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Leo constellation
The German team will try to justify its favorite status
After the inglorious departure of the national teams of Brazil and Argentina, the main contender for the World Cup is the German team. It's time for her coach Joachim Löw to be wary: the favorites at this World Championship don't stay long.Holland - Uruguay. July 6, 22.30. "Channel One". According to all other forecasts, one of the two places in the final is reserved for the “orange”. But for now, in Holland itself they are trying not to look in advance at possible opponents for the decisive match. Dutch journalists have a sign that has been tested for decades: they are sure that their team at a major tournament will definitely fail one of the matches. If this is a group stage game, the Netherlands might even reach the trophy, as they did at the 1988 European Championships. If this is a playoff match, then Holland is eliminated from the tournament, as, for example, at Euro 2008.
At the World Championships in South Africa, the “orange” have not yet allowed themselves to misfire. All five matches played by Bert van Marwijk's team were victorious. But only one of them - the first against Denmark - was won with a difference of two goals. All other victories are minimal, although they were achieved with the direct participation of the leaders - the stars of the Dutch national team, such as Arjen Robben or Wesley Sneijder, unlike the leading players of other teams, approached this championship in excellent shape. Sneijder, being one of the main creators of Inter's victory in the Champions League, is currently generally considered the main contender for the Ballon d'Or for the best player of the year.
The Dutch, by the way, are ready to present personal awards to their rivals. “I sent Suarez an SMS and wrote that he is the best goalkeeper of the World Cup. The Lev Yashin Prize should be awarded to him,” joked Orange goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg about the episode in which his Ajax teammate, Uruguayan Luis Suarez, kicked the ball out of an empty net in the last minute of the match with Ghana. This moment haunts many. FIFA even demanded that Suarez be disqualified for more than one match. The federation did not succumb to pressure, and the Uruguayan forward will only miss the semi-finals. However, this loss will be quite significant for the Celeste - the top scorer of the Dutch championship knows how to overcome the defensive formations of the national team of this country.
Another loss for Uruguay is Porto defender Fucile, who will miss the semi-finals due to too many yellow cards. The Orange also have a serious loss: suspended defender Nigel de Jong will not be able to take the field. It’s good that Robin van Persie, who had suspicions of a serious injury, waited for a positive verdict from the doctors.
Germany - Spain. July 7, 22.30. "Russia-1". The German national team also suffered a serious loss - two yellow cards will not give Thomas Müller the opportunity to play against the Spaniards. And he, by the way, with four goals and three assists to his name, is the best in the tournament in terms of “goal + pass”.
Joachim Löw will have to rack his brains about who to replace Muller with. But the Bundestim coach will be worried about the selection of options - the German team has quite a large selection of attacking players. It is believed that Piotr Trachowski, another German national team player with Polish roots, may take the field instead of Müller. But the application also includes Mario Gomez, Marco Marin, and Cacau, who, however, has health problems.
In any case, Joachim Löw will surely prepare something special for this semi-final. His army of scouts, breaking down opponents into their component parts, had to prepare an extensive dossier on the Spanish national team. After all, these teams met not long ago in the Euro 2008 final. But it’s unlikely that an abundance of information will make coaching’s work easier. “The Spanish national team is the strongest opponent we are facing at the current World Cup,” Lev agrees. “The only way to win is to force them to make mistakes.”
The compliments before this meeting are mutual. The Spaniards also highly value the team, which has already defeated England and Argentina with crushing scores at this World Cup, and vying with each other in praising its aggressiveness and youth. And the head coach of the “red fury” Vicente Del Bosque is also preparing tactical surprises. Perhaps this time he will leave Fernando Torres, who has lost his scoring instincts, on the bench, and the only foreign player of the Spanish national team, London Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas, will play in the starting lineup. However, Del Bosque must remember: at this tournament in South Africa, almost all the players of the English clubs failed.