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!
A year after Spain hoisted its first major trophy in international competition, they kick off in SA the favorites to hoist the WC next summer. Are they really that good? Let's hope for a clinic after that dire kick-about this morning.
posted by The Blue Devil @ 2:11 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!
90 Comments:
Alexi's calling this one a "David vs. Goliath." Yuh think?
Nice looking stadium in Rustenberg. And the pitch there looks significantly better than this morning's.
The Spanish side: Casillas, Albiol, Puyol, Riera, Xavi Hernandez, Fabregas, Capdevilla, Villa, Xabi Alonso, Torres, Villa.
Hell of a side, no doubt.
Oh bloody, the horn brigade are here as well. I may have to turn the volume down on JP and Harkesy if this keeps up.
Spain knocking the ball about comfortably in midfield here in the early stages.
A cross from the left produces a ridiculously overindulgent punch out by Moss. He'll need to stick to the basics to keep the Spanish out.
Fabregas got to the bye-line there and nearly laid on a goal for Torres.
GOAL! First chance for Torres and he stick it straight into the top right corner. Deadly.
Spain 1-0!
Decent move from NZ ending with a shot on target by Smeltz. Easily saved by Casillas though.
Shut that bloody bazouki up!
This match has the feel of last week's England vs. Andorra match. Totally one-sided. I'll look forward to seeing the semi-final match-ups between Spain and, say, Brazil.
GOAL! Torres slots home his second. This is too easy. Riera did most of the work combining with Villa, who cut a perfect ball back to Torres who beat the keeper easily.
2-0 after 14 minutes!
Nearly a hat-trick there for Torres. His header just didn't have the pace to beat the keeper.
But that one did! 3-0 Spain! Torres with a bullet of a header. Unstoppable!
Oh, great strike from Riera and a great save from Moss. Corner to Spain...
GOAL! Fabregas knocks in #4. Again it came down the left side. Capdevilla got behind the back four and laid it back for Fab who couldn't miss.
4-0!
How cool would be it be to be watching this clinic in a small cafe in Madrid with a few sangrias and tapas?
Decent move again from NZ ending with a good strike on the volley from Brockie.
And apparently the NZ coach didn't like the look of that volley from Brockie as he'd been hauled off for an early substitution. I don't know what that could possibly do. Spain are all over these mugs.
Cesc favoring the parrothead look today.
The moronic dancing and horn-blowing continues in the stands. I'm definitely in favor of a FIFA ban on the horns. I don't think they're a safety problem - they're just bleedin' irritating. They don't punctuate what's going on on the pitch as singing or chanting does, they're just sheer noise.
Villa is tripped up right at the edge of the box but the ref saw nothing wrong with it.
The Spanish have taken their foot off the gas a bit in the last few minutes. No need to run up a cricket score against NZ with several matches to come in the next week.
Lovely move from Puyol to loft a cross in to Sergio Ramos. Just to high to direct a header back across the goal. Torres might have had a better chance there.
Coming up on half-time. You'd have to expect some changes for both sides at the half. This will be a chance for Del Bosque to blood some new players.
Hey Bob,
I just got in from day of footer
Spain are at it again
I agree with you about the bloody horn!!
Why were certain teams invited to play here?
Rare free kick opportunity for NZ...
Decent strike from Mulligan but always going wide and Casillas let it go.
Welcome, Dave! How was the footer?
The Confederations Cup is a warm up for the WC that includes:
*The winners from the six confederations championships (e.g., Spain from Euro 2008, Egypt from African Nation's Cup, USA from Gold Cup, and so on)
*WC champions (Italy)
*WC host (South Africa)
Half-time: 4-0 Spain; fairly comprehensive performance. They've got plenty in the tank too. Oh yes, they are all that and a bag of chips.
Half time
So, it is all Spain!!
Spain has been a breath of fresh air but will we tire of them. I feel they are going to be like France. Glad to see win at first and then get fed up them!
I wondered why the US was there
We won 3-0
Tom's team won 7-0
Yeah, the U.S. isn't very good but our recent record at the Gold Cup has been especially good, particularly since it's hosted in the U.S. most years. Don't know why that is - seems pretty unfair.
The thing I do like about the Spanish side is that they're good value. Gooner calls the Italians the "most professional side in the world," in that they get a goal up and they're just thinking about how they can hold out for eighty minutes until they can go off for an espresso.
GOAL! And as I type that, Spain extend their lead to 5-0. Disaster from Boyens, who completely whiffed at the clearance. Easy chance slotted away by David Villa.
Second half underway
I am watching England's Twentyt20 match against India.
They need to win, They are slightly ahead
David Villa scores after a whiff bt the defender
Is it on VSS?
yes
Hi lads,
We got back from errands about 20 minutes late, so I've just caught up with the DVR. And there goes Spain's 5th with a nice combination from Torres and Villa, but phew, what a stinker of an effort to clear that fairly routine clearance.
Harkesy hasn't said it yet, but the Kiwis are one pathetic collection of mugs here.
I've got it now - India need 33 runs from 16 balls.
Get off... as soon as you join, I lose it!
It's hard to measure how bad NZ are and how good Spain are really. Definitely a miss-match but until we see Spain go up against SA and Iraq, it's hard to peg them.
Arbeloa coming on for Sergio Ramos and Cazorla on for Xavi. Strength in depth then.
Sorry, mate. I must be a jinx. How about Atdhe?
I have got stream two going on and off
Nothing on atd.
I hear you about Spain's vast superiority, but when you fill the squad with former MLS players, and your defensive back 5 get naively hauled apart all 5 times, and your center back whiffs a routine clearance because he's too terrified about David Villa lurking???? C'mon, these mugs wouldn't trouble many teams. They'll do ok against the part-timers of Iraq and the hoofmeisters of S.A, but the US would probably find lots of joy here.
