• Major upgrades completed! Please report any issues you spot in here

FIFA World Cup Brasil 2014

andy18cruz said:
English fans are disgusting when comes to Rooney. The guy misses a corner and he's booed like that? After an assist and two good scoring chances. They don't deserve a player like that
Click to expand...

Confidences is catered! They hurt the team by venting out at Rooney. Imagine Rooney did a Casillas , he couldn't go back home.
 
Thought that was a good game. England didn't do badly but it's clear that Italy are a level above them, not only in quality but as a unit they are well oiled and Prandelli knows what he wants from them.

Hope the Italians on here have something to shout about this time round after the failure under Lippi last time.
 
Impressive from both. England controlled the match in terms of posession and keeping it in Italy's half, but Italy were resolute and didn't offer many great chances.

Don't like that the narrative is all around Balotelli. He was poor, aside from making a decent run. The cross made the goal (and Gary Cahill being woeful). Did Italy attempt another attack in the 2nd half?
 
This World Cup has been a joy to watch. So far Mexico - Cameroon was the most boring match, but it wasn't a bad match at all. Very entertaining and two massive upsets already. :)
 
Being alone upfront could be frustrating , he took his chances and finish well.
Honda is a lil beast!!
 
I thought Balotelli did really well, his hold-up play was sublime. Nearly every touch was perfect and it allowed Marchisio and Candreva to join up with him. If it wasn't for Jagielka's great clearance, he would've had a brilliant goal as well.
 
Aurier. Horrible defending on Japan goal, but two great crosses for goals. Great header on the first by Bony.
 
Damjan said:
This World Cup has been a joy to watch. So far Mexico - Cameroon was the most boring match, but it wasn't a bad match at all. Very entertaining and two massive upsets already. :)
Click to expand...

Agree. In fact, that was the only match where less than 3 goals were scored :OOOH:
 
Actually the goals were scored, but the officials cancelled both Giovani dos Santos's goals!

Japan were lacking a lot in the 2nd half, so Ivory Coast took over.
Honda is excellent though, but Kagawa needs to click too if they're gonna make it through.
They can surprise Colombia and should beat Greece under normal conditions.

Ivory Coast will probably top this group.

Oh, and Italy vs England in the jungle was actually rather entertaining! One of the best matches so far.

Italy got into a great position but England can take a lot of heart from that performance.
Hodgson is making England play way better than Capello, McLaren or Eriksson ever did IMO.
Sterling and Sturridge on fire!
 
It was insane to see the way Costa Rica destroyed Uruguay with a good way to play football, Campbell se volvió loco (went crazy) and with his work and the effort of players like Navas, Duarte, Gamboa, Bolaños, Borges & Ruiz we went there and placed all our courage in the field to turn the tables and make an epic win after being called Costa Pobre (Poor) by Uruguayan press
 
beachryan said:
Impressive from both. England controlled the match in terms of posession and keeping it in Italy's half, but Italy were resolute and didn't offer many great chances.
Click to expand...
i think u got it the other way around there, mate :P
but yes, england were fantastic. i haven't watched every game so far, but they've been the most impressive team of the tournament so far, from what i saw. :))
Beachryan said:
Don't like that the narrative is all around Balotelli. He was poor, aside from making a decent run. The cross made the goal (and Gary Cahill being woeful). Did Italy attempt another attack in the 2nd half?
Click to expand...
u see what happens when u spend most of your times talking about refs?!? u forget how to read a football game! :D
balotelli wasn't poor at all. he did a great job. do u realize how difficult it is to play as a lone striker in that formation? he did exactly what he was supposed to do.
we didn't produce much in the 2nd half, but that doesn't say anything about mario's game, as we weren't even trying to produce anything in the 2nd half. when it's june and u're playing your first competitive game in more than a month, in the middle of the amazon... and your winning it, your objective isn't to try and score one more goal.... your only focus is to save your energies, to slow down the tempo as much as possible, and to mantain possession.
besides all england's scoring chances came from counters. why would u try and score again, risking any more counters, once you're in the lead? that would be just stupid.

however you're right about balotelli's performance not being the main talking point of the game. he did very well, but it wasn't his performance who won us the game. that was prandelli. he absolutely nailed the game. every decision he made was simply perfect (except for lining up paletta). he had us playing a very slow tempo and horizontal football, which isn't something we're used to. and yet he had his players executing his plan perfectly. u could say we were more "spanish" than spain itself yesterday.... and considering how far that is from our usual football, that was really an impressive feat.
 
