World Cup Soccer/football thread

[robnplunder]

Wow, what a poor defense from England on the last Uruguay's goal! A huge mental mistake by the defender ...

 

[Alan]

Wow, what a poor defense from England on the last Uruguay's goal! A huge mental mistake by the defender ...

That seems to happen a lot unfortunately

What a difference it makes to have a proven international goal scorer on your team. Suarez had 3 chances and scored twice. He is a class act.

 

[robnplunder]

That seems to happen a lot unfortunately

What a difference it makes to have a proven international goal scorer on your team. Suarez had 3 chances and scored twice. He is a class act.

Not a fan of Suarez but he made good on his chances and in style.

What is it with England in WC? Has the best league in the world but can't seems to put it together for WC.

 

[Chuckanut]

Very sad.

 

[MichaelB]

Regretfully, I missed the game - spent the afternoon at the ophthalmologist. Tough spot for England.

 

[Alan]

What is it with England in WC? Has the best league in the world but can't seems to put it together for WC.

Very sad.

Very sad indeed. It's not just the WC that England fail to do well in, they have never won the Euro Championship either.

I liked this cartoon from a week ago, before a ball was even kicked, when the Prime Minister was calling for schools to teach British values.

 

[Alan]

Regretfully, I missed the game - spent the afternoon at the ophthalmologist.

I think the England strikers could have done with a visit to the ophthalmologist as well, they just don't seem to be able to find the goal.

They do have a psychologist with the team in Brazil, maybe they should have played him.

 

[Chuckanut]

OK, I will need to revise my list of WC teams I will root for in future games. (Note: this mean the team has top have a WC 2014 future to make the list.)

Previous - USA, Italy, England.

Current - USA, Italy, Croatia

I am going to replace England with Croatia. Nothing like a 4-0 win to stir the blood. And I have fond memories of visiting Croatia. And, it's right next to Italy.

The Netherlands is waiting in the wing in the event one of these three fails to keep its promise.

 

[Chuckanut]

One great thing about World Cup games on TV, is the lack of advertisements to interrupt the games. While they are at least 90 minutes of play, there are few commercials and other interruptions. One can be reasonably certain that the total viewing time will be about two hours. That's very nice.

 

[robnplunder]

Fickle, fickle, fickle, Chuckanut.

I am sticking with Brazil and Argentina. England still has a slim chance of advancing but the fat lady has got up to sing just about now for them.

Commercial break in the middle of soccer broadcast is a sacrilege, except for half time.

 

[Cassie]

Anyone watching? .

Yes, I'm watching......so glad I'm retired this go round!

 

[Htown Harry]

I think the England strikers could have done with a visit to the ophthalmologist as well, they just don't seem to be able to find the goal.

I watched a highlight show last night, and the panel of talking heads handed off to a couple of slightly daffy Englishmen for their analysis of the England -Uruguay match. They both poked fun and informed.

They showed three clips of Rooney shots: a direct kick over a wall of defenders that just sailed over the crossbar, a low and hard shot directly at the goalie and a header from very close range that found the post.

I got a laugh out of their summary: "And there you have it, ladies and gentleman, the English hat trick..."

 

[MichaelB]

View attachment 19200

Yes, I'm watching......so glad I'm retired this go round!

Me too, on both accounts. World Cup time, however, was the one moment when work really didn't detract. Meetings would be scheduled for match times, a tv would suddenly appear, and no one would interrupt for a couple of hours - except to join the group. Even customers were thoughtful enough to schedule their requirements around important matches. If work were always like this id still be there today.

 

[Alan]

I watched a highlight show last night, and the panel of talking heads handed off to a couple of slightly daffy Englishmen for their analysis of the England -Uruguay match. They both poked fun and informed.

They showed three clips of Rooney shots: a direct kick over a wall of defenders that just sailed over the crossbar, a low and hard shot directly at the goalie and a header from very close range that found the post.

I got a laugh out of their summary: "And there you have it, ladies and gentleman, the English hat trick..."

I can just imagine it.

