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After falling off the edge of my seat many times, biting my nails to the skin and yelling at my TV, I’ve dubbed this tournament “The heart attack World Cup”. I think it is appropriately named after very few games have been decided during regular time and, when they were, it depended on last minute heroics. The very nerve racking extra time and penalty shootout has had its presence felt during this World Cup as well, thus causing myself and millions of others to feel as if their heart was about to jump out of their chest.
This tournament was full of dark horses who with their play have won the hearts of the public and at times deserved more than the victors. With both tournament and team records being broken and MVP performances being displayed by unlikely players, from goalkeepers playing the games of their lives to young players scoring important goals and an unlikely star leading the golden boot race, this world cup has been everything but disappointing. It’s a perfect example as to why we call it a beautiful game.
But none the less reality has struck and the usual suspects have found themselves once again in the semi-finals of a World Cup. A Neymar-less Brazil are to face an organized Germany and a Di Maria-less Argentina will play against a Dutch side who have been in a couple nail biting situations but have shown their will to win.
Brazil’s loss of Neymar and Thiago Silva are the most concerning for them. Thiago Silva I think will be most missed, as he’s been the sole leader at the back and he bailed them out of too many situations this tournament. If Brazil are going to win they need to attack with numbers and successfully transition into their defensive roles. This means Marcelo and Maiconor Dani Alves will need to pick the times to do this wisely. Likely it will take the leadership of David Luiz to keep things organized and tight. If he doesn't step up, things will become very complicated. Another factor I believe has been evident in playing a key role in many matches has been the heat. The heat for European teams has appeared to be very challenging, so I think Brazil will try and play a high paced game and use this to their advantage.
Germany will have to continue to play the way they have been playing. They play with tight space between the back line and the striker, giving their opponents minimal space to work with. This I’m sure will be frustrating for Brazil to deal with. Germany has many players who have stepped up and played well, including players coming off the bench or players who have been moved into different positions. Lahm’s right back performance last game was great, Neuer’s goalkeeping has been phenomenal and a big reason why they're still in the tournament. Mario Götze, whether he has started or come off the bench, has been hard to deal with. I think Muller is also a players whose presence will be felt. Germany will win this game if they can pace themselves and continue to play their organized football.
Argentina has not been very convincing in any of their matches during this World Cup. Di Maria’s injury was a hard one to swallow because he had been the most exciting player for their side up until this point. With Messi being the obvious man to fear, this is an opportunity for players like Higuaín and Lavezzi to step up. Ultimately, I think this is a team that will depend on Mascherano’s dominating force at the back and they will continue to depend on Messi in order to see themselves to the final. Argentina will win if Messi’s supporting cast can step up and find themselves in dangerous situations towards goal.
Holland has been led by a great coach. I think Louis van Gaal has been the key to the success of this team. He has made important changes as the tournament has gone on that have proven to help the team. This includes his fearless substitution of goalkeepers just before the penalty shootout vs Costa Rica that has exemplified his familiarity with his players and his confidence in everyone. Holland will win if, like Germany, they can pace themselves and not let the heat play too much of a factor. They can gain the upper hand if Robben continues to be the free floating, hard to defend and aggressive attacking player he's been all tournament. Tactical discipline will also be necessary to ensure another victory and see them grind it out once again, this time to the finals.
I’m hoping that after these games, the best teams win and that the referees have no influence in the games and that all four teams play fearlessly. Let’s all hope that the tournament continues to make us football fans proud to call it the beautiful game.
Toronto-born David Monsalve is a professional goalkeeper with Finnish football club AC Oulu. In addition to representing Canada at the U17, U18, U20, U23 and Senior Men’s levels, he has also played for Canadian clubs Toronto FC and FC Edmonton. When he isn’t training and playing professional matches, David also coaches in the Toronto area and is up for discussing anything and everything football-related via his Twitter account, @davidamonsalve.
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