Red Ranger 1 Posted June 19, 2018 Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 Well, they made somewhat heavy weather of it, needing a very late winner, but England started with a win which you can't really complain about.And nearly everyone else has played as well and...it's surprisingly open, given that we started with Russia demolishing Saudi Arabia (albeit with the last two goals being in injury time).Since then, we've had Spain and Portugal drawing with each other (I'm still bemused that we've got two heavyweights in the same group), Argentina drawing with Iceland, France only managing a narrow win over Australia, Uruguay needing a late goal to beat Egypt, Germany getting a shock defeat to Mexico and Brazil drawing with Switzerland.Pretty much anyone could still go through or out. And then, in a series of draws and one-goal wins, who get the other big win? Belgium. I thought England had got the easy draw but we may have to settle for second place.Could all come down to a decider in the final group game... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pembie Posted June 19, 2018 Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 I thought England were fill of energy right at the start of the game but then they seemed to just start to plod along. I thought they were very lucky to win and their was some really bad acting from Tunisia rolling about the ground playing for time haha I don't rate their chances that highly They really struggled Did you place your bet Red? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slade Posted June 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 I thought England started very well at the beginning and thoroughly deserved to be in front and win the game at the end. I can't really argue with the penalty. The problem as highlighted by the pundits was the inconsistency with the decision making. If Tunisia were awarded a penalty then England should have had two. And herein lies the problem. They have the facility to review instant replays (See Sweden/South Korea) but they didn't use it in this case. Putting that aside I think England are going to have big problems. Whilst they were able to create chances they seemed to lack the edge in the final third. Granted Harry Kane scored twice both those goals were relatively straight forward for most decent international players, against a better side they will have maybe one or two chances a half so will need to be more clinical. Belgium looked really good and their finishing seemed better than England so when those two go head to head that will be interesting although given that it's the final group game, if both teams are on 6 points they might field a weaker side to prepare for the second round. Re the point I made above - Don't think I've seen a tournament where such a high proportion of penalties have been awarded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Ranger 1 Posted June 19, 2018 Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 6 hours ago, pembie said: Did you place your bet Red? No, that really would be the kiss of death for them! If I did that, they'd lose 5-0 to Panama or something... Someone made the bizarre comment that this is the most penalties awarded in the early stages of the World Cup since 1966 "when records start", which seems absurdly parochial: It's not like we don't know what happened in the earlier tournaments! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pembie Posted June 19, 2018 Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 3 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said: No, that really would be the kiss of death for them! If I did that, they'd lose 5-0 to Panama or something... I don't think that would happen but first time for everything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezz Posted June 21, 2018 Report Share Posted June 21, 2018 Denmark and Australia ends in a 1-1 draw. I felt Australia was the better team, and it's disappointing we couldn't win it in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pembie Posted June 22, 2018 Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 My friend said last nightthat England might play Australia in next round I don't know if that's true I haven't kept up to date with the other teams really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezz Posted June 22, 2018 Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 2 hours ago, pembie said: My friend said last nightthat England might play Australia in next round I don't know if that's true I haven't kept up to date with the other teams really England is in Group G, and Australia is in Group C. Since Australia cannot finish on top of Group C, it will play the top-placed team of Group B in the last 16 knockout match. This could be anyone from Portugal, Spain or Iran. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pembie Posted June 22, 2018 Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 24 minutes ago, Jezz said: England is in Group G, and Australia is in Group C. Since Australia cannot finish on top of Group C, it will play the top-placed team of Group B in the last 16 knockout match. This could be anyone from Portugal, Spain or Iran. Which team would you perfer they play? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezz Posted June 22, 2018 Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 1 minute ago, pembie said: Which team would you perfer they play? Spain would be the most difficult. Portugal with Cristiano Ronaldo is always a threat, so Iran would be the easiest out of the three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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