2014 World Cup

[Stuttgart88]

No argument over that yellow for Cahill. Misses next game.

[pineapple stu]

Shameful penalty award.

Another non-European/South American ref. Am I being racist or do they make more than their share of big mistakes? (See my earlier post after the opening game)

Australia can't come out of this group having lost to Chile, can they?

[pineapple stu]

Probably not. Van Persie evens it up.

[geysir]

Müller's reaction to the "headbutt" was captured and shown in a later replay from another angle. I managed to find it again during the BBC coverage on iPlayer at 43:00 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b047gjwt/match-of-the-day-2014-fifa-world-cup-germany-v-portugal). I'm pretty sure that's UK-only, so I've compiled a series of snapshots that show Müller's feigned agony:

Pepe showed great restraint there, Tim Cahill would have stuck in the boot and Liam Brady would have made a case for justifiable assault on RTE.

[Crosby87]

The croc hunter would not be happy if he were still alive.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Pepe's sending-off was for his secondary action, which wasn't a head-butt though could have been construed as an attempted one.
Or so the pundits say. Though for me, his look of intent was hardly gracious, though TM deserved a yellow for acting the maggot.

And Oz' were game, but lame. Exciting but ultimately irrelevant.

Never mind yer Owls man, can you imagine what the doc or My Post would have said.
:rolleyes:

[Stuttgart88]

Lame? They were a fraction off scoring a third seconds before the Dutch did. I wish Ireland were that lame.

I think they were gifted the penalty though. Terrible decision.

The Dutch? Ordinary enough team with two exceptional forwards. I think their keeper looks confident.

I loved Vieira's description of the Cahill tackle. A Roy Keane tackle, unnecessary, played the man and a definite yellow. Meaow.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Ultimately they won nothing, stutts. Hear you about their bad luck up top, but their defence is worse than even ours, probably.
Cahill's a really class act and would get into any other WC squad even now, but the rest looks very ordinary.

The Dutch as ever, besides last Friday, rarely resemble the sum of their parts.

[geysir]

Australia have given a whole hearted account with surpassing effect. When a team achieves that, they have not lost.

[ArdeeBhoy]

They have if they come bottom of the group with nil points. Albeit with rather more panache than our own feeble effort two years ago, so far.

[pineapple stu]

Australia were anything but lame.

1-0 Chile! And they deserve it too; should have been ahead earlier.

This World Cup just gets better and better. (Not that I'm against Spain; just that this is more interesting now)

[strangeirish]

2 zip, Chile!

[Charlie Darwin]

Casillas has lost his head completely. That punch is definitely one that could come down to lack of practice.

[pineapple stu]

A howler from Casillas, whose defence didn't exactly help him.

This is astonishing though. Up there with France in 02. It'll take something amazing to score three on the second half

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Silva the only bright spark. Iniesta has been astonishingly poor. Amazing that someone (Casillas) with so little match practice over the last two years is starting over lads like Reina and De Gea.

Diego Costa could be a dodgy signing for Chelsea too going by his last several performances; he could turn out a one season wonder. I don't think Del Bosque is that confident about Torres, or Villa for some reason. All the more galling that Negredo and Llorente weren't called up. Llorente had a very good season for Juventus and offers something different to what they have right now.

[pineapple stu]

De Gea is injured

[Charlie Darwin]

Costa hasn't really done anything wrong, has he? No striker would look good amid this team performance. My criticism of him would be that he always seems to want to take one more touch before shooting, and sometimes he just ends up doing nothing. Still an excellent player.

[Stuttgart88]

Ah come on. Compare Australia to Ireland in 2012. They both got no points but the performances were worlds apart. The Aussies can be very proud, we just went home more than a touch embarrassed.

[Stuttgart88]

Casillas has lost his head completely. That punch is definitely one that could come down to lack of practice.

Lack of confidence too I'd say. I've been there (no doubt you have too). Some days you just don't want the ball anywhere near you. Your nerves affect your decision making. I'd say a good schoolboy keeper would have held that comfortably.

Chile's first goal was stunning. That first touch, so soft and delicate and just perfect. Any harder and the chance was gone. Glenn Hoddlle always goes on about needing soft ankles, just as golfers need soft wrists. Perfect example just there.

I've always seen a little of Xabi Alonso in Glenn Whelan. Tonight I'm seeing a lot of Glenn Whelan in Xabi Alonso.

[Stuttgart88]

Agree with TOWK about the Spanish strikers selected / not selected. Costa looks like a right old nark bag too, though in fairness he did compliment their keeper after a good catch.

[pineapple stu]

That discussion of Spain's bench was amazing. Do you bring on Villa, Torres, Mata, Koke, Cazorla or Fabregas?

[pineapple stu]

Also, a quick shout out to the camera angles. Really enjoying the overhead one. And seeing Costa's chance from behind Casillas' goal was interesting.

[Charlie Darwin]

That discussion of Spain's bench was amazing. Do you bring on Villa, Torres, Mata, Koke, Cazorla or Fabregas?
Yes. Yes you do.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Well not all of them...

[pineapple stu]

Unbelievable. How many more twists can this game have?

Though Spain have started the half well; I can see them doing this if they keep Chile at bay at the other end

[DannyInvincible]

Costa hasn't really done anything wrong, has he? No striker would look good amid this team performance. My criticism of him would be that he always seems to want to take one more touch before shooting, and sometimes he just ends up doing nothing. Still an excellent player.

He took an extra touch at the start of the second half that left him poorly set-up to take advantage of what was a fairly decent chance. He's off now; hasn't done much. Can you see poor Torres inspiring a startling comeback?... It's squeaky bum time for Spain.

