European footballing giants France and Germany are set to clash in a World Cup 2014 quarter final match.
The game is set to kick-off on Friday, July 4, 12:00 p.m. EDT, at Estádio Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro.
France have gotten the better of Germany in their last five matches, winning 3, drawing one, and losing one according to SoccerPunter:
06/02/2013 friendlies: France 1 - 2 Germany
29/02/2012 friendlies: Germany 1 - 2 France
11/11/2005 friendlies: France 0 - 0 Germany
15/11/2003 friendlies: Germany 0 - 3 France
27/02/2001 friendlies: France 1 - 0 Germany
France are 11/5 to win, while Germany are 8/5 to win, according to OddsChecker.com.
Here are how the player rate in the tournament so far.
France
Hugo Lloris: Good goalkeeping performances without being a stand out. 6/10
Mathieu Debuch: Okay defensively down the right, but isn’t too good with delivering the final ball. 5/10
Raphael Varane: Solid center back, and has an understanding with Koscielny. 6/10
Laurent Koscielny: Quick, dependable, and a good replacement so far for the injured Mamadou Sakho. 6/10
Patrice Evra: Still in good shape despite his advancing years. Struggled at times against pacey opponents. 6/10
Paul Pogba: Dynamic and imperious at times in the center of the park. Finally got his big-game goal against Nigeria in the second round. 8/10
Yohan Cabaye: More than competent distributor of the ball. Helped to control the midfield since returning from injury. 6.5/10
Blaise Matuidi: Performed well in the group stage, but loss some form against Nigeria. 5/10
Mathieu Valbuena: Always a threat from set-pieces and with his thoughtful through-balls. 8/10
Olivier Giroud: Mostly off in his performances so far. Will need to justify his center forward position or risk being displaced. 4/10
Antoine Griezmann: Quick and incisive down the flanks. Might just conjure up a great performance soon. 7/10
Karim Benzema: Didn’t score against Nigeria, but has been brilliant so far in a central role and coming in from the left. 8/10
Germany
Manuel Neuer: Excellent positioning and reflexes. Neuer has even adopted the role of sweeper against Algeria, and single-handedly saved Germany’s porous back line. 8/10
Mats Hummels: Out because of an illness against Algeria, but relatively solid so far. 6.5/10
Per Mertesacker: Consistent defensively, but so is his lack of pace. Was exposed badly against Algeria, but tactics could have played a factor in Per’s performance. 6/10
Jerome Boateng: Ran Germany’s right flank diligently. Not the best going forward, but stable defensively. 6/10
Benedikt Hoewedes: Not a natural left back, and his discomfort with playing in that position showed. 4/10
Philipp Lahm: Right back, left back, or holding midfielder? The German captain can do it all, and Joachim Low has to figure that out. 7/10
Bastian Schweinsteiger: Returned from injury to bring stability in the midfield. 5/10
Sami Khedira: Has struggled so far after recovering from a long term knee injury. Likely to play second fiddle to Schweinsteiger now. 4/10
Mesut Oezil: The star of 2010 World Cup, Oezil has mysterious gone missing in all of Germany’s matches so far. It could be a tactical issue since he’s playing on the flank instead of dictating things in the center of the park, but playmakers shouldn’t be so conspicuously absent for so long. 3/10
Toni Kroos: Linked up well with Schweinsteiger and Lahm, his Bayern Munich team mates. Needs to step it up a notch though and influence matches more. 6/10
Mario Goetze: Like Oezil, Goetze has had negligible impact on matches so far when he’s suppose to be pulling the strings. 3/10
Andre Schuerrle: Excellent when coming off the bench to provide much needed width and pace on the German flanks. 6.5/10
Thomas Mueller: The 2010 World Cup Golden Boot joint winner bagged a hat trick in the opening game, and is goal-less since. Still keeps on popping up in good positions and has come close to adding to to his goal tally. 7/10
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