Not unless you have them in the sweepstake. They proved they are an ordinary side with a few good players who don’t like being made to work that hard. The Danes gave them a real lesson in graft tonight and the longer it went on, the more space they got. In the end I think it was Croatia who were the happiest going into penalties that they weren’t out. They now face another workmanlike side in Russia, a game that’s suddenly too close to call. Anyone else not happy we’re in this half of the draw now?
The worse the opposition the lower the achievement of progressing is and the greater the humiliation of being beaten.
I really can’t see that as a reply to anything I said...? Croatia in the group games were excellent. Tonight, nowhere near as good. At the moment, it’s all about progressing. If you lose, nobody will care who to after a few days. If you win, nobody cares pretty much straight away who you beat.
‘Anyone else not happy we’re in this half of the draw’ For you it may be all about progressing, not everyone. If we lose to Columbia or Switzerland/Sweden, the feel good factor about the England team will, in my opinion, fade away and the progress made in the shape and style of the team will be forgotten. Whereas if we beat Japan and then lost to Brazil in the quarters this will be seen as a tournament in which we made great progress. If we should beat Brazil, then lose to France in the semis it would be seen as a great tournament for England, like Italia 90. In the half of the draw which we are in the wider expectation that we should get to the final is definitely growing. Though I am very positive about the team I think we are not fully cooked yet, and this expectation is unrealistic. As far as I can remember you think we should drop Kane and play 4-4-2, neither of which we are going to do, so presumably you don’t harbour high hopes.
I wanted us to beat Belgium but seeing Spain go, surely it’s worth the risk of a harder second round now? We will never have a better chance to win it. Not saying we will or that it’s even likely, but we have to beat three, at best, decent sides to have a pop at Brazil or France. This never happens.
At the point where the newspaper headlines at the 2030 world cup say "maybe this will be our time, seeing as we all remember the day we lost in the last eight to Brazil twelve years ago" I'll agree with you. Now? No way. We have a chance, if we play to our best and counter the threats put in front of us by Colombia, to go very deep into the competition. That's what will be progress, not beating Japan and then losing to Brazil, like we did in 2002 (Denmark first). If Kane keeps getting goals when the ball hits the back of his leg and goes in, then I'm happy for him to be there. The facts are that he's scored two tap-ins (admit he still had to put them in), two penalties, and something he knew nothing about. I can't recall any other shots he's had on or off target. and while a 100% strike rate is nice, if he's our main striker I'd be looking for more that five attempts in three matches, given the amount of chances the stats say we're making. I'm not going to go overboard and declare him SPOTY and give him a knighthood like some would, but I would like to see some more attempts from him, which could have given him the golden boot already and given us the sad defeat against Brazil you crave. If James Rodrigues doesn't play tomorrow, that gives us a better chance of beating Colombia. I think we know enough about Sweden or Switzerland to counter their play, and if we do, that would give us a semi final (which WOULD get remembered) against either Russia or Croatia. Both would be very different games, as we'd need to hold and break more against Croatia, whereas against Russia we'd see more possession as they sat back in their formation and tried to break on us. I think we certainly CAN get to the final. I don't think we SHOULD get to the final, but this half of the draw gives us a far better opportunity, and if you'd rather lose than get there, I suspect you're in a very tiny minority, mate.
In my opinion England have now chance of the century to go all the way to the final. Colombia, Sweden/Switzerland and Croatia/Russia stands as hurdles to Englands first final since 1966. Theres no Italy, Holland, Argentina, Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium or Brazil and certainly not Germany to play against before final. If England use their best strenght the speed (and Kane of course) against those teams and dont ,in any circumstances, underestimate any bit of those teams they will go all the way. Colombia, Sweden, Switzerland , Croatia and Russia are all well organized from the back and are easily ready to hit back whenever they are allowed to do so. Stiil, as i said this is the chance of the century...
I am delighted to be in a tiny minority, I am in most things. I don’t crave defeat against anyone (and have no idea why you would put it that way other than attempt to wind me up, which is tickety boo with me, water off a ducks back), I always want England to win, I would just rather play the best instead of hoping for the path of least resistance to success. I suppose you are also praying for plenty of injuries and suspensions for our opponents as well. That’s fine, we just have different attitudes, I just like seeing good football played by the best players around, if my team wins that’s brilliant, but I wouldn’t be a QPR fan if it bothered me that much. I’m really enjoying this tournament, and will continue to do so no matter how far England get. In fact some of the World cups that are most memorable to me have been helped by the absence of England as a distraction - West Germany 74 (the Dutch!), Argentina 78 (the Dutch again!), USA 94 (Maldini and Baresi shutting out the Brazilians.....nearly!). Though I will confess the best was Italia 90, mainly because I was there.
I’d love for Rodriguez and that big centre-half to be ruled out. If the goalkeeper could pull a muscle in the first minute that would be fabulous.
Well, you actually said you'd prefer that we lost to Brazil than won. If I misunderstood you, you're making it very easy to do so. I agree that I'm also enjoying the tournament and will continue to, but part of that is genuine excitement that the route to the final is - on paper at least - less hazardous than it would be had we won the group. A QF against Brazil (or Mexico), a SF against Uruguay or France? or a real shot at a final against one of those?
In the interests of factual accuracy, I said it would be seen as a tournament where we made progress if we lost to Brazil. I’d prefer us to lose to them or France/Uruguay than Colombia/Switzerland/Sweden, which isn’t the same as saying I want us to lose against anyone. Why make stuff up, especially when it is so easy to check?
On the face of it having France, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico and Belgium all on the other side of the draw does appear like the luck of the draw and allows countries like Sweden, Russia and Croatia to think they have a once in a lifetime chance. The highest ranking of all teams on our side of the draw is Switzerland - ranked at number 6 (or 7 ?) on the FIFA rankings. My dream would have been to beat Germany in the semis, but that is not going to happen England have not had a chance like this for years, and, although the share of glory is not as great as winning on the other side of the draw would have been (sounds like Henry V before Agincourt) - I can live with it. When the Germans got to the final in 2002 they knocked out Paraguay, the USA and South Korea to get there, but it didn't stop them patting themselves on the back.
Just to say. I don't care who we beat...as long as we keep winning for here on Jolly nice to play Belgium in the finals 1st team vs 1st team BUT LETS JUST GET PASSED AN AWKWARD COLOMBIA FIRST
Exactly. We've found ourselves in the half of the draw where we avoid all the really dangerous (and in fairness in-form) teams. And now Spain, the most dangerous side in our half of the draw has lost as well. It's a tournament of upsets so far, and given our performances in tournaments (last semi final was euro 96, last (and only) final was in '66) this has to be our best chance. We won't go into any game as favorites, but we will go into every game with confidence. I'm not so sure the same could have been said in a draw that threw Brazil, France, Uruguay, and until they fell Argentina and Portugal, at us.
They will regret not getting something from that storming start, as the second half ticks by you would expect Brazil to strike eventually
