World Cup. England's chances.

[ninestein]

Don't forget Martinez is Belgium manager. Hopefully he'll have an Everton moment when England play them.

Sterling is carried by Jesus as club level. Id like to see Loftus Cheek given a start vz Panama. Very odd that Alli played as a number 7 and Sterling 10. Would have swapped.

Doesn't Jesus carry us all?!

Japan getting that win against Colombia earlier on today has made it a bit difficult to predict potential second round opponents.

That group has got off to a crazy start with Poland and Colombia both losing. Poland looked poor and had no answer to Senegal's all-energy approach, albeit one which lacked a lot of quality.

[Norfolk & Chance]

Not sure about England's chances but I reckon they're better than Argentina's.

[ninestein]

Unless Nigeria vs Iceland ends up a draw, Argentina are on the brink of departing early, which takes one of the so called "big guns" out of the equation. Argentina have been poor though, and there are no pushovers in the groups now, unlike 20 years ago. Everyone is capable of playing as a team and having their day.

Brazil are under pressure today. It's a must-win game for both them and Costa Rica. If either side loses, it could be curtains. A draw doesn't really help either side and they will be under pressure in the last game. Could you imagine if Argentina, Brazil and Germany all croaked in the group stage? That would be unreal.

[jerroll]

If Iceland win tonight what odds on a rerun of Coventry v Morecambe between Croatia & Iceland!!

[hoofer2]

Unless Nigeria vs Iceland ends up a draw, Argentina are on the brink of departing early, which takes one of the so called "big guns" out of the equation. Argentina have been poor though, and there are no pushovers in the groups now, unlike 20 years ago. Everyone is capable of playing as a team and having their day.

Brazil are under pressure today. It's a must-win game for both them and Costa Rica. If either side loses, it could be curtains. A draw doesn't really help either side and they will be under pressure in the last game. Could you imagine if Argentina, Brazil and Germany all croaked in the group stage? That would be unreal.

I like seeing the African teams progress through the tournament though would love Argentina to go out the tournament even more. An Iceland win would be more humiliating for
Argentina as I expect Croatia to beat Iceland and Argentina get a win vs Nigeria.

What is undisputed is that Ronaldo is a more complete player than Messi. Messi has the comfort of playing with the best players in the world at Club level as does Ronaldo, but he
is continually found wanting on the National stage as Argentina is arguably a stronger squad in paper than Portugal

[ninestein]

We were having a "discussion" in the office about who was the better player, Maradonna or Messi?

Virtually everyone said Messi (probably because Maradona was a cheat and being British we hate it when people bend the rules).

But I'd be inclined to say Maradona, because his club history suggests a more humble career. He played in Europe for Barcelona, Napoli, and Sevilla, but back then those sides didn't carry the clout they do in today's game. Plus, Maradona single handedly dragged Argentina towards winning the World Cup in 1986. He was a player at the peak of his game, and the pressure of the world tournament didn't faze him. It's unfortunate that his reputation was tarnished by the "Hand of Nicky" incident, plus the drug related bans which followed.

Messi on the other hand is a quieter character, skillful, pleasing on the eye, does great things for Barcelona. But he's never really fitted into the Argentina side. He doesn't play with the aggression of his team mates, nor do they get him on the ball enough to influence the game. Big things are always expected of him at tournaments and he's never delivered like Maradona did.

[Norfolk & Chance]

Maradonna didn't so much bend the rules as pick them up, bounce them round basketball style, roll them from one hand to the other via shoulders and neck, spun them on his index finger just prior to breaking English hearts the world over.

That aside, maradonna, for me, was the better player. His balance, grace, low centre of gravity, power and speed, was awesome to see. Perfectly encapsulated by his other goal against England in the same match.

It's just a shame he's a cheating twunt!

[hoofer2]

Maradonna didn't so much bend the rules as pick them up, bounce them round basketball style, roll them from one hand to the other via shoulders and neck, spun them on his index finger just prior to breaking English hearts the world over.

