World Cup Today -- Day 28

Many "experts" predicted a riot or riots in Brazil when they either won the tournament or lost it. Those experts were wrong. You can call it what you like, a mauling, a crushing, a disemboweling but it's Johnny's thought the very nature of the defeat kept people from acting out. When you know you've lost at the 40' mark of the match theres not a lot of energy left to do stupid things. There was no end of the game bad call that set people off, there was never any boiling over moment. Brazil fans went home sad but did nothing to move the embarrassment from the pitch to the streets. Johnny's not sure how the post-mortem will go for Brazil after their third place game Saturday but it's gonna be a doozy.

Speaking of Saturday, Brazil is going to need someone to play as is Germany on Sunday. So who will their play dates be? Let's take a look.

The Netherlands managed to get by against Costa Rica, barely. They were stymied in their attack and Costa Rica had no troubles going forward and creating some offense. One could say the masterstroke of that game didn't happen in the run of play but only when the Dutch coach put in a new goalie for the penalty kicks. It worked and here are the Netherlands looking for so much redemption, having lost three title games in their history. Everyone is available for the Dutch, Van Persie, Robben, and Sneijder form an imposing front. But for the game against Costa Rica they have had no issues scoring. They will however go up against a better back 4 (or 3 depending on how Argentina aligns) than they have thus far. Poor Javier Mascherano, he plays out of position in the back four for Barcelona and does well but gets grief, and he does the same thing for Argentina. He will have to play a mammoth game today. The Dutch defenders were no doubt not all that sad to see Argentinian playmaker Angel DiMaria go out with a thigh injury in their last game. DiMaria had stepped forward to make Lionel Messi even more dangerous. While La Celestina gets Manchester City top scorer Sergio Aguero back today, ask any Argentina fan and they'd want DiMaria on the field today.

So what is the X-factor in all this Johnny? You know. You know him, you love him, and soccer fans cannot live without him. His name is Lionel Messi and there are moments he does things nobody else can, or even think of doing. As a Barcelona fan Johnny has watched Messi time and time again simply will his team to a victory with one or two moments of sheer magic. There was the time in a Champions League semi-final, Real Madrid players surrounded Messi near midfield and he simply did this:

As Dutch fans today know all too well, Messi can be Messi and any given time on any given field. When the tournament started Johnny said he wanted the USA to win if at all possible. It's not. He then said he wanted an Argentina vs. Brazil final if at all possible. It's not. He then wanted Lionel Messi to win a World Cup because there should never ever be any doubt to his greatness and there are those petty sportswriters who say if a guy didn't win at the highest level he's not that good. Let's just shut their big self-important mouths now. Johnny predicts 2-1 Argentina with Messi leading the way. 

Argentina vs Netherlands 4pm