2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil

I hate Pirlo but this was a marvellous performance by him. Wish that free kick got in. Also, expected result, Italy is just much better.
 
Jesus, that was a tiring second half. Could have been three, with Pirlo hitting the bar near the end there.
Night Prowler said:
I hate Pirlo but this was a marvellous performance by him. Wish that free kick got in. Also, expected result, Italy is just much better.
Click to expand...
Literally at walking pace sometimes, but his passing's not bad! :p

It's the beard.
 
He has unparalleled vision. Darmian was also amazing, hope he comes back to Milan.

Apart from the assist, Rooney was disastrous. They should've put in Rickie Lambert as the last sub, they lacked heading power for free kicks and corners.
 
Very boring game in the 2nd half. Raheem Sterling was fantastic, crazy that it's his first big tournament game and he's only 19.
 
Pirlo had a great game. He truly controlled the midfield all by himself.

Up to the 2-1 goal, England looked more dangerous than Italy when going forward. From 2-1 in, Italy did a classic "park the bus" job and they did it well. England created feck all for the last 35 minutes.

Also, Ivory Coast - Japan 2-1. Did anyone watch it? It was just too late for me.
 
I went to bed a happy wizard last night.

_75534525_022696400-1.jpg


Wayne Rooney is totally wasted out wide. He's more than good enough to play that role effectively but I don't think it's the position he should be playing in big matches. Raheem Sterling has been playing excellently as a winger all season so, as good as Sterling was last night, it baffles me why Roy Hodgson switched the two of them around. I do think I saw enough from England to expect them to be favourites against Uruguay though, who were appalling yesterday.

Later today the French start the tournament and I think they're due a good World Cup:

1994 Didn't qualify
1998 Winners
2002 Group Stage
2006 Runners-up
2010 Group Stage

Going by the recent pattern in French World Cup performances they should reach the semi-finals, because that's how football works right?
 
If England will do Uruguay or not depends on whether a certain arm chewer is fit or not. But going by yesterday's games, England should beat Uruguay comfortably and so should Italy - making England vs Costa Rica a key match.

France should win today. They had a decent Euro 2012 (knocked out by Spain) and a good qualifying campaign (finishing second behind Spain). Honduras were one of the weakest teams in the 2010 World Cup, but they were no pushovers in the CONCACAF qualifying campaign - finishng ahead of Mexico in the last group stage.

France to win 1-0.
 
I have sympathy for Switzerland squad. I think they showed nice football in previous tournaments but sometimes lacked some luck, let's say "average luck" you also need to get further. I have often found them the best team that did not go further but who still deserved it.

The current team is one big multi-culti team. Almost a quarter of the Swiss population is from foreign descent. The national team is more than an image of a multicultural society. Some names from the selection: Mario Gavranovic, Josip Drmic, Johan Djorou, Ricardo Rodriguez, Valon Behrami, Gökhan Inler, Xherdan Shaqiri, Haris Seferovic, Granit Xhaka, Blerim Dzemaili, Admir Mehmedi and Gelson Fernandes. Influences from Albania, former Yugoslavia and also Spain, Chile, Turkey, Cape Verde and Ivory Coast. Especially lots of Albanian roots from Kosovo (Xhaka, Shaqiri en Behrami) and Macedonia (Dzemaili, Mehmedi en Kasami).

I hope they get some more luck and then we're in for a surprise!
 
Last edited:
I hate to say that (the more he talks about his last seasons in Milan and his desire to leave, the more he sounds like a traitor), but Pirlo is still great. He is slow, but he has an incredible hability to see the game. I hope Balotelli will do a great world cup, so that Milan can get a lot of money from his tranfer and buy a great player. And I'm looking forward to seeing De Siglio.
 
I mean he won't do well with Milan on a regular basis. La testa non é a posto. I think the team needs a more stable guy, so I really hope he goes and Milan can do big money by selling him.
 
Still ridiculous. It's the players that are supporting him that are inconsistent, not him. Which is why he plays better for Italy. Get better players for Milan and Balotelli will play better too.
 
Do you deny his behaviour is often a problem for his team ? During his 18 months with Milan, he as had his moments, that's true, but he has not been able to lead the team. I'd rather have a Daniele Massaro or a Simone (not geniuses, but consistent guys) than this so called fuoriclasse.
 
harrisdevot said:
Do you deny his behaviour is often a problem for his team ?
Click to expand...
Yes.

-Balotelli cries after a match = OMG GUYZ WHAT AN IDIOT SOMETHING IN HIS HEAD IS WRONG
-Suarez cries after a match = LEAVE THE POOR GUY ALONE

-Balotteli picks up the ball in the middle of the pitch = HE'S NOT PLAYING AS A CENTER FORWARD ENOUGH
-Balotelli plays up front = DOESN'T TRACK BACK

Since he moved to Milan, I don't think he did anything out of the ordinary outside the field, unlike in his City times. He does have a reputation from those times which is why everything he does is blown out of proportion just because its him.
 
I do think some the stuff Balotelli got up to when he was in Manchester was more to do with him being a nineteen year old with too much money and just wanting to blow off some steam. Some other stuff was him being a dickhead though.
 
Night Prowler said:
Since he moved to Milan, I don't think he did anything out of the ordinary outside the field, unlike in his City times. He does have a reputation from those times which is why everything he does is blown out of proportion just because its him.
Click to expand...

Is Night Prowler an aka for Mino Raiola ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top