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Post by tonyw on Jul 14, 2014 12:09:41 GMT
All in all, a very good tournament. Group stages were fantastic. And the second round, with a couple of exceptions, was great as well - albeit without any surprise results. Plenty of goals, several traditional powerhouses went home early, several minnows won a few games and a bunch of admirers, new stars were born, some old stars bolstered their reputations, Luis Suarez single-handedly provided the requisite controversy and (barring the first few games, and the Brazil-Colombia free-for-all) the refereeing was generally competent and pleasingly card shy.
........BUT not the undisputed best World Cup ever as some pundits would now like us to believe. From the Quarters onwards, with the obvious exception of the Mineirazo, it all got a bit tight and some of the previous free-flowing attacking play went out the window.
Personally, I think 1998 was better. All of the above was also true of that tournament (and exactly the same number of goals) but it also had a handful of truly classic knockout games (England-Argentina and Argentina-Netherlands chief amongst them) and some real surprises even in the latter stages (hello, Germany 0-3 Croatia!). I'm sure some of the older pre-1990 vintages would also make their case (only I can't remember those......)
Either way, serious hole in my life now. Barring the final group stage matches (where I generally went for the 'flick between the games' rather than 'split screen' option), I think I only missed four matches...... Remind me - what did I used to do with my life before there was football on every night?
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Jul 14, 2014 12:37:17 GMT
I enjoyed the tournament more than I thought I would - but once we got to the knock-out stages I thought it dipped fairly badly, with several teams playing very defensively hoping to nick a goal on the break, but seemingly quite happy for it to go to penalties. I was glad the Germans beat Argentina - they played by far the better football. I loved the shaving foam freekick spray. A simple idea that worked very well - yes please in the FL as soon as possible. The diving wasn't as bad as I feared it might be, but I'd be quite happy to see retrospective cards introduced for 'simulation' (or cheating, as it used to be known!) when proved via video evidence, if missed by the ref. The refereeing was OK - although more than a little Brazilian-friendly to start with. Oddly enough there were some matches where I though an early card or two might have been a good thing, as there were a few nasty ones that were let go. TV coverage was OK (bar the obvious exceptions!), and the whole thing looked as if it ran pretty smoothly except the opening ceremony which was very poor and almost inaudible. I think they'll find the Olympics (more dispersed, more events, more public transport required) in 2016 a different kettle of fish entirely. The best thing was that it filled quite a lot of the gap between the Northampton and Burton games.
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Post by unification on Jul 14, 2014 12:56:27 GMT
Really enjoyed this World Cup. Some great matches, moments, controversies and goals. Maybe it was part cagey football and part World Cup fatigue that lessened the latter stages for me also, but even then there were some super highlights – I’ll remember Brazil 1-7 Germany for a long, long time. The hosts were largely great and added lots of colour, noise and fun into the proceedings. A vuvuzela-less World Cup was a much needed affair!
The other bonus was brilliant, avoiding-core-hours KO times. No bloody school or work to get in the way of the mega-importance or Iran vs Nigeria or Colombia vs Ivory Coast so that’s a first for me in helping me to watch as many as possible. It’ll be back to surreptitiously loading up the game on the PC for the Russia World Cup in four years.
Post-WC blues for me. I’ll watch all of BBCs montages and lament not having some sort of match to watch for a while. That said, Test match at Lords starts on Thursday, Oxford are underway in pre-season and that berk Baldy is back to wind us all up tomorrow (‘Wow wow wow ! Adidas are making Man U’s new kit. Sleek, superb, classy. What a statement.’ for starters perhaps?) so I’m sure my mind will slip off it soon.
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Post by Si Bradbury on Jul 14, 2014 12:57:47 GMT
Very enjoyable.
Opening group stages were far more enjoyable than I had imagined, I actually thought the likes of Iran and Algeria were a joy to watch. A few early surprises and whilst disappointed with England as soon as the R16 games had taken place, realised we would have been taken apart by most of them.
As the tournament progressed the stronger sides handled themselves well and some great performances, James Rodriguez, Daley Blind, Silmani, the Iranian Goalkeeper, Keylor Chavas, David Ospina, Ross Barklay to name but a few. The usual suspects too, Robben, Muller were inspirational.
