Brazil, Italy, Argentina, and Germany cannot run from who they are
Day five of the World Cup was probably the most rewarding, and a great example of how football is football, whoever is playing it, wherever they come from. We try our best not to compare the women’s game with the men’s game, as they are two different sports. But Sunday night’s fare was perhaps the most glaring example of how football ethos will always pervade particular countries, how they view the game, and how they think it should be played. Identity still reigns as a whole. Which means if youhospital, Football games are not only a reason to stop partying, but a reason to start. If you’re in Italy, it means playing with ridicule. If you’re Argentinian, it means playing straight Raised middle finger. And if you’re in Germany, it simply means becoming a skilled steamroller. It was all screened on Sunday night, so let’s make it hotter.
Game of the day: Italy 1 – 0 Argentina
Certainly not the game with the most goalmouth action or opportunities, but it was the only game that was competitive so we’ll start with that.
Desperation can make for great spectacle. Both of these teams will figure as the most likely to advance behind Sweden in the group, although South Africa will not sit quietly either. But after Sweden’s victory, suspicious as it may beGetting the three points to start their campaign for the A’s would have boosted the enthusiasm of both Argentina and Italy. would have gained an edge over both the loser and South Africa, and B would not have needed a result from Sweden when they had to play them. of all first round Of the games we’ve seen, this one seems like it has the most rides on it.
Which is why it was certainly the most frantic of all, as both these teams attacked each other at full force for most of the 90 minutes. At times it seemed as if an army of men and an army of orcs were hurling pieces of Gondor at each other. The tense and tense situation was only eased by both teams pressing hard and being able to interact with the ball with ease. Turnovers, tackles and then more tackles raised the temperature on this one.
Argentina had more yellow cards than shots on goal (4 to 1) and looked determined to get stuck. The charge was led by striker Mariana Larroquet, carrying on the Argentine tradition of a forward who could start a fight in an empty room. Romina Nuñez, Estefania Banini, and Florencia Bonsegundo (really trying very hard not to make the “left my wallet” joke), Argentina’s front four, followed Larroquet’s lead in facing Italy.
Italy didn’t shy away from the sharpness, and perhaps the story of the match was simply 16-year-old Giulia Dragni, not only starting the match, not only piling up in the middle of midfield, but rising above the bubbling lava to show why she’s the first foreign-born woman (actually a girl) to be accepted into Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy.
that was basically the last scene to slap on the football field.
Italy looked most dangerous in the second half when Dragani was moved to the #10 role rather than as part of the double pivot where he started the match. And while the entire match was played on knife edge (and possibly with actual knives), the game was perhaps the calm between the storms for Italy, while Argentina continued to rage and tried to turn the whole thing into a double dragon. This doesn’t mean that Italy made a ton (0.4 xG), but they made enough and slightly more than Argentina:
This is how Italy would have pulled it off – an overload on their right, the ball passed back to Manuela Giugliano in deep midfield, who passed the game to the isolated Lisa Botin, a player who was more winger than fullback all night. She volleyed in a dangerous cross that reached the far post as Italy headed in on the back of that overload, and Girelli won it with a perfect square header. This is what he saw in all the matches.
You don’t get this type of match when one or both the teams think they have time to build something later in the tournament or they think it’s a free hit. Italy and Argentina both thought they had everything depending on And played like that. It wasn’t artistic or pretty, and was sometimes downright ugly, but great theater doesn’t have to be.
Other results: Germany 6 – 0 Morocco
None better than Germany to ruin a fairy tale. morocco is a great story As the first Arab nation to qualify for this tournament, they have put all the resources and effort into their schedule. Germany does not need, and in fact has been instructed, not to care about any of this. And they certainly didn’t do that, going for a touchdown in their World Cup opening match.
That they did it without Lena Oberdorf and Marina Hegering is even scarier. Morocco set up in a fairly organized 4-4-2, trying to reduce the reach of Sarah Dabritz and Melanie Lupolz and force Germany to go long, and it didn’t really make a difference. Svenja Huth on the right, Lena Magul from advanced midfield, and three attackers moving forward and out in space, and the four backs in the Moroccan midfield. Sometimes the centerback would pass directly to Alexandra Pope and then go wide out, or simply throw a switch-ball wide out. His variations were astonishing and Morocco had no answers.
Hey, Pop didn’t even have to face the right way to score:
The World Cup isn’t won in the first game, and there’s really no such thing as a “message sent”. But the fact that Germany did it without two of their lynchpins… well, their rivals won’t feel good about it, let’s say.
Brazil 4-0 Panama
If the butt-waxing of Morocco by Germany was ruthless, perhaps the only thing more tragic is to do the same kind of butt-waxing with joie de vivre. It’s one thing when it’s just business, and another when your harasser is getting away with it.
Brazil was happy during the 1990s. they were smiling, laughing, etc. High-fiving after opportunities, and shots that didn’t go in. They played like it was an office party and the bar was open. While Panama wanted to block the middle and make spaces smaller, Brazil is the most unyielding side you can find. This is probably the most no nonsense country you can find. While Lori Lindsay in the booth urged Brazil to play the ball farther, there was no place against which the Brazilian did not want to test himself. Their 4-2-2-2 featured a front four of Adriana, Debinha, Bia Zanerato and Ari Borges with constant pace and interchangeability, all four pulling wide or combining in the middle, or coming in deep to run back. They at least showed they were willing to try to pick their way through the blocked mids with delicate touches and a 1-2 to open up space where fullbacks Tamires and Antonia were bombing forwards with glee.
Manager Pia Sundge will be most pleased that Brazil have, as the manager likes to say, “earned their right to play”. This meant that when he lost the ball, he chased it furiously and forced Panama to give him ball after ball. Data during the first half showed that on average, Brazil had only seven seconds between losing the ball and regaining it. That’s what Sundhage is looking for with this team and so far it looks like it Success. Although apparently doing it for the first time against Panama is one thing The World Cup game and the challenges ahead, but one has to start somewhere.
goal of the day
As if there could be someone else:
So much so that even the statue of The Redeemer in Brazil started dancing. Borges turns down hat-trick chance in his very first World Cup World Cup game, as she would love to pull off a backheel to Zenaretto for the dunk. Then, when you have a Borges-like touch to hit a cross right in front of his feet, you can do whatever you want. Is in this type Aim to make your hips do things you didn’t know they were capable of.
Did Alexey Lalas say anything stupid?
He Had The Day Off, But That Doesn’t Mean Fox Can’t Take A Vacation make things awkward. There is a way to add countries’ men’s and women’s teams, and there is also a way not to. Guess which one Fox got?
Before the Argentina game, host Rob Stone couldn’t wait to link the men’s victory to this team in December, and there was an entire video segment about it. As if one has anything to do with the other. While the women’s team certainly have fans and were just as happy to see Messi lift the trophy as any other Argentine, it has nothing to do with the women’s team. The challenges and obstacles they face are totally different. If Messi had claimed that the World Cup would happen 10 or 15 years after the sport was taken seriously in the country (and not so seriously, yes), then we could be talking. You can also link it to Argentina’s gold medal in basketball in 2004. It’s lazy, easy and pointless. Perhaps through that World Cup win it would be useful to illustrate the difference between how the two programs are treated by the Argentine FA?
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