Germany V Algeria Fifa World Cup 2014

After match synopsis in red!!

Top bets on today’s game: Germany V Algeria

Really reckon we will see a top performance from Germany today. Cant see how Algeria will get anything from this game, will be doing well if they can even score a goal. Sadly, I predict that they might get a right old hammering.

T Muller a/t scorer 8/13
M Klose a/t scorer 11/10
B Schweinsteiger a/t 11/4

Unlucky as Muller and Schweinsteiger went close a good few times.

All odds with PP

Full betting previews, read here>

Beers: Round of 16 Beer World Cup: 

http://thisdrinkinglife.com/world-cup-beer-last-16/

Who is set to win the battle of the beers? Unfortunately I couldnt source a beer from Algeria, so it will be Baltika No 6 Porter from Russia, from beer Group H, doing battle today, against Friedenfelser of Germany who topped their beer Group G. Who will quench the thirst, set the mood, get me in the right spirit? Click on picture for a preview of the beers.

Get the beer result after, much after!

Baltika 6 Porter V Friedenfelser Urtyp Hell: 1-2 to Friedenfelser in a very very close contest, that went to extra time. I really enjoyed both beers, both different but with their own unique good tastes and quality’s. The final decision was which beer I would drink in extra time, and I went with the German beer, just. Baltika Porter, surprised me, I wasn’t expecting a porter from Russia to be so delicious. Appearance good, black and decent creamy head, its a porter after all. Strong aroma of chocolate and roasted malts, enticing. For a porter it didn’t have a very bitter taste, it was more sweet than bitter, and this meant it was very easy to drink. The taste was of dark chocolate, coffee and roasted malt, not overwhelming and not strong. But despite how smooth it was, there was a kick to it, that 7%ABV is there and you will notice it! Friedenfelser’s Urtyp Hell, on the other hand, was a lovely tasting beer that I could have drank all night. Good appearance of a lovely golden yellow colour, with a decent frothy head. Good aromas of malts and grains with notes of grassy hops. But it has a winnable taste that I loved. The flavours were of a light sweetness, a grainy malt taste and a light hop note. It tasted very nice and smooth and the flavours were not overbearing, making this beer an excellent session beer, and one of the best that I have had in this Beer World Cup. The beer that I wanted to drink more of in extra time was Friedenfelser Urtyp Hell

PreGame:

Germany coach Joachim Low is getting a bit upset about all the media talk of that infamous 1982 game, “I find it irritating when I read that this is a match about vengeance. Why should players who weren’t even born then want revenge?”. Well then he should get his team to play with some fairness and honesty, then we, the sporting public, might be just a bit more willing to forgive and forget past German football transgressions. Lead by example, you silly c**t. Apologies, but Low needs to be brought down a peg or two. His head might burst its so far up his jacksey. 

The Germans did just enough to beat the USA, a pretty efficient performance, if not very pretty on the eye, but with one foot in the next round they were always going to take it easy. It was a polished team effort, considering the horrendous conditions, with a torrential downpour causing havoc on the surface of the pitch, and making a good game seem impossible.

The German started off the game on fire, immediately disproving pregame theories of tactical plans for a draw between both German coaches. Germany on both wings were zipping in the crosses, and putting the USA in all sorts of intense pressure early on. Jerome Boateng was especially effective on the right wing, sending in at least half a dozen low crosses into the penalty box. Howard and, particularly Gonzalez in central defence, did just enough to hold out. 

Thought Schweinsteiger made a real difference in that game for the German team. He provides a strong midfield steel to the team, and gets things moving along. Lahm was also good, I guess he plays better when Schweinsteiger is playing along side him. 

The first half of that game fizzled out in the end, and the second half wasn’t much more of an improvement. Thomas Muller eventually got on the score sheet, getting his fourth goal of the tournament.  As for the USA they offered very little, and had no chances at all in the game. The sad fact was that Neuer, in the German goals, hadn’t a shot to save all game. Have to give credit to the German midfield and defence for closing out the Americans all game.

Germany topped the group and play Algeria today, in a game where I cant honestly think they will have too many problems with. Back to front they have more than enough to beat Algeria comfortably. 

Watch out for Thomas Muller and, if he plays, Miroslav Klose. If they play I can see both scoring. Muller seven and Klose one goal off the all time record. Expect a few today. 

