France vs. Germany (QF1) 17:00, 4 July

Darkglasses

Estádio Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

Possible France XI -

01 Lloris
02 Debuchy
03 Evra
06 Cabaye
04 Varane
21 Koscielny
19 Pogba
14 Matuidi
11 Griezmann
08 Valbuena
10 Benzema


Possible Germany XI -

01 Neuer
05 Hummels
04 Höwedes
16 Lahm
17 Mertesacker
20 Boateng
07 Schweinsteiger
18 Kroos
13 Müller
08 Özil
19 Götze

Oddschecker - Germany 3/2, France 11/5, Draw 23/10

Laois_Man

Rumours that the German squad have been hit hard by 'flu

Unlucky if true!


France to win this regardless IMO

Darkglasses

Laois_Man wrote: »

Rumours that the German squad have been hit hard by 'flu

Unlucky if true!


France to win this regardless IMO

Yeap think the 'flu rumours are definitely true. Think Muller was playing through with the sickness. Wouldn't be surprised if there was a few more missing for this game.

eagle eye

I think France will beat them anyway whether there is flu or not.

kfallon

Low says 7 of the squad have it tho it's 'not that bad'.
Hummels tweeted to say he's nearly back to 100%

Very hard to call this tie!

The_Kew_Tour

kfallon wrote: »

Very hard to call this tie!

Same here.

Any result would not surprise me.

If I had to put neck on the line I would go Germany, but France have impressed me even in last round when they did not panic and grew into the game before getting the 2 late goals.

Peanut Butter Jelly

France's defence are looking to last 90 minutes against the Germans and beat their World War II record.

greendom

Peanut Butter Jelly wrote: »

France's defence are looking to last 90 minutes against the Germans and beat their World War II record.

Don't mention the war. No seriously, just don't.

Dont be at yourself

Think France will win this. Germany have really lost their way since the last World Cup. A bit like England; overloaded with talent in some areas, short in others, and their philosophy is a bit muddled.

Idbatterim

well Hummels is back thank god. Lahm playing in midfield though, which is a big worry. He is far better at full back. Hamann has highlighted the problems with playing him in midfield. Mustafi picked up an injury and is out for the rest of the tournament, the german press slated the team after the Algeria match, Mustafi received the most criticism...

Darkglasses

Idbatterim wrote: »

well Hummels is back thank god. Lahm playing in midfield though, which is a big worry. He is far better at full back. Hamann has highlighted the problems with playing him in midfield.

Hummels will presumably go straight back in at centre back then?

Podolski's fit too apparently.

Idbatterim

yeah podolski is fit again... with lahm playing at right back, I would strongly fancy the germans, now I am hopeful rather than expectant. As another poster above posted, no result would shock me. Losing Reus in that pre tournament 6-1 win over Armenia is / was such a kick in the nuts!

greendom

Every time France have qualified from the group stages at a World Cup they have reached at least the semi-finals. Hopefully this will continue tomorrow.

Finely balanced match I would imagine.

Mickeroo

I don't really mind who goes through out of these two, I think France will edge it though unless the Germans change things up and start playing to the strengths of some of their players.

DubDani

German starting 11 still up in the air, and seems to heavily depend on the fact if Kramer will be 100% fit (has flu symptoms) as a backup to a Schweinsteiger/Khedira MF pairing.

If he is fit the German team will most likely be

Neuer
Lahm - Hummels - Mertesacker - Boateng
Schweinsteiger - Khedira
Kroos Ozil Schuerrle
Mueller

Expect a great game and a German win in regular time.

Nuri Sahin

France to win 3-1 and hopefully Loew to step down afterwards.

Dubliner28

Neuer
Lahm - Hummels - Mertesacker - Boateng
Schweinsteiger - Khedira
Kroos Ozil Schuerrle
Mueller

That would be a strong German side. Just feel that they have a stronger team overall than France who havent been tested yet.
Hopefully it will be a classic. Germans in normal time, 2-0 or 2-1

DubDani

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

France to win 3-1 and hopefully Loew to step down afterwards.

Very unlikely that he will leave, even if they go out against France. Didn't he recently extend his contract?

He is well liked and respected within the German FA, and to be honest there is also noone else available within German football who could do the job afterwards.

Hitzfeld and Heynckes both retired, Klopp def. not leaving Dortmund, Tuchel being too inexperienced at high Level, Daum completely unsellable as a National Coach, and a foreign coach completely off limits.

Nuri Sahin

DubDani wrote: »

Very unlikely that he will leave, even if they go out against France. Didn't he recently extend his contract?

He is well liked and respected within the German FA, and to be honest there is also noone else available within German football who could do the job afterwards.

