Brazilian defeat unbelievable, Germany -Argentina - WC final
 After
120 minutes of gruelling football, the second semi-final in 2014 World
Cup soccer tournament between Argentina and Holland ended goalless which
required a penalty shoot-out to see who would go into the final.
And in the penalty shoot-out, Argentina got the better of Holland 4-2
with goalkeeper Sergio Romero being the hero making two superb saves to
steal a final showdown with Germany on Sunday at the Estadio do Maracana
in Rio de Janerio at 8 p.m. which will be 12.30 a.m. in Sri Lanka on
Monday.
After the match the goalkeeper said: ‘I feel immense happiness, I’m
really happy with everything. Penalties are a question of luck - that’s
the reality. But I had confidence in myself and everything turned out
well.
Germany and Argentina are two well balanced sides and a rousing final
is on the cards. LIONEL MESSI of Argentina will be the cynosure of all
eyes and if Argentina who is slight favourites to win succeed then Messi
will have to unwind his magic.
Sensational first semi-final
In a sensational first semi-final, Germany bombed Brazil with four
goals in six and a half minutes in the first half to heap agony and
shame on Brazil and later add three more goals and swamp the hosts 7-1
at the Belo Horizonte on Tuesday in their World Cup semi-final.
The result was unbelievable. It shook and stunned the whole
sambadancing nation and some of the supporters in the stands were seen
sobbing unable to stomach the pain.
Here in London my friend Colin Fernando and the writer watched
theaction in the two semi-finals that began live at 9 p.m. on Tuesday
and Wednesday - Sri Lanka time 1.30 a.m and sat glued to our seats
unable to watch and believe the woeful display by the Brazilians.
The Brazilians who were sans poster boy Neymar and Captain Thiago
Silva were rudderless like a ship and could do nothing to stop the
avalanche of goals. From the first game of the tournament the Brazilian
defence looked suspect and the Germans exposed this with goals from
Thomas Muller, Miroslav Klose, Tim Kroos two, Sami Khedira and Andre
Schurrle two making it 7-0 before Oscar pulled one back for Brazil.
Germany did the basics right
Germany did not play brilliant football but did the basics right
finding the gaps in the Brazilin defence to slot in the goals at will
and make it a no contest by hitting the net five times in the first
half. Germany thus entered the final with farcical ease as Brazil’s tag
as tournament favourite was proved nonsensical.
Coach Phil Scolari said that it was the worst night of his life. ‘I
am in shock. I am going to be remembered probably as the coach of
Brazil’s worst defeat but that was a risk when I took charge 18 months
ago’. But what can a coach do. He can tell and show and it l depends on
how the players perform in the middle.
Germany’s coach Joachim Low said:’I remember losing to Itly in the
119th minute in 2006. We know how the Scolari and the Brazilian people
feel now. There’s never been a result like that but let’s put it into
context, the hosts were unable to deal with the pressure’.
Miroslav Klose 36 made World Cup history in Germany’s astonishing
demolition of Brazil. He set a world record for individual goals at
World Cup finals when he scored to make it 2-nl.
That was his 16th goal on the biggest stage of all - moving him clear
of Brazilian great Ronaldo. Here are the top goals scorers- 16 MIROSLAV
KLOSE, 15 Ronaldo (Brazil), 14 Gerd Muller (W.Germany), 13 Just Fontaine
(France) and 12 Pele (Brazil).
The feud goes on
The feud between two former South Africans, Kevin Pietersen and
Andrew Strauss which ignited some time back has yet not subsided. Both
were also former Captains of England and so was the late Tony Greig, a
great supporter of Sri Lankan cricket.
The latest between Strauss and Pietersen is Strauss having insulted
his former teammate Pietersen calling him, ‘an absolute c****’ live on
TV while Pietersen was batting for MCC against a Rest of the World team
at Lord’s last Saturday.
Thinking that the microphone was off during a short break in play,
Strauss was overhead talking to fellow Sky Commentator Nick Knight and
making the remark.
Strauss and Knight were speaking during a break for adverts. The
remark was not heard by viewers in England, but it was picked up by Fox
Sports in Australia. Cricket fans reported it on Twitter forcing Sky to
apologise.
Strauss later apologised saying: ‘I apologise unreservedly,
particularly to Kevin Pietersen. I am mortified and profusely sorry’.
When Kevin Pietersen was fired
The feud between the two former South Africans started way back in
2012 when Pietersen was fired by England for sending touring South
African players derogatory texts about Strauss.
Supporters of Pietersen called for the removal of Strauss from the
Sky TV Commentary team. But Strauss since becoming a Sky TV Commentator
had done a good job with his unbiased comments.
But the good news is that Strauss will not lose his job. He has been
reprimanded, but will keep his job. Strauss next stint behind the
microphone was at Trent Bridge commenting on the First of Five Test
matches between England and India.
A Sky source ha said they took a very dim view of this sort of thing
and that Straus has been reprimanded and that there was no talk of him
being taken off the job.
It has been reported that Straus was embarrassed and was determined
to learn his lessons on the perils of swearing anywhere in the range of
a live mic.
In the meantime Pietersen who was dumped from the England team after
the disastrous tour of Australia where England got thrashed 5-nil in the
Ashes series is still confident of playing for England.
It’s simply fan-tastic
Bumper crowds have made World Cup 2014 the second- best supported in
history. An average of 52,762 fans have watched each game. The record
was set at USA ‘94 (68,991). FIFA have lifted the ban on Franz
Beckenbauer taking part in any football activity. The German legend had
received the penalty for failing to help an investigation of alleged
corruption in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup voting procedure. FIFA imposed
the 90-day ban on June 13- but it has now been rescinded.
When Belgium striker Divock Origi played against Argentina he became
the youngest player to start a Word Cup quarte-final since Pele (17
years and 239 days) who scored the winning goal against Wales in a 1-0
win in the last eight 56 years ago - on June 19,1958.
|
