 1 Algeria

                             Germany beats Algeria in a hard fought fierce battle at Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre today. The match that was expected to be ending in 90 minutes with rain of goals took till the extra time to decide the tie. Two german goals came in each half of the extra time with Schurrle scoring the opener in 92nd minute and Ozil at 119th Minute if that was to be the end the Algerians rallied back to score a consolation goal at 120th Minute by Djabou (may be if they had 5 minutes they might have scored one more and equalized). Clearly it was a frustrating game for both Players as well as fans. But end of the day Germany make it to consecutive 8th Last 8 appearance and also 15th time in 17 world cups they have reached the Last 8. So what next for Germany? Germans will now meet France on Friday in the quarter finals which is expected to be fiercer than it was today.

                                  The First half completely belonged to Algeria without any doubt. The way Algeria played was really amazing. They at first never gave the possession easily. Second the interceptions of the ball by Algerians were accurate. Third they matched the pace of Germans and in few places they outpaced Germans. These three were the key for Algeria in First half. But few places Germany did show up their class but that was overpowered by the alert and astute Algeria. Neur was the face saver for Germans in the First half. He came out of the D to clear the ball and act as Beckenbeur (SWEEPER) in the defense. Clearly he is the man of the match.

                                   At the Stroke of second Half Mario Gotze was replaced by Chelsea striker Schurrle. This Change introduced dynamicity in the attack for the Germans in the game. In Second half Germany accelerated the game coming close to scoring in more than few occasions but again Algerian defense made things difficult for Germans. At 70th Minute Mustafi who was the weak link in the German defense got injured which made Khedira come in as substitute. With Khedira in Lahm moved to his favorite position as full back which ignited the fire power even further. From 80th Minute to end of full time Germany had 4 chances and came close to scoring in 3 occasions. In All those scenarios it was Algerian Custodian M’Bolhi who thwarted the German Efforts. At the end of full time the scoreline was NIL – NIL and game went to extra time.

                                          In the Extra time just 90 seconds in to the play Schurrle scored the goal assisted by Mueller’s sublime pass. Again from there Germany did everything to make sure the Match is in their hands. At 120th minute Ozil scored which eventually sealed the game. When everything seemed to over Djaboa scored a consolation goal for Algeria. The match ended 2-1 with Germany victory which made Germany to enter final 8 for the 9th time in a row.

Final score Germany 2 – 1 Algeria

Scorers

Germany: A. Schürrle 92', M. Özil 119'

Algeria: A. Djabou 120'+

Team Rating

Germany: 2/5

Algeria: 3/5

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Venkats

Twitter: @vnktabi

Gmail: vnktabi@gmail.com