Day 14: Netherlands vs USA | Argentina vs Australia (Last 16 1&2)

[IFC 1905]

Everyone says we're bad but the two goals from Arabia were a total anomally and today's goal was absolute out of nowhere.

Once De Paul has a good game and Lautaro score one of those he has... all of our games should've beeen comfortable wins.

This team is solid defensively, we will see if the Netherlands can break us, I trust this team till the end.

 

[Kevin]

Ronaldo is probably furious. While Messi is excelling and carrying this crap argentinian team he has been busy giving ronaldinho assists with his back to the opponent or trying to steal goals from his teammates.

 

[The Brown Bull]

Best team won. Well done Australia on a gallant effort . I don’t think Argentina will go all the way .
Too reliant on the little genius.

 

[Zen]

It's really warm and humid. Him walking around and picking his spots to engage helps him a lot.

He's not worked as hard as he did in this game in years.... and it looked at the full time whistle. He was fecked. Fair fecks to him. Massive panic after the Aussie goal and he didn't shy away from fighting to keep them going up top, which is one of the prime arguments against him.

One of the best games I think I've watched from him in years in a complete sense.

 

[croadyman]

Sorry Lisandro I wanted Aussies to score

 

[Semper Fudge]

The left back bitch?

What?

 

[Dazzmondo]

I've never seen Messi look this exhausted. This squad is gonna end him with this Messi-dependence when he's 35

You can understand why he might want to chill for a bit in the USA after this

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Sorry Lisandro I wanted Aussies to score

We'll be sending him round to see you.

 

[BeforeKeanetherewasRobson]

Argentina looks so shakey at the back

Especially when their manager keeps going “hmmm, I think I’ll drop Lisandro again”.

Thought he’d have learned from the first game.

 

[TheNewEra]

England, France, Brazil, Portugal and Spain would all beat them I reckon.

Lucky for Argentina all these guys will knock each other out.

Hopefully someone can cause an upset versus Brazil for them but, there's no easy games.

I don't expect Argentina to win this tournament but I'd love them to for Messi.

 

[croadyman]

Can't help but be fuming at Ryan for 2nd goal

 

[antohan]

Oh what a save. Won the game probably.

I've been telling Argies for a while that the difference between Copa failure against Chile and success against Brazil was having a top goalie.

Romero was a good keeper, but never had the commanding presence and thou-shall-not-pass attitude of Martínez.

That can make all the difference between champs or chumps.

 

[SilentWitness]

Lucky for Argentina all these guys will knock each other out.

Hopefully someone can cause an upset versus Brazil for them but, there's no easy games.

I don't expect Argentina to win this tournament but I'd love them to for Messi.

Yep. We will finally see what Southgate is made of unless they get done by Senegal.

The Dutch game is 50/50 for me.

 

[Klopper76]

Two Martinez’s saving Argentina there. Hard to call the Netherlands Argentina quarter final. I’d give the edge to the Dutch but there’s a touch of destiny about Argentina and Messi.

Australia shot themselves in the foot sadly for them.

 

[MileStolar]

I'm fine with it. The longer he spends on the bench the less chance for him to get a knock.

I think playing on such occasions and in important games really improves players in their mental growth and experience. It's better if our boys play rather than sitting on bench, once they field for us in UCL knock outs or something like that they will be experienced.

 

[Andre Kagawa]

I think both Aussies and freedom-deliverers can be proud of themselves after today. Two great games!

 

[Andycoleno9]

Ronaldo is probably furious. While Messi is excelling and carrying this crap argentinian team he has been busy giving ronaldinho assists with his back to the opponent or trying to steal goals from his teammates.

One is carrying his team, other is carried out by his.

 

[2mufc0]

Especially when their manager keeps going “hmmm, I think I’ll drop Lisandro again”.

Thought he’d have learned from the first game.

We haven't really seen a team go at them, well Saudi Arabia tried and did some damage.

There's definetly some mistakes in that Romero-Otamendi partnership.

It's clear Lisandro should be playing but it's also clear the manager won't pick him and Argentina will find out the hard way.

 

[NoLogo]

As much as I'd love Messi to win it, I fear that the supporting cast simply isn't good enough.

I totally agree. The team bar Lisandro, Messi and Die Maria is painfully average. Alvarez is very talented, but apart from that, I don't see any outstanding players in that squad.

 

[Redfrog]

We can't say the Netherlands were particularly impressive, to me it's close de 50/50 and will rest on Messi's shoulders.

Non, they are not but they are solid and it should be enough.

 

[horsechoker]

Two Martinez’s saving Argentina there. Hard to call the Netherlands Argentina quarter final. I’d give the edge to the Dutch but there’s a touch of destiny about Argentina and Messi.

Australia shot themselves in the foot sadly for them.

Van Gaal will man mark Messi out of the game and play 7-2-1 trying to nick a goal.

 

[croadyman]

We'll be sending him round to see you.

I am fully behind my country in the World Cup,know some don't feel the same way but he will understand the situation

 

[Andycoleno9]

Despite i want to my team win it, i still struggle to find a team who can beat France (now when Tunis is out ). They look better than any team.

 

[bosnian_red]

Kind of the story of the tournament, the good teams aren't that good, but it is making for an incredibly competitive series of games.

I don't really think it's been that true - Argentina have been by far the least impressive "big" team this world cup. They're in the quarters while a team like Germany is out because of cup football variance/fixture list, but enough of the big sides have impressed when they needed to impress. Spain losing to Japan in a dead rubber game, or Brazil to Cameroon, or France to Tunisia, doesn't mean they aren't good sides. Same with Portugal. England are a good side, shit coach but still far better than Argentina. Netherlands have impressed more as well, even if they've been thoroughly underwhelming. At least they've been controlled.

