Today Holland beat Brazil 2-1 in the quarter final match. Holland was the underdog going into the match, many said they stood no chance at all. How can we as competitive 40k players learn from this great game to improve our own game?
(1) Holland is always underrated. Sometimes Brazil is overrated. Brazil is a great team and I hope they do not fire their coach as a result. Every game in a single elimanation situation is just one game. Holland was well prepared for the match and played extremely well. Some will try to say that Brazil had a bad day but it's not why they lost. The Dutch were very aggressive and won most of the loose balls. The Dutch simply outplayed their opponent.
In terms of 40k it might be like foot slogging orks beating mech IG. Most everyone will tell you that mech IG is an auto win versus orks. You can believe the hype or you can play your game.
(2) The officiating was superb. The last time Holland played Brazil was two World Cups back... In the semi finals. The score was tied late into the second half. Holland is not one of those teams that plays dirty. A midfielder for Brazil named Branca ran around fouling everyone he could until finally a Dutchman retaliated and pushed off the Brazilian. Brazil was awarded a free kick and scored winning the game in the final minutes. Very poor officiating at it's worst which is often a trademark of hte World Cup. Two things here...
First I'm sure Holland remembered that game and it helped to excite them. Holland was ready to payback Brazil & they did. Second good officiating takes a cheating team out of the equation. This Brazilian team is not as nasty as others I have witnessed in the past but then again they did draw a red card for spiking an opponent after Holland went ahead. Basically Brazil is a young team not used to playing from behind and they lost their cool.
(2) Holland did not drop back into defense after going ahead. They continued to play aggressive and kept the pressure on playing strong offense. Often offense is the best defense.
Like I said each game now is only one game and good officiating is very important. These are the things we can take away from this game to strengthen our own in 40k. It's just that simple really.
G
5 comments:
I saw this title and thought "What the hell? GBF likes real football?!?!" - then I read it, and it's full of shit.
Like, actually, it's just a blatant BoLS-esque attempt to pull readers in. The biggest flaw is probably that the WC match you reference as '2 World Cups ago' was in 1994. That leaves out 1998 and 2002 entirely.
The Dutch are never underrated, they are always one of the favourites, they just usually implode at some stage as the various egos in the team begin to pull apart.
The Brazilian coach (Dunga) had left his job before they even left the Stadium.
Holland did NOT play well. First half, it could have been 3 or even 4-0 to Brazil. The Dutch were to narrow, too one-dimensional, and too defensive for most of the game.
Brazil threw the game away via a series of silly fouls, and a critical loss of composure when they conceded.
The officiating was good, but a little inconsistent towards the end, less 3 or more players would have been dismissed, not just Felipe Melo.
Branca was never a dirty player, and that Brazil game was one of the classic Oranje encounters. He DID cheat to acquire the free kick he scored from, but a dive is not the same as what you insinuate.
Really, the only upset is your attempt to rewrite history.
BoLS-esque... Hahahaha !! Your rant sounded like tears for Brazil.
I did not know Dunga quit. It's too bad as he had Brazil playing some of their best soccer I have seen since back when Pele graced their team with his presence. The Dutch has been my favorite World Cup team since back in the 70s when Cruyf played. If you lived here in the US then definitely Holland was very much so considered the underdog going into the match versus Brazil yesterday. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE told me I was crazy to pull for Holland. Brazil is a very good team but they were simply outclassed by the Dutch yesterday and it was revenge for the game I mentioned in which Branca rampaged brutally fouling every Dutchman he came in contact. People often overlook how dirty Brazil often plays because they are Brazil. Do you remember the US - Brazil match where Leonardo was ejected from the game for breaking a US player's jaw with a viscous elbow to the jaw?
Anyways I find much of what you said to be purely based upon your opinion, not factual by any means. Europeans do not have some magical understanding of the game. It's wrong to try to take away from the Dutch their victory by claiming that Brazil did not play up to their normal par. As I said in the OP I think a lot of the end result came down to the excellent officiating and the fact that Holland was the better team.
G
Of course European don't magically know the game better. I, however, do. Your post was full of shit - check the stats if you ish, they are freely available. In the first half the Dutch were almost an afterthought, robben spurning their only half chances. Brazil are known for their passion and this includes their temper - but to suggest they are a particularly dirty team is libellous. Its always ice when someone in the US shows interest in the Beautiful Game, but when your knowledge seems equivalent to the average person, it makes posting on it unwise when experts abound.
Germany 4 - Argentina 0
NEENER NEENER NEENER !!!
:P
G
I never saw that coming.
I thought the Germans would score, and would likely do so first, but I didn't think they'd humiliate the Argies like that.
As you could tell from my Fantasy League team, which featured Sergio Romero. Great. :(
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