Pens.

Literally shaking. This is a new era. A new generation. The power of positivity is there.

never any doubt :)

congrats, ingleses!


toldja it would be tuff but you made it

Fucking get in. Fcukign!!

i think you were on delayed signal? :D

but hey you must be getting shitfaced in the streets now

—

ANYWAY

the swedes made me a mint today but i left 7 points on the bench with my failure to do boost bench.

even without that, ospina gave me -1 (2) vs muslera (3)

cuadrado scored only 4 cuz his assist got a -1

shit im going to need a lot of substitutions for next week

Haha no just busy jumping around the room and going mental! We made that harder work than it should have been and we all know that

lol no, i really don’t think so— that’s arrogance

THEY made that harder work than you were expecting

while england was definitely superior on the first half, i thought colombia did better at the end of the 2nd half and during overtime.

it was a close shave, and colombia just sucked on one penalty more than you did.

one thing is to have your shot stopped by the keeper, but hitting the goalpost is unacceptable in these situations. whatsisname from colombia fucked up.

anyway, now you face sweden—but without zlatan! those are decent odds

Er, no. I was actually expecting them to start playing football before the last 10 minutes of the 90, when they were on the brink and had no choice. I was expecting more from them than mere cynicism and last minute desperation. Of course, I was also expecting England to lose their heads the moment they came under pressure, and that bit did live up to expectation, but fortunately the better team over the 120 minutes won.

i think you’re going to have a bias and be in a media bubble that sees colombia’s fouls as “dirty tactics” and england’s fouls as “manful challenges”. there were no holy saints on the pitch today, and when colombia was dirty they got cards and a penalty against them. so did england (minus the penalty), and so the game was shit for a good chunk.

as for the disappointment with colombia’s form: yes, they were too deep on defense for my taste, created too few opportunities and squandered most of the precious few they had. but with that, the only goal they allowed was from a penalty, so consider that in advance of the swedish match cuz they could really park the bus today (i’m sure southgate will).

you’re saying england was rattled— i don’t know their faces but i didn’t see them rattled to me. i just saw them tired. at that point in the game colombia had (briefly) gained control of the game already. it was bacca coming in for quintero that started to changed things. then uribe, then muriel— pékerman waited too long. mistakenly.

for me it was colombia that seemed rattled most of the game. all the set pieces and corners they conceded were, to me, a sign of nerves. been saying so all day. so was their fouling and cealess delay of the game. that’s who was rattled. especially at the end of the first half, shit.

but the game lasted 120 minutes not 45 or 60, so by the end when england was tired, the threat of speed was no longer there, and then colombia had better control of the ball and better chances, and could have flipped the tortilla at any moment. there was even a corner that the ref missed near the end, but we’ll never know. also—vardy couldn’t do shit.

colombia sure played a shitty game, but england wasn’t great even when they had the upper hand. colombia wasn’t panama.

kane was great though. he doesn’t just score, he creates chances, im thoroughly impressed with the guy.

your team as a whole—not so much right now. but their initial speed! playing like that, they need to close it early of they will suffer. the other thing is, this is their first serious challenge since probably the last euros, so they could grow stronger from the experience and gel in time for the final.

early defence looked very good, but colombia did not attack in numbers then, so watch out for the swedish counters.

If you thought England (who I'm certainly not painting as whiter than white) were as cynical and negative as Colombia tonight then we'll just have to agree to disagree.


Sweden will be very difficult. I'm hoping we beat them, obviously, and believe we can but no more than I also believe they're capable of beating us. I respect them. I respected Colombia too, until tonight.


Again, have to agree to disagree.

well no, obviously they were not the same. early on england was on the attack and colombia was there to defend and destroy their game instead of playing their own, so they played negatively. but i don’t think they were as outrageous as you feel they were. that headbutt was a retaliation for a henderson elbow, for example. our beloved chiellini might have done the same. and henderson neymar’d it some (no somersaults though). this is the game. but i think you felt this way because your team was on the creative side.


well i was originally addressing h8kurdt who said “we made it harder than it needed to be” etc. as if it was england’s choice or prerogative to end up with this result.

my point was that it wasn’t.

respect or not, agree or disagree with tactics or style, colombia could have very well legally beat you on the extra time because by then they had gained the upper hand with a change in tactics. and your defense wasn’t what it had been earlier.

