Tim Howard the hero; Argentine scrape through + Arteta, Sanchez and Debuchy pop up again

Another one of those late nights, but what a night it was. Like Germany vs Algeria I didn't regret in the slightest staying up till 3 a.m. to watch a game. It was a simply brilliant encounter, among the very best games of this tournament.

First things first, though: I'd like to congratulate the Belgians. They had an outstanding performance, by far their best during this tournament. Their first two games were very dull and the third I didn't get the chance to see, but I suspect it wasn't fun to watch.

Yesterday (more like today) Marc Wilmots' team was guns blazing in attack. Divock Origi started up front and had a very good game with a chance to open the scoring in the 38th second, Mirallas came on as a sub and wreaked havoc on the flank and De Bruyne could easily have become MoM under other circumstances. Overall, Belgium put on a show in this game and the football couldn't have been more exciting.

USA, meanwhile, definitely were trying to hurt Belgium on the counter, but their default mode was to sit back, waiting for that chance. Jurgen Klinsmann's side didn't have a lot of opportunities to score, but could nonetheless have won the game in injury time, had Wondolowski not wasted a perfect opportunity to put his team in front. He'll have nightmares about it, I imagine, but if USA had won the game in such a manner it would have been a gross injustice towards a very good Belgium side.

The default mode of the USA worked just fine, I have to add. Football is not about going forward only and it was a pleasure to watch USA defend. Despite a load of chances Belgium created, it was still one of the best defensive displays I've ever seen, not the least because it was aided by Tim Howard.

Oh, Tim Howard. I'll start where most would have ended and say Howard became MoM, setting a new record in the process. 15 saves (!) in a single game at World Cup. Howard saved with his legs, he saved with his arms, he saved with his beard. He tipped a lot of things over the bar, twice came out on top from a one-on-one and the Americans have already proposed a petition to have Reagan's Airport renamed after Howard. To just comprehend how good the 35-year-old was yesterday, you have to see it for yourselves. Words just cannot do him justice.

It was a pity really when Belgium broke the deadlock and scored two goals in rapid succession deep into extra time, thanks to a rampaging Lukaku. Romelu substituted Origi to first set up De Bruyne and then scored himself, Kevin returning the favour. Amazing persistence from Belgium, helped by a brilliant De Bruyne.

USA went forward. And scored. Green, who made his debut minutes earlier, sent American fans into overdrive by slotting home a wonderfully weighed through ball from Bradley. There was nothing Courtois could do about the shot.

USA could have equalised seconds earlier, but this time Courtois saved from Jones, after a brilliant (I've lost count how many times I've used this word today) passage of play following a free-kick. And so it ended, 2-1. Put your hands together for both teams for this wonderful, open game, with lots of chances and minimum crap (like diving).

Belgium will now face Argentine in the quarter-final and, like it's the case with Brazil, I hope Marc Wilmots' side with send the the "favourites" packing. Argentine has only just scraped through, winning 1-0 against Switzerland (in extra time) and has done so only because Leo Messi provided his side with another masterstroke in the 118th minute. Switzerland could have got back to level terms but some bloke headed the ball onto the post from a killer position.

Some of the most tedious games this tournament provided involved Argentine. I turned off their game against Iran at half-time and thanked God I didn't see the game vs Bosnia and Herzegovina. Yesterday was another one of these mind-bogglingly dull games. Even the commentator couldn't stand it. So all the luck to Belgium in the last eight, cause I won't bear another lucky bounce.

Finally for today, some activity is stirring up regarding transfer news.

First on the agenda is Mikel Arteta. I mentioned how his situation wasn't clear, but it seems the Spaniard will stay on for at least another year. His agent denied talk of a possible transfer away, so we can be quite sure we won't be losing our de-facto skipper this summer. That doesn't mean we shouldn't strengthen this position, if the opportunity is there (Schnederlein, please?), but bottom line is that we won't be short on numbers  in case we don't sign anybody. And let's not forget what an important role Arteta plays in our side.

