Germany and Brazil overcame France and Colombia in the first quarter-finals on day 20 of the 2014 Fifa World Cup Brazil, 04 July.
Residents commented on the matches and France’s world cup performance compared to that in the 2010 edition (see below).
Germany and Brazil will play each other in a semi-final on 08 July.
Germany beat France 1–0 thanks to a brilliant header by defender Mats Hummels.
Hummels angled the ball with the side of his head, from a long-range free-kick by Toni Kroos, over France keeper Hugo Lloris and touching the underside of the crossbar before landing in the goal in the 13th minute.
The match was intense though, with both sides working hard in search of a goal.
Germany finished with 51 per cent possession while France had more shots than Germany (13 versus Germany’s eight) and more shots on goal (nine versus Germany’s six).
Germany keeper Manuel Neuer also saved a close-range effort by France forward Karim Benzema right at the end of the match, blocking a powerful shot with one hand.
Brazil then beat one of the surprise sensations of the world cup, Colombia, 2–1 also thanks to two defenders’ goals.
Thiago Silver scored first for Brazil with his thigh from close range from a Neymar corner in the seventh minute.
David Luiz then scored spectacularly, his free kick from 35m clearing the Colombia wall, sailing up and swerving slightly away from Colombia keeper David Ospina into the top right corner in the 69th minute.
One of the most talked-about players of the world cup, and the tournament’s leading goal scorer with six goals, Colombia midfielder James Rodriguez, scored in his fifth world cup match in a row.
After Brazil keeper Julio Cesar gave away a penalty by sliding into Colombia’s Carlos Bacca, Rodriguez stepped forward to take the penalty, sent Cesar diving the wrong way and shot into the left of the goal in the 80th minute.
Brazil forward Neymar, who was Brazil’s leading goal scorer in the tournament with four goals, was injured in the match and ruled out of the rest of the world cup.
His third vertebrae was fractured after a tackle from Colmbia defender Juan Zuniga in the 88th minute.
@nyembes Germany will probably win
— Nicholas Zaal (@NicholasZaal) July 5, 2014
Germany of course ☺ #JoziKicks RT @NicholasZaal: Will you guys support Germany or France? @L3s3go @BelindaaPheto @rickmarais #jozikicks — Lesego Maja (@L3s3go) July 4, 2014
Spokesperson for Randburg Football Club Marlon Abrahams said that in his personal view Brazil is the most likely team to win the world cup. “They are playing at home, have experience of winning the world cup [being the only country to have won the world cup five times], know the climate and the government has spent a lot of money on infrastructure,” he said.
Share your views of matches with us by tweeting with the hashtag #jozikicks, or comment on questions posted on our Facebook wall and we will include some of your views in our match summaries.
Read day 19′s action here.