Rooney is a good player but all of his WC matches (10?) have been personal nightmares. In the Italy game I thought he had equalized as he turned in the box, throwing off his marker, faked to shoot right, sending the keeper that way, then put the ball just wide of the left post when it looked easier to score. At least he was able to finally score a WC cup goal against Uruguay from 2 yards with no keeper to beat.

If Costa Rica win or tie against Italy today then England are out after only 2 games.

 

[Chuckanut]

If Costa Rica win or tie against Italy today then England are out after only 2 games.

Looks like England still has a good shot. I can't imagine Italy losing this game.

 

[Alan]

Looks like England still has a good shot. I can't imagine Italy losing this game.

If that happens, which is likely, then Italy must also beat Uruguay and England must beat Cost Rica by enough goals so that they have a better goal difference than both Costa Rica and Uruguay as all three would be on 3 points. It could happen and we'll know if it is a possibility in a couple of hours time.

At least Australia are also out, otherwise I'd have a lot of gloating to face in 3 weeks time when we arrive at my brother's (I was very much cheering on the Ozzies in their games, and am disappointed that they didn't do better, they played really well against tough opposition)

 

[Chuckanut]

While ESPN broadcasts the games live via the internet, our local ESPN radio affiliate does not carry the games live. One thing I like about the internet coverage is that it's mostly the game with few commercials and no drawn out pre and post game shows




Sent from somewhere in the world with whatever device I can get my hands on.

 

[MichaelB]

Another football giant leave early. Heartfelt sympathies to fans of The Three Lions.

 

[Chuckanut]

It's time for the big boys to move over I guess. But, that's what makes the game exciting. It's nice to see that the Big Boys don't dominate every game. Thankfully, the USA is not a big boy in the area of soccer....err... futball.

Hmmm... maybe that South American Pope has something to do with it. His connections are supposed to be quite good.

 

[robnplunder]

With Costa Rica win over Italy today, England is officially out. I don't know what is more surprising, Costa Rica advancing or England going home after just two matches. Costa Rica didn't look good leading up the world cup. I guess it's good to peak at right time.

 

[Alan]

Just finished watching Costa Rica beat Italy. Good for them, proving their win over Uruguay was not a one-off performance.

England have already set their own personal worst record in that they have never lost the first 2 games in a WC finals group. Now they have a chance to extend that record, Costa Rica look good and are riding high.

I'll be joining my Uruguay friends again next week, but this time cheering on Uruguay against Italy. (I have little desire to watch the England game which will be played at the same time).

Oh well, Wimbledon starts on Monday, I just hope Murray doesn't implode in the early rounds.

 

[Alan]

Monty Python have released an unofficial England World Cup anthem which could turn out to be more popular than the official one.

The unofficial World Cup anthem could prove more popular than the official World Cup 2014 song, written by Gary Barlow and featuring vocals from the Take That singer and 20 other celebrities, which was dropped last week. The FA stated that it had no plans for the track, called Greatest Day, to be released as an official single. It went on sale in March.

Monty Python record unofficial World Cup 2014 anthem - Telegraph

 

[donheff]

Well, I am back from London and Berlin and, as others suggested, it was fun watching with true fanatics. Berlin was particularly wild. Last night I sat at an outdoor cafe/bar next door to the apartment we stayed at in the Kreuzfeld district. There was a mixed crowd of around 50 sitting outside in front of a big screen TV. About half were Germans and half African immigrants. The cheering was louder for Ghana than for Germany. I routed for Ghana. After we beat them it is nice to see them do well against others.

 

[Alan]

Well, I am back from London and Berlin and, as others suggested, it was fun watching with true fanatics. Berlin was particularly wild. Last night I sat at an outdoor cafe/bar next door to the apartment we stayed at in the Kreuzfeld district. There was a mixed crowd of around 50 sitting outside in front of a big screen TV. About half were Germans and half African immigrants. The cheering was louder for Ghana than for Germany. I routed for Ghana. After we beat them it is nice to see them do well against others.

Sounds like a pretty cool experience.

 

[tulak]

That was a hard ending to take. Fortunately the US still looks good, but they need to hold off Germany as best as possible and hope the Portugal/Ghana is a draw or low scoring win by Portugal.