[Lorric]

Now personally I think The Sun is only good for wrapping fish and chips, but this is kind of funny:



For those who don't know Luis Suarez has twice bitten a player. You can see the last time in the top right corner.

Man, I should have known, we got ****ed over by The Sun last World Cup with the EASY group and now this. I can only laugh. And admire what Suarez did today, phenomenal player, I can't stand the sinister side to him, but today nothing but World class talent on show and first game back from injury too.

[karajorma]

Well I could say that we deserved to win. But it would only be proof that I was delusional. Uruguay totally deserved to win. England didn't even deserve a draw! For the first 30 mins or so England huddled together like the last survivors of a massacre. There was no good reason for it. Why the **** are you letting 2-3 players in your own half spook you into making nervous back pass after nervous back pass?

If they're being stupid enough to commit that many players forward you should make them ****ing pay for it!

[Rodo]

It was not a bad game at all by England, Uruguay just won by desire and imposing strength to get the result.
And yes, Suarez's presence was pivotal in that game, he actually turned the tables.

Edit:
Also, Sturridge. God dammit that kid has some moves.

[Lorric]

And that's the end of England. Costa Rica the story of the World Cup, 2 wins, and they were simply the better team both times.

The England / Costa Rica game is still massive for England though. Don't win that, and England will almost certainly be in the second pot of seeds for the 2018 World Cup qualifying draw. England simply have to beat Costa Rica.

[FrikgFeek]

Well, wouldn't be the first time England failed to qualify for a major tourney. They also got kicked out of the 2008 Euros by Russia. Half the team will have been changed by 2018 anyways(as they should, because this composition obviously isn't working out), so there's not much use worrying about it. If they manage to put together a decent team they shouldn't worry about qualifying.

[Lorric]

Well, wouldn't be the first time England failed to qualify for a major tourney. They also got kicked out of the 2008 Euros by Russia. Half the team will have been changed by 2018 anyways(as they should, because this composition obviously isn't working out), so there's not much use worrying about it. If they manage to put together a decent team they shouldn't worry about qualifying.

It would be interesting England being 2nd seed. England have actually done very well as second seed in qualifying groups, I know they had Italy, Germany, Turkey and Croatia as top seeds in recent qualifying groups and England won the lot, while England were top seed when they went out to Russia and Croatia. But I'd still much rather England were top seed. England aren't as strong as those teams were, and I don't want England to miss 2018, 2022 Qatar will be simply awful.

[FrikgFeek]

I know Group E isn't the toughest of groups, but damn is France fukken scary. Whoever ends up second in Group F doesn't have much of a chance.

[karajorma]

It was not a bad game at all by England, Uruguay just won by desire and imposing strength to get the result.
And yes, Suarez's presence was pivotal in that game, he actually turned the tables.

Edit:
Also, Sturridge. God dammit that kid has some moves.

Individually the players were good (Especially Sturridge, who I saw turn defenders ease) but as a team they were ****ing abysmal. They had possession of the for 60% of the time. And it was almost all in their own half. And they'd frequently lose it there too.

Basically they allowed Uruguay to rattle them right from the start and played like they were scared to lose possession in their own half while making ridiculously sloppy passes when attacking. I rarely say it but they totally deserved to lose that game and if they were going to continue to play the way they played against Uruguay (rather than the way they played against Italy) I'm actually glad that they're out cause it means that they can stop humiliating themselves.

[Flipside]

Must admit, I got tired of my countries eternal optimism with regards to our chances in the World Cup every time it comes round. We won, once, and even those goals are subject to controversy.

If we'd got further, of course I would have been delighted, but now the team will come home, there will be a round of 'who do we sack' and then we'll still carry on thinking the only reason we aren't the best football team in the world is because we chose the wrong manager/coach etc.

[Lorric]

Must admit, I got tired of my countries eternal optimism with regards to our chances in the World Cup every time it comes round. We won, once, and even those goals are subject to controversy.

If we'd got further, of course I would have been delighted, but now the team will come home, there will be a round of 'who do we sack' and then we'll still carry on thinking the only reason we aren't the best football team in the world is because we chose the wrong manager/coach etc.

