I love Messi. I love both Argentina and Germany. I love both Argentinians and Germans. I have loved my travels both in Argentina and Germany. I will gladly visit either country again.

But, here is why I am rooting for Germany today:

. Germany is the better team even though Messi is the best player on the pitch.
. Germany has consistently played better in this World Cup and after the 7-1 win over Brazil deserves to win it all.
. Argentinian soccer fans are very very arrogant (see my next post). Argentine soccer fans continuously and repeated taunted Brazil during my visit to Brazil. It is a good thing that most Brazilians could not understand the Argentinian's song which was sang in Spanish (I should note that Argentinians in general are very nice, but, when it comes to football and Brazil...).
. I loved Brazil and Brazilians during my visit. I would hate to see their bitter rival winning the Cup on their soil and continue taunting them after they have spent $11 billion and have been a good host.
. A European team has NEVER won a World Cup held in Americas.
. On a personal (selfish?) side, my two kids are half German, although, one is rooting for Argentina today.

P.S. I wore my #10 Messi jersey this morning, but, now, I am wearing my #11 Kose German jersey.

Blank

Here is an actual dialog with a 30 something Argentine fan after a nice pleasant 30 minute conversation before an Argentine game on June 24th in Brazil:

Me: Good luck in the next game against Nigeria.

Argentine Fan: "We don't need good luck. We got the God (Maradona), We got the Messiah (Messi), and Pope is Argentinian".

What amazed me was this was repeated to me at least two more times by different Argentinian fans in different cities that games were held. Being an underdog Cal fan, I have encountered many arrogant USC fans, but, never anything quite like this.

I'm for Argentina. Better looking women, better food, better at taunting plus ever since the Faulklands they've needed a signature win

GB54;842332910 said:

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I'm for Argentina. Better looking women, better food, better at taunting plus ever since the Faulklands they've needed a signature win

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Agree on better food in Argentina (it is hard to do worse than Germany in food). On other things, well, we have different taste!

So, still 0-0.

Hitler, Hitler, Hitler...Hitler, Hitler, Hitler... ...Pulling for Argentina.

This is how the Argentinian fans translated it to me:

"Brazil, how do you feel?

Your "papa" coming to your house and winning the Cup.

Maradona stick it to you in 1986 World Cup.

Maradona is better than Pele.

Argentina is better than Brazil".

And a few other nasty things.

That is probably why there is HUGE presence of military police with machine guns in and all around the Maracana. I saw a lot of them on stand-by wherever Argentina played.

beelzebear;842332915 said:

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Hitler, Hitler, Hitler...Hitler, Hitler, Hitler... ...Pulling for Argentina.

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Dude-Hitler has been dead for over a half century and all the other Nazis went to Argentina. Germany is actually an ally.

calbb;842332977 said:

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Dude-Hitler has been dead for over a half century and all the other Nazis went to Argentina. Germany is actually an ally.

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Did you watch the clip and do you have a sense of humor?

Happy For:
. Germany
. Brazil and Brazilians (see above for explanation)
. Dilma Rousseff (didn't have to see bitter rival Argentina raise the trophy in front of her, killing her chance of re-election in October after she spent $11 billion on the Cup)
. German Chancellor Angela Merkel
. Cal Chemistry visiting Professor (Fall 2013) Joachim Sauer (aka Mr. Merkel)!

Sad For:
. Messi
. Argentina
. Brazil and Brazilians (spent $11 billion only to lose the last two games 1-10)
. Cal visiting Professor Joachim Sauer (has to go home with Angela after seeing girls hanging around the German players)!
. Russian "want-to be Czar" Putin (his team didn't win a single game and didn't make it out of the group play, and he was left out of the trophy presentation stage after traveling 10,000 miles to be there). OTOH, I should put this under the category "I like it"!

calbear80;842332912 said:

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Agree on better food in Argentina (it is hard to do worse than Germany in food). On other things, well, we have different taste!

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German food is OK, compared to that from many countries north or east of it...

It was a great tournament overall. Lw started investing in youth last decade and is now reaping the benefits, he now has a great thing going, lots of young depth in that roster. He's certainly the best coach in international football and also the most underpaid in the sport.

I thought that the winner of the France-Germany QF would have the best shot at the trophy, and perhaps if Ribery were healthy France would have gone all the way, easily beating Brazil and matching up well against Argentina.