Oh, Capdevilla had an easy chance for #6. Should have scored.
Agreed, Gooner. I'm just thinking in terms of next summer's tourney. All four of these sides we've seen today are likely finalists. New Zealand have won the Oceania group and have to play-off with an Asian side. South Africa are definitely in as hosts and Iraq are likely to qualify from the Asian group. So, which is the worst side? I'd say Iraq are marginally better than SA. Hard to say whether NZ is worse than both of those two sides we saw earlier. Dunno yet.
Villa should have buried his chance. Nice to see that Spain hasn't come out in the second half just to see the 45 minutes through.
The horns, make them stop!!!
India need 19 runs from one over
Still can't get video... your fault Dahlgren!
Sixty minutes in and 5-0. Surely Del Bosque will take Torres off. He scored his hat-trick within 17 minutes. That's what JP is saying too.
Derek Rae was talking earlier about a FIFA plan to ban the horns from next summer's tournament because of safety reasons. I'm fully in favor of a ban. Facebook group?
Sorry, Dave...
The Kiwis are more industrious than the Bafana, so I'll concede that point and rate them higher, but Iraq looked pretty hopeless up front. I saw nothing from them that made it look like they had the slightest scooby of how to put it in the net.
Spain by a country mile, toss up that NZ wins over SA, with Iraq a distant 4th in this group.
The cameras occasionally catch a glimpse of the crowd dancing up and down as if it's Carnival. I'm all in favor of a good day out, but honestly...they were doing the same thing this morning and that was the most dismal 0-0 I've seen in a long time. I have a feeling that Spain will spank by a similar score-line and the horns will still be blaring.
Remove Fabregas before the curse of the inevitable injury in a ridiculous tournament occurs.
Fair point. I would rate NZ higher than those other two this morning because I've been impressed by their adventurous attempt to attack. They are hopeless at the back, though.
Good shout for Fab coming off. He's had his goal. What's the point?
England won the cricket by three runs
Holder India are out
I am off to play with Matt outside
I'll pop in when I can
Did NZ start the match with a version of the Haka? That would have gotten the farty horns going.
Speaking of useless sides, there was a lot of chat on the 606 this week about the need for "pre-qualifying" for EUFA WC qualifying after the dismal performances by the Kazakhs and the Andorrans. Your thoughts?
Ciou Davey.
No, I think that's a rugger tradition. Not sure that the footer team is allowed to do the Haka.
Cheerio, Dave!
Decent shot there from San Jose's Simon Elliott.
Silva and Villa together up front. That was a tasty combo last year.
You do have to admire that Spain keep looking for that next goal.
Who's that other bloke who was top scorer in La Liga going into last summer's Euros? He's another they can call on.
I saw a double header at RFK, the US women vs. NZ, and the US men vs. Scotland, and the Kiwi girls did the Haka. It was tremendous.
Haka from the Kiwis should be a manditory condition. Ditch their daft national anthem if necessary to make time for it.
Villa is caught offside and he doesn't like it. I agree with Harkesy. He was on.
Wasn't that Cazores? He's on already, no?
Nah, another fella. I'll look him up.
Silva to Villa. Nice combo. I bet that Real Madrid wanker is going to buy Silva too now.
It's David Guiza I'm thinking about. He buggered off to Turkey this past season. I don't know whether he's still in the frame, but he looked like another good one for them.
Sorry, that's Daniel Guiza.
Oh, Fab nearly had another there. Wild slash at it.
Blimey, Riera does have a cannon on him.
Villa does have quite the collection of varied hurt looks, no? I'm impressed, there's the
Oi ref!
Bugger, thought that was in.
To my feet, Reira?
You expect me to fetch that missle like a dog, Capdivila?
Cesc, I was in there, c'mon.
The Marcel Marceau of Iberia
The linesman on the near side is definitely flag happy. Riera again was well on-side there.
It's true - the Spanish do with facial expressions what the Italians do with the gesticulations. Good stuff.
Guiza, never rated him. He didn't look that good in the Euros even though he got chances, and he played for a team that didn't figure in the top 4 if memory serves.
And he'd never have got to Turkey if he was even luke-warm, much less a hot property.
These Kiwis all look like extras from Emmerdale. Just give them a flat cap and a pitchfork, honestly.
Yeah, he was playing for Real Mallorca when he won the Golden Boot and then cashed in for a deal to Fener. He might not be in this squad.
Harkesy agrees with you about SA vs. Iraq. I dunno. Without the home crowd and the incessant horn blowing, I'd plump for the Iraqis.
That linesman's performance is a glimpse of the errors to come. I despair that FIFA insists on including inexperienced and incompetent officials.
Harksey's validation that Iraq are also rans, you heard that right?
A bit too fancy from the Spanish forwards there.
Agreed on the officiating.
Xavi Alonso goes for a Beckham but Moss has it coming.
Into stoppage time now...
What's the weather like there you think? I see folks in the crowd in jackets and wooly hats. That can't be entirely necessary.
Nearly a carbon copy of goal #5 there but Boyens was able to clear it out that time.
Apparently it's winter time in SA. Could be a bit nippy. I don't see anyone but the players in shirtsleeves.
Full-time: Well, that's it. Quite an impressive display for the Spanish but we won't really see their quality until they come up against Italy or Brazil.
I'll be in a meeting tomorrow morning but I'll be around for the U.S. match in the afternoon.
I have to DVR the US Mens game.
The forecast for Jo'burg was for 55 degrees, so I guess a jacket and hat wouldn't be out of place.
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