Tomorrow night sees the 3rd and 4th place play-off in the World Cup. Traditionally this game has not been taken that seriously and it's fairly easy to understand why! Can anyone from outside the countries involved remember any of these games or the results? Didn't think so!
Uruguay v Germany, Kick-Off 730pm UK Time, Saturday 10th July
Defence
I have been through these 2 teams before, so I wont go into too much detail again. Mainly because I really can't be bothered! I'll just assess the way I see things panning out in each area of the pitch without going into individual player detail.
We are seeing 2 very experienced defences in this match, and players who are used to playing with each other. Uruguay's impressive tournament has been built on the back of a solid backline although that all went a bit awry against Holland! Similarly Germany have been typically solid throughout as you'd expect, but they will have to cope with 2 strikers in form in Forlan and the returning Suarez for Uruguay. Both of these will be keen to add to their tally's and claim the Golden Boot, so I would imagine they'll be coming out all guns blazing.
These games are notoriously difficult to call as traditionally one team tries to win and the other doesn't. The hard part is working out which is which! Both have strong defences and exciting attackers. This should make for an interesting game as actually I think both teams will go for the victory. This being the case I think the impressive Germans will probably have too much for a worn-out Uruguayan back four.
Midfield
The midfields are very different. Uruguay are more quietly efficient, whereas some of the German players have really stepped up and announced themselves to the world so far. Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil have all impressed, and would probably all be in the running for most people's team of the tournament so far. Schweinsteiger has revelled in Louis Van Gaal's new positon for him of defensive midfielder. He has the ability to tackle well and boundless energy to always be involved in play, as well as the ability on the ball you would expect of a man who started his career on the wing. Sami Khedira was only promoted from the U21 side this year, and probably wouldn't have played had Michael Ballack been fit. He has performed the role of keeping play ticking over and always providing an outlet for his teammates to pass too. I would not be suprised to see him get a big move before the summer is out. And Mesut Ozil is the next big playmaker! He is a traditional no10, playing off the striker(s) and constantly prompting and probing to exploit gaps and create chances. As I've mentioned Uruguay are more a functional unit more than a creative one and are really there to provide extra protection for the defence than provide any attacking thrust.
This looks a one-sided match up to me if Germany perform as we now know they are capable of. All the extra defensive responsibilities should be taking their toll on the Uruguayans by now. I can see them absolutely dominating midfield again and I would fancy Shweinsteiger and Ozil to be brilliant again.
Attack
This is where Uruguay have come to the fore so far. They have 2 attackers in great form and both still in with a shout for the Golden Boot. Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez have been on top of their respective games so far. Suarez sat out the Semi-Final after his heinous crime in the Quarters of handballing to save his team from certain defeat (an unselfish hero in my eyes!). Both of these 2 will pose the German defence problems and I would fancy one of them to grab a goal. Forlan has shown he is not afraid to shoot from distance, with 2 successes so far, and he is also on freekick duty. Suarez has shown that strikers knack of being in the right place at the right time and you begin to see how he got 49 (FORTY NINE) goals for Ajax last year. Another player who will surely get a big move soon. I would love to see Forlan grab a couple and the Golden Boot to see him get some long overdue recognition. He may have 'failed' at Man Utd, but he has banged them in in Spain and been top scorer in 2 of the last 3 years. Germany have the triumvate of Podolski, Klose and Mueller back together for this match with Mueller returning from suspension. Klose needs 2 goals to be the highest scorer ever in World Cup's and that should provide plenty of personal motivation tomorrow. Podolski seems a very keen individual and very confident in his own abilities. This will probably go some way to explain his performances and goals here after such a disappointing campaign in Germany with FC Koln. Mueller is listed in the 3 players for young player of the tournamnet, and rightly so. One of the unheard of German players coming into this, his direct running and 3 goals so far have made sure people know his name now! He is another who will want to cement his burgeoning reputation with another good performance.
I can see goals from both teams tomorrow night with such good, in-form players playing up front for both teams. I do fancy Germany to outscore the Uruguayan's as they have more firepower in my opinion and a far superior midfield backing them up.
Betting
This could be an interesting proposition depending on who you fancy to be trying. I think both will due to Uruguayan pride and German youthful endeavour. For this reason I think we might have a classic. I would be tempted to go for both teams to score at 4/6 with Bluesq.com. I also fancy Klose to take advantage of Uruguays defence and you can get 9/2 with various firms on first goalscorer or anytime at 6/5 again with Bluesq.com. Getting on over 2.5 goals at a widely available 8/13 looks a shrewd bet to me too.
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