Semi Finals Set, opinions...

[RobbieD_PL]

OK here's my 4 cents:

Germany - Great Offensive team, really fantastic to watch, but thier defense is, at times, unfourtunately shaky... Winning all thier groups games they faced Sweden in the R'o'16 where two early goals put them thru. They did well against Argentina and derservedly got thru, but Klose as a defender, which conceeded the Ayala goal, was . Thankfully he redeemed himself. It seems to me, however, that Germany either play explosively in the first 20 or last 20 mins of a match, is that a good thing or a bad thing? If they can break Italy's Catenaccio and manage to hold off the likes of Totti Gattuso and Pirlo and the strikers up front then they will be thru to the final. If that happens, then on the 9 of July, with Ballack at the helm and the whole nation behind supporting them, we could well have our new World Champions.

Italy - Their strong defensive backline has only been breached once throught this WC. And they've got the goals that have seen them through as well. Controversially thru in the R'o'16, they convincingly beat Ukraine 3 - 0. A very solid and cohesive team, with stalwart stars from midfield controlling the play. They might had even been favourites for this match if Germany weren't the Hosts.

Semi Final predicition 2 - 2 A.E.T. Pens victory for Germany

Portugal - After the heartbreak of 2004, Portugal are back to where they belong. It'll be a tough match against France but they just might do it and make the final. With exciting players like Deco, C.Ronaldo, Simao and the ever-present Figo, they have a great attacking flair. Winning all their group games and coming out of the Battle of Nurnberg on penalties, they relived Euro 2004 with another win on Pens against England. However they did have the 11-10 advantage and couldn't seal it after 2 hrs of football. They're gonna have to take anything that comes their way in this semi-final. Hopefully this semi wont be thier bowing out of the competition, and Portugal can silence the ghosts of 2004 asap.

France - A compact, cohesive and criticised team. If anything it should have been Brazil to receive the criticism but that's another story. France played kinda odd in the group stage with 2 draws and a 2 - 0 win against debutants Togo. However their form shone thru against Spain, after having fallen beind they rallied to equalised b4 half-time and go on to win the match 3 -1. France then took this preformance with them to play a lacklustre Brazil, only beating them 1 - 0 thanks to shocking Brazilian marking . With stars like Henry, Zizou and Viera, this Golden Age of French football still are capable of pulling off the impossible. Having removed Brazil of their WC, France might have the belief to go all the way like they did 8 years ago.

Semi Final predicition 2 - 1 for France A.E.T.

 

[MaSsiVe]

Expecting a Portugal x Germany final


We'll have Costinha and Deco back against France which gives us a huge boost.
They will also have to put up with a stronger defense, Henry's goal tonight came off schoolyard defending by the Brazilians.
I just hope Zidane doesn't put on a vintage performance, he's my biggest fear among the French.

 

[mnj2x]

Italy vs portugal plz for the finals..

I hope italians win the cup... Go luca toni!

 

[Callum]

viva la france!

 

[Rob]

Australia would of made the Semi finals if they werent robbed with 8 seconds to go.

 

[celtic_bhoy]

Australia would of made the Semi finals if they werent robbed with 8 seconds to go.

Def pos.

 

[Callum]

Australia would of made the Semi finals if they werent robbed with 8 seconds to go.

We would of been in the semi finals too!! If we could score from 12 yards.

 

[Internazionale]

get ready for another roller coaster the team that winning for this WC. It's hard to predict which team will win it.

Congrats to all 4 NT (Portugal, France, Germany, Italy) for their hard work reaching the semi-finals this time around, and best of luck to all !

 

[Num Lock]

believe me, we already made it farther than i expected so everything that happens now is just icing on the cake.

Germany, solid attack, shaky defense, i hate their physical play (sp?) and its even worse since they are on home soil, that italy germany semi is gonna be rough.

Italy, decent attack, awesome defense, they could knock out the germans, but they cannot expect to give up on attack after a 1 goal lead, not in the semis, their counter attacks are lethal though.

Portugal, great defense, to hold the match while being tired against an england team that pushed till the end you gotta have a good defense.

i ain't gonna comment on my team , for my part i can say i'm happy i'm gonna see Zidane play one more match.

ps: riddle me this, why did the english team came out with 5 midfielders and one attacker when they were playing against an obviously tired Portugal, every time they pushed they cornered the portuguese team, but all they had to do was mark one guy upfront to nullify their attack, if you gonna play with 5 midfielders at least play with the majority being offensive mfs, they had heargreaves (sp?), lampard and gerrard way too far back, we all know becks injury sucked but they needed a real winger down the left from the begining, not when you are playing a man down.
portugal played a good game holding the ball and trying to get a goal and defending when they needed.

see ya in the semis!

 

[panduru]

Quietly and discretly France reaches the semis, and I think it's a very difficult team to beat right now. Like the portuguese press says today, 'France's the team that nobody wishes to face right now'.

This is the semi-final that I feared for Portugal. I'd rather have Brasil, because I think it would be easer than France. Brasil deffends poorly and has an unbalanced team. It would be easier to explore those lacks. On the other hand, France is very solid in the back, very pressioning in medfield, and inteligent in attack. Portuguese football will have difficulties to face the french.

Very solid defense, an amazing midfield (Makelele, Vieira and Zidane are the best in the world in their positions), with Ribéry showing a great form, and maybe (surprisingly), a little bit weaker in the offense, despite Thierry Henry (well... but we have Pauleta ). But We have a strong side too! Maniche is in a great form, Costinha is a key player, and Deco, well, he's our 'magician', I think he's a unique player, there's no one like him in the whole world: he defends, he assists, he shoots, he dribbles, 'He's even better than Pelé, he's Deco, Allez allez' :Bow: Figo is the team's soul.

