June 17, 201412 yr USA vs Ghana and Mexico vs Brazil have been top-notch nerve-wracking games indeed. Hope this intensity carries on with all matches! Heart-attack inducing stuff... wow...
June 17, 201412 yr Author Viva Mexico! Viva Ochoa! That was some supreme goal keeping, I think he just helped his free agency.
June 17, 201412 yr Viva Mexico! Viva Ochoa! That was some supreme goal keeping, I think he just helped his free agency. Edited June 17, 201412 yr by screaming oranges
June 18, 201412 yr "A Chile fan taunts Spain who became the fifth holder to go out at the group stage of the next World Cup" With an iPad? http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/25285155 Cheer up Antonio, with the pressure off, you can now sit back and enjoy "The Beauty of the Game". I doubt it will be long before others are in the same situation (myself included)
June 18, 201412 yr Unbelievable! No way did I see this coming. Antonio, I feel your pain, but, Grahame has a point - enjoy the rest of the matches with no (or little) care of who wins - just admire "The Beauty of the Game". Very easy to say ... very hard to do, eh?
June 18, 201412 yr No worries, somehow I could see this coming. A big part of the "secret" of this team was the defense, particularly the two central players, Piqué and Puyol who were playing together since childhood in the Barcelona, then in the national selection team. They knew their moves, and mixed pretty well with the lateral defenders, also were great starting the game to the midfield. Puyol retired from the selection, and Piqué (today Martínez) and Ramos (who was the right lateral in the 2010 winner team) don't mix that well. There are many other factors, like the long League season, and two of the teams giving important players to this selection playing the Champions League finale just three weeks ago. They had no time to prepare and rest compared to other teams. We all knew this and still were hopeful their mentality and experience would overcome that, but it wasn't enough. This is the World Cup and every team is a menace. Almost anyone can defeat a great team. This smells like the end of a cycle and I'm afraid we won't have a winner team like this for ages. It was nice while it last. Thanks for the cheering up, mates!!! Good luck
June 19, 201412 yr Author I think Antonio is right and Spain is at the end of a cycle. But that also means new players coming up to play the style of futbol pioneered by Spain. I am optimistic that the Spanish national team will be back in winning style soon. That being said, Chile played a very good game and deserve a lot of the credit for the win. The team I was most impressed with in today's matches was Australia. They played the Netherlands tough and had a real chance to end the game in a draw. Their tenacity and determination were impressive. No bludgers or wallies on that team.
June 20, 201412 yr That Suarez, eh? Not a mathematical elimination for the lads, yet, but an improbable set of results are required for England to progress to the next round. Still it is a Beautiful Game, right?
June 20, 201412 yr Author England looked good on offense but their defense looked unsure. Suarez is an awesome player, too bad he's a headcase.
June 20, 201412 yr It's all there is left Yeah, we've been waiting for years for England to play more like Spain, and NOW they start.
June 20, 201412 yr Meanwhile what they say: "At least we lasted longer than Spain" translation: "I feel dead inside"
June 20, 201412 yr Yeah, we've been waiting for years for England to play more like Spain, and NOW they start. Now you want them to play like Costa Rica.
June 20, 201412 yr Meanwhile FIFA almost shows taste .... http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/17/soccer-world-headphones-idUSL2N0OX1VH20140617 http://www.cnet.com/news/fifa-bans-beats-headphones-from-world-cup-matches/
June 20, 201412 yr Author Central and South American teams have improved drastically in the past 8 years and it is really showing in this World Cup. Costa Rica is the real deal. Congrat. France was really impressive and beat up on my Swiss team (Karen and I agreed on 3 of 4 semi finalists, I chose Switzerland for my 4th and she had France). France just blew them away with the pace of their play. Now watching Honduras and Ecuador in a motel room in Louisville, KY drinking screw top white wine. This is living.
June 20, 201412 yr I wish Honduras could have pulled it off, but another good match for the most part anyway.
June 21, 201412 yr I'm hoping any latin country beats Brazil to the cup. I want upsets to happen everywhere this cup! Edited June 21, 201412 yr by screaming oranges
June 21, 201412 yr Poor Iran they deserved more, but that damn hormonated dwarf... Yeah, I was hoping for Iran, but it was not to be.
June 21, 201412 yr At some point there will be justice. I don't see either Argentina, Brazil or Italy in the final unless something really weird or unfair happens. At this point Germany is one of my main candidates to play that game.
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