which Football (Soccer ) team do you support ?

[Whirlwind]

I hope Russia deliver tomorrow...it would be nice for the home nation to get through especially after all the stick they got before the tournament (worst Russian Team ever Etc.) Oh yeah...................come on England 

Come on, now. That Russian team won only one game before the tournament (lost seven) and was the lowest ranked team ever in the tournament's history. Yet, they've suddenly won 3 of 4 in the Cup. Hmmm.

You do realize that country has State Run doping, no? The entire country was banned from the last Olympics! Commentators have noted that the Russian soccer players are running just as fast at the 95th minute in the match as they were at the 3rd minute of the match.

Do the math....
Something is rotten in Denmark...I mean in Russia.

[dilla]

Past football tournament winners have been the ones who find a winning streak at the right time.Russia are finding theirs.Also noticable are the number of teams remaining who lack superstars.IMHO,when you have a Messi,Neymar,Ronaldo etc  the tactics always revolve around them.Stifle them and plan A goes up in smoke.While Messi and Ronaldo are definately the best players in their respective squads,I'm not so sure about Neymar.I think that the Brazil manager should have been brave enough to sub Neymar.and maybe the team would have played more as a TEAM.Sweden and Russia have no stars let alone superstars and have got where they are by teamwork.Must say Belgium finally played as a team last night.And although not a fan,man of the match had to go to Marian Fellaini ,He was immense.Really enjoyed it.

[Ghosttrain]

Great post dilla,summed it up perfectly..

[Pol]

Belgium certainly have lots of great players maybe not quite in the superstar bracket. Thought they definitely deserved to win even if they tired at end

[Bunny]

I think this makes for a better World Cup, with the bigger nations out. I still dont think England will win, but theyve done well, without any supposed superstars.

[Isaac(Black Eagle Rising)]

Colombia - bit of a disgrace really, I'm quite impressed that none of the England players did a Beckham ala against Argentina 98. Bit nerve wracking last night but they did the job and onwards.....

Felt sorry for Japan but Belgium didn't give up and made it through, not sure if they've got anything in reserve. Hey Issac I'll keep an eye for ya' - yesterdays games were on SWR1 though.

We'll see what the weekend brings 

I heard that it's only radio interview Anna,so no worries

[Isaac(Black Eagle Rising)]

Dilla your idea about Neymar is something I respect but to be realistic no coach in the world would sub him in my opinion.They already dominated the second half and 9 shots directly saved by Courtois and brazillian strikers missed a lot of %100 goal positions.And who to play instead of Neymar? Coutinho,Firmino were already in squad.Belgium deserved to win.Congrats.
As for Sweden-England most people expecting a counter attack style from sweden but anything could happen.I always thought before the cup England is the favorite waiting behind.And now its time to strike for them.If you own a player like Kane you could change the score anytime.My expectation is 0-0 first half and the England winning at second half.For Russia-Croatia I think the crotians will score in two half and win.I expect a lot from Luka Modric personally.Both games will be tough and enjoyable.

[Shush]

!!!!!!   PICKFORD    !!!!!

The winner of that match for me. Wonderful saves. First England performance that was high quality for me. Blimey,,, dare we start to believe ??

[Ghosttrain]

What a great performance from England,i thought Sweden were very poor .England by far the better team,and as for Pickford WOW what a keeper...........Interesting game tonight, but if England play like they did today i think they can beat either Russia or Croatia.

[Whirlwind]

Blimey,,, dare we start to believe ??

Doesn't this all set up English sports fans for their greatest let-down in history?
Don't you folks across the pond fear that?

[Whirlwind]

Past football tournament winners ...

Good post.

But I do feel strongly that some on that Russia team is doping. You don't go from lowest ranked team ever in a World Cup tournament to nearly a semi-finals berth.

Regarding your thoughts on star players: True, teams rely on them far too much...but then again they are stars for a reason. They can (usually) get the job done.

As for your thought of benching Neymar. Whoa. No way in hell would a Neymar or other star player ever be benched by a coach. One day here in our baseball the New York Yankees manager pulled super-star Reggie Jackson from the game right in the middle of it. Needless to say there was a fight in the dugout between the two. Happened 40 years ago and we still talk about the time super-star Reggie Jackson was yanked out of a game. Benching a super-star? It is an insane thing to do. Only a nut would do it (and the Yankee manager was a certifiable nut, by the way).

[Shush]

Blimey,,, dare we start to believe ??

Doesn't this all set up English sports fans for their greatest let-down in history?
Don't you folks across the pond fear that?

Not sure I understand your question Space. If we loose our next two matches we have come fourth in the 2018 World Cup, only the third time we have gone so far in the contest. Where is the let-down ?

[Whirlwind]

Not sure I understand your question Space. If we loose our next two matches we have come fourth in the 2018 World Cup, only the third time we have gone so far in the contest. Where is the let-down ?

First off, what is "Space"? I am WHIRLWIND!

Secondly, your post reads like a typical English sports fan --- satisfied with fourth place! You do realize that is so stereotypical of an English sports fan, don't you? You will pat your sports stars on the back for a fourth place finish.

Right now you are two games -- 180 minutes away -- from the biggest sporting prize on Earth. My point is that coming this close would be setting up most fans for the biggest let-down ever. Grandfathers would tell their grandkids of that long off time in 2018 when we were thiiiiiiiis close. But you, oddly, seem OK with what the team has accomplished thus far. That is not the norm around the world. Americans play to win! We have a saying over here: Second place is just first of the losers.

[Bunny]

Not sure I understand your question Space. If we loose our next two matches we have come fourth in the 2018 World Cup, only the third time we have gone so far in the contest. Where is the let-down ?

First off, what is "Space"? I am WHIRLWIND!

Secondly, your post reads like a typical English sports fan --- satisfied with fourth place! You do realize that is so stereotypical of an English sports fan, don't you? You will pat your sports stars on the back for a fourth place finish.

Right now you are two games -- 180 minutes away -- from the biggest sporting prize on Earth. My point is that coming this close would be setting up most fans for the biggest let-down ever. Grandfathers would tell their grandkids of that long off time in 2018 when we were thiiiiiiiis close. But you, oddly, seem OK with what the team has accomplished thus far. That is not the norm around the world. Americans play to win! We have a saying over here: Second place is just first of the losers.

Well Whirlygig, I dare say Shush and me have seen enough let downs since we watched the England team at a young age. So you stop buying the hype. Best performance since I was 20. Says it all.

[Isaac(Black Eagle Rising)]

Well done Croatia! Im on their side also because of Beşiktaş player Vida scored today and Fabian Mrmic&Slaven Bilic.And happy to see that russian anti-football style is out of tournament.So England v.s Croatia will be really a joyful game to watch.It is hard to make a guess who to win.Crotians looked very tired today.English team on the contrary looks so fit.If Pickford plays like he did today very hard for crotia to make goals though they have far more skilled strikers and midfielders than sweden.