Should there be bronze medal game at WC?

Van Gaal, for one, is against the bronze medal game, saying it has "nothing to do with" football.

It does feel completely pointless to me, too, just one more money-making match. Does anyone really care who finishes 3rd and 4th? I don't. It should be scrapped, imo.

I agree. Should be scrapped.

if you aint first you're last!

Van Gaal also is against penalties and for that ridiculous idea of taking players off every few minutes, so we should not take him too seriously.

No I'm not against it. It should be played.

I'm all for it. I remember the third place matches of 2006 and 2010 pretty fondly as they were entertaining, open matches of teams who just wanted to put on a show for the audience as a finish of their World Cup run.

Yes, because you finally get to see two great teams play each other without any of the pressure.

Probably not but a (usually open) match between the 4th and 3rd best teams is not a thing to pass on.

It sucks for the teams, but it's fun for everyone else.I'm all for it.If the coaches don't like it then just play a B team.

It's been around since the 50's and is usually a credit to the tournament overall.

What's this obsession with changing the format? Are you telling me these guys can't spare two days to play one extra game for their country/fans?

It's just a glorified friendly. There's not a third-place play-off in the Euro's, not in the Champions League... I don't understand why we have it in the World Cup. Open, no-pressure football belongs in the pre-season friendlies, not in the World Cup. Fans & players of both teams have been devastated just days before and then you make them play a meaningless match. Completely unnecessary and pointless.

They are usually fun games to watch, but I wouldn't be bothered if they were to scrap it.

It's a good thing, it gives the surprise teams of the tournament to take a medal home at give them something to treasure forever. It might not be great for top teams. But if Denmark were in the semi final I would be more than happy to win the bronze, and if it wasn't played it would be a waste. There also a bronze game in a lot of big sports tournaments, so I don't get the hate.

Yeah but friendlies suck.

I'm a fan so I'm all for it because the matches tend to be pretty entertaining.

Absolutely not.

The only time this game makes any sense is when a minnow reaches the semi final. So after being eliminated they are happy to get one more chance to display their quality on the world stage.

This time it's a rare exception whereby Brazil will welcome it. They just want some way of leaving behind an image different from the utter humiliation of Tuesday and this match gives them that chance.

For Netherlands it's a completely different story. Asking players like Robben and Sneijder who have narrowly lost in the final stages twice in succession and are now almost sure to end their careers without a world cup trophy to play in one more match (which is nothing more than a glorified friendly) so soon is nothing short of CRUELTY. To say that players of this quality need to get a third place for pride is beyond ridiculous.

Robben said clearly this was not the kind of competition he cared about. van Gaal went even further and said that he's been asking for the abolishment of this game for ten years. There is only one award and that is for the champion.

Yes this match is a tradition but traditions can be changed. It was a tradition to qualify the world cup winner automatically to the next tournament but that has been changed.

Still this match is going to happen no matter how much I hate the prospect of it. So the best thing coaches can do is throw all those players on the pitch who didn't get much game time including even goalkeepers. Throw all tactics out of the window and ask players to just go out and express themselves. The result whatever it is can be sent straight to hell.

That said I will still watch the match because I just feel happy about having watched the maximum possible number of matches in a world cup. I won't concentrate at all though preferring instead to recline and be lost in my own thoughts.