2014 World Cup

They can now move on as a nation to bungling the 2016 Olympics.

 

Whether through group osmosis or because the coach made it the plan, Brazil came out wildly trying to score the first goal. I assume then the idea was to sit back in a shell. When Germany scored first, the plan went out the window, and the rout was on.
I was struck by how the two Brit announcers were so amazed that such a rout could ever take place in the final stages of the Cup. As an American who's experienced many Super Bowl routs and covered my share, too, I'm surprised there aren't more of them. The pressure of being behind in an elimination game breeds errors which in turn breed despair. Meanwhile, Germany is out there enjoying being invincible. Like the Seahawks, they wished the game could go on for days.

 

What was amazing was that all 5 of the first half goal were taken by players who were basically unmarked (on the second goal, 2 Germans were being defended by one player). These weren't moments of great 1 on 1 skill where a defender can't keep up with a superior player.

 

You’re assuming that Brazil is a “soccer power” at present. They are not. They have 1 star and one very good defender, Silva. The rest are living off the legend of Brazilian greats that haven’t been around.

When you’re starting strike force consists of Fred and Hulk, two players that probably don’t come close to the USA’s 30 man, let alone 23, you aren’t a soccer power.

They were crushed because they should have lost out previously, but had that one star to draw enough attention as to leave other players open with time and space on the ball. Germany was the first team to not have to deal with that star player.

They are held in high regard due to their ability and skill. Possession is a stat number based on game states, particularly given what the USA did. So, yeah, people that actually pay attention and understand the sport will recognize what the USA achieved…

David Luiz is the highest paid defender because his nationality is Brazilian. He can get forward at times, sure, but he’s a complete dud.

 

Brazil wasn't awe-inspiring in the group round. I thought Mexico would beat them later. I figured the home energy would lift them if anything would, but then losing two key players. The final will be close.

 

Christ, take the red, white and blue glasses off. I understand the game just fine and the Americans were outclassed in 3 of the 4 games they played in. Tell us again how Bradley is better than Fellaini or Witzel.

If Howard is average or even just good against Belgium that game is a disaster. But hey, if this is the tactics you want to take, let your keeper have to have an all time performance to get to extra time have at it.

 

This was tight.

http://www.espnfc.us/blog/marcotti-musings/62/post/1940267/marcotti-a-shocking-exit-for-scolari-and-brazil

 

No glasses necessary, but it’s nice to go off on an ad hominum attack instead of actually reading what was written.

USA scored early against Ghana. This created a new game state. Jozy’s injury created a second. As such, the USA defending was part of the strategy. Inherently, they were not pressing to gain possession because they were protecting a lead. The same way Brazil, who was completely outclassed and outmatched yesterday, somehow had more possession and more shots on goal than Germany. However, when Ghana tied the game, USA essentially took control and marched down the field. The end result was a goal and a win.

Against Portugal, they were shaky for about 10 minutes and then dominated the game. This isn’t an opinion it’s a fact.

Against Germany and Belgium, again, the USA played a defensive strategy designed around containment and absorbing pressure. Klinsmann plays a pragmatic system in which the team mostly defends and withstands pressure for the first seventy minutes. Then, when the game is starting to open up, he makes an offensive sub that adjusts tempo.

As for Bradley, yeah, he is. If you can’t see that Bradley was all over the field, covering for players and distributing the ball, I don’t know where you learned how to “understand the game” but it’s a knowledge base that is less than adequate.

 

The Brazil loss is astonishing because the fold came completely out of nowhere. In previous matches, they made up for some deficiencies through grit and determination (and some help here and there, like in the Croatia game). Were the odds-on favorites so mentally weak that they gave up at 0-2? 0-2 sucks, but there's nothing worse than playing against a team that just cut a 2-goal deficit to 1.

Their lack of defensive shape shocked me, too. I know Silva is important, but can they not organize themselves without him? I don't know if it would have changed much, but I would have been interested to see what would have happened if Brazil had started the game like they came out in the second half, with Ramires and Paulinho (two players who are willing to work defensively) in the middle.

On another note, the Klose goal was absolutely gorgeous.

 

On every goal (at least after the first), you can watch the tight-angle replays and pick out defenders in the box who weren't moving ... anywhere. Not toward the ball, not toward a defender, nothing.

They quit.

 

That's basically it: they quit. Their collective heart just stopped beating.

In your wildest dreams you never expect that kind of thing to happen to Brazil.

Still processing it. So bizarre.

 

Bradley did a great job distributing the ball to both teams.