Funny, in my experience, it's the other way around, and bothers me because you'd think we had the ****test football team on the planet the way people talk. If we lose, we're ****, if we win, it's because the opposition were ****, everybody else is better than us. Pessimism and an inferiority complex. Why is it so hard to find someone in the middle, we are what we are. A decent team, capable of upsetting the big boys on our day. Usually win when we're supposed to, usually qualify for tournaments and win the qualifying group. Usually get out of the group stage at tournaments.

[FrikgFeek]

A decent team, capable of upsetting the big boys on our day.

That describes almost every team that even made it to worlds.

Speaking of "big boys" a lot of the top ranked teams are under performing hard. Spain's out, England's out, Greece hasn't scored a single goal in 2 games, Brazil only managed to draw Mexico(and arguably would've drew Croatia too if not for the ref), Switzerland(ranked 7th) received a 5 goal pounding from France(ranked 17th), and Portugal just doesn't seem to be playing well so far.

[Lorric]

A decent team, capable of upsetting the big boys on our day.

That describes almost every team that even made it to worlds.

Yeah. A very good team would be more accurate. Decent team would fit just about anyone at the finals like you say. Very good works for England, 8 out of 10. 9 and 10 for the better teams, "excellent" and "the best" or "top tier" for 9 and 10 out of 10. Uruguay would be an 8 and Italy a 9.

[FrikgFeek]

Very few teams actually won the world championship more than once, and England's official ranking is still in the top 10. 
That said their current lineup is just too old, full of players who simply can't do much against the run-heavy strategies that most south American teams employ(due to having younger players who can run for 90 minutes). Technique is nice, but it doesn't mean much when others can just run past you. England would've had a much better chance if they were in a group with more traditional teams focusing on technique like France or Italy.

[Rodo]

Happens with most teams, Argentina is full of recognized players from all around the world and we cannot even get a decent match against Iran.
I presume it all comes down to how the other team decides to play against you, and what are your players individually able to do with the small chances they get to make a difference (this I believe is true to all football powers when playing against the more conservative teams, power against power is a complete different matter).

Just finished Ghana - Germany. Ghana played a very good game, you gotta have balls of steel to play head to head against Germany.
I really hope they make it to the second rounds.

[Grizzly]

Ghana's performance was absolutely beatifull, and... well, actually, so was Germany's (that equalizing goal!). Absolutely stunning match.
Pity Ghana did not win though, that would have been even more amazing, but still. Excellent.

[Lorric]

Ghana's performance was absolutely beatifull, and... well, actually, so was Germany's (that equalizing goal!). Absolutely stunning match.
Pity Ghana did not win though, that would have been even more amazing, but still. Excellent.

Both teams ran themselves into the ground. Bodies laid out all over the pitch at the final whistle. It's a good thing for them they get an extra rest day on Portugal and the US, who play tomorrow, there'll be some aching limbs after that one. Definitely one of the games of the tournament so far.

[Scotty]

Just saw the second US goal in the US-Portugal match.

I'm beginning to wonder whether the 'sloppy' play on defense is real or a ploy, given that in both games so far we've surrendered a total of two goals.  Granted there are still 8+ minutes left, but still.  This team is scrappier than I initially thought.

EDIT: Also lol at Portugal having five players offside at once.

[Mongoose]

Let me just reiterate: stoppage time is the absolute worst concept in any sport I've ever watched.

And yes that's probably sour grapes, which is sad, because I honestly don't care all that much about it.  But still.

[Lorric]

This World Cup is simply amazing. Fantastic. What are the KO games going to be like when it's like this in the group stage? If England had to go out like this, then this is the tournament for it to have happened in. Sure, I'd have loved for England to be in this magnificent mix, but without, I'm still being thoroughly entertained. On top of the entertainment value, the form book has been thrown out. Favourites are struggling and some are out even now. I wonder if this could be the year that for the very first time, a true underdog lifts the World Cup?

[Rodo]

Spain was an underdog to my standards on last world cup, they still managed it. We'll see what future holds for us watchers 
Also nice match by the USA, they sure made Ronaldo sweat a lot.