Guardian writers:
Nothing went right for Mario Balotelli, Karim Benzema typified France's
spirit, Costa Rica are right to dream and the red-hot other Valencia
Look who's playing today. He's excited. Are you excited? Photograph: Ballesteros/EPA
Breaking news!!! Leighton Baines, Daniel Sturridge, Glen
Johnson, Phil Jagielka and Steven Gerrard are training separately, away
from the main group of England players. Make of that what you will; my
guess is they won't be playing against Costa Rica, although they might
just be in particular disgrace and on Roy Hodgson's equivalent of the
naughty step.
Ross Barkley gets in some last-minute
fine-tuning ahead of England's very important match against Costa Rica.
Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Is Oxlade-Chamberlain fit yet?
— John Brewin (@JohnBrewinESPN) June 21, 2014
England training update. For reasons best known to
themselves, England are currently training ahead of their match against
Costa Rica. And for reasons best known to themselves (the fear of having
a P45 waiting on the doormat upon their return home, probably), the
press pack that's following them around Brazil are diligently watching
them. I believe the technical term for such a monumental waste of
everyone's time is "keeping up appearances".
Let's face it,
footballers and journalists alike should all just sack off the session,
hit the pub and get royally leathered. Most people would probably
applaud such behaviour and the time for worrying about what idiots who'd
frown upon it might think almost certainly passed a couple of days
ago.
England are treaining right now. We're not sure why either. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
My friend the top Irish journalist Miguel Delaney is in
Brazil and has taken time out from what sounds like a hectic meat-eating
schedule to flag up this highlight from last night's ITV coverage. If
you haven't seen it, already, it's Martin O'Neill reacting to some
jovially disparaging comments from Adrian Chiles, then rendering his
fellow pundits Patrick Vieira and Fabio Cannavaro speechless.
Of course apologies are all well and good, but there's no
point offering one unless it's sincere. Wayne Rooney's seemed genuine
enough and while I haven't heard Daniel Sturridge's, he seems like a
nice fellow, so I'll presume he's sufficiently contrite. Here, for your
amusement, are what sound like a couple of decidedly insincere
apologies.
A cantankerous old man apologises ... A cantankerous old man apologises ...
Well shiver me timbersand what's that lying two points abaft the port beam? Why,
it's England's World Cup dreams lying face down in the briny. Wayne
Rooney and Daniel Sturridge have already fronted up and apologised for
the early exit, after defeats to Italy and Uruguay. What we want to know
is whether or not you think they should feel obliged to apologise.
After all, it's not like they did anything really serious, like
spill your pint, look askance at your girlfriend or voice an opinion on a
social network site that doesn't tally exactly with your own. Cast your vote by clicking on this link.
A woman casts her vote in our Should England Players Have To Apologise referendum. Photograph: Agron Dragaj/ZUMA Press/Corbis
Shocked to the core by the graphic nature of that furry filth, I
now require a lie down in a darkened room, and bid you all a fond
farewell. Barry Glendenning will be steering this ship onto the rocks safely into the harbour. Aye aye, Cap'n Baz!
Anyone remember Tip and Tap? The mascots from the 1974 World Cup?
Clean-living Tip and Tap
Well, you wouldn't have caught them grinding with the ladies like this:
Filthy Ol' Armadillo
Oh Fuleco! And you with a remit to amuse the kids as well! How could you!
That Ecuador-Honduras game last night was good fun. Perhaps not one for the purists, but good fun. Not
least because the wilfully physical Hondurans managed to concede a free
kick after three seconds, which is going some by any measure. You
have to admire that sort of carry-on. They know they're almost certainly
away home after losing 2-1, but won't be giving up hope, just in case.
"We need to bow out on a high note," their coach Luis Fernando Suarez
has said. "If you don't try everything it will play on your conscience
forever. We don't want that to happen when we leave the World Cup."
Switzerland watch out! They might be taking home a couple of your legs
as souvenirs of their time in Brazil, along with maybe some nice coffee,
a scale model of Christ the Redeemer, and whatever toiletries are still
unopened in the hotel bog.
