The Ali Dia Football/Soccer Thread

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 13 Jun 2014, 15:59

I reckon Holland V Spain is going to be like the final from 4 years ago all over again, and thats just the tackeling!

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 13 Jun 2014, 16:33

Sooo another refereeing mistake....

Shadaza · Post by **Shadaza** » 13 Jun 2014, 16:57

Giovani dos Santos should be joint top scorer, instead it is 0-0. A Joke.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 13 Jun 2014, 17:14

Absolute madness. You see better refereeing in the Championship for bathplug sake.

Post by **Miguel98** » 13 Jun 2014, 17:18

The refeering :lol:

It's too funny and ridicolous. Good WC my bathplug it is.

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 13 Jun 2014, 17:22

Well hopefully THAT one will be allowed....

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 13 Jun 2014, 18:07

Giovani found the net with more shots in that one match than in his whole Spurs career

Post by **Londoner** » 13 Jun 2014, 20:48

I thought Spain was supposed to be good at this footballing lark. This is an utter demolition job. :lol:

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 13 Jun 2014, 20:57

East Londoner wrote:I thought Spain was supposed to be good at this footballing lark. This is an utter demolition job.

I've just seen the score and oh my gosh, that is bad for the so called "Favourites" :lol:

GerhardTalger · Post by **GerhardTalger** » 13 Jun 2014, 21:34

And what is Spain doing?

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 13 Jun 2014, 21:36

Being reigning champions isn't a good omen is recent years

GerhardTalger · Post by **GerhardTalger** » 13 Jun 2014, 21:39

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Being reigning champions isn't a good omen is recent years

Hasn't been in ages for any European winner I guess. Being South-American isn't that bad as a reigning champion, seeing how Brazil fared in 1998 and 2006, and Argentina in 1990.

But this is really mixed-up for me. This is going to be a long night here in The Netherlands, but I really would like Spain to go through..

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 13 Jun 2014, 21:44

To say that France were mediocre when defending their title in 2002 would be an understatement. Yes, I'm not really into football but when the Euro Cup or World Cup is on TV I tune in. I also occasionally laugh on some stuff like when Turkey managed to score in just 11 seconds in one of 2002 finals. :lol:

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 13 Jun 2014, 22:19

Australia already 2-0 down. Ouch. Do something Enoch

Kobacrashi · Post by **Kobacrashi** » 13 Jun 2014, 22:36

Its not over yet!

Tim "the salmon" Cahill strikes again!

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 13 Jun 2014, 23:11

Del Bosque has a suite of top keepers at his disposal (De Gea, Reina, Diego Lopez), but elects instead to not only bring Casillas, but make him the first choice, despite hardly playing for Real all of last season? What did he really expect to happen? The best players get rusty if they are left on the sidelines for too long. That performance showed he's not been playing regularly enough to deserve first team football with the national side. He needs more match practise. Del Bosque would be crazy not to throw on De Gea from here on in.

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 13 Jun 2014, 23:14

Really, if anyone's expecting the socceroos to be anything other than whipping boys, you're going to have a tough time. Nice to see Guillermo Ochoa and Jorge Valdivia, who served me so well on Fifa 08, playing well as well

Kobacrashi · Post by **Kobacrashi** » 13 Jun 2014, 23:29

takagi_for_the_win wrote:Really, if anyone's expecting the socceroos to be anything other than whipping boys, you're going to have a tough time. Nice to see Guillermo Ochoa and Jorge Valdivia, who served me so well on Fifa 08, playing well as well

I think your wrong mate. Spain are clearly the whipping boys of group b anyway! Nice to see a bit of palace representation in this match as well.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 14 Jun 2014, 00:39

Biscione wrote:Del Bosque has a suite of top keepers at his disposal (De Gea, Reina, Diego Lopez), but elects instead to not only bring Casillas, but make him the first choice, despite hardly playing for Real all of last season? What did he really expect to happen? The best players get rusty if they are left on the sidelines for too long. That performance showed he's not been playing regularly enough to deserve first team football with the national side. He needs more match practise. Del Bosque would be crazy not to throw on De Gea from here on in.

Don't flame on Casillas... But still, De Gea needs to get on in a hurry. Though, I'd be more concerned with the defense more than the goalkeeping... And the whole Tiki-Taka business

That first goal from van Persie was absolutely fantastic. Couldn't ask for anything better!

eytl · Post by **eytl** » 14 Jun 2014, 01:17

takagi_for_the_win wrote:Really, if anyone's expecting the socceroos to be anything other than whipping boys, you're going to have a tough time.

I beg to differ. Over here, the entire nation expected the Socceroos to be whipping boys and at 2-0 down it was looking ominous. As I said on Twitter, the Socceroos are like Caterham: very green, looks bad up front, and unstable at the back.

