World Cup 2014 quarter-finals preview: live webchat
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Barney Ronay is online from Brazil to answer your questions about the World Cup as the hosts take on Colombia
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World Cup 2014 quarter-finals: live webchat with Barney Ronay in Brazil
LiveBarney is online from Brazil to answer your questionsCan France go all the way in Brazil? Photograph: David Gray/Reuters LiveSort by:
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BigBananaFeet asks:
Hi Barney. In a webchat several months ago I asked who the England scapegoat would be this time. You correctly predicted that England were past that and would probably be eulogising the Costa Rica youth system by this stage of the tournament. So just what should England be learning from Costa Rica?
Guardian staff
They should learn that they never should have let the FA and the Football League become two bodies in the 19th century. That as in Costa Rica all football should be controlled by one central body if you actually want to have a system and clubs that care about domestic football rather than just their own shareholders and income. The Premier League is just a gloss on that original split between onwership and control of football in this country. It all goes back to Victorian capitalism and a country where squeezing the drops out of something, exploiting all your resources for financial gain has always been valued above anything else: in this case participation, home-grown talent, successful national team, clubs that represent their geographical roots and all the rest of it. Never mind all that: look at the bottom line!TylerDurden08 asks:
With the barber who cuts hair to look like World Cup footballers, how long do you think it will be before a footballer has his own image on his head? Also who do you think it will be?
I think Cristiano Ronaldo will have his own face tattooed over his own faceOne design Cristiano Ronaldo will not be wanting on his face. Photograph: Ashley Landis/Reuters Gingification asks:
I've recently become single again. So my question is, Tinder or Soulmates?
Do that thing in the Guardian where you go on a blind date with a 28 year old theatre prop designer and then they aske you embarrassing questions afterwards. Table manners? Excellent except when he spat in my nachos. What did you talk about? Fair trade mung beans, Venezuealan street mime and how we both love to knit our own yoghurt. Did you kiss? He lunged at my shoulder and missed. Etc etc.Molefromtheministry asks:
Do you think Argentina have any realistic chance of winning this tournament? It's well-documented that triumphant sides rarely show their true colours during the opening exchanges, but Argentina have now played four games and looked utterly lethargic in all of them. We were told that Sabella would provide a structure in which Messi would thrive after the tactical luddism of Maradona and (to an extent) Batista, yet although he has saved them time and again, the team as a whole still looks extremely unconvincing.
Of course they can win it! They only need to win three more games. Messi can win three games for any team anywhere on any pitch at any time. Plus the rest of that team has to start playing at some point. They are much better players then they've seemed so far. Mainly though, one genius is enough at a World Cup where all the teams are a bit flawed and where he's playing well, taking his moments, completely *in* the tournament. I definitely see them getting to the final.RoetFuss asks:
Do you think Louis van Gaal's success in this World Cup is indicative of how well he'll do next season in the Premier League?
Maybe. He has played it like a club competition, tailoring his tactics to each opponent, and seems the most visibly interventionist, golden-touch manager here. Mainly though he's obviously still got the hunger and the drive and the clarity. Going to be fascinating whatever happens.Nutbutters asks:
I'll start by clarifying that this is the most entertaining World Cup I've ever seen but what do you make of the level of quality on show (certain individuals aside)?
It depends what you mean by "quality". If you're a fan of brilliantly well-grooved systems football, without flaws or rough egdes or areas of weakness then you'll have enjoyed South Africa a bit more. But here there is a change of guard going on, he dying back of of possession football as the be all and end all, as teams are happy not to have the ball here, coinciding with some weak points based in that system - dodgy ball-playing defenders - that can be exposed by fearless pacey attack. It's an interesting moment between the tides. Complaining about a lack of "quality" seems a bit meaningless to me.CousinBebop asks:
Are there enough beards in the World Cup?
