Tuesday 27th March - Germany 0-1 Brazil

[Stan]

Kick-off 19.45 (BST)

[binder]

Brazil and Germany have to be among the favourites in Russia, they are in my top 4 to reach the semi's along with  France and Spain, though you know one or more of those four will not make it that far.

No Neymar, does not mean no party, though oddly enough every time I see a picture of Neymar, he is at a party.  Sometimes on crutches, sometimes in a wheelchair, but he does not let that stop him, gotta like that.   Obviously a strong team, even without him.

 Why no Naldo, he is the hottest thing in the Bundelsiga,  whatever happened to Oscar?  Nice to see under appreciated Firmino picked.  They got two Willians?

Squad for the Russia and Germany games, apparently it will be very cold in Russia this week?  Do Brazilians do cold?

Goalkeepers: Alisson (Roma), Neto (Valencia), Ederson (Manchester City)

Defenders: Daniel Alves (Paris Saint-Germain), Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain), Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Fagner (Corinthians), Filipe Luis (Juventus), Miranda (Inter Milan), Pedro Geromel (Gremio), Rodrigo Caio (Sao Paulo)

Midfielders: Casemiro (Real Madrid), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Fred (Shakthar Donetsk), Paulinho (Barcelona), Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan), Anderson Talisca (Besiktas), Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona), Willian (Chelsea)

Strikers: Douglas Costa (Juventus), Taison (Shakhtar Donetsk), Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Willian Jose (Real Sociedad)

 

So what can I make of J Low's picks?

Neuer should be back in April, so Trapp or Leno will be gone, or maybe they call up Timo Horn? 
The Left back position, will go to Hector or Ginter or Plattenhardt or Rudiger or maybe even Can, he played wing back at Bayer.  I think Sule played as a wingback as well for Hoff, early in his career.  I think left back is still open, is Howedes playing for Juve?

Reus not picked,  because he just came back from injury, or that he is currently injured, seems the poor guys is alwys injured, I think they are doing everything so he can finally play in a WC  or EC. Gotze not picked either, not sure if that means he is not going to Russia.

I dont think all three of Super Mario, Sandro Wagner and Timo Werner will go, he may only pick two, maybe only one.  Guys like Mulller, Draxler, Sane can act as forwards.

Tor: Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (FC Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Paris St. Germain)

Abwehr: Jerome Boateng (Bayern München), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Jonas Hector (1. FC Köln), Mats Hummels (Bayern München), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern München), Marvin Plattenhardt (Hertha BSC), Antonio Rüdiger (FC Chelsea), Niklas Süle (Bayern München)

Mittelfeld/Angriff: Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Emre Can (FC Liverpool), Julian Draxler (Paris St. Germain), Mario Gomez (VfB Stuttgart), Leon Goretzka (Schalke 04), Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City), Sami Khedira (Juventus Turin), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Thomas Müller (Bayern München), Mesut Özil (FC Arsenal), Sebastian Rudy (Bayern München), Leroy Sane (Manchester City), Lars Stindl (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Sandro Wagner (Bayern München), Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)

 

 

 

 

 

[The Artful Dodger]

Ray Wilkins is bald.

[Azeem]

Brazil to win it 7-1 and get their revenge

[SirBalon]

9 minutes ago, Azeem98 said:

Brazil to win it 7-1 and get their revenge

If the Brazilians were to feel any sensation of revenge due to a hypothetical victory in kind in a friendly (which I know they wouldn't), the Germans would probably laugh their heads off.

[Azeem]

Just now, SirBalon said:

If the Brazilians were to feel any sensation of revenge due to a hypothetical victory in kind in a friendly (which I know they wouldn't), the Germans would probably laugh their heads off.

German's can laugh  I though they were always serious 

[Guest]

11 hours ago, SirBalon said:

If the Brazilians were to feel any sensation of revenge due to a hypothetical victory in kind in a friendly (which I know they wouldn't), the Germans would probably laugh their heads off.

They got their revenge in the Olympics 

[SirBalon]

16 minutes ago, Gunnersauraus said:

They got their revenge in the Olympics 

Something tells me Brazil will never get revenge on that particular result. It will live forever because on top of that it was in a World Cup in Brazil.  Plus Germany don't lose 1-7 in a major tournament.