...

and funny thing to add here: i was just watching telemundo’s commentary (i watched the game on fox, which was pro-england) and the telemundo commentators are all up in arms complaining about the bad ref and how that penalty wasn’t really a penalty because it began with a slap from kane and they all fell bla bla bla etc. they even have the ref from the 2006 world cup final saying it’s debatable but he wouldn’t have called it.

ha ha ha ha ha!

see. everyone has their bias.

apparently pékerman was also complaining about the ref in his press conference. im gonna go hear what he said.

but anyway—congrats man, you’ve passed the biggest hurdle so far. enjoy your party!

ps- pékerman was saying that they were all afraid of having the whistle blown on them, because they knew that england was a threat on set pieces. they were also all confused that they no longer know what’s called and what’s not called as foul in this world cup. apparently i guess they felt the ref was trigger happy.

read something similar in an argentina newspaper who called geiger... what was the world... something like “oversensitive”. ps- they pointed out he’s american lolol.

anyway only one team won so... water under the bridge.

—

my favorite ref in this world cup is the dutch de kuypers. pure class as far as i’ve seen. commanding, fair, on top of everything, solid performer all around.

Yeah, well it's probably safest to start with the assumption that headbutting an opponent isn't gonna fall into that grey area - especially if they were instructed to err on the side of caution in front of a supposedly 'trigger-happy' referee who they were apparently worried would blow the whistle on them. Delaying a penalty for three minutes (while having players taking turns scuffing the penalty spot) is another obvious sign of a team intimidated by the referee (who actually looked to me like he'd lost control of the game almost from the get-go).

You're only relaying this to show us what a prat Peckerman is, right? I mean obviously nobody who actually watched the game could take his version of events even remotely seriously.

Anyway, they're going home, where they can spin their bullshit all they want while the rest of the world forgets all about them.

Bye bye Colombia. Nice beating you.

LMAO there he is crying. what the fuck did i tell you? pussy! he’s a big baby.

then again quintero did not measure up today. that was a great shame. james’ playmaking and shooting were sorely missed (coulda woulda shoulda was gonna...)

—

anyway, regarding refereeing, and sneaky plays, the VAR has changed things for sure. for the best i think. sure there are controversial calls still but regarding h8kurdt’s sense that “this is the funnest world cup”, skipping all the national preferences and hatreds, i have to say— this is the world cup i’ve seen with the least amount of referee controversies. it’s like 99% more acurate.

say you used to have 10% bad calls.

now that 10% gets reviewed, and say 10% of that is still a bad call— it amounts to 1% of the whole game that gets fucked.

yes there is a bit of delay but not too outrageous. i’m mostly satisfied with the implementation of the technology so far.

—

that being said the american ref was fucking shit. i do not believe like some partisans that he favored the english. but man was he a fucking pointless turd with no leadership or presence.

apparently he’s a math nerd. by which i mean: lacks personality on the pitch. google him, he’s the one who reportedly asked for ronaldo’s shirt. LOL!

fucking MLS...

de kuypers would not have allowed that.

anyway, , i hope dekuypers refs the final. if we had a betting pool for refs, he’d be my winner for getting to the final. pure fucking class.

—

as for pékerman: he’s now a broken-hearted old man who could not take the tension of the penalties. not sure if you saw him but he was truly suffering. he’s a good man but i think he’s past the age to handle these stresses. i don’t feel like twisting the knife in his gut. have some mercy for your fallen opponents, lol. he was clearly distraught. grieving people do tend to mumble incoherences.

—

but not for james cuz he’s just fucking funny with his big wet baby eyes haa haa haa.

—

ok. so. i was just pointing out to a whole continent having a different take on this story. don’t be so fucking british! other people live outside your island you know. and yes they count. and you have your own distortions as well—one day somebody else might mock them.

—

so i hope you don’t turn american in branding all your enemies as “evil”. cuz you know the usa nevers fights just regular enemies— it only fight metaphysical evil, lmao. communism is evil. saddam is evil (but who put him there). bin laden is evil (but who trained him). evil everywhere. eeeeeevil!

making colombia evil... is ridiculous.

