Chose the Argies - think they will be there or thereabouts this time round
Gone for rank outsider think they have easy group one of best players in the world who. Eygypt
it'll come down to the ties in the elimination rounds of course, and I haven't really sat down to analyze it well, but I've been feeling Brazil for a while now. They dominated South American qualifying and have been in really good form for a while now.
I think Messi may turn up this time so I’ve gone for Argentina.
Have you actually voted on the poll Norman?
Regards,
Vic :D
I picked a dream team last night and didn't really notice until i'd finished that I had picked 4 Argentinians so I have gone for them! Also think Belgium will have a good tournament.
Not one England player from the west MidlandsI assume you mean from a west Midlands club? Not sure there would be that many to choose from anyway with only Livermore making recent squads. Realistically Southgate is only going to pick players from the premier league clubs so he could only really choose from Livermore, Foster, Dawson and Gibbs.
I assume you mean from a west Midlands club? Not sure there would be that many to choose from anyway with only Livermore making recent squads. Realistically Southgate is only going to pick players from the premier league clubs so he could only really choose from Livermore, Foster, Dawson and Gibbs.
No mate born in the Midlands
I thought at times Saudi played some nice football, but their overall quality was lacking. On one hand I feel that 5-0 flattered Russia, because Saudi weren't that bad, but on the other hand they created very little in the final third. I don't really rate Russia. A better team would have been in double figures.
I think the pundits made a good point that most of the Saudi team come from the top two teams in their league, so they're not used to defending much. Probably explained why they were left so open at the back so often
No mate born in the Midlands
Hegazi playing well.
Still at work, how is the former Albion player Gabr doing?Was doing ok to be fair.
Should be a sixteen team tournament with a round robin first round to get to the last eight, then two leg knockouts, then final.
what a hit
Caught the highlights :o of todays earlier games before the kick off of the Portugal-Spain game
God, who was that female commentator on one of them? I'm glad I didn't have to sit through a whole match of that whine. And the other match commentator was Jonathon Pearce, who was my least favourite until I heard her
It was on ITV so we didn't have a female commentator.
Cannot stand the smug tosser but what a goal from Ronaldo. What a game.
It was on ITV so we didn't have a female commentator.
Cannot stand the smug tosser but what a goal from Ronaldo. What a game.
To me,Ronaldo is the greatest player since Pele.
A player who makes things happen and gets you off your seat,absolutely brilliant.
To me,Ronaldo is the greatest player since Pele.He's a dirty diving cheat! Who only gets me off my seat swearing at the TV!
A player who makes things happen and gets you off your seat,absolutely brilliant.
To me,Ronaldo is the greatest player since Pele.
A player who makes things happen and gets you off your seat,absolutely brilliant.
Hey Jacko & 59,are you serious,I thought you knew something about football,obviously I was wrong.Maradonna, Messi, Best Eusabio Cruyff all stayed on their feet Ronaldo is a digrace he dives waves imaginary cards and winks! And yes I do know something about football thank you very much.
Who ranks above Ronaldo apart from Pele in your opinions?
All players have their quirks don't they,but non of the players come close to Rinaldo,he has consistantly performed at the highest level for years.Maradonna- hand of god and drugs cheat.Messi incomplete player at world level,Best as Messi,Eusabio poss top 5,Cruyff as Messi and Eusabio. Besty liked the pop,Cruyff smoked heavily but hey ho.Yeah it is about opinions mate, and you only think your right ;)
Ronaldo applied himself to the game ask Rio,he'll agree with me and he knows a bit about football even more than you mate.
Anyway its all about opinions but on this one both me and caravan are right.
God I hate VAR.
Went to it such a long time after the incident too. Ridiculous.
Umtiti obviously felt sorry for Australia.
God I hate VAR.
Tell you what though,the guy were supposedly interested in Trent Saintsbury,is looking pretty good to me.
VAR is awful.
From what I’ve seen I think both are penalties personally. The Aussie may have touched the ball but the French player is still through and in control when the follow through of the tackle brings him down. Admittedly I’ve not seen the best angle and the ball might have been uncatchable which would change my opinion.
