Germany becomes soccer World champions

Germany has won this year's edition of the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) World cup in Brazil. The European country has become the first side to do so on South American soil. The Joachim Loew tutored side overcame a spirited effort that was put up by Argentina in Rio de Janeiro.

It was the third meeting between these two sides in a final. While the Argentines won the 1986 edition, Germany recorded a 1-0 win four years later.

Lionel Messi couldn't re-enact his group stage form against the three time World champions. The Barcelona forward scored in the first four games of the tournament but his goals seems to have dried up after the second round match against Switzerland.

Germany dictated the final match, but they were unable to break down the highly disciplined Alejandro Sabella led team. Gonzalo Higuain had the chance to put the two time champions in front when he got to the end of a through pass, but the Napoli frontman fired the ball wide.

Lionel Messi and Palacio also missed the chance to score against Manuel Neuer who was adjudged the best keeper of the tournament.

Mario Gotze came in as a late substitute for Miroslav Klose and the Bayern Munich player became the hero of the day. He latched on to the ball from the left before beating Sergio Romero on the near post.

Germany has now won the World cup on four occasions. The next mundial will be in Russia in 2018.

Argentina vs Netherlands soccer preview

The World cup stadium in Sao Paulo will be alive again on Wednesday when the second semi final of this year's FIFA World cup takes centre stage.

Argentina will play against Netherlands in an explosive encounter. The South Americans have won the tournament on two occasions, while the Dutch side have lost their  two finals in 1978 and 2010.

They actually lost the 1978 final against a Diego Maradona inspired team. This time around, Lionel Messi will be the focal point of the 'Albaceleste'. Messi has scored four goals in Brazil and he will be expected to play a key role in taming the 'Oranje' of Netherlands on Wednesday.

Coach of the Argentine team,Sabella could feature Sergio Aguero in this fixture. The Manchester City striker has missed the last two matches due to a groin injury he sustained against Nigeria. He will be subjected to a late fitness test.  No one can guarantee that the ex-Atletico de Madrid player will be influential against Louis Van Gaal's men.
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Angel Di Maria is out of the World cup and he won't be expected to play a part in Wednesday's fixture. The Real Madrid striker got injured in the game against Belgium.

The Europeans
Netherlands overcame a dogged Costa Rican team in the quarter final on  Saturday via penalties. The trio of Arjen Robben, Wesley  Sneidjer and Robin Van Persie will lead the Dutch assault in Sao Paulo. RVP and Robben have scored 3 goals each.

This is the third World cup semi final in the last five appearances for Netherlands. Louis Van Gaal will obviously replace Clissen with Tim Krul if this match should go beyond 90 minutes and extra time.

ChatSoccer predicts a 3-2 win for Netherlands.

Kick off time: 20.00 UTC

Belgium bundled out of Brazil 2014

The Belgian national team have crashed out of the on going FIFA World cup in Brazil. The so-called golden generation of Belgium were woeful in their quarter final match against Argentina in Brasilia.

Napoli forward,  Gonzalo Higuain scored the only goal of the match after eight minutes.  The ex-Madridsta finished brilliantly after getting to the end of lovely ball from the midfield.

Angel Di Maria was very influential in the opening minutes of the game until he injured his thigh. A ferocious shot hit his thigh and after receiving a short treatment, he couldn't continue with the intensity that was noticed before then.
                                              Need God?
Lionel Messi was denied by Courtious on few occasions as the Argentines failed to add ti their goal tally.

Eden Hazard and Fellaini couldn't trouble the South Americans,  while the introduction of Romelu Lukaku was not effective.

Argentina will face the winner of Netherlands in Sao Paulo on Wednesday. This will be the first time in 24 years that the 'Albaceleste' will go beyond the quarter final of the World cup.

Messi and Musa score twice as Ecuador crashes out of Brazil 2014

Lionel Messi and Ahmed Musa both scored braces for their countries in Argentina's 3-2 win over Nigeria on Wednesday afternoon. The four times World best player scored his first goal of the game in the third minute. The Barcelona forward fired a loose ball into the net after Nigerian defenders failed to clear Angel Di Maria's shot.