—

alright. on with the story!

dammit, i got curious about what the world thought of the game.

marca had a stream of consciousness too long to translate

o globo (brazil)... if i understood the portuguese correctly, this article claims that the english distate for simulation... is a simulation :D

https://oglobo.globo.com/esportes/en...terra-22848966

curious to hear the dutch/belgian/french/slovakian perspective

—

le monde praises southgate’s training at penalties, calls the colombian defense on first half “solid”, agrees it was a clear penalty, remarks that the game distinguised itself more for its yellow cards than for its quality, and generally remains “fair and balanced” as they say: https://www.lemonde.fr/mondial-2018/...2_5193650.html

e-Globo (translate)' Maguire in a surreal performance who would shame the Monty Python guys '

Says more about their own rather narrow, cliched view of the English than anything else. Funny how they fail to mention that straight after that 'performance' he went to the referee and told him not to award a penalty. But ya know, anything to fit the narrative.

Anyway, I get the feeling any further comment I make about this will just be dismissed as English arrogance or bias. I'd like to think it isn't, that I'm actually a bit better than that, but apparently not. All I'll say is if Colombia had beaten us, I'd have supported Sweden against them, then if it came to it, Croatia and Brazil or any team left. Christ, I'd have even supported Germany against this Colombia side. Interpret that how you will.

Symbols, your comment about how actually Colombia made it harder for themselves is nonsense. Fact is England let in a goal from the only corner by them. A corner that should have been defended better. England deserved to win by a country mile, and it's just that from that stupid mistake took us to get to penalties.

I watched the first half again you'd be mad to think that Colombia didn't delve into any tactics to get a rise out of the players. Not saying g that England were whiter than white, but they were saints compared to people like Cuadrado etc

And this.

How many players do you.know that would actually tell the ref that it wasn't meant to be a pen? Not many I suspect.

No denying that Colombia and Uruguay are the two dirtiest teams in this world cup. Add that to Brazil's love of theatrics and the cliche that they're playing the most attractive football falls pretty flat.

But they didn't so the point is moot. Maybe if they'd actually dplayed less negatively they'd have won but they decided that was the ebat way and they got exactly what they deserved.

Onto Sweden. Gonna be a tough game no matter what anyone thinks. Can we do it? Can't see why not. In my eyes Sterling needs to be dropped for Rashford.

to be honest, I don't think that the ref was trying to help the English in anyway.
Englishmen wanted to play football more than the Colombians did.

Colombians wanted to destroy English tempo and kick them off balance. For the majority of the match, though, they were completely lost in this effort and what almost saved them, was pure luck - one lucky shot and subsequent corner.

Other than that, it was just ill-tempered foul play and nerves. Dissapointing performance.

Yerri Mina was superb, though (not only for the goal itself). I heard rumours Barcelona wanted to get rid of him, which must be a joke, as he must be a better central midfielder than Pique+Umtiti, combined.

Yeah, it'll be hard. England are gonna be knackered after last night. Sweden will have had an extra days rest and a shorter, less bruising encounter with Switzerland. Man for man I think we're better but I'm not sure what condition we'll be in.


Agree about Sterling for Rashford but can also see Alli being a doubt now.

I totally agree. Best drinks in the world :D










But seriously, is Sweden that good? I reckon they could be an easier job to handle than the Colombians, especially their defence could be less tough and there's more open space. But I haven't seen that much of them this tournament, e.g. missed their game against the Swiss. Or I've already forgotten that I watched it, one of those


oh, and the main reason why I'm pleased that England won yesterday is that I only need to replace two Spaniards in my team. If England had lost, I would have had to replace three more

Thank you! Someone agrees!

I had an argument with a friend of mine. He was saying he's doing just fine and should be kept in the squad. My point was that the job he's meant to be doing-setting up goals and scoring he just absolutely isn't doing. The fact that he's not scored since 2015 for England is insane. Something isn't clicking for him and Rashford has shown he can score when he comes on.

All through this tournament I've been desperate for Sterling to score, in the the hope that once he gets rid of the albatross around his neck it'll fit into place for him. Alli looks a doubt anyway doesn't he? Suspect Loftus-Cheek will help bridge that gap between Henderson and the forwards. Unless that's the bollocks talking.

Neymar should combine is love of diving with his (alleged) love of football and try and help save those poor kids in Thailand

I like Sterling but I do increasingly wonder if he has anything besides pace. His finishing isn't great, his 1st touch is actually pretty bad and he doesn't seem to be a great crosser or anything like that. Maybe he scores a lot for Man City simply because of the sheer number of chances they create.