Loved the enthusiasm for the sport and tournament in North America, hopefully Klinsmann will keep the national program in the right direction. Who could have imagined that the World Cup ratings would beat those of the NBA finals and World Series ten years ago...

Feeling very sorry for Brazil, I can't think of any sporting event that has brought more pain to so many people... They have a lot of structural issues that are going to take a lot of time to work though.

And what a great place to host the tournament, next to it Russia and Qatar are going to be a huge dropoff...

Cal88;842332999 said:

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German food is [great] ...

Lw started investing in youth last decade and is now reaping the benefits, he now has a great thing going, lots of young depth in that roster. He's certainly the best coach in international football and also the most underpaid in the sport.
....
Feeling very sorry for Brazil, ...

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All time WC leading scorer Klosse substituted at the 88th minute for 22 year old Goetze, who scores the winning goal.

Cal88;842332999 said:

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German food is OK, compared to that from many countries north or east of it...

It was a great tournament overall. Lw started investing in youth last decade and is now reaping the benefits, he now has a great thing going, lots of young depth in that roster. He's certainly the best coach in international football and also the most underpaid in the sport.

I thought that the winner of the France-Germany QF would have the best shot at the trophy, and perhaps if Ribery were healthy France would have gone all the way, easily beating Brazil and matching up well against Argentina.

Loved the enthusiasm for the sport and tournament in North America, hopefully Klinsmann will keep the national program in the right direction. Who could have imagined that the World Cup ratings would beat those of the NBA finals and World Series ten years ago...

Feeling very sorry for Brazil, I can't think of any sporting event that has brought more pain to so many people... They have a lot of structural issues that are going to take a lot of time to work though.

And what a great place to host the tournament, next to it Russia and Qatar are going to be a huge dropoff...

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1. German food maybe OK when compared to the countries to the north and east of it, but comparing to the countries to the west (France) and south (Italy) of it....

2. Low a hero now, but, coaching soccer national teams is a vey fickle business. Remember, Scolari was a hero in 2002 when he won it all for Brazil, and, now he needs to seek a witness protection program.

3. It was a great tournament in a great football-loving country.

4. Let us hope US national team has turned the corner in winning internationally. We have the great athletes and an amazing youth soccer program, but most of our best athletes go into scholarship/money/glory sports (football, basketball and baseball) when they become teenagers.

I always root against Germany.

Still, the game winning shot was incredible.

The Wunderkind beats Messi.

Quote:

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Goetze began the tournament in Germany's starting lineup but was relegated to the bench when coach Joachim Loew decided to use his only true striker Miroslav Klose. Klose started Sunday before being replaced by Goetze.

"I told him that he can show the entire world that he is better than (Argentina star Lionel) Messi, 'you can decide the World Cup. You have all the possibilities to do that.' And that's what I told him. I had a good feeling about him."

Goetze has always had the potential to be one of Germany's brightest stars.

"He is a wunderkind, with immense skill," Loew said.

The 22-year-old Bayern Munich midfielder was voted the man of the match in this final and also took the same honor in Germany's 2-2 draw with Ghana in the group stage when he scored his other goal of the tournament. He appeared in six of Germany's seven matches in the tournament, sitting out the 7-1 semifinal rout of host Brazil.

"He comes in and scores, that's what our team is all about," Germany forward Thomas Mueller said of his teammate.

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Goetze's Goal in 3D.

And in real life.

More Goetze.

Bundesliga Goetze.

Dortmund Goetze.

Bayern Munich Goetze.

Goetze is a very good player. But, Messi is one of the best ever. Messi is three times World Player of the Year. I would take Messi over Goetze any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

calbear80;842333035 said:

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Goetze is a very good player. But, Messi is one of the best ever. Messi is three times World Player of the Year. I would take Messi over Goetze any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

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All of this is true yet Goetze kicked the winning goal and his team is the WC champion.

NYCGOBEARS;842333043 said:

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All of this is true yet Goetze kicked the winning goal and his team is the WC champion.

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soccer is fickle like that, especially when it comes to the World Cup.

NYCGOBEARS;842333043 said:

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All of this is true yet Goetze kicked the winning goal and his team is the WC champion.

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Yes, Goetze kicked the winning goal and I am happy for that because I was rooting for Germany.

However, Barcelona would not sell Messi for $200 million (they just paid Liverpool $128 to buy Luis Suarez (and his "bite")). I bet Bayern would sell Goetze for half that.

