France V Belgium
Synopsis in red
Beers: Semi Final Beer World Cup:
France (Kronenbourg 1664) unfortunately didn’t even make it out of my Beer World Cup Group C in a relatively tough group with Denmark (Carlsberg), Peru (Cusqueña) and Australia (Fosters), while Belgium had a good run in my Beer World Cup, winning Beer World Cup G, with beers from Jessenhofke and Kamil, beating Colombia (Club Colombia) easy in round two, but their good run was ended by some Swiss heavyweights, Celestial Brewery, Soo. Soors Beer, Dr. Brauwolf, in the last 8. So we have Switzerland instead of Belgium today.
Russia V Switzerland
As Uruguay didn’t qualify for my Beer World Cup last 16 (I couldn’t source any beer from Uru), I made Russia winner (Knightberg) of Beer Group A, they went on to beat Spain (Estrella) in the last 16. Then in the last eight they met Nigeria (Guinness Special Export), who came second in my Beer Group D.
Switzerland (Dr. Brauwolf, Celestial Brewery, Soo. Soors Beer) easily powered home in my Beer Group E, no problem at all, and in the last 16 they beat popular Mexican beer, Corona. While in the last eight they had a tough battle with Belgium (Jessenhofke and Kamil) just coming out by the skin of their teeth!
Celestial Brewery Soo. Soors Beer Dr. Brauwolf
Read who qualified for my Beer World Cup last 4 here
Was an epic battle with a few twists and turns
First off had a Dr.Brawolf Red Ale, and although it was full of carbo, when it settled down it was very good, lovely and so smooth to drink. Enjoyed it. Then I had a Soo.Soors Swiss Ale, another very smooth beer, nice and crisp and again a very enjoyable beer to experience. I had the two Swiss beers in competition against the Knightberg Brettness which came in a huge 7l corked bottle, and took me quite a while to drink. Although the two Swiss beers were good, very good, the Russian Brettness was EXCELLENT, like a good red wine, full of tastes and fruity flavours and even though there was a lot of it to drink I wish I had more of it! One nil to Russia here.
Next battle was between Celestial Beer’s Le Dermier Ciel, a New England IPA, whihc was fine and got the basics right, was hoppy and very good to drink. Against Knightberg’s Hefeweizen, which had a very intriguing aroma and taste. The wheat smell and taste was very strong but very pleasurable, and it felt more like good nourishment than a regular beer, it definitely had the wow factor too, so I also give this one to the Russians. Two nil and straight into my beer world cup final! Wasnt expecting that to be honest as the Swiss trio have had solid beers all month, while the Russians have dipped a little recently after a great start, but today they had two brilliant beers that I will definitely be checking out again.
PreGame:
Belgium V Brazil: From the start the excitement was built up, the national anthem of Brazil belted out by the players and the crowd, great to see.
And that passion transferred to the pitch as Brazil started well, with Thiago Silva missing a sitter that hit his knee and went mad wide. Should have scored the opener.
Fernandinho then scored a bad own goal to give Belgium the lead somewhat against the run of play. A quick corner hit his arm and went in, was very unlucky for Brazil
Brazil came back strong with both Coutinho and Marcelo having shots well saved by Courtois in the Belgian goal.
But once again Belgium struck on the counter, with a superb goal by De Bruyne shooting to the corner from just outside the box, what a great goal from a very classy player. This was starting to look worrying for Brazil, 2 down inside half an hour. It was all from a quick break from a Brazilian corner, Lukaku doing most of the running to by pass midfield and give it to Keven to work his magic.
In the second half it was all Brazil, attack after attack by the team in the famous yellow shirts. But Courtois was on the top of his game, and saved well from Coutinho and his lovely curler.
When Douglas Costa came on it made a huge difference in the game, the man was simply breathtaking, and we must wonder why we only got to see only about 30 minutes of him all world cup! He lifted the tempo even higher, and Brazil started to have some real good chances. Renato Augusto took one of those chances with a lovely headed goal to bring Brazil back into this game. Was a good goal with a great pass from Coutinho. But Augusto should have got the equaliser when he was set up again by Coutinho, but this time not hitting the target, tsk tsk. Coutinho himself was superbly set up by Neymar, and had the whole goals to shoot at but instead blasted it wide. Again a decent chance not taken. And then we had the final chance from Neymar with a lovely curling effort that was heading for the top corner, or so we thought, until Courtois pulled of the save of the tournament to tip it over the bar. Brilliant goalkeeping from a goalie in the best form of his life
By the end Belgium hung on, just about. I have to say I take my hat of to Martinez, their manager, he has them well coached, and every players knows exactly what they have to do on the pitch, a really well drilled operation. Plus it looks like they are enjoying their football too, which always helps..