But then the guys clawed their way back and could have made it 2-2. They might not have won the game but they won respect. If Australia sneaked a point or a win it would be a miracle in this group. We all expect to lose all three matches. This World Cup is about building for the 2015 Asian Cup and the 2018 World Cup, and going down with dignity and competitiveness and earning some respect. Very F1 Rejects spirit, if you will.

So to simply match it with Chile and go end-to-end with them was a MASSIVE achievement. Probably the most pulsating game of the tournament so far, and no-one here would have believed that yesterday.

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 14 Jun 2014, 01:31

eytl wrote: As I said on Twitter, the Socceroos are like Caterham: very green, looks bad up front, and unstable at the back.

Do they also have a well-groomed and blond-haired leader?

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 14 Jun 2014, 02:37

A funny thing: before the world cup, the Dutch were saying 'we're not going to win' for the first time since... well since humanity can remember. (they're always champion before the tournaments starts, leading to their record of most second places without winning). However, this year, a lot of Dutch people were like 'we're not going to get very far' and then... this. But maybe Spain is just really, really afwful. Shame i was unable to watch the game (i've watched all other 3, though), but sometimes one has more important things to do, of course.
The Dutch being the underdog... we all knew that couldn't last very long

But i know exactly what they're doing, they're trying to make the Belgians overconfident, so when facing us in an inevitable final (because we're like obviously the best team in the world

), they'll be mentally stronger and will humiliate us as if we were San Marino.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 14 Jun 2014, 03:26

This wrote:A funny thing: before the world cup, the Dutch were saying 'we're not going to win' for the first time since... well since humanity can remember. (they're always champion before the tournaments starts, leading to their record of most second places without winning). However, this year, a lot of Dutch people were like 'we're not going to get very far' and then... this. But maybe Spain is just really, really afwful. Shame i was unable to watch the game (i've watched all other 3, though), but sometimes one has more important things to do, of course.
The Dutch being the underdog... we all knew that couldn't last very long But i know exactly what they're doing, they're trying to make the Belgians overconfident, so when facing us in an inevitable final (because we're like obviously the best team in the world ), they'll be mentally stronger and will humiliate us as if we were San Marino.

Unless Blatter fixes the matches so Brazil wins instead.

Or an act of god changes things otherwise, but I'm not very optimistic... Odds are very good for the Dutch to take 2nd place however, assuming they stay the course to win Group B...

GerhardTalger · Post by **GerhardTalger** » 14 Jun 2014, 10:30

This wrote:A funny thing: before the world cup, the Dutch were saying 'we're not going to win' for the first time since... well since humanity can remember. (they're always champion before the tournaments starts, leading to their record of most second places without winning). However, this year, a lot of Dutch people were like 'we're not going to get very far' and then... this. But maybe Spain is just really, really afwful. Shame i was unable to watch the game (i've watched all other 3, though), but sometimes one has more important things to do, of course.
The Dutch being the underdog... we all knew that couldn't last very long But i know exactly what they're doing, they're trying to make the Belgians overconfident, so when facing us in an inevitable final (because we're like obviously the best team in the world ), they'll be mentally stronger and will humiliate us as if we were San Marino.

Well, the Dutch were like that as well in 2008, when they drew Italy and France (then World Cup winner and runner-up) for the European Championship. They played a magnificent first half against Italy, and were extremely lucky at France, but still won 4-1... suddenly everyone screamed the Dutch could take the cup.... only to lose against Russia in the quarterfinals. :lol:

So we're going to lose against Croatia or something..

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 14 Jun 2014, 20:55

Go rejects!

GerhardTalger · Post by **GerhardTalger** » 14 Jun 2014, 20:58

What is Urubye doing?

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 14 Jun 2014, 21:27

Man, Costa Rica lit up up like it was no tomorrow.... Seemed like the Uruguayan defence collapsed after the first goal. Could Suarez have changed things? I don't know. Still, this puts my prediction for Uruguay to place in the top four in serious doubt...

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 14 Jun 2014, 21:29

I reckon England will win 3-1.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 14 Jun 2014, 21:46

I reckon Italy will win, maybe 1-0 or 2-0. Balotelli should score, but I won't be surprised if he doesn't. Pirlo should make an impact as well.
Uruguay's loss though is good news for England. At least they'll have a fighting chance of making the knockout stage.

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 14 Jun 2014, 21:51

Well, either Costa Rica are a hell of a lot better than we all initially thought, or Uruguay aren't as good as all that. Having missed the match, I'd be more inclined to go for the latter. For the England match, Italy will win 1-0 in an unbelievably dull game. Called it first.

