There couldn’t be a more perfect setting for a quarterfinal that features two of the most iconic soccer nations in the entire world. The stage will be the Maracana in Rio, the participants; Germany and France. Already a day after both teams battled their way out of the Round of 16, the anticipation for this one is growing by the minute. It will be the 4th of July that will see Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba and “Les Bleus” go up against Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and “Die Mannschaft.”
It was no easy match for either team as they faced African oppositions in the Round of 16. The French after struggling a bit finally found their rhythm in time to beat a very good Nigerian opponent. While Germany, for multiple times throughout the game, looked like they could have suffered one of the World Cup’s greatest upsets at the hands of Algeria.
Didier Deschamps’ men have looked light-years better than they did when they were under the control of Raymond Domenech four years ago. They have defended well in the back and have countered with lightening quick ferocity in attack. Hugo Lloris, Paul Pogba, Yohan Cabaye and Karim Benzema have been the stand-outs for the French thus far.
Lloris has been strong in goal, Pogba has controlled the midfield, even sprinkling in some goals [most notably the game winner against Nigeria], Cabaye has had numerous moments where he has looked dangerous in attack, and Benzema is in the running for the Golden Boot.
With impact players like those, along with the talent that the rest of the squad has, the French have to feel very confident in their chances moving forward. Standing in their way though will be Jogi Loew’s men, who will have to prove a lot of the doubters wrong after their showing against Algeria.
From start to finish in their first knockout round game, the Germans lacked everything from creativity to urgency. Up until extra-time, the Germans had no answer for an Algerian team that sat eleven men behind the ball and countered when given the chance. Luckily for the Germans, France will deploy no such tactic in Rio.
There have been numerous questions about some of Loew’s tactical decisions and team choices. He continues to play Lahm in the midfield despite the German back four lacking any type of pace and consistency. [Now that news has come out that Shkodran Mustafi will miss the rest of the tournament, it will be interesting what he decides to do.] He continues to play Mesut Oezil [I know he scored the winner, but the 120 minutes he played before that were absolutely atrocious] when he could easily move Thomas Mueller into his normal role as a winger and deploy Miroslav Klose, who has a knack for scoring goals in the World Cup, up front.
There is no doubt that the Germans will need to play much better if they want to have any chance against the French. This will be the 26th meeting between the two countries, with France currently leading the series 11-8-6.
The game is set to kick off on July 4th at 12PM EST and can be seen on ESPN2 and Univision. If you want to live stream it from a computer, here is the link, as WatchESPN has been offering all World Cup games throughout the tournament. If you prefer to live stream the match in Spanish, simply click here to enjoy the game. It will surely be a very exciting match as the road to the final edges closer and closer. Enjoy!
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