Maan, I remember the last thread. Good times.
I'll be rooting for Egypt, lesse how far they get.
For anyone looking for sympathetic teams to support: eyes on Panama. This World Cup is their first ever. They ousted United States and Honduras to claim their place. They will be hard pressed to earn many points against England, Belgium and Tunisia, but I wouldn't mind Panama going through.
England managed to lose to Iceland in the Euros. Don't write England losing to Panama out.Don't worry, I'm fully aware of England's true power level.
John Rogers back at on the Twitter machine, I see.
Yeah Russia is going to destroy Saudi Arabia it seems. My Russian friends are decidedly underwhelmed, though; they don't consider this a challenge or a very exciting match.Ha, don't they worry. Uruguay and probably Spain/Portugal are coming up soon.
In other relevant news, Spain just fired their manager. What the hell. I did not think they would actually make such a risky move because Lopetegui negotiating with Real hurt their feelings.Yeah I read up on this actually and thought it was dumb at first, but then I found out it was because the Spain manager already signed a contract agreeing that he cannot be a manager for another team for the duration of the World Cup, but then he signed a contract to msnage for Real Madrid. This forced them to fire him for breaching the original World Cup contract.
So it was more Lopetegui being an idiot or unaware of this.That would actually make the decision understandable. Could you link an article about it?
Sure could use a few goals in the second half.
Edit: what is even going on
I really need to find a way to watch games at work. Stupid timezones.Fifa enforces broadcoast only through national television channels. So just tune in into one of them.
Iceland is in big trouble. They only had to tie or win vs Nigeria to advance somewhat safely. Now it has become a nightmare.Correct me if I'm wrong, if Nigeria ties and Iceland wins, don't they both have 4 points and then Nigeria advances?
In order for Iceland to advance,
- They have to win vs Croatia. Preferred with many goals as possible.
- Nigeria must lose or tie vs Argentina.
- If Nigeria ties, then Iceland can only advance by sufficient number of goals.
Argentina on the other hand will play as if their lives depend on it, because they have a chance of advancing as well by number of goals if Iceland even wins vs Croatia.
Group D has become now the most interesting one so far.
Correct me if I'm wrong, if Nigeria ties and Iceland wins, don't they both have 4 points and then Nigeria advances?This depends on number of goals Nigeria or Iceland scores or gets scored against.
This depends on number of goals Nigeria or Iceland scores or gets scored against.Oh I thought there's also some rule that says if one team beat the other in a direct match then they qualify, and if they didn't, then you look at goal counts. Did I make that one up? :ohdear:
Oh I thought there's also some rule that says if one team beat the other in a direct match then they qualify, and if they didn't, then you look at goal counts. Did I make that one up? :ohdear:No you didn't. The order is mixed up. What you describe is done after the number of goals scored total and the number of goals they got against.
No you didn't. The order is mixed up. What you describe is done after the number of goals scored total and the number of goals they got against.Oh wow that's awesome! I knew they draw lots at the end but I didn't know about the fair play clause.
Did a quick research to back up my own knowledge, because I started to doubt it:
http://www.goal.com/en/news/world-cup-group-stage-tie-breakers-rules-what-happens-when-teams-/olh39ph3hunh1w1zdmhp3osft
1-0 and first half is over. If Germany hasn't gotten that Diesel Engine up to temperature and speed yet, then it is byebye Germany, the last World Champion.All these upsets are making for interesting groups, yeah! Brazil, Argentina too.
Edit:
Ok, Diesel Engine seems running. 2-1, what a game. And so Pool F has become another interesting one where Germany and Sweden are now tied if they both win their next match. South Korea should be no problem for Germany. Depending on Mexico's mood, they can help Sweden. Or just destroy the group and go for the 9 points.
For today's games, I find myself caring very little about Group C. Meanwhile in Group D, Iceland will be facing a massively weakened Croatia (up to six first team players will be resting with the playoffs in mind). In case of a victory they can still claim second place by virtue of goal difference, preferably with Argentina overcoming Nigeria by a single goal. But can Argentina win at all? There are persistent rumors that Sampaoli is no longer the one in charge: the players have decided to oust him and take things in their own hands, with Messi and Mascherano selecting the squad and tactics. Hardly a recipe for victory. One possible scenario is reckless offense punished by a Nigerian counterattack, whereupon the Argentinians return to their dejected state. (now watch everyone defy my expectations)I've read about those! Super interesting stuff.
Official rules of the game say: "Handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with the hand or arm." But when is a penalty box handball ever deliberate?
Always root for facing England, because everyone knows they'll England it up at some point.
What happened, Germany.I have no idea how they were unable to beat Korea. Nothing makes sense. Last WC it was England failing hard and now Germany failing hard.
Tomorrow we want to perform well but the priority is not to win - apparently a quote from the Belgian manager.
Considering the winner of group G will end up together with all the aforementioned juggernauts, there are reasons to suspect both teams will be deliberately playing to lose. In case this happens, I'll be primarily watching Tunisia - Panama, only switching over to Belgium - England if there's any action. (yes, I'm watching both games at the same time; an old notebook is proving very useful)
Following predictions I will be making based on the current play off tree:
1/8 Final winners
- Portugal
- Mexico
- Belgium
- Spain
- Croatia
- Sweden
- England
1/4 Final winners
- Portugal
- Belgium
- Spain
- England
Semi Final winners
- Portugal
- England
World Champion
- Portugal
Well, all past mistakes are forgiven.Now it's just a matter of time before Akinfeev makes a decisive blunder
England are not allowed to win and no one is allowed to root for them
No exceptions
The only true mistake was how they dealt with that corner kick in the last minute....Absolutely. They really should have played it short and kept it in the corner (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFRSE5aE-PY).
Congrats Raikaria, after the equalizer (ANOTHER last minute goal?!) i thought Colombia would score in the extra time.
Uhh.... am i getting senile or it has been a LONG time since England actually won penalties in either World Cup or European Cup?
Get the fuck outta here,BrazilSouth America :V
Get the fuck outta here,BrazilRussia :V
Ironically, Mario Fernandes had revived Russia into the penalties, only to doom Russia by missing his penalty shot. That was terrible.It's one of those wack situations where you, on the couch, can comfort yourself, saying ,"Hey, at least he WAS the team hero, so his country won't be that mad at him for dooming them, right?"
Let's go Belgium.
Great match. I kinda feel like the actual final isn't going to be as good as the semis were...I loved the Round of 16 more if I'm honest
And that's game.Nnnnnope.
Ignoring the 1st (own-goal) and 2nd goal of France, the 3rd one was very good. Mbapp? and Griezmann played the ball nicely towards Pogba. He took a shot with his right leg, the ball bouncing off the defender back to his left leg and shooting it in. If you let someone shoot twice like that, you're asking trouble.Really nice moment seeing Modric on the podium with the golden ball award, looking like nothing is really gonna make him feel better, but he slowly gets humbled and shows a little of a smile, which in turn makes his president look much happier. Whole thing warmed my out.
I have no idea what happened to Modrić. He was very present the first 10min of the match and then disappeared.
Gg wp France. Also rip all my predictions.