Great game and once again that fecking oily rat does something spectacular . A word for Mr levy get your checkbook out a certain isco is born to be a spurs player and the missing link to take us to the next level .
Spain/Portugal summary * Couldn't help but notice the lack of flags held by the Spain flags. Normally there's loads, be it the Spanish flags or the regional ones, but there wasn't a single one. It's almost as if the RFEF said fans could fly the Spain flag or no flag, and the fans called their bluff... * I know it was something like 2am in Sochi, but this crowd was dead. The crowd for Iran/Morocco were far livelier * Someone who had to pay an €18.8m fine for unpaid tax dives to win a penalty and promptly scored it. Commentators drool, rather than call him a cheat - to the surprise of nobody * Seriously, why are the crowd so dead? You'd think the Spain fans would be baying for the ref's blood after that, instead they're calm as Hindu cows * You know Portugal are scummy when you cheer Diego Costa for scoring * VAR after Pepe hurled himself to the pitch clutching his face, even though Costa's arm was nowhere near. Do the commentators call it a dive? Does the ref book him for simulation? Of course not - in either case * Isco's shot may not have crossed the line, but a Portuguese defender clearly handled the ball when it rebounded off the post. Of course the VAR didn't bother checking, and the commentators don't mention it * De Gea with the sort of howler that on any ordinary day would have the Glazers check to see if they're trustees of a neurology department somewhere. Well that's what the owners of a certain other redshirted team would do... * It's worth pointing out that this is the first match of the tournament where flashing ads for Budweiser on the hoardings every few minutes isn't offensive to the religion of at least one of the teams on the pitch * Rather than go hammer and tongs at the start of the second half Spain just played their normal game, something which an England team would never be allowed to do as there'd be several thousand of the IN-GER-LUND mob howling at every completed pass that wasn't lumped forty yards in the general direction of the centre forward and the three defenders marking him * Yup, still willing to cheer anything Diego Costa does against these scumbags * Thank you, Nacho, I was finally able to cheer something in good conscience * Did that raise the crowd? Nope... * Somebody really should tell the BBC their videprinter doesn't work properly, as it flashed up three scorers for Portugal in spite their being 3-2 down on several occasions, which is worse than ITV's being confused by the concept of second half stoppage time for the Russia/Saudi Arabia match * Once they were 3-2 up Spain started taking the piss with some tiki-taka, or maybe trying to work out who the focal point of their attack was after replacing Costa with a winger while nobody appeared to operate centrally * 3-2 down in the last ten minutes of the game, Portugal's main tactic was to concede a free kick, then have their player pick up the ball and walk a good five yards before either dropping it or, in one case, chucking it at a Spanish player. Did the ref clamp down on that with some bookings? Nope * Someone who had to pay an €18.8m fine for unpaid tax dives to win a free kick and promptly scores it. Commentators drool, rather than call him a cheat - here's hoping a Tunisian plays the exact same way come Monday, and the irony is as lost on the BBC's commentators as approximately 80% of the Laws of the Game clearly are * And then we had to listen to the commentators deepthroat the Oily Rat's steroid-shrunken dong for the remainder of the game, because cheats never prosper kids!
Here's one for you. Over here free to air broadcasting of selected matches only due to some pinhead deciding that giving the entire broadcast rights to a cable TV operator was a good idea for the biggest sporting event on the planet. If you don't pay for it you will only see 12 of the entire group stage matches free to air none of the knockout stages and because they're feeling sorry for us we get the quarter finals to the final. Optus are charging $15aud (about 30 quid)/ month for the privilege of watching the entire tournament online , what happens just as the Egypt/Uruguay game starts - the system crashes - they said - oops sorry we didn't anticipate so many users I feel everyone should be able to watch the entire World Cup for free not just the ones who put their hard earned on the table. Rant over!
Ronaldo is a cheat? How? Why would advertising alcohol be offensive? Just because they don't drink it I'm sure they don't care if it's advertised. Why are Portugal scumbags?
First up today France V Australia I am hoping for a competitive match and although I would prefer an Oz win don't think that's going to happen. But will be keeping an eye on Hugo to see if he brings his positive club form and not his OMG form. A draw for me.
Diving, constant gamesmanship and tax dodging For obvious reasons, considering Saudi Arabia and Iran are dry countries while Egypt's 50/50 on that one. Can you imagine adverts for the Gaucho Grill and Danish bacon at a match between India and Israel going by without comment? If not, that's why it would be considered offensive. Start with the Oily Rat and Pepe being in the team, then their tactics of constant time-wasting and gamesmanship. That makes them scumbags.
Morocco joined the US in the exclusive club of sides to have lost a world cup match to Iran yesterday. But match is so strong a word. What happened was that two groups of grown men spent a couple of hours kicking each other and rolling around on the ground clutching themselves. The six minutes of extra time at the end of the second half should have been at least 15, and a good case could be made for 45: well, you really didn't play any football at all that half; let's try again. Fittingly, the match was decided by a brilliant finish...into the wrong net. Few world cup days have had matches varying more in quality than the gulf between Iran-Morocco and Portugal-Spain.
Excellent save by Lloris to prevent an own goal. Australia haven't got forward much, but nearly take the lead.
Given what FIFA charge for tickets, who the hell is going to attend the games? It'll be like The Emirates on a Thursday night.
