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.

Sneijder Saves The Netherlands, Mexico Out

 2-1 

The Netherlands were perfect in the group stage winning all three matches against Spain, Australia, and Chile.  Mexico finished second in their group with wins over Cameroon and Croatia as well as a draw to Brazil.  The two met for the first knock-out match of the day in the very hot Estádio Castelão in Fortaleza.

Mexico fielded the same line up as they showed in the group stage with one exception, Carlos Salcido replace the suspended Vásquez in the midfield.  The Netherlands made a few alterations to their line up with Wijnaldum, Verhaegh, and the veteran Dirk Kuyt stating for the Orange.

The first-half ended scoreless with Mexico creating the better chances.  The Netherlands had some problems early on with an injury to Nigel De Jong less than ten minutes into the match.  Bruno Martins Indi replaced De Jong and caused the Netherlands to reorganize their shape.  They were not getting much offensively with change to the line up, but late in the half the Dutch felt they should have been given a penalty.  Robben was fouled twice inside the box, but no call was made and the first-half ended level.

At the start of the second-half Mexico were forced to make a change for the injured centerback Héctor Moreno who was replaced by Diego Reyes.  Soon after Mexico took the lead thanks to a wonderful individual effort by Giovani Dos Santos.  The striker did well to hold off defender Daley Blind and hit a perfect half-volley from distance to beat the keeper (48').

Mexico enjoyed the lead for about forty minutes and as time ticked away the Netherlands started to get more desperate.  Van Persie was running on empty and came out for Huntelaar who became the target for hopeful long balls.  Then just as time was running out, Wesley Sneijder came up with a huge goal.  A corner was headed back in front of goal by Huntelaar and Sneijder ran onto the ball and crushed the shot giving keeper Ochoa absolutely no chance to make a save (88').

In stoppage-time Mexico were dealt the death blow when Robben was again fouled inside the box.  Rafa Márquez caught Robben on the ball and this time the ref made the signal for a penalty.  The foul was not as bad as the first that went unseen, but nonetheless the Dutch took full advantage.  Hunterlaar stepped up to take the shot and scored the winning goal from the spot (90 +4').

No doubt Mexico feel that Robben dove to earn that penalty kick.  The Dutch might look at the call as a make-up for the no-call in the first-half.  To be certain, the match was close throughout and Mexico played well enough beat many of the teams that are still alive in the World Cup.  However it was the Dutch that did enough to get the win and stay in the tournament.

Netherlands Take Revenge, Stun Spain

 1-5 

Defending World Cup champions Spain were in action today in a first round match against the Netherlands.  In the 2010 World Cup final Spain defeated the Netherlands 1-nil in overtime to lift the Cup.  Today the result was quite different as the Dutch punished Spain for their previous heart-break.

Spain fielded a similar line-up to that during the Euros and the Confederations Cup with one major exception.  Diego Costa got the start for Spain at striker after choosing not to play for Brazil.  The striker helped Spain take the lead when he won a penalty kick in the first-half.  Dutch defender Stefan De Vrij missed his slide tackle on Diego Costa in the box and the spot-kick was given for Spain.  Xabi Alonso took the shot and scored the penalty with a well placed drive to the corner (27').

Not shaken by the deficit, the Netherlands responded just before half-time to level the score.  Daley Blind played an early cross into the box to pick out Robin Van Persie.  The Dutch captain timed his run well to stay on-sides and with his first touch struck a perfect header that beat Spanish keeper Iker Casillas (44').

In the second-half Spain's defense fell apart and captain Casillas was a complete mess between the posts.  Arjen Robben scored shortly after the break to give the Dutch the lead.  A great first touch to trap the ball inside the box set him up for a second touch around defender Pique before beating the keeper (53').

Not long after falling behind Spain elected to make a pair of changes removing Diego Costa and Xabi Alonso for Torres and Pedro.  However as soon as the two came into the match, the Netherlands extended the lead on a set-piece.  Sneijder delivered the free-kick into the box and Dutch centerback De Vrij scored at the back-post (64').

Later Van Persie scored another goal when Casillas coughed up the ball after mishandeling a back-pass.  Van Persie was quick to snatch the ball away from the keeper and fire off a shot on an empty net (72').  Then Robben scored a second goal when a long ball played forward gave him room to out-run Sergio Ramos.  Casillas attempted to stop Robben's run by coming off his line, but the Dutch forward confidently dribbled around the keeper and scored the final goal of the match (80').

The Dutch successfully got revenge on the team that kept them from lifting the trophy four years ago and will be favored to win the group.  Australia and Chile make up the rest of the group, but do not have much of a chance to reach the knock-out rounds.  Spain do not need to panic just yet and should be able to advance out of the group stage despite today's poor performance.  Once they do get out though, they will have to play much better against the next level of competition.

Galatasaray Fall to Chelsea in Champions League

 3-1agg. 

Turkish club Galatasaray travelled to London for the second leg of their Champions League fixture with Chelsea.  The first meeting ended in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea having an away goal advantage.  Former Chelsea striker Drogba was again in the line-up for Galatasaray and again the Ivorian failed to score against his old club.

Samuel Eto'o started as striker for Chelsea with Hazard, Oscar, and Willian in support.  Together the Chelsea offense was far more effective than Galatasaray's and had their defense struggling to keep up.

Chelsea scored twice in the first-half, one coming at the start and one at the end.  First Eto'o was played in-on-goal with a through ball from Oscar to open up a shooting lane.  The shot took a deflection off defender Chedjou on it's way towards goal and keeper Muslera got a hand to it.  However he could not turn the shot away from goal and Chelsea took the lead(4').

Then in closing moments of the first-half Gary Cahill scored on a set-piece.  Frank Lampard delivered a corner-kick into the box and Terry won the header in the air.  His header was on target and Muslera blocked the initial shot, but the rebound was left in front of goal and Cahill easily turned the loose ball into the net (42').

