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History heavily favors Germany however, Italian history against Germany favors them. Germany are 13 of 14 in Dortmund stadium with an impressive 59 – 7 goal difference. Italy is feeling the pressure playing against the host nation who will be going in multitudes shouting and cheering like barbarians raising the hearts of their country to unmatched proportions.
In the first half when Zidane clearly outplayed, outwitted the samba team, I could sense the butcher floating around waiting to crush Brazil straight to the ground.
Very tough loss. The players could not do anything during Penalty Kicks as it could go either way.
Players and coaches are outspoken on how ugly and sickening it is to lose in penalties. I would agree that sometimes luck plays a major factor especially when you have top notch goalkeepers and top notch shooters on the field.
Zidane. Henry. Old and Young. The passing of the torch came at the expense of FIFA World Ranked number 1, Brazil, after Thierry scored the winning goal for France on the 62nd minute.
Zidane outplayed, outmatched the entire Brazilian team playing as if it was the 1998 World Cup Finals where Zizou delivered the killing plays to kick Brazil out of the tournament.
I feel hurt and sorry for both David Beckham and Wayne Rooney who could only watch from the sidelines as their team lost against Portugal. David was in tears when he went off the field on the 52nd minute of the quarterfinal against Portugal after he got injured on his right ankle when defender Nuno Valente stepped on him.
I am deeply saddened and strongly disagree that Jose Pekerman
would quit as the Argentinan coach. His announcement came right after they lost to Germany which makes me hope those are words of emotions and not based on logical reasoning.
Argentina was superb on the field playing great football, ran and positions themselves well on the field and was so dangerous on counter-attacks and opening opportunities in goal scoring. Jose assembled a young, explosive and attacking team that could light the scoreboard every game. You cannot take away anything from this team who played against the host nation, were scoring against one of the best goalies in the world and only lost on penalty kicks with their substitute keeper guarding their goal.
A superpower in football, Italy’s prospects for this game is not bright considering they have four dependable players sitting on the bench. After a stretched out game against Australia, they might ran out of fuel against Ukraine.
Defender Nesta is out because of an injury, Marco Materazzi is serving a one game ban today for a red card given against their match with Australia, midfielder Daniele De Rossi remains suspended and forward Vincenzo Iaquinta is still suffering muscle injury.
It is going to be a very difficult climb for Italy although they will be relying heavily on Francesco Totti to score the go ahead goals for the team.
Have you seen the look in the face of Oliver Kahn during the World Cup competition even after winning a game? Media has not stopped going after the controversy between Oliver, Klinsmann and Lehmann about Jurgen’s decision to bench Oliver in favor of Jens.
Why doesn’t the Media Stop?
That’s a very good question which may be traced from the following reasons:
1. Jurgen gave no convincing explanation to Oliver about his choice
2. Oliver publicly declared that he cannot accept Jens to be better than him
3. Oliver doesn’t show any sign of happiness on the bench
People are going to watch and see who among the two teams can outplay the other out of the group of 8. Argentina should definitely be feeling the pressure playing against the host nation who will be going in hordes shouting and cheering like barbarians raising the hearts of their country to unmatched proportions. Germany’s play game after game have improved dramatically both in offense and defense.
The hardest team to go up against is the team who has the 12th man by their side — German Fans.
The odds are against Argentina who is facing the leading goal scorer in the tournament — Miroslav Klose, the goalie who replaced the greatest goalie in 2002 — Jens Lehmann, the coach who revolutionized and changed the way the traditional Germans play the game — Jurgen Klinsmann, Michael Ballack relentlessly sending one shot after the other towards the goal, winning all three matches — 9 points in group stage, and dominating Sweden in the final 16, etc .
France fans came in legions but celebrated as one after the final whistle sounded.
Spain enjoyed an early lead at the 28th minute when David Villa scored a spot kick which lasted for 13 minutes.