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Something tells me Brazil will never get revenge on that particular result. It will live forever because on top of that it was in a World Cup in Brazil.  Plus Germany don't lose 1-7 in a major tournament.

Neither did Brazil before that. Football is illogical. I can't see them losing 7-1 in a tournament but keep in mind they have been smashed before, and most notably at home. (England)

Predictions can never be laughed off. The catch is you laugh at them after the match is over.

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Something tells me Brazil will never get revenge on that particular result. It will live forever because on top of that it was in a World Cup in Brazil.  Plus Germany don't lose 1-7 in a major tournament.

I was talking about the volleyball 

[SirBalon]

36 minutes ago, Blue said:

Neither did Brazil before that. Football is illogical. I can't see them losing 7-1 in a tournament but keep in mind they have been smashed before, and most notably at home. (England)

Predictions can never be laughed off. The catch is you laugh at them after the match is over.

With England are you talking about that friendly?

[Guest]

20 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

With England are you talking about that friendly?

It was a qualifier wasn't it?

it was a long time ago and the Germany team was bang average. My point is though, these things can happen in football. Brazil hadn't lost in 40 years at home before Germany. If you had predicted 7-1 before, you would have been laughed at. I do believe there to be impossibilities in football, but Germany getting smashed is not one of them in my mind.

[SirBalon]

27 minutes ago, Blue said:

It was a qualifier wasn't it?

it was a long time ago and the Germany team was bang average. My point is though, these things can happen in football. Brazil hadn't lost in 40 years at home before Germany. If you had predicted 7-1 before, you would have been laughed at. I do believe there to be impossibilities in football, but Germany getting smashed is not one of them in my mind.

I can’t remember if it was a qualifier now and to be honest I can’t be bothered to search. 

As for impossibilities, for sure there are none in football but Germany of all nations losing 1-7 at home in a World Cup is as close as you’re gonna get to one I would say. Anyone else on their level? I can just about believe it as a possibility, some more, some less.

What’s for sure though is that when those cycles that occur where a team goes through a low period, it does lend itself for shocking moments. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Blue said:

Neither did Brazil before that. Football is illogical. I can't see them losing 7-1 in a tournament but keep in mind they have been smashed before, and most notably at home. (England)

Predictions can never be laughed off. The catch is you laugh at them after the match is over.

Difficult to see it happening the moment but you can't say never. Although they did loose some friendlys at home to Slovakia and Australia I think

[El Profesor]

5 hours ago, SirBalon said:

Something tells me Brazil will never get revenge on that particular result. It will live forever because on top of that it was in a World Cup in Brazil.  Plus Germany don't lose 1-7 in a major tournament.

Exactly. It can´t be avenged, it can´t be erased. The best thing we can do is use it as a learning lesson. 

I´m not particularly optmistic about our chances in the World Cup. People vastly overrate us, we´re not that good. Our midfield lacks creativity, the central defense doesn´t inspire confidence, Gabriel Jesus is too young, Daniel Alves is too old, Neymar is a great talent but like Ibrahimovic I feel like he makes his teams less competitive. It seems Tite closed his mind and stuck with a group of players too early, unfortunately it could be costly. I´m convinced the only way to save our midfield is calling and starting Arthur, but I doubt it´ll happen.

 

[Azeem]

6 hours ago, SirBalon said:

I can’t remember if it was a qualifier now and to be honest I can’t be bothered to search. 

As for impossibilities, for sure there are none in football but Germany of all nations losing 1-7 at home in a World Cup is as close as you’re gonna get to one I would say. Anyone else on their level? I can just about believe it as a possibility, some more, some less.

What’s for sure though is that when those cycles that occur where a team goes through a low period, it does lend itself for shocking moments. 

When Germany lost 5-1 to England in the 2002 WC qualifying campaign. 

I've heard the father of the German coach sitting in the stands had a heart attack during the match.

[SirBalon]

5 hours ago, El_Loco said:

Exactly. It can´t be avenged, it can´t be erased. The best thing we can do is use it as a learning lesson. 

