They have some lovely people there.

Gives a whole new meaning to 'heading the ball'.

enough theory folks--

BRAZIL-MEXICO IN A LITTLE OVER 1 HOUR!

i wonder if giovanni dos santos might feel divided loyalties

I watched it. Bit of a nothing game, really. Brazil making hard work of what should've been a pretty easy win. And how terrible did Hulk look? Loved Neymar's goal though.

Seemed like the real story was taking place outside the stadium.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22979545

both his goal and his setup for jo's goal were pretty awesome, but i was frustrated with brazil.

fuckin felipao keeps dante benched and his center backs are shit (sorry thiago silva) making a mess and conceding stupid opportunities.

other than neymar's goals, david luiz's bleeding nose was the hight of the afternoon's entertainment.
although i thought david luiz was the most important player of the match-- he was *everywhere* more as a midfilelder or left back almost whereas marcelo meh.

in other words i'd put david luiz as left back for marcelo and bring dante in. DANTE RULES.

I used to hate Luiz when he first joined Chelsea. He was my goto example whenever I talked about the supposed decline in defending but he has to be one of the most improved players I can think of. From a total joke to truly world class. But yeah, overall Brazil still seem stuck in that 'young squad' hole. There's still no real cohesion there. They've cruised through the tournament so far against some pretty poor opposition. We'll have to wait till they play maybe Italy (currently struggling against Japan), or Spain before we can really gauge where they're at.

Oh, shit, the Japan game already started? Meh... I have work to do... fuckit.

For all the criticisms about Brazil, I'm definitely starting to believe the hype around Neymar. Even against weak opposition, some of the things he's doing are amazing to watch.



The prospect of Barcelona setting up with him bombing in from the left and Messi from the right will terrify any defence. (I only hope they can sort their own defence out in time, so it isn't all for nothing.)

ITA-JAP was fucking hectic man! U should have watched it! Lead changes crizazy! Both teams fucking exhausted.

YES!

demoño said "struggling" but i didn't know that in british that meant japan was KICKING ASS!!! (demoño, it's okay to let it all out, ALL CAPS WITH EXCLAMATIONS!!!!).

surpising/ amazing/ awesome.

i tuned it at 60' by accident and i couldn't fucking believe it. i didn't even record it because i thought it was gonna be crap. I AM A FUCKING FUCKTARD!

anyway, what i managed to see was a heart-stopper. i can't believe japan was ahead 2-0 at some point! (nice goal by kagawa i caught in highlights)

meanwhile, THE SO-CALLE TERROR OF THE "AMERICAS*" IS OUT & DONE

saturday is gonna be awesome. awesome awesome awesome.


* (c) 2013 suchfriends inc.

technically he's great but again he's a total pussy after he gets knocked a little. and i tire of seeing him cry. though to be fair la liga is full of such theatrics and he should be a good fit. he's no messi though cuz messi has balls of steel.

Yeah, definitely an exciting game with loads of goals and crazy decisions but I wasn't that impressed with Japan. They just showed (as we already knew) that they're a far better team than they showed against Brazil. And it's impossible to know what to make of Italy from one game to the next. They have a habit of late of doing pretty well in tournaments without ever seeming particularly convincing.

I'm not sure if I'll bother with Spain v Tahiti tomorrow. Tahiti's coach is quoted as saying that if Spain score 20 goals, he'll be happy if Tahiti score 1. Group B looks like it'll be decided mainly on who scores most against them. How on earth did they even make the tournament in the first place? I didn't even know Tahiti had a football team. Nigeria v Uruguay looks like it could be great though.

As for Neymar's theatrics, nobody likes it, obviously, but it's now so endemic that anyone that bothered about it would almost have to stop watching football altogether, at least at the top level. You're right though, it's definitely more blatant in La Liga than it is in some other leagues. But it's everywhere to some degree, and I wouldn't say Neymar's up there with the very worst. Although I'm sure when he arrives at Barcelona, Busquets and Jordi Alba will get him up to speed with a crash course in the thespian arts. (I read a joke on a Real fan forum that Barca are looking to replace Villa Nova with Pedro Almodovar)

fucking spain is playing the whole bench

i can't fucking believe javi martínez is a substitute after the season he had with bayern.

fucktards!

go tahiti go

Martinez is playing (which I'm actually surprised at) but either way, come on. They're 4-0 up already and don't look like they've even broken into a sweat. And it's not like Spain are fielding a substandard team. If 'bench players' like Mata, Reina, Silva, Cazorla, and Torres can't beat Tahiti there's something seriously wrong.

EDIT: 7-0 now. I reckon Del Bosque's tempted to put his boots on for the last half hour.

yeah i wrote that at the start of the match.

8-0 now.

what i meant is: donkey-face (martinez) should be on the first team. busquets and xabi alonso can eat a bucket of stewed turtleheads. ha ha ha ha.

10-0 and nothing much anyone can really say. Tahiti didn't really embarrass themselves any more than Spain can claim any great glory. Just one of those games that really shouldn't have happened. Tahiti aren't even professional.

Re Martinez, it should be a no-brainer but he'd be breaking up one of the most effective partnerships in the game, even if it could be argued that he currently offers more individually than Busquets and Alonso do on their own. Saying that, he's the obvious eventual replacement for Alonso.

Anyway, Uruguay Nigeria about to start. Really looking forward to this one.

Brazil-Italy coming up in half an hour. Probably the biggest, most interesting and competitive game so far. A chance to watch Neymar against a really top defence.

YEEEEES. 10 minutes now!

Great game in the end, after the weird injury-fest of the first half. I thought the score slightly flattered Brazil but Italy really has to sort out its defence. It may even be time for them to start thinking about replacing Buffon, who's in danger of tarnishing his legend with the amount of mistakes he's now making. But the defence all round seems suspect, even Chiellini. (His goal had to have been disallowed, too.)

I still can't work Brazil out.

I have not seen a single game of this tournament. Really should get on it to be honest.