We kick off tonight with Brazil v Croatia. I think I have predicted 3-1 to Brazil. Can't believe it's only being shown on Ch 4. So we have adverts and adverts with some football in between. During the opening ceremony they couldn't resist reminding everyone of the troubles and showing riots. Just what we needed to get into the spirit of the World Cup. There seems to be a growing feeling that this is the weakest team we have had for a long time, that our defence will be ripped apart and that Gerrard's legs have gone (ie not fast enough to cover the back 4 and not fast enough to support the strikers). Oh dear. Any views on this? Who will be the surprise packet of this World Cup? All the matches Group Stage - with results All the matches Knockout Stage Rules in the event of equal points in the Group Stage
Nice to see the brazilian players belting out their national anthem shame ours don't show that passion
I watched the game last night and was uninpressed. Dodgy penalty and Goalkeeping from the Croatian were a joke but tonight should be a cracker Holland v Spain,will the bad feeling from 4 years ago show on the pitch?
seen all the highlights now, poor refereeing display and brazil being typically poor at the back. Croatia gave a good account of themselves, mexico and Cameroon will probably both see tonights game as a must win (or at least must not lose) already. spain Holland could be a good game, obviously the dutch out for a bit of revenge and id like to see the end of tike-taka dominance this world cup! going for a draw tonight
I think the ref was very kind to Brazil. The scorer of Brazil's first goal should not have been on the pitch. It would have taken a brave man to reduce Brazil to 10 men when they were 1-0 down though. And the penalty should have been a yellow for the striker who dived. Without the ref's help I think Brazil could have been struggling, especially if Croatia had a decent goalie. Mind you, Brazil's goalie isn't great either.
I think brazil are a good team, but struggled under the pressure in the first game. A lot of defensive mistakes as a result. Neymar should have been sent off without a doubt, the referee bottled the decision to send off brazils star player. Interestingly the BBC were speculating that an early brazil exit would lead to more riots/protests so I wonder if the referee had that in mind
2nd group games ready for your predictions here http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/266168-World-Cup-prediction-league-Round-2 better put the link this time in case a certain someone cant see my signature
what a game, spain been given a battering! hopefully this is the end of tika-takka, I find Holland much more entertaining to watch!
Could easily have been more. That header from Van Percy was sublime. His shot that hit the bar would have been a cracker, as would Robben's volley late on. The 3rd goal should have been disallowed though. Inconsistent refereeing already.