Messi disappointing. Ronaldo on fire.
Best player of all time bar Pele.
Who else has nerves like the man?
Messi disappointing. Ronaldo on fire.Totally different opponents. Everyone is going to struggle to break down that Icelandic team. Pulis must’ve loved it.
Best player of all time bar Pele.
Who else has nerves like the man?
Messi disappointing. Ronaldo on fire.
Best player of all time bar Pele.
Who else has nerves like the man?
I've enjoyed the games so far - but I don't think we've seen the winners yet
I agree and your right it was only one game. One was against Spain and one was against Iceland though, no offence to Iceland.
I just don't get the sense that Messi has the will ,when compared to Ronaldo , to drag the team by the scruff of the neck through the tournament.
That's what sets him apart for me.
No, we don't play until Monday. ;)
I agree and your right it was only one game. One was against Spain and one was against Iceland though, no offence to Iceland.Neither of them compare to Maradona in that respect, and neither does Pele who played in some of the greatest ever teams.
I just don't get the sense that Messi has the will ,when compared to Ronaldo , to drag the team by the scruff of the neck through the tournament.
That's what sets him apart for me.
Brazil? Overrated,uninspiring dare I say it boring.
No chance of winning it.
Neymar,who he?
Mark Lawrenson is the biggest bell3nd ever to walk into a commentary studioid take Lawrenson every time over Martin Keown and Lee Dixon.
And on a side note... England won.
Kyrchowiak proving all the backers wrong on here.
It's not just us he was poor for, he's just not that good.
Well balanced and wonderfully executed through ball.
Pity it was played through to the opposition forward but never mind.
A pass of genuine quality, he didn't even need to look up ;D .
How does one game in the World Cup finals prove all the backers wrong, if anything the fact he is there suggests the so called backers have more idea then those who believe he is poor.
No doubt they believe Lewandowski is rubbish as well.
It's not one game in the World Cup finals though is it, it's a series of shocking performances for us compounded by a "HOWLER, ABSOLUTE HOWLER" (as the BBC put it) when playing for someone other than us.
Pathetic excuses for the Pole and the whole team.
Beaten by Senegal, ranked what in the world,well played say I.
Pathetic excuses for the Pole and the whole team.
Beaten by Senegal, ranked what in the world,well played say I.
Hey Aztec, read your previous post,for excuses mate.
Also Poland are ranked 8th.
I've been watching in Germany and the tv panel were blaming Krychowiak for the painfully slow build up in the Poland attacks. Replaying some of his sideways and backwards passes from defensive midfield position. That was before his blunder.[/b]
I have to say, he looks like a decent Championship midfielder but nothing more.
My top-5 goals from the first round of matches:
1) Coutinho.
2) Nacho
3) Ronaldo (naughty word).
4) Mertens.
5) Kolarov.
Best player in the world for me Ronaldo is
He gets targeted by every team,after the kickings he gets id go down a bit easier to get the culprit yellow cards and stop him doing it
The man turns up week in week out, every tournament, every final
Cant knock him hes the consumate professional, he will go for another 4-5 years I reckon
What about when he hits the deck when there's no contact though like today? Personally I don't think there'll every be a good enough excuse for simulation. It is what it is irrespective of the circumstance or player.
Iran looked like they based their gameplan on Pulisbal. 10 men behind the ball etc. perhaps without the reliance on set pieces.
So I was pleased to see them get beaten 1-0. When a team plays Pulisbal, I luv it when they get beaten 1-0. :)
What's going on with the pundits at this world cup? They are dreadful. Evra, Drogba, Keane, some token women.
Bloody awful.
Co-commentators aren't much better Danny Murphy, Kevin Kilbane and the atrocious Mark Lawrenson.
Those "token women" are providing some of the best analysis. Alex Scott is particularly good.
"Some token women" bloody hell.
The women are more atriculated than the men
Some great analysis of the games from them
Messi, definitely looking out of sorts at the moment
Ronaldo is the ultimate individual, Messi is the ultimate team player. Messi can match Ronaldo goal-for-goal for club because he has some of the best players in the world around him who can take advantage of what he does, and help him out, whereas Ronaldo prefers to do it all himself because he feels like he can.
