Posted:
#1
It's game day, and 4 years of qualification, round robin play, and knockout stages, comes down to these two teams to decide who is truly the best team on this planet. So I won't attempt to say one team is far greater then another, as they have both earned their place in today's Final. Most of the regular cappers, who's opinions I respect, will be backing Argentina, and citing the stellar defence they possess, as a main reason for their winning today. As they say in Football....." Defence wins Championships ".
I will totally disagree with Argentina's defence being rated so highly. They have really never been tested, at least not against a team of Germany's caliber.
They beat Bosnia 2 -1 on an early own goal, then weathered the storm. They needed a 90th minute heroic winner by Messi to beat Iran ( who ? Exactly ). In their last group game against Nigeria, they were shown to be beatable, but hung on for a 3 - 2 victory.
Against Belgium and Netherlands, the only difference between being home watching, and playing today, was a fortunate bounce that Hugain buried early against Belgium. Otherwise, both wins could have gone either way. As the same people who are backing Argentina today, claimed Argentina had the easiest road to the final, it certainly was a bumpy one.
Germany opened against Portugal without their star Bastian Schweinsteiger in the line up, and Loew tinkering with Lahm in midfield and Goetze playing, with Mueller as a lone attacker. Again, In the game against Ghana, Loew chose another shuffled line up, and it exposed a hole in the back line. Against the US, in a game that represented a much more technical effort, the game was only going to be won by Germany, as the US were without a shot on goal.
Algeria posed problems again for Loews formation, and the absence of Hummels and Lahm on defence, as they played unexpectedly high up the pitch, and cut off passing lanes normally available to them. By the 2nd half, Germany took control, and eventually won in overtime.
To this point, we had still not seen the real Germany, and the pressure was on Loew to restore our starting 11, and stop the tinkering.
Against France, with an apparent flu epidemic among several players on the team ( tongue in cheek ), Lahm was back on the final four with Hummels back as well. Goetze was put back on the bench, and Klose inserted up front. Finally, they were ready to resume German football as we have grown to know it. A fluid attack minded team, that creates space for each other, and wears down opponents as the game progresses.
I won't attempt to say that the Brazil game was indicative of how well we play with regularity, as it was clearly an abiration. But unlike many cappers who just brushed it off as Brazil being horrible, I believe we were equally brilliant. It's the type of game that builds confidence in a team. They are healthy, rested, and playing in positions they are accustomed to. And today, they will break down Argentina' s defence, ( especially 33 yr old Dimichelis ), own the midfield possession, and ultimately lift the Holy Grail.
Germany @ 2.05
Germany h/full @ 3.56
Prost 
0
too hard for me...I think I will sit back and root for a Muller goal
betting over in the final will never be a good move but over 2 @ -115? I have to put a couple of units on them. 
Hot Forum Topics
