Argentina To World Cup Final

0-0(2-4pen.)

The Netherlands and Argentina faced-off today to claim a place in the World Cup final.  Argentina beat Belgium 1-0 to reach the semi-finals while the Netherlands were forced into an extra-time game against Costa Rica that eventually ended in a 2-1 victory.  Again today the Netherlands were forced into an extra-time game as both fail to score in regulation.

Both teams came out with a rather conservative approach and did not press too many men forward.  Argentina's offense led by Messi and supported by Higuaín and Lavezzi was subdued throughout the match.  Messi's only shot on goal was a free-kick that keeper Cillessen saved easily.

Likewise, Argentina did not allow the Netherlands to get their offense flowing and by the end of regulation there were no shots on target from anyone in orange.  Van Persie was ghost out there today and Robben seemed just a half step slower coming off the overtime grind with Costa Rica.

Neither team scored in the extra-time so for a second straight match for the Dutch penalty kicks would decide the winner.  In the previous match the Netherlands saved their last substitution for a keeper change to bring on the speciallist Tim Krul.  However today all the subs were used before a change at keeper could be made and Cillessen had to do the job.

The Netherlands shot first with defender Ron Vlaar leading off.  This was a surprising move considering Huntelaar had come in late off the bench.  And in hindsight it was the wrong decision as his shot was blocked by Argentina keeper Romero.  This gave Argentina an immediate advantage and Messi followed the save with a conversion for the lead.

Robben then scored from the spot for the Dutch and Garay responded with a clean finish for Argentina.  Next for the Netherlands was Sneijder who also had his shot denied by Romero and was also followed by a conversion by Agüero.  Kyut was the last shooter for the Netherlands and he found the net to keep them alive.  Unfortunately for the Orange keeper Cillessen could not make a single save and substitute Maxi Rodríguez finished from the spot to put Argentina into the final.

So Brazil's arch rival will play in the final against an intimidating German side.  It almost doesn't matter though who plays Germany as the winner of today's match will have one day less rest and have to recover from this extra-time game.  We saw the same situation last summer during the Confederations Cup when Spain could barely challenge Brazil after winning an extra-time game to reach the final.

The Netherlands will play Brazil in the third-place game on Saturday and it will be interesting to see how, or if, both teams respond to their losses.

Higuaín Scores Winner For Argentina, Belgium Done

 1-0 

Argentina faced Belgium today for the third quarter-final of the World Cup.  Both teams won in extra-time by a one goal margin; Argentina beating Switzerland 1-0 and Belgium beating the United States 2-1.  Against the United States Belgium were able to control possession and fire a birage of shots throughout the match.  However today against Argentina, Belgium struggled to get the offense clicking and only produced one shot on target.

Argentina scored early in the match thanks in part to some good fortune.  Di María intended to play a pass to Zabaleta making an overlap run, but the ball came off Vertonghen and deflected conveniently for Higuaín.  Taking the shot first-time out of the air, Higuaín scored the only goal of the first-half (8').

Argentina took a blow later in the half when Di María came out with an injury.  He took a shot that was blocked and came away holding his thigh.  He received some treatment and tried to continue, but quickly realized he was not fit.  Enzo Perez replaced Di María and Argentina's offense definitely lost a dimension.

Belgium made changes as the match went on and brought in Romelu Lukaku who was a positive substitute against the United States.  Argentina's defense held strong though and did not allow and clear chances for Belgium late in the game.

The Netherlands and Costa Rica play later today to determine who Argentina face in the semi-finals.  Costa Rica are the under-dogs, but teams from the Americas have been good this World Cup.

Messi Scores Two, Argentina Sweep Group F

 2-3 

Argentina were already guaranteed to advance out of group play having won their first two matches against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran.  Nigeria had a good chance to advance as well, needing a draw or some help by Bosnia-Herzegovina in the other match.

Messi was quick out of the gate today and scored in the opening minutes of the match.  A shot on goal by Angel Di Maria forced Nigerian keeper Enyeama to make a save and he got just enough on the ball to send the shot off the post.  The rebound off the post bounced in front of the net and Messi blasted the loose ball into the net (3').

Nigeria wasted no time in finding the equalizer and scored on the following kick-off.  Ahmed Musa found space in the Argentina box and curled a shot around defender Zabaleta and keeper Romero to pull even (4').

