After a few days off, the World Cup returns tomorrow with a ferocity that no other sporting event can rival.  Over the weekend we saw Germany systematically annihilate Argentina by 4 goals to none and Spain get lucky against Paraguay.  Neither of those results should have been surprising to anyone, unless you are a Messi-faithful, in which case you failed to see the problems in the Argentine squad that were not exposed earlier because they hadn't faced a side as organized and disciplined as the Germans.  Without further adu here are my predictions for the semi final showdowns.

Netherlands v Uruguay

Prediction: Netherlands 3-1 Uruguay

Why:  The Netherlands have been my pick to win the entire tournament and everyone did not believe me.  A few posts back I mentioned my friend saying that history did not favor them, but I think that issue no longer applies and here's why.  They have earned their stripes: they defeated Brazil fair and square.  The Brazilians have shown the most quality as a squad so far in my opinion and the Netherlands found a way to come back from an early deficit to beat them.  They succeeded in tiring out the Brazilians (which was a very intelligent tactical move by van Marwijk) and made them lose their shape and composure towards the end of the game.  That was fun to watch.

As far as Uruguay is concerned, much responsibility will be placed on Diego Forlan's shoulders since Suarez's "Hand of God" in the QF against Ghana sees him performing a Hudini disappearing act in the Semi's.  Suarez has 3 of the 8 goals scored by Uruguay in the entire tournament. That's one hell of a loss for them.  The Dutch on the other hand don't have a "go-to" striker and share the responsibility pretty evenly.  This goes to show a more composed approach to the game that has been successful so far with the Oranje winning every single game they have played so far.  However, Heitinga will have to keep tabs on Forlan the entire game and Van Bommel will be key in the middle of the park.

Spain v Germany

Prediction:  Germany 3-2 Spain

Why: This will be a test of tactics and discipline.  Whoever can be the most composed and the most disciplined will win this game.  I presume this will be the Germans because they have been very consistent in their sonning of teams in this World Cup.  Spain has also been very impressive, but too much goal-scoring responsibility has been placed on David Villa's shoulders.  I believe that Germany will have no problems keeping tabs on the striker.  Germany has managed to amass 13 goals in 5 matches, averaging out to 2.6 goals a game.  Spain has only scored 6 goals so far with David Villa being responsible for 5 and Iniesta for the other one.  Hardly the showing of a complete squad.  If you have watched Spain play, only the goal against Portugal was a result of great one-two passing between Iniesta, Xavi and finally Villa.  The others have been moments of sheer brilliance from Villa.  At this stage in the World Cup, and in this era of futbol, great teams tend to be more successful than individual players (if you get me).  David Villa can not single-handedly beat Germany. Thus, I'm touting the Germans to win this one.  Keep your eye out for the Kloser to shut the door on Spain's hopes for their first World Cup.

So it looks like we will be witnessing an all European final once again. I'll predict the final once I see the Semi's, but I'm still sticking with the Netherlands to go all the way even though Germany is very teasing.

What are your predictions? I presume that at this stage in the tournament it is almost impossible to be wrong if you've been keeping up with the tournament.

Enjoy the games tomorrow and the next day.  Thanks for reading and please follow us on twitter @LiveBrtheFutbol.

What's up guys. I'm really excited about what I have to show you guys, which you probably see above this post. What that is is a 40 second teaser/trailer for the full Live Breathe Futbol commercial/advert that is coming very soon.

Why the phrase? When I examined what I wanted to do with Live Breathe Futbol as a brand I realized that all the shirts and every design is centered around one specific moment that has occurred in futbol or one specific moment that we as fans of the game can all relate to.  For me and I'm sure for you all that's one of the things we love about the game of futbol.  Those moments that change everything; the moments that change history.  I won't speak too much on that in this post, but we witnessed that today in the QF match between Ghana and Uruguay.  Epic stuff.

Love to hear what you guys think about the video! Leave a comment and catch us on twitter: @LiveBrtheFutbol as we ramble about futbol and other nonsense!!

P.S. I'm considering doing a video-blog (vlog?) series of posts, what do you guys think? Would you rather read or watch a video? Let me know what you think in the comments!

The World Cup continues in the a.m. Germany v Argentina and then Spain v Paraguay. Great stuff!

Earlier today, I was working on this post on my mobile phone, had it finished and when I clicked to post, the 3G signal disappeared and somehow the mobile gods thought it'd be funny to make all my futbol prose disappear.  Anyhow, I will try my best to cover everything I had to say. Here we go.

Today we witnessed two epic matches between four well qualified teams.  England faced Germany and the Argentinians suited up in clashing blues against the Mexicans.  The games were both awesome, there is no denying that, but what tainted them, for me at least, was the two horrible calls made by the referees in both games in regards to goals.

In the England game, Frank Lampard scores a sweet goal that bounces off the crossbar and into the goal.  It is clearly two feet or so behind the line, but the referee disallows the goal.  This would've tied the game at 2-2 and it would've been, arguably, a different game.  Sure the Germans played a better overall game, but there's no denying the psychological effect of such a call on a struggling England side.  What ever happened to the striker getting the advantage in those situations? That's game one.

Game two.  Early in the Mexico/Argentina game Mexico played with a lot of confidence and had two great shots on goal that easily could've gone in and would've left the Maradona-faithful seeking a new deity.  However, Messi had other plans and played the ball into Tevez who heads it in, but is CLEARLY offside.  The referee lets the goal stand and the Mexican players swarm the linesman in fury.  After about a minute or so, the referee sends them back to the pitch and the goal stands.  My question is, if it was clearly a goal, why did the referee run over to the linesman after it had already been called a goal?  This was the paradigm shift in the game as it broke the Mexicans' momentum and it was all downhill from that moment forth.

Both calls will undoubtedly lead to the resurgence of the issue of goal line technology in futbol games.  If you remember correctly the issue was widely discussed after Thierry Henry's handball against Ireland that sent France to South Africa and the Irish back home.

Futbol is a modern game in a modern era and it is the biggest in the world.  Almost every other sport has some form of technology in place to aid officials in making the right calls during matches.  Why not futbol? ESPN as well as other broadcasting stations have cameras on the goal net for crying out loud, why can't FIFA? If you think about the dynamic of a futbol match where we see 1 or 2 goals on average/game, getting a call wrong in regards to a goal is a big deal.

I brought up the question to a smart guy I know and he is against goal line technology.  He says that it slows down the pace of the game and it is anti-futbol in the sense that it leaves us nothing to talk about after the game.  Goal line technology makes futbol a game of absolutes with no ambiguity and room for debate.  I see his point, but I disagree.  Billions of dollars/pounds/Euros/Yen/Pesos are invested in futbol and aside from the monetary aspect of it, we as fans want to see a fair game.  That's what goal line technology does; it makes the game fair.  Now, the issue becomes, if implemented, to what extent is the technology used?  My friend brought up a scenario that what if a foul is committed on the center of the pitch and everyone stops, but the referee lets the play go on and a goal is scored from that, will goal line technology review the foul and thus disallow the goal?  I think goal line technology should be used only in instances like we saw today.  Instances where the ball is over the line, but the referee isn't sure; instances where a player in the box is offside, or could be offside.  These moments won't slow down the game in my opinion.  I'm for goal line technology.  Horrible calls like we saw today taint the game for me and it is a shame that FIFA, or rather, Sepp Blatter, does not favor technology in futbol.  What are your thoughts on goal line technology? Are you for it? Are you against it? I'd love to hear what you think in the comments!! Thanks for reading and as always you can follow us on Twitter: @LiveBrtheFutbol

The Games continue in the a.m. !! Viva Futbol.