Saturday, July 5, 2014

World Cup Update -- Five Games to Go

Given how the World Cup has gone so far, it seems inevitable that today we will say farewell to Belgium and Costa Rica, leaving us with a Final Four of all traditional powers:  Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, and Argentina.  But they have to play the games anyway, so here goes with Argentina v. Belgium.  The main reason to watch this game is to see Lionel Messi, who is the best player in the world:

ARGENTINA:
Goalkeeper:  Sergio Romero (Monaco) (France)

Defender:  Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City) (England)
Defender:  Martin Demichelis (Manchester City) (England)
Defender:  Ezequiel Garay (Zenit Saint Petersburg) (Russia)
Defender:  Jose Maria Basanta (Monterrey) (Mexico)

Midfielder:  Lucas Biglia (Lazio) (Italy)
Midfielder:  Javier Mascherano (Barcelona) (Spain)
Midfielder:  Angel di Maria (Real Madrid) (Spain)

Forward:  Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli) (Italy)
Forward:  Lionel Messi (Captain) (Barcelona) (Spain)
Forward:  Ezequeil Lavezzi (Paris Saint-Germain) (France)

BELGIUM:
Goalkeeper:  Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea) (England)

Defender:  Toby Alderweireld (Atletico Madrid) (Spain)
Defender:  Vincent Kompany (Captain) (Manchester City) (England)
Defender:  Daniel Van Buyten (Bayern Munich) (Germany)
Defender:  Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham Hotspur) (England)

Midfielder:  Axel Witsel (Zenit Saint Petersburg) (Russia)
Midfielder:  Kevin De Bruyne (Wolfsburg) (Germany)
Midfielder:  Marouane Fellaini (Manchester Utd) (England)
Midfielder:  Eden Hazard (Chelsea) (England)

Forward:  Kevin Mirallas (Everton) (England)
Forward:  Divock Origi (Lille) (France)

25 comments:

  1. Uniform watch: Argentina's light blue stripes on a white background make one of the best jerseys you will ever see in any sport. Belgium is wearing a fairly generic dark red uniform with yellow numerals. They look somewhat like the Kansas City Chiefs, if the Chiefs went in for soccer.

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  2. Argentina had a golden age from 1978 to 1990, making the finals three times in four World Cups, and winning two titles. But they haven't made it past the quarterfinals since 1990.

    Belgium has only made it to semi-finals of the World Cup one time. They got there in 1986, where they lost to Argentina. This is their first appearance in the World Cup since 2002.

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  3. For the third quarter-final game in a row, we have an early goal for the favorite. This time it was Argentina, with Higuain lashing home a shot from about 10 yards out to open the scoring.

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  4. 25 minutes:

    Argentina 1 - 0 Belgium

    The Belgians are showing more urgency than France did in similar circumstances yesterday, but they haven't made too much progress so far.

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  5. Meanwhile, XM Radio is playing Casey Kasem's show from June 30, 1979. He just read a long-distance dedication in which someone dedicated the song "Undercover Angel." That's not the song I would have picked, but I'm happy to hear it for the first time in over 30 years. (I still remember it all.) It sounds like the theme song for a 1970's TV show.

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  6. 30 minutes:

    Argentina 1 - 0 Belgium

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  7. In the 32d minute, Angel di Maria, one of the Argentine midfielders, leaves with an injury. He is replaced by Enzo Perez, a midfielder who plays for Benfica in Portugal.

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  8. Half Time:

    Argentina 1 - 0 Belgium

    With di Maria out, Argentina's top priority now seems to be running out the clock.

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  9. 50 minutes:

    Argentina 1 - 0 Belgium

    Belgium, which dominated the United States, is being dominated today.

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    Replies
    1. One thing that really struck me in watching the little bit of the World Cup I watched this time is how clearly the dominance of one team over an opponent can come through even in a match that's still tied 0-0. There are some 0-0 matches that seem pretty close, and there are some 0-0 matches that are already pretty clearly blowouts. Blowouts in the NFL are almost always 28-10 in the third quarter.

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  10. 55 minutes:

    Argentina 1 - 0 Belgium

    Higuain just raced through the Belgium defense and had a great shot, but hit the cross bar. So far, Argentina's counterattacks look more dangerous than Belgium's attacks.

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  11. In the 59th minute, Belgium pulls off both of their forwards (who have been pretty useless), and put in forward Romelu Lukaku of Chelsea, and midfielder Dries Mertens of Napoli. Lukaku tore the Americans to pieces the other night; we'll see how he does against the Argentines.

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  12. 60 minutes:

    Argentina 1 - 0 Belgium

    Those substitutes may have explained the format of the tournament to the Belgian players on the field, as they are now starting to play as if a loss would end their appearance at the World Cup.

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  13. 65 minutes:

    Argentina 1 - 0 Belgium

    Belgium has created a few chances in the last five minutes, but none of them has amounted to much as of yet.

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  14. 70 minutes:

    Argentina 1 - 0 Belgium

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  15. 80 minutes:

    Argentina 1 - 0 Belgium

    Belgium just can't get anything going.

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  16. 90 minutes:

    Argentina 1 - 0 Belgium

    Five minutes of stoppage time. The Guardian speculated a few minutes ago that Belgium has given up. It's been that kind of match.

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  17. Full Time:

    Argentina 1 - 0 Belgium

    In injury time, Belgium finally went for broke -- and we had about five minutes of entertaining soccer, with Messi almost getting another goal for Argentina. But no one could score, and so Argentina moves on with a 1-0 victory.

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  18. Meanwhile, Casey tells us that the top 5 artists in the countdown for June 30, 1979 are all women -- the first time that has ever happened. Here we go:

    Number 5:
    Rickie Lee Jones, "Chuck E's in Love"

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  19. Number 4:

    Sister Sledge: "We Are Family"

    Now this song is going to make some 1979 history.

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  20. Number 3:

    Donna Summer, "Bad Girls"

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  21. Number 2:

    Donna Summer, "Hot Stuff"

    This week in 1979, Donna Summer joins Elvis, the Beatles, and the Bee Gees as the only acts in history to have two songs in the top 5 at the same time.

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  22. Number 1:

    Anita Ward, "Ring My Bell"

    YEAH!! 1979!!

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