Meanwhile it appears I have unfairly
maligned one of Lou Reed's more esoteric works (1.30pm). "What's wrong
with listening to Metal Machine Music on an expensive stereo?" asks
Spiff Blunge, who sounds suspiciously like a muso, heavy metal drummer,
or at the very least a roadie to me. "It would have been time and money
better spent than watching Iran versus Nigeria on an expensive home
theatre." It's a fair point. I'll gaffer tape my mouth as punishment and
say nothing more.
We're all big kids at heart, aren't we? But it's not time for hot milk and blanky yet. Until the World Cup shuts down between 7pm and 8pm, for the toddlers' truce
that gives us time to tuck you up in bed, you can play with your Lego.
Here's the latest brilliant brick-by-brick report! Enjoy, if you can
bear to sit through England v Uruguay again. And take that piece out of
your mouth! That's Luis Suarez's right leg!
Andy Hunter loves to go a-wandering, along the sandy track, and as he goes, he loves to sing, his knapsack on his back.
That knapsack contains a laptop, folks, for Andy's off to the Estadio
Castelao Fortaleza, with a view to reporting on Germany and Ghana later
this evening. He's even stopped en route to send us this pre-match
report of Germany boss Joachim Low effectively telling both Jose
Mourinho and irate ITV anchor Adrian Chiles to stick their opinions
somewhere north of Ceará (i.e. where the sun don't shine):
Joachim
Low has offered a little insight into the world of Thomas Muller. The
striker earned both acclaim for his hat-trick against Portugal and
criticism for his histrionics that preceded Pepe's dismissal on Monday,
with Jose Mourinho claiming his compatriots had made life easy for the
Bayern Munich player.
Low retorted: "Thomas Muller is important
for us not only in terms of what he can do on the pitch, where he is
unpredictable but always there to score a goal. He is important in terms
of the motivation he gives to his team-mates. He is a lively character,
he is good fun, he is always positive and he believes the national team
is very important. He'll go around and talk to everyone at dinner, he
is a real team player who brings everyone together. He transmits this
happiness to the team and that is very important at a tournament."
All
together now: Valderi! Valdera! Valderi! Valder-ahahahahahaha! Valderi!
Valdera! A knapsack containing a laptop (and maybe some sandwiches for
half-time) on Andy's back!
Pools news:
The following matches have been pools panel assessed:
8 FNQFC v Brisbane City Half-time No Score Draw
8 FNQFC v Brisbane City Full-time Home Win
9 Palm Beach v Olympic Half-time Home Win
9 Palm Beach v Olympic Full-time Home Win
10 Redlands Utd v Harimau Muda A Half-time Void
10 Redlands Utd v Harimau Muda A Full-time Void
To the tragic news of Yaya and Kolo Toure's brother Ibrahim, who died on Thursday. Yaya
and Kolo have, contrary to earlier reports, decided to remain at the
World Cup with the Ivory Coast squad. "The Toure brothers, Kolo and
Yaya, have decided to stay with the team," announced a spokesman for the
Ivorian Football Federation. "They are not leaving Brazil." Ivory Coast
face Greece in Fortaleza on Tuesday. A win will see them through to the
second round. Ibrahim had been suffering from cancer.
Good old Wayne Rooney! He's been on Facebook, presumably to make his Scrabble moves. [Note to self: pop onto Facebook after posting this entry and make your Scrabble moves.] Having secured himself a couple of bingos in his games against Coleen and Moyesy, he then posted an apology to England fans, a mea culpa
for the team's performance at this World Cup, which has been either
less than ideal, or a wonderful homage to the 1950 campaign, depending
on which way you look at it. Here it is:
Absolutely
devastated to be out of the World Cup. Going into each game we had
great belief in ourselves but unfortunately it hasn't worked out. Sorry
to all the fans that travelled and at home that we haven't done better
... gutted!
Having dragged wide of an open goal
against Italy, then missed a header from two yards and slapped a chance
from six straight at the keeper against Uruguay, Rooney is one of a long
list of folk copping flak for England's early exit. That list also
includes Steven Gerrard, Phil Jagielka, Joe Hart, Glen Johnson, Gary
Cahill, Danny Welbeck, Jordan Henderson, Dr Steve Peters and Uncle Tom
Cobley. All a bit unfair in my book. The players did their best. I'm
slightly surprised Roy Hodgson has come out of this totally unscathed,
having attempted to graft a Liverpool-style attack onto the front of his
old regimented system, then failed to give his players a similar
licence to roam. It's a classic case of falling between two stools. It's
also like spending a lot of money on expensive hi-fi equipment, then
using the fancy new set-up to play Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music, or
the collected works of Merzbow.