Just before half-time Argentina retook the lead on a free-kick by Messi.  Messi had one free-kick attempt earlier that was saved by the keeper, but he got a second chance from nearly the same spot.  With his second attempt, Messi successfully lifted the shot over the wall and got the dip on the shot to bring the ball back down under the crossbar (45 +1').

A goal right before half-time is often a morale killer, but Nigeria were not discouraged and quickly got another equalizer after the break.  Playing a give-and-go with Emmanuel Emenike, Musa again got in behind the Argentina defense and fired a shot to beat the keeper near-post (47').

Nigeria fell behind once more though during a set-piece for Argentina.  A corner-kick was sent into the box, but no one for Nigeria could clear the cross off the line.  This gave leftback Marcos Rojo the opportunity to attack the cross and he scored with a shot off his knee (50').

Nigeria could not come up with a third equalizer and Argentina claim their third win in three matches.  Fortunately for Nigeria today's loss does not hurt them.  Bosnia-Herzegovina beat Iran in the other Group F match meaning Nigeria still have enough points to reach the knock-out round.

Bale Scores Winner For Real Madrid, Win Copa del Rey

 2-1 

It was only fitting that the Spanish Copa del Rey would come down to the two titans of La Liga.  Barcelona and Real Madrid met today for the third time this season to decide who would lift the King's Cup.  Barcelona won the two El Clásico meetings this season, though they sit in third place in the league table with Real Madrid second only to Atlético.

Today Real Madrid were in better form than Barcelona and took the lead early in the first-half.  On a counter-attack, Benzema sprung Ángel Di María and the winger fired off a shot between the legs of defender Jordi Alba (11').  Keeper Pinto got a hand on the shot, but could not stop the ball from reaching the net.

As expected Barcelona had the majority of possession and after half-time began to show signs to breaking down the Madrid defense.  However it was from a set-piece that Barcelona managed to equalize.  Xavi delivered a corner-kick into the box and centerback Marc Bartra won the header.  Bartra's header caught a piece of the far-post before finding the net to level the score (68').

Then in the final moments of the match Real Madrid pulled back in front thanks to a superb run by Gareth Bale.  Running up the left sideline, Bale was simply too quick for Bartra and he was able to dribble into the box and nutmeg the keeper for the winning goal (85').

Barcelona were so close to scoring another equalizer when Neymar found space inside the box moments later, but his shot cannoned off the post to deny the goal.  In the end Real Madrid held on to the lead and came away with the trophy.  It has been a disappointing season for Barcelona who have already exited the Champions League, and with this loss the Catalans miss out on another trophy.

Barcelona Burn Manchester City in Champions League

 0-2 

The UEFA Champions League returned today with the first leg of the knock-rounds featuring a big match between English giants Manchester City hosting Spanish powerhouse Barcelona.  Naturally the visitors from La Liga had a strong Spanish presence, but City too fielded Spanish players David Silva, Álvaro Negredo, and Jesús Navas in their offense.

As Barcelona are prone to do, the possession was heavily in their favor which limited the chances from Manchester City.  At half-time there was no score with only three shots on target combined between the clubs.  City had defended the potent Barcelona attack well for the first forty-five minutes, but the second-half was rather disastrous.

Barcelona won a penalty when Messi was fouled by centerback Martín Demichelis in the box.  The referee determined the foul was an effort to deny a "goal scoring opportunity" and sent Demichelis off with a red card.  Messi then scored from the spot to put Barcelona ahead (54').

On the verge of stoppage-time Barcelona added a second goal from fullback Dani Alves.  Coming in late off the bench, Neymar played Alves in-on-goal and the fullback score with a nutmeg shot on keeper Joe Hart (90').

Manchester City had a tall task ahead trying to score one goal when they replay at Camp Nou, but the second goal may have just ended their Champions League hopes.  City will have several weeks to come up with a new game plan before heading to Spain for the second leg on March 12th.

Barcelona Break-Down, Bayern Munich Coast

 7-0 

The all-German Champions League final is now assured as Bayern Munich easily handle Barcelona a second time.  Barcelona striker Messi played and scored over the weekend, but today he was left on the bench for the entire match.  True he was not very effective in the first game against Bayern Munich, but down four goals you expect the best finisher in the world right now to play.

