Gästebuch » Thursday, that coming five days after they

We dont like penalty shootouts to end matches. Maillot Nabil Fekir Equipe De France . Thats what they tell us. Play on until they score. Argentina and Netherlands may still be playing until Sundays final if that were the case. It was a drab affair, arguably the worst game of the World Cup. With so much on the line, no team came close to proving why they deserved to win it. Fittingly, the record books will show it as a draw: A stalemate in every sense of the word. It was a chess match where both players didnt make moves for long stretches. Just when it looked like either of them could capture their queen, along came two of the best pawns on the board. It was Javier Mascherano vs. Ron Vlaar. Both players were magnificent for their team but their standout performances said a lot about the oppositions weaknesses. Argentina have been waiting for a player to step up to a level that Lionel Messi has been at during this World Cup, but on a night when their current captain didnt get close to that level, their former skipper stepped up with an absolutely immense performance. Mascherano sat deep, allowed the defenders to play deep as well and flat out refused the Dutch any space in front of them. It forced their opponents to play long balls to try and get Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie into the match. In possession, Mascherano was also excellent with distribution helping his side attack down the right and target Bruno Martins Indi. Louis van Gaal reacted quickly at half-time by removing the Feyenoord man. That Argentina forced them into a move so quickly played a big part in how the game was played. When Nigel De Jong, back after a thigh injury, had to come off in the second half, suddenly van Gaal only had one move left. A move he decided to use by removing the ineffective van Persie in extra time. No one could argue that the Dutch team needed Klaas Jan Huntelaar but for a game that looked so destined for penalties, the removal of the Manchester United striker could be questioned. What definitely needs to be questioned is the order of the penalty takers for the Dutch. It was clear that van Gaal wanted to keep as many of his players in the same spot as they were used in the shootout victory over Costa Rica. That day the Dutch went four-for-four in order: van Persie, Robben, Sneijder, Kuyt. Huntelaar was the fifth taker but wasnt used. Against Argentina, van Gaal looked at his team and knew the only one he had to replace was van Persie at number one. Every credit to Ron Vlaar, the Aston Villa player, to step up and replace van Persie in the shootout but making him the first shooter was the wrong decision. In 24 previous World Cups the team that missed first lost 20 times. You cannot ask a player to take the first penalty in a key shootout when he wasnt even in your choice to be in the top five in the last shootout. Vlaar had had a wonderful match. Argentina tried to force things wide but ultimately they were drawn back centrally and Vlaar, in the middle of the back three, won every tackle and aerial duel he went for. After 120 minutes, though, his job was not done. Showing nerves, he stepped up quickly, from the prompt of the whistle, and it wasnt a good penalty. The moment Vlaars effort was saved by Sergio Romero the momentum changed. Lionel Messi was the right choice for Argentina to take the first penalty and, to no ones surprise, he scored. Messi had struggled throughout the game, which was the first World Cup game he has played when he didnt get a touch in the opponents penalty area. It was clear the Dutch had done their homework and their mandate was to shut down Messi. He will receive his fair share of criticism based on this performance but, once again, this match was another shining example of how much he needs his teammates to take him to glory. The Barcelona man has carried Argentina to this stage, it is only fitting that some - in this case Romero, Mascherano and the rest of the shooters - helped carry him to the final. They are, however, a team that arrives in the final with flaws. This is nothing new. Many teams have reached the World Cup Final when not playing very well but few have won it. Argentina showed a lot of grit and fight in this semifinal, just like they did in the 120 minutes against Switzerland and the narrow 1-0 defeat over Belgium. However, despite their fight they do look very ordinary. They arrive in the final after scoring just two goals in three knockout matches. The only team in World Cup history to do that was Argentina in 1990 and that was a terribly average side who frustrated Germany for over 80 minutes in arguably one of the worst games in football history. No one will be hoping for a repeat on Sunday but I am sure it will cross Argentinas mind that they will be naive to think they can play an open, expansive game against Germany. The Dutch end their quest