Speaking of awesome (radio) commentators. Italy-GAF, Francesico Repice is the GOAT, isn't he? The knowledge, the passion. Nobody else comes even close.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_rd08CA2vA
I personally love Tiziano. That man is cray.
Speaking of awesome (radio) commentators. Italy-GAF, Francesico Repice is the GOAT, isn't he? The knowledge, the passion. Nobody else comes even close.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_rd08CA2vA
Haha no. Maybe against the lower ranked teams in qualifying, but against top tier teams they always get destroyed in possession.
Japan basically scores goals off the odd counter attack, and set pieces. They are great in set pieces.
I have a love/hate for Mexico which leans to the hate side often times. Just been disappointed with them too much. Lol
I want Mexico to score a ton in every match they play just so we can get some more gifs of their couch going super saiyan.
Portugal is going to destroy the US. They're not a team that usually punches above their weight, but they usually devour lesser teams.US has a chance of reaching 2nd spot.
But not if Portugal plays like this:
I was disappointed by Japan's game but absolutely not surprised, it was totally on par with what I was expecting after watching them on a constant basis for the last few years.
It boils down to a few, fairly clair-cut problems if you ask me:
- They can't defend for their life. Central defense has been abyssmal all year and the positionning on counters left me wondering more than once what the fuck they were doing;
- Honda and especially Kagawa are very hit-and-miss. The latter was transparent today, not to say complete shit. Honda was good, but it's far from always being the case;
- They never do shit with the ball. They struggle to build decent plays and miss simple passes all the time;
- The team has a whole really seems to have a morale problem. They will ALWAYS drop the ball in a major way at some point;
- Kawashima just isn't good enough anymore. The problem is that I'm not sure there's any JP goalie fundamently better than him and he's a big presence for the team.
I wanted to believe and tried hard to convince people this group was totally doable for Japan despite my growing concerns. Today's game put a serious dent in that belief...
I'll keep supporting them until the end though.
Every team is bound to have a year or two like this. The Italians couldn't make it out of the group last time, now they're looking pretty good. You guys may not be so hot this time around, but it's nothing you can't fix by 2018.
I think the problem is deeper. The team fared fairly well over the last four years and the players, while rarely amazing, are really not too bad. I think it's more of a maturity problem that's really hard to overcome, especially with the INSANE pressure they are put under here. There are so much ads, campaigns and features that you think this is actually an accomplished team with a shot at winning. It's hard for people like Honda and Kagawa to grow in a healthy way when the media keeps talking about them like they are worldwide superstars.
For teams like Japan and England that lost 2-1
How they make it to the second place of the group? They have to win the next two matches?
Actually looks inevitable based on yesterday's performances, England 4th confirmed.I fully expect Costa Rica to beat Italy also, which will make it next to impossible.
Actually looks inevitable based on yesterday's performances, England 4th confirmed.
Oh crap, 10 more pages till end of thread. Do we have OT2 ready?
Occasionally, but they were terrible in the last half hour.I don't know about that, England played really well last night!
Occasionally, but they were terrible in the last half hour.
Which cities are they playing next? Hopefully no more humidity.
Hopefully no more humidity.
Me!Who's watched every game so far this WC?
I have, but I think I'm going to tap out for tomorrow's Swiss v. Ecuador game. I'm getting a severe lack of sleep and I'm falling behind on work. I'll still watch the Argentina and France games later that day. And I'll DVR the Swiss v. Ecuador game in case it turns out interesting.
Just looked it up; england will play next in sao paulo, it averages 15c this week there, humidity is at 80% though :lolI don't think there is a city in Brazil that is not hot and humid.
Zwitserland, France, Draw.Any predictions?
Group E Switzerland v Ecuador = Draw
Group E France v Honduras = Frenchies
Group F Argentina v Bosnia-Herzegovina = Argies
People said the same of Costa Rica and to a lesser extent the Netherlands. USA is a decent team, and Portugal has a spotty defense, or who knows Germany could have an off day. As Portugal and Germany are pretty equal, you might end up with a situation where it's going to be tied for two.The fact that people are even discussing the US moving on is ridiculous. It should not be uttered it's so insane.
Any predictions?
Group E Switzerland v Ecuador = Draw
Group E France v Honduras = Frenchies
Group F Argentina v Bosnia-Herzegovina = Argies
I'm imagining a England team that didn't call up Rooney, glorious
Can't find any game highlights or goals from Eng Vs Italy
Help please?
Well this thread didn't last long!
Missed the last game yesterday, was it any good? any highlights on youtube?
What's the best android app to get the schedule of the games?