Are they paying out on losing bets then?
;)
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Are they paying out on losing bets then?
;)
Very happy with the group we are in. This is what football is all about. Huge worldwide audiences for all three games. Its made for the likes of McGeady to show what he is capable of against the very, very best teams in the world. I still believe we need three more good players to give it a real go. Hopefully McCarthy, Coleman, Mayler and the Norwich three and a few others show enough in the next few months forcing Trap to ahve to make some very tough selection decisions come next June. Can't wait now. Roll on the Euro's
I think if we're going to play at all, we may as well line up against the best and give them a battle. I'm seriously excited about the group. Zero expectations, Every point is a victory.
We can beat Spain 0-0 :)
You never know, but maybe you'll have one day where you can relax and enjoy yourself, free from the fear that that an out of control truck will run you over :)Quote:
Originally Posted by ArdeeBhoy
Strange enough, but I was in the off license this afternoon and picked up a few Polish beers and porters, on the off chance.
Not for the fainthearted, but Brok Porter 9% is a walk on the wild side. Guaranteed to ease your mind away from misery of thoughts of inevitable failure, for few hours.
Except it's not me I'm worried about....
;)
Tough draw. We'll have to match '88 and '94 by kicking off with a win. I think the Spaniards will win their opening game but could draw with us. Anything can happen and it usually does.
I have been critical of Trap's style of play over the years - watching paint dry would at times be more entertaining, but paradoxically on seeing our group I thought this is exactly the style of play that could get us out of this group. It will tight in all games and limiting errors, defending deep and counterattacking quickly will help us in what will be hopefully low scoring games. We have enough experience of Italy to not fear them, Croatia - who knows which team will turn up while making no mistakes will be crucial against Spain. Looking forward to seeing us play at the very highest level of competition as you would never encounter such a tough group in the World Cup.
Happy enough with that I suppose. Spain have shown in the past that they find teams like us tough to break down, and we'll be quite happy to settle for a 0-0 draw. Trap will be well up for the game against Italy, and we've drawn with Croatia this year already. It's get-out-able (which isn't to say we'll qualify obviously).
Starting to feel real now though.
I predict 3 embarrassing defeats and 2 more years of horrific football under Crappatoni!!!!!
How are you not on my ignore list?!
Well said.Quote:
Originally Posted by legendz
I can't wait for the prompter to come up
"Spain 94% - 5% Ireland(the air 1%)"
It was never going to be an easy draw given the quality of the teams in the tournament. Its probably the best draw location wise and its a glamour draw all round. The first game is crucial, lose that and its likely we will be facing into the Italy with only pride to play for. A draw in the first game will keep us alive for all three games. Im delighted we got Italy, I think we can at least get a draw against them. Croatia, we should at least be aiming for a draw whereas Spain, anything but a defeat will be good there. Bring it on!!! Great to be involved in a big draw again.
To be honest bar getting Poland as a top seed it really couldn't have been better.Quote:
Originally Posted by ArdeeBhoy
It was always a toss-up between England/Italy and Croatia/Greece. We've done good.
The only team to really fear and be petrified of in the whole tournament is Germany. Like proper "serial killer" afraid.
Spain or the Dutch could turn up on the day and wipe the floor with us. Us or Croatia to qualify with Spain out of that group. You heard it here first.
Ya, with Ireland winning 1-0 thanks to a Paul Green strikeQuote:
Originally Posted by joe_denilson
Fixed :oQuote:
Originally Posted by BonnieShels
Who remembers that famous England-Holland-Ireland lots deciding group, or the Italy-Ireland-Mexico-Norway goals scored group? I do.Quote:
Originally Posted by gastric
This isn't a group that encourages "entertainment" from our point of view. It's about holding our own againstBarcelonaSpain, and a slugfest against the Azzurri. Safety first is the only option.
People describing Italy as "old" would do well to look at the age of some of our key players. Several of them could be packing it up afterwards. Italy are Italy, and they will always be strong, whereas Croatia can tear you apart or collapse in a heap, depending on what day it is.
Didn't get the Ukraine group I was looking for, and we're the only side in the group that has to travel around for every game. Will we qualify? It'll be another nail-biter I reckon.
well said. my thoughts exactly.Quote:
Originally Posted by BonnieShels
The way I look at it is if we have to beat Spain twice to win the trophy then so be it.
It will be no more difficult second time!!
The Swiss in 2010 are about the level we are now (maybe a little below us) a functional team but one that was mainly well organised in defence, for our Trap they had Otto Hitzfeld. They beat the Spanish out in Durban, to be honest there was no team the Spanish utterly annhilated in the World Cup, people forget they limped past Paraguay 1-0 (Cardozo missed a pen), edged past Chile 2-1 I would say all these teams (Swiss, Chile, Paraguay) are of our level but we are perhaps a bit more organised than Chile or Switzerland at the back.
If you collapse against the Spanish you'll get punished, if the players heads go down after being say 1 or 2 down after 30 mins then there could be big problems, but I'm not convinced we'll afford them that many chances. The Spanish are very good at home but away from home they're not the invincible machine the likes of Sid Löwe and Phil Ball paint them to be, I'm sure people know about their friendly results, even if you assume friendlies dont count their qualification was not as emphatic as say the Germans. They've had to rely on late goals to beat the Scots and Lithuanians. With 10 mins to go at Hampden the Scots were holding Spain to a 2-2, with 20 mins to go the Lithuanians were 1-1 with Spain in Kaunas, until an astounding own goal from Kijanskas gifted them the initiative. We are significantly better than the Scots and the Lithuanians - the latter took only TWO points from four games vs Scotland and Litchenstein. We conceeded 7 in 10 games versus their 6 in 8, and we probably had a stronger group (with Russia and Slovakia being stronger as a pair than Czechs and Scotland, and Armenia being harder than Lithuania). I'd rather have the Spanish in as 1st seeds than the Dutch, and not having the Germans who in my opinion are significantly stronger than the Spanish, is a big blessing.