Algeria are unbeaten against Germany on two previous occasions, one of which is that game that we dare not mention. That game they won 2-1, beating the then reigning European Champions. Can history repeat itself?

Algeria pulled off the unthinkable and managed to get in the last 16 for the first time in their history. And they had to do it the hard way, by coming from behind to get the goal that they needed. Their performance in the three group games definitely means they deserved it. They have played some decent football and are fairly solid in defence. 

Algeria kept pressing against the Russians, never giving up, and you could see that there was a goal coming their way. And it did. Islam Slimani got up highest to head a Brahimi free kick that the Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev completely missed. 

Slimani, deserved a goal, as he showed great leadership on the pitch and was involved in much of Algeria’s forward play throughout the match. He put his country into the last 16 for the first time in their history, and today is his reward, a game against Germany, and revenge. 

I wonder if Ramadan, the holy month in which Muslims fast during daylight, will affect the Algerian players? Not particularly au fait with the religious custom, I am not sure if the players are exempt from this or not. I wouldn’t like to be running around in that Brazilian heat with out the necessary calories and energy built up from a good hearthy diet, but if that’s what they believe so be it. Either way I wish them good look in a game that might prove a little beyond them today. 

Germany are into the last eight of a World Cup for the 17th time in 18 World Cup appearances, an amazing statistic, but they had to work very hard this time as Algeria were no pushovers. In fact if Algeria just showed a little more composure in front of goals then the the final result would be all so different. 

From the very start Algeria piled on the pressure and their game plan was very simple: run at the Germans, especially at their back four who appeared to be very slow to react to any sort of pressure. Algeria had two great chances inside the first ten minutes. Mertesacker stepped in with a late tackle to stop Slimani scoring from an excellent cross by Ghoulam. Then the best chance of the night when Feghouli, in a brilliant position, greedily took a shot on when a simple pass into the box would have definitely resulted in a goal as the Germans were well stretched. Poor from Feghouli, who hasn’t reproduced his Valencia form and is one of the few Algerians who haven’t impressed me in this tournament. More pressure came when Slimani’s diving header was correctly disallowed for offside, but it was close. Unlucky. Ghoulam then went on another one of his mazy runs, steamed through on the left and lashed a ball across the box, waiting for someone to tap it in. 

This was all brilliant stuff from the Algerians. Relentless pressure on the German defence, and Slimani and Ghoula, were making mincemeat out of the German back four, with Boateng in particular suffering badly. Neuer had to be called into action to bail out his defence and was used brilliantly as a sweeper to mop up all the through balls that Algeria couldn’t latch onto. Schweinsteiger was also doing a lot of work for his team, while others went missing. 

Just before the break, the Germans finally managed to exert some pressure of their own, and the Algerian goalie Rais Mbolhi had to make a great double save from Kroos and Gotze to keep the teams level at half time. 

Germany immediately came out with much more rigour in the second half with a Lahm effort going close. Neuer was now not only acting as a goalkeeper and defender but also looking for assists as his long range pass expertly reached Schurrle on the edge of the box with the shot narrowly going wide with a deflection.

But Neuer was also called into action to do a bit of goalkeeping, brilliantly stopping a powerful Slimani strike from going in. This was a truly amazing piece of goalkeeping from Neuer. I half expected him to pop up for a corner and head a goal for Germany, he was doing so much work for his team. Bit disappointed he did not score a goal really, as he did everything else!

Muller had a decent game, but wonder if Klose was on would he have scored from Mullers chances? Muller headed a great chance straight at Mbolhi when the whole goal was to shot for, and he later fluffed a very good shot that could have hurt Algeria. Not criticising just wondering mind.

Just before the 90 minutes were up Schweinsteiger threatened with a header, but it had no power to trouble the goalkeeper. So the game headed into extra time, nil nil apiece. 

Just soon after the start of extra time Germany finally scored when Schurrle finished from close range with an improvised finish. Did he mean it? Not sure but it looked brilliant. Well done to Schurrle who made a huge difference to his team when he came on, and got a goal that his performance so deserved. 

Soon Germany got another goal, with Ozil powering in a second, to leave Algeria all to do in the dying few minutes of the game. They did manage to pull one back Djabou put one in the German net but there was no time left to find another goal. Algeria made their exit and Germany breathed a sigh of relief as the full time whistle was blown. 

