Not Like in 2012

In 2012, Germany - Portugal was truly the derby of that European Championship group of death (also including Netherlands and Denmark). It was quite intense, and Portugal performed very well.

But this time, at World Cup 2014, only Germany seemed to have showed up.
And that awful defender pepe, who apparently did not have enough ruining Real Madrid efforts, now started ruining his national team's matches too.

The best thing for Portugal is that they won't have to use such a trojan-horse-of-a-player in their second match, thanks to the red card pepe got from referee Mazic.

It will be better for Portugal without him, I'm sure.

And Portugal, completely ridiculed here by the German overly-persistent way of playing, topped with three goals from pragmatic striker Thomas Muller, will have to get at least four points from the U.S.A. and Ghana matches (and possibly hope for other results to go their way) in order to be sure of advancing from this group.

Why such a contrast from Euro 2012, when Portugal reached the semifinals?

Well, Paulo Bento, their coach, is most definitely doing a bad job coaching this team.
Portugal had an easy qualifying group, but they could not beat russia for top spot. Even with Fabio Capello coaching the team with most of its landmass in Asia, that is just really disappointing for the Portuguese fans.
They did succeed in eliminating Sweden in the play-off tie, yes, but they should not have been in that position in the first place.
Besides pepe, Rui Patricio is another disaster player that Bento insists on using, still. Patricio is the one whom Portuguese supporters might hate for allowing Israel to score a goal, in Portugal, that caused his national team to drop two points that could have theoretically seen Portugal overtake russia in the end.
(I guess Bento did not see the Spain-Netherlands catastrophe, with Casillas at the forefront.)

Oh, and, finally, let's not forget Ronaldo. He did not play too well, either. But he probably has extenuating circumstances, being slightly injured still.

Portugal really needs to shape up from now on. Or they will really and truly ship out, and back home, very soon.

Germany - UEFA Club Competitions Participants - 2013-2014

Bayern Munich --> Champions League Group Stage
Borussia Dortmund --> Champions League Group Stage
Bayer 04 Leverkusen --> Champions League Group Stage
Schalke 04 Gelsenkirchen --> Champions League Play-off Round
SC Freiburg --> Europa League Group Stage
Eintracht Frankfurt --> Europa League Play-off Round
VfB Stuttgart --> Europa League Third Qualifying Round

Wow, Look at the Germans Go!

The German league really has improved a lot, it seems.

They overtook the Italians in the UEFA country league rankings, and I believe they might just be on their way to overtake the English, too, soon.

Borussia Dortmund, a team that has almost zero chances and fewer than zero hopes of winning their national title this year, is outplaying every opponent, by far, in this year's Champions League. And we're talking opponents such as Real Madrid (aka the La Liga current champions), the English champions from last year, the team that eliminated last year's Champions League champions, and the Dutch current champions. (Okay, that last one isn't saying much at all, but everything else is still impressive.)

I thought a team that is crushing almost everybody in Ukrainian football, including their bitter rivals, would put up a better fight against a Dortmund team seemingly on the decline. (They were champions in the previous two seasons, in Germany, but they won't be this year, unless a miracle occurs.)

Santana (in minute 31), Gotze (37) and Blaszczykowski (59) scored to make for a crushing defeat, but a large part of that was due to poor defending from the Ukrainian team. (Or should I say "Brazilian team made in Ukraine"?)
To comment on the last goal, Pyatov cannot remain the uncontested goalkeeper for the Ukrainian national team with such poor handling of the ball.

Shakhtar started their Champions League campaign with a bang and ended with a whimper.

And Germany might, very likely, have three teams in the quarter-finals. Schalke is basically in the same situation as Borussia, but against Galatasaray (- probably a weaker team than Shakhtar -), while Bayern is as good as qualified, because Arsenal has to score three goals at the Allianz Arena to even have a chance.

What Kind of Bullshit Is This?

Today was the German Super Cup...

What?!?
That's preposterous.

What kind of idiots organize a super cup (which is a meeting, as far as I know, between the league winner and the cup winner from the previous season - to see who's tougher, I guess -) between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich?

I can't remember Bayern winning any of the above trophies last year. I can't remember them winning any trophies last season.
So, you can see why I'm saying this was bullshit. Complete bullshit, it was.

If one teams wins the league and that same team wins the cup, they should not have to play anybody for the super cup!

What makes this really bad is that Bayern won the match. (They won 2-1, with 2 goals scored in the first 11 minutes.)
Yes, the winner of the league and the winner of the cup did not get the super cup!
This is absolutely retarded, I'm sorry.

It happens in other places, too, unfortunately: the organization of such phony super cups.
But if people really want to see matches, in a year when there should not be a super cup, how about getting the teams with the best odds to win the upcoming league season, inventing a new trophy, and playing that instead? You want to see a show, organize a show, not an unnecessary lie.

