The Football.....

[Smokin Joe]

What a brilliant result. I've never warmed to Spain and their Ticka Tacka stuff, however effective it was as a spectacle it was like watching paint dry. Brazil - Croatia last night had a nice end to end feel about it and this could turn out to be a very watchable World Cup.

 

[rich p]

It bodes well for the tournament. Nobody need be scared of Spain or Brazil on these showings...
... (or Italy?)

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

It bodes well for the tournament. Nobody need be scared of Spain or Brazil on these showings...
... (or Italy?)

We (or some of we) should stay afraid of Italy for now, but the World Cup began for me tonight.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Shearer's got some serious sunburn...

I met him once in the car park at Highfield Rd, grumpy farker, him not me.

 

[RedRider]

Is it just me who's getting the feeling the Netherlands team is fully coked up?

Hmmm...

 

[Piemaster]

After Spain losing to Brazil in the Confederations Cup, and the way they lost - just seemed to fall apart (think Ramos was sent off?) once they realised the ticky-tacky thing wasn't working, it wasn't a massive surprise to me they were beaten by decent opposition. Scoreline was though. NL were immense. Might be a little early, but it's starting to feel like away to beat them has been found. If it's employed by other teams and they don't alter the gameplan it won't be the last defeat.

Meanwhile I have Australia (and Iran - Whoo-hoo!) in the ships sweep. C'mon socceroos!

 

[ianrauk]

c'mon Chile.. a nice hatful against the Aussies

 

[swee'pea99]

Lest we forget - "Socceroos: Hopping Our Way Into History!"

 

[MarkF]

What a brilliant result. I've never warmed to Spain and their Ticka Tacka stuff, however effective it was as a spectacle it was like watching paint dry.

I think it's wonderful, best football I've ever seen in my life & I could watch it all day, without any goals. People are jumping ahead, the clog wearing oafs couldn't get a touch for 40 minutes, Silva should have made it 2 - 0, game over. Freak result, Spain to win.

 

[Accy cyclist]

I'm getting peed off here with Ian Right keep saying "qual a ee" instead of quality,and that stupid "Gooooaaaaaallllllllllllll Braaaaaazeeeeelllll"!!!!

 

[Piemaster]

I'm in Brazil. Nowhere near any matches though. You're definitely not using enough vowels. It goes:
Goooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal.

Unless it's Brazils opponents then its just goaal.

 

[AndyRM]

I think it's wonderful, best football I've ever seen in my life & I could watch it all day, without any goals. People are jumping ahead, the clog wearing oafs couldn't get a touch for 40 minutes, Silva should have made it 2 - 0, game over. Freak result, Spain to win.

Whilst I disagree with you on the merits of a possession based game, I'm with you about the Dutch. I remember Argentina hammering Bosnia in 2006 and everyone assuming they would win the tournament, only for them to limp past Mexico and go out to Germany in the quarters. Granted, the opposition weren't as good for them, but they still peaked way too soon, as have the Dutch I suspect.

That said, Spain were an utter shambles, Del Bosque looked a broken man at the final whistle so I wonder how they'll respond as they've never had to come back from such a battering.

I watched the Chile Australia game too and though neither team looked capable of a win against sterner opposition, they won't just roll over. Had Australia cottoned on to their advantage down the wings earlier and given Cahill better service, they may well have earned a draw.

 

[MarkF]

Whilst I disagree with you on the merits of a possession based game, I'm with you about the Dutch. I remember Argentina hammering Bosnia in 2006 and everyone assuming they would win the tournament, only for them to limp past Mexico and go out to Germany in the quarters. Granted, the opposition weren't as good for them, but they still peaked way too soon, as have the Dutch I suspect.

That said, Spain were an utter shambles, Del Bosque looked a broken man at the final whistle so I wonder how they'll respond as they've never had to come back from such a battering.

I watched the Chile Australia game too and though neither team looked capable of a win against sterner opposition, they won't just roll over. Had Australia cottoned on to their advantage down the wings earlier and given Cahill better service, they may well have earned a draw.

I wasn't extolling it's merits Andy, I don't believe in it, but I do like to watch it very much, a system that we might never see again at the very top, it suited some wonderful players. I believe that they can win it, I watched them totally dominate until Silva's miss, RVP then supplied the double whammy and they fell apart, it can happen to any team. I don't think it will happen again to Spain.

Agree about the Oz - Chile game, it was a very entertaining match.

 

[AndyRM]

I think you're right that the Spanish/Barca method is unlikely to be seen again. A decent coach will find a way to unpick any system and so we'll move on to the next style of football. If Van Gaal is as astute when he takes over Man Utd they will be a formidable force.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I think it's wonderful, best football I've ever seen in my life & I could watch it all day, without any goals. People are jumping ahead, the clog wearing oafs couldn't get a touch for 40 minutes, Silva should have made it 2 - 0, game over. Freak result, Spain to win.

I never got why people were eulogising over Spain's unadventurous keep-ball. It was the modern version of Heleno Herrera's notorious Catenaccio defence with Inter in the sixties. For all their dominance both Barca and Spain won many of their games by the odd goal, very uninspiring when you've had 75% of the possession. Most of their passes were across and back, they rarely put crosses in and wanted to walk the ball into the net rather than shoot.

Five minutes of watching either side was enough for me.