Actually, having the defending champion knocked-out at the group stage seems to have become frequent recently: it happened to France in 2002, Italy in 2010 and now Spain. 3 out of the last 4 World Cups.
Before that, you have to go back to 1966 (Brazil) and 1950 (Italy again) to find other examples.
Any predictions on Uruguay v England? Will Uruguay miss Lugano and Pereira?
Thanks for this info. Is uppose with a winning team there is always a tendency to remain loyal to aging players, overly loyal perhaps.
Then again Spain were always a funny lot. The brief period they were at their best they competed handily, however when the going gets tough the Spanish national team invariably fails. It has happened to the national team throughout its competative history.
God I hope so.
Luckily my hangover is just starting wear off in time to go to the pub.
On paper we should have a good chance against a team for whom the likes of Lugano, who could hardly get a game at West Brom, is in the first eleven. Of course, England don’t tend to play so well on grass.
A draw won’t be the end of the world, if my arithmetic is correct, and Costa Rica don’t beat Italy tomorrow.
It would be nice to have something more than a scrappy qualification on goal difference, though.
I hear the temperature will be in the teens today. That’s certainly good for England.
From what I’ve observed over the years the “great” C. Ronaldo is ALWAYS quiet whenever he dons a jersey and plays the German national team.
As usual, people misinterpret why I call others “Germany nuthuggers.” The reason I do that is for the people who rave about the German team without acknowledging that all its appearances in Finals, semifinals, and quarterfinals are NOT all due to its “consistency,” and its “great” defending and just general “superior” soccer. There have been times (MANY times) that the German team has been the beneficiary of SOMETHING in getting as far as it has in World Cups: shoddy refereeing that benefited it, a lucky draw that saw it not have to play any teams of any real substance until late in the tournament, you name it. If you or any other nuthuggers don’t want to acknowledge any of that that’s your business but don’t expect people like me to just buy into “the Germans are just better at soccer than everybody else” line of thinking 'cause I’m not going to do that. EVER. They seem to have a strong team right now and even I (as much as I hate to) acknowledge that, as of right now, they look like a VERY good bet to win this tournament. But it’s not a sure thing, even if all the Germany nuthuggers are thinking that it is right now.
Do you think the Germans get more luck, on average, than others? Doesn’t everyone rely on luck, to some extent, to get to the later stages?
Kind of bummed I’m in the office for Columbia vs. Ivory Coast. Would have liked to see it live, as it seems like it’ll be a fun one.
snort
Regardless of how you mean it, it seems to be an insulting-like term. Let’s avoid calling anyone any kinds of names in here. Use the Pit.
Ha! I missed that nugget of brilliance. 
They’ve updated the textbook. The “counterattacking” entry is now just a video of Colombia’s second.
This game suddenly got good. Columbia’s first goal was good, and Ivory Coast’s to pull back within one was better.
Certainly got interesting in the last five minutes or so. That Gervinho goal was very impressive.
You people have proven to be just as thin-skinned as those at other message boards. I remember reading from somebody once that “every time I go to a message board I’m reminded why I don’t like going to message boards” which is exactly how I feel about it. I was hoping those at the SDMB would be a little more lenient about things but apparently I was wrong. You people go on and have your senseless fun. I’m out.
… is it because you don’t like following rules? Because that is probably going to be an issue outside the message board arena, too. Just saying.
England should be able to win this, even with Suarez starting for Uruguay. So I hope.
I hereby retract the above statement. Gawd, that was embarrassing.
I saw only part of the first half of Colombia vs. Cote D’Ivorie. Wish I had seen the second. I was impressed with both teams. Different styles but good play all around. I’m hoping for them both to make it out of the group stage.
Auf wiedersehen.