FIFA World Cup thread

[McElroy]

Once again the football world is at war! And we, poor spectators are left wondering:
- why Coach lets Messi shoot penalties
- how the USA lost to Honduras or something and didn't qualify
- why Belgium is ranked 3rd best team in the world

Among others, but the games have just begun.

Who will take the victory? Can Brazil ever recover from the 7-1 destruction in their home arena? What will be the biggest shock or surprise only you saw coming?

 

[Catfood220]

All I know is that England are going to disappoint me again by playing like a bunch of people who have never kicked a ball before. Those players who have been on fire, scoring goals for fun week in and week out, will suddenly forget how to score.

Who is going to win? Probably Germany. Or Spain. But not England.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Kind of tentatively excited for Australia's next game ... despite not really being much of a football nation we put up a decent defensive game with France, despite so many untested players. I don't expect they'll do all that well in the rankings, but I think if they continue to keep pace and play as they havebeen it might encourage us for the next world cup.

The close-ish game was a surprise to me, however. Given France's form, that is. I was expecting 0-2, 0-3 ...

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Four years later and still the best part of the world cup are the memes that immediately chase every embarrassing moment of every single game. Messi, Biglia and Di Maria are local favorites following that shitty 1-1 with Iceland yesterday morning.

USA sucks at the sport. It's weirder that Italy and Netherlands didn't make the roster.

And hell I just realized the way Germany and Brazil are grouped means there's a chance for a rematch as early as eighth-finals. Wouldn't mind watching the sequel to that infamous 7-1.

 

[tippy2k2]

I'd be a lot more excited if the United States didn't manage to completely cock it all up and get themselves out before the tourney even began...

I'll catch Round Robin games if they look interesting (caught the second half of Iceland v Argentina cause of the story with Iceland qualifying) or as I remember them but I probably won't seriously watch any matches until the robin is over with and we're in the knockout rounds.

 

[McElroy]

The players have too many tattoos in their arms and necks. It's impossible to make any sense of them too. Football has become trashy. What a world. Anyway, Brasil vs Switzerland has been enjoyable to watch thus far. Neymar gets pressured hard, causing warnings for the Swiss.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

- why Belgium is ranked 3rd best team in the world

Don't worry, we'll most likely promptly get our teeth kicked in the moment we run into an actual top tier team.

 

[Catfood220]

Holy shit, England won their first match of the World Cup. Not convincingly of course, can't expect too much from them, but I am in a little bit of shock. I was expecting a thrilling 0-0 draw. But no, we won. Woo hoo!!!

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

It's pretty good so far, Portugal x Spain, Iceland x Argentina and Mexico x Germany were pretty good, and most favorites managing to fuck things up also makes things more interesting.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

What a great opening of H group.

 

[McElroy]

Japan played that game really well, though! edit: Yes, I forgot they had a man advantage for most of the match. Easy to play better with more players.

Russia's offense has looked strong in two games in a row now. Also some of the acting is already getting ridiculous. Football is still a contact sport, dammit, no need to fall down with style every other minute.

 

[CaitSeith]

Mexico defeated Germany 1-0, and I didn't have any freaking memes ready for that outcome!

 

[McElroy]

Even if Argentina manages to crawl out of their poor situation, I doubt they have a chance against France (or Denmark either).

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Argentina is a sad, disappointing team that banks on nothing but everybody else having shittier results than they do. It was the case with the classifications and it's the case now, again, faced with meeting the bare minimum and depending on some deranged John Nash equation where everybody gets the precise results we need and not a single goal more or less. Always counting our nickels and dimes to see if we can afford the fucking bus fare. It's idiotic.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Disappointing 1-all draw with Australia and Denmark.

Australia should have converted at least 1 of those 3 shots on goal late game. The likelihood of getting to the group of 16 is dependent solely on Australia's performance against Peru, and just how well Denmark and France play now.

Australia have however played consistently decently in a World Cup that has been anything but consistent, so maybe Australia'll finally score a win. It is still a miracle-level surprise if they get into the group of 16, however. Relying on Denmark to lose against Peru, but somehow the Socceroos coming out on top. The latter is doable, but the former is highly unlikely. But if they do pull it off, it will be shaping up for a fairytale World Cup.

Still, the quality of the game, especially the second half, is what surprised me. No one could question dominance of play by the Socceroos, and failing to convert that into a win felt like outright misfortune.

 

[McElroy]

A nerve-destroying match between Bronzil and Costa Rica. The latter played like total bastards once they figured out the referee wouldn't call a penalty almost no matter what. And boy did they play for time in the latter half, lying on the ground for what seemed like years! Thank goodness Brazil won. 0-0 would've been horseshit.

Also the linesman awarded Neymar a goal to seal things up. I thought it was offside.

 

[Catfood220]

Well, England qualified for the knockout stages with a 6-1 win over that giant of football, Panama. It was a match that at times resembled more of a MMA contest than a football match, once Panama realised that they weren't going to get anything from the match, they resorted to dirty tackles and holding onto the England players and it cost them in the end with 2 penalties. First half was pretty decent, but the second half was a bore as England didn't seem to want to risk wearing themselves out.


So we go play Belgium in the next match on Thursday in what could be the first real test that they have faced in this contest so far. It should be interesting to see how we cope with a decent team. But for the moment, we are through and the football played hasn't been an embarrassment to behold. Getting dangerously close to giving in to blind patriotism and declaring that England will win everything. Like I say, we will see what happens in the Belgium game.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

I haven't watched a single game so far... college is a *****.

Can I just say though that it's annoying that the football world these days sucks the dick of people like Messi and Ronaldo way too much? They're amazing players but as someone who used to be a full back, that the achievements (and failures) of the team are attributed to individuals, especially those on offense, is insulting. Football is a team sport, people always seem to forget that.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

So we go play Belgium in the next match on Thursday in what could be the first real test that they have faced in this contest so far. It should be interesting to see how we cope with a decent team. But for the moment, we are through and the football played hasn't been an embarrassment to behold. Getting dangerously close to giving in to blind patriotism and declaring that England will win everything. Like I say, we will see what happens in the Belgium game.

For what it's worth, you could take your paragraph and switch Belgium with England and vice versa.