There is something about sun that affects the style of the game. The Northern Europeans play a technical, physical, methodical game. I know this is a huge generalization but Southern European teams play with artistic flair and the Latin American teams take that to the extreme. I would love to see Brazil win the Cup but that seems impossible with Neymar out with an injury and Silva out on a self inflicted penalty.
Everyone is drawn to Messi, viewers and especially opponents. But as they put pressure on Messi they only raise the bar for his artistic performance. And, at the same time, their magnetic attraction opens spaces for Messi to feed. I especially like the way he and DiMarie operate in that pressure cooker. With the US out we are pulling for Argentina. It was a joy to watch them take out the team that sent the US home but it was hard to watch DiMaria, “Fideo” (the noodle), leave the game with an injury.
I am happy Costa Rica took the Netherlands into the the penalty kick stage today but I’m happy the Netherlands won there, only because it will be so much fun to see Argentina take down the Orange in the semis. Brazil and Argentina in the finals would be the perfect final ticket but realistically I’m guessing it will be Argentina and Germany and we witness this class of instinct vs. method.
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