LIVERPOOL STUMBLES AT UPTON PARK

THE MATCH PLAYED ON 20TH SEPTEMBER;

Liverpool stumbled in London on a very fascinating game against West Ham. West Ham faced Liverpool with a 2-2 draw against the Tigers (Hull City) in their memories. Sam Allardyce's side knew how important was to win the match with Liverpool. Reid played very well and he brought wonderful balls in the box for Valencia and his fellows. Kouyate was a big challenge on the midfield and Steven Gerrard could not withstand all the pressure from the midfield.

There is every reason for Liverpool to hunt for some new talented players in January despite the fact that he has spent some million pounds in this summer. There is a clear need for good defenders as well as one defensive midfielder in the Liverpool team. Gerrard is getting older, so is Skirtel.

In half-time Liverpool was already behind by 2-1. The Hammers scored their 2 goals in 1st half within only 7 minutes. Raheem Sterling proved as to why he is in The Three Lions when he sent a very hot missile to try to catchup West Ham. west Ham was very much organized than Liverpool in that day. In the 2nd half Adam Lallana was given a chance to uplift Liverpool. Thanks to West ham defence as they managed to resist all the pressure from Liverpool attacking force. With this 3-1 defeat Liverpool should rethink the way they are going to approach other games to come up with good results.

MAN CITY 1 CHELSEA 1

Man City played only 9 after Zabaleta was sent out. The Etihad stadium was so quiet just trying to feel the taste of only 9 people to play against a mighty Chelsea team. On my side the football shown by James Milner was so wonderful. Milner gave much trouble to the right back of Chelsea. His pace was always certain and he was a threat to Chelsea defence.

 In order to equalize the goal Milner dribbled the ball so perfectly to give a perfect pass to Frank Lampard who netted the ball to his old team. Chelsea got their goal after Zabaleta was sent off. Having one player less did not resist Man City from reacting. They played some good attack-minded football which gave them a chance to equalize.

Super Frankie

ARGENTINA ADVANCES TO THE FINAL.

Argentina, Argentina, Argentina. Yes, Argentina has won on penalties. A 4-2 victory ended up the oranje race to the final. At last the dream of Argentina to play in this year’s final has come to a reality. the story went over after a goal-less draw in 120 minutes time. The Oranje played very well but did not manage to see the net at all. Robin Van Persie was not in his normal form we are used to see. 

The Argentinian defence blocked all the balls from reaching Van Persie. He was so lonely in front. The Argentinian defence also managed to block all those harmful dribbling from Arjen Robben.  They only lacked the normal play making from Lionel Messi as he normally play at Barcelona.

Robben neary scored in the extra time but Mascherano denied him the opportunity. Although he did not shine as when he plays for Barcelona, Messi made an impact by his presence on the game. Van Persie was replaced by Huntelaar to try to have another attacking alternative for the oranje but Argentinian defence was very keen to stop their opponents. Both teams defended very well and no wonder they ended up with a 0-0 draw. We expected Krul to replace the number 1 keeper before the end of extra time, but this did not happen.

Robben under a very close supervision

Robben stopped by Argentinian defender.

Janmaat denies Higuain from making a header.

IT WILL BE A WONDERFUL NIGHT: MESSI VS ROBBEN

Robben: pic by: www.goal.com

Today we are going to watch the other two famous football giants on the globe. Argentina will be facing Holland. Thisis a second match after the 1st one which ended with a very wonderful outcomes. No one expected Germany to get a very massive win of 7-0. Almost all who witnessed that match observed a clear effect of the absence of Neymar as well as Thiago Silva.

Argentina will try to play without Angel Di Maria who was injured in the quarter final game against Belgium. Di Maria has had a very promising record of creating good passes in this world cup. It is very common for the team managers to find replacements of key players once they are not available. If the replaced player plays well no problem, but if that player will play under the expected performance, it always cost the team. Holland will play as usual, with Robben and Sneijder upfront. Argentina will be having Messi, Mascerano and Higuain. It gonna be a very fascinating match.

Messi. pic: www.zimbio.com

SCOLARI UNDER A TOUGH TEST

Germany squad

 

Brazil is facing a very huge task tonight against Germany in the first semi-final match. There is no much damage on the German side as we can see that Mats Hummel is back in business. There is a home advantage when it comes to Brazil. They will play at home and  will be backed up by multitudes of home fans. The Selecao might try to utilize this home advantage.

This is Neymar-less Selecao. Thiago Silva also will be missing. On my side Brazil has many players on the bench to cover the place of those 2 key players. The problem which Scolari will be facing is to have a plan B which will accommodate another player in the absence of Naymar. Thiago Silva is a very crucial player on the defence. Dante can replace him, but Silva is more committed and more potential than Dante.

For the Germans, it is more than enough to play in the semi-finals for some years now. They are likely to be motivated to play so hard to move to the final. Let us wait and see if Brazil can win this game, but I don't underestimate the German Soldiers.

Brazil squad. Pic by: www.huffingtonpost.com

THE GERMANS CHASE OUT FRANCE

The quarter finals opened with the 2 European giants meeting in Maracana. Maracana is as big as the match itself. Think of the Germans at their form and also think of France who sank the Super Eagles in their game at the round of 16. It was another tough test for The Blues. The Germans did a very outstanding job in the midfield. Bastian Schwenstiger, Philip Lahm, Mats Hummel were all working together to block the Blues from attacking.

The Germans played with great cautions in their defence. Some times they blocked all dangerous balls from Valbuena from reaching Benzema. Antoinne Griezman was under a very close football policemen namely Metersacker and Jerome.

The Germans played so strategically in their game against France. They understood that winning is the only option better than France. They tried to press ahead in the 1st half as much as they could. Remember the Germans are very tall as compared by the Frenchmen. Klose took a free-kick and luckily enoughHummel was available to connect it to the net. Remember that this shot on the goal of France was the 1st which was on target, and it made all the difference. The Germans dominated much of the 1st half by 59% possession, and this showed that they just needed to win and maximize their victory in the 1st half before their opponents can do any harm.

France could really use the 2nd half for a revenge because the Germans played much defensive game in the second half, with only 40% possession. It seems that France lacked a creative plan B to see the Germany net as they continued to attack but no goal was conceded. This Ribery-less France lacked a person who can dictate the game and bring a significant change on the pitch. Bon Voyage France, but we all appreciate the way you have played in group stage and in the round of 16.

BRAZIL OUTWEIGHS COLOMBIA IN FORTALEZA

The Selecao has played a very tough game against another South America underdog. The absence of Radamel Falcao was well substituted by Juan Quadrado and James Rodriguez. Colombia were playing a very quick passing football but Brazil defenders were extra careful to clear all dangers on their goal. The 1st goal came in the 7th minute from a corner kick. The ball was uncleared by the Colombian defence and Thiago Silva kicked it in the net.

The 1st half ended with 1-0 win in favour of the Brazilians. Brazil destructed the attacking moves of the Colombian side for all of the 1st half. Colombia seemed to have no plan B because they almost didn't change their attacking style even in the 2nd half. Several times the Colombian team preferred to play individually and this made some breakthrough for the Selecao.

Neymar took the 2 free kicks but none went in the goal. It has been a very tough moment for Colombia to play in Fortaleza with the stadium full of Brazilian fans. The yellow T-shirts dominated the stadium. David Luiz made a crucial goal out of a free kick. This really ended the hopes of the Colombians to go through. Few minutes before the match ended, Colombia got a penalt spot and James Rodriguez took it successfully to make the only goal for Colombia. The match ended at a 2-1 score, and Brazil will face Germany in the semi-finals.