Thursday, March 6, 2014

March 6 International Friendlies

In this post, I will be discussing some of the international friendlies that took place yesterday.

South Africa 0-5 Brazil
Goals: Oscar (9') Neymar (40', 45', 90') Fernandinho (78')

In Johannesburg, Bafana Bafana were thoroughly dismantled by A Seleção. The Brazilians showed why they are the favorites for the World Cup to be held at their home. They were lead by a hat-trick from Neymar, who looked to be in splendid form. Both teams put out first choice starting XI's, with the strength of Brazil proving too much to handle for South Africa.

Ukraine 2-0 USA
Goals: Yarmolenko (11') Dević (66')

This match was maybe more publicized for reasons other than football. The Ukraine is currently involved in an international conflict with Russia, centered over Crimea, so the match was moved to Cyprus for security reasons. Also, the referee of this match, Leontios Trattou, made headlines after his car was bombed on Friday, causing all matches in the Cypriot first division to be suspended. The Yanks pushed out a brand-new back four, and they looked like it. The group of Geoff Cameron, Oguchi Onyewu, John Brooks and Edgar Castillo were very poor, especially in marking runs made from the midfield. Jürgen Klinsmann's post match press conference can be seen here.

Spain 1-0 Italy
Goals: Pedro (62')


This main storyline behind this match was the Spain debut for Brazilian-born Diego Costa. Costa had a quiet game, and did not do much to cement a starting spot for himself ahead of the World Cup. He seemed very hesitant before making any move for the ball, and did not show himself as the strong, battling force that he has shown himself to be in La Liga. Good performanes were put in by Jordi Alba, Andrés Iniesta, David Silva and Pedro. Pedro's goal, which slipped under Gigi Buffon, was enough to give La Furia Roja the win over the Azzurri.

Germany 1-0 Chile
Goals: Götze (16')

Mario Götze's first half goal was enough to seal a victory for the German National Team, who are already one of the favorites for the World Cup, against a very strong and underrated Chile team, who will have their work cut out for them trying to make it out of their group of Spain, the Netherlands and Australia. The goal came on the back-end of some brilliant team play, and showed why Die Mannschaft is tipped to be the next football dynasty. The goal can be seen below.



What did you make of yesterday's results? Let me know in the comments section. And for breaking news and information, be sure to follow me on twitter right here.