UWM men's soccer coach Chris Whalley checks in with his latest thoughts on the World Cup as we move through the semifinal round
First of all, as you might expect, I was disappointed in England going out. They played very poorly and didn’t think they played that great the day they lost to Germany.
In the quarterfinals, what a crazy, crazy game the way Ghana had the game – had the PK to win – when Saurez had the handball called on the goal line. He sacrificed himself to help his team go through, and then they missed the PK and their goalie went on to win the penalty kick shootout. So that was pretty crazy.
I don’t consider the Netherlands beating Brazil to be a shock. I thought they were one of the best teams in the tournament, so to see them win was exciting and to have them do so well. Hopefully they can continue on and advance to the next level because I think they play great soccer with players like Wesley Sneijder, Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben - all very good players. Then they are complimented by the likes of Mark Van Bommel - some defensive-minded players that come through if you give them a platform to play on.
I can see Netherlands beating Uruguay. Then Germany – who I thought was fantastic against England and even more so against Argentina - they play Spain. I think they are similar in a lot of ways. That game could go either way – they play conflicting styles and they score goals.
Obviously, I would like to see Germany v. Netherlands final. There is a lot of history between the two countries and I think it would be great for soccer. With so many European teams left it is exciting for someone from that side of the pond like myself. But, I think when you get to the semifinals, any of the four teams can win it. There are no poor teams left in the competition at that stage.
