This is a match between the two old enemies of football. The French and the Germans have never been the best of friends and this mutual contempt comes to the fore whenever the two countries play each other in football. Without doubt, France and Germany are two of the biggest football nations in Europe.
Both have a stellar record at World Cup having won it previously. But it’s been a while since either have had the distinction of being the World Champions of football. Last time the Germans won was in 1990 in Italy, when they were still West Germany, and were led by the indefatigable Lothar Matthaus to a memorable 1-0 win over old enemies Diego Maradona’s Argentina. French won the World Cup last in 1998, a most famous win by the Golden Generation of French football led by the legendary Zinedine Zidane.
Everybody loves a France vs. Germany game, especially in the World Cup. These are extremely tense affairs, with neither side willing to give an inch. Will there be goals when the two great rivals face-off in Brazil? Well, there will be a winner, and there may well be a few goals, but given the two teams are so closely matched, we may have a penalty shootout to settle the issue.
Critics say that the French had it easy in the group stages, while the Germans had to battle it out against much tougher opponents. While there is a lot of truth in that, the French have done enough to suggest that they could do equally well even against much better opponents. France destroyed Switzerland by scoring 5 goals against them in the group stages, the same side that made a Messi led Argentina toil and sweat for 120 minutes. Germany began brilliantly against Christiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, scoring 4 goals in an easy win, but were made to struggle against Ghana. It got worse for Germany when they played the other African side, Algeria, a match they only barely won after playing for a full 120 minutes.
While the Germans could claim that they have an edge over France having already been under great pressure in the World Cup and surviving to tell the tale, the French wouldn’t be unduly worried. The French team looks like a well oiled machine, with a solid defensive pairing comprising of the two best young central defenders in Europe, Rafael Varane and Laurent Koscielny; a fantastic midfield with Yohan Cabaye providing the imagination and the “new Patrick Vieira”, Paul Pogba providing the drive and the determination. Little Matheu Valbuena has made certain that nobody missed the more famous Frank Ribeiry or Samir Nasri with his brilliant performances so far. The team is led ably by Karim Benzema, the Champions League winning Real Madrid striker, who is in the form of his life. A potential star is the young Real Sociedad winger, Antoine Griezmann, who along with Pogba was the star performer in the second round match against Nigeria.
Germany are no mugs in the attacking department. They have the tall, lanky Thomas Mueller up front, who is simply sensational as the “false number 9” in the system of attacking midfielders that is used by head coach Joachim Loew. Mueller is a World Cup sensation, having scored 5 goals in his last World Cup and 4 goals here, 9 World Cup goals in all and he is still only 24 years old. Helping Mueller is a bunch of talented and very sharp attacking midfielders, Mesut Ozil, Toni Kroos, Mario Goetze and Andre Schurrle. Toni Kroos in particular, has been outstanding with his ball distribution and plays the role of the classical number 10, a position made famous by the great Diego Maradona.
If Germany have a defect, it’s that their defence lacks pace, and so goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has to perform often as a sweeper plus goalkeeper, which leaves them prone to huge risks at the back. One mistake from the German goalkeeper when he comes running out of his box is all it takes for their French opponents to send the Bavarians home.
So who will win the match? While it is likely that both teams will cancel each other out and the match will be decided by a penalty shootout, one just gets the feeling that Germans lack the killer instinct that is so important in sports – they have been eliminated in the semi-finals in the last two World Cups. Also, their defensive frailties give France just that extra edge, all other things being equal.
Prediction: 2 – 1 to France.