France V Uruguay: Perhaps not the most entertaining of games, but France just did enough to get into the last four of the World Cup.
It started off very lively with both teams going hell for leather the first 20 minutes or so. It wasn’t a bad opening half as Uruguay with their defensive hard to break down style which is dangerous on the break up against a French team that likes to build slowly from the back, it was a real contrast of footballing styles.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 40 minute when a beautifully weighted free kick from Griezmann found the head of Varane, who scored with a lovely header to put France one up.
Uruguay responded quickly, and Stuani had a header expertly saved one handed by Lloris, who was full stretch to prevent the goal, brilliant. The follow up was booted over the bar by Godin, who might have used a cooler head to chip it into the empty net!
In the 60th minute Griezmann took a shot to nothing which somehow Muslera let slip through his fingers into the net. An embarrassing goal to let in, considering how well he has played at this years World Cup. That was pretty much the game over, as, without Cavani, Uruguay could not score two goals to get back into this game.
France did enough to get to the last four but they need to up their performance today against a very well drilled Belgian team if they want to make further progression. I think I might go with Belgium, but only just.
Great start to the game from both teams, Pogba to Mbappe but Courtois quick off his line, A Hazard shot which Varane just headed over. Alderweireld then with a tight angled shot that seen Lloris saving superbly, up the other end Pavard seeing his shot well saved by Courtois. If anything it was the goalkeepers that were the busiest in the opening exchanges.
At half time I would have said that Belgian were bossing it a bit, especially in the centre with Kevin pinging the ball around, so France on the 51st minute kind of scored against the run of play, when Umtiti headed to the back of the net from a corner, one nil to France.
This fired up the Belgians, and again Lloris was called into action to save from Witsel this time. But for all their huffing and puffing Belgium really couldn’t break the France back line which was well marshaled by Pogba, of all people! France managed to hold out for a memorable victory against a very good Belgium team.
Music to get you in the mood
V The Kids – Bloody Belgium (Belgium)
Good enough game to watch, Neymar dictating the play up front, and Willian bombing it down the wing all evening, with Paulinho bossing the midfield. Too easy for Brazil. But Javier Hernández your haircut is dead cool, heh? Clown.
No problems, nothing to worry about here, Belgium got one back, Vertonghen got a goal with a looping header that beat everybody. Still the Japanese goalkeeper should have had his eyes on it, clown. Once that went in, it was obvious that Belgium would get a second. And sure enough Fellaini got the equalizer with a simple header, two all. Game on.
But Sweden kept up the pressure and continued to hit Mexico hard from free kicks and corners. Forsberg blasting in a good free kick that Ochoa in the Mexican net did well to push over for a corner. Berg with a clever overhead that just went the wrong side of the post. Forsberg, again, blasted over with a free shot on goals when he could have got it at least on target. It was all Sweden.
Must say that their defence is the best I have seen in this years World Cup, very tall and difficult to break down. In particular, Granqvist in the centre of the defence has caught my eye with some great performances in the 3 games so far. Take a bow Sweden, well done so far and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them get past Switzerland today. 
Sommer was unbeatable, making save after save, the man just could not be beaten in the first half, a world class performance.
Lichtsteiner, the prick, ended up getting a deserved yellow for a bad tackle which means he will miss the game today, a big loss to the team. What an idiot.
Sweden were simply woeful going forward, they get the perfect potions but couldn’t get it even near on target, was the worst I have even seen, comical at times. And the funny thing is the goal they scored took a mad deflection. If it hadn’t then it would have went straight to the goals, Forsberg celebrating like he won the fucking World Cup. I would too though if I wasn’t used to scoring, albeit via a defenders leg.
It was amazing what a goal can do, for the Swiss it reinvigorated them while totally shocked the Serbs who looked like it drained them of all their energy. Shaqiri hit the post with a wonder strike, and you could sense that perhaps there was a win for this Swiss team. Well in the 90 minute that goal came, and Shaqiri was the man to take all the credit, on the break calming slotting it past the on running goal, you just knew he wasn’t going to miss from there. Brilliant, what a turnaround for the Swiss. 
