Congrats Ace and arno_ed. Looking forward to meeting you guys in the final. (Although I am still scratching my head as to how we should try and defend Arjen, if not by moving Philipp to the left wing defender position...)
Lies, damned lies and statistics. What's the source? How about: - Goals - Duels for ball won/lost - Turnovers - Sprints - Total km run That doesn't even count intangibles such as body language, etc.
Man Sabella is really slowing down Argentina and Messi. Dude is so conservative. Messi was brilliant in the first half, and then Argentina began to play what you call "don't try to score, just stop the other team from scoring" tactic. Ugh. Messi needs to be in god-like form for Argentina to have a chance with Di Maria out, and Aguero still nursing his injury.
All the more pressure on Messi. And who has that GIF of Messi's ridiculous pass to Di Maria (the play where he got injured)?
<iframe class="vine-embed" src="https://vine.co/v/MUQQmUiIFJu/embed/simple" width="600" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe><script async src="//platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Messi is a god.
Aguero back for the Semis? He was training with them before the Belgium game. That would help Argentina a lot. DD
Either for Semis or Finals/3rd place matchup Fer should be back with the Netherlands, another bench guy They still think they can get De Jong healthy for a potential Finals
And you thought 'Parkering' or 'Lebroning' was bad. This is a freaking dangerous, potentially career ending injury...
A lot of other factors come into consideration of goalee skill during open play. Like positioning , knowing when to come off line, knowing when to run out of box and become a sweeper/defender (like Neuer), which require more outfield player skills. Knowing how to throw the ball out offensively and accurately to begin a counterattack.
My Top keepers so far: Top 5 Navas Neuer/Ochoa Howard Bravo Next group: Ospina/Rais M'Boli Julio Cesar Courtois Enyeama/Benaglio Honorable mention: Krul, Cillessen, Romero, Lloris
Robben was insanely impressive last night. He never let up and he was constantly facing multiple defenders. Even in the final 10 minutes of extra time he was killing it. He is hard to route for with his usual diving but a game like last night made it very easy to cheer for him. Argentina will not play as disciplined and are nowhere near as good defensively as CR, anyway, so it should be explosive next round.
Even broke the speed world record with the 5th goal vs Spain, during the late minutes of the game. Robben is an absolute physical beast, his workout routine must be insane.
Yes, he always trains with maximum effort, and has a very healthy lifestyle, and great support by his family. Impressive.