I'm a fan of Fred's furtive little moustache. He looks like Little Richard's ne'er do well cousinCarfreewalker asks:
Would you say the eight best teams are in the last eight? I have enjoyed Costa Rica's run greatly, but in the last round they seemed to do little more than hack down the Greeks, yet still win neutral hearts (much like Atlético Madrid in the Champions League final). Are they good or just lucky/plucky?
I've enjoyed Coste Rica doing well because it's Costa Rica, but I don't really feel the need to watch them much more. This is a wonderfully well organised and committed team drawn from scant resources (nine i think players in the domestic league) and helped by the fact they've been preparing for this with sports scientists, nutritionists, regular training camps and all the rest since last September. But for me that will do. Sorry Ticos!UpdatedCousinBebop ask:
On paper the USA team decidedly inferior to the England team (to me anyway) but they played with such flair and intensity. It was hard to stop watching them. What was so different about their approach?
I'm not sure they played with flair exactly, but there was certainly a great intensity and brio in their performances. I don't think the difference with England was that great. The US could have quite easily lost to Uruguay and Italy and been going home early just like England. I think perhaps the only real difference was the US looked like a team with faith in its plans, a very clear method in attack and defence that everybody understood. Whereas England looked like a team sent out by a defensively excellent coach who has decided, because of the players available, to attack a bit more, but who had no clear pattern in attack beyond a vague idea of speed on the wings and hope Wazza/Sterling/Sturridge "does something". Also that two man central midfield should have been rearranged after the first game, but it wasn't.Philip Farrell asks:
Who do you want to see win the World Cup?
I want Brazil to win becausue I've always supported them due to an old family connection. In fact my nickname at primary school was, for a while "Brazil" because I used to wear a Brasil shirt when i played football (and obviously also because I was amazing at overhead kicks, dribbling, banana-shot free-kiccks and all the rest of it). But I think every team this far would be worthy winners. Yes, even Germany.XBBLCJR asks:
A lot has been made about some of the goalkeeping displays and some of the less-established keepers making big money moves after the tournament. That's not going to work out well for anyone involved is it?
It might you never know. Goalkeeping is, let's face it, quite an odd position. I've seen lower league goalkeepers put in astonishingly good performances in England, and Premier League keepers who look awful most of the time, but somehow it just keeps going on like that, you either start at the top and stay there or start at the bottom and stay there. There is a basic lack of social mobility with goalkeepers. Someone should write a aper about it. Who knows maybe the World Cup can help break through the spandex ceiling.Barney is online!
Hello everyone. Sorry I'm [insert number of hourse] late. There have been some wifi issues. But I am now safely swaddled within the FIFA bubble at the stadium media room here in Fortaleza, where the air is conditioned, the crisps are expensive, the [approved FIFA brand drinks] flow like wine and most importantly there is a uniformly excellent internet connection. Good old FIFA! So now you've all gone home/back to work I can get get on with answering your questions.The wifi is not working in Barney's hotel, so he is on his way to the Fifa media centre to answer your questions. He should be online soon. While waiting, why not prepare for the inevitable quarter-final penalty shootouts with a game of this.
UpdatedBarney will be here soon
Good afternoon. Barney will be here soon, but in the meantime here is a collection of our World Cup offerings for your consumption:
- The best XI from the last-16 stage
Tim Howard, Jan Vertonghen, Mesut Özil, Lionel Messi, Kevin De Bruyne and Arjen Robben stood out in the last 16 - The barber who cuts hair to look like World Cup footballers Master barber Rob Ferrel cuts the likenesses of World Cup players into the hair of his customers
- Louis van Gaal cares about winning, not about Dutch football ideologyThe World Cup has highlighted the ability of an older, wiser Louis van Gaal to compromise on his principles to Holland’s benefit
- France’s Paul Pogba: a complete midfielderAt 21, the former Manchester United midfielder has achieved more than Platini, Zidane and Ribéry had at that age. Paul Pogba is still raw, but his potential is colossal
Updatedcopy http://www.theguardian.com/uk
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