The second-half did not improve for the visitors despite the substitutions made by manager Roberto Mancini.  In fact, Galatasaray did not manage to get a single shot on target over the course of the match making it rather impossible to get back into contention.

Chelsea is now the only English club to advance into the quarter-finals with Manchester City and Arsenal already falling out of the tournament.  Manchester United also has a chance to stay alive with their second-leg match with Olympiakos coming tomorrow at Old Trafford.

Chelsea Tie Galatasaray In Champions League

 1-1 

Playing today in Istanbul, Chelsea faced Galatasaray in a Champions League match.  In this first-leg meeting, former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba was featured in the Galatasaray offense, though his old club did well to keep him quiet throughout the match.  Fernando Torres got the start at striker for Chelsea and was more effective than his counterpart.

Chelsea took an early lead when leftback Azpilicueta was allowed to run all the way into the opposite box.  Galatasaray keeper Muslera came off his line to stop Azpilicueta, but the leftback played the ball square to Torres before he could reach him.  With the keeper way out of position, Torres scored easily on an empty net (9').

Galatasaray manager Roberto Mancini, formerly with Manchester City, decided the 4-4-2 was not working and made a change after only half an hour.  Izek Hajrovic was replaced by Yekta Kurtulus and Drogba was left as the lone striker.  The change was an improvement and Galatasaray stopped Chelsea from scoring any other goals.

In the second-half Galatasaray even managed to level the score on a set-piece.  Centerback Aurelien Chedjou came forward for a corner-kick delivered by Wesley Sneijder.  Chedjou was left unmarked on the play and scored an easy volley right in front of goal to equalize (64').

The match ended in a draw with Chelsea having a slight advantage going forward.  The away goal currently puts Chelsea ahead with the second leg yet to be played.  Galatasaray have to score in the replay in London if they want to have any chance to advance in Champions League.  Rather surprisingly Chelsea are the only club of the four English clubs in the Champions League to score in the first leg of their fixture.  Arsenal, Manchester City, and Manchester United are all behind by two goals in their Champions League match-ups.

Ronaldo Nets Champions League Hat-Trick

1-6

The first round of group-play in the Champions League began today with Turkish league champions Galatasaray hosting Spanish giant Real Madrid.  The big news for Madrid this offseason was the major transfer of Gareth Bale from Tottenham as well as the resigning of Christiano Ronaldo.  Bale was not in the starting line-up, but Los Blancos were perfectly capable of handling Galatasaray without him.

Galatasaray started the match with all the momentum, playing in front of their home fans.  Didier Drogba, Wesley Sneijder, and Felipe Melo all looked threatening to the Madrid defense.  To further put off Madrid, keeper Casillas had a collision with teammate Ramos and came out injured before fifteen minutes had been played.

Madrid held strong though and started to take over the match.  A long ball by Di Maria from midfield to the box set up Isco for Madrid's first goal.  Isco did well to trap the long pass before finishing the shot off the post (33').  Galatasaray kept the ball out of the net for the rest of the first-half, but lost their crucial striker Drogba who injured his shoulder moments before half-time and could not continue.

Galatasaray started the second-half in a reasonable position to rally back, but Madrid had other thoughts.  Ronaldo and Benzema combined for five goals in the second-half to put the home team well out of contention.  First Benzema capitalized on a free run at goal after two Galatasaray players collided giving him an easy one-on-one with the keeper (54').

Ronaldo then scored two goals, both coming after Madrid were able to create all kinds of confusion in the Galatasaray penalty area (63', 66').  Benzema got his second when Ronaldo picked him out with a cross for an easy tap in finish (81').

Galatasaray got a small consolation goal by substitute Bulut when Amrabat played a perfect ball into the box for him, but there was not nearly time enough left to matter (84').  Ronaldo scored the final goal in stoppage-time to complete his hat-trick.  With the defense exhausted, Ronaldo easy shredded defender Chedjou before blasting his shot past the keeper (90 +1').

Real Madrid face F.C. Copenhagen then Juventus next month as the other members of Group D.  The two tied 1-1 today in their first match-up leaving Madrid alone at the top of the group.

Real Madrid Get Past Galatasaray

 3-5

Real Madrid came into the match with a comfortable three goal lead and playing in Istanbul did not seem to affect their confidence early in the match.  A quick strike put them ahead, and put Galatasaray further in the hole.

Özil played Khedira into space near the end-line who then fired a cross in front of goal.  Ronaldo was playing right along the back line and was first to meet the cross, turning it into the net (8').

Madrid did not really have any issues in the first-half except an injury to right-back Michael Essien.  He had hamstring problems and came out for Arbeloa after half-an-hour.  The second-half was quite different, however, as Galatasaray managed to break through the Madrid defense.

First Sneijder played a ball into the box for the right-back Eboué making a trailing run.  Eboué hit the shot first-time to beat keeper Diego Lopez at the near-post (57').  Shortly after Sneijder missed a great chance to score, but was given another chance soon after.  Substitute Sabri Sarioglu played a through-ball to put Sneijder in-on-goal.  His first touch beat fullback Varane with a nut-meg to give hime a clear shot on goal that he did not miss (70').  

Then Galatasaray really put the pressure on Madrid when Drogba showed that he still has it with an inspired goal.  The cross was played just behind him at the near-post, but Drogba was able to turn on the ball and give it a heel-flick to beat Diego Lopez for the third time in fifteen minutes (72').  If Madrid had not scored the early goal the score would be tied, but they did and Ronaldo had one more in him during stoppage-time.  Benzema picked out Ronaldo with a pass inside the box that he drilled first-time to end any hopes for Galatasaray (90 +2').