Neymar was active, and he forced Navas off his line to save, early on. He also had another good chance to score but for the reaction save of Navas again. Neymar had the chances but looked a little off the pace just ever so slightly. Remember he still isn’t completely back to full fitness. But it wasn’t all Neymar, Coutinho had a cracking game, with all the good moves starting with him on the ball first. 
Lichtsteiner, the prick, ended up getting a deserved yellow for a bad tackle which means he will miss the next game, a big loss to the team. What an idiot.
Pregame bets:
But after the while the Brazil attack petered out and Switzerland came more into the game, and got the equaliser from a free header. They played well, the Swiss and even though I am not one of his greatest fans, Behrami gave a world class performance today, top stuff. Their defence also held out very well today, Sommer was strong in goals, and we only got the two dives from Lichtsteiner today. I wonder is he not well? (and the cunt was complaining about Neymar diving, he really has a face I’d like to punch)
If Kolarov hadn’t of scored in the first game, from a classy free kick, I doubt Serbia would have got a goal at all, as they missed a few simple chances and they didn’t seem to have their shooting boots on, something that does not bode well for them against defences that are a bit stronger than Costa Rica, like Switzerland’s today. 
A game of two halves, really. Mitrovic scored early doors, from an excellent cross by Tadic, who only a minute beforehand had whipped in a virtually similar cross into the box. This time they scored, and Mitrovic and Tadic were combining well all first half, with most play coming down the left side. At the other end of the pitch, their defence was again solid, the Swiss just couldn’t get pass them at all. 
It is a new venture in the region and one with many exciting and ambitious plans. Founded by Peter Danielsson who had a dream to start his own brewery. Despite been in the software industry and a general “newbie” in the beverages industry, he finally managed to take the plunge in 2017 and set up a small brewing operation. 
Smell is malty, with an interesting floral, earthy, and piney smell. Also get the fruits and citrus. 
Get a very hazy looking beer with a nice golden orange look. Very carbonated and has a big frothy head. Good lacing.
“Free Electron” in English, I guess the electricity will be bouncing around your body when in contact with this beer, firing up an unstoppable current of energy and pleasure. Perhaps!
Getting the caramelized malt again, this time in the taste, making this beer very nice to drink. 
Hazy cloudy yellow golden colour, very carbonated and the frothy white head maintains. 
On pour, massive carbonation, all over the place, very temperamental. All resulting in a massive frothy tanned head and a pitch black stout.
“The Last Cry” in English, this is Celestial’s version of a New England IPA. A New England IPA is meant to be a little smoother with less of a hoppy bitterness to their West Coast IPA cousins, the appearance is also meant to be a little hazier. 
Nice malty flavour, the fruits to the fore, bit of caramel.
But what about the name? Soo. Soors Beer? WTF? But then you realise that the beer is actually from Sursee so it all makes perfect sense, and in actual fact is kind of clever really. It makes even more sense when you learn that the story goes that three men were mulling over a few beers and kind of depressed that they couldn’t drink a local beer from their home town, only sip generic large multinational beers and nothing from Sursee. And like all good beer chat their minds began to wander and definite plans were made to rectify this terrible anomaly by starting their own brewery in the town. Even after all that pub-talk, the idea began to take hold and more concrete plans were put into action. They had serious discussions with beer drinkers, with people in the business, publicans and restaurateurs. A serious business plan was drawn up. And again they sat together over a beer and a eureka moment came: “Soorser beer, we want that!”
On March 12, 2015, Herbert Blum, Alexander Oleschinsky and Karin Wagemann founded Soorser Bier AG with a share capital of CHF 100,000. Over time came more funding and more expertise, and they also offered beer lovers the opportunity to become part of the Soors beer history, ala Brewdog, offering shares to the public. Fortunately for them, the share capital was oversubscribed by 80,000 francs. 390 shareholders, most of them from Sursee, got on board, and the beer chat turned into something real. The brewery was set up and a master brewer with many years experience was hired. On April 22, 2016, less than a year after the founding of Soorser Bier AG, the first brew was prepared from the plant. 
On pour I get a very well carbonated beer that produces a big frothy white head and a cloudy looking, golden yellowish beer.
Looks lovely, and the head maintains throughout.
Was quite carbonated in the pour, resulting in a very large frothy white head, a lot of foam.
Looks nice on pour, a lovely light yellow colour with a good sized white frothy head. Looks good, very inviting. Some good carbonation going on, bubbling away. A hazy look appears after a while.