A minute later, Ahmed Musa scored the equaliser for the reigning African champions. He received a pass from Michael Babatunde and curled in a shot round Romero that was in goal for the Argentines.

Messi made it 2-1 to Argentina shortly before the end of the first half. He curled a free kick over the defence wall and into the far corner of the Nigerian net.

Musa scored his brace within the opening minutes of the second half when he ran in between Argentine defenders before sending Romero the wrong way.

Rojo scored the winner for Argentina when the ball came off his knee after a corner kick was taken.

Argentina will face Switzerland in the round of 16 while Nigeria will meet France.

In group E, Ecuador were knocked out of the World cup after playing a goalless draw against France. The South Americans finished third in the group with 4 points.

Latest FIFA rankings round up

The monthly Coca Cola FIFA ranking for the month of September has been released. Spain is still on the number one spot despite playing a 2-2 draw against Chile in a friendly international.

Argentina has moved to an all-time high on the log. The 'Albaceleste' has been very impressive in their World cup qualifiers by winning 90% of their games. Their latest win was a 5-2 win over Paraguay in Asuncion.

Germany dropped to the third spot on the log despite their recent win in the Brazil 2014 qualifiers.

Uruguay are 4th,Colombia is placed 5th while Belgium now occupies the 6th spot.

Portugal are ranked 7th even though they went down 3-1 against Brazil on Tuesday.

World cup hosts,Brazil are now 8th in the world. The Confederations cup champions defeated Australia and Portugal in their recent matches.

Netherlands are ninth while Croatia are 10th.

Meanwhile,England has slipped to 17th. The three lions have now recorded their poorest rating in 12 years due to an uninspiring World cup qualifiers campaign.

In Africa, Cote d'Ivoire remains the highest ranked team. The Elephants have dropped to 19th in the World. Ghana is Africa's number 2,while Algeria is in the third position with a global rank of 28.

African champions Nigeria surprising dropped to the 36th position in the world,but 4th in Africa. The Super Eagles of Nigeria have won their last three games.
Stephen Keshi's men defeated South Africa 2-0,Malawi 2-0 and Burkina Faso 4-1.

Messi fires Argentina to top of World cup group

Lionel Messi scored a brace while Sergio Aguero continued his sweet return to goal-scoring form against the reigning South American champions.

Argentina's Lionel Messi scored twice in the second half of the match that was played in Mendoza. The first half was largely dominated by the 1986 World champions, but Uruguay were very resolute in their defence. They didn't allow the flurry of Argentine attacks to bother them. The reigning Latin America champions thwarted the attacking moves of Messi and his team mates. Fernando Muslera was superb in goal for the visitors during the first half. Muslera tipped a free kick over his crossbar. Messi's superb run left two of the visitors kissing the grass, but his shot hit the woodwork.

Martin Cacares' header found Luis Suarez who's volley was calmly saved by Romero towards the end of the first half. Edinson Cavani also had an effort from a far distance, but it wasn't a threat to the Argentine keeper.

Lionel Messi

Second Half
After the break, Ezequiel Garay failed to score an easy goal after a good work by Messi. The second half was very rough as the visitors decided to show the ugly part of their game. Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero's effort were unproductive within the first 20 minutes of the second half.

The first goal
Angel Di Maria was a the end of a brilliant build up by the hosts in the 65th minute, the Madrid player supplied a sublime pass for Messi to put his country ahead.

Few minutes later, Sergio Aguero doubled Argentina's lead.  Angel Di Maria provided the assist for 'El Kun' to make it 2-0 to the Albiceleste.

In the 80th minute, Messi made it 3-0 when his trademark free kick flew into the corner of the net. Argentina are now on top of the CONMEBOL group with 17 points.

North Korea sets new record at Japan 2012

North Korea produced a stunninbg result when they hammered Argentina 9-0 on Thursday. The Japan 2012 compettion had witnessed 4-0 wins by USA and Germany before this latest record breaking win. The 2006 winners scored seven goals in the first half before they added two more goals after the interval. A draw will be enough for the Koreans to advance to the last eight. Kim Un Hwa scored five goals in the match. She also scored a goal against Norway in her first game. The Asians defiled the hit weather and went ahead to humiliate their South American counterparts that look unorganized throughout the match.

Kim Un Hwa