Slick assistant ref reacts perfectly to getting a handshake snub:
Slick assistant ref reacts perfectly to getting a handshake snub:
You thanked that same post only two pages back!![]()
yep, and sad to say, but it seems like all the old cliches about African football are ringing true. It makes our performance at the euros look positively impressive.
AB, the lack of hunger you mention may have been evident under Kerr and at times under Trap when his man management skills were a topic of discussion, but I'm not convinced it applies to the group of players who'll be taking to the pitch in the next campaign.
My thanks are hereby withdrawn. Pineapple FTW!
EDIT: Actually, no, DI was kind enough to embed it. Thanks reinstated.
Huzzah!
Though it's better to have it embedded in the post rather than hidden away behind a link in fairness.
Ha, cheers! Maybe its presence here hadn't properly registered with me as the original inclusion linked to an external site. All is now good.
England's 2nd group game is in a cooler Sao Paulo, their fans have to travel the length of Brazil just to follow their team in a group game. Didn't this group games fixture insanity become normalised at USA94, forcing fans to travel thousands of km?
Qatar would be ideal, you could travel to all venues on a Honda 50 - ideal in their winter time of course.
I'm going for England this evening, heroic defiance coupled with consummate skill.
I couldn't help feeling a bit deflated by Spain's exit. They are/were the only team in the competition that could genuinely be considered 'great'. It would have been okay if they had met two massively improved sides that genuinely had 'figured them out', but I just don't think this is the case. Holland pretty much approached the game in the same manner as 2010. Spain easily accounted for a very similar Chile side four years ago. Nothing lasts forever and all the success and mileage had to catch up with them eventually, I just think it's a bit depressing that they're not passing the baton to another potentially great side, but merely sides that can now compete with them due to their own regression.
I'm enjoying watching loads of football every day but I can't honestly claim to be enjoying the tournament itself as much as some on here. Plenty of goals but very few excellent games or team performances. I would exclude Germany from this and there has been the odd game here and there really worth watching.
I think it speaks volumes when the Dutch are (rightly) one of the favourites with the likes of Vlaar and De Guzman in their starting line up. It's a far cry from the days of Koeman and Rijkaard, not to mention their even heavier hitters!
I'll be supporting Italy all the way now, there is something really classy about them even though they look weaker than their teams of the past.
Last edited by DeLorean; 19/06/2014 at 10:26 AM.
What is the best bet today if you had to pick one winner? Some of these games are unwatchable without a small wager on it.
No Somos muchos pero estamos locos.
I'd go with Japan to beat Greece. They seem to have an unbreakable spirit so should react well to their opening defeat. All three games are hard enough to call but the other two should be very watchable without a wager anyway.
I think DeLorean makes a fair point, but given that the big domestic leagues and the CL are multi-national affairs now, world cups take on a different level of significance and intrigue. I don't expect the World Cup to be the absolute pinnacle anymore but now I find fascinating on other levels.
I've been gripped by most of the games, intrigued by how teams play and by how coaches adapt to circumstances and I'm constantly looking for clues or lessons for Ireland. I have a soft spot for Croatia and Bosmia myself, down to my love of the Eastern European football style, but of the major nations I'm probably rooting for Italy too.
Controversial opinion alert!
It can't be argued that Spain aren't a great side alright, but tiki taka bored the bejaysus out of me at times. The 2010 World Cup - with four straight 1-0 wins in the knock-out stages - was its dull-ish pinnacle. Pass pass pass pass pass pass pass pass pass pass pass pass - f*@1ing do something!! Be incisive!
A great side, no doubt, and always a pity to great sides pass on (as they must), but I won't necessarily mourn tiki taka if it's gone.
Yeah I can honestly say I was never bored watching Spain in their pomp, but then defensive Italian sides turn me on too! I enjoy watching a team excel at whatever it is that makes them great, once it's done with some sort of style.
Go over to the betting part of this site!!
http://foot.ie/threads/190935-World-Cup-Bets/page2
Agreed. From a betting point of view I followed Spain the last few competitions, but they were hard to watch at times. Just get the ball in the box!!! I think that even though they were the best team in the last world cup, it was overall a pretty rubbish tournament. Not a whole lot would have taken to winning it.
I'd much prefer international football regardless of which is considered the pinnacle, I think that's a difficult thing to measure anyway. In terms of 'intrigue', international football wins hands down, and the gap is getting wider all the time. I just don't think this tournament has been great in that or any other regard so far, but then it's early days. I think we could really do with the likes of Argentina and Portugal coming good, Brazil and Holland getting their arses handed to them and Costa Rica continuing to capture the imagination along with a couple of others.
I wouldn't agree that Spain easily accounted for Chile four years ago. Chile played over half the game with ten men and still won the second half 1-0, after they had a man sent off for a terrible Torres dive. I think they'll have taken extra pleasure in their victory for that reason.
Is drogba coming off the bench or starting?
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