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.

i hope you're watching nigeria-spain because so far it's a nice fun game. both teams have fucked up the finish numerous times but nigeria with more misfortune because theya re down by a goal. gotta say, it's frustrating watching the nigerian strikers tangle themselves with their own legs when they should just fucking SHOOT and do it right (instead of the weak-ass shots theyv'e sent valdez).

i'm recording the uruguay/tahiti but it's 4-0 at the moment!

fucker, this nigerian attack is just pathetic. i mean. come on! just kicking any which way. stupid fuckers!

oh, there goes the 3-0

wehll... LEARN SOMETHING, NIGERIA

disappoint

Yeah, really enjoyable game and totally agree about Nigeria's lack of a real attacking threat. Although it's also a worry that Spain allowed them so many chances. Against a more lethal threat (Brazil?) they might really struggle.

well there was plenty of threat but no actual consummation. plenty of tripping with their own feet though. ridiculous.

i'd love to see spain knocked off their pedestal for sure.

btw the ny red bulls are playing philadelphia and it's not a bad game at all! looks like the mls is not 100% shit after all.

i want to see the game everyone wants to see. brazil vs. spain. although i fear it would end up being a bit of how it was when barca met santos in the club world cup.... i hope not though!

A Brazil-Spain final would be great, and seems increasingly inevitable; Uruguay haven't really impressed me yet and Italy have now lost Balotelli to injury, plus the ongoing doubts about Pirlo's fitness.

From what I've seen of Brazil, they've got some good individuals but still seem a bit disorganised, and if Spain's midfield are allowed to get into their usual rhythm it could end up being a bit of a whitewash.

the problem of uruguay is that they are old and haven't renewed their squad. people talk of problems of fitness in the defense but the issue all around is age. you can't just rely on experience and good positioning, you also need speed (e.g., when facing someone like giaccherini). a well-rounded team would combine both kinds of players, but they have the same team as 3 years ago. upfront, suarez and cavani and forlan can be as good as any offense, but without rear coverage they can't unleash everything they've got.

in any case, i hope the commentators stop talking about 1950 in view of tomorrow's game. everyone who played in that final is now DEAD.

I can't disagree but, with a population of under 3.5m, Uruguay just doesn't have the luxury of being able to renew its squad with any kind of regularity. All you can really do is admire what they achieve with what little they have and, if anything, wonder why countries with populations and resources that dwarf theirs aren't dwarfing them on the pitch. I even take back my point about not being that impressed with them in this tournament. I don't think they're contenders to win but given their situation who would ever expect them to?

God knows how they do it. Their football culture seems unique, apparently one of the most intense anywhere in the world - I recently added watching a Nacionel-Peñarol game in Uruguay (while eating a chivito sandwich) to my ever-growing list of footballing must-dos.

oh, well, if you put it that way.

yes to all the rest you said, and i like them lots as well, but the fact is that for results you need some fresh meat and they don't have it. (or maybe they have it and the coach isn't using them? i'd have to investigate that.)

anyway. 5th in conmebol is bad for them. i've heard lots about the chivito sandwich but i've never had one. they make them in a gas station around the corner where i used to live but that is now 3,000 miles away. :(

oh shit fuck i'll pull a recipe from the internet and kill a cow with my own hands if i must.

--

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chivito_%28sandwich%29

ham + churrasco. hey, i can make it happen!

That's some silly reasoning. More densely populated country doesn't mean a better team. The olympics is a perfect example of that. The UK came third on the scale of medals won, behind China and U.S.A and WAAAYYYY ahead of India.

he never said anything about population density!

Sure, other factors inevitably come into play and there's obviously no absolute formula for success (or failure) but I still maintain that any country with as small a population as Uruguay, that's as successful as it's traditionally been, has to be admired. Also, those factors that might compensate for having such a small population, like a high degree of wealth, clearly don't apply to Uruguay either. The only thing I can think of that explains their success is the high level of their interest in the game on a cultural level, but even that's impossible to really quantify. (Although it would obviously help explain why a country like the USA underachieves at football to the degree that it does.)

Or maybe it's all in those chivito sandwiches.

PS: So how was the Bernabeu? Did Real sign you?;)

Save it for the game tomorrow, along with a gourd of Mate.

traditionally, uruguay has been quite wealthy especially for a south american country, and wealth distribution is more equal than the usa for example. generally, it's pretty middle class.

as for nutrition, it's the abudance of healty, pastured beef that keeps them fitter than their rice-and-bean-eating competitors

http://en.mercopress.com/2013/04/10/...apita-per-year

(argentinians eat more chicken and thus eat more meat in total, but uruguayans eat more beef than anyone else in the world)

BEEF!

Football, a healthy economy and beef. I'm moving to Uruguay.

country names are awesome.

The USA (United States of America)
Mexico (Estados Unidos de Mexico, or United States of Mexico)
Brazil ( República Federativa do Brasil,or Federative Republic of Brazil)
Uruguay ( Republica Oriental de Uruguay or Oriental Republic of Uruguay )

Crazy names!

Yeah a cultural level explains Jamaica's insane amount of brilliant runners.


Bernabeu was brilliant. The museum and trophy room were pretty incredible, as was actually being able to get to pitch level and sit on them oh-so-comfy manager seats. Although I did do a snigger seeing them still selling Higuain and Mourinho merc.

BTW, I read this whilst over there and finished it in 4 days.



An incredible book and all of you should read it. NOW!.

Glad the Bernabeu lived up to expectations and, funnily enough, I'm looking for a book like the one you recommend. I just finished rereading Calcio (also great), about Italian football, and was looking for an equivalent on Spanish football. So I'll definitely pick that up.

And for the tactics-heads here, you really do need to read this.



Re the culture explains Jamaican runners thing, of course not. There's obviously lots of factors why certain countries excel in certain sports and not in others. Why is New Zealand so good at rugby, or England at cycling? They're sporting anomalies. Sometimes it is cultural (like with Argentina and polo, Mexico with boxing or, I'd argue, football with Uruguay) sometimes it isn't. But success can itself spawn a culture. Jamaica's recent success in athletics will have undoubtedly inspired youngsters in Jamaica who prior to Usain Bolt may have never considered pursing it. And I'm sure it's lead to a greater emphasis on athletics in schools that may in the past have been more focused on cricket or football.

News just in that Tevez has been sold to Juve for £8m. A ridiculously low fee, even with all the add ons. West Ham spend £15m on Andy Carroll who isn't half the player Tevez is, never mind twice as good! Looks like a panic sale by City but at that price I'm amazed more clubs didn't come in for him. Even with all the controversy surrounding him, he has to be worth at least 15m. At the very very least.

Anyway, 2 1/2 hours till Brazil-Uruguay. Excited