Afternoon, everyone! Sadly, I'm afraid that contrary to Mr
Doyle's grand claims, all that's on offer today is a cold Scott Murray.
Not even tepid. Scott's a-cold! Po' Scott's a-cold! No news, you see.
Right, I'm off to have a proper rummage around the wires. There's got to
be something, somewhere, with a World Cup going on. Back in a minute!
I'll not let you down! Legal disclaimer: I might let you down.
I think we can all agree that what's needed now is some hot Scott Murray action. I won't stand between ye. Bye!
Updated
What happened to the great Rashid Yekini? Simon Burnton explores a strange tale.
It was Portugal’s first training session after the humbling defeat
against Germany and Nani showed up with a star and his squad number
shaved into his hair. It was as if he had not quite grasped that this
was the time to knuckle down rather than show off a new haircut.
A
fresh crop does not necessarily mean a player will fail to work hard,
of course – the newly shorn Luka Modric has showed plenty of application
at this World Cup – but it does, perhaps, hint at a player’s priorities
and, more importantly, it reinforces the feeling that Nani sometimes is
more about style than substance. There is no doubt that the Manchester
United midfielder is outrageously talented. He has everything you expect
from a world-class footballer: quick feet, mesmerising technique and
stamina. But it never quite comes together for him.
"Just to say the best sub ever was John Aldridge v Mexico in 94,"
bawl;s Oli Duncan. "Just for the swearing and rage really - that was
good TV." So good it's worth another look:
All those Ghana fans hoping that Kwadwo Asamoah will be restored to
midfield to provide the Black Stars with much-needed creativity are set
to be disappointed, according to the well-informed Veronica Commey.
Kwadwo Asamoah stays at
LB, Afful Harrison replaces Daniel Opera at the RB with KP Boateng
starting. Ghana vrs Germany. Line-up soon.
— Veronica Commey (@VeronicaCommey) June 21, 2014
Antonio Valencia
Manchester United have just announced that Antonio Valencia has signed a new three-year contract at the club.
Brian McMahon, who is know to his friends as Brian McMahon, has got
in touch to recommend Toto Schillachi as the greatest sub in World Cup
history. "He began the tournament on the bench, came off to score the
winner against Austria and went on to achieve greatness!" blurts Bri.
Sionnaich's treatise below the line on team emblems gave me a moment's levity, especially this observation:
Meanwhile in Honduras:
" Ok. We're all ok with a whopping big capital H as our emblem? Great. See you all in the hotel bar for Martinis night."
Honduras are fast becoming my favourite team in this world cup.
I'm assuming Sesame Street is big in Honduras. Meanwhile, the Bolivian
emblem suggests that country is home to a curious creature that can't
decide whether it's a bird of prey or poultry.
Predator or poultry?
Updated
Above-standard subs
Julian Keith is the first to suggest a candidate for the best
substitute in World Cup history. "Hello there Paul," begins Julian in a
good old-fashioned email. "Since he’s the man of the moment Tim Cahill
is a good
shout. He was subbed on against Japan in 2006 and scored the equaliser
and then the go-ahead goal in the 3-1 win. Quite the illustrious little
World Cup career."
"Spewin' that Benzema's final goal was chalked off (not to mention
his
peno!)," spews the catchily-named ID3995119 below the line. "He was my
pre-tourney selection for Golden Boot. Who, if anyone,
did you plump for PD?" I went for Sergio Aguero and an each-way thing on
Eden Dzeko, which are further reasons why I'm hoping for a goal
splurges in today's matches. Now here's a question for you: what is the
best substitution in World Cup history?
Just look at his face!
Thanks to Paul Reidy for pointing out via twitter that it is 20
years ago today since Diego Maradona scored against Greece and gave that
maniacal glare into the TV camera, which, surely, is football's
equivalent of Jack Nicholson's "Here's Johnny" moment in the The
Shining.
