Hummels Returns, Scores For Germany

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The first quarter-final of the 2014 World Cup was a meeting between European neighbors France and Germany.  France took care of Nigeria in the round of 16 to reach the quarter-finals, while Germany had a tougher match against Algeria that was decided in extra-time.

Mats Hummels returned to the line-up for Germany after missing the match against Algeria due to illness.  His presence was quite influential as the centerback kept Benzeman quiet in the first-half and scored an early goal to give Germany the lead.  Toni Kroos played a free-kick into the box and Hummels won the header at the far-post for the goal (13').

Miroslav Klose was also in the starting line-up for Germany with Özil and Müller as the two other attacking players.  Müller was active in the offense as always, but Klose was less impressive.  The veteran striker scored an important goal against Ghana in the group stage, but has not been as effective in the knock-out rounds.

Benzema was the lone striker for France with Valbuena and Griezmann on the outside.  Benzema had a pretty good game and was on the ball often in the German box.  However Hummels and keeper Neuer had his number and kept Benzema off the score-sheet.  Giroud came into the match late for France as a goal was the only way to stay alive in the World Cup.  He was not given much time though, and he was also unable to score.

Germany were much better today against France than they were against Algeria.  The return of Hummels was a big part of that, but today we also saw for the first time in the tournament Philipp Lahm  starting at rightback.  Previously he has been playing defensive midfield with Boateng in the rightback position.  We will have to wait and see where he plays in the semi-final match against either Brazil or Columbia.

France Score Late to Top Nigeria

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France have certainly responded to their previous World Cup performance where they did not make it out of group play.  This time around France won Group E with wins over Honduras and Switzerland plus a draw to Ecuador.  Nigeria finish second in Group F to Argentina with only one win over Bosnia-Herzegovina.  Nigeria are the champions of Africa though and came out confident against France in their meeting in the round of 16.

Both teams were close to scoring in the first-half with Emmanuel Emenike actually putting the ball in the net.  Emenike attacked a cross and got the shot past French keeper Lloris, but he was offside and the goal did not count.  Paul Pogba also came close to scoring for France when he connected with a volley.  The shot went straight to keeper Enyeama who made the save and the first-half ended with no score.

Not long after half-time Nigeria were forced to make a change when Ogenyi Onazi was fouled by Matuidi.  Onazi got his ankle stepped on hard and had to come out on a stretcher.  France on the other hand made a tactical change and removed an ineffective Giroud for Antoine Griezmann.  This allowed Benzema to play as the lone striker and late in the match France took the lead.

A corner-kick was sent into the box by Valbuena and Nigerian keeper Enyeama came off his line to claim it.  He misjudged the cross though and could only get a finger tip on the ball.  The tipped ball went right to Pogba at the far-post and he scored with a free header on an open net (79').

Nigeria did not have much of a response to the late goal and a bit of bad luck gave France a second goal in stoppage-time.  Valbuena fired a cross towards the near-post in the direction of Griezmann.  Defender Yobo and keeper Enyeama tried to intervene on the attack, but the ball took an unlikely deflection off Yobo and ended up an Own-goal for Nigeria (90 +1').

France were the better team and definitely have more depth in their bench than the African side.  Nigeria played solid for nearly eighty minutes, but could not get on the scoreboard today.  France will have to wait until later today to find out if it will be Germany or the other African team Algeria that they will play in the quarter-finals.

Five Goals for France in Win Over Switzerland

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European neighbors Switzerland and France met today in Group E showdown with both teams coming off a win in the first round.  France rather easily handled Honduras who finished the match with ten men, while Switzerland edged Ecuador in a stoppage-time comeback.  Today the Swiss again scored late, but not before France took a sizable lead.

Very early in the match Switzerland were forced to make a change when defender Steve Von Bergen was caught in the face by the boot of Olivier Giroud.  The foul seemed accidental, but Von Bergen was bleeding to much to continue.  Philippe Senderos came in to take up the defensive role and the game only got worse from there for the Swiss.

France scored two successive goals, the first coming from a set-piece.  Mathieu Valbuena played a corner to the back-post for Giroud.  With a header, Giroud scored and gave France the lead (17').  Swiss keeper Diego Benaglio got a hand to the shot and nearly made the save, but could not reject the shot.

On the ensuing kick-off Valon Behrami made a terrible error that doubled the lead for France.  Behrami  did not look where he was passing and gave the ball right to Benzema.  Making a run up the left side, Matuidi was played in-on-goal by Benzema and finished with a driven shot to near-post (18').

Before half-time France added another goal on a counter-attack following a Swiss corner-kick.  Giroud cleared the corner delivery off the line and stormed forward.  Varane picked out the run from Giroud and played the ball for him into space.  Valbuena made a run up the opposite side and Giroud found him at the far-post for a tap-in finish (40').

