Friday, July 4th, France vs. Germany at Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janeiro (5pm BST, 12pm ET)
Day 20: France vs. Germany
- Thread starter gooDevil
- Start date
Why is this being played as the first quarter final when Brazil and Colombia played 2 days ago and Costa Rica and Holland played yesterday? The schedule seems to be in favour of Brazil, which isn't really fair.
Anyway I think the French might nick this, Germany really look shocking at the back and I think the extra time might have taken a bit out of them tonight
Anyway I think the French might nick this, Germany really look shocking at the back and I think the extra time might have taken a bit out of them tonight
Go France #TEAMFRANCE
That does seem quite unfair.
Nightmare fuel....
2-1 France. Watch this space.
French cavalry charge to be decisive moment in this battle.
Giroud vs Höwedes 
After that catastrophic game against Nigeria, Giroud will never begin the match.
Mustafi is out for the rest of the World Cup because of a muscle strain.
Good thing for Germany
Neither team looked that convincing today. I want France to do it but I think 2-1 Germany.
Germany are likely to get exposed if they continue to play Lahm as a DM, Algeria were very unlucky not to go through, would have been a cracking game. I think France will beat them 2-0 Benzema and Cabaye with the goals.
3-2 France ET. Klose to miss an agonizing chance.
If Hummels is fit and Lahm play in defence , Germany can win this , if Hummels is still injured and Lahm play midfielder , they will lose this game ..
I'd say Germany are 2-1 favorites. I'd guess 1-0.
The scheduling seems very strange...
Anyway, if you'd asked me who would win out of these two before the world cup, I would have said Germany would steamroller France. But looking at Germany's selections at the back over these games and France's solid form, I think the French will edge it. If Deschamps' selection is at all influenced by the Nigeria game, you'll probably get Valbuena up against Howedes, Benzema playing off Mertesacker's shoulder and Griezeman up against another out-of-position CB. That just doesn't bode well for Germany.
Anyway, if you'd asked me who would win out of these two before the world cup, I would have said Germany would steamroller France. But looking at Germany's selections at the back over these games and France's solid form, I think the French will edge it. If Deschamps' selection is at all influenced by the Nigeria game, you'll probably get Valbuena up against Howedes, Benzema playing off Mertesacker's shoulder and Griezeman up against another out-of-position CB. That just doesn't bode well for Germany.
I think the one thing this WC has shown us is that nobody knows for sure who will win each game.
Probably due to commercial interests. Netherlands vs Costa Rica is also at 22:00 the following day while whoever advances tomorrow will play at 18:00, less rest for them too.
Griezeman will have a field day against that back four if he gets the chance...
Good news for Germany that.
I reckon this is where Löw ridiculous tactics will get exposed. France are good going forward, and should Griezmann start he will have a field day.
Really hard to predict. Both teams have a lot of quality and could go either way. Right now, I'd favour France just slightly as they seem to be playing better and look more like a team than Germany in my opinion. I still want Germany to go through though, so I'd say 2:1 Germany.
This should be a cracker. France along with Argentina were my tips at the start, so will stick with France.
Would be great to see Germany knocked out.
Would be great to see Germany knocked out.
France needs to drop Giroud as quickly as possible. The number of times he single handedly stopped the French counter attacks was hilarious.
While Giroud is on topic... He either needs to be dropped, or else, I hope he finally gets caught throwing another elbow and gets his just reward, this has been bugging me so much for some reason
Don't think it's a big deal. France and Germany played on the same day, so there isn't a disadvantage for the quarterfinals for one of those two teams. Brazil as the host nation will probably attract the most interest in the world, so they get the prime time spot again. In the end, the teams that play in the early groups always have more rest during the tournament than the teams in the last few groups. They start the games a few days earlier and it's a bit of a disadvantage, but you can't change it and Spain for example won it 4 years ago with the least time of rest inbetween games. If Argentina plays Brazil in the final, Brazil will have had 3 days more rest between their first knockout game and the final than Argentina. Sucks, but that's the world cup. The teams have to deal with it.
