DiMaria has been my biggest big money flop in my team. The best thing I can say about him is at least he starts.

all my argentinians have been utter shit. except for messi and maybe romero--not on my squad.

i thought i was cleverly hedging the expected rain of goals between the three non-messis, who were all bound to get something at some point, but it's been a huge bunch of nothing.

Cinderellas are teams that really aren't supposed to be there but made it through, I think Costa Rica is real deal and they most definitely belong, meanwhile Greece got in on an overly aggressive ply by Ivory Coast.



Exactly why it was really now or never.. advancing would have helped motivate future talent to continue to work with the team.



Ghana is indeed doing the best, but on paper Ivory Coast is the better match up out of Africa, hence why that loss was borderline epic. Ivory Coast could have beaten Costa Rica and made things interestingly meanwhile Greece gets to make it even more interesting for Costa Rica since it should be an easy win for Costa Rica..



Oh, I was asking for Ivory Coast, not Ghana. No No No.. Ghana has had their fun at the US expense too long now..


seems legit


Indeed.

isn't cinderella the servant girl filthy with ashes who with some magical help cleans up, shows up at the ball, and dazzles everyone?

that's definitely costa rica.

and pinto their fairy godmother.

because, really-- who the fuck knew about costa rica before june 12? sure, you say you did, but nobody else did though. people weren't even prepared for them.

apparently this is their 4th world cup. i don't remember their previous ones. i don't know that anyone does outside their own country. costa who? i only know them for their turtles and their papayas, their coffee and their lack of an army-- plus some stories.

when they beat uruguay it was like the laws of nature had been temporarily suspended in the universe. then they beat italy and everyone can see it wasn't a fluke. huge achievements. then they tie with england.

ivory coast is a better known team around the world-- they're back 3 times in a row, you expect some kind of performance. even without a great national record, people know drogba, yaya and kolo toure, gervinho, etc. -- those guys play (or have played) at the highest professional levels. they're all over the premiere league and league 1 and the bundesliga. that's a solid squad.

does costa rica have any famous player? i don't think so. they have some europeans, but from small leagues or teams. their best one works for arsenal but couldn't get a work permit so they loan him around, for fucks sakes. this is definitely the servant girl who cleans up and dazzles everyone at the ball.

re:ivory coast -- i read earlier today about drogba helping stop the war in his country-- damn! damn damn damn. and now they have floods, and a brother of the toures dies and they stay to play…. and in the end they get eliminated. fuck! one fucking disgrace after another. i feel really sad for them. i know what a national team victory can mean to a country. and i know you're very pro-africa, so--my condolences.

I think Costa Rica isn't as surprising as Greece. True, they aren't well known internationally, and maybe its my bias following CONCACAF, but they haven't surprised me one bit. They belong where they are and I wouldn't be surprised if they advance one more stage at that!

Greece, well by the universal sports definition of Cinderellas they are surely just happy to be there and unless some Prince Charming gift wraps them an easy win they're in way over their heads ;)

Ivory Coast.. thanks for your condolences.. It was the national narrative more than the sports narrative that would have made that win so damned perfect. They like Greece have never advanced, and like Greece it was only their 3rd appearance ever. While Greece may have had some fucked up economics lately, I think its unanimous that in the 21st century Ivory Coast has been one of the most tragic places in the world. In that regard, just MAKING it to the World Cup as been big for them but like you said they have a talented squad to there are also realistic expectations of advancing, though all things considering they will not be as disappointed as it might seem. However, advancing would have been EPIC to say the least...

By the way, I didn't know the Toure brothers brother died last week.. of CANCER no less... very very very very sad indeed! But sports are like real life in the sense that you have to take it on the chin sometimes but do it with grace and humility. So whether you lose a match or lose something big in life, all you can do is carry on forward. Ivory Coast team will definitely feel this sting, a lot more than most teams would, but on the same token, this is a team full of people whose perspectives are tempered by the wisdom of having experienced much worse than a big lose at futbol... That being said, they will be able to see a bright side more than they won't... It does suck being a last hoora, but on the same token, this roster can still through coaching and assisting help further develop Ivorian talent for the future, not merely of their national team, but of their futbol culture as a whole, and send more players to "the big leagues" around the world..