You're seeing that in this tournament; neither Argentina or Portugal are great teams, but Ronaldo is delivering his solo moments of quality, while Messi is looking for teammates who just aren't good enough. Seriously, look beyond Argentina's front line and this is their weakest team in living memory. Their number one goalkeeper is Man United's back-up, and that speaks volumes.
Ronaldo is the ultimate individual, Messi is the ultimate team player. Messi can match Ronaldo goal-for-goal for club because he has some of the best players in the world around him who can take advantage of what he does, and help him out, whereas Ronaldo prefers to do it all himself because he feels like he can.
You're seeing that in this tournament; neither Argentina or Portugal are great teams, but Ronaldo is delivering his solo moments of quality, while Messi is looking for teammates who just aren't good enough. Seriously, look beyond Argentina's front line and this is their weakest team in living memory. Their number one goalkeeper is Man United's back-up, and that speaks volumes.
If you can't perform at the world cup you can't call yourself truly world class,Messi isn't world class, ronaldo is.
But if you do perform at a World Cup does that merit being called World Class?I think so, to perform consistently at the highest international level is where the greats stand out. there's been some great players that just don't do it at major tournaments. Rooney is a perfect example, great striker but did nothing at world cup or euro tournaments.
I'm only talking about the Messi/ Rinaldo comparison.
Messi was player of the tournament in Brazil 2014... ???
If you can't perform at the world cup you can't call yourself truly world class,Messi isn't world class, ronaldo is.
If you can't perform at the world cup you can't call yourself truly world class,Messi isn't world class, ronaldo is.
Messi was player of the tournament in Brazil 2014... ???
Ronaldo has dragged his team to win in this world cup,whereas Messi couldnt do it,with arguably better players in his team.
But he won mate.
And? Didn't drag his side to victory. I have a very different version of dragging a side to victory. Messi's hat trick against Ecuador after going 1-0 down was a performance that merits such a phrase.
Diego Costa didn't drag Spain to victory the other day did he? Like Ronaldo didn't for Portugal.
Clearly you're a Ronaldo fan though so I'll be bold to say you're slightly blinkered. Which there's nothing wrong with just won't see reason.
Yes you are probably correct I am a Ronaldo fan.
Its the world cup,arguably should be the best players in the world playing in Russia.
If you were from another planet and had been watching the matches, I think they would say that on his performances so far that Messi ain't one of them,whereas Ronaldo....
I think so, to perform consistently at the highest international level is where the greats stand out. there's been some great players that just don't do it at major tournaments. Rooney is a perfect example, great striker but did nothing at world cup or euro tournaments.Rooney did it for Man Utd in the Champions league and Europa league though so he can play well in tournament football, it was with England he ultimately failed, so it's more about the team than the player in his case.
Hey fritzle,I love you too.
Foul on Mitrovic easily one of the worse instances of VAR not being used. Makes the fouls on Kane in the box actually look legal.My understanding is that the VAR officials (and there are 4 of them) are able to draw incidents to the referee's attention in this tournament, is that correct? If they fail to do so for blatant fouls like this, whilst awarding penalties for the ball hitting a player on the arm when he's about a yard away from the ball and looking in the other direction, it's bringing the whole of football into disrepute.
My understanding is that the VAR officials (and there are 4 of them) are able to draw incidents to the referee's attention in this tournament, is that correct? If they fail to do so for blatant fouls like this, whilst awarding penalties for the ball hitting a player on the arm when he's about a yard away from the ball and looking in the other direction, it's bringing the whole of football into disrepute.
They also need to do something with retrospective punishments to put an end to players rolling around on the floor in mock agony over the slightest challenge and then be running around again as if nothing's happened a few seconds later. It needs to be dealt with in a similar way to diving and I'd be handing out tougher penalties for both.
Foul on Mitrovic easily one of the worse instances of VAR not being used. Makes the fouls on Kane in the box actually look legal.
Was as if he'd was a wide reciever sandwich between two defensive ends! :o
Chadli about to come on.
