Yeah Thiago silva was a bigger loss than Neymar. Both big losses though - wonder if Germany will find their teeth now.
Since the quarter finals every team should be able to beat the others, predictions are really difficult.
For Germany it´s harder to appraise Brazil´s play without Thiago Silva and especially Neymar, I think it will be an interesting match.
I think Germany is too talented, experienced, and balanced a side to lose to Brazil at this point. I think Brazil will lose the semi and win the 3rd place. They just need to control the game, be compact, and frustrate the Brazilians and they will be fine. Argentina is doing that too and played an excellent game in that sense against Belgium.
Yeah, man I hope you guys win it in your home country but after watching this team and suffering through Fred and Hulk game after game, all I want to ask you is will joga bonito be back?
What happened to the magic?
Jogo Bonito is a thing of the past and not representative of modern Brazilian football. It seems to be a bit of an orientalist notion too.
Sadly that seems to be true. Which begs the question - will Brazil go back to it’s roots or is it dead completely?
ah ok, i was taking that a bit too literally.
to be fair to Hulk. He had a good game against Chile
Not sure what their options are now Neymar is out. I think Willian should play to add a bit of pace and energy but I don’t see where any creativity is going to come from.
predicting muller to score a few unmemorable goals
This would be sick.
The 4 best teams of the last 2 weeks are left standing. My soccer contact’s prediction for the top 3 is still possible.
Muller better catch up with James tonight.
If Juve don’t sell Vidal first then Arsenal are pretty much guaranteed this transfer it would appread. Juve don’t have the funds.
Juve sell Pogba to Chelsea …Chelsea sell Ramires to Real Madrid…Real sells Di Maria to juve…Bayern sells kroos to Real and buy Sanchez from Barcelona… Barcelona to buy Suarez…in the end Pool ,Goobers and ManU gonna get nothing…
By the way my world cup predictions Germany vs Messi in the final
Pogba is a generation defining player for France, it would be crazy to sell him.
I get that a lot.
I hate Pogbas celebrations, do something Frenchie!
I personally don’t think Pogba will ever reach his potential. He’ll be described as a ‘raw talent’ until he’s 28 and then he’ll end up playing for a relegation battler in serie a…
My opinion is less definitive than Palantir. I think there is some hope because the kids’ culture here is still to value dribbles and flair more than goals and passes. So there’s a good potential to develop “joga bonito” players, since some of them will also get good at the fundamentals and become pros.
However, I think soccer is not as loved in Brazil as a couple decades ago. In the 90s I didn’t even heard of people not watching WC games and it was extremely rare to met a kid that didn’t play or didn’t like soccer. Most people stil watch the WC and most kids stil play soccer, but I think there’s a downward trend in its relative popularity, at least. It is slowly becoming the main sport instead of the only sport in many people’s minds. Less love may mean less top players.
I think a big part of the lack of “joga bonito” is actually the lack of awesome players. It is hard to expect much Joga Bonito from Fred, for instance. I think Brazil may win this World Cup - if this happens that will probably be Brazil’s less impressive win ever.
So semi-dead, maybe?
^Don’t agree with that. Pogba is already world class at age 20. I dont necessarily see him as the sole savior of Juve but I can sure see Chelsea, Real or Man city paying big for him and him winning championships wherever he ends up.