I´m not particularly optmistic about our chances in the World Cup. People vastly overrate us, we´re not that good. Our midfield lacks creativity, the central defense doesn´t inspire confidence, Gabriel Jesus is too young, Daniel Alves is too old, Neymar is a great talent but like Ibrahimovic I feel like he makes his teams less competitive. It seems Tite closed his mind and stuck with a group of players too early, unfortunately it could be costly. I´m convinced the only way to save our midfield is calling and starting Arthur, but I doubt it´ll happen.

 

Of course it can't be erased mate the same as any result anywhere by anyone at that level.  I mean, the Maracanazo of 1950 is still mentioned and look at how long ago that was.  The thing is that younger football fans these days don't really care for what once was and many don't even think it counts.  I was talking about Alfredo di Stéfano a few days back with a friend round his house and his 14 year old son who loves football asked us who Di Stéfano was... That question in itself isn't a problem because learning anything has to start somewhere.  The problem was that the moment he saw pictures and we were looking at videos, the kid laughed and said we were ancient and that any player today would be better.

Why I went down that route, I don't know... Oh right, yeah.  The players have all the responsibility for what occurred and there are players that were in that result against Germany and will want to make amends.  Not make amends against Germany because that's now a part of football folklore, but to make this next World Cup campaign memorable... There is a responsibility there for some of those players now.

As for Arthur Melo... In my opinion he HAS TO PLAY mate.  Everything I'm reading and listening to points to his necessity and he's class.

2 hours ago, Azeem98 said:

When Germany lost 5-1 to England in the 2002 WC qualifying campaign. 

I've heard the father of the German coach sitting in the stands had a heart attack during the match.

I knew the result, but couldn't remember if it was a friendly or a qualifier.  A definite black mark on German football history especially it being against England.  Although here in England we hold the clash against the Germans in much higher regard than they do.  I think I'm right in saying that historically a Germany v Italy is much much bigger.

[DeadLinesman]

9 hours ago, Blue said:

It was a qualifier wasn't it?

it was a long time ago and the Germany team was bang average.

So ‘bang average’ that they were runners up that year at the World Cup.

[Guest]

9 hours ago, DeadLinesman said:

So ‘bang average’ that they were runners up that year at the World Cup.

Germany don't need to be a good side to win.

I maintain that team that reached the final was bang average.

[DeadLinesman]

17 hours ago, Blue said:

Germany don't need to be a good side to win.

I maintain that team that reached the final was bang average.

So every team that year in world football was worse than bang average? Gotcha.

Brian, I’m genuinely not looking for an argument here, but I’m curious as to how you can make a solid argument about a Germany team being bang average when you were about 5 years old?

[Guest]

57 minutes ago, DeadLinesman said:

So every team that year in world football was worse than bang average? Gotcha.

Brian, I’m genuinely not looking for an argument here, but I’m curious as to how you can make a solid argument about a Germany team being bang average when you were about 5 years old?

They pass old football World Cup matches here in Peru, that Germany team was poor for their standards. I've also seen enough of Diego Maradona to claim he is the best I've ever seen.

[DeadLinesman]

47 minutes ago, Blue said:

They pass old football World Cup matches here in Peru, that Germany team was poor for their standards. I've also seen enough of Diego Maradona to claim he is the best I've ever seen.

How was it poor for their standards? They hadn’t reached a world final since winning it in 1990 and didn’t reach one again till 2014 when they won it? 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, DeadLinesman said:

How was it poor for their standards? They hadn’t reached a world final since winning it in 1990 and didn’t reach one again till 2014 when they won it? 

Look at some of their results and players compared to what they have now and in 1974 - it wasn't one of the better Germany teams. Final or not.

The best Germany side I've seen was 1974. Actually it may even be the best international side I've ever seen. It was class.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, DeadLinesman said:

So every team that year in world football was worse than bang average? Gotcha.

Also, how the hell does this argument work if the best side they faced that year was South Korea?  

[Cicero]

I agree with Blue. That 2002 Germany side wasn't special in comparison to their other generations.  The 1970 Italy side another example.