Well, that was fast :eek:.
ETA: and a fast equalizier! First four minutes more exciting than the whole match before.
Turned on 4 minutes late and already missed 2 goals? Damn.
England has to like ita chances. If they get past Colombia it may be a smooth path to just-like-1966.
Lol…have you not seen Croatia nor Sweden nor Switzerland play? Reputation means nothing on the pitch.
Sure, nothing is a gimme, but with Spain out of the way you know the Brits have to be secretly eyeing things quite far down the road.
Yes, Puyol is/was merely a professional sportsman, these guys are capable of delivering both worthy insights and incredible gibberish. I can count on one hand the number of well regarded autobiographies of footballers. Their opinion on most things are not particularly insightful. For instance Puyol may have said it after a WC victory or defeat. On either occasion his words would have been self serving.
I hold Alex Ferguson in high regard, but would rather gouge my eyes out with a hot poker than listen to him interviewed. He is rarely worth listening to for more than a few minutes.
I can buy that. And I agree that they are one of the favorites. They have 2 issues: they have had a pessimistic mindset about winning and penalties. If they believe they should be right up there with Brazil and France as favorites because they have some excellent players and Gareth Southgate is an excellent coach.
I don’t think you’ll find any evidence that the Brazilian league was any less of a league than the top European leagues at the time. It’s only over the last couple of decades that the most of the top South American players have moved over to Europe for the money, causing the talent disparity. In fact, the Santos teams of Pele are often considered to be the top teams of all-time.
As far as public support is concerned, it’s beyond pessimism. There are no longer any expectations. To some extent, that takes the pressure off.
Maybe sticking the poker in your ears would be the better strategy here? :dubious:
Maybe we get 2 PK shootouts in one day?
Yes. No matter what happens from this point on, this World Cup has been a smashing success for Russia. They don’t have to worry 'bout a thing against CRO/DEN (as long as they don’t lose too disgracefully.)
Aside from South Africa in 2010, when’s the last time a host nation failed to advance out of the group stage?
Gee, Spain, do you think firing your coach just before the tournament might have been a mistake?
He accepted a job with Real Madrid. What else could they have done? Why couldn’t the club kept the deal secret until after the WC?
Before the WC began, in this thread, I predicted that England would have a very successful WC. They have excellent players and a youngish brilliant manager. There should be expectations but they should be tempered. However, they should be favored to make the quarter finals at the least. They are a very dangerous side.
He gave the defender a yellow for an incredibly obvious DOGSO?
Schmeichel makes a brilliant PK save against Modric only to likely set up more PKs in 5 minutes.
Penalty saved to keep this game going.
Should have been red.