They have a good set of players but either they crumble under the weight of expectation and resort to "give it to Messi and prey", or their coach doesn't know what he's doing and is relying on vibes. Vibes and a 35 year old Messi won't get you over the line in games against a similar level team. Fully expect Netherlands to beat them unless they severely step it up.

 

[bosnian_red]

If Messi goes clutch they could still win the tournament

Nah. He is needing to be clutch to beat fecking Mexico and Australia. He's 35. Good teams can shut him down and if the rest of the team doesn't have a clear system/plan, they'll be shone up by an actual well coached side.

 

[Andycoleno9]

I am fully behind my country in the World Cup,know some don't feel the same way but he will understand the situation

If we beat Japan i will stay away from CAF for Brasil game. I will bash, curse, swear and trash Casemiro (and fred and Antony) all 90 minutes .

 

[Grande]

We will. People surely said the same of Pele, then of Best, then of Cruyff, then of Maradona, then of Ronaldo Luis, then of Ronaldhino, and now of Messi.

Pele was not Best was not Cruyff was not Maradona was not Ronaldo was not Ronaldinho was not Messi. We will never see the like again.

 

[Oly Francis]

I don't really think it's been that true - Argentina have been by far the least impressive "big" team this world cup. They're in the quarters while a team like Germany is out because of cup football variance/fixture list, but enough of the big sides have impressed when they needed to impress. Spain losing to Japan in a dead rubber game, or Brazil to Cameroon, or France to Tunisia, doesn't mean they aren't good sides. Same with Portugal. England are a good side, shit coach but still far better than Argentina. Netherlands have impressed more as well, even if they've been thoroughly underwhelming. At least they've been controlled.

They have a good set of players but either they crumble under the weight of expectation and resort to "give it to Messi and prey", or their coach doesn't know what he's doing and is relying on vibes. Vibes and a 35 year old Messi won't get you over the line in games against a similar level team. Fully expect Netherlands to beat them unless they severely step it up.

We're getting to the point when games become more and more irrationnal though, analysis doesn't really matter when you reach the final stage. It's often about one bad mistake or one player having the night of his life. It's obviously not 50/50 at each game but the margins are getting far, far narrower because of the immense pressure.

 

[Redfrog]

I think it depends what Argentina shows up, they missed Di Maria a bit today I think but they need quality in attack, Lautaro is shit really he misses everything.

Netherlands are much better in possession for sure.

If Argentina doesn’t show up it’s just because there’s nothing to show up. It’s the same level since the beginning.
They won’t magically start playing well.

 

[Sweet Square]

Football is a weird sport. They will beat the Netherlands with ease.

 

[#07]

I think playing on such occasions and in important games really improves players in their mental growth and experience. It's better if our boys play rather than sitting on bench, once they field for us in UCL knock outs or something like that they will be experienced.

Well its not like Licha is inexperienced. He has more Champions League experience, from Ajax, than a lot of our current squad.

Also, international football is so much slower than club football and the conditions are so different, I'm not sure the experiences are comparable. I'm not sure that Kleberson winning the World Cup or Mata winning it or Pogba winning it made them better for Man Utd.

 

[the_cliff]

Everyone says we're bad but the two goals from Arabia were a total anomally and today's goal was absolute out of nowhere.

Once De Paul has a good game and Lautaro score one of those he has... all of our games should've beeen comfortable wins.

This team is solid defensively, we will see if the Netherlands can break us, I trust this team till the end.

I agree, I think the one problem with Argentina is that you depend too much on Messi to break the deadlock. The other attacking players need to start pulling their weight, otherwise you may keep the other team at bay but you won't be able to score either.

 

[Redfrog]

Everyone says we're bad but the two goals from Arabia were a total anomally and today's goal was absolute out of nowhere.

Once De Paul has a good game and Lautaro score one of those he has... all of our games should've beeen comfortable wins.

This team is solid defensively, we will see if the Netherlands can break us, I trust this team till the end.

It’s the hope that kills you. I don’t think you will pass the semis with probably Brazil or maybe Croatia.

 

[Tincanalley]

Best team won both games. Hopefully Di Maria back for Dutch match.

 

[Hoof the ball]

Ronaldo has 1145 games, 819 goals

To be honest, I find "games" played a misleading statistic that can either flatter or downplay someone's achievements. Any sort of minutes in a game can count as a "game", and so, it makes it problematic comparing that way. The only good way it can be done is through minutes played:

Minutes played
Messi - 81,995 minutes played with 789 goals
Ronaldo - 92,796 minutes played with 819 goals

So, Ronaldo has played rougly the equivalent of 120 more full 90 minute games and only 30 more goals to show for it.

The goals per minute ratio puts Messi at 104 mins per goal and 72 mins per goal contribution.
The goals per minute ration puts Ronaldo at 113 mins per goal and 88 mins per goal contribution.

It's an open/shut case, tbh.

 

[Tincanalley]

Lot more shape to the Ozzies compared to USA - will take something special to open them up

And someone special to deliver it!

 

[SirReginald]

It’s the hope that kills you. I don’t think you will pass the semis with probably Brazil or maybe Croatia.

They’re definitely not a vintage Argentina side but hey not all the best sides any nation producing ends up winning anything. I somehow fear this boring and frankly poor Netherlands team will go far.

 

[IFC 1905]

It’s the hope that kills you. I don’t think you will pass the semis with probably Brazil or maybe Croatia.

this team beat Brazil in a final last year. I will always have hope in them.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Lisandro Martinez needs to start against Netherlands. Their best defender by a country mile.

 

[cyberman]

It’s such an open tournament. If Ronaldo or Messi were in their prime they’d be favourites. They just got old at the wrong time