the one with 4 blokes on him all game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bremsstrahlung
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the one with 4 blokes on him all game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bremsstrahlung
Crossing from Croatia has been terrible all game.
Croatia are playing much better now.
England are panicked.
Croatia with momentum.
Be interesting to see what happens here.
Gotta see Loftus Cheek don’t you? Midfield hasn’t offered that much.
Henderson was giving the ball away for fun in first half.
How cool. "Come on, come over". Jaco Pastorius used on a SBS WC match.
Fk yeah!
Wonder how Cro`s will handle another 30min...
Croatia look gassed after the break at full time.
Maybe conserving energy for a late push?
maybe knackered after the previous games going to extra time
this isn't as fun to watch anymore
bugger
Damn!
Was looking forward to being in London for the final.
Now I won’t be able to watch it anywhere. “What World Cup?”
i would pay at least $99.99 for a pay per view of a single camera following Terry Butcher around today.
where can we make this happen?
oh come on, once Rat Face Boy came on you had to feel a little bit ok with his misery.Quote:
Originally Posted by boz-monaut
Thank Christ. So do I stick with my money on Croatia or cashout?
Thought Harry Kane was pretty honest in the post match interview. Knew Croatia played better.
Also, my distaste of John Stones has been well documented, but if you need convincing please go look at his defending for the winning goal.
Even Stannys man Gary Cahill wouldnt have been so lazy.
Really looking forward to the final. Hope Croatia win for multiple reasons (mostly money related) but France winning with that team would be understandable.
Watching that game today immediately got me thinking that Englands performance this WC is the ceiling of what Australia is currently trying to do.
However good we get it will only ever look like what England showed these past few games.
Problem is as 'good' as that may ever get, the second they run into a Hazard, a Modric or a Coutinho, it wont matter, we will lose.
It's why we should be aiming higher than this.
But we arent, are we.
Imagine a Ronaldinho or a Ronaldo trying to make it as footballers in Australia.Quote:
Originally Posted by plague
The elite junior squads would have looked at their parents lack of income and told them to piss off - so they could replace them with less skilful players with cashed up parents.
This has been the way in Australia for as long as I can remember.
Considering the NTs failings in Russia exactly what do you think is going to change with the game in this country??Quote:
Originally Posted by plague
We can see soe easily identifiable issues
But the FFA seem to either not see them or just dont care to address them
Make no mistake we have issues to address
Yet there is no intention of deviation on our current path to somewhere better
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Dunster
So so true. AFL goes through the same thing, Paul Roos ( ex Swans coach ) was saying just recently he attended a so called program for elite kids in Sydney and there was about 800 kids and he just thought to himself somebody is having a lough and taking the piss. They are only elite if there parents are cashed up enough and the number of elite kids is only exhausted when the money runs dry. It has been a dead set rort for ages and only those paying it or charging it try and tell you differently to make themselves feel better. It is why Gallop and co start getting very anxious around WC qualification time.
No qualification no dream to sell to the masses of average kids with my kids the best cashed up parents.
I think i have said this before but i was once present at a selection trial for a rep team and this indigenous kid was absolute miles ahead of any other kid there, he absolutely killed em and most of us were certain he would be one of the first picked but he wasn't. As i was walking with a few other parents back to our vehicles at the completion of the trials we were absolutely convinced his non selection would have had something to do with him being attired in a shirt that looked like a third generation hand me down and what looked like a old pair of Dunlop Gold Cups, I kid you not.
I know its a big call but the costs of being selected for that team were going to be quite significant and to this day i truly believe the kid was stereotyped. Sad bit IMO true.
That was about 7 years ago now and who knows where he could have been if money was not the be all and end all. He dead set ran rings around most other kids that day.
For Pele, Maradona and others becoming a footballer kept them alive and put food on the table for their family.South America gets it.
In our sterile world, kids with pandering parents play these elite things till they get bored. Then the olds buy them a surfboard or a guitar or uni course.
They forget about football. There would be so much talent untapped around Australia right now.
yeah look this has been discussed in the other thread but the new program being implemented is designed to weed a lot of that out.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Dunster
but again, the running of these programs is through the clubs, not the associations. i think its a important distinction.
but also again, its year one, and even though it is light years ahead of whats gone before it, there is still a lot of shrugging of shoulders about where the next year goes. if the same ideals are focused on, the kids will be sweet. but yeah, we can all dream huh.
and again again, this is for 9 yr olds. even if this is the answer, its another decade before we even know if these kids are going to be competative. hopefully we all have some patience.
anyone interested should look up Japans 100 year program, which is about a 1/4 of the way through. they just held their own on the world stage, and are only going to get better.
stupid World Cup adjusted body clock
Right on time too!