Here's Diego!
If you're gonna die, die with your boots on
It is my long-held belief that England would perform better at World
Cups and so on if they prepared for matches by listening to something
more invigorating than God Save Our Queen, which, whatever about its
all-round worthiness or lack thereof, is a dreary number. Iron Maiden's
The Trooper strikes me as a suitable replacement, blending patriotism,
for the anachronistically inclined, and drive. Mention of Maiden gives
us a handy excuse to refer to this fine interview
with Bruce Dickinson, in which, amongst many bon mots, one of the
greatest vocalists in rock history discusses the similarity between his
band's fans and football supporters.
If you're a rabid supporter of a football team and you believe
passionately in that team, the fact that they have a couple of off
seasons doesn't stop you supporting them. As long as they maintain the
integrity and don't take the piss. They can play appallingly as long as
they're trying hard, and you'll forgive them. If they do it repeatedly
over a period of years and then acquire a manager that makes everybody
wear pink lipstick and a strange tutu then you may consider your
allegiances.
Anyone like to predict the total number
of goals that will be scored in today's three matches? I'm going to
have a shot at 15, although you wouldn't completely rule out
Argentina scoring that amount alone against Iran, Carlos Queiroz's
defensive obduracy notwithstanding. Ghana could suffer at the hands
of Germany – but could also threaten going forward themselves –
and Bosnia and Nigeria could be a goal-fest too, even if the match
will feature two of the best goalkeepers in the tournament, Vincent
Enyeama and Asmir Begovic. Speaking of high-scoring World Cup contests,
perhaps you'd like to read more about the circumstances surrounding the
biggest win in the tournament's history, Hungary's demolition of a
heroic El Salvador side. It's a great tale. Here's a snippet:
[El Salvador] players were especially angry that they did not even have a pennant
with which to perform the traditional exchange with opponents before
kick-off. Their 20-year-old goalkeeper Luis Guevara Mora decided to
improvise. "When we arrived, we saw that all the other teams had brought
gifts for their opponents, shirts, flags and even a book relating the
history of football in their country. As for us, we hadn't brought
anything," he recalled in 2007.
"Then I spotted a pine tree and cut a piece of wood from it, into which
I carved the words 'El Salvador'. And that's what we gave them."
What about the Swiss media's reaction
to the spanking by their neighbours? I'd like to say local tabloids
have run with headlines such as “scALPed“ or “Hellvetica” but
that's not how they do things there, apparently. Instead La Tribune
de Geneve has assessed each player : here are their marks out of 10:
Benaglio 4; Lichsteiner 2 (“has
rarely been so bad … given a hellish time by Benzema .. and his
attacking contribution was almost non-existent”); Djourou 3 (“the
least bad of the Swiss defenders”; Senderos 3 (the Djourou-Senderos
axis gave a bitter reminder of the days when Arsenal's defence had an
open-door policy”); Rodriguez 3 (“completely anonymous”); Inler
4 (“Devoured by Matuidi …. the captain of the national team hade
made an awful start to the tournament … it's becoming worrying”);
Behrami 3 (“swept away by the blue tide”); Dzemaili 5 (“cut the
deficit from a freekick and was asble to bring some precision to the
passing”); Mehmedi 5 (“clearly the best Swiss player on the
pitch”); Xhaka 5 (“Hitzfeld stubbornly continues to play him as a
false nine but the weeks go by and he still hasn't justified the
faith put in him”); Shaqiri 4 (“maybe we expected too much from
him”); Seferovic 4 (“isolated, he made no impact on the game”)
Some inconsistencies in the marking
there, but the overall gist is steadfastly downbeat. Next up for them
is Honduras – and if ever there was a team who look like they'd
kick players when they're down, it's Honduras. Metaphorically
speaking, of course.
Updated
The Question of Time
"Dizzying!" No, not my reaction to being ordered to begin
live data entry at 8 o'clock on Saturday morning, but the headline on
the front page of today's L'Equipe. The French media are justifiably
euphoric with Les Bleus' recent form, which just keeps getting better
and better and reached new heights last night with the 5-2 destruction
of Switzerland. That's Switzerland, people, with a defence marshaled by
Phillipe Senderos and Johan Djourou! Snipes aside, France were mighty
impressive yesterday and the performances of Moussa Sissoko and Olivier
Giroud, who did not start in the comprehensive win over Honduras in the
first match, gave further indication that Didier Deschamps has an array
of good options at his disposal at knows how to use them. Franck Ribery
is missing a party, France aren't really missing him.