Hitzfeld and Heynckes both retired, Klopp def. not leaving Dortmund, Tuchel being too inexperienced at high Level, Daum completely unsellable as a National Coach, and a foreign coach completely off limits.

I'm well aware of that, but I live in hope, otherwise this generation of national team will continue to be wasted.

He'll be there till 2018 more than likely, and then Klopp will take over after his Dortmund contract runs out is what I reckon.

gimmick

Low has said that Lahm will start in midfield again. Strikes me as stupidity as the team seemed an awful lot more balanced once Khedira came on and Lahm went back to right full.

I also think Ozil should be dropped after his farcical performance the other day. Schurrle really got the Germans motoring so he deserves to step in.

I dont really care who wins this, I just want a great game after hearing the 2 best anthems at the world cup.

Dont be at yourself

Mental if Lahm starts in central midfield again.

Idbatterim

Low has said that Lahm will start in midfield again. Strikes me as stupidity as the team seemed an awful lot more balanced once Khedira came on and Lahm went back to right full.

I also think Ozil should be dropped after his farcical performance the other day. Schurrle really got the Germans motoring so he deserves to step in.

yeah it appears blatantly apparent to everyone except Low. Ozil doesnt look great with where he is being asked to play, he is much better in the typical 10 role... This is bread and butter stuff that Low after a serious amount of time in the job, should have down at this stage to be honest...

Germany given their strength can get away with compromises in the group stages and against the "lesser" opposition, its a gamble against the bigger teams though and one that doesnt need to be taken... Is Philip Lahm the manager now? he has the honour of playing for his country at the highest level of all, he should be throw to RB and if he isnt happy with it, drop him. He has told Low he doesnt want to play at RB, having played in midfield with Bayern this season...

Mr Blobby

gimmick wrote: »

Low has said that Lahm will start in midfield again. Strikes me as stupidity as the team seemed an awful lot more balanced once Khedira came on and Lahm went back to right full.

I also think Ozil should be dropped after his farcical performance the other day. Schurrle really got the Germans motoring so he deserves to step in.

I dont really care who wins this, I just want a great game after hearing the 2 best anthems at the world cup.

I agree that Schurrle should start.. But not at the expense of Ozil. He was Germanys best midfileder in the first half all while being played out of position.

If you're going to drop anyone it should be Gotze.

kevohmsford

Germany for the win 2-1

DubDani

gimmick wrote: »

Low has said that Lahm will start in midfield again. Strikes me as stupidity as the team seemed an awful lot more balanced once Khedira came on and Lahm went back to right full.

It was earlier this week reported that he said that, but the quote was in fact from an interview that he already gave before the game against Algeria. Since then he has confirmed that he is still considering it, and there are according to German Media signs that he will move Lahm back to RB tomorrow.

HazDanz

Germany to win a high scoring game. 3-2

DubDani

Idbatterim wrote: »

Is Philip Lahm the manager now? he has the honour of playing for his country at the highest level of all, he should be throw to RB and if he isnt happy with it, drop him. He has told Low he doesnt want to play at RB, having played in midfield with Bayern this season...

That's actually incorrect. Lahm has said that he doesn't care if he plays in DMF or as a RB, but he has said that under no circumstances does he want to play LB (which he has done in the past).

Lucas Hood

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

France to win 3-1 and hopefully Loew to step down afterwards.

Did he not sign on for another few years the other day?

Gringo180

That high line at the back the Germans play could be badly exposed by the pace of Griezmann and Benzema. I think France to win 3-1.

goalscoringhero

Gringo180 wrote: »

That high line at the back the Germans play could be badly exposed by the pace of Griezmann and Benzema. I think France to win 3-1.

If France defend with 10 man behind the ball and play a counter attack game.
But that's not the way France have played so far.

Much will depend on how the game develops. Germany are much more capable of breaking down strong opposition and create opportunities through open play compared to 4 years ago (or even 2012), when they were mainly a lethal counter-attacking force.

While many people appear to diss Ozil's efforts so far, I am actually pretty pleased. He doesn't have to create the final pass for a goal-scoring opportunity. It's more that he has enough quality around him to do little flicks and quick one-twos that create space and give his team mates the opportunity to play that pass. At the end of the day it doesn't matter who does it, but there are 3 or 4 players around him who can do it, and he enables them, without taking the lime light. Mueller, Goetze and Lahm are some of these players, and I guess that is one of the reasons why Lahm is being picked as a midfielder.
I'm sure people will see this if they revisit Germany's games so far.

There is however a problem with precision in forward passing, especially for forward passes from the full backs, and this has been exposed blatantly by Ghana and Algeria.

Dolph Starbeam

Fancy Germany in this one, though it could easily go either way. I just get the feeling the Germans have an extra gear that we haven't seen yet. Crappy kick off time means I'll miss the 1st half because of work.