Was a classic game of football and fair dues to the Algerian football team for surprising everyone in actually giving Germany one hell of a good game. The Germans go on to play France in a mouth watering tie, while Algeria go home with their heads held high. 

Finally would like to mention that I thought the Brazilian referee Meira Ricci had a very good game, calling most of the major decisions correctly and letting the game flow. Take a bow. 

         Music to get you in the mood

Sash! V Khaled

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France V Nigeria Fifa World Cup 2014

After match synopsis in red!!

Top bets on today’s game: France V Nigeria 

Nigeria showed in the last game that they will be no easy pushovers for France today. They are a team that scores goals, are physically imposing and have a top class goal keeper at the ready. I think France can still get through but maybe it might take till extra time to knock out a strong Nigeria team.

2-2 17/1
Benzema 10/11 a/t scorer
Giroud a/t scorer 13/10

All odds with PP

Really unlucky with Benzema as he had too good strikes that were both just about cleared away in time, otherwise not great tipping, damn!

Full betting previews, read here>

Beers: Round of 16 Beer World Cup: 

http://thisdrinkinglife.com/world-cup-beer-last-16/

Who is set to win the battle of the beers? Luckily for Nigeria they topped their beer Group F, so its Quilmes of Argentina who get to take on Kronenbourg, who came first in their beer Group E, so it is Kronenbourg V Quilmes. Who will quench the thirst, set the mood, get me in the right spirit? Click on picture for a preview of the beers.

Get the beer result after, much after!

Kronenbourg V Quilmes: 0-1 to Quilmes, who just shaded it in a very tight contest between two beers who match each other very well. Kronenbourg is a nicer looking beer, with an appearance that is hard to beat, a lovely clear amber colour, with a nice frothy white head. Quilmes, although decent, cant beat the French beer here. Both beers smelt sweet. Quilmes probably more obvious than Kronenbourg, with a malty aroma. For taste which is, of course, the most important factor, Quilmes just edged it. Kronenbourg has a lot of very interesting and complex flavouring going on: from fruit, sweet caramel malts, honey, to a sweet malt taste at the start followed up with a mild hop bitterness. All in all a good variety of flavours. Quilmes had also an interesting mix. There’s a little corn and grain sweetness to open it up, a kind of sickly sweet. It does eventually settle down into a nice decent drink and there is a bitter aftertaste which grows on you. It’s this aftertaste that gets the victory for Quilmes, a more lingering memory.

PreGame:

France: Their last game ended in a rather dour nil nil stalemate with Ecuador exiting the tournament rather meekly and France getting to top the group. Didier Deschamps had made six changes in the the starting line-up of that game, and these new players didnt take their chance to impress. France were laboured throughout this game, not really stringing too many passes or moves together. They looked a bit disappointing when considering their two previous performances. But they got through, and that’s the important thing. .

There was chances in that game for both teams. The Ecuadorian goalkeeper Domínguez had to be alert to push a Pogba header just over the bar while at the other end Enner Valencia, like a gazelle, out jumped everyone in the French defence drawing a good save from a header by Hugo Lloris. Benzema had a few chances, Pogba had a few more, and, probably, for Ecuador they should have scored when Cristhian Noboa wasted a glorious opportunity from a 3v2 break that led to nothing.

France play Nigeria today in what will be a tough enough game. Nigeria wont be as easy a pushover as anything France have played so far. They are a team that attacks with pace, are very physical, and have a well drilled system in place. France will have to improve a lot from the Ecuadorian performance if they want to get to the last eight. 

Nigeria defied all expectations to reach this stage, considering their rather insipid first game performance,. A big “thank you” must also go out to Bosnia who in beating Iran, helped Nigeria into the last eight, despite the Super Eagles losing to Argentina, 3-2. 

Argentina and Nigeria played out a five goal thriller that saw both Messi and Musa score twice, and also seen both teams qualify for the last 16 of the World Cup. What Messi did Musa followed. Two goals, two great goals, certainly announced Musa’s arrival onto the world stage. It will be very interesting to see his performance today, as he played in the dour game with Iran and had an hour against Bosnia and showed very little in both games. So what player will turn up today?