In other news, Metro claims we have made a move for both Sanchez and Debuchy. While with Alexis it's just "Arsenal made a bid" (I have to stress this part was confirmed by Kike Marin, see the article), with Debuchy they've gone further, saying the deal is done and the signing will be announced after the World Cup. I hope that's the case, but I don't know what more there is to add, to what I've already said. On Sanchez you can read here.

Phew, that's it for today. There's a two-day break between now and the next World Cup round, so try to sleep in. I know I will.

Until later, I'll be back here as soon as something new pops up

Ozil makes his mark; Giroud doesn't; goalkeepers continue to do their job

These late nights are really starting  to take their toll, I have to say. I'm grateful for the spectacles two out of three games (so far) provided me with by going into extra time, but I'm more grateful to Colombia for their end-it-in-90-minutes attitude. Falling asleep at 4 a.m. isn't much fun.

On the bright side, I'm on holiday, thus sleeping in is no problem. And yesterday's games were worth watching.

In France vs Nigeria, Koscielny and Giroud both started, though the latter was replaced on the hour. Much like everyone else, Olivier failed to break through an organised Nigeria defence and had to give way to Griezmann. The game immediately started to look livelier and the French finally made their effort pay, with Pogba opening the scoring in the 79th minute and Yobo putting the ball into his own net minutes from time. 2-0.

The result was, to my mind, a fair one. Though Nigeria looked more interesting in the first half, scoring (from an offside position) and testing Lloris at least one more time, Deschamps' side stepped it up around the hour mark. Only a combination of luck (Valbuena hitting the bar) and Enyama's agility prevented France from going in front earlier.

The other game was Germany vs Algeria and I decided to watch it out of hope of seeing Algeria spanked. They didn't, as far as I'm concerned, drew Russia fairly (remember those laser antics?) and I was preparing to gloat after the Germans were through with them.

What I saw on the pitch made my jaw drop off. Algeria looked much the better side in the first half, each of their counters ending in something dangerous. They have even scored (from offside) and Neuer had to make at least one charge out of his box to clean up. Germany, meanwhile, were off the pace, Ozil and Kross the only players with some decent ideas and end product.

Shurrle subbed Goetze at half-time and Germany started picking up the pace, and pepper Rais with shots in the process. Algeria continued to look dangerous on the counter and Neuer again had to sweep up. However, despite Ozil's, Muller's and Sweinsteiger's best efforts, the game went into extra time. And Germany has immediately scored.

Muller darted down the left flank, measured a perfect pass through at least three defenders and Shurrle's sublime finish with his heel was what finally broke the deadlock.

Germany continued dominating the game, but Algeria could have equalised at least twice, first from a corner, then from a free-kick. They didn't and paid for it in the 118th minute.

Lowe's side exploded on the counter, Muller passed to Shurrle, Andre found Ozil in front of goal, but then received a return pass. Shurrle's shot was blocked by a defender with Rais stranded, but Ozil was on hand to smash the rebound high into the roof of the net. Lowe was finally able to breathe.

However, Algeria's response was as quick as it was unexpected. I didn't even have the chance to find a suitable picture of Ozil to post on my wall, cause as soon as my eyes darted to my phone, the ball was in the back of the net. Replays informed me of how exactly the goal happened.

Unfortunately for Algeria, this goal came too late. There just wasn't time enough to score another and so it ended 2-1. Rais was later named man of the match by FIFA.

This means France will play Germany in the quarter-final, with up to five Arsenal players involved (I'm counting Sagna out, since it's July 1st). What an opportunity to streamline our squad all at once, by injuring five (key five) our players. I guess Wenger is going to have nightmares until this game is over.

Couple of words on Ozil, by the way. He was criticised by all and sundry for his weak World Cup performances, but, frankly, I don't care how he plays for the Bundesteam as long as he's fit and performs well for Arsenal. However, Ozil yesterday's showing was very good indeed. He really made things happen and scored a goal he thoroughly deserved. My only complaint (and I do realise I may be seeing a problem where there is none) is Ozil's selflessness. At one point he passed the ball despite clearly being in a better position, in another he tried to create a perfect opportunity by rounding off the defender before taking a shot and even in the episode with the goal he opted to pass to Schurrle, though he could have just hit the ball and see what would happen.

