FIFA World Cup knockout stages

[The Waugh Twins]

Not a fan of the shoot out, but there seems to be no other way.

That shoot out was however disgraceful sportsmanship by the Dutch keeper. I can't believe he was allowed to actually come up and touch the Costa Rican players just before they were about to take the penalties and then with the last penalty he starts whacking the crossbar to the point where it's vibrating. It's a crazy old game.


Costa Rica

[The Waugh Twins]

Didn't like the antics of the Dutch goal keeper prowling about the way he did.

Shouldn't be allowed and probably isn't but the refs in this world cup are so incompetent. Aside from that it was poor sportsmanship, but it's soccer why would it be any different.

[Durhamfootman]

Substituting the keeper for the shoot out

Makes a manager, taking a punt, look like a genius

Krul got all five right.

Did it by staying on his line and not committing too early

[Aidan11]

Subbing the keeper was bizarre but I actually remember it being talked about in 1990.

England v Germany semi final. Shilton was old and there was speculation Robson might bring Chris Woods on towards the end of extra time. He didn't, we lost, end of story.

[shankycricket]

Should have been at least 4 red cards in that game. Fernandinho, Paulinho, Cesar and Zuniga.

One of the worst officiating displays i've ever seen.

Absolutely. And thats 3 Brazilians to 1 Colombian. Of course some Brazilian fans on this board think only Zuniga deserved it.

What Zuniga did was ten times worse than what Suarez did. Didn't you even watch the tackle? It was life-threatening.

Here, let me educate you....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28173132

"Brazil forward Neymar has been ruled out of the World Cup with a broken bone in his back sustained in the 2-1 quarter-final win over Colombia. He fractured a vertebra in his spine when kneed in the back by Juan Zuniga in a challenge that went unpunished."

What Zuniga did was no accident...if Suarez can get four months for a mere bite, the book should be thrown at Zuniga for this. Talking about "one Colombian vs four Brazilians" is absolutely ridiculous - what Fernandinho and Cesar did bears no comparison to what Zuniga did.

That's why I have eyes only for Zuniga right now....

If you can't see that, then that tells me all I need to know about some football fans, newbies or not.

I didn't comment on the magnitude of the challenge at all and at no point did I say, Zuniga didn't deserve a red card. I still don't see how that absolves Fernandinho and Paulinho though, even though their challenges were less threatening. The way they constantly heckled James was disgusting and both did enough to warrant a red card even though their challenges were less threatening.

[shankycricket]

Its obviously very sorry to see Neymar go out in this manner but I hope the Germans take full advantage of it. As DFM said, the Brazilians fell on their own sword and I wouldn't be sorry at all to see the Germans give them a good ol' hiding. Klose breaking Ronaldo's record (currently held jointly by them) against Brazil of all teams would be even sweeter although I've got nothing against Ronaldo. Knowing the refrees though, I wouldn't want to be betting my house on a German win even though they are clearly a better side esp with Brazil minus Silva and Neymar.

[shankycricket]

Two good matches today. Thought the first half of Argentina-Belgium was a bit dull and boring barring that sensational strike from the misfiring Higuain. But the second half more than made up for it with some breathtaking, counter attacking football. Argentina too good in the end. Messi was brilliant again.

The second match was brilliant, even though it was goalless for the entire 120 mins, there was great drama. The Dutch nearly won in the dying stages of normal time but a great save by Navas kept them at bay. They had their moments in extra time too but couldn't quite finish it off. Keylor Navas was simply brilliant. Their dominance over Costa Rica was exemplified by the fact that Costa Rica's first corner of the match came in the 115th minute (I think). All these missed chances for Netherlands just gave you the impression that it was meant to be Costa Rica's day particularly as Netherlands had never won a match in extra time or penalties previously in 4 attempts. And when Costa Rica won the toss in the penalty shootout and shot first, the gut feeling just got a bit stronger as the previous 9 penalty shootouts in the World Cup had resulted in a victory for the team shooting first. But hats off to LVG. The decision to use one of your only 3 subs on a goalkeeper, especially in a 120 minute match must have taken serious balls (3 subs are often considered insufficient over 120 mins and LVG effectively used only 2) and boy! didn't it work wonders? It is this "out of the box" thinking that can make or break a World Cup. And in case of Louis Van Gaal, he lived by his sword and became a hero, as did the goalkeeper Krul of course. Exciting season coming up for Man United I think with this guy in charge. Really looking forward to it.