When was the last time one of our players lifted a world cup?
Was Pulis managing Sweden in the second half...Reckon so.
Glad Germany won.
Will never wish for Pulis style anti football to be 'successful'. Especially at the world cup.
Say what you like but I can't stand the Jerries.They do tend to get the rub of the green more often than other countries. Should’ve conceded a penalty and been a man down in the first half. Found it hard to believe the ref had to think about Boateng’s second yellow as well.
They get raggy wins all the time, scrape through and lift trophies.
And they score their penalties too.
8@$T4RD$
The Goat has arrived ;D
Germany go Bye Bye.
Germany didn't deserve to go through. Not enough desire nor planning.
Lucky to beat Mexico.
They didn't they lost 1-0, they were lucky to beat Sweden.Oops..I was wrong...Should have checked the facts.
Germany go Bye Bye.Don't mention the VAR! :D :D :D :D
Don't mention the VAR! :D :D :D :D
Anyone seen that bloke in the Belgium side that looks like Chadli?😁At least we now know what he’s been up to in his spare time. Nice bun!☺ï¸
Surely it’s better to lose this right?!not sure, we could meet Brazil if we get past Colombia or Switzerland if we get past Japan. if that's the case winning the group looks better.
Surely it’s better to lose this right?!
Columbia..then Sweden or Switzerland...doesnt sound too bad..
Decent game for Chadli. Could easily get into the England side on that performance. Which should make his position in our starting line up a no brainer.Go on I'll bite, are you being serious!?
If this match was a horse race there would be a steward’s enquiry! Neither team looked as if they were trying to win. There’s no team now capable of stopping the England team reaching the final.Probably not too far off with that assessment. I was wondering whether we were going to gain yellow cards in order to swap places, and was so pleased when they scored. They even made it look as though we were trying as well! Its a great result for us, and just for once we can be ever so slightly confident.....
With the best chance of progressing to a World Cup Semi for 28 years you could easily see Falcao and co turning us over after we pat ourselves on the back for "avoiding" Brazil...All we have to do now is follow our chosen path with diving properly. Or punching the ball into the goal. This is my 13th World Cup. I don’t care how we advance. Just be better cheaters than them. Sad I know, but it’s the only way to win anything. Just VAR getting in the way.
All we have to do now is follow our chosen path with diving properly. Or punching the ball into the goal. This is my 13th World Cup. I don’t care how we advance. Just be better cheaters than them. Sad I know, but it’s the only way to win anything. Just VAR getting in the way.
Go on I'll bite, are you being serious!?I am. What did he do wrong? Stayed the course for the full 90 minutes as well.
Footballs Coming Home Syndrome or FCHS
This is funny and very very true ;D
https://mobile.twitter.com/paddypower/status/1012064524676096007/video/1 (https://mobile.twitter.com/paddypower/status/1012064524676096007/video/1)
Mbappe scores again to increase Frances lead 4-2 and he’s only 19 years old!
He's a real talent but Argentina set up perfectly for him to play against. Absolutely awful tactics. They've been a mess all tournament.
I would take nothing away from his performance HE has taken full advantage of the situation
Also don't have to see people writing Maradonna instead of Maradona on this forum any more either! ;)
Of course he did.
However, Argentina did what Spain did against Portugal. Ignored the opposition and took the view that this is the way we play and we won't change. Both teams played a very high line and left players with the pace and quality of Ronaldo and Mbappe space behind and one on one with defenders. The only way you can win like that is if the quality of your team is significantly better than your opponents or you have sufficient pace at the back.
Spain have far better individuals than Portugal and are the better team but given their age etc not that significantly anymore. Argentina do not have better individuals than France player for player and they are not as good a team. They were lucky to lose only by the odd goal and in fact I think they've had the rub of the green throughout the tournament but they still weren't good enough.
Mbappe is a very good player but people will now go over the top as they tend to do. For example was it Mark Lawrenson (?) during the first France game that absolutely hammered Pavard as a right back? He wasn't bad today was he.
i just think it's important to keep things in perspective.
Spain against Russia....