Last edited:
Balotelli was pretty good. Besides the goal and the other scoring chance he had (Jagielka clearance on the line). He made several runs (without the ball) that opened spaces for the CMF's and played the pivot role very well, which is required by the lone striker. He did what he was supposed to do. Played his role in a very organised team.
 
wow that defence by Italy....i dunno im the only one who noticed it there was some moments when the whole Italian team moved in once to the same direction and stopped in once while England was attacking. like pro dancer. it was just as beautiful as RVP's goal


they even might win the WC. so far the Netherlands and Italy are favs



EDIT: wich will be the first match that will end in a draw in your opinion? :D
 
Last edited:
gabe.paul.logan said:
it was just as beautiful as RVP's goal
Click to expand...

It makes me happy to see people appreciate stylish defending. I can enjoy 0-0 matches if it is a result of great defending rather than poor attacking.

Initially, this WC, I was furious with the refereeing but I must admit that this WC has been fantastic so far. Positive and offensive football, a lot of goals coming from both great attacking and horrible defending. The worst match so far has been Mexico-Cameroon because the ref team blatantly stole two goals from Mexico.

Sadly I missed Uruguay-Costa Rica (second half) and the whole England-Italy match.
 
yep, that was paletta indeed. for the whole game he was a disaster waiting to happen.

as for that call, it was a shoulder to shoulder situation, so i wouldn't say it was a clear mistake by the ref. but yes, a penalty kick wouldn't have been an unappropriate call either. :))

anyway i thought it was an overall good performance by the ref. he didn't make any major mistakes, he let the game flow and didn't try to be a superstar.

also the players on both sides made things very easy for him. no diving, clean tackles and very nice fair play from both the english and the italians. :))
 
Last edited:
Don't think it anyone on the pitch thought that was a penalty, and neither did I.
 
I agree with Damjan.. it's not a foul to shoulder tackle a player who is out of balance. Gerrard generally get stricken by poor balance in the penalty box, which most ref's are aware of as well.

Regarding the obvious Paletta spite being voiced here, Paletta is a great defender who could defend a spot in many NT's in this WC. You can't hold lack of Argentine call-ups against him, Argentina has weird selections overall. Why haven't Ansaldi been selected when Argentina hasn't had a proper left back in ages? Ansaldi would've been selected for most other countries without doubt. Tevez not called up? Another weird choice by Argentina. Rodrigo Palacio doesn't offer anything that Tevez doesn't do better.
 
Last edited:
Back from my match and now even more angry that I didn't watch at 3:00 this morning...:D

Good matches so far, really delighted with this WC so far.
 
ZeroTheHero said:
I agree with Damjan.. it's not a foul to shoulder tackle a player who is out of balance. Gerrard generally get stricken by poor balance in the penalty box, which most ref's are aware of as well.

Regarding the obvious Paletta spite being voiced here, Paletta is a great defender who could defend a spot in many NT's in this WC. You can't hold lack of Argentine call-ups against him, Argentina has weird selections overall. Why haven't Ansaldi been selected when Argentina hasn't had a proper left back in ages? Ansaldi would've been selected for most other countries without doubt. Tevez not called up? Another weird choice by Argentina. Rodrigo Palacio doesn't offer anything that Tevez doesn't do better.
Click to expand...

Apparently Tevez and Messi don't get along. Paletta chose Italy over Argentina, he has Italian heritage and he said he would fulfill his great-grandfather's wish by playing for Italy. His great-grandfather was from Calabria and moved to Argentina.
 
ZeroTheHero said:
Regarding the obvious Paletta spite being voiced here, Paletta is a great defender who could defend a spot in many NT's in this WC. You can't hold lack of Argentine call-ups against him, Argentina has weird selections overall.
Click to expand...

spite is a big word, mate. i've got nothing against gabriel. he had a great season in parma and i agree he might be a starter in many teams... but he's just not good enough for italy. bonucci, barzagli, ranocchia and chiellini are just on another level.
 
Great world cup so far. England need to send Glen Johnson back to blighty. It's like playing with 10 men for 90 minutes with him on the field.
 
Such an exciting WC ! Teams are playing offensively, aiming for winning! First rounds on both WC2006 and WC2010 were boring death.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom