Slade Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 It is quite annoying though that when ever a player trips over, they have a badly acted roll about on the pitch before they get back up Its like your wasting time here use it to score. Yes it's incredibly frustrating but it's something that's been around since the 1970s possibly even earlier. I hadn't seen much of Switzerland but they played pretty well yesterday. The winning goal was classic counter attack, end to end stuff. Fair play to the referee for playing the advantage when the defender was brought down. However another good goal was disallowed. The last time I saw France competitively was when they lost to Spain in the Euros a couple of years ago and they were totally mediocre. They were better yesterday and Benzema was looking good. And we see the first instance of goal-line technology used. I was a bit disappointed with Argentina although Bosnia closed them down pretty well and made it very difficult to score. The 3-5-2/5-3-2 formation wasn't working but credit to the manager for changing it at halftime which made a lot of difference. Was over the moon when Messi scored as that was what we had been waiting for. That was probably the hardest game for Argentina in the group stages and they should finish top. If Bosnia play like they did yesterday, there's every chance they could qualify too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haaf14 Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 I thought Bosnia defended well yesterday. After conceding so quickly I thought they could have capitulated but they didn't. They've got a manageable group with Iran and Nigeria vying for 2nd. The game of the day is Portugal vs Germany. I expect a Germany victory but with Ronaldo declared fit you just never know. I think Germany will too much for Portugal. As for they were good forward but defensively they were poor. I've rated Johnson defensively, good going forwards poor going backwards. Baines just didn't have any support which ultimately led to Italy's winner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezz Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 I'm really enjoying the World Cup at the moment. Considering it's low-build up in the media due to the whole fiasco with FIFA and Sepp Blatter I've been impressed by the quality of the football so far barring a few poor refereeing decisions along the way, in particularly in the Brazil and Croatia and Mexico and Cameroon matches. My country Australia gave it a good go against Chile but overall we were already stuffed before the tournament began with Spain and Netherlands in the same group, so not expecting us to do match. The 2006 World Cup was still our best World Cup performance to this day. I tipped Germany to win the World Cup and if their result against Portugal is anything to go by then I think they'll be a great chance to win the World Cup for the first time since 1990. I have a feeling Brazil is going to crumble with the weight of expectation. The team that I expect will do really well is Belgium with a great set of up and coming players such as Hazard, Witsel, Lukaku and Courtois and experienced players like Kompany in the side. The only thing that might let them down slightly is that they're a little young and may not start peaking until Euro 2016 and the next World Cup in 2018. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Ranger 1 Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Okay.Wow.Spain, World and European Champions, eliminated at the group stage by Chile. Who the heck saw that one coming?Australia put up a decent struggle but they're going home too. Brazil are coming across as very disappointing.It's hard to shake the feeling that they and Mexico settled for a 0-0 draw because they thought that was their best chance of both of them going through.I really hope Croatia manage to spring a surprise and Brazil end up either not qualifying or finishing second and getting hammered by Netherlands in the next round.Bit mean-spirited of me but there you go. Oh well, at least we can still rely on Germany to ratchet up the goals.Arguably they've never won it, West Germany won it back in the pre-reunification days, so be interesting to see if they can manage it this time. So, England's group tomorrow, hopefully we can improve on that first result and get a win, a draw would leave them with a mountain to climb and a defeat would potentially put them out depending on the other result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haaf14 Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Red I wasn't overly surprised that Spain lost to Chile. Chile have impressed me for a few years now, firstly with Marcelo Bielsa and now with Jorge Sampaoli. Chile have one way and that is to attack, defensively the less we talk about the better. I thought Chile would go through but at the expense of the Netherlands not Spain. Australia had a spirited game but when they went 2-1 up, I felt that wasn't enough and the Netherlands would come back which the did. England play tomorrow and I think that the game could go either way People writing off Uruguay should think again because you take them lightly and they will punish you. With a front line of Cavanni and Suarez who looks like will be fit then those two will be dangerous again any defence. The punditry from both the UK channels have been poor. On ITV there was Adrian Chiles who had a total meltdown at Thomas Muller who exaggerated contact, with only Lee Dixon backing him up. If players can get away with it then of course they are going to continue to do that. As for the BBC, Thierry Henry with clearly biased toward France but come on that was clearly a red card for Paul Pogba if that was against my team then would have called it a red card and wouldn't have any complaints. There is favouring your team and there is what Henry did and that is taking it another level. Rant over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezz Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Did anyone see Timmy Cahill's goal against the Netherlands? It was an amazing volley and so very proud of the way Australia played against the Netherlands. We fell short in the end but we couldn't be more happy with the way we've played in Brazil so far. It would be great to beat Spain in the last game. We will go home with our heads held up high after the low expectations heading into the World Cup. Chile are a good side with Sanchez and Vargas leading the way. Their attacking game along with their pace are their biggest strengths. The downfall for them though is defence. I think it's fair to say that tika taka is dead and buried after seeing Spain's performances. Looking forward to the Uruguay and England game and also the Japan and Greece game which is a must win game for both sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pembie Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Isn't it ok if England get a draw? It would mean we would have to win our last game to stand any chance of going through I don't know haven't really kept updated with how our Group are doing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezz Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 I think for England's sake, they'd prefer to see one of Italy or Costa Rica to win. Probably Italy as Costa Rica aren't a great side despite an impressive victory against Uruguay on the weekend. A draw for Italy and Costa Rica and a draw for England wouldn't be a good result but technically you're not out of the competition however. One way or another, England really needs to win this as they'll be under extreme pressure in the last game if they only manage a draw today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pembie Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Ok thanks for making it clearer for me Jezz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haaf14 Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 @Pembie - Draw is fine but that is if Italy beat Costa Rica. @Jezz - Yeah that was a wonder goal by Cahill, best goal of the World Cup so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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