France
should have won 6-2, of course. Karim Benzema had a goal ruled because
the referee, almost like Clive Thomas many moons ago, blew for full-time
as the ball neared the line. That was supreme pedantry by the official,
as the spirit of football generally seems to dictate that you wait
until the ball is in a neutral part of the pitch before calling
full-time. But that is hardly an adequate arrangement and is borne of
yet more negligence by the same governing body that cultivates murkiness
around most refereeing decisions. There needs to be far more
transparency about how decisions are made and how time is kept. One day
we may even get 90 minutes of action. A wise person wrote more
extensively on this issue here.
Updated
I'm handing over to Paul Doyle now, who will keep you abreast of all the latest updates. I'll leave you with an extract from Owen Gibson's five reasons why England are going home that's pretty hard to disagree with:
Throughout the buildup, the biggest question mark was over England’s
defence. There was much consternation over whether the first choice four
would stay fit. As it turned out, even that didn’t help much.
Once
England’s area of towering strength, it has become their biggest cause
for concern. Glen Johnson and Leighton Baines offered attacking threat
but were shown up defensively.
In the middle the relatively
untested partnership between Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka that rang
alarm bells during the warm up matches caused them to clang ever louder.
The latter, an impressive Premier League presence all season, was left
sadly exposed and throughout a sense of fragility abounded.
C'mon, Costa Rica...
One team who are already through to the last sixteen are Costa Rica.
They've beaten Italy and Uruguay, and a point against Group D whipping
boys England will see them top the group.
As you can see,
there was quite the party in San José, the Costa Rican capital, after
the whistle yesterday. Their fans haven't felt this
good since Juan Cayasso scored against Scotland in 1990.
You can read, watch and learn more about your new favourite team right here.
Costa Rican fans celebrate in San Jose after they took care of Italy. Photograph: Ezequiel Becerra/AFP/Getty Images
So, Argentina play Iran today in search of a second win in Group G -
and they could well be through to the knockout rounds before the day is
out. As Jonathan Wilson points out, many great players have come and gone since the albiceleste last landed a trophy (the Copa America, back in 1993).
They're among the bookies' favourites, while our own power rankings
but them fifth after the stuttering win over Bosnia. If Messi, Agüero
and co need a few pointers, they could stick BBC Two on now - the 1986
World Cup film is on. That was Argentina's last World Cup win, led by José Luis Brown Diego Maradona.
Updated
Summary
Teams-in-the-World-Cup-longer-than-England department: South
Korea and Algeria play tomorrow in Porto Alegre. With Belgium looking
favourites to top Group H, a win for either could go a long way to
seeing them into the second round - especially with Russia looking less
than impressive. They're both being very good natured about the whole
thing, though:
“Algeria’s offensive players are fast and each one of them has their
own talent. I don’t think Algeria is an easy target,” said South Korea's Ji. “If we play like we did
with Russia, then our chances are good.”
Vahid Halilhodzic blamed a lack of conditioning for
Algeria's failure to hold on to their lead against Belgium – a shortcoming that has
seen the squad given extra training at their base in Sorocaba. “I have
told my players that they should not be ashamed of themselves,” said the
Bosnian. “But this game against Korea is now the decider.”
Good morning. Niall here from a sun-kissed King's Cross
Copacabana on day ten of the World Cup. There's another three games to
look forward to today. I know this tournament has been pretty drab and
uninspiring so far, but let's try and make the best of it.
Today's games are as follows: Argentina v Iran (5pm BST) Germany v Ghana (8pm BST) Nigeria v Bosnia-Herzegovina (11pm BST)
Updated
While we’re on the subject of big numbers, Japan’s clash with Ivory
Coast was, perhaps surprisingly, one of the most viewed matches at this
World Cup, with 34.1 million Japanese viewers tuning in to watch the
Blue Samurai’s 2-1 defeat. Brazil’s opener against Croatia, meanwhile,
attracted a whopping 42.9 million viewers in the host nation, while the
US and Ghana was watched by 11.1 million in the States. England v Italy
(14.2 million on the BBC, 12.8 million on RAI 1) and Germany v Portugal
(26.4 million on ARD) were other big draws. And that's enough
number-crunching for one day.
