FIFA World Cup 2018 chat thread

[GGAS]

Didn't know Rafa Marquez was still going. He was a beast back in the day for Barca and Monaco. His fifth consecutive world cup

[andy]

Fantastic victory for Mexico! Germany looked lethargic and lacklustre, and they badly missed Sane! Blown group wide open!

[mikesiva]

Is Sane's omission the most egregious since Len Hutton's? #TenuousCricketLink

Yes.

A lot of those guys on the pitch today didn't deserve to wear the German shirt ahead of Sane.

[Durhamfootman]

I couldn't give a buggery about Aladdin (Sane), but Germany were completely profligate in front of goal. They created loads of chances, and wasted all of them. Mexico created about 4 clear cut chances and took one.

What would Germany have given for this Coutinho goal that has probably done Switzerland in the first 20 mins?

one of those (and they tried a few) and the game is completely different.

What Mexico did very well was counter attack quickly and in numbers, which forced Germany to leave extra players back, because their defenders were too slow, for most of the game, to cope with the threat... which made defending much easier for Mexico.

Mexico out-thought Germany today and they thoroughly deserved their win

first time Germany have lost their opening fixture since 1982

[The Professor]

Neymar is the footballing equivalent of Kevin Pietersen. Talented but potentially less talented than he thinks he is; eminently unlikable to most. #TenuousCricketLink

[Durhamfootman]

200M?

pfft!

I wouldn't give you tuppence for him based on his performance so far tonight. Talk about being in the defender's pocket. He just keeps finding himself being eased off the ball every time he gets it

I didn't think much of him 4 years ago and it would appear that he hasn't improved much since.... despite the price tag

maybe he's like a painting by van Gogh..... load of shite, but will always make you more money than you paid for it

[mikesiva]

Coutinho!

Zuber equalised!

[Durhamfootman]

been a few surprise results so far

let's hope there is another one tomorrow and England actually win their first opening fixture for about 100 years

[sussexpob]

Neymar is a stunning player, and I don't know what tournament you watched in 2014 if you thought he wasn't good in it. Remember he was injured in the Colombia game when Brazil then struggled. If anything they crumbled when he wasn't around.

His quality is there, think he just got hacked off the ball by a Swiss team knowing they wanted to be physical with him. If the ref had been a bit.more sensible with his cards, the game might have been different.

Thought Mexico were brilliant tactically

[bigfluffylemon]

Lot of surprise results - all the 'big guns' have started slowly, and most have been surprised with a poor result (France got away with it against Australia).

Might bode well or ill for England, depending on whether you consider them a 'big gun'.

[sussexpob]

If memory serves, Germany drew with Ghana first game last time, then annihilated Portugal after. And Spain I believe lost to Switzerland in 2010 first up. Italy drew with America in 2006....

First games don't mean much

[sussexpob]

Didn't know Rafa Marquez was still going. He was a beast back in the day for Barca and Monaco. His fifth consecutive world cup

Considering he had some very long and career wrecking injuries while at Barca, it's a miracle hes still playing. Think he had his knee rebuilt twice over a decade ago

[bigfluffylemon]

If memory serves, Germany drew with Ghana first game last time, then annihilated Portugal after. And Spain I believe lost to Switzerland in 2010 first up. Italy drew with America in 2006....

First games don't mean much

True.

It does set up the intriguing possibility of a Brazil/Germany clash in the round of 16 though. Mexico have to be favourites to top group F now - you've got to fancy them to beat South Korea, which means a draw or better with Sweden and they top the group automatically. Otherwise it could come down to goal difference.

Likewise, we could see France v Argentina, although that's a bit less likely.

[Gingerfinch]

If memory serves, Germany drew with Ghana first game last time, then annihilated Portugal after. And Spain I believe lost to Switzerland in 2010 first up. Italy drew with America in 2006....

First games don't mean much

Italy, Spain, and Germany all won their first games but I do agree, drawing or losing your first game isn't the end of the world.

[bigfluffylemon]

If memory serves, Germany drew with Ghana first game last time, then annihilated Portugal after. And Spain I believe lost to Switzerland in 2010 first up. Italy drew with America in 2006....

First games don't mean much

True.

It does set up the intriguing possibility of a Brazil/Germany clash in the round of 16 though. Mexico have to be favourites to top group F now - you've got to fancy them to beat South Korea, which means a draw or better with Sweden and they top the group automatically. Otherwise it could come down to goal difference.

Likewise, we could see France v Argentina, although that's a bit less likely.

Although that Ghana game was Germany's second game in 2014 - the Portugal annihilation came first. Likewise, Italy's draw with the USA was in their second game.

Your point still stands that your first game doesn't define your competition (not many teams win all three group games - there's usually at least a draw in there, even for champions), but it doesn't necessarily bode well for a team.