That aside, maradonna, for me, was the better player. His balance, grace, low centre of gravity, power and speed, was awesome to see. Perfectly encapsulated by his other goal against England in the same match.

It's just a shame he's a cheating twunt!

This.

You get the feeling Barcelona would steamroller teams irrespective of who is in the starting XI.

Maradona so much more of presence and influenced those around him to strive to do better and is a natural team leader - this is what Ronaldo has too.

Messi is an extremely gifted talent but does not pick a lost game up by the scruff of the neck in the way Ronaldo can. If he gets the service he'll deliver.
If he does not then we see performances as per Croatia's victory.

[Norfolk & Chance]

Mexico are looking pretty good, and I predict we'll meet them in the quarters.
What a game that might be.

[Mickbee]

Here we go, the media and so called experts talking up England's chances of actually winning this thing. We beat a pub side yesterday struggled to beat Tunisia both of whom found it easy to create chances against us. Let's just calm the fuck down and take it a game at a time. We know as fans that any England team(football, rugby or cricket) has the capacity to throw in a shit performance at any time. With the ball we will cause any team problems, defensively they frighten me. Having said all that only Mexico and Croatia have really impressed me so far. COE.

[ninestein]

I'm going to apply the same philosophy that I use week in, week out with our own club...

Live for the moment! If you have a good season, ride the crest of the wave and enjoy it because the next 2 seasons might be a struggle.
Likewise, If England win, regardless of who the opponent is, I'll enjoy it to the max and wake up the next morning with a big smile. I won't be big headed about it though.

I still don't think we'll win the tournament, despite the fact no-one has really taken it by the scruff of the neck yet, but what our side has done in the past two games is restored a lot of goodwill and deep-down hope from the public towards our team, which had been eroding away for several years of poor tournament performances. Yesterday felt very special because we actually did what we've been threatening to do for a little while, and give someone a proper hiding. Yesterday it finally clicked. 5-0 up at half time is a big, big statement to everyone else at the tournament. Even Belgium didn't manage that against Panama in the opening game. Yes, we will have sterner tests to come, and we might get found out in a few games time, but for now let's live and breathe the tournament. It's been a decent one so far, and we've more than played our part in it. I hope we have more to offer it later on.

Right now I hope we go toe to toe with Belgium on Thursday. I'd take a workmanlike draw just to prove that we can mix it with the big boys as well as Panama and Tunisia. As much as winning the game would be great, the trick in tournaments is not to peak too early. Croatia looked awesome during the group stages in Brazil 4 years ago, but then tailed off in the knockout stages. I'm not even convinced it really matters whether we finish 1st or 2nd. In fact, if we finish second we get an extra day rest before our second round game! And with so many groups ripping up the form book, we could easily see the likes of Germany finishing second themselves. If Argentina do scrape through, they too will only do so in second place. Out of the group H teams, I'd rather face Japan, or at worst Senegal. Columbia look a decent side and are starting to find their feet. I think Japan will top that group anyway.

[Psycho]

Colombia are the team I'm most worried about with fantastic individual players in Radamel Falcao, James Rodriguez and Juan Cudrado. That would be an extremely tough game.

Senegal still seem a bit of a mystery. Amazing against Poland before letting Japan back into the game twice yesterday. They're defensively naìve. We should have a good chance if we end up playing them.

Japan is the team I'd most want us to play. Our head-to-head record against them is good, no star names but work very hard as a team. They've got the easiest last group match against a team already eliminated so I think they'll finish top. It doesn't make them dangerous though as they had the luck of a double whammy (penalty and red card for an opposition player after two minutes) in their opener.

[hoppy]

There's so much hype on whether its best to finish 1st or 2nd in the group. It's all baloney. This is a good opportunity to rest the first team players and give a game to the other squad players.
For me the result tonight is meaningless. Who we play in the next round and beyond is academic. Whoever we play after tonight we need to beat. To do that we need a team of players with fresh legs. We also may have to bring in one or two players who have yet to play, so give these players game time tonight.

[MCB]

Apparently football's coming home.

As we've beaten Tunisia (barely) and a canal.

Purlease.