[shankycricket]

And lets not forget, the nerveless penalties taken by RVP (who had a very ordinary game otherwise), Robben (who was at his diving best ), Sneijder and Kuyt under pressure, especially against a goalkeeper of Navas' quality.
Costa Rica can definitely be very proud of their efforts. To not only get out of but to top a group in which they were considered by far the weakest side on paper pre-tournament, was a big enough acheivement anyway. To survive against Greece afterwards, with only 10 men in extreme, energy sapping heat and to take the Netherlands match into a penalty shootout is not bad, not bad at all.

[shankycricket]

2 more days without football again.

At least we have the Wimbledon final tomorrow.

But its worth the wait as we've got two very good matchups and the semifinal lineup I think everyone was expecting before the start of the tournament except maybe Spain instead of Netherlands. After the shock exit of Spain in the group stages, things have gone pretty much according to plan in the knockouts although Brazil qualifying ahead of Colombia still hurts.

[Gingerfinch]

Fell asleep during the second half

The Krul substitution looks like an inspired one, even if the pens weren't the best.

Hard to call the semi finals.

Would like to see Germany in the final. Not really bothered who they play.

[budgetmeansbudget]

Nothing between any of the remaining four teams.

[mikesiva]

Should have been at least 4 red cards in that game. Fernandinho, Paulinho, Cesar and Zuniga.

One of the worst officiating displays i've ever seen.

Absolutely. And thats 3 Brazilians to 1 Colombian. Of course some Brazilian fans on this board think only Zuniga deserved it.

What Zuniga did was ten times worse than what Suarez did. Didn't you even watch the tackle? It was life-threatening.

Here, let me educate you....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28173132

"Brazil forward Neymar has been ruled out of the World Cup with a broken bone in his back sustained in the 2-1 quarter-final win over Colombia. He fractured a vertebra in his spine when kneed in the back by Juan Zuniga in a challenge that went unpunished."

What Zuniga did was no accident...if Suarez can get four months for a mere bite, the book should be thrown at Zuniga for this. Talking about "one Colombian vs four Brazilians" is absolutely ridiculous - what Fernandinho and Cesar did bears no comparison to what Zuniga did.

That's why I have eyes only for Zuniga right now....

If you can't see that, then that tells me all I need to know about some football fans, newbies or not.

I didn't comment on the magnitude of the challenge at all and at no point did I say, Zuniga didn't deserve a red card. I still don't see how that absolves Fernandinho and Paulinho though, even though their challenges were less threatening. The way they constantly heckled James was disgusting and both did enough to warrant a red card even though their challenges were less threatening.

There is a huge difference between what Zuniga did, and what Fernandinho and Paulinho did...those two Brazilians operated within the laws of football. And when you talk about how James was constantly tackled, you conveniently ignore the fact that the same was being done to Neymar, who was kicked about the same way James was. And that last kick came within one inch of crippling Neymar:

http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/05/brazils-n ... d-4787690/

"Brazil star Neymar ‘could have been paralysed’ if he had been hit in the back one inch higher during his team’s 2-1 World Cup quarter-final win over Colombia on Friday. The 22-year-old was stretchered off in the 88th minute in tears after he had been kneed from behind by Juan Zuniga – in a challenge that the Colombia player did not receive any punishment for."

Tackles in the back must be banned. That is where a man's spine is located, and in no way should they be tolerated, and just passed off as just another tackle that was a part of the game....

Here's a more balanced article on the Brazil-Colombia match than I've seen in the English press:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbymcmaho ... nate-view/

"I found Brazil’s approach to Colombia very similar to the methods used by the Netherlands in the group game against Chile. Alexis Sanchez was the focus of Dutch attention that day and of the 25 fouls (Brazil had 6 more on Friday) 9 were on the Chilean attacker. Remember the outrage that spilled over after that match and how the Dutch were vilified for their treatment of Sanchez? Yeah, me neither."

[Aidan11]

Shame the semi finals are on at the later time.

[Red Devil]

Shame the semi finals are on at the later time.

I'm quite happy with that as I'll be at my daughter's school for her end of year awards ceremony so I probably won't get home till 9!

[shankycricket]

Shame the semi finals are on at the later time.

I'm quite happy with that as I'll be at my daughter's school for her end of year awards ceremony so I probably won't get home till 9!

Also, we'll be able to watch the Test without any interruption.