for anyone stuck in work, you can listen to the BBC Radio 5 Live commentary on the BBC Sounds App in Ireland, not sure about the rest of the world
Ususally work from home, but I'm in the office today listening to Switzerland - Cameroon
That's not fair. Aaron Connolly is somewhere in Venice.
Swiss 1 up.
Portugal v Ghana has been a fun game, second half more so. Looking forward to Brazil v Serbia too, I think that will be a bit of a battle.
Nearly an all time World Cup moment there,keeper rolls it out,Ghanaian sneaks in from the goal mouth and slips before he can turn and score,sick!
Irish by birth ,Harps by the grace of god.
And another great WC moment - Richarlison with a proper Brazilian goal to extend their lead against Serbia. They're looking decent too.
The tournament has been a bit hit and miss so far - 4 0-0s, plus Switzerland being Switzerland - but it's more hit than miss and some upsets in the first round have teed up the second round of games nicely.
And they've brought Gabriel Jesus off the bench now. And Firmino didn't make the 26-man squad.
Serious strength in depth too.
Brazil just brought 200 million pounds worth of player of the bench,unfair just!
Irish by birth ,Harps by the grace of god.
Such a great Brazilian goal. Such a shame it was Richarlison. On evidence of Premier League I'd say he's one of the poorest Brazilian forwards in my lifetime. Literally seconds before his first goal I was telling pals in a WhatsApp chat he was a waste of space out there and lucky to be in the squad But he looks at home in that side tbf. I thought Brazil looked even better after their subs.
It was a a good win. Serbia could have nicked a goal. Brazil defended set pieces well and kept their discipline at 0-0 waiting for a breakthrough, believing their chance would come if they cranked it up a notch. It was a great watch I thought.
I think some have been good 0-0s though. I always try and put myself in the shoes of a fan of one of those teams, look at the game through that lens, as if it was us playing. Would you enjoy the 0-0 if it kept you in contention and set up a big game next time out? Almost certainly. And a few have been good tactical battles too imho. On a standalone basis the games might be dull but in the wider context they're interesting.
You do like a good 0-0 Stutts!
That said, this one - Wales v Iran - is a cracker of a game.
Crunching tackle from Hennessy ten yards outside the box and how the ref needed VAR to send him off I've no idea. Iran much improved from the team that lost to England - but can't see Wales giving England much resistance either, derby or no. Bale is a passenger here.
Kenny Cunningham thinks Hennessy’s red card was only worthy of a yellow
Irish by birth ,Harps by the grace of god.
I think it was the reddest red card I've ever seen.
Still, good to see Hennessy adopting local customs and traditions by trying to behead an opponent.
Iran were great from the start. Either they just played rubbish against England or England are worryingly good.
Or the Welsh are worryingly bad. Boomshalaka is probably on the Welsh equivalent of foot.ie losing his/ her rag at Rob Page.
Attendances at 94% capacity apparently.
I didn't know Comical Ali had taken up a job with FIFA.
Ecuador very impressive here,should be ahead…..
Irish by birth ,Harps by the grace of god.
If we beat Qatar 4-0 and Ecuador beat Qatar 2-0 and Ecuador drew with Holland, then that means we beat Holland 2-0. Thats how football works, right?
Sluggish England tonight. A lack of urgency that turned into sloppiness a few times, and they could have been punished.
Love the way USA, Canada and Iran are playing - play at pace and just having a go whenever possible. It's great to watch, and most teams are so much more defensively organised these days, even the traditionally weaker ones, that they're not going to take a hammering by doing so.
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