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Messi will probably be too good for Netherlands as he has at least one decisive action per game, which could prove the two votes in this thread right for a final Germany-Argentina..
So frantic at club level, Messi is more of a classic old-school Argentinian playmaker in this side, happy slowing the play and waiting to assess his options, delaying his final ball. The Argentinians call that moment la pausa: it has near-mythical status, perhaps best personified in recent years by Juan Román Riquelme, the Boca Juniors playmaker. In this system, Messi is not a forward, not a false 9, not a winger drifting inside, but a standard No10 in an otherwise flat 4-4-1-1 system.
Argentina build steadily around Lionel Messi but Belgium lack cohesion | Michael Cox | Football | The Observer
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Diego Maradonna, currently 'analyst' for Venezuelan TV, reckons Holland can / will do Messi and the Gauchos.
Would be nice to see some justice done after the WC 2010.
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Well, we said this Brazil was pretty rubbish, but 0-5 at half time, in their own home..
This is something which will be talked about for decades to come.
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Question from the BBC:
["Has a manager ever resigned at half-time of a World Cup semi-final?"]
You have to feel sorry for these guys, there are people crying in the stadium.
On the other hand, it's just a game, much worse can happen to you in life than lose a football game, even one as important as this one.
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Some perspective:
["Brazil had not lost a competitive match at home since 1975 but they were not just removed from their own World Cup. They were embarrassed in a way that will make them look back on this tournament and want to cover their eyes. It was football’s equivalent of chewing on broken glass.."]
1975, euuuh, that's like 40 years ago, ok 39, but stil..
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Well, Argentina and Netherlands cancelled eachother out. Funny to see that with two votes we predicted the final here at SHU...
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Ok, Argentina, that was the little brother, now the big one..
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One has to say, for all their epic breakdown, at least Brazil went full force at the Germans in the first 10 minutes, creating a match which will be talked about for generations. Compare that to the non-event which we've just seen, a tactical battle of teams afraid of one another, cancelling eachother out, a match that has already been forgotten.
Cruyff said it best, it's better to lose with your own philosophy than with someone else's
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When Sergio Romero wheeled away in celebration and the realisation hit Ron Vlaar that his failure to convert Holland’s first penalty had given Argentina an immediate advantage in Thursday night’s penalty shootout, the main broadcast feed cut to scenes of Dutch despair. But alternative footage has appeared online which shows the ball rolling towards goal – spawning questions over whether his effort crossed the line or stopped millimetres short.
Did Ron Vlaar’s penalty in World Cup semi-final cross the line? | Football | theguardian.com
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The beauty of football: if anyone would have told us before the tournament that Netherlands was going to beat Spain 5:1 and Brazil 3:0 we would have said he was crazy..
On the other hand, with these results you'd also expect to be in the final, if not crowned world champion outright..
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