Heavyweights will battle out for place in final
Brazil national soccer team members, from left, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Marcelo, Fred, Paulinho, joke around with Oscar, back to camera, during a practice session at the Granja Comary training center, in Teresopolis (Photo: AP)
Rio de Janeiro: After two functional results, a Pyrrhic victory and shootout drama, the Fifa World Cup has stuck to its tradition of shutting the door on smaller teams in the quarter-finals.
Big guns Argentina, Brazil, Germany and the Netherlands are through to the last four. The possibilities for the final on July 13 are engrossing: intra-continental derbies between two bitter neighbours or a high-voltage inter-continental meeting.
Giant-killing business is over and it’s time for the established superpowers in football to unleash heavy artillery. The semi-finalists have 10 titles among themselves and the Dutch are the only team without the tag of “former champions”.
Brazil’s win was the most impressive in the quarter-finals, as it was embellished by a superlative free kick from David Luiz whose coiffure and all-action style would befit a rock star. In the end, though, Brazil’s comfortable progress soured in the wake of tournament-ending injury to Neymar, the face of the host nation.
The Selecao have won a battle but have a fight on hands to clinch the war. The pain of losing Neymar to a cynical challenge should spur them when they take on Germany in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday.
Will spirit alone be enough for Brazil to pull it off against Germany? There is already a fear here that the home team don’t have the tools to survive the semi-final. It’s easier to say that the others should step up to the plate than finding the players to do the job.Germany have already eschewed beauty in their quest for glory.
Winning ugly is more than welcome for a country that hasn’t touched silverware since Euro 1996. There was unbridled joy among German fans after their country had edged out France in a match that few would care to remember. The mood wasn’t different among the players.
Argentina are in the last four for the first time since 1990. After yet another win by a single-goal margin, the Albicelestes are 180 minutes away from a third trophy. It would have been a travesty of justice had the Dutch crashed out on penalties.
Costa Rica had clearly run out of gas after a memorable campaign in the group stage and they didn’t deserve to reach the semi-finals. The Central American team played for penalties and ended up paying the penalty. The sublime talents of Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder certainly need a bigger stage.
Fans wouldn’t have failed to note the fall in goals in the knockout rounds. After 2.83 in the group stage, the goal average fell to 2.25 in the Round of 16. It was 1.25 in the last eight and four out of the five scored resulted from set-pieces. The numbers aren’t good enough for an otherwise enjoyable tournament.
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