Ironicly, the portuguese sector that had been weaker in the group stage, is probably now our strongest weapon- the defense. Ricardo has been a monster!! First against Holland, securing our single goal advantage, and yesterday with the english making a memorable, and never seen in the WC history, three defenses in the penalty shoot-out. Miguel has been good surprise even the portuguese, reveling that now he's a definitive right-back, and not an adapted winger anymore. Fernando Meira, that made worriyng performances against Angola, Iran and Mexico, suddenly grows, and makes imperial games agains Holland and England. And Ricardo Carvalho, well, I think is one of the best defenders in the world. NUno Valente has been secure, and has done his job well.

Now, history is on France's side, we always lost against France (I don't remember a single win, even on friendly matches) both in the 1984 and 2000 EURO's, but I believe that Portugal is able to beat the french. Traditions are made only to be broken :amika:
Very hard game in prospect though. Portuguese players, and portuguese people in general, have a lot of respect for the french side, and I know there won't be situations like the ones in the spanish and brazilian press, 'predicting' Zidane's last game.

Why do I think, and more important, why I believe we're gonna beat the french? Because Portugal deserves, finally, a little happiness. In 66 we lost in the semis against England, the future world champion; in 84 and 2000 the same, against France; and two years ago , against the poor poor side of Greece, in our home! We're by nature a depressed and pessimistic people, if we won the world cup, well, I just can't imagine how it would be! Two many tears and decepcions deserve a reward! 10 million souls have an enormous faith in this guys!!

If you think about it, the portuguese team defies all sense. We're a poor, small and periferic country, unlike all other 3 semi-finalists (all former world champions!), we're allways on Europe's tail when we talk about development and quality of life...but we have great footballers!!

I hope that the team maintains his attitude of faith and helping each other. That's halfway to the Final.


PS: Fingers crossed for a Germany vs. Portugal final :P

 

[::shinji::]

Why do I think, and more important, why I believe we're gonna beat the french? Because Portugal deserves, finally, a little happiness. In 66 we lost in the semis against England, the future world champion; in 84 and 2000 the same, against France; and two years ago , against the poor poor side of Greece, in our home! We're by nature a depressed and pessimistic people, if we won the world cup, well, I just can't imagine how it would be! Two many tears and decepcions deserve a reward! 10 million souls have an enormous faith in this guys!!

If you think about it, the portuguese team defies all sense. We're a poor, small and periferic country, unlike all other 3 semi-finalists (all former world champions!), we're allways on Europe's tail when we talk about development and quality of life...but we have great footballers!!

I hope that the team maintains his attitude of faith and helping each other. That's halfway to the Final.


PS: Fingers crossed for a Germany vs. Portugal final :P

heh, so true..

At this point, I'm more than satisfied already. Reaching the semis of a WC is already a huge achievment for a country of only 10 million and a player pool that's tiny when compared to the rest of the semi-finalists.

I have no illusions about the game vs. France, they're a great team with a lot of experience and we never beat them. We'll see what happens though...we're there, deal with it haters.

 

[VanTheMin]

germany this time. they are a class act.
france in the other semis.
they are seeming to build up great

 

[newbie original]

....This is identical to EURO 2000 with Italy - host nation and Portugal - France.

Or to the 1982 World Cup with Italy, France, Germany and a team yet to win the World Cup. I just love relating stuff to history and ofcourse....... the QUOTE button.

 

[Madeira]

good luck to all four teams.

I wouldn't mind seeing an Italy - Portugal final - although our game against France will not be a walk in the park to say the least if we don't neutralize Henry.

 

[newbie original]

believe me, we already made it farther than i expected so everything that happens now is just icing on the cake.

I thought that after the Spain victory...now it may atcually be a semi-upset if you guys aren't in the final.

You guys are playing well now...on a roll you might say! Outscored your opponents 6-1 in your last three games. Personally, I don't want to see Zidane go out. I would be quite dissapointed if you guys don't make it to the final now.

I fell asleep watching the 1998 final, nearly did the same during the EURO 2000 final, but got a headache watching the EURO 2004 final....I hate headaches!

Portugal will try to suffocate Zidane where Brazil would have put more of an emphasis on attack, but that's a discussion for another thread.

Latest odds:
Germany 6/4 France 9/4 Italy 11/4 Portugal 9/2

 

[Num Lock]

I thought that after the Spain victory...now it may atcually be a semi-upset if you guys aren't in the final.

You guys are playing well now...on a roll you might say! Outscored your opponents 6-1 in your last three games. Personally, I don't want to see Zidane go out. I would be quite dissapointed if you guys don't make it to the final now.

I fell asleep watching the 1998 final, nearly did the same during the EURO 2000 final, but got a headache watching the EURO 2004 final....I hate headaches!

Portugal will try to suffocate Zidane where Brazil would have put more of an emphasis on attack, but that's a discussion for another thread.

Latest odds:
Germany 6/4 France 9/4 Italy 11/4 Portugal 9/2

remember we already made it farther than '02 :amika:

 

[El Diablo Rojo]

Hopefully Portugal will get it since they never won it and as they have probably the worst from the 4 left it would serve this world cup right.

No offense to the portugese there.

 

[Callum]

allez les blues!

 

[ShiftyPowers]

I'm convinced of two things...

1) We will get to see Germany play France for the final, and it will be an absolute war on the field. Neither team would be able to face their homeland after having lost to the other one.

2) When Germany win the semi-finals, Ballack will somehow pick up a red card and miss the final. He's Roger Federer when it comes to getting suspended for finals.

 

[SlayerDeuS]

Henry is finna explode versus Portugal, I can feel it every passing day. Wouldn't surprise me to see him bag a brace. BTW Ribery is going to abuse Nuno Valente.