Germany vs France in the Quarterfinals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup from the Estadio do Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:
How They Got Here:
Germany were good enough in a very difficult group G with the United States, Portugal, and Ghana to finish atop their quartet in the first stage of the World Cup for the 7th straight competition, but like many of the other top teams in this year's tournament, they have yet to hit their true stride and show all of their quality. The Germans began the tournament with a 4-0 smacking of Portugal in their most complete performance of the World Cup to continue their dominance over the nation from the Iberian Peninsula. Although they did get a lot of help from the Portuguese because of the ridiculous Pepe red card in the 37rd minute, they already had a 2-0 lead before Pepe ruined any chance of a comeback with his headbutt of Thomas Muller. Muller scored a hat-trick in the game, the 7th in German history at the World Cup and the first since Miroslav Klose scored 3 against Saudi Arabia in a group match in 2002. In their second group game against the Black Stars, Die Mannschaft struggled with the speed of the Ghanaian wingers like Kwadwo Asamoah, Christian Atsu, and Andre Ayew, especially in the fullback positions, and they also did not have that same interchanging of runs going forward from the front three of Mesut Ozil, Mario Gotze, and Thomas Muller that they did in their first match. Although Klose tied Ronaldo's record mark of 15 World Cup goals and joined Pele and Uwe Seeler as the only players to score in four different World Cups with his game-tying score in the 71st minute on the biggest Klose goal you will ever see, the Germans dropped points in their second group match for the 4th time in the last 5 competitions with their 2-2 draw (tied Spain 1-1 in 1994, tied Yugoslavia 2-2 in 1998, tied Ireland 1-1 in 2002, beat Poland 1-0 in 2006, lost to Serbia in 1-0 in 2010). Germany dominated possession against the United States, out passing the US 748 to 356 and having nearly 70 percent of the ball, and got the 1-0 victory to secure first place in the group because of a beautiful Thomas Muller finish in the 2nd half, but the Germans did not show the cutting edge going forward that all their ball possession in the midfield often warrants. In the round of 16, it seemed as if Germany had the easiest match of any of the group winners against the very surprising Algeria out of group H, but the Fennec Foxes nearly pulled off the shocking upset as they did in the 1982 group stage against Die Mannschaft. Germany were held scoreless for 90 minutes for the first time in a round of 16 contest and if it weren't for Manuel Neuer practically playing sweeper, they could have went down in regulation with Saphir Taider, Sofiane Feghouli playing balls over the top to Islam Slimani and El Arbi Hillel Soudani due to Germany playing such a high line in defense. Germany, however, were able to recover behind overtime goals from substitute Andre Schurrle and Mesut Ozil, who Joachim Low really seems to trust, to help them move on to the quarters with a 2-1 victory over the African nation.
Meanwhile, France have taken a complete 360 from the debacle of a World Cup that they had in 2010 with Raymond Domenech at the helm and have actually looked like a true team at this World Cup (maybe not taking Samir Nasir wasn't such a bad idea because chemistry is as important as anything at the world's biggest international tournament). Aside from possibly Colombia, no team has looked as strong as France through the group stage and round of 16, which shouldn't be too surprising because France firmly follow the pattern of doing really well at one World Cup and then flopping at the next (champions in 1998 in France, out in the group stage without a goal in 2002 in South Korea/Japan, runners-up in 2006 in Germany, and eliminated in the group stage without a win in 2010 in South Africa). Much like the Germans, the French got a lot of help from a red card in their first group game, as midfielder Wilson Palacios was shown his second yellow card in the 45th minute on a push in the back to Paul Pogba in the box and Honduras, who were already very under-matched coming into the game, had to play an entire half with 10 men. France hit Los Catrachos for 3 goals and Karim Benzema scored 2 of them, becoming the first French player to have multiple goals in a World Cup game since Zinedine Zidane scored twice against Brazil in France's 3-0 victory in the 1998 final. Even without Frank Ribery, who was not able to play for Les Blues because of a lingering back injury, the French looked dangerous going forward because of their ability to keep the ball in the middle with Matuidi, Cabaye, and the powerful Pogba and then spread the ball wide to their