Possesion but no probing.
Having watched Uruguay and France I can say I'm glad we're on the other side of the draw. Uruguay looked decent and reseloute they may struggle now if cavani out for the rest of tournament.
People been waiting for France to turn up... I still think they barely left second gear today and there's more from them.
Think Spain might not have the easiest game tomorrow. Thought they had played some nice stuff but struggled versus both Iran and morrocco. If Russia pulled one out the bag we could really begin dreaming about the final
England's side of the draw is stronger than you think. Colombia and Croatia being the best two sides remaining, other than England.Stroke of genius from Southgate to throw the Belgium game, took real balls to do that. Absolutely the right decision though, whatever happens, he has given us the best chance we can ever hope for.
If we can win tomorrow night we will give ourselves a real chance. You have to fancy France and Brazil from the other side of the draw, although Belgium continue to look strong at a major tournament for the first time.
Tomorrow v Colombia is the biggest England game I can remember in my lifetime. Stick with the team from the Panama game and get on the front foot. Colombia missing James is a big miss.
Stroke of genius from Southgate to throw the Belgium game, took real balls to do that. Absolutely the right decision though, whatever happens, he has given us the best chance we can ever hope for.
To reach the final we will have to beat Columbia, Sweden / Switzerland and Croatia / Russia. All of whom we would be favourites against. Get at them from the off and put them to bed.
It's Coming Home!
brilliant performance from Japan to go 2 up against Belgium2 - 2 now
2 - 2 nowheight advantage 😁
You gotta laugh aint ya? Apparently Chadli looks "really fit tonight".
Never thought I'd hear those words together in a sentence. ;D
His transfer fee's going up by the minute.you were saying
Just need him to score a blinding winner
His transfer fee's going up by the minute.
Just need him to score a blinding winner
His transfer fee's going up by the minute.
Just need him to score a blinding winner
you were saying
Oh,that's what he looks like.
Hardly recognised him with the bun on top ;D
It was the lung bustin run that threw me. Never seen that from him before.
Didn't look like a player that's been dogged by injury all season either did he?
Trying (very hard) to be objective about who could win it, I'd say out of the teams left, Brazil are clear favourites, with France, Belgium, then Croatia and England behind them.
It's a wide open World Cup but in the latter stages as we know, quality and experience really counts so you'd have to fancy Brazil atm?
I have to say I've been impressed with Chadli, not just his attacking but also his willingness to track back and defend.To be fair, he did that under Pulis, even though it was not his natural game he gave it a go.
Agree with the posters that have said the performances (and goal) will have helped increase his value.
I'd rather he stayed if we are going to get the same player.
Brazil 1-2 Belgium FT
All of the remaining teams in the tournament are from Europe.
SF1
France v Belgium
SF2
England or Sweden v Russia or Croatia
Brazil, although I think if Uruguay stand a good chance.
It’s coming home.
It’s coming home...
It’s coming home.its coming....
its coming....
Football’s coming home...its coming home...
That's the first Albion flag I've seen at the wc
I've seen a few now (though I think it might actually be the same one at multiple matches) they were behind the goal against Sweden (2 flags down from a dingle flag)
really really nervous about tonight's game, how is everyone coping!! I'm a WBA and England fan, this territory is complete alien to me.
Croatia nowt special from what i have seen. had a decent game against Argentina
Argentina are rubbish.
there you go then, a walk in the park
This will be a step too far. Dreading Modric and Rakitic up against Alli and Henderson.
Main hope is the fragility of Dejan Lovren against pace and our set piece presence.
Hand moved down to ball definate penalty so called correctly
Agree about free kick but definitely a penalty, my only moan about the ref was why it took him so long to award it!
Not a penalty in a million years, awful decision. Wasn't a free kick either.
Regardless of whether it was deliberate or not, the defender affected the direction of the ball.
Not a penalty in a million years, awful decision. Wasn't a free kick either.
Regardless of whether it was deliberate or not, the defender affected the direction of the ball.
Regardless of whether it was deliberate or not, the defender affected the direction of the ball.
Hand moved down to ball definate penalty so called correctly