We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
It's a day chock a block with friendly internationals, highlighted by England visiting Spain in Seville.
posted by The Blue Devil @ 2:41 PM
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
37 Comments:
Dear oh dear, Ireland have gone behind in their qualifier at home against Georgia.
Wales are also 1-0 down to Poland at home. Not a good day for the British yet.
The France-Argentina friendly is about to start. Diego Maradona is on hand and looking reasonably fit for a change.
The Adthe feed is up and running for that one. They're running through the anthems.
A moment of silence not very well observed there with some Argie yobs shouting out.
A slow start to this match as expected. Little flashes from Messi and Ribery but that's it. Conservative approach from both sides.
Norn Ireland are 2-0 in San Marino.
Looking at this French side, 2010 may be the last gasp of that fabled 1998 side. A lot of them have retired already - Zidane, Blanc, Deschamps and so on - and others have falled away - Vieira, Petit, e.g. - so this may be the last big stage for the likes of Anelka, Henry, and Thuram.
I don't really fancy the new wave of French talent. They're decent enough to earn big money in the European leagues, but I can't see them winning trophies.
Billy Gallas rescues the French after a nice break by Messi and Aguerra.
It has to be said that the French have had the better of this first half.
Jeremie Toulanlan has to be the most boring footballer on the planet.
Here are the teams in full for tonight's match:
Spain: Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Pique, Albiol, Capdevila, Alonso, Senna, Iniesta, Xavi, Torres, Villa.
Subs: Reina, Marchena, Busquets, Riera, Llorente, Guiza, Juanito, Silva, Arbeloa, Santi Cazorla.
England: James, Johnson, Ashley Cole, Carrick, Jagielka, Terry, Wright-Phillips, Barry, Heskey, Downing, Agbonlahor.
Subs: Beckham, Bridge, Carlton Cole, Crouch, Ferdinand, Green, Hart, Lampard, Milner, Upson, Ashley Young, Luke Young.
After dominating the first half, France go in 1-0 down after a howler by their keeper. Domenech won't be best pleased.
I haven't been able to find a good stream for the Spain-England match yet. Still searching...
The Adthe link just popped on. Lovely jubbly. Three minutes in. 0-0.
Where do I start with the problems in the team selection? Jagielka perhaps?
Oooh, Barry found some space wide left, knocked a great cross to his Villa compatriot Gabby Ag who was just put off at the vital moment.
Cashley seems to be finding some joy up the left flank. Promising start...
The Seville fans are whistling England's slow build-up. Or are they whistling the home side's inability to take it off them?
Beckham's up and stretching. Not so fast, Goldenballs!
Heskey goes down right outside the box. Surely the Spanish defender will pick up a card. It was a cynical challenge. In the end, it's given as offside. Shocking decision!
A lot of wild challenges coming in from the Spanish, particularly on Heskey. The ref's got to be a lot more vigilant here.
Now SWP goes down under a tug. The referee gives nothing. It's going to be a long night for England's forwards.
I've just come back from my class during a break and England are 2-0 down in the 86th minute. Not good.
According to the 365, David Villa scored in the 36th minute and I just missed a goal by Llorente in the 86th.
Beckham, Carlton Cole and Crouch are all on at this point. There are probably some other changes too.
Beckham lays a beautiful pass on to Cole, who rounds the keeper but Marchena is back to clear off the line.
Glen Johnson is tripped, nothing is called and he picks up a yellow for dissent. I've only seen a bit of this match, but he's let far too much go.
Even Becks is having a go at the ref, which proves my point.
Corner to England...
Full-time: The commentators believe that it's a deserved Spanish win. I'll look forward to your comments on that point.
Ireland have seen off Georgia in the end 2-1 with a brace from Robbie Keane.
Argentina ended up 2-0 in France, an embarrassment for the hosts. Gutierrez and Messi on the scoresheet there.
Looking forward now to the SuperClassico between US and Mexico starting in just about an hour's time.
Mid-way through the second half of the U.S. vs. Mexico, U.S. still 1-0 up through a goal by Michael Bradley right at the death of the first half.
Rafael Marquez has just thugged his way into a red card for a horror challenge that has left Tim Howard limping. I don't know what it is about Marquez. Whenever Mexico play the U.S., the red mist descends for him, as if he's re-taking the Alamo. I still remember the horrific head-butt he laid on Cobi Jones in 2002.
The match is winding down to a 1-0 win. I would have liked two or three goals, especially after Marquez went off, but it's three points and puts pressure on Mexico to qualify. Honduras led by Inter's David Suazo and T&T led by Kenwynne Jones will put up stiff competition for the two slots under the U.S.
Oh, and taxi for Sven!
I really don't like Rafa Marquez, but I can't say that he deserved that card. He jumped into Timmy and that deserved a yellow. If that had been Dempsey's challenge on Sanchez and Clint had been sent off for that, I'd have put my foot through the screen.
I tell you, that ref, that particular little feck has ruined more matches for me. He's a serious incompetent and every single time he's in charge, he does someone in.
As for us, we are pants. Clearly 2-0 flatters us because the Mexicans took no advantage from any of the eight times or so that Gooch clobbered a forward and conceded a free kick. The Mexicans were shocking up front. That baldy guy, he was useless. Castillo crocked in record time and his replacement wasn't mentioned once afterwards.
And Sanchez must be the worst keeper ever. How did that ball get by him for Bradley's second? And why didn't he catch the header instead of line it up for Bradley to bash in his first? He didn't get any help from his defenders on the first one, but both time, he was found severely out.
And us, we didn't have one single guy capable of holding the ball or passing it to another teammate. That spastic pinging around made me pine for Blind-Alley-Reyna it was so bad.
What's up with Clint? Is he on smack? He looked like he was on the nod all night. Useless. Klekjian? Pants. Beasley, he doesn't know if he's fast anymore so he halfway does everything he touches. And if I ever have to live through another match where the only guy competing for a header off a cross is little Landycakes, it'll be too soon.
2-0 is great, but we were awful.
I would say that we were competent and Mexico were awful. It's clear that Sven has lost the dressing room and the squad fully believe that he'll be catching a flight to Stockholm later this week.
That said, we're clearly the class of CONCACAF. That doesn't mean that we'll do much in South Africa (in fact, given the competition from African sides, we'll be lucky to get out of the group again), but it's something. It means progress over the past decade that it's a given that we'll finish top of the CONCACAF standings.
Mexico on the other hand could struggle to qualify. I really think that Honduras and maybe even T&T are better than their current side. Perhaps a new manager could rescue the campaign for them, but they could easily find themselves in a play-off with an Asian side for a spot.
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