Idbatterim

If Germany can't do it with these players. When the other "top" teams are average bar messi and neymar. When will they ever do it?

diomed

France. I expect the German defence to fall apart.

Boskowski

Idbatterim wrote: »

If Germany can't do it with these players. When the other "top" teams are average bar messi and neymar. When will they ever do it?

Agree with this 100%.
If this Germany squad don't win it this time they'll never win it. Bogey teams Italy and Spain are out and nobody else has shone to an extent that you'd think they couldn't be done. Quite a few teams must be thinking with a bit of luck this could be up for grabs.
Only thing is Germany has been enigmatic herself to say the least. We're more stumbling than gliding forward but sure thats when we're at our deadliest, it is known. :pac:

BoarHunter

France to finally get revenge for the Sevilla 82 scandal. They will beat Germany with Style. I have a feeling the french didn't want to make too much effort against Ecuador and Nigeria.

They've been pretty much in controle vs Nigeria without digging into the gears and the only match they were under pressure ( Switzerland ) they actually hammered what was in front of them.

gimmick

BoarHunter wrote: »

France to finally get revenge for the Sevilla 82 scandal. They will beat Germany with Style. I have a feeling the french didn't want to make too much effort against Ecuador and Nigeria.

They've been pretty much in controle vs Nigeria without digging into the gears and the only match they were under pressure ( Switzerland ) they actually hammered what was in front of them.

Pretty silly tactic if so. They were lucky not to concede a penalty and should have had Giroud and Matuidi sent off!

adox

Im going for France too.

The high line that Germany have employed is going to be exposed sooner rather than later and that time could be this evening.

3-1 to the French.

BoarHunter

gimmick wrote: »

Pretty silly tactic if so. They were lucky not to concede a penalty and should have had Giroud and Matuidi sent off!

that's true I think they were pretty lucky

efb

Come on Germany! Their trickiest tie to date, hopefully it's a cracking game with a German victory!

Hank Scorpio

Germany 3 - 1, really excited for this

Alfred Borden

The French to put the under performing Germans out. I hope not.

MaroonAndGreen

Klose and Khedira start. Lahm back to right back and Muller to play deeper. No false 9, an out and out striker in Klose for Germany...
Loew clearly not happy with how his team have been performing so far, they are significant enough changes IMO.

Reinforces my belief France will win, confidence isnt very high in the German camp maybe?

buyer95

Jaysus Klose being brought in has to be seen as an act of desperation.

Dont be at yourself

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Klose and Khedira start. Lahm back to right back and Muller to play deeper. No false 9, an out and out striker in Klose for Germany...
Loew clearly not happy with how his team have been performing so far, they are significant enough changes IMO.

Reinforces my belief France will win, confidence isnt very high in the German camp maybe?

I think that very much brings things back in Germany's favour. Dropping big names in favour of a coherent team, and bringing it back tactically closer to the 2010 approach. Klose up front, Lahm at full-back, and the Schweinsteiger/Khedira midfield, Goetze on the bench. Being picky, I'd have Schuerlle in for Kroos, but otherwise hard to find a fault.

Still a game that could go either way, though.

Alfred Borden

Low doesnt seem to know his best team which is worrying this late in the tournament. Expecting France by 2 here.

Washington Irving

Hoping for a big France victory.

Predicting Germany to go through on penalties.

MaroonAndGreen

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

I think that very much brings things back in Germany's favour. Dropping big names in favour of a coherent team, and bringing it back tactically closer to the 2010 approach. Klose up front, Lahm at full-back, and the Schweinsteiger/Khedira midfield, Goetze on the bench. Being picky, I'd have Schuerlle in for Kroos, but otherwise hard to find a fault.

Still a game that could go either way, though.

Im not sure, form and confidence are favouring France big time here IMO

klose

buyer95 wrote: »

Jaysus Klose being brought in has to be seen as an act of desperation.

Still a good player for someone whos 35, i hope he bags just one to become the outiright top scorer. After the algeria game germany kind of had to shake it up a bit so not surprising to see the changes made.

Pro. F

Germany's high and hopeful back line could well cost them. The French could well be caught out with Cabaye or Evra's defending. Impossible to call it imo.

Mickeroo

Klose to break the record today. With Khedira starting I presume Lahm will be playing full back so I can see an improved performance from the Germans but Griezmann's pace will give them problems.

Tough one to call but I think France will edge it.

MaroonAndGreen

klose wrote: »

Still a good player for someone whos 35, i hope he bags just one to become the outiright top scorer. After the algeria game germany kind of had to shake it up a bit so not surprising to see the changes made.

Klose's aerial ability is his main threat, so you'd think Germany would play with width when he is in the team, but they arent? Muller and Ozil wont privde width and crosses as much as Klose would like IMO