But that might be just me. I'm sure many people, among whom all of the Bayern fans, enjoyed this, after not being better than second best at any time in the last two years.

2012.08.12 - The Results

ENGLAND: Community Shield

14:30 -- Chelsea - Manchester City 2-3
[1-0]  40' Fernando Torres
[1-1]  53' Yaya Toure
[1-2]  59' Carlos Tevez
[1-3]  65' Samir Nasri
[2-3]  80' Ryan Bertrand



TURKEY: Super Cup

19:55 -- Galatasaray - Fenerbahce 3-2
[1-0]  19' Umut Bulut
[1-1]  45' + 2' Alex Souza
[2-1]  58' Umut Bulut
[2-2]  66' Dirk Kuyt
[3-2]  90' Selcuk Inan (pen.)



GERMANY: Super Cup

20:00 -- Bayern - Borussia D. 2-1
[1-0]  6' Mario Mandzukic
[2-0]  11' Thomas Muller
[2-1]  75'Robert Lewandowski

Italy Surprises Germany

What is wrong with Germany?

They were better off when they were West Germany, honestly.
All but one lucky European title (in 1996), in their trophy case, were won before the re-unification of the two Germanies.
I can't explain it, but they lost some of their strength, some of the spirit of football combat that made Lineker say "Football is a game for 22 people that run around, play the ball, and one referee who makes a slew of mistakes, and in the end Germany always wins", after there was no longer an East Germany.
Go figure...

But Italy played masterfully in this semifinal, too.
Except at the end, when they conceded a stupid penalty, that is.

Balotelli played the game of his career, probably.

There's not much more to say, except that Germany could not break down the Italian defensive force, and made a bunch of errors of their own, after Italy scored a first goal that came almost out of nothing.

And, after this match, and also considering how close Spain was to elimination at the hands of Portugal, I'm sure most people would say that Italy is now the favourite to win the trophy.

Highlights:

(Uninspired Coach + Sucky Goalkeeper) x Lack of Attention in Defense = Disaster Against Germany's B-Side

Greece's coach Fernando Santos could just as well have prepared this match while drunk.
This approach, that he decided to go with, might be worth studying in coaching schools when discussing what not to do in a quarter-final of a major tournament.

One of the two biggest mistakes, for sure, was allowing that pathetic excuse for a footballer, Sifakis, to play as goalkeeper. What, were both Chalkias and Tzorvas severely injured? I'm sure Chalkias would have made fewer wrong moves, even if he had been on crutches!

Sifakis has probably 30%-50% of the blame for the first two goals, and 80%-100% of the blame for the last two goals, by the Germans.
He has no idea where to place himself for long shots, and he's just a complete disaster when he's trying to anticipate moving forward from the goal-line.
(This is one goal-keeper who does not have a bright future. And he's already 27.)

Then, where the hell was the resolute defense from the matches against Russia and even the Czech Republic (excluding the first ten minutes of that second match)?
Sure, Germany is better than Russia and the Czech Republic put together, but not that good as to make the Greek players fall down like dominoes.
I mean, exactly when they needed to step it up a notch, the Greeks were losing the ball and then falling over themselves. Of course the Germans would take advantage, when the Greek defenders could not even stand up properly.

Thirdly, the one thing Santos cannot seem to understand, despite the fact that he has a pretty impressive coaching resume (Porto, AEK, Panathinaikos, Sporting CP, Benfica, PAOK... but, notice(!), no other national squad), is that the Germans like to shoot from far out. The Portuguese got that, the Danes got it, too, and even the Dutch seemed to be aware of it. Only the Greeks had no idea that Germany has players who can shoot well from outside the penalty box if given the chance.
Under these conditions, no wonder Germany scored four goals in this one encounter.

And lastly, I also must say, it takes a really weak coach to not be able to take advantage of what seemed like very good luck for the Greeks. They had some very lucky bounces in the first half, and, despite the goal by Lahm, the Greeks were still in it. What better example, than the way they tied it, through Samaras, in the 55th minute?
At 1-1 against Germany, a score that you certainly don't deserve, what do you tell your players? Do you tell them to keep it up, think they're all that, and to continue to leave large gaps at the back, or do you do something to tighten up the defense, first and foremost, so that the Germans would suffer for their relaxation?
Eventually, luck is going to desert you, of course, if you're stupid.

Germany played not so well, even though they went 4-1 up, from 1-1, in 19 minutes.
Joachim Low opted to introduce his second-string forwards. And he made some other weird substitutions, too. (A good, inspired team would have punished Germany on this day.)
But the Greeks should consider themselves lucky just to have scored the two goals; that's how dull they were in this game.
Really, though, when you score two goals against Germany, at a major tournament, you should go through to the next phase. Most of the time, you don't get to score two in such a match... The Greek team eliminated itself, through its own ignorance.