[Stuttgart88]

Cahill's a really class act and would get into any other WC squad even now, but the rest looks very ordinary.
I agree, yet were highly competitive against two good teams and without putting everyone behind the ball. That's why I said I hope MON is taking notes. There are ways of making ordinary players competitive as a unit.

[DannyInvincible]

Spain are committing men forward and I can see them getting caught on the break and conceding at least one more here.

[osarusan]

Spain have made the wrong decision in the final third virtually every single time. It's incredible.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Great for the World Cup. It really is a lot like France in 02.

[pineapple stu]

Busquets must be kicking himself for missing that open goal. Would have changed a lot.

Eleven changes for the Australia game, I wonder?

[DannyInvincible]

And so Spain's World Cup campaign fizzles out with a whimper. Bar Busquets making a meal of his effort close to goal and the tired swing from Ramos inside the box during stoppage time, they never looked like scoring at all. There was very little sense of desperation or urgency even. Poor show all round from them. Fair play to Chile; a disciplined and well-earned victory. Chile versus the Netherlands to see who tops the group should be a good'un.

[strangeirish]

The reign of Spain is over...

[osarusan]

Busquets must be kicking himself for missing that open goal. Would have changed a lot.


Yeah, Spain had more menace about them in the 2nd half until that miss. They seemed to give up then.

Chile were excellent defensively, so hardworking and organised. Always offered something on the counter also. It's crazy that Australia caused them more problems than Spain did.

[DannyInvincible]

Just seeing this now; prior to the game, dozens of ticketless Chile fans managed to breach security and break into the Maracanã before most of them were detained by military police and removed from the stadium: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/18/world-cup-2014-chile-fans-maracana-spain


Stadium staff struggled to deal with a serious failure in security measures before Spain’s World Cup match against Chile at the Maracanã.

Dozens of Chile fans without tickets broke through a fence and charged into the stadium via the main press centre.

A number of the intruders were detained by officials but others appeared to have made their way into the stands after breaking down a temporary wall. The spectators who were caught were being held seated on the floor, while police took them away in groups.

“They stormed the gate and ran into the stadium. We stopped them,” said a security guard, Diego Guilhermede Souza Goncalves.

At least one Chilean fan, a woman, was injured and taken outside in a wheelchair. Meanwhile, thousands of Chile fans without tickets remained on the roads outside the stadium but organisers said kick-off would not be delayed.

[geysir]

We saw a very disciplined Chile this evening, first time I've ever seen that.
That was some atmosphere in the Maracana and a brilliant performance for most of them to celebrate. I can imagine the Dutch thinking they deserve an easy game and now they have to face Chile to avoid meeting Brazil.

[ArdeeBhoy]

I agree, yet were highly competitive against two good teams and without putting everyone behind the ball. That's why I said I hope MON is taking notes. There are ways of making ordinary players competitive as a unit.

Fair point, but very much doubt it.
Perhaps someone can fwd him a few videos or zip files...

Plus many of our players no longer look 'hungry' enough playing internationals. Unlike the Aussies, who seemed fully committed.

[DannyInvincible]

The World Cup is back!

What a goal. What. A. Goal.

I can only assume you're referring to Tim Cahill's wonder-strike. I only saw a few minutes of the game earlier and just seeing the highlights now. He really caught it so well. Beautiful goal. It looked like Australia showed great heart to get back in front but the Dutch just have too much up front.

[pineapple stu]

Yep.

I think the best thing about it was that the ball was coming across him as he hit it. Just amazing technique. So easy to have sliced that out for a throw.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Dutch played very ordinarily and still won. That defence though, a serious issue. The likes of Germany could give them a really tough time.

[NeverFeltBetter]

I do love these kind of games, where both teams really do need a win and have to attack. Expect Croatia to be too good for Cameroon on the basis of the opening games, but who knows?

Edit: Though, thinking about it, a win and a draw basically do leave both teams in the same position, needing to win their last game to get to the last 16. Just a difference in the GD required.

[pineapple stu]

If Cameroon lose, they're out I think. Tie break is head to head now, not goal difference. If they draw, they need to beat Brazil and hope Croatia beat Mexico, and all four teams are on four points. Cameroon need a win.

No place for Eto'o?

Edit - Eto'o injured. Cameroon losing.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Are you sure? Wiki says tie break is GD, then GS? Head to head after.

[pineapple stu]

Oh, ok. I'd go with wiki then!

Euro 2012 separated teams on head-to-head, and Euro qualifying does the same; I assumed that was the case here too. Must be a UEFA thing.

[DannyInvincible]

Are you sure? Wiki says tie break is GD, then GS? Head to head after.

Goal difference takes precedence, then goals scored and then results between tied teams come into play. Article 41.5 (page 49) of the tournament regulations (http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/01/47/38/17/regulationsfwcbrazil2014_update_e_neutral.pdf) states:


The ranking of each team in each group shall be determined as follows:


a) greatest number of points obtained in all group matches;
b) goal difference in all group matches;
c) greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.

If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings shall be determined as follows:


d) greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
e) goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
f) greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned;
g) drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.

[pineapple stu]

Another lol (http://www.extratime.ie/newsdesk/articles/12496/world-cup-official-reacts-to-handshake-snub/)

[DannyInvincible]

Utter stupidity from Song lashing out like that. What on earth was he thinking? Cameroon will be the third team going home today then... From refusing to board their plane to Brazil over payments to that sending off, they seem to lack any collective sense of discipline or composure.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Truly moronic.

[Crosby87]

These african teams suck.

[pineapple stu]

The word is "naive"

Edit - African teams, that is. Song is an idiot alright.