Add Messi to any average team, and that team becomes a title contender (e.g. Argentina). Please do not judge Messi based on his last two World Cup games. He was double and triple-teamed as soon as he got the ball. Also, after playing a very long Spanish and Championship season with Barcelona, Messi's legs simply wore out toward the end of the World Cup (plus, the competition quality was better). I guess the trophy for the Best Player in the World Cup is a good indication of what experts think of Messi.

calbear80;842333062 said:

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Yes, Goetze kicked the winning goal and I am happy for that because I was rooting for Germany.

However, Barcelona would not sell Messi for $200 million (they just paid Liverpool $128 to buy Luis Suarez (and his "bite")). I bet Bayern would sell Goetze for half that.

Add Messi to any average team, and that team becomes a title contender (e.g. Argentina). Please do not judge Messi based on his last two World Cup games. He was double and triple-teamed as soon as he got the ball. Also, after playing a very long Spanish and Championship season with Barcelona, Messi's legs simply wore out toward the end of the World Cup (plus, the competition quality was better). I guess the trophy for the Best Player in the World Cup is a good indication of what experts think of Messi.

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How does James Rodriguez compare to Messi/Goetze. James quickly became my favorite player in the cup.

OskiMD;842333008 said:

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I always root against Germany.

Still, the game winning shot was incredible.

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Yes and yes!

zerkmxl;842333070 said:

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How does James Rodriguez compare to Messi/Goetze. James quickly became my favorite player in the cup.

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James Rodriguez is a rising star. He was somewhat under the radar before the Cup. But, after scoring in every game that he played in at the World Cup and winning the Golden Boot for scoring six goals, he is "the man". He is under contract with Monaco since last year, but, it is just a matter of time before a big money club comes after him.

Having said that, the question is can Rodriguez sustain that level of performance over the years. I think he has the tools to be one of the top 10 players in the world.

I would rank the three as follows:
1. Messi (27 years old but still has five+ good years left).
2. Rodriguez (23)
3. Goetze (22)

Since someone may ask, I would rank Ronaldo (29) as equal to Messi in number one position; Neymar (22) just below Messi and Ronaldo but above Rodriguez; and Suarez (27) below Ridriguez but above Goetze.

Goetze is still young and will have a chance to surpass the players rated higher than him, specially because both with Bayern Munich and Germany, he is surrounded by amazing players which prevents opponents from focusing on him alone.

okaydo;842333094 said:

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I LOVE American ingenuity
.

OskiMD;842333008 said:

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I always root against Germany.

Still, the game winning shot was incredible.

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It truly was. One of the best game winning plays I've ever seen in a sport, though the goal by Portugal to tie the U.S. was an amazing pass. Lot of great plays in this World Cup.

CleanGlass;842333223 said:

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It truly was. One of the best game winning plays I've ever seen in a sport, though the goal by Portugal to tie the U.S. was an amazing pass. Lot of great plays in this World Cup.

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I think the goal to tie the US, the Australian goal against NED, and RVPs goal against Spain are 3 way tie for first. This goal would only be considered because it was the final.

calbear80;842333088 said:

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James Rodriguez is a rising star. He was somewhat under the radar before the Cup. But, after scoring in every game that he played in at the World Cup and winning the Golden Boot for scoring six goals, he is "the man". He is under contract with Monaco since last year, but, it is just a matter of time before a big money club comes after him.

Having said that, the question is can Rodriguez sustain that level of performance over the years. I think he has the tools to be one of the top 10 players in the world.

I would rank the three as follows:
1. Messi (27 years old but still has five+ good years left).
2. Rodriguez (23)
3. Goetze (22)

Since someone may ask, I would rank Ronaldo (29) as equal to Messi in number one position; Neymar (22) just below Messi and Ronaldo but above Rodriguez; and Suarez (27) below Ridriguez but above Goetze.

Goetze is still young and will have a chance to surpass the players rated higher than him, specially because both with Bayern Munich and Germany, he is surrounded by amazing players which prevents opponents from focusing on him alone.

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It looks like there is a bidding war between Barcelona and Real Madrid for James, he's going to go for around $125M.

Cal88;842333247 said:

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It looks like there is a bidding war between Barcelona and Real Madrid for James, he's going to go for around $125M.

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Competition between Barcelona and Real Madrid is about independence of Catalan from Spain as well as Football. They are bitter rivals like no other.

