"[No Zeal] wags a Finger of Admonishment at the referee's assistant." Is the gesture half as funny in England as it is in the US? Over here those of us of a certain age remember it as something used by the Oldest Grumpiest Teacher. To see a young man using it is like seeing a young man with his belt around his ribs. Who changes five players from a team that just had its best results ever? I could see three, to save them for later. But five? They've looked good, though, overall, tbf. And now Germany are unlucky not to have at least one and possibly as many as three goals. Algeria should use their subs now, before the game's gone. Germany pull a free kick routine they must have gotten from clowns in a clown car, complete with intentional pratfall. And now every call is going Germany's way. What a surprise. Algeria has paid the price for benching Bentaleb. (Not bringing on subs for extra time in general seems a little insane, when the game had gone completely German.) "Four years ago, No Zeal would have smashed that with his left foot...lack of confidence really." Sudani is crap. I don't know why he played and is still playing. Mustafa misses an open goal and looks like he's going to cry. He should. Algeria, which passed and used the field so well, have stopped doing both completely. Three times in a row they've ignored wide players and dribbled straight into the heart of the defense, then lost possession. Lahm does a Vertonghen on the Algerian.
When will they learn ?? If you don't wan't ET or penalties, a token Spurs player MUST BE ON THE PITCH.
It would be pretty embarrassing, but not at all surprising, if it turns out the Cameroonian players who were paid to throw matches were the ones that never got off the bench. Meanwhile, Robben admits to diving and FIFA don't do a damn thing about it. I can't help but wonder if they'd have been so lax if Mexico won and a Mexican player admitted to diving.
Wasn't it the same game that Muntari was sent off for an "inexplicable" elbow. That's where suspicion will lie.
Wasn't Muntari the player at Portsmouth on £80k a week for doing sod all and refusing to take a pay cut even though the club was bankrupt? I appreciate that most African players have horrendously poor backgrounds and the idea of going back to poverty must scare the hell out of them but there must be a limit to what a person would do for more money. He should never have to worry about money for the rest of his life with the money he has earnt over his career.
No, partly because it was Alex Song that got sent off for elbowing Mandzukic between the shoulder blades, and partly because Muntari plays for Ghana (or did, until he roughed up a member of the Ghanaian FA committee...)
http://www.theguardian.com/football...2014-cameroon-investigate-match-fixing-claims Its the Croatia game which has caused most suspicion, although this convicted fraudster could just be a world class predictor, like RebelSpur & HIAG
As I mentioned the other day, when I posted this ( ), the guy not only predicted the scoreline, but that Cameroon would have someone sent off in the first half. Song clearly picked up some dubious morals during his time with the Goons.
Apologies PNP ! What happens to a player that earns millions that they would even consider fixing a match for what in the grand scheme of things results in them receiving amounts which I would guess aren't life changing compared to their already massive salary? Madness to risk their career.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they bet substantial stakes themselves, perhaps via proxies. They're already cheating, so why not double up?
They had some "expert" in betting scandals who was talking on a podcast show I downloaded a while back, who mentioned that in the most part, the players involved receive very little compared to the fraudsters who instigate the match fixing. Could be as you suggest and then more, ensuring their friends and family get a nice little treat!
So did Bentaleb not play due to the Ramadan situation ?? I could only find press stuff where he allegedly said "no comment" on whether he was observing Ramadan. Given the time overlaps would have been known well in advance, I would have thought a dietary plan would have been worked out similarly for Algeria players.