France win unless Löw has a heart attack before Friday and whoever steps in plays actual fullbacks.
True. I wasn't suggesting foul play or anything, just was wondering why it is the way it is - would surely have made more sense to have Brazil vs Colombia be the first quarter-final game?
But France/Germany is played in a slightly cooler part of Brazil (Rio) than the host nation's game in Fortalezi, so maybe it balances out anyway
Looking forward to this one. Should be interesting to see how France will do against a good opponent. Fancy zeh germans to win this one, though I can see the French stealing it away. Anyhow it should be a blast.
whats a PM? Whats the EPL?
I'm pretty sure we will lose against France. Valbuena will tear Höwedes a new one and their midfield is strong enough to again give ours no space and make sure our build up game will be too slow to pose any real thread.
Judging by yesterday's performance, France will have to wait for the semifinal to play a good opponent...
its just crazy that brazils QF will be played after the france-germany tie. fifa wtf??
Blessing in disguise for Germany, Lahm at RB and Khedira in midfield is the way to go for them
What an international classic. I think this is the 1st time France is meeting Germany after that SF game in 1982 and that horrible tackle by Schumacher on Battiston.
France wasnt anything special but I tip them to win this time cause all in all Germany had a poor game. Sure they were slightly better near the end of 90 minutes and in OT but it wasnt convincing at all. Low doesnt strike me as someone who could take this team to the title.
He wont let go off his idea of Lahm in midfield and Howedes and Boateng as FBs despite the fact it doesnt work and yesterday once Khedira was subbed on and played in midfield and Lahm as FB Germany looked better. Playing without a CF doesnt help either. Its the similar situation as in our team, Kovač had an idea of Rakitić as a def. midfielder which didnt work, sure its a problem on a smaller scale than with Germany but its the story of a coach having an idea which doesnt work but he insists on it just to prove he's smart and capable even despite the danger it will end in tears..
France has a great midfield, on fire Benzema and wingers which will have a field day against germany's FBs which are in fact CBS.
France wasnt anything special but I tip them to win this time cause all in all Germany had a poor game. Sure they were slightly better near the end of 90 minutes and in OT but it wasnt convincing at all. Low doesnt strike me as someone who could take this team to the title.
He wont let go off his idea of Lahm in midfield and Howedes and Boateng as FBs despite the fact it doesnt work and yesterday once Khedira was subbed on and played in midfield and Lahm as FB Germany looked better. Playing without a CF doesnt help either. Its the similar situation as in our team, Kovač had an idea of Rakitić as a def. midfielder which didnt work, sure its a problem on a smaller scale than with Germany but its the story of a coach having an idea which doesnt work but he insists on it just to prove he's smart and capable even despite the danger it will end in tears..
France has a great midfield, on fire Benzema and wingers which will have a field day against germany's FBs which are in fact CBS.
So what?
Every WC knockout game is a game on its own. The longer teams with good individual players play together the more they get used to each other. In the early stages you see teams compensating little individual skill with workethics. Though when players are used to the tactics and players around them they'll perform at a higher level. I guess Algeria compensated lack of skill with hard work. Though I never had the feeling Germany would not make it to the quarters, since in the end, with equal work ethics, (most of the time) individual skills prevail at a WC. Germany will be better vs France than vs Algeria, I rekon.
I don't really get why France isn't criticised as much as Germany. They struggled as much against Nigeria as we did against Algeria and needed a mistake by the Nigerian goalkeeper and an own goal to score.
We beat France in the semifinal in '86 as well. France were huge favourites after beating Brazil and Italy and outplayed us for large parts of the game but failed to score, while we scored a freekick and finished the job late on the counter.
So is it a draw then, since I expect Hummels to play and Lahm to stay in midfield?
I'm expecting both teams to dig in at midfield and stay there for four years.