Of course, it may have been that selflessness (among other things) that influenced Wenger's decision to sign the guy. Arsene really looks at football as a team game, thus he'd rather have an individual, who'd try to pass the ball to a guy in a better position, then take the shot himself. I remember when Arsene was asked what is, in his opinion, the best way to celebrate a goal he answered: "With the teammates". That's Wenger's philosophy for you in a nutshell.

Finally for today, Debuchy may be our target this summer. Rumour has it, Wenger wants 28-year-old to replace Sagna and I see no problem with it. I quite liked what I saw from Debuchy over France's last games and, as for Aurier (in whom we may have no genuine interest, let me remind you), he's a bit of a gamble. He's 21, attacks a lot more keenly than he defends and may be a risk overall. Debuchy looks a better option to me, especially since he has experience playing in the Premier League.

That's it for today, back tomorrow.

Until then

Hernandez, Campbell and Robben: pools of sorrow, waves of joy

Good day everyone.

Yesterday was another exciting day in terms of football and there was interest for Arsenal fans in both games, with Hernandez featuring for Mexico and Campbell playing the full game against Greece.

First up on the agenda was Holland vs Mexico and the game at Fortaleza took place in smouldering heat. Both teams were dead tired by the end of first half and this, of course, has affected the quality of football greatly. The Mexicans went closer to opening the scoring, though, with Sillissen pulling off a couple of saves.

Quite why the game had to be played in such circumstances is beyond me. Fortaleza is probably the closest place in Brazil to the equator and that's saying a lot. The game kicked off at 1 p.m. and the air temperature was 39 ᵒC. Most fans fled from the sunlit side of the stands and even the players themselves tried to keep to the shade. The ref had the sense to make at least two cooling breaks during the game, though, so fair play to him.

The second half turned out to be livelier. Dos Santos scored with a beautiful shot from outside the box almost immediately after the half-time break, thus forcing the Dutch players to come out of their coma and start attacking. Ochoa was up to the task and demonstrated just why he is one of the best keepers of this World Cup. He denied Robben from a one-on-one and followed it up with a save from a corner, after some Dutch bloke pulled off a shot from point-blank range.

Van Gaal threw on Depay and Huntelaar in an attempt to save the game, but both these substitutes seemed in vain up until 88th minute. Robben won a corner, crossed the ball into the box, Huntelaar won the headed duel and Sneider, unchallenged, smashed the ball home with his left with Ochoa stranded.

I thought it might go to extra time, where Holland would definitely have had the upper hand, but I was wrong. Deep into injury time, Marquez touched Robben in the box, the latter snatched at his chance and fell to the ground as though he had only had his leg hacked off and the ref bought it.

Was there contact? Definitely. Was it enough to scream to the heavens and fall like a shot man? I doubt it. Robben pulled off something similar in the first half and, though he later admitted diving, he insisted there was a foul in the episode with the penalty. Sometimes I regret he's not a psycho like Suarez, otherwise I'd be hoping he'd bite someone and get disqualified for as long as possible.

But it's all history now. Huntelaar stepped up to take the kick, sent Ochoa the wrong way and Holland came out on top.

This is the part where I say I'm deeply sorry to see Mexico leave the World Cup. They fought valiantly, didn't cheat, didn't blame everyone for that nightmare refereeing in the first game and were overall not much worse than the Dutch. Had they held on to their slender lead and gone through, no on would have said they didn't deserve it.

With them Chicarito also flies home and I do wonder, whether Arsene should consider signing the Mexican. I was surprised to see Hernandez only used as a sub, especially as I wasn't all that impressed by Peralta, but there must be a reason, I gather. Anyway, Hernandez is 26, seems to be willing to leave United and, if we can agree on a reasonable fee, then why not? Even if Sanchez is on his way to the Emirates, I'm sure we can find a place for Hernandez on the team sheet.

