Posted on 07/08/2014 12:47:03 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
Luiz Felipe Scolari is convinced Brazil can beat Germany and make it through to a dream World Cup final despite Neymar’s absence.
Brazil will take on Germany at the Estadio Mineirao on Tuesday without their best player and leading scorer, who was ruled out of the World Cup after fracturing a verterbrae in last week’s win over Colombia.
An incredible wave of sadness followed the news that Neymar had been ruled out.
The players shed tears and many of the 200 million football-mad Brazilians feared how their team would cope without their talisman.
But Scolari has moved on from the incident and he has challenged the rest of his squad to reach the Maracana final for their injured star.
'He has done his share. Now it’s up to us to do our share,' the Brazil coach told a press conference on the eve of the match.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
"He's like a cone on the field" ... "He can't move." ... "He doesn't shot. He supposed to head the ball in but doesn't do that."
“We already had Hulk, now we’ve got the Invisible Man,” is the joke making the rounds
For Brazil to beat Germany, Hulk has to get angry
It has to begin with this: Hulk has had more shots (13) than any other player to have failed to score in World Cup 2014. In the eyes of some, it might paint him in a not so very good light. But in the absence of Neymar, he is their best goal-scoring option and the man who will need to step up -- in other words, like his superhero namesake, he will need to get angry.
Brazil brings their fouling machine to the semifinals against Germany. Won’t work. Enjoy your spot in third-place game Brazil.
I doubt it.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
| Team | P | W | D | L | +/- | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Colombia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +7 | 9 |
| 2. | Greece | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 4 |
| 3. | Côte d'Ivoire | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 3 |
| 4. | Japan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -4 | 1 |
The Germany coach said he was astonished that the Spanish referee of that match did not show any red cards in a match in which there were 54 fouls, 31 committed by Brazil.
Here's a look at how key player absences, lack of roster depth and opponent strengths will be too much for the host nation to overcome and ultimately lead to its exit.
Out of the England squad that faced Germany in that same 2009 U-21 final, only one player made it into England’s World Cup squad for 2014.
England bombed out of its World Cup, finishing last in its group.
The match will be the fifth between the countries in the world finals, the first of them coming at Germany 1974, when Johan Cruyff scored twice as the Oranje routed La Albiceleste 4-0 in the second round, from which the Dutch emerged to reach the Final.
Argentina gained the sweetest revenge four years later in beating the men in orange 3-1 in the Final on home soil. Recalling his extra-time winner in an interview with FIFA.com, Mario Kempes said: “It wasn’t the most beautiful goal, but it was the most exciting. I think people were even trying to blow it over the line. It was touch and go, but it went in eventually.”
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