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 14 Jun 2014, 22:09

Will England sink or swim? I reckon a bit of both

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 14 Jun 2014, 22:44

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Will England sink or swim? I reckon a bit of both

That prediction is quite true so far as the score as I write this is 1-1

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 15 Jun 2014, 00:07

takagi_for_the_win wrote:Well, either Costa Rica are a hell of a lot better than we all initially thought, or Uruguay aren't as good as all that. Having missed the match, I'd be more inclined to go for the latter. For the England match, Italy will win 1-0 in an unbelievably dull game. Called it first.

Having seen the match,i can confirm that Uruguay was just weak. So there's hope for England. I have a very un-English feel about this team. Maybe that's a good sign, maybe not, time will tell.

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 15 Jun 2014, 00:09

Costa Rica: better than Italy, England, and Uruguay.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 15 Jun 2014, 00:19

The important thing to remember for England fans is that we didn't play badly. Compare what we did today to the game against Italy in Euro 2012 - fundamentally we have a good side that is willing and capable of getting forward. I have every confidence that we'll beat both Uruguay and Costa Rica with the players available. Problem areas to work on definitely include set pieces, both defending them and taking them. In terms of the players themselves you'd have to say that aside from the assist Rooney had another poor game - how many chances is he going to get? I think with the young talent in our side, he's hogging a place that should be taken by Lallana or Wilshire. Defensively we're not great, worse than in recent times, but Cahill and Jagielka were good, I just have no faith at all in Glen Johnson - I think he's awful, but we don't really have anyone else to play there unfortunately. Aside from those two I think the rest of the team had a good game overall, and that's the main point - we might have lost, but the performance was very positive - loads of chances, high tempo, some good movement, so I'm staying positive, or at least trying to!!

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 15 Jun 2014, 00:23

AndreaModa wrote:The important thing to remember for England fans is that we didn't play badly. Compare what we did today to the game against Italy in Euro 2012 - fundamentally we have a good side that is willing and capable of getting forward. I have every confidence that we'll beat both Uruguay and Costa Rica with the players available. Problem areas to work on definitely include set pieces, both defending them and taking them. In terms of the players themselves you'd have to say that aside from the assist Rooney had another poor game - how many chances is he going to get? I think with the young talent in our side, he's hogging a place that should be taken by Lallana or Wilshire. Defensively we're not great, worse than in recent times, but Cahill and Jagielka were good, I just have no faith at all in Glen Johnson - I think he's awful, but we don't really have anyone else to play there unfortunately. Aside from those two I think the rest of the team had a good game overall, and that's the main point - we might have lost, but the performance was very positive - loads of chances, high tempo, some good movement, so I'm staying positive, or at least trying to!!

Hit the nail on the head there. Rooney's corner has to be the worst corner I've ever seen

tristan1117 · Post by **tristan1117** » 15 Jun 2014, 03:30

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:
AndreaModa wrote:The important thing to remember for England fans is that we didn't play badly. Compare what we did today to the game against Italy in Euro 2012 - fundamentally we have a good side that is willing and capable of getting forward. I have every confidence that we'll beat both Uruguay and Costa Rica with the players available. Problem areas to work on definitely include set pieces, both defending them and taking them. In terms of the players themselves you'd have to say that aside from the assist Rooney had another poor game - how many chances is he going to get? I think with the young talent in our side, he's hogging a place that should be taken by Lallana or Wilshire. Defensively we're not great, worse than in recent times, but Cahill and Jagielka were good, I just have no faith at all in Glen Johnson - I think he's awful, but we don't really have anyone else to play there unfortunately. Aside from those two I think the rest of the team had a good game overall, and that's the main point - we might have lost, but the performance was very positive - loads of chances, high tempo, some good movement, so I'm staying positive, or at least trying to!!

Hit the nail on the head there. Rooney's corner has to be the worst corner I've ever seen

Not to mention the golden opportunity in the box that he hooked left for no apparent reason.

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 15 Jun 2014, 09:01

Guys, what you need to remember is that Rooney is allergic to World Cup goals. If he scores, he comes out in big hives and everything, it's not a pretty sight.

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 15 Jun 2014, 11:16

UgncreativeUsergname wrote:Costa Rica: better than Italy, England, and Uruguay.

http://youtu.be/4paLVu0gNcQ

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 15 Jun 2014, 15:06

AndreaModa wrote:I think with the young talent in our side, he's hogging a place that should be taken by Lallana or Wilshire.

The same thing should be said of Italy too. I spent the entire week leading up to this game crying out for an attacking lineup using a combination of Immobile, Insigne and Cerci. None started, and only Immobile got a token sub appearance.

Balotelli did score, but it genuinely surprised me. Candreva made quality cross after quality cross, and Balo simply didn't chase them hard enough most of the time. Immobile is good with his head and would have converted some of those had he been on the pitch.

I am praying Prandelli finally gets some balls and benches Balotelli for the Costa Rica game. With Navas in goal for Costa Rica, an absolutely top form attacking unit will be needed to beat them. Immobile, Insigne and Cerci/Candreva is needed to break their goal down.