The South American shift from Argentina and Brazil to Colombia, Mexico and Chile was great to see. Some of those sides are going to be very good in the coming years.
The atmosphere looked remarkable and the riots were down to a minimum. Hope that the country's government can now to its attention to the people in poverty and need.
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Post by ox14jmp on Jul 14, 2014 13:29:57 GMT
Agree with previous comments. The group stages were excellent with attacking football at either end. It went abit down hill as soon as it came to the knockout stages except a couple of games. I still think there would be a better way to decide a game than penalties. I would prefer once the game has got to the end of extra time and is still level the team who has had the most shots on target or come closest to scoring would proceed. It would stop the boring 30 mins of lets settle for penalties.
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dutchox
It's come back to Longbridge - it's on strike!
Posts: 35
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Post by dutchox on Jul 14, 2014 14:28:34 GMT
Very enjoyable. Opening group stages were far more enjoyable than I had imagined, I actually thought the likes of Iran and Algeria were a joy to watch. A few early surprises and whilst disappointed with England as soon as the R16 games had taken place, realised we would have been taken apart by most of them. As the tournament progressed the stronger sides handled themselves well and some great performances, James Rodriguez, Daley Blind, Silmani, the Iranian Goalkeeper, Keylor Chavas, David Ospina, Ross Barklay to name but a few. The usual suspects too, Robben, Muller were inspirational. The South American shift from Argentina and Brazil to Colombia, Mexico and Chile was great to see. Some of those sides are going to be very good in the coming years. The atmosphere looked remarkable and the riots were down to a minimum. Hope that the country's government can now to its attention to the people in poverty and need. I agree with almost everything you say, but what could possibly have been so good about Daley Blind except his performance against Spain? It's not because of my Feyenoord bias, but overall I think he was decent(ish) at best. No pace, too little technical ability, not strong enough and he can hardly make a decent sliding tackle. He got skinned quite a few times against Argentina - that's what pretty much all of their danger came from. That's what Mexico scored their goal from. Full credit for work rate and his performance against Spain, but as far as I'm concerned, he played so much because his father was on the bench (Van Gaal and him get on all too well). As for England, they just lack a bit of quality. I don't think there is too much wrong with direct, kick 'n rush football, as long as you have defenders that can actually get the ball to the centre forwards instead of mishitting clearances all the time. As for Holland, I'm actually disappointed about not reaching the final. Having said that, our winning mentality and defence were a big plus to me, and I didn't even expect us to reach the KO stage in the first place. Third at a World Cup and actually remaining unbeaten makes me proud after all.
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Post by southstandyellow on Jul 14, 2014 15:04:14 GMT
Ross Barkley??
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Post by Si Bradbury on Jul 14, 2014 16:37:58 GMT
Yes the English lad who came on and made a huge impact late in the England games and looks a huge prospect for our International side in the years ahead.
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Post by joey on Jul 14, 2014 21:41:35 GMT
Yes the English lad who came on and made a huge impact late in the England games and looks a huge prospect for our International side in the years ahead. I only saw the last 30 minutes or so of the Costa Rica game but saw our other two, huge impact is stretching it a bit isn't it?
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Post by Paul Cannell on Jul 15, 2014 7:52:36 GMT
The atmosphere looked remarkable and the riots were down to a minimum. Hope that the country's government can now to its attention to the people in poverty and need. That's not what they're there for, brahma; I wouldn't hold your breath. Splendid to see Brasil in tears, but a shame that the Championship has finally been taken from S. America. The best 2 teams (Germany and Holland) are the countries with the best development systems. Switzerland, a team whose roll-call reads like a tour of 4 continents, continue to improve. Sadly, I think capital has triumphed over passion and the future world champions for the remainder of my life will be from a small core of European countries or USA.
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Post by southstandyellow on Jul 15, 2014 14:25:05 GMT
Brahma you said - As the tournament progressed the stronger sides handled themselves well and some great performances, James Rodriguez, Daley Blind, Silmani, the Iranian Goalkeeper, Keylor Chavas, David Ospina, Ross Barklay to name but a few. The usual suspects too, Robben, Muller were inspirational
A - England weren't in it as the tournament progressed, and B, to add Barkley's name to the list of others, is a bit insulting to the other performers IMO. Can't say Barkley did a huge amount during this tournament. Or am I in for a massive whoooooosh?
