Soju Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Quarter final results: Nigeria over Ivory Coast 2-0 Brazil over Cameroon 2-0 The Messi show downed Holland 2-1 Belgium upset Italy despite being a man down for most of the match 3-2 Italy gone, wow. The Italy v Belgium game got me hooked, it was an epic quarter final and I was fortunate enough to watch it live. This Belgium team are a fine model of modern football. Their defending, passing, finishing and above all confidence were superb. I kept expecting them to bunker under pressure, and indeed when they took the lead it seemed the clever thing to do, but they just kept attacking. Italy at times, especially in the first half, put on a fantastic short passing and possession show but were unable to connect in the final third. Their American boy was good for two penalties but they hardly tested the Belgian keeper. Keep an eye out for Belgium's Moussa Dembele, this man is a beast in the air, in 1v1 situations and can play with his back to goal. Kevin Mirallas as Belgium's lone forward after going down a man put in a superb performance closing down Italian defenders and limiting passing channels. He came deep occasionally to scrap for loose balls and pressure the Italian midfields from behind. A very unselfish performance and he scored a good goal as well. Credit also to Belgium's back four. The full backs overlapped and were often able to beat their men down the flanks with their pace. The center backs won Belgium the match with half a dozen clutch tackles in and around the box. I'm truly impressed by this Belgian side and can't wait to see how they fare against Nigeria. Semi finals 6:00pm Tuesday (in Shanghai) Belgium v Nigeria, unpredictable. 9:00pm Tuesday (in Beijing) Argentina v Brazil, how good could this match be? I think this is going to be an Olympics tourney to remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bxl Boy Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 I watched the game also and certainly woke up all my neighbourhood The second and third Belgian goals were totally incredible 1-2 by Mirallas (unfortunately, the beginning of the action - another Dembele show - is missing) http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ogv0NDOmlc 2-3 by Dembele http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=dBVrWRTS0Is You said it all Soju, happy you saw the game. Another impressive Belgian since the beginning is Tom De Mul, flank player from Sevilla, very sppedy. And the two best players of the team, Kompany (Hamburg) and Fellaini (Standard) were called back by their clubs after the first game against Brazil... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Saw a guy walking up Oak today with a Belgium flag sticking out of his backpack, was surprised at first then figured it must have been their unexpected show in quarter finals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massive Attack Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Nice to see Judas won't be winning a medal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Soju I think this is going to be an Olympics tourney to remember. True. So far the highlight is the Belgian player flipping the ball off the Italian 'keeper's face and the 'keeper subsequently throwing his team under the bus with his reaction! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 Actually, now after just watching Brasil - Cameroon (I'm a little behind), I can honestly say 2 of the worst games I've seen in my life were in this tournament. 13 yellows, 1 red, 60 some-odd fouls. Wow! That was awful stuff! Brasil and Argentina match will need to be an all-time classic to offset those stinkers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soju Posted August 20, 2008 Author Share Posted August 20, 2008 Ugh Brazil and Argentina was not what I had hoped for to say the least. It broke down to too much individual play, one man trying to beat a whole team. Brazil were not on the same page at all. In fact they were awful. Nigeria pounding Belgium in the other game was heart breaking as well since Belgium had played so well previously. I hope Nigeria v Argentina in the final will make up for the semi finals, and hope that Belgium can nick the Bronze from bored looking Brazil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Soju I hope Nigeria v Argentina in the final will make up for the semi finals, and hope that Belgium can nick the Bronze from bored looking Brazil. Hope the weather co-operates. Could be brutal conditions considering kick-off is noon local time. Works well for me though as I can watch a match live for a change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack Nice to see Judas won't be winning a medal. Giuseppe Rossi? Tough to call him a Judas. Rossi made it clear from the start that his desire was to play for Italy. He turned down the US, even in the face of an uncertain future with the Azzuri. Had he trained with the US at their 2006 pre-World Cup camp, then yes, he would have been a flip-flopping Judas. Instead, he is following his heart to play for Italy, which has been his stated desire all along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 quote:Originally posted by RJB Giuseppe Rossi? Tough to call him a Judas. Rossi made it clear from the start that his desire was to play for Italy. He turned down the US, even in the face of an uncertain future with the Azzuri. Had he trained with the US at their 2006 pre-World Cup camp, then yes, he would have been a flip-flopping Judas. Instead, he is following his heart to play for Italy, which has been his stated desire all along. ??? Try JdG2.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 quote:Originally posted by loyola ??? Try JdG2.... HAHA, woops. Talk about jumping the gun. My mistake. I forgot all about him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soju Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 quote:Originally posted by amacpher Hope the weather co-operates. Could be brutal conditions considering kick-off is noon local time. Works well for me though as I can watch a match live for a change. It hasn't been hot at all this week in fact it's been cool with rain. I think it'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soju Posted August 23, 2008 Author Share Posted August 23, 2008 So it's a gold medal for Argentina with a 1-0 win. Brazil took bronze defeating Belgium 3-0. ^amacpher's right it was a hot 32C for Nigeria v Argentina. The ref mercifully extended a couple stoppages in play to let the players get water and in fact encouraged them to do so. I really liked this showing of humanity from the referee (is this a new FIFA regulation?) especially when comparing it to the refs at USA 94. OK game. Riquelme played poorly IMO (awful free kicks)and Messi never got in stride. Gago didn't look very good either. In fact I'd say the Argentinian midfield and attack all looked sort of tired and average, but their defenders did their jobs well enough. Nigeria could not capitalize on their opportunities and sometimes made frustrating decisions like blasting shots in from 30 yards with players waiting in better position. A lot of potential in this Nigerian side though, they showed a good mix of skills and athleticism. Oh well, decent tournament overall I enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 Yeah I liked what the ref did as well. But if FIFA were consistent, matches like these should never even kick-off. You can't tell me playing in La Paz is more dangerous to the health of players than playing in this heat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Javier Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 yes it was hyell, specially in 1st half, the 25 players teams + 3 refs were all wet, that was a killing choice , only because of tv, this game should have been played at 7 pm or sort of , just to be fair with the SHOW , 1 st of all, the game itself, and of course the players ...that was killing ..... fotball matches should not be allowed to be played before 5 pm,, in the summer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bxl Boy Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 I really don't understand why this game was played at that time Beginning of the night in Eastern North America Middle of the night in some places in South America Too early in the morning in western Europe Too hot in the sun for the players in China... Good time for Pacific American viewers... but I'm not sure they are the majority of telespectators for this sport... Very boring game, in horrible conditions. Too bad because Argentina and Nigeria were by far the two best teams of the tournament and it should have been a great final. Regarding the drinkimg pause, I remember there were also some of them at Mexico '86. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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