Match 61: BRAZIL v.
GERMANY 
Qtr
Qtr
Date: Tuesday July 8, 2014
Venue: Estadio Mineirao, BELO
HORIZONTE
PANDO! or GORDO? Gordo?
DID THEY, OR DIDN'T THEY?
Did BRA lay down: THEY DID
Did BRA lay down on purpose: THEY DIDN'T
Did BRA prepare enough: THEY DID
Did BRA prepare enough with decent competition: THEY
DIDN'T
Today was the 'perfect storm' answer to whether
emotion is the key ingredient to results and the answer is a resounding NO!
emotion is the key ingredient to results and the answer is a resounding NO!
BRA just figured that despite all the hurdles in front of
them (talk about that later), all they needed was the crowd support and belief
.. .. Never mind the facts:
~ NEYMARs injury was emotionally crippling
~ TIAGO SILVAs suspension was a crushing blow to the defense
~ BRA was not prepared physically .. .. i.e. lack of
conditioning
~ BRA was not prepared mentally > Like ENG, they can only
play one way - It takes too much
work to prepare for multiple possibilities; Our way or the highway!
~ BRA did not have to play a hard match since the 2013
Confederations Cup
~ BRA did not have to qualify for the World Cup
~ BRA had numerous niggling injuries prior to the World Cup
~ and, most importantly, THE CRUSHING WEIGHT OF
EXPECTATION on BRA
All these factors, topped with a humungous dollop of
EMOTIONAL FRAILTY, and today we saw the end result .. .. Greatness necessitates
a hard edge, a ruthlessness that overcomes adversity .. .. In an increasingly
'touchy-feely' world, those with any lack of 'bottle' will be found out quickly
nowadays > Do you think the USA would have rolled over today? They
wouldn't and they didn't!
EMOTIONAL FRAILTY is
a cancer > It can infect a side and completely kill years of hard work,
effort and hundred of millions of dollars of investment .. .. There is no place
for it in a success-based competition, and that frailty led to BRAs downfall
today .. ..
1st
Actually, it all started out quite promising with BRA pressing forward,
pressuring GER into 2 unforced TOs and punching in 3 crosses and forcing a CK
in first 7 minutes .. ..
Actually, it all started out quite promising with BRA pressing forward,
pressuring GER into 2 unforced TOs and punching in 3 crosses and forcing a CK
in first 7 minutes .. ..
THEN
COWS FLEW & HELL FROZE OVER > On their
very first shot of the match, on a TONI KROOS CK from the R/Flank, a
beautifully-crafted pick & slide saw THOMAS MULLER lose DAVID LUIZ
in L/Box and hit a first-time R/Footer > L/Right .. ..
With everything going well, the support of a country and run of
play, we don't even need to play hard to beat GER .. .. oh no, they scored ..
.. oh, woe is me ~ it's hopeless, we're going to lose without Neymar, Thiago ..
.. why try .. ..
And, by their play for the last 78 minutes, that's exactly what they
said/felt .. .. In the 23rd minute, KROOS started a neat passing sequence at
the top of the box that set the ageless MIROSLAV KLOSE free in the R/Box
and saw his first try saved and then put home the rebound with his R/Foot .. ..
Just a minute later, KROOS took a R/Flank cross from PHILIPP LAHM that
came all the way across the box and he first-timed his L/Footer > L/Left
while JULIO CESAR just stood and watched .. ..
Just to make it even more fun, on BRAs very next posession, KROOS
picked the pocket of a lackadaisical FERNANDINHO just 35Y from his own goal and
off a neat give/go with SAMI KHEDIRA, he tucked home his R/Footer > L/Left
.. .. And, 3 minutes later, MESUT OZIL
fed KHEDIRA in M/Box and he R/Footed > L/Left for a 0-5 lead after 29
minutes .. .. BRA only managed 2 shots in the entire 1H, and their only attempt
in the GER box was OSCARs blocked attempt in the 42nd minute .. .. MANUEL NEUER
didn't have to touch a single BRA shot .. .. :(((
2nd
Clearly not interested in defending, or tracking-back, BRA allowed two
more goals in the next 35 minutes .. .. PHILIPP LAHM again shredded the rancid
BRA defence with a square-ball > sub ANDRE SCHURRLE in M/Box and then
first-timed his R/Footer > L/Middle .. .. SCHURRLE scored his brace
10 minutes later in the L/Box and crushed a brilliant L/Footed first-timer >
U/Middle off the bar and behind an impotent JULIO CESAR .. ..