to be world champions with their heads held high. They went further than most imagined and many of their young players, players produced by their own clubs in their own league, will grow and get better for this experience. Many will also find new clubs, too. However, they will also reflect on just how close they were – once again – to getting over a significant hurdle on penalties. Van Gaal departs for Manchester United after a very good World Cup but ultimately his decision on the order of the takers had a massive impact on this result. Maillot Raphael Varane . With the suspension, Nigeria is unable to take part in any kind of international fixtures. FIFA had issued a warning to the NFF last week after the federation was served with court proceedings from the government that prevented the NFFs president from running the NFFs day-to-day affairs. Maillot Ousmane Dembele .2 million deal for the upcoming season with right-hander Garrett Richards.The person spoke on condition of anonymity Saturday because the announcement hadnt been made. http://www.francemaillotcoupedumonde.fr/maillot-antoine-griezmann.html Piscataway, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) - The fourth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers take aim at their ninth straight win, as they visit one of the two new members of the Big Ten Conference, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Sunday evening. Save for an 80-70 home loss to Duke in early December, Wisconsin has been perfect this season, the team going 15-1, which includes a 3-0 mark in Big Ten play. The Badgers claimed a 62-55 win over visiting Purdue last Wednesday to improve to 8-1 at home. They are 4-0 in true road games, and 7-0 outside of Madison all told when you factor in their 3-0 mark in neutral-site affairs. Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan recorded his school-record 159th Big Ten victory in the win over Purdue. Rutgers has had an up and down season to this point, winning nine of its first 16 games, and only one of three Big Ten bouts. The Scarlet Knights suffered a 65-49 setback at Nebraska on Thursday, that coming five days after they logged their first-ever Big Ten victory at home against Penn State (50-46). RUs last win over a ranked opponent was a 67-62 verdict over No. 24 Pittsburgh at the RAC on Jan. 5, 2013. The highest ranked team that Rutgers has ever defeated was a 74-64 final versus No. 6 West Virginia at the RAC on Feb. 27, 1982. Wisconsin has won all three previous meetings with Rutgers, the most recent being a 70-62 decision on the road back on Dec. 4, 2004. Despite being outshot and outrebounded, Wisconsin still found a way to knock off visiting Purdue earlier in the week. The Badgers got 21 points from Frank Kaminsky, 15 from Josh Gasser and 13 from Traevon Jackson. Sam Dekker tallied just six points, but earned his 1,000th career point in the process. The Badgers missed 11 of their 14 3-point attempts, but used a massive 25-3 edge in points at the foul line to earn the hard-fought victory. Maillot Blaise Matuidi. Kaminsky continues to live up his billing as the Big Tens Preseason Player of the Year, as he averages 16.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Dekker (12.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and Nigel Hayes (12.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg) are the other double-digit scorers for the Badgers, who put up 74.2 ppg in hitting 49.2 percent of their field goal attempts, and 74.8 percent of their free throws. Conversely, foes are generating just 54.1 ppg, as UW puts the clamps down on defense in permitting success on only 39.9 percent of the oppositions field goal chances. Wisconsin is tops in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (8.5). Poor shooting and carelessness with the basketball proved to be Rutgers undoing in its first Big Ten road clash, as the team knocked down only 34.7 percent of its field goal attempts, which included a mere 2-of-13 effort from 3-point range. The Scarlet Knights converted just 13-of-23 free throws as well, while committing an unsightly 19 turnovers. Bishop Daniels paced RU with a dozen points off the bench, while the only starter to reach double figures was Kadeem Jack with 11. Jack was guilty of five miscues. Myles Mack and Jack rank one-two on the teams scoring list for the season, but they net only 13.3 and 12.1 ppg, respectively. As a result of the rather anemic attack, the Scarlet Knights are generating just 58.2 ppg, which ranks as the worst figure in the Big Ten, and has the team ranked as one of the worst in the country. Fortunately, Rutgers is giving up only 60.5 ppg, or its record would likely be well below .500, rather than two games over at the moment. Stitched NFL Jerseys Jerseys NFL China Nike NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys China China Jerseys Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale ' ' '