Featured: World Cup Round Up - Group Stage Round 3

[tlw content]

With Spain and Australia already having been dumped out all eyes were on the Chile / Holland game to decide the winners of Group B. I’d been looking forward to it all day, Chile are rarely involved in crap games as they’re so positive, and their players and fans singing national anthem is a sight to behold.
 
Unfortunately the same isn’t quite true of Holland who seem to be almost exclusively a counter attacking side this tournament and have a shite anthem. It was a poor game but Holland were solid at the back and threatening on the break with the lively Robben. They won it with two late goals from substitutes Leroy Fer (yes that one) and Memphis Depay.

I think everyone would be in agreement that Chile are better than England, right? Not only do they perform better in World Cups but they beat England at Wembley not so long ago. Yet here’s the thing. Chile are picking players from Cardiff, Nottingham Forest and Wigan amongst others. Their best player is class and plays for Barca, but is he that much better than, say Sturridge or even Rooney (don’t laugh) for example? So when people talk about England not having the players, to me it’s a steaming pile of Zlatan.

They’ve got the players, they’ve always had the players. Yet they regularly get beat by sides packed with players from lesser clubs. Kinell, even Holland had Fer from Norwich and Ron Vlaar from Villa in their squad.

Chile’s coach is a demonstrative little fellow though isn’t he? He doesn’t rule as much as the Mexico coach but I quite like him nonetheless. Can’t say the same for his assistant though, who was patrolling the touchline wearing one pink and one turquoise boot. I’m dead set against coaching staff wearing boots anyway, but this is a new low. I mean what the actual fuck?

The other game in the group saw Spain beat the Aussies convincingly to salvage a little bit of lost pride as Alonso and Villa played their last games for their country. Villa signed off with a goal but hardly anyone noticed as the game meant nothing.

In Group A Cameroon showed more in the opening ten minutes against Brazil than they had in their previous two games. They were pressing high up the pitch and they were attacking with pace and confidence. Unfortunately they had Charles Itandje in goal so they were going to need to score a bucketful to have any chance.

Neymar put Brazil ahead against the run of play with a nifty finish but Cameroon hit back well and missed a couple of chances before eventually equalising. Neymar then bagged his second as Champagne Charlie dived out of the way. Pitiful stuff, it’s offensive to me that this fucking clown will be able to tell people he played a World Cup.

Fred added a third with an offside effort from close range. The commentary team tried to use that as justification for why he’s selected and how he’s ‘showing his critics what he can do’. No, still garbage and offside goal apart he did fuck all again. Still, even fuck all was more than Captain Bigarse managed. The Invisible Hulk.

Fernandinho replaced the once again invisible Paulinho and added a fourth goal late on. He’s so much better than Paulinho it’s not even a contest, how is he not first choice?

Neymar swapped shirts with Barca team-mate Alex Song at half time. Song was suspended after his scandalous lack of discipline in the previous game. Is it just me or should he not have been allowed Neymar’s shirt? Not only because he acted the twat in the last game but because he wasn’t even playing so the whole ‘shirt swapping’ thing shouldn’t apply. Isn’t the whole point of it that you get the shirt of someone you’ve just done battle with?

In the other Group A game, Mexico turned on the style to dump Croatia out. I fancied Croatia to win this one but Mexico blew them away with three 2nd half goals before Perisic grabbed a late consolation. The celebrations of the Mexican coach were once again the most impressive thing about the performance. What a guy. He’s the mad uncle who keeps everyone entertained at family parties.

 

 

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[Whelan5]

Are we getting a full article on Suarez then?

 

[tlw content]

Haven't got time to do it at the moment as I'm finishing off the book and I have to do a piece for ESPN tomorrow.

 

I'll probably keep my powder dry on it and see how it plays out over the next couple of weeks and then do something for the site.

[Marcas]

Just read that if he's still here come November he'll have missed 33 leagues through suspension, not one game of which was for a red card....nearly an entire season! Utterly unbelievable

[UnwelcomeinPeru]

There's potentially quite a messy legal issue with the Suarez matter, in that Liverpool don't have any institutional appeal or redress against the FIFA decision - even though that clearly costs them a great deal. In some ways that is the situation with doping cases, but the difference there is that doping cases are subject to a worldwide code and are accepted as having global application by all involved. This is very different. By taking the unusual step of making the ban apply across all forms of football FIFA has put itself in a difficult and avoidable position. 

[Spy Bee]

Is Sanchez Chile's best player, or is that Vidal? Other than that I agree with your point about the standard of players though.

[dave u]

Defo Sanchez for me. 

 

Costa Rica are in the quarters having won a group with Italy, England and Uruguay. It wasn't a fluke either, they deserved to win the group as they were the best team. Their star player is a Fulham reject. Definitely not about England 'not having the players'.

[index1000]

Why are FIFA not all over the dispatches report where they have the Cunt from the Ghana FA involved in match fixing? come to think of it why aren't sky , BBC and the print media all over it as well? 

AND now fucking Cameroon being investigated for match fixing! Wonder if the fucking Mirror will run a round the clock blog on that the fucking twats.