WORLD CUP 2014: GERMANY DESERVEDLY BASKS IN CHAMPIONS GLORY, AGAIN

Germany won the world cup in football (or soccer, if you prefer the American English terminology) again, after having taken the twenty-four year sabbatical from the duties of reigning world champion. I still remember Euro 2000, at which Germany was unable to win even one single match in the group stage. But the Germans are not about falling into despair or counting just for heavens' help while dealing with any crisis. The German Football Association immediately came up with a program of reform, which consequently was followed and brought consecutive semifinals (or more) at major football tournaments (world cups and European Championships) starting with World Cup 2006 (2002 World Cup final was rather an accident than a product of the reform). And now, after fourteen years of hard and methodical work, they reached the pinnacle, thanks to creative thinking of people responsible for coming up with the visionary program of developing young players, stemming from various ethnic groups of nowadays Germany. It is no longer the Die Mannschaft of old, as built by Sepp Herberger and Helmut Schoen, with boring and methodical football allowing to grind the wins out thanks to the Teutonic "never die" attitude. It is no longer the brilliant technically and tactically new Germany of early years under Jogi Loew (and Jurgen Klinsmann in 2006), going eventually soft, and being beaten by Italy (like in semifinals of World Cup 2006 and Euro 2012) or by Spain (final of Euro 2008 and semifinal of World Cup 2010). This Germany, at World Cup 2014, was able to finally bridge the quick passing game (called here and there "quickie-taka"), characterized by high level of technical and tactical skills, with the old "never die" attitude, recovered in the matches against Ghana, USA, Algeria and France. And then, they put it all together against the weak Brazil, and we had to witness the "Mineirazo" (from the name of the stadium in Bello Horizonte which will be known as the place of the biggest collapse in the history of football) pushing away the Maracanazo into the ancient history annals, and itself entering the folklore of the modern world football. Argentina played very smart football in the final, attempting to liquidate all pockets of space between the lines of midfield and defense, yet eventually they were worn out in the overtime, and unable to hold tight spaces any longer, having in addition one day less for recovery than the Germans. Without having Di Maria, who could accelerate and create holes in German defense, it was only up to Messi to try to make the runs at German defense. And Messi did try to do so on his tired legs, and scared Hummels immensely on occasions by decelerating and accelerating, yet it was not to be. Germany had too many assets at their disposal, their bench was full of players who were not only equal to those who started the match, but even better in certain aspects (like Andre Schurrle or Mario Goetze). Argentina, did not have such riches at their disposal, and their coach Alejandro Sabella brought on not fully fit Aguero for tiring Lavezzi - otherwise having a good game - and colorless Palacios, for unlucky Higuain, the man who let Argentina down with his infamous miss. It seems, Messi has not surpassed Maradona yet in the pantheon of the greats, and the time is running out for him. But Messi, if he plays economically, might have another two world cups in him, although, Argentina (responsible for providing Messi's supporting cast) seems to have entered now the barren years, after the five world titles they collected in under 20 tournaments (from 1995 to 2007), thanks to program instituted in the 1990-s by Jose Pekerman. But Pekerman is gone, now coaching the brilliant Colombia, and Argentina stopped producing the great players they were known for between 1995 and 2008 (when they won under 23 Olympic final in Beijing). This Argentina was the oldest team in World Cup 2014, and unless there is a new wave of players coming in, they might have to wait for another generation to lead them to a world cup final.

Janusz Andrzejewski is a New York City based attorney, writing on legal and other community important subjects. You may reach him by telephone (212) 634-4250 or through e-mail: janusz@januszandrzejewski.com

WORLD CUP 2014: HOLLAND WITHOUT WEAPONS TO PENETRATE ARGENTINIAN DEFENSE

Now that disjointed Brazil (which had no right to make it out of the group, without help of the referees), is out of the way, we can enjoy proper football. And indeed, the Argentina v. Netherlands semifinal, even though without fireworks, was a proper match of football. Cagey, but full of tension. One could see that these were teams with pedigree, and that any error could be costly. Luis Van Gaal, played again with seven defensive players (De Vrij, Vlaar and Martins Indi as last three defenders and Kuyt, Wijnaldum, de Jong and Blind in front of them), and with two forwards in Robben and Van Persie, linked by Sneijder. The Dutch succeeded in stifling Argentina's midfield, particularly Messi, who was not given any space to roam freely, although he tried for an hour at least, and in flashes, as if trying to conserve his energy. Yet the Dutch were incapable of exerting any damage to Argentina, as Robben had no support whatsoever from Van Persie, who appeared to be out, of sort. Robben did what he could, but Argentina's defense, consisting of Zabaleta, DeMichelis, Garay and Rojo, with two holding players in midfield (Mascherano and Biglia) was up to the task and the Dutch ultimately failed to penetrate it. Argentina played well organized defense, with the best of the defensive players being Mascherano, yet they were unable to break the defensive set up of Van Gaal. After the half-time break, when Martins Indi had to be taken of the pitch, mostly due to his yellow card, Janmat was let on the pitch. However, he took the spot on the right whereas Kuyt moved to left, and Blind was moved to the back three line to take Martins Indi place. in 62nd minutes, Van Gaal was forced to withdraw not fit De Jong and Jordy Clasie took his place. The Dutch dominated the second half, with enterprising Kuyt and Janmaat, but Robben had to attempt to break the Argentinians on his own, seeing that Van Persie was not up to the task, yet the Argentinians were quick in blocking Dutch passes or shots. I believe in the whole match the Dutch had three shots on target whereas Argentina five. Eventually, Huntelaar substituted in 96th minute ineffective and perhaps not fully fit Van Persie. That substitution was important as it was the third and last one allowed for the Dutch and they could not use Tim Krul later on during the penalties. In the overtime, Argentina evened the match out in terms of possession and Palacios found himself one on one with Cillessen yet the Dutch goalkeeper easily stopped the Argentinian's header. Unfortunately for the Dutch, Cillessen is not Tim Krul. This time around it was the Argentinian goalkeeper, Sergio Romero (Luis Van Gaal himself taught him how to defend penalties during their time together at AZ Akmaar), who became the hero, stopping Vlaar and Sneijder from scoring, whereas the Argentinians, starting with Messi, were perfect from the spot. Luis Van Gaal lost his touch, and Argentina made it for the 5th time to the final, in which the German Manschaft awaits them for the third time. They are even, having won one a piece. Even though Messi this time did not do anything brilliant except for that run through Dutch players near the area of right corner, when he passed to not covered by anybody Rodriguez, whose shot was stopped by Cillessen, he still was the obvious leader of this Argentinian team; offensively, he didn't get much support, but in defense this Argentina was yesterday solid, with Mascherano, the holding player, playing almost a perfect game. I have a feeling, the final will not be such a cagey affair, although the Germans would have much more respect for this Argentina than they had for the Brazil. My sentimental favorite Argentina (for the reasons elaborated on in my previous articles), made it to the final after all! Notwithstanding all those bad things said by the English pundits, media and fans about supposedly weak Argentinian defense and Leo Messi being inferior to Cristiano Ronaldo. I'm having my modest laugh at their expense, again...

Janusz Andrzejewski is a New York City based attorney, writing on legal and other important community topics. You can contact him by telephone (212) 634-4250 or by e-mail: janusz@januszandrzejewski.com