Post: #201

That penalty call was horrible. Holland brought their A game though. Solid performance by holland, tough team to beat.

Post: #202

Spain fell apart in 2nd half, reminded me of Atletico's collapse at the end of CL final

They do have a history of starting international competitions slowly (loss to the swiss in 2010, 1-1 vs italy in 2012).

That being said, 5-1 is just shocking

Post: #203

CAHILL!

Go the Aussies

Post: #204

(06-13-2014 11:36 AM)JJ Roberts Wrote:  What the fuck is going on with the standard of officiating at this world cup!?

World cups are a circus for referee decisions. Always been like that.

Post: #205

KIA world cup ads with Adriana Lima:





Actually, in Portuguese it's "futebol", not "fútbol"... and if she were speaking Brazilian Portuguese, it would sound like "futibóu"!

Post: #206

Cahill is a freak when it comes to putting headers on target. He's so hard to mark and such a clutch player

Post: #207

Wow didn't see that 5-1 of Holland coming!!! I'm ecstatic as I've always been a fan of the Dutch and their open and offensive football. Hoping they can continue that form as long as possible this year!

Now Spain will face Brasil in the next round if they qualify. In other words, Spain's World Cup is as good as over.

Post: #208

Watching the World Cup from Asia is really tough, really kills the World Cup feeling. One has to wait/wake up around 4am to watch a game.

I didn't watch the Spain - Netherlands game. After watching the highlights, it seems it was a game worth waking up for.





How come nobody commenting on the Chile - Australia game? Im trying to find highlights as well but Youtube is infested with fucking trolling videos.

Post: #209

I saw most of it. Australia put up a good fight but technically they are very poor. Chile's class came through in the end.

This group could be quite interesting, Chile's athleticism and speed will test Spain.

Spain can still get it together though, they lost the first game to Switzerland in 2010.

Casillas looks shaky, just like in the CL final.

Post: #210

(06-13-2014 11:05 PM)FretDancer Wrote:  Watching the World Cup from Asia is really tough, really kills the World Cup feeling. One has to wait/wake up around 4am to watch a game.

I didn't watch the Spain - Netherlands game. After watching the highlights, it seems it was a game worth waking up for.





How come nobody commenting on the Chile - Australia game? Im trying to find highlights as well but Youtube is infested with fucking trolling videos.

Chile scored two goals early on, Australia came back with a header from Cahill late in the first half. Australia created lots of opportunities but really only had Cahill as a lone striker. Several yellow cards against Australia trying to minimise the impact of Chile's strikepower. Third goal to Chile in second half stoppage time. Cahill not happy after the game:

http://www.smh.com.au/fifa-world-cup-201...z34aC1HpdM

'In another incident, involving Chilean left-back Eugenio Mena, Cahill said he was awarded a yellow card when it should have been given the other way.

“In the first-half, there was an incident where the left-back elbowed me and kicked out at me when I was trying to run past him for a cross, and I’ve got the yellow card,” he said. “I called him a cheat and he said “Yes, I’m a cheat, so what?”.'

Now if someone had said that to me, a broken nose would have been their reward (and a red card mine, I suppose)

Post: #211

(06-13-2014 11:13 PM)caracal Wrote:  “In the first-half, there was an incident where the left-back elbowed me and kicked out at me when I was trying to run past him for a cross, and I’ve got the yellow card,” he said. “I called him a cheat and he said “Yes, I’m a cheat, so what?”.'

Now if someone had said that to me, a broken nose would have been their reward (and a red card mine, I suppose)

Zizou, is that you?

Post: #212

I like the way us Aussies play the game. None of this diving crap, aggressive, lots of sliding challenges and a few cards.

No striker though apart from Cahill. We had enough chances in the 2nd half to at least tie the game, but the goal kept going begging. Cahill almost scored a 2nd but was offside by half an inch, and Bresciano had a shot just inside the box but was saved nicely by the Chilean keeper.

Then they score in the 93rd minute to make it an unfair scoreline. Don't like our chances of picking up a point in this group unfortunately.

Post: #213

Chile really came out strong against Australia in the first 15 minutes, I thought they were going to run away with it. The Australians battled back, but they were definitely outclassed pretty badly.

For Chile Arturo Vidal's fitness problems were talked about a lot before the game, as he had surgery on his knee last month. I don't follow soccer religiously or anything, but I thought he looked good today, although he was taken out at the 60-minute mark. Chile plays Spain on Wednesday, and I would love to see Vidal recover a little more and hopefully pull off an upset. Not that I have anything against Spain, I just love a good upset.

Post: #214

I missed the first 20mins of the Chile match. I thought Australia was the better team from Cahill's goal onwards. Saw the stats at the end and it said 62% Chile possession. I would have thought 60-40% in Australia's favour.

Saw the replays of Chile's first two goals and they were class. That last goal happens when the other side is attacking and pressing for the equaliser - they open themselves up. Australia played really well I thought - good spirit, good attitude.

We definitely get carded more than the average team. Must have a reputation for being rough so we get fouls when not even really warranted.

Post: #215

What a great day for us dutchies.....major hangover from last night celebrations. Vamos Colombia!

Post: #216

One would think the Dutch won the World Cup the first game in. Another heartbreak World Cup for them if their track history stay consistent.

Post: #217

If Hodgson gets his XI right then I think England will get a good result against Italy. England have more legs than Italy which will play well in Manaus.

Have fun playing in the most inhospitable climate in the world.

Post: #218

Spain lacked motivation, when losing 2-1 they were still tikitaking like they didn't care much.

Post: #219

Spain vs. Netherlands, 2010 (lone goal):



Spain vs. Netherlands, 2014:

Post: #220

Spain vs. The Netherlands, 2014 (continued):

Post: #221

Spain vs. Netherlands 2014 (continued)

Post: #222

Spain vs. The Netherlands (continued)

Post: #223

Rooney has never scored in a WC, he needs to come big this tournament.

Post: #224

Greece played like shit.Our players could not control the ball at 3 m ahile Colombians had 0.5 meter control.Great mistake not to use Mitroglou earlier.i would play with two strikers Mitroglou Gekas from the beIginning.Greece has no hope if it continues like this

Post: #225

I'm not sure many people are aware of the force south american teams will have in this tournament, besides the hosts.

Yesterday with Chile who packed the stadium with their fans, and sung the full anthem 'a cappella' even after the hymn ended.

Today the same with Colombia who packed 40000 of their fans in the Mineirao and after the dutch had the best offensive performance thus far.