I'm hearing you..Quote:
Originally Posted by boz-monaut
Oh man I collapsed last night and slept 11hrs straight. Would still be there if not for a rampaging Plague jnr and work commitments.Quote:
Originally Posted by boz-monaut
(Note: I usually sleep 4-5 hrs a night at best).
its truly amazingQuote:
Originally Posted by Bremsstrahlung
no alarms - only missed ten seconds of the France Belgium game and saw the kick off of England Croatia
everyone has a super power, this is mine
My alarm went off at 3:45am and i closed my eyes again before startling awake and seeing 3:55 on the clock. Went out and sat on the lounge and the ads came back and said "it's 1-0 England half time". It was 5am :rof: :blush:Quote:
Originally Posted by plague
Lets all spare a thought for Kalinic
Having a sook at being a sub and not a starter has now come back to bite his arse at a biblical level
Question has to be asked
Does he get a medal as he was techincally part of the squad???
Mornin.Quote:
Originally Posted by boz-monaut
not yet - it's still night time
by the way its been a tradition in the Plague household to bet the over 2.5 goals in the 3v4 playoff.
never been more nervous it wont pay out this time considering how wacky this World Cup has been.
England play some seriously ugly football.
The knives are finally out in the UK media.
Look at those two teams on paper and tell me England didn't over achieve at this world cup.
I also think people are forgetting that the golden generation of Belgium didn't deliver as predicted. Martinez isn't a good enough coach to win a world cup, Surely they know that now.
EnglandQuote:
Originally Posted by Frodo
Lost 3 games
So did Panama and Egypt
They beat Tunisia with a last minute winner
They thumped Panama who even the Socceroos would have scored on multiple times
They beat Colombia who were lame as they were missing James Rodriguez who makes them good and they needed pens to do that
They beat Sweden who played poorly for them and were flat as
So all up England beat teams they should have
Best part about it is the tickertape parade and false hopes for the next 20 years that are coming
Reality is they actually ****ed up
Couldnt beat a nation with a population the size of Brisvegas and with a domestic comp more corrupt than this country to get into the World Cup Final
Couldnt have got a better run if Fifa were rigging it for them
Yet they are happy about this??
Go figure
I'd be ****ing ecstatic if my country went out there and played long ball bullshit, kicked lumps out of the opposition, got bullshit VAR decisions their way, rolled around like Neymar yet somehow rode their luck and made it to the semi finals
(not that England did any of those things)
to be honest I think England have actually been quite reserved and sensible about this success - given how ridiculous they usually are
maybe that's the result of reading sensible media and having English mates who aren't dickheads
We would not score many against Panama. Who would score the goalsQuote:
Originally Posted by MFKS
tip time people!
france or croatia?
i'm on france in normal time, but i'd love it if croatia won.
Can only play the teams you get given.
I think they’ve done pretty well.
How many of their players would get a start in the French or Belgium teams? I’d say not many.
As a nation, you expect a lot better given their strength of domestic competitions, however maybe they are paying for their reliance on foreign players. Their league is helping develop other nations players.
Really though, their squad is nothing flash. They’ve had a “superstar” team for the previous competitions where players were picked because of their name, rather than their form and ability. This year they picked a reasonably lacklustre team, and Southgate changed up their style a little bit and idk, based on the low expectations due to their constant disappointment over the years, they’ve performed well. Hell. I’d love it if we made the semis. Couldn’t care less who they played. Can’t help who you play.
For all the England haters, at least you’ll be able to have a chuckle when in 4 years time everyone is focused on “doing one better”.
I think France will be too good, unfortunately.
They’ve done that thing where they’ve played rubbish and still won games.
I’m not really fussed on either team tbh.
Heart says CroatiaQuote:
Originally Posted by belchardo
Head says France.
France. Kante will shut down Modric's time on the ball and I dont see Croatia winning unless Modric plays well
Qui es-tu, une sorte de con?
La France pour battre les criminels de guerre
This.Quote:
Originally Posted by baldrick