The second game was Greece vs Costa-Rica and I was thinking long and hard about going to bed at half-time. The game was drawn-out and boring, since Costa-Rica was forced to play on the front foot, because the Greeks flat-out refused to come out of their shells, other than from a counter.

I stayed on, however and was rewarded for it. Ruiz scored a wonder of a goal in the 52nd minute and Pinto's side fell back, content they don't have to play the role of first fiddle anymore. The Greeks started pouring men forward, quite reluctantly, I have to say, but all of that changed in the 66th minute.

Duarte hacked off Holevas, got a second yellow and got sent off as a result. Greece continued attacking with vigour and that brought about the desired result in the 91st minute.

Navas saved the initial effort from Gekas, but the guy with ridiculously long "P" surname was on hand to smash home the rebound.

However, Navas demonstrated wonderful skill to prevent Greece from ending the encounter in normal time by pulling off an amazing save from Mitroglou. He would save from him again in extra time and ensure the game would go to penalties.

This was a penalty shoot-out much more exciting than Brazil vs Chile. All the takers were very good, Campbell included, and it took a wonder save from Navas to gift Cocta-Rica a passage to quarter-finals. Well played, Costa-Rica and exceptionally well played Navas. There were whispers Barcelona wanted to sign him, but ploughed for Bravo, the Chilean, instead. Whether they now regret it is another story, cause Navas is tied in first place with Tibo Courtois with a save percentage almost a whopping 88%. To give you some context, Ochoa has a 77% save rate, number nine in the list, tied with Igor Akinfeev (!). And they have included Akinfeev in the worst team of the World Cup!

So, Costa-Rica will now face Holland and it'll be an intersting game, as both teams will allow one another to play the style of football they love. Gosh, how I'd love to see Robben, van Persie and the little boy inside him cry after that game. But we shall see what happens when we get there.

For today, it's France vs Nigeria and Germany vs Algeria. Again, we have interest in both encounters, with Koscielny and Giroud pushing to start, while Ozil and Mertesacker will definitely be named on the starting 11. However, Podolski is out, so Goetze or Klose will play. What makes these games compelling (aside from the fact that Nigeria is likely to challenge France all the way) is that Germany will face France in the quarter-final should both teams progress. Fingers crossed that's what will happen.

Phew, enough for today. Back tomorrow with fresh goodies

Until then

Why Arsene should try and sign Sanchez + last 16 thoughts

Hello.

Yesterday football has returned after a short break and both games were pretty interesting.

In the first one, Brazil took on Chile and have scraped their way through thanks to a penalty shoot-out win. But I didn't like at all the way Brazilians played, that's why I supported Chile.

Honestly, Brazil had two outlets yesterday and both were malfunctioning: Neymar and Hulk. Scolari's team would just lump the ball forward and hope Neymar dances through the defence or Hulk will power his way through, without even turning all green and angry.

Their only goal came from a corner, with Neymar, unsurprisingly, being the one to deliver the ball into the box. Some bloke won a header and Luiz had the simplest of tasks at the far post.

However, Neymar wasn't nearly as effective as he was during the group stages and Brazil tried to involve Hulk more. But, apart from one good shot and a goal rightly disallowed by Webb, Hulk only seemed capable of diving and arguing with linesmen.

Chile, meanwhile, sat back and tried to hit the hosts on the counter. When they succeeded, the Chileans looked dangerous indeed, with that quick passing game of theirs. No wonder the goal (scored by Alexis Sanchez) came from just that sort of attack.

Chile could have easily won it in the dying seconds of extra time, but Penilla hit the bar and Aranguiz saw his shot saved by Cesar.

Julio was the hero again in the shoot-out, saving from two spot-kicks, which allowed the Brazilians to scrape through, despite them screwing up two penalties themselves.