And most of this is Santos' fault.
(Oh, and Sifakis', too, of course. He would have been selected man of the match, if he had been in a German jersey.)

Highlights:

The Last Matchday in Group B or How Ronaldo Humiliated Netherlands

Supposedly, Cristiano Ronaldo promised that he would score three in his next game, after playing so badly against Denmark.

Well, he didn't score three, but he came damn close.

If Ronaldo played every game like this one, maybe he would be the best player in the world. (In my humble opinion, Messi is still the best.)
He scored two goals, hit the post twice, and played a perfect pass to Nani, at 1-1, that should have resulted in another Portuguese goal (- not even to mention that every time he got the ball in the Dutch half there was danger).

But let's start from the start.

Van der Vaart. Why was van Bommel inserted in the Dutch starting eleven instead of van der Vaart, in the matches against Denmark and Germany?
Rafael van der Vaart scored the first of the six goals on this day. And he would almost equalize at 2 for Netherlands, in the second half, with a similar effort that hit the post.
But, getting back to the first goal, it was a great shot from outside the box. And the Dutch began hoping. (This was just eleven minutes after kick-off.)
They needed a second one, and a German victory in the other match, to go through.

The Germans seemed on track for that scenario, too. On his 100th appearance in a Germany jersey, Lukas Podolski (in minute 19) took advantage of bad Danish defending to slot the ball into the top of the net from a few meters out. All three bottom teams, Portugal, Denmark and Netherlands were on three points at that stage, but the Portuguese and the Danes had identical best head-to-head records, 3-3, against Netherlands, leaving Holland, with 1-1, at the bottom of the group. Portugal would have advanced, because of better UEFA national team coefficient, the next tie-breaking criterion that could have been applied to separate them from Denmark's team.

But Denmark hit back. Only five minutes after Podolski's strike, the Danes showed great aerial agility in the German penalty box, and Krohn-Dehli used his head to deflect another header from a team-mate past the helpless Neuer. At this point, Denmark was through to the quarter-finals.

However, Portugal was pressing. And, in the 28th minute, Ronaldo finally got in behind the Dutch defense. He defeated Stekelenburg with a cool strike. Portugal was back in second place, again, just like at the start of the match.

Portugal continued to press, because they knew a Danish goal could eliminate them. And, obviously, the Denmark players could score on Germany.

But a 2-1 victory for Denmark could also eliminate the Germans, on the other hand, if Portugal also happened to win.

And, what do you know, after a few huge chances missed for Portugal, they did finally take the lead. In the 74th minute, Ronaldo again was found in the Dutch penalty area, with room to maneuver, and he had no problem scoring.

Now, at 2-1 for Portugal, and the Danes pressing in the other match, just one goal could have seen the Germans forced to pack their bags.

One goal did come, but it was scored by the Germans, though.
It was heartbreak for Denmark, as they were caught too advanced, and Lars Bender (80) obtained the victory for Germany. So, Denmark was the team that was going to go home.

2-1 in both matches. But not for the teams that desperately needed to win.

And these results clearly divided the four teams into four separate classes: the team that beat everybody else (on 9 points), the team that only lost to the best team but beat the other two (with 6), the team that could only beat the bottom team (with 3), and, of course, the team that lost to everybody (on 0 points). Or Germany, Portugal, Denmark, Netherlands, in that order.
Netherlands: what a disappointment!

Highlights from Denmark - Germany 1-2:

Дания - Германия 1:2(1) by landsgraaf

Highlights from Portugal - Netherlands 2-1:

Group B - Possible Scenarios

Here's what could happen on the final matchday of Group B:

1) Portugal wins & Denmark wins
1-1. Denmark wins 1-0:
Portugal 6p, Denmark 6p, Germany 6 p, Netherlands 0p
(Portugal and Denmark would have identical best head-to-head records in the three-way tie against Germany, eliminating the Germans, but Portugal would win the group thanks to better goal difference or more goals scored or higher UEFA national team coefficient.)
1-2. Denmark wins 3-2 and Portugal wins 1-0 or 2-1:
Denmark 6p, Germany 6p, Portugal 6p, Netherlands 0p
(Portugal and Germany would have identical worst head-to-head records in the three-way tie against Denmark, but Germany would advance thanks to having scored one more goal or a higher UEFA national team coefficient.)
1-3. Denmark wins by any score other than 1-0 and 3-2 or wins 3-2 and Portugal wins by any score other than 1-0 or 2-1:
Denmark 6p, Portugal 6p, Germany 6p, Netherlands 0p
(Denmark and Portugal would advance because Germany would have the worst head-to-head record against Denmark and Portugal or worse goal difference than Portugal or fewer goals scored than Portugal)

2) Portugal wins & draw in the other match:
Germany 7p, Portugal 6p, Denmark 4p, Netherlands 0p

3) Portugal wins & Germany wins:
Germany 9p, Portugal 6p, Denmark 3p, Netherlands 0p

4) draw in the first match & Denmark wins
Denmark 6p, Germany 6p, Portugal 4p, Netherlands 1p
(Denmark would win the group because of the head-to-head record.)