Clearly not interested in defending, or tracking-back, BRA allowed two
more goals in the next 35 minutes .. .. PHILIPP LAHM again shredded the rancid
BRA defence with a square-ball > sub ANDRE SCHURRLE in M/Box and then
first-timed his R/Footer > L/Middle .. .. SCHURRLE scored his brace
10 minutes later in the L/Box and crushed a brilliant L/Footed first-timer >
U/Middle off the bar and behind an impotent JULIO CESAR .. ..
BRA
players capitulated after the first GER goal and finally the BRA fans gave in
and began to cheer GER for scoring the seventh goal and then 'Ole-Ole' as GER
pinged the ball around the hapless BRA defenders .. .. OSCAR grabbed a
ridiculous consolation goal in the 90th minute when he took off into the L/Box,
cut back > M/Box and ripped his R/Footer > L/Left .. ..
BRA
MoM:
Copacabana Beach Lightning & LUIS FELIPE SCOLARI
The only electrifying moment of the evening .. ..
besides GER .. .. And, SCOLARI because his abysmal player selection for this
BRA team back in May lead to this momentous carnage tonight .. ..
GER
MoM: TONI
KROOS (club: Bayern Munich)
Central brains of
GER the whole Festival and no wonder > His dad is the Youth Academy manager
at Hansa Rostock and his brother plays for Werder Bremen .. .. Has become a
main target for Real Madrid over the past weeks .. ..
=================================================================
WIN OR GO HOME?
What
happens when you get to the 2014 World Cup for your first match .. ..
If you LOST your last Friendly
before your first Group Match = 1W – 1L – 2D = 5 pts
If you WON your last Friendly
before your first Group Match = 9W – 9L – 2D = 29 pts
If you DREW your last Friendly
before your first Group Match = 2W – xD – 2L = 6 pts
=================================================================
EXPERIENCE! Yeah, or neh?
How players do when they came to
BRA with 5 caps, or less .. ..
Ramon AZEEZ (NGA), Eder BALANTA
(COL), Oliver BOZANIC (AUS), Diego COSTA (ESP), Matteo DARMIAN (ITA), Lukas
DIGNE (FRA), Cedric DJEUGOUE (CMR), Antoine GRIEZMANN (FRA), Anel HADZIC (BIH),
Adnan JANUZAJ (BEL), Maksim KANUNNIKOV (RUS), Sead KOLASINAC (BIH), Aissa MANDI
(ALG), Shkodran MUSTAFI (GER), Gabriel PALETTA (ITA), Juan QUINTERO (COL),
Morgan SCHNEIDERLIN (FRA), Luke SHAW (ENG), Raheem STERLING (ENG), Tino SUSIC
(BIH), Jose Juan VAZQUEZ (MEX), Alex WILKINSON (AUS), YUN Suk-Young (KOR)
11W -- 12L
-- 5D
=================================================================
PANDO! or GORDO? SIDE OF THE TOURNAMENT
Managers:
Jorge Luis PINTO (CRC)
Louis VAN GAAL (NED)
GK:
Keylor NAVAS (CRC)
D: Giancarlo GONZALEZ (CRC) -- Mats
HUMMELS (GER) -- Philipp LAHM (GER)
M: Jermaine JONES (USA) -- Toni KROOS (GER) --
Arjen ROBBEN (NED) -- James
RODRIGUEZ (COL)
F: Tim CAHILL (AUS) -- F Lionel MESSI (ARG) ◘ -- F Thomas MULLER (GER) ◘
Bench: MF
Charles ARANGUIZ (CHI) -- MF Andrew AYEW (GHA) --
F Karim
BENZEMA (FRA) -- D Matt BESLER (USA) D
Danny BLIND (NED) --
F Joel
CAMPBELL (CRC) -- MF Juan Guillermo CUADRADO (COL) --
F Olivier GIROUD (FRA) -- D David LUIZ (BRA) -- MF Luka MODRIC (CRO) --
GK Manuel NEUER (GER) ■ -- F NEYMAR (BRA) -- GK Guillermo OCHOA (MEX) --
MF OSCAR (BRA) -- MF Andrea PIRLO
(ITA) -- MF Paul POGBA (FRA) --
MF Juan QUINTERO (COL) -- MF Brian RUIZ (CRC) -- F Alexis SANCHEZ (CHI)
■ --
F Xherdan SHAQIRI (SUI) -- F Mathieu VALBUENA (FRA) -- F Enner VALENCIA (ECU) --
F Robin
VAN PERSIE (NED) -- D Mario YEPES (COL)
◘ - denotes 2010 Pando! or Gordo? Starting Side of the Tournament
■ - denotes 2010 Pando! or Gordon?
Honorable Mention of the Tournament
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