I honestly didn't like the manner in which Brazil got through to the quarter-final. They had one good game (against Cameroon), could easily have lost to a good Mexico side and had two lucky bounces (against Croatia and now Chile). I feel that, as soon they get a decent opponent, they will go down despite help from referees and support from the stands. Chile went close and they are not the toughest opponent left.

Speaking of Chile, I have to single out Sanchez. The Chileans work brilliantly as a collective, but Sanchez is just the icing on the cake. He's quick, he gets into the right positions, he can wiggle out of tight spots. Sanchez is also physical, despite not being very tall or muscular and that showed yesterday. I was particularly impressed by how well Alexis managed to hold off Luiz, winning a good header against PSG's new acquisition at one point.

Sanchez physicality allows him to become not only a good spearhead, but also a sort of springing board for Chile's attacks, thus replicating Giroud's qualities. You can see where this is heading, right? I think we're ought to sign Sanchez.

He's  a bit like Giroud, yet also different, thus giving Arsene the opportunity to choose whether to play both strikers together, or whether he wants to deploy Sanchez as a lone striker (from time to time, at least). The Chilean shouldn't be very expensive, either, since he's mostly polishing the bench at the Catalan Club.

Back to the World Cup, and Colombia has beaten a toothless (no pun) Uruguayan side 2-0. James Rodriguez was the mastermind behind this win, scoring twice.

The first one was an absolute stunner, probably the best goal of this World Cup so far. Rodriguez chested the ball down outside the box, took one look at goal and smashed the ball with his left before it even hit the ground. His shot cannoned off the underside of the bar and went in.

Colombians continued to pile on the pressure, peppering Muslera with shots from all angles and positions and this resulted in the second goal 5 minutes after the restart. This one was a very well-worked team effort, Martinez (I think) crossed the ball to the far post, unchallenged Quardado headed it towards Rodriguez and James poked it home from close range.

After that Colombians surrendered possession and let Uruguay come at them. To be fair to the poor chaps, they did have a couple of shots on Ospina's goal, but the latter saved all of these. Pereira had the best chance when the ball bounced to him in the box, but Ospina saved even from point-blank range. Thus the Colombians (deservedly) go through and will face Brazil a week from now.

And I think Peckerman's side stand a decent chance of making it to the semis. They are definitely more interesting and adventurous than the Brazilians and should Rodriguez continue his stunning claim for the Golden Boot, Colombia should beat Brazil like no one's business.

I would have suggested Wenger taking a closer look at Rodriguez, but I've found out this morning that Rodriguez has moved to Monaco just a year ago for a staggering fee of €45 million, thus I don't think it's likely we'll be able to buy him, especially cheap and especially after such a display at the World Cup. But if there are talks of Falcao going to Real, then who knows? He's in exactly the same position as Rodriguez (one year at the Club, huge transfer fee), only Radamel doesn't have a good World Cup under his belt.

That's it for today. Tonight Netherlands play Mexico in what should be an exciting game and later on Costa-Rica takes on Greece.

So I'll be back tomorrow to report on these.

Until then

11 players to leave Arsenal: Suarez is handed out a punishment

Evening everyone.

Today the Club has announced that 11 players will part ways with us on July 1st. These include 6 seniors and 5 academy players.

Bendtner and Park are among the most prominent, but I've talked about them enough here and here, so there's not much to add. I wish them well wherever they end up.

I have also said enough about Sagna and Fabianski, so I'll pass on these too.

Kallstrom and Viviano are more interesting. Not much has been known about their futures till today and though I can't say these departures are shocking in any way, they do leave us short on numbers. Now we definitely need a goalie and should think long and hard about a DM. Arteta is 32 and, by the way, still hasn't signed his contract, while Flamini seems to only be a sub. The Frenchman is a bit of a paradox. He played a lot more during the first half of the campaign, when Ramsey was firing on all cylinders, yet was only called upon in extreme cases from January to May, despite Wilshere, Ramsey and Ozil all being injured. Arsene should have (for whatever reason) lost his trust in his compatriot, thus he needs to think about purchasing someone to fill Flamini's shoes.

