Watching the USA team last night, I felt sad to realise that this was how England used to play: Compete as though your life depended on it..... never accept defeat until the final whistle.... Give a damn. What we have now is a team of media savvy multi millionaires who don't really care any more. They say they do, but they don't. Their media coaches tell them what to say when faced with soft questioning by lacky, lickspittle interviewers who give them an easy ride because they know that if they don't, they won't get another interview. The players say they tried their hardest during the world cup, but compare them to the Americans who ran themselves to the point of exhaustion and then look at how England played in their matches. Do you reckon the England players were trying as hard as those Yanks did last night..? I don't think so. I am full of admiration for both teams that played in that match. The Belgians were the technically superior outfit and would have won by a sizeable margin had it not been for the "over my twitching corpse" attitude of Tim Howard who didn't bother looking athletic, he just made sure he got something on the ball... anything..... just make the save. But USA hung in there and battled every inch of the way. It was a marvellous game and a great advert for football. It was also a lesson in determination, will to win and pride in representing one's country. A video of that match should be made compulsory watching for every England player who should then be told that that level of commitment, effort and desire should be the norm from now on. Nothing less will do. Most of them would probably announce, "with regret" their retirement from international football. In a game that is now more about technique, tactical formations and utilising substitutes to maximum benefit, England may still be quite deficient and might still not win that many more games than they do now, but we'd get some self esteem back, and raise our stock in terms of respect in the global football community. Right now, England are dismissed with scorn....... contempt...... slight regard and it is little less than we deserve. The players probably know this and couldn't give a damn. They're too busy making money out of commercials for computer games, shampoo and fast food.
If you admire the way the Americans played, you must have been heartbroken when Bradley Pritchard left us. Never mind, we still have Simon Church to console you.
I have a feeling you wasn't impressed? There is a video of Obama calling Howard and Dempsey - Howard is going to be a huge star in the states now! Funny that people mocked nike's decision to put him in their WC campaign promo's and he's won the adulation of all football fans now.
I also saw plenty to admire in the Americans' play. Apart from the lack of diving, petty obstructions and moaning at the ref, both teams played open attacking football which I thoroughly enjoyed, in contrast to the Switzerland- Argentina game earlier.
I understand Americans are so pleaed with their team they are thinking of replacing the bald eagle as the US emblem with a headless chicken. I understand why the media is hyping up that match. Half of them are employed by Americans and the other half would like to be. But I don't expect seasoned English fans to be duped. The standard of football was poor. We see better in the Championhship most weeks. Never seen the ball passed to opponents so often. Minimal ball control by the Yanks. Belgium had a record nimber of shots but most of them were like backpasses. Howard played well. I have always rated him. He consistently judged things right. But every shot he saved he should have saved. Had he let any of them in the commentators could rightly have said "the goalkeeper should have done a bit better with that one". He made no saves he had no right to save like the Mexican and Colombian keepers did.
Yes, eddie, I'm as confused as you as to why everyone's been raving so much about that game. A good game, true, but I don't think it was the best at this World Cup. Agreed about Howard, too. Although a few of the saves that Ochoa made were more or less straight at him. All he had to do was stand up to them, and that he did.
The point I was trying to make was not about the Americans technique or ball control or any other so-called "skill factor". It was about heart. It was about wanting to win and being prepared to fight for it. Tim Howard can only save the shots that are fired at him and I would rather have a goalkeeper that makes saves with his foot, knees, elbows or arse.... whatever... I don't care, than somebody like Joe Hart who was beaten four times in two games and whom I can't recall actually making a save at all during either of the games he played in. I suppose he did stop something at some point, but I really can't remember it. We can pick holes in the Americans footballing abilities all we like, but right now, I'd put them to beat England in nine games out of ten if the current teams played each other. They might not do it with "flair" or by utilising "world class players" like Rooney (don't make me laugh) or Gerrard (you gotta be kidding me..!!), but I reckon DeAndre Yedlin, who came on for Johnson after half an hour and ran riot down the Belgian left, would frighten the life out of Leighton Baines. We've got big name players who will be getting maximum hype in the run up to the new football season. Rooney will probably bag a hat trick against Burnley or Southampton or some other premiership relegation candidates and Sky will tell us he is "World Class" all over again. And we'll believe it. Not so clever against Italy though, was he..?
