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Match Focus: Improving Ireland Upset the Odds to Frustrate Faltering Germany

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Match Focus: Improving Ireland Upset the Odds to Frustrate Faltering Germany For John O’Shea and Ireland, it was a “special night”. For Germany, it was the culmination of a frustrating opening to these qualifiers that left manager Jogi Loew talking about a “post-World Cup hole”.The sides' surprising 1-1 draw in Gelsenkirchen leaves Ireland joint...

Match Focus: Lyon’s Growing Stamina Catches Out PSG

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Match Focus: Lyon’s Growing Stamina Catches Out PSG Three weeks, it turns out, is a long time in the life of Ligue 1. If somebody had told you at the start of the month that after Paris Saint-Germain’s meeting with Lyon, one team would be steeling themselves for a productive winter while the other would be questioning the very direction of thei...

Match Focus: Favre Changes Fire Gladbach’s Ambition

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Match Focus: Favre Changes Fire Gladbach’s Ambition There are moments, even at such an early stage of the season, that have a sense of the pivotal about them. Perhaps Borussia Mönchengladbach and Schalke both had epiphanies of sorts when they met at Borussia Park on Saturday evening. A fixture between two of the pretenders for Champions League p...

Match Focus: Can Slaven Bilic Pull Off Another Upset in England?

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Match Focus: Can Slaven Bilic Pull Off Another Upset in England? The number 13 lived up to its unlucky reputation as Arsenal failed to extend their run of 12 consecutive UEFA Champions League play-off victories. Had Demba Ba converted his chances, it could have resulted in Arsene Wenger leaving Istanbul with a mild case of triskaidekaphobia but lady luck didn&rsq...

Match Focus: Bielsa’s Marseille Caught Out by Makélélé’s Bright Bastia

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Match Focus: Bielsa’s Marseille Caught Out by Makélélé’s Bright Bastia As Marseille’s tracksuited players enjoyed the traditional pre-match pitch walk on the turf at the Furiani, they looked like they were without a care in the world; enjoying the warmth of the Corsican summer, and the calm before the storm. Then, they were suddenly snapped out of their comfort, ...

Match Focus: 5 Talking Points from Argentina's Stalemate with the Netherlands

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Match Focus: 5 Talking Points from Argentina's Stalemate with the Netherlands The second of the semi-finals was never going to live up to the standards set by the first, but it was not excessive to expect something mildly more exciting than the dire goalless draw and ensuing penalty shootout victory for Argentina over the Netherlands. Nonetheless, with a World Cup Final set u...

Match Focus: 5 Talking Points from Brazil's 7-1 Loss to Germany

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Match Focus: 5 Talking Points from Brazil's 7-1 Loss to Germany A nation is in shock. The people of Brazil, a country in which social and economic problems have taken something of a backseat to the main event that is a World Cup in the home of football, have been overwhelmed by hosting the biggest football tournament on the planet. There was, before Neymar's com...

Match Focus: How the USA Can Stop Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal

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Match Focus: How the USA Can Stop Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal A look of genuine disbelief spread across the face of defender John Brooks as he wheeled away in celebration on Monday night. This was his competitive debut for the USA and he had just scored a World Cup winner in their 2-1 victory over Ghana, four minutes from the end. Disbelief was an understandab...

Match Focus: England Must Exploit the Flanks Against Faltering Uruguay

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Match Focus: England Must Exploit the Flanks Against Faltering Uruguay The post-match reaction to England's opening match defeat to Italy was one of unfamiliar optimism and realism. The Three Lions are generally slammed after any loss but the nature of the performance from Roy Hodgson's side was met more with praise than criticism - perhaps aside from Wayne Rooney's ro...

Match Focus: Lessons Learned From Brazil's Win Over Croatia

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Match Focus: Lessons Learned From Brazil's Win Over Croatia After years of planning, the 2014 World Cup kicked off in dramatic fashion on Thursday night as hosts Brazil overcame Group A rivals Croatia 3-1. A Neymar brace and late Oscar strike was enough for A Seleção to secure three points, after Marcelo had inadvertently turned into his own ne...