Although Nigeria only needed a draw against Argentina to be assured of qualification, they still pressed up the pitch and took on the might of Messi and co. The Nigerian coach Stephen Keshi had got his tactics spot on. His team defended in numbers, broke with pace when needed and basically neutered Argentina. The Argentine’s found it very difficult to get past the very physical Nigerian defence with Onazi particularly solid at the back. Ambrose was also another player I thought played well, breaking from defence, and creating many good attacking opportunities on the wing. And if you do beat that defence then you also have to score something exceptional to get past the might of Vincent Enyeama in goals. He has had an excellent World Cup so far, a very good shot stopper, strong with crosses, and commanding his back line with efficiency. I heard him a few times, clearly shouting to the defenders in front of him, organising and maintaining discipline. Brilliant. Having said all that, Nigeria still let in three goals. But to be fair to them, Messi stepped up for Argentina, scored two brilliant goals, and the third Argentinian goal was a bit unlucky, a goal scored off a knee in a crowded box. So let the French beware, if they do want to get into the last eight, first they have to beat this very solid Nigerian defence and goalkeeper.

But for all the talk, here is one very interesting and rather telling stat that I have seen mention that for all the good play that Nigeria have had in previous World Cups, they still have only won one of their last 11 World Cup matches. Losing games can be a bad habit.

The teams preparations have also been hit by a row over win bonuses, that required the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, to personally guarantee that the players would eventually be paid some time in the future.  Things like this might affect the players especially when the chips are down.

Nigeria will be a stern test for France. They are strong at the back and can score on the break, and will be a match for the free scoring French team. This is a game I am looking forward to seeing. Let the battle commence.

France scored twice in the final 11 minutes in Brasilia to beat Nigeria and reach the World Cup quarter-finals.

It all started off so promising for Nigeria, they bossed the early part of this match against France, getting chance after chance and controlling the rhythm of the game. All Nigeria in the first half. France looked bad. 

Oshaniwa had Valbuena in his pocket, beating him to most of the balls to whip in crosses. Emenike was lively, running from deep, left and right, taking the odd pot shot on goal, and was unlucky to have his well taken strike called of for offside, another few inches and it was fine. Odemwingie also tested Hugo Lloris in the French goal, with a smart strike. Nigeria looked in the driving seat for much of this game. And yet they lost.

Didier Deschamps made a master substitution after about an hour of dour football from his team. He brought on Antoine Griezmann, taking off Giroud who had a poor game. This pushed Benzama into a more central position on the field, where he became more effective. 

This changed the tempo of the game as France started to take more control of the match and impose their authority on the pitch. Pogba and Benzama had chances well saved by Enyeama, who was increasingly called into action in the Nigerian goals as his team appeared to lose energy and momentum.Then Victor Moses had to clear a Benzema shot off the line after Enyeama partially smothered the force of the shot which went under his body. Not long after Benzema had another shot that flew tantalizingly across the Nigerian penalty box, but luckily for them no one was there too tap it into the empty goals. As France continued to up the ante, Cabaye seen his excellent volley crash against the bar as Enyeama was stranded. The goal was coming. 

And it came after a terrible blunder by the normally so reliable Enyeama, who rushed out for a corner only to completely miss the ball and see Pogba calmly head it into the empty net. France deserved the goal, for all their second half play and the positive introduction of Griezmann by Deschamps, willing to go for the win rather than play it out till extra time. Nigeria seemed to be willing to play for the draw, as they looked clueless in the second half, not willing to expend too much energy and sleepwalk on the pitch. Not good enough considering their first half performance.

To further compound the misery, Yobo diverted a Valbuena’s cross (he had a much better second half!) into his own net after Enyeama made another goalkeeping error. Another African team exit meekly, but at least they got their win bonus’

France now will go on to Germany, in a mouthwatering tie in the last eight, for the right to advance to the last four of the World Cup. What a clash that will be from the two border rivals.

Music to get you in the mood

 Eedris Abdulkareem V Cerrone

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Ecuador V Switzerland Fifa World Cup 2014

After match synopsis in red!!

Lets hit the bookies hard today!

Pregame bets:

Switzerland to score in both halves 3/1
Switzerland to win and both teams to score 4/1
Switzerland to win 11/8
Over 2.5 goals 5/4

Phew that was close, thank gebus for that last minute effort from Switzerland which saved the day for me, betting wise.