On the football side, Barcelona already has got forwards Messi, Neymar and Suarez. Real has got forward Ronaldo and many other superstars. Real just won the European Club Championship by beating cross-town rival Athletico Madrid (yes, the final of European Club Championship was between two Madrid clubs). Barcelona had been just barely eliminated one round before.

When I commented about big money clubs going after James Rodriguez this morning, I had no idea it was going to be this soon and it was going to be Barcelona and Real Madrid. If the competition is between those two, they will do anything to win and $120 million maybe just the beginning and the final price maybe much higher (James is 22 and has clean image, for comparison, Barcelona just paid $128 million for 27 year old Suarez with damaged reputation and burdened with a 4 month suspension).

Rodriguez punched his ticket during this World Cup. It's just a shame our MLS teams can't even hope of luring the talent to improve the quality in our home league. Unfortunately, we have a long way to go, but until our national program dictates the style and type of play down to the club teams our kids play in, we will never win a World Cup or hope to see the quality soccer on par with the Europeans.

OzoneTheCat;842333255 said:

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Rodriguez punched his ticket during this World Cup. It's just a shame our MLS teams can't even hope of luring the talent to improve the quality in our home league. Unfortunately, we have a long way to go, but until our national program dictates the style and type of play down to the club teams our kids play in, we will never win a World Cup or hope to see the quality soccer on par with the Europeans.

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How in the world would a MLS team pay $120 million for a player of James Rodrigues's caliber? There is not enough gate revenue or broadcast income or sponsorship money for the US for soccer.

Unfortunately, Soccer in US is step child to Football, Baseball, basketball and even hockey.

calbear80;842333262 said:

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How in the world would a MLS team pay $120 million for a player of James Rodrigues's caliber? There is not enough gate revenue or broadcast income or sponsorship money for the US for soccer.

Unfortunately, Soccer in US is step child to Football, Baseball, basketball and even hockey.

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More because there are only a few real leagues in the world, and to be high level, you have to compete with them, not with Football, Baseball, Basketball or Hockey.

Even if the US develops 1000 Howard caliber players a generation, they would all end up in the real leagues.

The entire world complains that their best are taken out of national leagues to play in the real leagues. Even worse is most countries cant compete for TV time with the real leagues in Europe. MLS will almost certainly always be a joke.

We may one day win the World Cup, but the players we put on the field will be from the top European leagues.

Only 8 countries have ever won the World Cup (Brazil (5), Italy (4), Germany (4), Argentina (2), Uruguay (2), Spain (1), France (1) and England (1)). So, I don't think expecting US to win the World Cup anytime soon is realistic. My hope is that US be consistently competitive at the international level. I really liked the way US played against soccer powers Germany, Portugal and Belgium during this World Cup, although we came up just short.

Phantomfan;842333267 said:

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Even if the US develops 1000 Howard caliber players a generation, they would all end up in the real leagues.

The entire world complains that their best are taken out of national leagues to play in the real leagues. Even worse is most countries cant compete for TV time with the real leagues in Europe. MLS will almost certainly always be a joke.

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I don't know about always being a joke, but I do agree it won't be top notch (as long as there are other big leagues in the USA that are way more popular and eating up our entertainment cash). The question is whether our best players should playing in the MLS or overseas. I think Michael Bradley coming back to Toronto to play is very telling. As were Klinsmanns comments about Donovan still tearing up MLS but that not meaning anything. A lot, if not all, of the best South American players and definitely all of the best the African players play in Europe and it only helps their national team.

European Leagues/ top teams have a big advantage over the rest of the world that goes beyond money too - the UEFA Champions league is great and it provides further top competition and glory for the top club teams. CONCACAF is trying the same thing, but honestly the level of most of the teams is not all that great (maybe if there were a way to include South American leagues it would be far more interesting... but then the travel is huge and the seasons are messed up). Furthermore, the MLS model is currently to have parity between all member teams, which results in a few stars making millions on each team (if they are lucky) and the rest are journeymen or young players often making $40k.

European leagues see consolidation of talent to the top teams and a steep fall off... but again stars get to play with stars and against stars... and with teams like barcelona, much of the national team plays together on a regular basis. Can one imagine if we had 6-7 national team members playing on a MLS team? And if they got to travel and play other top club teams? I know it's not going to happen, but that's one way to get a good national team.