speedy wingers with Griezmann and Valbuena. In their second group match, France showed just how devastating their counter-attack can be against an attacking opposition, as Les Blues knocked off Switzerland 5-2 from the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador. Using both Olivier Giroud and Benzema up front, the French scored their most goals in a World Cup match since they beat Paraguay 7-3 all the way back in the 1958 cup in Sweden behind a hat-trick from Just Fontaine. To finish out the group stage, the French were a little lackluster in their 0-0 draw with Ecuador to secure the top place in group E, but Didier Deschamps made several changes in his lineup to keep the squad fresh for the knockout stage such as bringing in Bacary Sagna, Lucas Digne, Morgan Schneiderlin, and Moussa Sissoko to start. In the round of 16, France met Nigeria for the first ever time in a competitive match and the Super Eagles had a very impressive performance that did cause Les Blues some real trouble, and if it weren't for Laurent Koscielny having a terrific game in the back, Nigeria could have made their first ever quarterfinal appearance. France were quite fortunate on several occasions in the game, specifically Patrice Evra not getting called for a penalty kick for holding Peter Odemwingie in the first half or Blaise Matuidi not getting sent off for his tackle on Ogenyi Onazi, but the introduction of Antoine Griezmann changed the game and allowed France much more width going forward for crosses into the box. The French were able to avoid their first regulation loss in the knockout stage since all the way back in 1986.
Germany-France Background:
Despite Germany winning the European Championships in 1972 in Belgium over the Soviet Union 3-0, in 1980 in Italy over Belgium 2-1, and in 1996 in England over Czech Republic 2-1 and France taking the the European continental crown in 1984 in France over Spain 2-0 and in 2000 in Netherlands/Belgium over Italy 2-1, the teams have never met in Europe's biggest competition. Although they have only played three previous times in the World Cup and never in World Cup qualifying (they were in the same group in qualifiers all the way back in 1934 but since Germany beat Luxembourg 9-1 and France beat the Red Lions 6-1, they both had already qualified and did not have to play each other), they have been apart of some of the most exciting contests in the history of the competition. In the 1958 cup in Sweden, West Germany and France played in the third place match, which is a glorified exhibition match because it really means nothing, but the French won the game 6-3 behind four goals from World Cup top scorer Just Fontaine, who finished the competition with a record 13 goals and at least one goal in each of France's 6 games (the only other player to score a goal in 6 consecutive World Cup matches is Jairzinho for Brazil, who did so when the Canarinho won the cup in 1970 in Mexico). In the 1982 semifinals from Seville, West Germany and France played one of the best games in the history of the tournament that featured 4 goals in a 16 minute span from the 92nd to the 108th minute mark (the other World Cup games I would consider up there with the West Germany-France game from 1982 would be the West Germany-Hungary title match in the 1954 finals, the Portugal-North Korea contest in the 1966 quarterfinals, the West Germany-England game in the 1970 quarters, the Italy-West Germany battle in the 1970 semifinals, the Italy-Brazil game in the second round of the 1982 cup, and the Argentina-England game in the second round of the 1998 cup). After 90 minutes, the teams were tied 1-1 and despite France scoring two goals in the first extra time period, West Germany came back with two goals of their own in extra time to tie the game at 3, which Die Mannschaft would eventually win in the first ever World Cup penalty shootout because of a goal from Horst Hrubesch after a miss from Maxime Bossis. In the World Cup four years later in 1986 from Guadalajara, West Germany beat France once again in the semi-finals, this time 2-0 behind goals from Andreas Brehme in the 9th minute and Rudi Vollerin the 89th minute. Despite the fact that the bordering countries in Europe have not played each other too often in major tournaments, they are football powerhouses with France making it to at least the semifinals every year they have made it past the group stage (quarterfinals in 1938 in France, 3rd place in 1958 in Sweden, 4th place in 1982 in Spain, 3rd place in 1986 in Mexico, champions in 1998 in France, and runners-up in 2006 in Germany) and Germany making their ridiculous 16th consecutive quarterfinals appearance since 1954 (No other team has ever made it to more than 6 straight quarterfinals in World Cup history).
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