Full betting review here>http://thisdrinkinglife.com/top-bets-world-cup/

Beers: Group E of Beer World Cup:http://thisdrinkinglife.com/world-cup-beer-group-e/

Who is set to win the battle of the beers? Feldschlosschen Original V ? Unfortunately I couldn’t source any beer from Ecuador so this will be a one sided affair.  Click on picture for a preview of the beer.   Get the Feldschlosschen review afterwards.

Feldschlosschen won by default, as could not source a beer from Ecuador. Read here for full beer report

PreGame:

Switzerland are a solid rigid team, that plays exactly to form.  You know that the Swiss are not going to let in many goals, will go about their work quietly, and, on their day, can beat any of the top teams, including Brazil as they have done a few months ago.

The Swiss really should have no problem disposing of Ecuador today. But having said that, Switzerland did beat Spain and drew with a very poor Honduras team in the last world up resulting in a first round elimination, so one can never tell with this team.

A key plus for the Swiss is their manager, Ottmar Hitzfeld. Born near the Swiss border, In Germany, the wily old manager is a dab hand at getting the best out of a limited team. He has made the Swiss team a very solid unit and difficult to break down.

As for the players, nothing exciting stands out, but they do have a lot of decent players who on their day can turn a game. From Xherdan Shaqiri, and Gökhan Inler  in the forward line ready to pounce, with Gelson Fernandes sweeping up any loose balls, a defence marshaled by Philippe Senderos, all with one of the best goalkeepers in Europe Diego Benaglio between the sticks, its a good squad. Not exciting but not too shoddy of a team either.

Ecuador how did you qualify again? Was it Quito and the altitude? Ecuador didn’t win any of their qualfying games that were outside of their home nation! Do not know a whole lot about your squad, but you did impress in your last world cup appearance in 2006, shocking everyone to qualify for the second round.

Squad looks a little weak, with only a handful of players plying their trade in Europe. One name that does shine out though is Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia, the captain of the team. Fast and an inspiring captain for his country, Valencia must be looking forward to this world cup. At 28 he is at the peak of his footballing career, and with Ecuador in a very manageable group, he could help Ecuador get into the second round once again.

Against Switzerland, Ecuador will have to try and beat a team that doesn’t let in many goals. How will they be able to break down this rigid well set up team. Do they have the skills in midfield to open up the Swiss defence? I cant see that unfortunately.

One good stat for Ecuador is that Switzerland have never beaten South American opposition in five attempts at the World Cup, losing the last four, albeit this will first world cup meeting between the two today.

A more detailed review on Ecuador here and on Switzerland here 

First question I have to ask is, whats with all the stupid haircuts on the Swiss team, They should spend more time on the training pitch rather than preening themselves, tut tut. Would love to know how long does Behrami take to do his hair?

Switzerland definitely used their get out of jail card in this game, with their late goal. Was fun all the same.

Over all though I thought they laboured, and struggled to mount any decent attack, especially in the first half.

Stocker, particularly, was awful in the first half, couldnt get in any crosses at all. Drmic who? Drmic went missing in the first half, never seen him all game. 

So taken all that into account one must give Ottmar Hitzfeldt a huge amount of credit. He took off Stoker and Drmic and the two subs he brought on scored the goals and changed the game. He also changed the system to be more attacking. That’s how you manage a team, well done Ottmar.

Behrami lost the ball about a million times, very frustrating to watch but he did totally redeem himself for the winning goal. Not only did he do a last ditch tackle to prevent Ecuador taking the lead, but his persistence and cleverness in getting up quickly from the tackle resulted in the winning goal for the Swiss. All is forgiven Behrami

Hats off to the ref for letting play go, well done to that.

Whats the problem with the defender Lichtsteiner, he is a bit moany, constantly arguing about the inches that Ecuador kept gaining from free kicks. Calm down you angry young man, jeez.

Ecuador were there for the taking so the win is not a shock, but boy did it take a long time for Switzerland to get their act together. But a win is a win is a win. 

Small mention to Rodriguez who was pretty good at going forward for the Swiss, and had a decent game throughout.

Ecuador were a little unlucky but they seriously dipped in the second half. 

Up next for the Swiss is the French, a game where they will definitely have to up their performance if they want to get a result.

Ecuador have to play Honduras, a game that is a must win for them, but they should do with ease.

Music to get you in the mood

Gotthard V Pueblo Nuevo

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