But the thing we really miss most is a creative midfielder. Our strength is our pace and, in Kane, a truly world class finisher, but we don't have anyone who can provide that clever little through ball to unlock a well-drilled defence. Wiltshire was the obvious candidate but that's its own story and I can't pretend I was fighting for him to be selected before the tournament. Kane tried to play that role last night when Vardy came on. It's not his strength and only really managed to reduce his own threat up-front. It's more a problem for the future but one we're gonna have to solve eventually.

oh no, that’s not what i said. or at least what i meant to say. sorry if that was confusing.

i thought you originally had said england made it harder for themselves.

what i tried to argue back was that it was colombia that made it harder for england.

yes colombia sucked, but they stayed in the fight, and at some point late in the game gained the upper hand, finally lost on penalties. certainly wasn’t a cakewalk for you, and was never going to be one.

and congrats on winning! i thought it was well deserved.

also—i completely agree colombia used negative tactics! but i didn’t think they were despicable villains, or that they’re a people whose opinions don’t count. that’s where i draw the line.

im not totally against national bias by the way. what would be the point of a world cup without that? i enjoy my own biases in this contest. i just think there’s a danger to believing one’s own bullshit past a certain point.

btw, if the colombians think they lost due to the ref, they’re fucking deluded. i do understand it’s a coping mechanism though. in the (four?) stages of grief, denial comes first. this is why i was laughing at the telemundo guys. complete denial. absolute grief. i did feel bad for pékerman—-and yet, i can laugh at james.

Who's ever said their opinions don't count? I did think that team was a disgrace, and still do, but I haven't extended that to the Colombian people, nor would I. There are teams I like in this WC and there are teams I don't like, based on the way they play, not the people they represent. A few years ago I loved the Spanish team because I fell in love with how they played, but not now, because they bore me to tears, and yet my affection for the Spanish people remains as strong as ever.

i thought that was what you meant by this:


the whole of colombia was taking him seriously! the latino teevee over here was all up in arms! the brazilians too as you read. maradona too haaa haaaa—he’s saying colombia was robbed (but maradona is a lunatic.)

i personally don’t side with the “we were robbed” narrative. i just thought pékerman was completely wrecked emotionally when he said that. poor fucking guy.

but yeah millions of people who watched the same game as you construed a different narrative from it. those people do exist. and they take their own narratives as valid as you take yours. everyone feels self-righteously justified.

“the rest of the world”— they’re a big chunk of it.

that’s what needs acknowledgement. you don’t need to agree with them.

again, i’m not defending the colombian narrative here.

but it’s hilarious/shocking to me how we are all watching events that are being objectively recorded by cameras and everybody’s interpretations differ.

Plenty of people have managed to convince themselves that the Holocaust never happened, that the world is run by a race of alien lizards and that Elvis is still alive. What can you do?

lmao

okay—but you weren’t fighting an army of bond villains either! :D

Maradona goes on a rant about the game

Suck it up you cheat

No, but seriously. Let's move beyond this. I wouldn't mind debating what actually happened in the game. H8kurdt says we made life hard for ourselves, I agree. You disagree. That's more interesting to me than talking about the credibility of a man's grief-stricken outbursts or some kind of post-colonial rationalisation of simulation.

In retrospect I now think bringing on Dier for Alli, which I thought was a sensible decision when it happened, was the point for me where we lost control of the game.

Also, Michael Cox's analysis of events:

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...-a8430156.html

right, i’m also uninterested in chest-thumping claims of purity and cartoon villains. that and the baudrillard nonsese two poles of the same dialectic about morality. enough with that theme.

so, YES. tactics. too much has been obscured by emotion and national baloney.

let’s discuss

you say dier for alli was the fuckup, but i have been saying the colombian subs and actual playing football were what changed the game

here’s what the oracle has to say:

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...-a8430156.html

below the video (i’m skipping the video) there’s a really nice write up.

funny enough, he says it’s both things. colombia’s change of shape and dier failing to cope.

then colombia changing shape again and dier dropping deeper making it easier for england at the very end.

i think we can agree with that assessment?

ha ha ha! i was writing my post while you posted that

another thing he says— trippier your secret weapon?

haaa haaa haaa. i had to google the guy to get his name right

björn KUIPERS!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Björn_Kuipers

i’m sorry i’m terrible with your language

but great ref so far!

Choosing players for the next round is hard!

i still have suarez in but without cavani i honestly think uruguay has a snowflake’s chance in hell, as they say

gonna have to end up paying to make sufficient transfers