In more serious news, the South China Morning Post is reporting
that Macau police have busted a bookmaking racket that allegedly took
HK$5 billion ($645 million, or £379 million) in illegal bets - including
a single HK$40 million bet - on World Cup football matches in a week.
Feel free to speculate what exactly that monster punt was on.
Nigeria’s No1 is a goalkeeper whose
skills used to seem the wrong way round: Vincent Enyeama was seen as a
dab hand at scoring penalties but not much cop at saving them.
Read Paul Doyle’s fascinating profile of Enyeama,
the man who should ensure Nigeria’s late clash, the final day ten
match, against the impressive Bosnia, will be anything but dull.
There is another intriguing match-up later on in Fortaleza, where
Germany play Ghana, and the brothers Boateng - Kevin-Prince and Jerome -
meet once again on the international stage. Here’s Andy Hunter on the
elder sibling’s role in stoking the fires ahead of the game:
Kevin-Prince
Boateng might have played the diplomat. He could have displayed the
maturity that has marked his rise as a leading player for Milan, Schalke
and in the fight against racism in football. But there is something
about confronting Germany at a World Cup that encourages the provocateur
in “Prince”. For the second time in four years, the Ghana midfielder
faces Joachim Löw’s team as a pantomime villain out to settle a score
against the land of his birth. Once again, he has been instrumental in
the casting.
And so to today. And it’s not a bad schedule with, as mentioned
before, Lionel Messi’s Argentina playing Iran first up. The potentially
bad news for Gulf nation is that Messi appears keen for his side to
trust their attacking instincts more than they did in their opening
victory over Bosnia.
We are
Argentina and I think we need to concentrate on ourselves without
fixating on who we are playing. We feel more comfortable with two up
front and me behind because it makes it easier to counter-attack and,
because we have more people in attack, we have more possibilities.
In yesterday’s other match, Enner Valencia became the World Cup’s
joint top scorer as Ecuador beat Honduras 2-1. If you missed it, catch
up with Sid Lowe’s match report from Curitiba.
Updated
Anyway, thankfully, it’s not all about England. How about the
remarkably unified France, who hammered Switzerland 5-2? Are Les Bleus
dark horses? Or just horses? Or neither. Read Jonathan Wilson’s match report from the Arena Fonte Nova.
Updated
And so, in time-honoured fashion, to the inquest into England’s
latest debacle. Scapegoats are needed and fingers are cocked, ready to
point the finger of blame. Owen Gibson gets us started.
Costa Rica’s stunning victory over Italy,
the result which hammered the nails into the Three Lions’ coffin,
should not have come as too much of a surprise though. Having now
accounted for both Uruguay and Italy, it turns out the Central Americans
are a pretty decent side, who should not have been overlooked, writes
Amy Lawrence:
In the brouhaha over
England’s forlorn hankering for a handout from Italy, scant attention
was paid to Costa Rica. What an oversight. How deserving they are of
recognition for a gargantuan World Cup achievement. To qualify for the
knockout stages after two games and look down on three former World Cup
winners is as extraordinary as Spain’s implosion.
Good morning. Or not, as the case may be for England fans who are
still coming to terms with the fact that their national side remains as
woeful as ever, having now officially failed to progress from the group
stage for the first time since 1958.
To ease/compound the pain, why not listen to the latest edition of our World Cup daily podcast?
copy http://www.theguardian.com/football
Argentina ready to prove their mettle
Live On day 10, one of the favourites look to hit back at critics of their slow start – but do Iran have other ideas?Rooney says sorry for 'devastating' exit
Wayne Rooney has issued a public apology to supporters after England's exit from the World Cup after just two group gamesThe talking points from day nine
Guardian writers: Nothing went right for Mario Balotelli, Karim Benzema typified France's spirit, Costa Rica are right to dream and the red-hot other Valencia
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário