OT: soccer thread

[doc.end]

Chile - Australia most boring game so far. Chileans can play but they are small and they pass back when they should shoot. Soceroos have headers and that's it.

Looking forward to see Brazil vs Spain in first round.

[fatlever]

not sure which game i enjoyed more, spurs destroying miami or netherlands detroying spain.

[Liver_Pooty]

I don't watch soccer, at all, but im pretty sure my 9 year old neighbor even scored on Spain today. What an embarrassment.

[Thaliontil]

Can´t believe what happened yesterday. It was a tremendous disappointment. We didn´t start bad both halves but all of a sudden our defense and Casillas (he hasn´t played a lot this year in Real but he always seems to recover his greatness in the national team) just lost the focus and we watched ourselves with a 1-3 against us.

Xavi can play 90 minutes of a game no longer and I think he should be replaced by Koke. I don´t understand why Torres is on this team. I hope that the game against Chile is better because we need that win, i still believe in this guys, they have give us a lot of titles and good games and they have the same level as the best teams on the tournament

[Det the Threat]

Can´t believe what happened yesterday. It was a tremendous disappointment. We didn´t start bad both halves but all of a sudden our defense and Casillas (he hasn´t played a lot this year in Real but he always seems to recover his greatness in the national team) just lost the focus and we watched ourselves with a 1-3 against us.

Xavi can play 90 minutes of a game no longer and I think he should be replaced by Koke. I don´t understand why Torres is on this team. I hope that the game against Chile is better because we need that win, i still believe in this guys, they have give us a lot of titles and good games and they have the same level as the best teams on the tournament

You guys need to replace Xavi or Alonso with a winger against Chile, cause the wings are their biggest weakness.

Also, Casillas has looked bad during some of those CL games(especially that final) as well and being a backup/rotational goalkeeper for two years straight doesn't seem to help.

Anyways, looking forward to todays games with those different styles.

[fatlever]

fair to say spain needs to inject a little more youth into that first 11 that has basically been together for 6 years. those young guys are hungry. give them a chance.

and yeah, no idea why torres made the team. he is only valuable in games where a team plays an aggressive back line giving him a lot of room to run onto thru balls. how often does spain get space behind a defense that is playing an aggressive back line? there is a reason chelsea tries to avoid playing torres at home, because he is awful against a packed defense, something that spain almost always faces.

colombia looks really good today.

hey det, what is your prediction for the starting 11 for germany?

[fatlever]

funny story about our fantasy league - i got ewingsweatsalot to sign up for the league, he and i work together. he originally had van persie in his starting lineup. a few hours before the start of the world cup, he changed van persie to neymar. when the games started, he realized he forgot to put neymar in his starting lineup. neymar and van persie proceed to both score 2 goals a piece. ewingsweatsalot get 0 goals. LOL.

[Det the Threat]

colombia looks really good today.

They scored that early goal and were able to play counter attack against a team that can't create for themselves.
Though, that defensive looks a bit shakey given how easy you can attack their wings.

hey det, what is your prediction for the starting 11 for germany?

That's a good one.
Here's my "prediction"

--------------------------------Klose---------------------------------

---Podolski----------------------------------------------Müller------

---------------------Kroos--------------Khedira----------------
-------------------------------Lahm-------------------------------

-Höwedes---------Hummels-------Mertesacker-------Boateng-

-------------------------------------Neuer-------------------------------


Though, Löw could also play Schürrle, Özil or Götze instead of Klose.

funny story about our fantasy league - i got ewingsweatsalot to sign up for the league, he and i work together. he originally had van persie in his starting lineup. a few hours before the start of the world cup, he changed van persie to neymar. when the games started, he realized he forgot to put neymar in his starting lineup. neymar and van persie proceed to both score 2 goals a piece. ewingsweatsalot get 0 goals. LOL.

Well, I started Rojo instead of de Vrij, but maybe the Argentinian will also score.

BTW: That scoring system is broken.
David Luiz got me 9 points and Sergio Ramos 11. Somehow they give points for shots blocked etc...

And now James scores. Guess who's fantasy team he's on?

[Snidely FC]

Wow, to me that Costa Rica over Uruguay was more shocking than the Spain loss to Ned.

[fatlever]

Wow, to me that Costa Rica over Uruguay was more shocking than the Spain loss to Ned.

not saying i would have expected that result in 100 years, but costa rica was really good in qualifying last year.


england's midfield allowed pirlo way too much time and space on the ball. you'd think they would know that by now as many times as they have played against him. perhaps its time to let gerrard sit on the bench next to lampard. and i cant help but think that ashley cole could have done better than baines today. just sayin.

[Thaliontil]

Is Low playing Khedira, Det? He hasn´t look good (at least in Real) after that injury, but I don´t remember if you have another great defensive midfielder apart from him. He always looks great with Germany, though. From my point of view Klose it´s going to be the striker. Low is in love with him and he can overtake Ronaldo´s record (I hope so!)

I agree with everything you have said about Spain. Del Bosque has said that he is going to make some changes, and I suppose that Xavi is going to the bench, and perhaps Silva to introduce both Koke and Pedro (that would be logical). I don´t know if Costa is also going to the bench to give minutes to Villa, the player who better adapts to our system.

Wonderful game yesterday by England and Italy. Love to see both Pirlo and Verratti, but also the great performance of Candreva. Sturridge and Sterling are also something special. I thpught that England was going to have a worst team but they could really give an upset in that group.

And finally: about the punctuation system of the Fantasy League: 9 points from Ramos, 4 from Busquets and 14 from Armero (18 in the case of the defender because he is my captain). I thought that Spanish players were going to receive 2 points at max...but I can´t complain :p. How can I look at your teams?

[Det the Threat]

Is Low playing Khedira, Det? He hasn´t look good (at least in Real) after that injury, but I don´t remember if you have another great defensive midfielder apart from him. He always looks great with Germany, though. From my point of view Klose it´s going to be the striker. Low is in love with him and he can overtake Ronaldo´s record (I hope so!)

Yeah, he seems to start Khedira but that's because we lack real defensive midfielders with both Bender twins and Gündogan not even making the team due to injuries and with Schweinsteiger not being at full strength as well.
Because of that even Christoph Kramer made the team even though he played just one season at Gladbach(is only loaned to us till 2015 from Leverkusen) and doesn't have any experience at that level.
He'll also most likely rotate Khedira and Schweinsteiger until both are fit enough to play and he can put Lahm where he belongs, which is at right back.

I would start Klose as well, given that I hate that false 9 crap, but he's not been at full stregth either and might be a good option from the bench, showing a different style.

I agree with everything you have said about Spain. Del Bosque has said that he is going to make some changes, and I suppose that Xavi is going to the bench, and perhaps Silva to introduce both Koke and Pedro (that would be logical). I don´t know if Costa is also going to the bench to give minutes to Villa, the player who better adapts to our system.

Yeah, it's probably time for you to mix it up a bit to become a bit more unpredictable. That system(pretty much Barca's system) has been decoded and can be beaten with a good counter tactic and enoug talent on your squad.

BTW: Costa's a clever SOB. That tackle from de Vrij would've gone nowhere if it wasn't for Costa stepping on his leg, creating the contact that led to the penalty.

Wonderful game yesterday by England and Italy. Love to see both Pirlo and Verratti, but also the great performance of Candreva. Sturridge and Sterling are also something special. I thpught that England was going to have a worst team but they could really give an upset in that group.

I think it was business as usual. England trying very hard, being at least as good as Italy but missing chances while the Italiens converted their chances to take the win.

That next match between England and Uruguay will be interesting as both teams need to win.

And finally: about the punctuation system of the Fantasy League: 9 points from Ramos, 4 from Busquets and 14 from Armero (18 in the case of the defender because he is my captain). I thought that Spanish players were going to receive 2 points at max...but I can´t complain :p. How can I look at your teams?

I can't look at the other teams either.
Though, I've posted my team before and currently I have those points:

Cillessen --> 6

Ramos --> 9
David Luiz --> 7
Rojo -->

James --> 12
Hazard -->
Iniesta --> 3
di Maria -->

Neymar --> 14
Lukaku(C) -->
Müller -->

That's 51 points from six players. Not that bad.

[LamarMatic7]

really enjoyed yesterday's set of games. had a watching party with some friends, stayed up until 6am to see all of them. a cool upset by Costa Rica (I agree with it being a more surprising result than the slaying of Spain), my Italian team beating England and Drogba's substitution on to the field inspiring the young Ivory Coast players to score two consecutive goals.

[doc.end]

I am really glad Bony scored, happy for him I root for him and Bosnian Džeko to do well as those are the two foreigners that broke out in top czech league and managed to get so far. There was even movement to get Wilfried citizenship and convince him to play for us, before he started to play for Elephants.

[fatlever]

here is my starting team:

gk: asmir begovic - bosia

def: fabian johnson - usa
def: kenneth omeru - nigeria
def: konstantinos manolas - greece (5pts)

mid: eden hazard - belgium
mid: oscar - brazil (13pts)
mid: michael bradley - usa
mid: son heungmin - korea

att: neymar - brazil (14pts)
att: edin dzeko - bosnia
att: romelu lukaku - belgium

notable bench players:
jon obi mikel - nigeria
peter odemwingie - nigeria
roger espinoza - honduras
andy najar - honduras
vasileios torosidis - greece


by the sounds of some of the reported scores of defenders, i should have spent more money on my defense

[LamarMatic7]

god... Ecuador really let that one slip away.

[fatlever]

is there any way to see how many pts your non-starters scored? i cant figure it out.

[Det the Threat]

Man, those Group E games have been pretty boring so far.
The Swiss didn't move at all and still somehow managed to win and France didn't have a glue what to do with that defense of Honduras.

is there any way to see how many pts your non-starters scored? i cant figure it out.

Don't know. I've tried to look it up but I can't find them.

[LamarMatic7]

I guess I'm in a real World Cup mood but I enjoyed the Switzerland-Ecuador game last night. There were plenty of attacks for my taste.

Meanwhile, I watched the France game from the perspective of rooting for the underdog, Honduras. I had the feeling that they might even pull off the 0-0 until that penalty shot. Two crossbars and not scoring on the initial pressure they made is bad karma. Palacios bailed them out.

[Det the Threat]

The starting eleven for Germany against Portugal will look like this:

--Götze------------------Özil----------------Müller--

-------------Kroos---------------Khedira-------------

----------------------------Lahm-------------------------

-Höwedes-----.-Hummels---Mertesacker------Boateng-

------------------------Neuer---------------------------