World Cup - A review of the beautiful game.

The World Cup is over now and  for the winners Germany it is probably just sinking in what they have achieved. 

I thought the the some of the group games where fantastic and teams played without fear. 

One of the group games  I enjoyed watching was when France beat Switzerland by five goals to two and the French played amazing free flowing footballs. 

The game that I found most exciting was the Ghana versus Germany match and this match could have gone either way but ended up in the draw. 

However the match that almost put me sleep was Nigeria versus Iran was an incredibly boring match with both teams trying hard not to score....

So I thought the knock out games where going to be just as good and sadly it was not the case. The free flowing football had been replaced with edgy and defensive football. 

The stand out game of the knock out stages was Germany beating the host Brazil by seven goals to one. It was a little embarrassing to watch and this was compounded by the crying fans in the stadium. 

So the two most efficient and consistent teams of the tournament Germany and Argentina who made it to the final. 

However it was a little bit of a damp squib with little or no entertainment but the German team where the worthy winners. 

Argentina v Germany - Final review

The final took place yesterday and Germany beat Argentina by a goal to nil in extra time. 

It was a pretty dull match with both teams being very careful but somehow you got the feeling that this was more of an advantage for Germany.

Argentina's Lionel Messi failed to shine and Argentina did not have a single shot on target in the whole match. 

Germany had few chances but where unable to convert them into goals and it took the sub Mario Gotze to come on and break the deadlock late into the second half of extra time. 

For me it was more defending that lead to the goal but the BBC pundits where waxing lyrical about it being an amazing goal. 

Yes it was a well taken goal but I don't think it would even be in my top five goals. 

So Germany won the World Cup and it was well deserved but  I don't like their style of football. 

Which has very little to do with being entertaining and is more about being clinical and efficient. 

But at they end of the day they won the World Cup so they must be doing something right. 

Holland v Argentina - Semi final review

In the second semi final match Argentina beat Holland by four goals to two on penalties. It was a pretty dire affair with little interesting parts. 

This was a surprise as Holland had been playing fantastic free flowing football with Arjen Robben doing some amazing runs and as well as trying to dive for the odd penalty. 

Whilst Argentina had Lionel Messi scoring some very good goals. But I think the fact that all the play went through Lionel Messi somewhat stifled their creativity. 

So in the end it had to be decided on penalties and Argentina where more clinical and therefore won the game. 

World Cup - Day twenty

Day twenty of the World Cup and Argentina beat Switzerland one nil after extra time. 

The Swiss team where very unlucky to concede a goal so close to the end of extra time and they will look back at their missed chances with regret. 

However Argentinans seems to have a little bit more and where able to score that important goal when it mattered. 

Elsewhere Belguim beat the USA by two goals to one and after extra time. If it had not been for the heroic efforts of the USA goalkeeper Tim Howard they probably would not have made it to extra time. 

However I for one question the team selection of Jurgen Klinsman. He seemed to have an awful lot of talent on the bench and other than the injured players, he seemed to be chopping and changing players around a lot which I don't think help them. 

However Belguim had the most of the possession and richly deserve to go through. They will now face Argentina and will be present them with different set of problems and hopefully they will be more clinical in front of goal. 

World Cup - Day fourteen

Day fourteen at the World Cup and Argentina beat Nigeria by three goals two and this was a very entertaining game. 

In the first hour Nigeria looked like they where going to win this match, however somehow Argentina just seemed to have a little bit more in terms of attack and defence. 

France drew nil nil with Ecuador and France had already qualified so this draw meant that they would finish as group winners. 

Like I said in my previous blog France definitely had the strength and depth to do very well at this World Cup. 

Switzerland beat Honduras by three goals to nil and this win helped Switzerland to qualify for the knock out stages. 

World Cup - day four

Day four of the World Cup and Ivory Coast beat Japan by two goals to one. This was good win for the Ivorians and there is no reason why Ivory Coast do not progress to the knockout stages. 

One of the tournament favourites Argentina beat Bosnia-Hercegovina by two goals to one and to be fair it would have been more of a shock if Bosnia-Hercegovina had beaten Argentina. 

France beat Honduras by three goals to nil and Frances task was made slightly easier by playing ten men Honduran team for most of the match. 

The French are my outside favourites to win this cup as they have the talent and the experience in their squad so I am expecting them to make it to at least the quarter finals. 

World Cup preview

Ok I am a little late with my World Cup preview but it is better late than never..I haven't got World Cup fever yet but I am sure I will soon get it. 

The teams to watch this World Cup are Spain, Argentina, Italy, Germany and Brazil. Needless to say that they are all World Cup wiinners. 

These teams will be hard to beat with their experience of winning this plus some unbelievable players. 

Teams that I think have an outside chance of winning it our France and Portugual. France are former winners but I don't think they have the team to win it but I expect them to do reasonably well. 

I also think that realistically Ivory Coast might do reasonably well. I am hoping that both Ghana and England do well but it is going to be incredibly difficult for them. 

So it should a really interesting World Cup with lost of twists and turns, happiness and heartbreak and that is why it's called the beautiful game.