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Post by Hicko on Jul 17, 2014 15:51:03 GMT
The defending was pretty poor all over. non of the big names showed up. some of the big teams werent even off the plane. some of the pitches looked shocking.
there were some great things about it though: Costa Rica were the team of the tournament (imho) James Rodrigez was amazing and i dont understand how he didnt get the golden boot. there were some great games (USA vs Germany was one of many) was nice to see some of the underdogs get through instead of the big teams that get the easy ride to the quarter finals.
i dont think it was the best world cup ever, as some are claiming, but it was pretty good.
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Post by tonyw on Jul 17, 2014 16:33:48 GMT
James Rodrigez was amazing and i dont understand how he didnt get the golden boot. there were some great games (USA vs Germany was one of many) James Rodriguez did get the golden boot. He didn't get the golden ball (for some reason - presumably because his team only made it to the quarters) And do you really mean USA vs. Germany? I didn't think that was all that exciting. USA vs. Portgual was great; USA vs. Belgium likewise; USA vs. Germany was the Germans doing just enough in the heat whilst the Americans tried to make sure they didn't get thrashed and therefore go through on goal difference. Or maybe Ghana vs. Germany? That was epic.
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Post by bicesteryellow on Jul 17, 2014 16:37:51 GMT
In my opinion the best World Cup we will ever see; at lest the best for the foreseeable future. Goals, excitement, pride and passion made this a thoroughly memorable World Cup.
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Post by Hicko on Jul 17, 2014 16:43:47 GMT
James Rodrigez was amazing and i dont understand how he didnt get the golden boot. there were some great games (USA vs Germany was one of many) James Rodriguez did get the golden boot. He didn't get the golden ball (for some reason - presumably because his team only made it to the quarters) And do you really mean USA vs. Germany? I didn't think that was all that exciting. USA vs. Portgual was great; USA vs. Belgium likewise; USA vs. Germany was the Germans doing just enough in the heat whilst the Americans tried to make sure they didn't get thrashed and therefore go through on goal difference. Or maybe Ghana vs. Germany? That was epic. your right i did mean the golden ball. i think he was the stand out player. messi might have played in the final but we only saw a few moments of brilliance in all the games he played. and yes USA vs Belgium was the game i was thinking about. the ghana germany was another great game as well i think the heat has melted my brain
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Jul 17, 2014 17:09:11 GMT
In my opinion the best World Cup we will ever see; at lest the best for the foreseeable future. Goals, excitement, pride and passion made this a thoroughly memorable World Cup. Well the next two are going to be rubbish. The matches from Russia will presumably be on at ridiculous times, and the whole Qatar thing is going to be as feeble as everyone knew a millisecond after it had been announced. Of course, it will be in England the time after that, which is something to look forward to...
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Post by bicesteryellow on Jul 17, 2014 19:34:43 GMT
In my opinion the best World Cup we will ever see; at lest the best for the foreseeable future. Goals, excitement, pride and passion made this a thoroughly memorable World Cup. Well the next two are going to be rubbish. The matches from Russia will presumably be on at ridiculous times, and the whole Qatar thing is going to be as feeble as everyone knew a millisecond after it had been announced. Of course, it will be in England the time after that, which is something to look forward to... England aren't allowed by FIFA law to host 2026. That will probably go to the USA. 2030 is earmarked for Uruguay and 2034 may go to Australia. In 2038 France will want another go, and therefore England won't be allowed a shot at 2042 and 2046, which will go to whoever has the most money at the time (UAE and Argentina?). In 2050 it will return to Italy, and then in 2054 Africa will get another chance, maybe South Africa or another country in the region. Canada will want a shot in 2058, and 2062 will see India want a shot at the tournament. 2066 will be England's chance but by then Germany will want another go, and knowing this will probably win the bid, so Germany '66 it is. 2070 will have the tournament return to Brazil, with 2074 seeing the tournament return to Mexico. 2078 will see Spain want a first shot at the World Cup in 100 years, with 2082 heading once more to the USA. In 2086 Japan will get sole rights to the World Cup, and in 2090 the tournament will go to Poland, and if I'm still alive by then and all of those are right I expect a free car
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