I see FIFA are actively considering ways to fiddle the decision so as to award the 2026 World Cup to the USA. Not that they have any experience of fiddling these decisions. The thinking is that such is the expansion of soccer in the US, giving it to them again will send the earnings into the stratosphere. Why not give it to them in either 2018 or 2022, they are certainly more deserving than Russia or Qatar.
USA had it in 94, why should they get it again so soon? Had £40 on France at 25s and £50 on Germany at 6s before the tournament, so whoever wins tomorrow is my team, hopefully France can do it, especially with 7 Germans having flu.
Wasn't that the one where there was no stoppage time? The television companies would not allow it because it would have interfered with their schedules. They had even talked about having the matches divided into 4 sections, to allow more advertising time. It was the dullest World Cup I can remember, with time-wasting rife, and penalty shoot-outs sometimes providing the only excitement.
Yep, 100% duped, I was on the edge of my seat. After the Switzerland-Argentina, with the ball passed endlessly sideways and backwards, it was a relief to watch 2 teams attacking and playing the ball forward. The TV pundits were full of praise for the way the Swiss smothered Argentina, but it was like watching climbing paint dry.
Wow doc - certainly had balls with those! I chucked 5 on France as they were my one of two outsiders, the other being chile at 40's. Still got 20 on Brazil but at a rubbish 3's and my handicap accums have been awful with the exception of 1. I won't even talk about my top scorer bet..
FIFA is desperate for Brazil to be in the final, so Coca Cola & Nike will open their cheque books again, salivating at the thought of that old fraud Pele handing the trophy to the "Boys from the Beach". What a photo opp - far better than handing it to Pedro from Columbia or Marcel from France, or Fritz from Germany. Good luck with your bets but I expect some 'interesting' refereeing decisions in Brazil's games from now, starting with the Columbia one tonight.
I only backed Belgium pretournament @ $25 and France @ the same price. Gut feeling and weak pool for Belgium, and distant french bloodlines in the family name. Might be worth putting some cash on a Red card being awarded in the brazil match !
The decision by the ref not to punish the brutal assault which put Neymar out of the tournament was quite interesting. The refs seem to be under orders to be lenient at this World Cup, and this is not the only thuggish behaviour to go unpunished. It reminds me of the way Pele was kicked out of the 1966 World Cup, or Maradona in 1982 I think it was.
Brazil were doing worse to James Rodriguez all game because they knew that Rodriguez was Columbia's greatest threat..... the ref seemed unwilling to book anybody, possibly because Neymar was on a yellow and another yellow would have meant he would have missed the semi...... well that didn't work then Would I be sad to see Brazil go out to Germany..... nah
Agree Brazil were very cynical, just as they were against Chile, but the knee in Neymar's back which fractured a vertebrate was pure GBH. If they keep fouling the German team like they did Colombia you will have bodies writhing around all over the place. Do you see why I praised the Belgium-USA game?
I have no sympathy for Brazil whatsoever. They unceremoniously kicked the **** out of James Rodriguez for 90 mins. They therefore have no right taking the moral high ground to bitch and moan about Neymar getting some of the same...!! I'm gutted for Neymar though. He's a lovely player who possesses more than enough pace, skill, movement and intelligence to have given the German back four sleepless nights. He would have given Mertersackofshit and Hummelz an absolute torrid time...!!
No-one now wants Brazil to win this World Cup. Some of those challenges last night that went unpunished were criminal. I hope the Germans smash them in the semis.