5) draws in both matches:
Germany 7p, Portugal 4p, Denmark 4p, Netherlands 1p
(Portugal would advance because of the head-to-head record.)

6) draw in the first match & Germany wins:
Germany 9p, Portugal 4p, Denmark 3p, Netherlands 1p

7) Netherlands wins & Denmark wins:
Denmark 6p, Germany 6p, Netherlands 3p, Portugal 3p
(Denmark would win the group because of the head-to-head record, and Portugal would finish bottom because of the head-to-head record.)

8) Netherlands wins & draw in the other match
Germany 7p, Denmark 4p, Netherlands 3p, Portugal 3p
(Netherlands would finish third because of the head-to-head record.)

9) Netherlands wins & Germany wins
9-1. Netherlands wins 1-0 and Germany wins 1-0 or by two or more goals:
Germany 9p, Portugal 3p, Denmark 3p, Netherlands 3p
(Portugal and Denmark would have identical best head-to-head records against Netherlands, but Portugal would advance thanks to superior goal difference or being ranked higher in the UEFA national team coefficient rankings.)
9-2. Netherlands wins 1-0 and Germany wins by one goal but not 1-0:
Germany 9p, Denmark 3p, Portugal 3p, Netherlands 3p
(Portugal and Denmark would have identical best head-to-head records against Netherlands, but Denmark would advance thanks to scoring more goals than Portugal in the tournament.)
9-3. Netherlands wins by one goal but not 1-0:
Germany 9p, Portugal 3p, Netherlands or Denmark 3p, Denmark or Netherlands 3p
(Portugal would advance because of scoring more goals in the head-to-head records against Netherlands and Denmark, while Netherlands and Denmark would be separated depending on how many goals Netherlands scores against Portugal and/or the severity of Denmark's defeat, but this is not extremely important since both teams would be out and very few might care who finished third and who finished fourth.)
9-4. Netherlands wins by two goals or more:
Germany 9p, Netherlands 3p, Denmark 3p, Portugal 3p
(Netherlands would advance because of better goal difference in the head-to-head records against Denmark and Portugal, leaving Portugal with the worst goal difference.)

Dutch Dreams Destroyed Due to Disappointing Defeat

Even though they're not out mathematically, yet, I don't think the Dutch fans have great expectations of van Marwijk's squad anymore.

Netherlands just does not seem to have a very good defense.
Maybe there are problems among the players, but they don't seem cohesive enough.

Both of Gomez's goals (in the 24th and 38th minutes) could have been prevented, if the Dutch had exercised more caution or paid more attention.
The second one, the shot from long distance, was less the fault of the defenders than the first one, of course. To set up Gomez's first goal, Schweinsteiger just fooled the entire Dutch defense and split it open with one good pass.

The goals do not come easily, either.

But what should be really disappointing for the Dutch is that Netherlands had no great chances after that. There was no team spirit. Their goal (73) came thanks to a very inspired shot by van Persie.
And that was it.

Now, Holland must beat Portugal by at least a couple of goals and hope Germany defeats Denmark, too, to progress from this group.

Highlights:

Germany - Holland footyroom.com by footyroom

Was a Draw More Equitable?

Sure, Germany was the favourite, and they lived up to that billing, but in my opinion Portugal did not deserve to lose.

In first-half injury time, Pepe was unfortunate to not score for Lusitan team, and overall Portugal hit the woodwork two times. If that's not bad luck, what is?

Germany pressed more, but the goal (scored by Gomez in the 72nd minute) still came at the end of a very mild attack. Portugal defended very well, otherwise.

In the closing minutes, Varela should have scored for Portugal when he only had Neuer to beat, but he proved his lack of experience and composure in critical moments.

Germany got the three points, but just barely. And this is just another one of those games that makes you wonder how can one measly goal be worth 3 whole points (2 extra, actually, as opposed to a 1, for a tie).

Highlights:

GERMANY 1-0 PORTUGAL Match highlights HD... by vik2003

Germany - UEFA Club Competitions Participants - 2012-2013

Borussia Dortmund --> Champions League Group Stage
Bayern Munich --> Champions League Group Stage
Schalke 04 Gelsenkirchen --> Champions League Group Stage
Borussia Monchengladbach --> Champions League Play-off Round
Bayer 04 Leverkusen --> Europa League Group Stage
VfB Stuttgart --> Europa League Play-off Round
Hannover 96 --> Europa League Third Qualifying Round