With just a little over two weeks to go, it seems there may be some apathy towards the World Cup. So to try and get a little enthusiasm sparked, and to have something other than NA and the board to discuss - shall we talk about the 'people's game' for a change? I doubt I will get to watch many games 'live' as the timings of the game are ridiculous for us lot in Asia, with one of the England games being a 5am kick off, and another at 2am, but I will try to follow the competition via some highlights that should be in abundance on the net. Naturally I will support England, but expect very little from them. Over to you guys
Yep looking forward to it. Hope England do well but not holding my breath. Australia qualified so it means plenty of general World Cup coverage here, even if the group phase looks to be about it for the "Socceroos" (I kid you not, that's their name) with Netherlands and Spain in their group. Likewise the time zone is a mare for Aus with the late games being easiest at 7am.
I'm actually looking forward to it but perhaps not in the same way as I have done before. I usually go into World Cups completely from an England fan perspective, only really focusing on how well our national team does. But this time, with expectations so low in that regard, I'm just looking forward to watching some high quality football. I feel its more open this time too. In recent years Spain have been far and away the best team and were winning things without even stepping into fifth gear. I feel there are several genuine contenders this year though which will make for a much more exciting tournament. Also, with the South Africa World Cup being a bit crap, I feel we are due a good one this time round.
It will be a much needed distraction from matters Norwich for me this time around. Largely missed the last one due to the arrival of my firstborn, but sat down to "enjoy" England's demolition by the Germans: needless to say that was the England babygrow's only appearance on the little one. There's something special about a world cup in Brazil and although i'm sure England will continue to disappoint, at least the overhyped generation are slowly fading from the team.
Well if and when England get knocked out I have a tenuous link to the host nation as my daughter's boyfriend is from Brazilian stock so I have a good excuse to cheer for them. That said, like many others, Brazil have always been my 'second team' because of the way they play the beautiful game. [video=youtube;M5HbmeNKino]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5HbmeNKino[/video] [video=youtube;ryIGWJx_CmA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryIGWJx_CmA[/video] [video=youtube;ngE9RCAdWaE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngE9RCAdWaE[/video] Edit:- ...........and they also produced arguably the greatest side NEVER to win the World Cup [video=youtube;zZxvYy5-ekI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZxvYy5-ekI[/video] That last clip is nearly 6 minutes long but I would strongly recommend that the younger posters on here who have never seen that team before watch it all the way through. When football is played like that it really can take your breath away
I have never forgiven them for this..... [video=youtube;cVksdN4QnvA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVksdN4QnvA[/video] Brazil went seriously down in my estimations.
well i'm looking forward to it and for once, i think the england side looks promising with one, huge exception in the form of mr rooney. take him out of the side and use a front four of sturridge, with lallana, barkley and sterling behind and out wide and i think we have skill, pace and flair in abundance. rooney ends up slowing the whole team down and we become too stodgy. we aren't good at the back so i don't see us competing too far into the competition, especially given the difficulty of our group - although i do think we stand a chance of getting through and if we could top the group we have a great chance of making the quarter finals - but i like the youngsters in the squad and i think there's some promise in there. spain will probably struggle to win the tournament, simply because i can't see them winning four majors in a row - brazil favourites i suppose. not convinced by them at all though, i've been enjoying watching the tremendously underrated chile play in recent years but i don't think they have a realistic chance of making the last four as they'll probably face the hosts in the 2nd phase, but i do see them probably knocking out the dutch en route. can messi dominate the tournament? not so sure. the belgians are dark horses but not totally convinced by them to be honest. france have a great route through to the latter stages. and then there's the germans of course! its very open this year. i did this predictor (see below) and ended up with 3rd place argentina, runners up spain and winners brazil. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo.../World-Cup-2014-Wallchart-Predictor-Game.html
I'm also actually pretty excited, it's just we have had a lot else on our minds! I love the World Cup. I do want England to do well, but because I suspect we won't, I also won't be particularly disappointed.
That last clip is nearly 6 minutes long but I would strongly recommend that the younger posters on here who have never seen that team before watch it all the way through. When football is played like that it really can take your breath away [/QUOTE] I have to agree on that. Without doubt the best team I have ever seen at a World Cup. It was a travesty that they didn't win it in '82.
Aussies have landed. First team in Brazil and swamped by a hungry media like they've won the thing. Soccerroo's, champions of arriving at least.
Anyone watching the England-Peru game this evening? Surprised to see Welbeck start ahead of Sterling, and he's offered nothing so far. Smart goal by Sturridge, but we're hardly dominating the game.
Welbeck is lucky to even be in the squad never mind the starting line up. Sterling should definitely be starting in place of him.
Started watching it, got bored and switched off. Why Rooney is seen as this star man I don't know, he just loves to give that ball away. His first touch is shocking at times.
I don't know why he's seen as untouchable and has to start every game. I'd rather have seen Barkley played in the middle of the 4-2-3-1