In that regard, all is not lost :)

on an unrelated note, this past weekends USA game was the most watched in American history.. though to be sure, it was on a Sunday evening and was against a team that in honesty is probably as popular among futbol fans living in America as the American team is!! This Thursday's match at Noon eastern time on a work day will not bode anywhere near as well TV audience share wise... To be sure its still impressive, it had the same ratings as the average NBA Finals game two weeks ago.

Indeed this has always been a big problem for the US team, Americans like their big games in prime time, and even for popular American pro-sports teams getting ratings at "odd times" like morning games is hard..

I surely hope the USA will make it today, but it will be really tough
Good luck!! You'll need it....

Well, Greece hit the bar twice on quick counter attacks. Counter attacks that didn't look like one sole guy running as fast as he can with no support anywhere.
They haven't robbed the qualification that much.
Going through thanks to a late penalty was the surprise.

Their display when they became European Champions in 2004 was way more horrible.

Suarez is a psychotic cunt.

I had much love for him (as a L'Pool superior striker) and the whole Uruguay team, but after what happened yesterday, I have lost all the respect for him and his team.

Plus the red card that shouldn't have been.

Unfair qualification to the elimination rounds.

i ll have my father to give me a short summary of whats going on, will connect the telly and will start watching too.

you should - Greece is through! they played a very nice match yesterday.

Watching the local sports news, the accompanying caption to the story was:

SUAREZ'S LAST SUPPER?

More mirth ensued as the newsreader and sports guy exchanged banter about whether Suarez is a vegetarian and something about Italian Food....

he's really not filthier than many other players-- slaps on the nuts, pulls, elbows… happens a lot.

suárez just looks more bizarre than anyone else while he fouls his opponents. it's psychologically disturbing. it's a throwback to infancy, as opposed to the more grownup hurting of genitals. hence, scandal.

==

come on argentina, fuck up BIG!!

dammit, I thought USA-Germany was today.....
Cycled to home extra hard to be in front of the telly on time.
Oh well, let's hope Nigeria beats Argentine!

blah, after typing ^ that ^ Argentina scores
Fuck Messi

2 goals in less than the first 4 minutes is bananas

(of course that image has been used to death, but I still find it funny... the resemblance is just striking)


What's bizarre is that he's done this twice before and has experienced the ensuing media backlash first in The Netherlands and then in England... and now he's chosen the biggest world stage to do it a third time and pretends like nothing has happened in that interview afterwards! Behaviour and denial that you would only expect from a 5 year old.

Don't they have some PR-person around the Uruguayan squad to prevent him from saying such dumb stuff? Why is Tabarez defending/excusing him? Why isn't it a big deal in the newspapers in Uruguay (supposedly they only mention it as an issue foreign media write about, even calling it a conspiracy). That's what I find most bizarre... not the biting itself.

Gutted for Aguero if his injury's serious but I don't think he's been fully fit since the beginning. Argentina look like they're starting to come together. Di Maria's been excellent and Messi, obviously. Don't remember Nigeria in their previous games but they're better than I expected.

A bit surprised I'm still leading in the SYG fantasy league. :)

After Netherlands-Chile I completely forgot to set Neymar as my captain for the Brazil game later that night and that costed me 16 points (assuming anyone who had him in the team made him captain).

Decided to gamble on Messi today... really didn't expect him to show up because a draw would suffice for both teams, but luckily he's proving me wrong. He could even do better than Neymar!

So it seems that both Neymar and Messi can carry their team when absolutely nothing is at stake. Just in time for the knock-out stage... the real stuff has yet to begin.


My 2nd round team:

GK Itanje 7
DF Vermaelen 3 (costed me points, took out Rodriguez for him)
DF Rojo 13
DF Ramos 8
DF Montazeri 8
MF Valbuena 11
MF Iniesta 8
MF Di Maria 8
FW Messi 10
FW Neymar 7
FW Benzema 32 (16x2)