Without Messi on the field, Barcelona were quite dull and rather predictable with their passing.  They also seemed to lack the spark that gives them confidence in these big games against top clubs.  Bayern Munich on the other hand were quite comfortable passing through the midfield and extremely organized in defense.

Barcelona were outplayed in the first-half and after the break Munich's lead further increased.  Robben was played into space wide right with a good pass out of the back by defender Alaba.  Cutting across to his preferred left foot, Robben was able to shake defender Adriano before curling his shot around the keeper and into the net (48').

As if the five goal deficit was not already insurmountable, a Barcelona own-goal completely killed their spirit.  Ribery was attempting to hit forward Mandzukic at the far-post, but defender Pique managed to get in-between the two Munich players.  However, his attempted clearance came off his shin awkwardly and settled in his own net (72').  Shortly after Müller scored a final goal for Bayern when Ribery played a cross to the far-post that he finished with a header (76').

Bayern Munich finished the semifinal round with an aggregate score 7-0 and advances to the Champions League final for the second straight year.  Munich are slight favorites against Borussia Dortmund and the two clubs play each other this weekend in the Bundesliga.  The outcome will have little effect on the league standings, but it should be a good preview of the upcoming final in London.

Bayern Munich Pummels Barcelona

  4-0

Barcelona travelled to Germany for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich.  Barcelona's defense has been banged up over the course of the season and with Puyol and Mascherano out, Marc Bartra had to start at centerback.  The inexperience of Bartra was a real weakness as Munich were able to penetrate the visitor's back line often.

Müller and Robben were in top form today with at least one of them getting involved in every Munich goal.  First Robben played a high cross into the box for Dante at the back-post.  Dante won the header and played the ball back across the goal for Müller crashing the opposite post.  Müller finished with a header for the only goal of the first-half (25').

Barcelona, as expected, held the majority of possession, however the team only had one off-target shot during the first-half of the game.  After half-time things only got worse for Barcelona as the German club played with more confidence and scored shortly after the break on a corner-kick.  Robben played another cross to the far-post, this time met by Müller with a header, laying the ball down for Gomez in front of goal (49').  There were some questions about Gomez being offsides, but no call was made on the field and the goal counted.

Robben then scored himself following a counter-attack led by Ribery.  Robben managed to find space to shoot inside the box and curled the ball around the keeper with his preferred left foot (73').  Again Barcelona protested the goal, this time for a basketball style pick set by Müller that helped Robben loose defender Jordi Alba.  Again no call was made and Munich pulled ahead 3-0.

Munich put one more in the Barcelona net as Müller finished his big day with another goal.  Ribery worked the overlap with fullback Alaba who fired a low cross into the box that Müller finished easily for a final score of 4-0 (82').

Barcelona have one foot out the door and need a huge turn-around next week at the Nou Camp.  Munich sit with a comfortable lead and their fans have already started booking their tickets for the final in London.

Barcelona Reach UCL Semi-Final

3-3 

The score was level coming into today's Champions League match between Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, with a slight advantage to Barcelona with two away-goals.  Messi was unfit to start the match, still recovering from a hamstring problem picked up last time these teams met.  

By half-time Barcelona controlled over 60% of possession and worked more shots than P.S.G., but much of that possession was behind midfield and only one of the shots was on target.  Also when Barcelona did have the ball forward there was usually no more than one player in the box.  True the burden was on P.S.G. to score, but the Barcelona offense was clearly missing the creativity of Messi.  

After half-time P.S.G. took the lead for the first time in this quarterfinal.  During a counter-attack, Javier Pastore was played in behind the Barcelona defense by a cutting through-ball.  With loads of space the midfielder scored to put P.S.G. up 3-2 on aggregate (50').  

When the goal came, Messi started to get loose and entered the match with about half-an-hour left, replacing a rather ineffective Fabregas.  With Messi on the field Barcelona played with more confidence and scored the equalizer.  David Villa had the ball in the P.S.G. penalty area and was able to lay off a pass to Pedro just outside the box.  Running right at goal, Pedro ripped the shot first-time to beat keeper Sirigu and reclaim the aggregate lead (71').  

Though P.S.G. never actually lost to Barcelona over the two match span, the two away-goals Barcelona scored in Paris were the difference.