At the end of the first-half the Swiss had virtually nothing going for them and could have down more had keeper Benaglio not stopped the penalty kick from Benzema.  He was fouled in the box by Djourou, but failed to score from the spot.  Benzema did score in the second-half though to increase the lead.  Paul Pogba chipped a ball into the box that defender Senderos whiffed while trying to clear.  Because of the whiff Benzema had a free shot and scored through the legs of the keeper (67').

Moussa Sissoko added a final goal for France shortly after.  Benzema played him into space and Sissoko hit the shot first-time to back-post (73').

The game was clearly decided at that point, but the Swiss continued to play and scored a pair of late goals.  The first was a free-kick by Blerim Dzemaili.  Keeping the shot low, Dzemaili's shot slipped through the wall and inside the post to break up the clean-sheet (81').  Granit Xhaka then scored what was probably the most impressive goal of the match.  Captain Inler played a ball over the top of the defense and Xhaka hit the shot on the volley out of the air for a second Swiss goal (87').

With two wins in two matches, France earn six points and sit at the top of Group E.  This loss for the Swiss is not necessarily detrimental to their advancement.  With one win in hand and the next match against the weakest of the group, Honduras, Switzerland still have a good chance of reaching the knock-out round.  The two late goals also improves their chances if goal-differential is a deciding factor.

France Mount Come-Back for World Cup Finals

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(3-2) Aggregate               

France came into today's World Cup qualifier down two goal to the Ukraine after a scoreless effort in Kiev on Friday.  Each team had a player sent off in the first meeting, Koscielny for France and Kucher for Ukraine, and France especially felt the need to make other changes to the line-up.  Benzema and Valbuena started over Giroud and Nasri which gave the offense much more energy.  The most important changes proved to be in the defense though, with Sakho and Varane replacing Abidal and Koscienly.

Playing in front of their home fans France were much more lively than the first meeting and created all the early chances.  Centerback Sakho benefited from a shot by Ribèry that was saved by the Ukraine keeper.  Pyatov did well to stop the initial shot, but the rebound fell right for Sakho who was waiting in the right place (22').

France kept the pressure on the Ukraine and racked up more shots.  Benzema had one goal denied by an offsides call that was shown to be an error on replay.  The missed call didn't make much difference however, and Benzema scored a clean goal moments later.  Cabaye sent a skipping shot towards goal that was deflected right into the path of Benzema for the finish (34').

The second goal leveled the aggregate score, but the Ukaine could still put the pressure back on France with one crucial away-goal.  Neither side made any changes at half-time as both mangers felt their squads were sound.  Unfortunately for the Ukraine a costly mistake by centerback Khacheridi left them short-handed for the remainder of the match.  Khacheridi had seen a yellow card in the first-half and saw a second following a foul on Ribèry just minutes after the break.

With an extra man to their advantage France were able to keep the pressure on the Ukraine and score the deciding goal.  Sakho took credit for the goal, though it was tough to see if the goal was not an own-goal scored by Rakitskiy.  Sakho was right behind the defender as the cross came in, and the ball ended up in the net which is all France truly cared about (72').

The Ukraine could not grind out a goal and will go home with heavy hearts coming just short of a World Cup appearance.  France were not the only nation to secure a spot in Brazil today as Portugal, Greece, and Croatia all won their playoff matches.  

Ukraine Shutout France in World Cup Qualifier

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Several nations in the UEFA groups have already qualified for the 2014 World Cup including Germany, Spain, England, Italy, Russia, and the Netherlands.  Others like Portugal, Greece, Croatia, and Sweden still have a chance to qualify through a playoff round.  France and the Ukraine are among the nations paired up in the playoff round for a spot in Brazil next summer.

Niether side settled into the match during the second-half with France playing decently well in midfield, but poor in the attacking third.  The Ukraine on the other hand were stout in defense and pushing forward almost exclusively on counter-attacks.  France had the star power in the likes of Ribèry, Nasri, Evra, and Giroud, but the Ukraine had better chemistry and used that familiarity to break the French defense.

In the second-half Roman Zozulya scored the first goal of the match for the Ukraine.  Edmar Aparesida played the forward behind the French defense with a first-touch pass and Zozulya scored from close range (61').

France used all three substitutions hoping give life to their offense with Benzema, Sissoko, and Valbuena entering the match.  Unfortunatley, nobody on the French side could beat the sturdy Ukraine defense and the lead stretched further when Kocienly was called for a Penalty.  The centerback knocked down Zozulya in the box to conceded the Penalty and saw a yellow card for his offense.  Yarmolenko scored from the spot and the Ukraine were rather comfortable from then on (82').

Koscielny made his day worse when he got into a scrap with Olexandr Kucher.  Koscielny hit the Ukraine captain and saw a red card for his senseless action, leaving him inelligable for the upcoming rematch.  Olexandr Kucher returned the favor though, as he saw a second yellow card in stoppage-time making him also inelligable for the rematch.

France are in a tight hole behind two goal to a very strong defensive team.  France should play better in front of their home fans, but the Ukraine are certainly in the favorable position.