Binge Media Sports: 2014 FIFA World Cup-Quarterfinals-Day 2
Welcome back to Binge Media Sports coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Today, we’ll look at the other half of the draw as four more teams look to continue their march towards history. Here are the final two quarterfinal matches. Enjoy and don’t forget to vote.
TV BROADCAST: Saturday, July 5th-Noon Eastern/11:00 Central-ABC
Round of 16:
ARGENTINA- def. Switzerland 1-0
BELGIUM- def. United States 2-1
Round of 16 Poll Results:
100% voted for Argentina to advance
25% voted for Belgium to advance
Match Preview:
I know, I know. Most of you reading this thought that the United States would be here, but besides Tim Howard, most of the Americans just didn’t show up to play on Tuesday. So instead, we’re left with a really solid squad from Belgium and the team with perhaps the best player in the world.
That team is Argentina and that player is obviously Lionel Messi, who has carried this team on his back the entire World Cup. Teams have been able to contain Messi for a while, but in one way or another, he’s been finding ways to win. And he doesn’t even have to score himself to beat an opponent, although he’s done that as well, but look at the 1-0 victory against Switzerland in the round of 16. He was finally able to break free and the players who were back for the Swiss all collapsed on him, certain he would take the shot. But instead, he found a wide open Angel di Maria for the winner. Messi is a superstar, but the rest of the team is going to have to find a way to help him out at some point if Argentina wants to win this tournament.
For Belgium to advance, they’re going to need to step it up as well. Yes, they’ve reeled off a ton of wins in this World Cup, but they haven’t faced a world power like Argentina yet. Their opponents in group play were all good enough to be here, but none of them were a real threat in this tournament, and their round of 16 win against the U.S. was just good enough to get by. But wins are still wins and Eden Hazard and Romelo Lukaku look to lead as the Belgians face their toughest test to date. What’s gotten them here is their ability to hang in and score late, with most of their goals coming after the 70th minute.
I look for this to be a very low scoring affair. I honestly would not be surprised to see a 0-0 draw through regulation and extra time and have the game be decided on penalty kicks. But I’ve been wrong before, so we’ll see what happens on Saturday.
[yop_poll id=”138″]
TV BROADCAST: Saturday, July 5th-4:00 Eastern/3:00 Central-ESPN
Round of 16:
NETHERLANDS- def. Mexico 2-1
COSTA RICA- def. Greece 1-1 (5-3 in penalty kicks)
Round of 16 Poll Results:
100% voted for Netherlands
100% voted for Costa Rica
Match Preview:
I don’t think anybody could have predicted that this would be a quarterfinal matchup, but here we are.
The Netherlands have put up twelve goals in four matches, but got here due to a very questionable call in their round of 16 matchup with Mexico. It’s hard to say what would have happened in extra time, but the Dutch are here nonetheless. They fought back in the Mexico game with a very aggressive attack led by Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben, who each have three goals in this World Cup. But they’re not just offense. The defense has been quite good as well, but an injury to Nigel de Jong will keep him out of this game and may hurt the Netherlands a bit.
On the other side, key defender Oscar Duarte is out for Costa Rica, due to two yellow cards against Greece, a penalty kick victory in which Costa Rica had to finish with ten men. Certainly the surprise of this tournament, Costa Rica continues to win with defense, so the loss of Duarte will be noticeable. That will leave Joel Campbell and Bryan Ruiz to mount an attack against the Netherland defense.
Overall, this has the potential to be a very good match. The Netherlands look as if they’re on a mission to finish what they started four years ago in South Africa, but Costa Rica is looking to shock the world once again. Tune in Saturday for some entertaining soccer.
[yop_poll id=”137″]
Check back next week for continuing coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup when the field will be cut to four. We’ll be looking at the semifinals next, followed by the third-place match and of course, the championship game. If you feel the need to justify your picks, do so in the comments section below, or follow me and tweet @THElukenorris.