I'm needlessly amused every time an announcer tries to squeeze in a Greek player's name before the play is over. However, all tied up now...
2014 World Cup - it never stops giving great drama though pity ET is 30 mins and not golden goal anymore.
If it's a penalty in the first minute, it's a penalty in the ninetieth minute plus. After Mexico got on the board, it looked like they were playing not to lose, which is a whole lot different than playing to win.
Zidane says hello - 1 of which in the World Cup Final - 3 game ban only (as was the stamp in 2002). Fair play to Costa Rica - if only Hodgson had the resources that they had - just imagine what could be achieved... Thought Chile were unlucky vs Brazil, really felt for the Mexicans vs the Dutch, and some great play from the Colombians vs a dispirited Uruguay. Hope the other 4 last 16 games are as intriguing as these were...
Again, Zidane... And if in any other line of work you went round headbutting people, stamping on the, throwing elbows into faces or trying to break people's legs you'd probably also get locked up, no? I did like the way FIFA reps now say he should get some help - maybe they should have included that as part of punishment handed out or as a caveat that he needs to address as part of him being able to play football in the future, no? Chiellini says it's harsh, and his thoughts are with Suarez and his family. Forgot to say - some top penalties by the Costa Ricans tonight - especially after going down to 10 men for so long and looking shattered. Really hope they beat the Dutch.
To clarify, would the Caribbean Netherlands count as part of the "mainland" Netherlands in footballing terms? I see that Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten each have their own CONCACAF-aligned federations, despite each being part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. But the other islands (such as Bonaire) are technically part of the "constituent country" of the Netherlands itself. On a semi-related note, I'm surprised that there isn't more cross-pollination between those of Surinamese descent going through the Dutch developmental system and the Surinamese federation (akin to, say, how the current-day Algerian team benefits from players of Algerian descent who are born and raised in France). Perhaps Suriname might be more of a power within CONCACAF were it able to tap into this vein?
Good result for the moment considering how good Nigeria is. Fate might be against us : there will never be a revenge of France-Germany.
Pff, they woke up during the last 20 minutes and they stopped picking flowers. To be fair, Nigeria was a a very good opponent. I'm sorry for them (but not too much ). Hopefully the team will learn something from this match. Anyway, this was less difficult than 1998, thankfully
Per Mertesacker getting all pissy in the post-match interview was easily the best part of the game. Germany's offense still sucks compared to 2010.
Really felt for the Algerians, gave Germany a right game and were a little unlucky not to get more out of that - as well the Mexicans the other night...
Classic! Although the guy did move his foot quickly and it was a flop, it was a makeup call for 2 fouls not called previously.