Viviano leaving is a bit of a shame, cause he's a good goalie, but you can't reasonably expect him to stay after sitting on the bench the whole year. With the form Szczesny is in we can't guarantee the Italian anything, so farewell to Viviano, and so our search for a keeper begins.

And now, the World Cup. First things first, Suarez was handed a nine-match international ban and suspended from all footballing activity for four months. This means no training with the national team, no entering any kind of football stadium (even training grounds) and, most importantly, no playing for Liverpool till the end of October. The Uruguyan has also been fined something close to $100,000 thousand.

The way I see it, FIFA has done the right thing. They probably could have gone even harder on Suarez, especially taking into account it's not the first time he's bitten someone, but the decision has been made already, so there's no turning back.

Suarez has once again made it about himself, causing trouble to everyone in the process. He's turned his back on his national team (which, I suspect, won't go far without him), he's made Rodgers' summer a headache, cause Lambert is not a suitable replacement and Sturridge, even at his best, cannot bag 35 goals a year. Suarez has shown disrespect towards Liverpool as a whole, both towards the Club that has defended him last year and towards the fans, that have supported him. What's he's done is disgusting on each and every level.

Good news is, we haven't signed the Uruguyan last summer, though it wasn't for the lack of trying. In retrospective, we would have done Liverpool a huge favour, by forking out £40 million for a walking headache of a player. But oh no, they had to defend their best player and retain him at all costs. Well, how much will it cost them to replace a striker of his level? And would he go there?

If it looks like I'm gloating, that's because I am. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I shudder to think Luis could have gone to Brazil as an Arsenal player and done his stunt the way he did. It's not our problem, luckily. I feel no particular love towards Liverpool ever since their trick with that buy-out clause (it's not about the player, it's about their behaviour) and then going on to thrash us 5-1 at Anfield. Were it not for two strikers bang-in-form, the Mugmashers would have finished way worse, since they have conceded 50 (!) goals in the league. With that crappy defence they have, good luck to them in the Champions League and the Premier League without their top goalscorer.

In other news, the final games of the group stage have taken place yesterday, with Germany and USA making it out of Group G, while Belgium and Algeria qualified from Group H.

I've watched Germany vs USA and deeply regretted it afterwards, especially after seeing the highlights of Portugal vs Ghana. Before the game two Muntari and Boateng were both dismissed from their national team for getting into some kind of scrap with their manager, so I wasn't surprised to see them lose. When you have such problems inside your team, motivation is in short supply.

This game was still much more exciting, with chances being created at both ends, Ronaldo being denied time and again, only to then finally score and Ghana falling one goal short of qualification at some point. Fascinating stuff, I should have watched it.

I didn't however. I had to endure 90 minutes of the most tedious football ever. The USA didn't even try to attack (apart from this dangerous last-minute counter), while the Germans found it tough going due to both rain and USA's resilience in defence. Muller scored the only goal of the game in the 55th minute to give Germany the victory, thus ensuring their qualification from top spot.

In another group I have, understandably, witnessed Russia taking on Algeria. A win of any kind for my home team would have sufficed and we have started pretty well, by going in front in the 6th minute courtesy to a wonderful strike from Kokorin.

Algeria then took the initiative into their own hands and kept their foot on the gas until that equaliser on the hour. Kozlov lost the ball on the flank, fouled some bloke to prevent him storming into the box, some other bloke crossed and, with Akinfeev failing to time his clearance, a third bloke equalised.

This was really harsh on our keeper. He made a string of vital saves prior to that, one of them standing out, and, more importantly, was blinded with a laser pointer immediately before the free-kick. I've heard we've appealed to FIFA on these grounds, but I cannot find out how it went. I assume, not well.

However hard it's to swallow this, we haven't played good enough to go through. I've watched two games and both times we were unconvincing at best. It's not the fault of our goalkeeper we cannot score more than one to ensure one mistake or accident won't be fatal. We simply weren't up to scratch.

That's it for today

Until later