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Post by mattofthespurs on Jun 18, 2014 12:05:09 GMT
Anyway, I laughed long and loud at your assessment of Spurs' Belgian players, Matt. I used to down the Lane as a youth (from Tottenham, Spurs loving family, etc) and 30+ years later things haven't changed for Spurs fans, have they... Nope, nothing changes except the price of season tickets (£880 for next season, fact fans.) I sympathise with your Orient woes. I have a soft spot for The O's especially when our under 21's used Brisbane Road for a few seasons and we used to have pre season friendlies with you chaps on a regular basis. Nice, family club with a good hardcore support. Better than those pikeys down the road at the Boleyn ground anyway  |
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Post by ripper on Jun 18, 2014 12:10:06 GMT
I was a little surprised that Brazil v Mexico didn't get more physical, but Mexico played well and deserved their point.
Chile v Spain definitely has the potential of being a feisty affair. It's make or break time for Spain, but I am sure Chile won't want to give them an easy ride and it will be interesting to see how the spanish react after their dutch nightmare.
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Post by mattofthespurs on Jun 18, 2014 12:49:44 GMT
Chile V Spain definitely game of the day. Would really love a Chile win. Those tika-taka bastards! |
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Post by jamesdoig on Jun 18, 2014 21:38:25 GMT
Chile V Spain definitely game of the day. What about Tim Cahill? Surely goal of the tournament. |
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Post by mattofthespurs on Jun 19, 2014 6:11:43 GMT
Chile V Spain definitely game of the day. What about Tim Cahill? Surely goal of the tournament. That was the game of the tournament so far I reckon. Goes to show what great entertainment this World Cup is. Yesterday's matches were superb. Laughed at Assou-Ekotto (Cameroon and Spurs left back) head butting his own player. Crazy matches! |
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Post by dem on Jun 19, 2014 10:59:41 GMT
A week in and the thirty-two have been pruned to twenty-nine ... Group B Australia 2 Netherlands 3What about Tim Cahill? Surely goal of the tournament. That was the game of the tournament so far I reckon. Goes to show what great entertainment this World Cup is. Yesterday's matches were superb. Laughed at Assou-Ekotto (Cameroon and Spurs left back) head butting his own player. Crazy matches! Yeah, magnificent strike from the old warhorse, the highlight of a wildly entertaining match. The Dutch mixed it up a bit this time, so along with the silky skills we had a sprinkling of the Clockwork Orange stuff, too, with Robben reprising his dying swan routine and RVP could consider himself fortunate that his spasm of elbow rage was only punished with a yellow. To be fair, Cahill could and maybe should have walked for the 'committed' challenge on Bruno Martins which left the poor sod a stretcher case, but apart from that, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves out there. After Tuesday's relative lull, a real old fashioned blood and thunder contest was just what the tournament needed. Chile 2 Spain 0The Chileans comprehensively finished what the Dutch started with a phenomenal performance, quite their most memorable since the Battle of Santiago (below). In truth, the Aussies gave Vargas and his mates far more of a fright than the once omnipotent Iberians who just couldn't seem to get it up at all. Group ACameroon 0 Croatia 4. A game too far for me - i only caught the (very amusing) highlights package. Given how weird and wonderful the tournament has been to date, the only surprise about this result is that it was no surprise at all. The meninchecks were desperately unfortunate to lose the opening game versus a ref-assisted Brazil while the Indomitable Lions looked anything but versus Mexico. At least Messrs Song, Moukandjo and Assou-Ekotto had the good grace to lay on a cabaret. Today .... Group CColumbia V Ivory Coast. Should be another belter, although a draw would suit both at this stage, which would result in an early return home for the losers of the late night fixture. Greece V Japan. Greece didn't look too bad in losing to fancied Columbia, but couldn't finish. On evidence of last summer's Confederations cup, Japan have goals in them at both ends. Should be worth waiting up for.  Deliver us from Suarez. . With or without their flesh-eating talisman, much will depend on whether Uruguay can possibly play as badly again as they did versus the alleged group whipping boys. Big stakes for England, big steaks for Louis S. (most recent victim pictured above) who, even if he doesn't start, will surely come off the bench if things get dicey. |
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Post by ripper on Jun 19, 2014 15:37:30 GMT
Australia v Holland and Chile v Spain both extremely entertaining. Australia deserved a point at least. If the dutch play as lethargically in the knockout stages they will be out. Surely Australia must fancy their chances against a demoralised Spain. Has any World Cup holder gone out of the next competition as early as this?
