Football

andyman949 wrote:

There are some Spaniards that can kick a ball right? I think they're a better bet than Ghana or Chile anyway.

Yup, that's who I reckon will win it.

European Team has never won it in South America, but they do have a excellent squad. Strike force might be a bit iffy as negreado hasn't scored in about 20 games it feels like.

So Ecuador and England Drew 2-2, not sure if it really means much. But I can tell you Ecuador took 4 points of Uruguay in qualification and finished above them in 4th.

Steh auf! Wenn du für Deutschland bist! Yeah, Germany I think are possible winners (and my official second team after Ingerland)... assuming they knock my other team out... ah.

Ecuador aren't half bad. I didn't watch the game - I'd rather lick my own scrotum than watch an England match - but it seemed like a decent litmus test for England.

What's the impression of Italy drawing with Luxembourg? Nothing to fear there, right...?

Jimbob wrote:

Steh auf! Wenn du für Deutschland bist! Yeah, Germany I think are possible winners (and my official second team after Ingerland)... assuming they knock my other team out... ah.

Maybe not Germany have failed to impress against Poland and Cameroon in recent weeks as Low's men were held 0-0 and 2-2 respectively .

It was a weird England team that played Cappa , and I wouldn't read to much into these friendlies or should you jimbob.

I actually have a good feeling about Bosnia doing well in the World Cup... still think I might have got a raw deal here though.

LET'S GO YOU IRAN!

Pleased with Holland, when they don't bottle it after the group stage they always play well. Columbia could be a dark horse too, but Australia (unless they have improved a lot from when I saw them play about a year ago) don't have a chance xD

Damn it though Jaster, you stole Japan from me xD

Just watched England what a load of rubbish. Thank god we get to see teams like Spain play.

Colombia are missing Falco though Tokyo.

Tokyo_Sonata wrote:

Damn it though Jaster, you stole Japan from me xD

You probably know the team pretty well, any good?

I know they've got Keisuke Honda who's rather good.

Kagawa and Nagamoto are good also. Southampton's Yoshida is a decent defender. Overall they have talent in most major european leagues but look at their group, they aren't getting points from those teams.

The first game is today of Brazil v Croatia

Vidofnir wrote:

Kagawa and Nagamoto are good also. Southampton's Yoshida is a decent defender. Overall they have talent in most major european leagues but look at their group, they aren't getting points from those teams.

Aye that's why I said Russia would be my best bet.

Pitbull performed in the official world cup song? Dear me.

Will be watching the opening game, I would expect Brazil to win this match but they have a weak team compared to their glory days. Obviously Neymar has star quality but if Croatia play on the counter Brazil's defence might not be up to the task.

Also, Rakitic and Modric in midfield? Expect some incisive passes, should be a good watch!

Sorry for double post but I'm done. That penalty is an absolute atrocity and I refuse to sit and watch another minute of this game.

Barely any contact on the guy at all. I mean, I like to see the host country do well in the opening game, but that was shocking.

I agree it was a stodgy decision.

But...

Lovren did temporarily grab Fred over the shoulder, which wasn't really necessary - as soon as you do that, you're asking for some kind of penalisation.

Quite enjoyed that first game, though the referee bottled it more than a few times. I'll stop well short of agreeing with the conspiracy theories knocking about though.

On another note, I was lucky that I noticed William Hill offering Brazil to beat Croatia at evens yesterday afternoon - an easy £20 profit.

I suppose there was allot of pressure on the Ref and I would be more inclined to tolerate the penalty if it was a decision consistent with the match. However, you cannot give a yellow for putting an arm into another players face, its a straightforward red (Sending Neymar off would however have resulted in an ugly situation). If you bottle a decision like that you cannot go on to award soft penalties.

I don't know what the conspiracy theories are but you can bet that Brazil are going to make it at least to the semi's on the back of these decisions.

Good play from Mexico against Cameroon today. I'm reckoning they've a real solid chance of making it out the group stages.

What a game! Leave it to the Europeans to provide entertainment on the world stage. The Dutch absolutely destroyed Spain, a great spectacle that washed away the bitterness of that Brazil match. Could have easily been 8-1.

Spain are in real trouble, Chile is a real threat in their group.

Some World Cup facts for you courtesy of the brilliant Betfair Poker Twitter account.

Costa Rica! Costa Rica! Costa Rica! Costa Rica! Costa Rica! Costa Rica!

Chuffed for them, didn't expect that result! Uruguay were pretty shaky to be fair.

Now... FORZA ITALIA!