The semifinals of the World Cup are set, and the favorites have come out.
It has been an exciting World Cup, filled with goals, and big time performances from big time players. Unfortunately, for the host country, their big time player won’t see any more action in Brazil. Neymar suffered a fractured vertebrae in their game against Columbia, ending his 2014 World Cup.
Neymar had been scoring goals in an exciting fashion, and is arguably the biggest reason Brazil has advanced so far. His impact on Brazil has been tremendous, especially with all the pressure he has had from his country at the age of 22.
But now the Brazilian side will have to do it without their offensive threat and poster boy. And they will have to do it against Germany, a side that features another young goal scoring threat in Thomas Mueller. Mueller has been impressive in this world cup and the last world cup, and he is only 24 years old. He won the golden boot eight years ago, and has a chance to do it again this year; trailing the current leader James Rodriguez by two goals.
Germany and Brazil play today at 1 pm.
On the other side of the semifinals, Argentina will be taking on Netherlands.. Lionel Messi, the player that a lot of people call the best in the world, has been impressive in Argentina’s world cup run, scoring four goals. But it hasn’t been the quantity for Messi, it has been the quality. His play has brought Argentina this far, whether it is making the right pass, or scoring when it has been absolutely necessary for his team to win.
The Netherlands, who played Costa Rica in the quarterfinals. The Netherlands barely squeaked out on penalty kicks, after the game ended in a 0-0 tie in regulation and overtime. The Netherlands have been led by an aggressive attack coming from Arjen Robben and Robben Van Persie, both who have scored multiple goals in the tournament so far.
The Netherlands and Argentina play on Wednesday at 1 pm.
All teams have guaranteed themselves at least two more games, as the losers will play in a third place match. The winners will play on the World Cup final, which takes place on Sunday, June 13. Kickoff is set for 12:00 pm.
All four of these teams have had the potential to win this world cup since the beginning of the group stage, although some would not have expected so many power houses to exit the tournament early, The Netherlands and Argentina match offers a game of two teams who not many expected to be in this position, specifically after a lot of the weak spots that Argentina has on defense, the group the Netherlands had to fight through, and their loss four years ago in the final.
Brazil and Germany is a game in which the host country–who is now minus their best player—will have to find the ability to score against a German squad who hasn’t been entirely impressive so far, but is still one of the best overall teams in the tournament.
It should be an exciting path to the finals.