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Post by dem on Jun 20, 2014 7:34:13 GMT
Australia v Holland and Chile v Spain both extremely entertaining. Australia deserved a point at least. If the dutch play as lethargically in the knockout stages they will be out. Surely Australia must fancy their chances against a demoralised Spain. Has any World Cup holder gone out of the next competition as early as this? Yeah, it's a pretty common occurence, Rip. France, famously, stiffed in 2002, Italy flopped last time out in South Africa, Brazil were brutalized out of it in '66 ... Group DEngland 1 Uruguay 2. Scary football at its scariest. Another cracking game, another spirited performance, but once again, Roy's boys came up short against gifted and very street-wise opponents. Needless to say, Uruguay were a massive improvement on their dismal opening day showing and deservedly went ahead when the cadaverous Edinson Cavani crossed superbly for Louis bloody Suarez to effortlessly nod past our net-minding male model. No question Wayne Rooney's late (75 mins) equalizer had them rattled and I genuinely thought we'd go on to win. Ten minutes later, completely out of nowhere ... Typical that the winning goal should be made in Liverpool - long punt downfield, defence-spltting lay-off by Sreve Gerrard, deadly finish by bloody Louis bloody Suarez. And so now England need to do a Greece: lose a couple and somehow still flukily prosper off the back of results elsewhere. Oh bum. Group CColumbia 2 Ivory Coast 1. The group decider, no question. It's all a blur to me now, but the second half was positively knicker-gripping as the Elephant's went into all-out attack mode in search of an equalizer. Columbia are not a side you'd want to go behind to as they are solid in defence as they are lightening on the counter attack (ask Greece). A dazzling run and finish by Gervinho reduced the advantage to make for a super-suspenseful final fifteen. Greece 0 Japan 0. Post-England fatigue eventually did for me. Last thing I remember is the Katsouranis sending off (unspectacular) and then, a disturbed sleep. Make Ray Winston's revolving head go away daddy ..... Today Group DCosta Rica V Italy. (BBC1, 17.00). Group E. Italy will probably contrive to draw (Mad Mario back-heeling a deliberate injury time own goal) just to spite us! Group R France V Switzerland. (ITV, 20.00). My superb footballing brain predicts a 1-1 draw, so expect anything but. Ecuador V Honduras. (ITV, 23.00). Morbid fascination. Can Honduras put in an even more violent performance than they did against France, or have they peaked too soon? Ecuador, no shrinking violets themselves, will find out shortly. |
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Post by erebus on Jun 20, 2014 11:56:42 GMT
Not had my say on the footy here. To superstitious you see. But it pains me to see England go out when they have played far better at times than teams that are through.
And being a Manchester United fan its more of a bitter pill when I see Horseface suceed against us.
Its not over theres still a slight chance. But I'm backing the Dutch from here on in.
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Post by ripper on Jun 20, 2014 12:54:56 GMT
England played well last night and got a good result. I am, of course, referring to our ladies' team, who beat Ukraine, have a 100% qualification record and will need just 1 more point to reach the World Cup next year.
Now to the men's team. Oh dear. I have followed England since 1970 and in my opinion this is the poorest back 4 that I have seen as a defensive unit. The error that led to the second goal was tragi-comedy at its best. But England's defensive frailties shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone; it has been obvious for a long time that they are just not good enough at this level as a unit. How we missed John Terry and Ashley Cole in this campaign. Going forward, they were, I thought, spirited at times, but unfocused and too frenetic, but your heart was in your mouth every time Uruguay crossed the halfway line. There was just no composure at the back and that is bound to affect the whole team. Brazil's attitude used to be, and still may be, that if you score 2 against us then we will score 3 against you, but we simply can't play that way as we just are not that good going forward to have the confidence to outscore opponents; we need a strong defence to build on, and I think that area is where we are sadly lacking. I listened to 5Live, and Chris Waddle, I thought, was absolutely right: for years we have had an inability to retain the ball, and this was worse than South Africa: there we lost to a decent german side; last night we were outplayed by a, Suarez apart, average Uruguayan team. Suarez wasn't fit, yet still managed 2 goals from 2 shots. I suspect that we may have seen the last of Gerard in an England shirt after the Costa Rica game, and also we may not see Rooney at another world cup. I still think that we have some promising young players who show they could become the nucleus of a decent team, but we have seen so many false dawns. So often with England, the whole is far less than the sum of the parts. I think we need a Jack Charlton, who took some average players and turned them into a strong, disciplined unit when manager of Ireland. Certainly, our defence needs some radical stiffening. Costa Rica will feel that, against the odds, they have a fair chance of reaching the knockout stage by beating England on tuesday (assuming Italy beat them today), while Uruguay may need a victory against Italy to see off the Costa Rican threat. Surely, though, it won't be 3 games and 3 defeats for England?
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Post by ripper on Jun 20, 2014 13:02:13 GMT
Dem, I had forgotten the trials of France and Italy when they were champions. I suppose that the spanish are feeling worse than us, as they were fancied to have a good chance of retaining the trophy, whereas only the wildest optimist thought Roy's boys had any chance of getting their hands on that cup.
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Post by mattofthespurs on Jun 20, 2014 13:46:32 GMT
Didn't see the England game last night but I was not surprised to hear of the result.
It's a long shot but we now keep our fingers crossed two large Italian victories.
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Post by ripper on Jun 20, 2014 19:31:41 GMT
Congratulations to Costa Rica on a terrific performance in beating Italy and ending England's agony. Tuesday's game will be interesting: Costa Rica will want to beat England and secure group top spot. Uruguay need to beat Italy to progress. We could end up with the situation of Italy as well as England falling at the first hurdle. England have nothing to lose and surely will want to end their short campaign with a victory. It appears that Roy's job is safe according to the FA, but based on what we've seen in the warm-up games and in Brazil he will have to make the team far more robust if Euro 2016 qualification is to be achieved.
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Post by jamesdoig on Jun 20, 2014 22:05:12 GMT
It appears that Roy's job is safe according to the FA. I liked his deadpan remark after the game: "For long periods of the game, we kept Suárez quiet." Roy's copped a bit of flak even in the Australian press. |
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Post by Shrink Proof on Jun 21, 2014 8:30:26 GMT
Perhaps the England players would perform better if they were paid more to do so.
Just a thought...
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