World Cup 2014.

[Jeff]

I'm sure some of our male members will want to contribute to a thread about football. (Sorry ladies ! )
If you think England have no chance then think again says Ben Preston, editor of "Radio Times". He has found several portents which suggest it could be our year again.

We all know England last won in 1966 but several other things happened in that year too. Real Madrid won the European Cup and they won it again this year only it's now called Champions League. Atletico Madrid won La Liga. (Yes that happened in 2014 too) and a team came from 2-0 down to win the FA Cup Final (ditto). Most significantly of all in 1966 Austria won the Eurovision Song Contest and we all know what happened in Copenhagen a few weeks back. Sorry to mention that again Richard. I promise I will make no further mention of him/her/it. (Delete as appropriate). Remember guys you heard it here second !!

So will England win ? Nah ! We'll be lucky to get out of our group. Italy and Uruguay are better teams suited to hot conditions. My tip is Argentina since in Lionel Messi they have the best player in the world and as my foreign friends keep reminding me Wayne Rooney always underperforms on the biggest stage of all. Enjoy, whatever the result. COME ON ENGLAND !

[grant]

Jun 6, 2014 11:33:26 GMT Jeff said:

I'm sure some of our male members will want to contribute to a thread about football. (Sorry ladies ! )

NOOOOOOO!!!! There's plenty of us blokes that loathe football too and I'm one of them.

There's little on here about Hayley as it is without B****Y FOOTBALL getting in the way.

[Richard]

England's chances of winning the World Cup in Brazil:



Richard

[John H]

Jun 6, 2014 13:05:35 GMT grant said:

Jun 6, 2014 11:33:26 GMT Jeff said:

I'm sure some of our male members will want to contribute to a thread about football. (Sorry ladies ! )

NOOOOOOO!!!! There's plenty of us blokes that loathe football too and I'm one of them.

There's little on here about Hayley as it is without B****Y FOOTBALL getting in the way.

I'm with you, Grant, although I do very occasionally tune in to the TV coverage of a major football or rugby match.
Then after the anthems, I switch off before they start kicking that round thing about

[Bamafan]

Sorry yall, don't think I’ll have much to contribute here, as this is what I think of as football:









ROLL TIDE!!!

-Taylor

[martindn]

Well, I've just renewed by Leicester City season ticket. In case you are wondering we won the Championship last season. which means that we are now in the Premier League for the first time in 10 years. Derby County, I'm afraid Grant, didn't make it (athough they had a good try) and neither did our rivals Nottingham Forest.
As for the World Cup, forget it. I will be amazed if England get beyond the group stage. I just hope that none of the several Leicester players who are involved in it come back injured.

Martin D

[Joe]

I am looking forward to the World Cup!  Here in the USA, football is called soccer (the "soc" being an abbreviation for association football).  

The USA did quite well in the qualifying matches.  Our top goal scorer, Landon Donovan, was not selected in the starting XI (lineup) so i don't fancy our chances.  England have a better chance of making it to the quarterfinals, i feel.  

If anyone else is collecting the Panini 2014 World Cup stickers and want to trade duplicates, let me know! The sticker craze was featured on CNN ...  edition.cnn.com/2014/05/28/sport/football/football-world-cups-stickers/index.html  There are 640 stickers to collect; but as the set was done up months ago, they do not represent the final squads.  

I wonder if FIFA are allowing that new goal line technology lark in the World Cup??

Martin, good on Leicester City!  Maybe I'll support them next season instead of Cardiff City, who were relegated last season.  I also support Stoke City (as does our forum friend Dazza). 

So let's have a fun and exciting World Cup 2014! 

[martindn]

Thanks Joe. I'm afraid I fell out with Cardiff City after the new owners fired their manager Malky Mackay for no good reason except they wanted to put their own man in. The result was they got relegated, if they had stuck with Malky I think they might have survived. And now the "Bluebirds" play in red.
Leicester City though are doing it the right way, sticking with their manager Nigel Pearson who has taken three years to slowly build his team. We have no big name players, one of the things that the manager did was get rid of the prima donnas and has beens that the previous manager, Sven Goran Erikson had recruited. The team and manager have grown and learned together, and I believe are now ready for the step up to the Premier League. I think we stand a good chance of staying there.

Martin D

[Elliot Kane]

Much as I would love England to win, I think Richard's flying pigs graphic sums up our chances very accurately. England are far too wedded to picking players on name rather than current ability, even in positions where we actually HAVE ability.

Our Premiership may be one of the top two leagues in the world (Spain's being the other, of course), but our national team are nowhere close to the top rank. Sadly.

I sometimes think FA stands for what that organisation knows about football

[Richard]

Hello folks!

You can follow the World Cup on the BBC website here:

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/2014

Richard

[Joe]

Thanks for that link, Richard!

The opening matches were fantastic but were not without controversy 

Good luck to the England side on Saturday.

Elliot... I have the perfect phrase if England loses because of the reported poor quality of the pitch 

[Dave]

Jun 13, 2014 21:57:18 GMT Joe said:

Thanks for that link, Richard!

The opening matches were fantastic but were not without controversy 

I think that's an understatement, Joe! Tonight was one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, the Dutch in hammering Spain 5-1 were quite simply astonishing. Spain are the reigning World and European Champions and have been almost unbeatable for many years. But not tonight!



Cheers,

Dave

[Libby]

I really have no interest in soccer/football, aside from Mudslinger the Pig's adorable demonstration on AGT recently. However, I have to call out Jeff on his comment that implies women have no interest in it. I think many do, including in America (even if I'm not one of them). Especially since the US has innumerable female soccer teams. Women participate in the World Cup, do they not? I doubt the US is the only nation who has some, are they? I'm just pointing out that ball sports aren't just for "blokes"! Though I prefer figure skating myself, which also isn't just for women and girls.

[Richard]

Hello Libby!

Here's a football video I guarantee you will like!



See Mudslinger's dribbling skills here:



It's a pity he doesn't fly!

Richard

[martindn]

Jun 14, 2014 4:06:58 GMT Libby said:

I really have no interest in soccer/football, aside from Mudslinger the Pig's adorable demonstration on AGT recently. However, I have to call out Jeff on his comment that implies women have no interest in it. I think many do, including in America (even if I'm not one of them). Especially since the US has innumerable female soccer teams. Women participate in the World Cup, do they not? I doubt the US is the only nation who has some, are they? I'm just pointing out that ball sports aren't just for "blokes"! Though I prefer figure skating myself, which also isn't just for women and girls.

My wife Sue used to play for a womens soccer team. And she like me was a season ticket holder for Leicester City, and it was her that persuaded me to adopt her team in preference to mine that I had supported since boyhood. She would have loved to have seen how City finished last season, winning the league and getting promoted. Some women do like football.

Martin D