World Cup 2014: Quarter Finals Day 1

Today start the Quarters Finals starting with the match between France and Germany in Rio de Janeiro. Naturally, the Germans think their team is better and will beat France

Toni Kroos reflected the confidence within the German ranks when he declared that his country had a better team than France and it was merely a matter of proving it in the quarter-final tie at the Maracanã.

The Bayern Munich midfielder, who refused to comment on reports linking him with a transfer to Real Madrid after the World Cup, believes that the game will be won or lost in midfield. However, he was rather more keen to advance the prospect of the former.

“France have a very strong midfield but if all of us deliver our best performance, then I believe we are the better team,” Kroos said. “But we have to show that. It’s going to be very important for us to have possession and to win the duels. Then, I believe we will really have a good opportunity to win.”

Some of the German players have come down with flu like symptoms.

Seven Germany players are suffering mild flu symptoms ahead of the quarter-final match against France on Friday, coach Joachim Loew said in a German radio interview without identifying the players.

“Seven players have somehow come down with slight cases of the flu,” Loew was quoted telling Germany’s ARD radio. He said that most had “throat aches” but did not reveal their names.

“As a result, it’s too early to make any final decisions about the line-up,” Loew added.

That is a problem.

At 4 PM EDT, Brazil and Columbia meet on the field in Fortaleza, Brazil. There has been some doubts about team Brazil having their hearts and souls in the game for a win:

Hosts Brazil barely made it out of Belo Horizonte alive, needing penalty kicks to get past Chile. They were beaten up and emotionally drained, evidenced by their tears after winning the shootout, and now they have to face a high-flying Colombian side. Led by James Rodriguez and his five goals, Colombia have been the most exciting team in the tournament. They will look to take the game to the Brazilians when the two teams meet in Fortaleza on Friday afternoon. [..]

Brazil has been less than impressive so far in the World Cup. While their defense has mostly held strong, allowing just three goals in four games, the team’s attack has been unable to possess the ball consistently and create quality chances. Up top, Fred has been unable to find his Confederations Cup form, and Oscar has only shown flashes of brilliance. Luiz Felipe Scolari will need to get those two clicking alongside Neymar and Hulk (or anybody else) if he hopes to take his team any further.

Meanwhile, American viewers have generated new interest in the game, thanks to team USA:

Combined with the 1.1 million viewers on the streaming service WatchESPN, the game exceeded 22 million viewers – despite being played in the middle of a workday.

The earlier game against Portugal pulled in about 18.2 million viewers for ESPN’s coverage, and 6.5 million on Univision – but that game was played on a Sunday afternoon, in traditional viewing hours for sports. The ESPN number alone again topped the average for this past year’s N.B.A. Finals and the baseball World Series on television.

Speaking of interest, the internet has gone viral with accolades for USA’s goal keeper Tim Howard and his record breaking 16 saves:

The Everton goalkeeper’s performance was so impressive that a White House petition was started to rename the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after Howard and, if it receives 100,000 signatures, the US government must respond.

But the USMNT goalkeeper’s remarkable performance has been celebrated on the internet – with #ThingsTimHowardCouldSave trending – and here we show you the best virals of Howard’s feat.

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  1. It is “win or go home” for either France or Germany/ As a good Frenchwoman, I suspect you all know who I’m cheering.

    Here is a brief analysis from the NYT’s

    The German team was getting nothing but plaudits until it struggled to put away an overmatched Algerian squad in the Round of 16 and now it has injury worries. Defender Shkodran Mustafi was injured against Algeria and will miss the game and there are injury doubts about midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who has arguably been the team’s best player. France, led by Karim Benzema and Olivier Giroud, seems to still be firing on all cylinders. The game will stir some to remember the epic between West Germany and France in the 1982 World Cup semifinals, when West Germany erased a 3-1 deficit to win, 5-4, in a penalty shootout. Germany’s goalie, Manuel Neuer, will not relish any comparisons to the West German goalie in that game, Toni Schumacher, who broke the jaw of France’s Patrick Battiston with a vicious feet-first tackle.

  2. Today’s Lineups

    France

    1 Hugo Lloris

    2 Mathieu Debuchy

    3 Patrice Evra

    6 Yohan Cabaye

    4 Rafael Varane

    5 Mamadou Sakho

    19 Paul Pogba

    14 Blaise Matuidi

    10 Karim Benzema

    8 Mathieu Valbuena

    11 Antoine Griezmann

    Germany

    1 Manuel Neuer

    16 Philipp Lahm

    4 Benedikt Höwedes

    6 Sami Khedira

    5 Mats Hummels

    20 Jerome Boateng

    7 Bastian Schweinsteiger

    18 Toni Kroos

    11 Miroslav Klose

    8 Mesut Özil

    13 Thomas Müller

  3. Mid winter in Brazil is more like mid summer  

  4. Andre Schurrle comes on for Miroslav Klose.

  5. Cabaye leaves and is replaced by Loic Remy. A striker on for a midfielder. A statement of intent.

  6. This is Germany’s fourth straight time advancing to the semi-finals, a WC record

  7. the country will be in either raucous revelry or deep mourning tonight.

    A brief analysis of the game:

    This game should have the whole continent at a standstill, because Brazil, pretournament favorite as well as host, will face a formidable team from a country on its northern flank. While Brazil dominates rivalries with some of its South American opponents, it looked eminently beatable in its penalty shootout win over Chile – aside from an inspired showing by Neymar early and Hulk later in the game. Colombia has looked powerful throughout, led by James Rodríguez, who has five goals to lead the race for the Golden Boot. Look for him to test a not-always-cohesive Brazilian defense.

  8. Brazil goal keep in black; Columbia’s wearing white

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