Brasil '14 - Day 14
posted by The Blue Devil @ 11:29 AM
Lakenheath Old Boys
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!
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Lakenheath Old Boys
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!
Contributors
Previous Posts
- Brasil '14 - Day 13
- Brasil '14 - Day 12
- Brasil '14 Predictions Game - Group Stage Update
- Brasil '14 - Day 11: I. Believe. That. We. Will. Win!
- Brasil '14 - Day 10
- Brasil '14 - Day 9
- Brasil '14 - Day 8
- Match 19 - Spain v. Chile
- Match 18 - The Netherlands v. Australia
- Brasil 2014 Predictions Game - Group Stage Update
60 Comments:
Argentina name an unchanged team: Romero, Zabaleta, Federico Fernandez, Garay, Rojo, Gago, Mascherano, Di Maria, Messi, Higuain, Aguero.
Subs: Orion, Campagnaro, Biglia, Perez, Maxi Rodriguez, Augusto Fernandez, Demichelis, Palacio, Alvarez, Lavezzi, Basanta, Andujar.
Nigeria replace Victor Moses with striker Michael Babatunde: Enyeama, Ambrose, Yobo, Omeruo, Oshaniwa, Onazi, Mikel, Babatunde, Odemwingie, Emenike, Musa.
Subs: Ejide, Uzoenyi, Gabriel, Egwuekwe, Odunlami, Oboabona, Azeez, Nwofor, Uchebo, Ameobi, Agbim.
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)
Finally an attacking line-up for Alex Sabella, me old LUFC chum.
And we're away in the first round of matches today. With Messi playing, he could threaten Neymar's Golden Boot claim.
And right on cue, Messi nets a rebound after Aguero had a shot off the post. What a start. He's on three now and has scored in all three matches!
GOAL! Nigeria fire themselves right back into the match.
1-1!
Ambrose spread it wide to Musa who did the rest, jinking inside and finishing with a curler past Romero.
Wonderful start to the match!
Oh - now it's Di Maria testing out the goalkeeper.
Now Messi finds Higuain with a sumptuous ball and he tries to round the keeper but finds side netting.
No goals yet from either Bosnia or Iran.
Lavezzi getting an early match here as Aguero troops off with a knock.
This is all Argentina right now, in terms of possession at least. Nigeria are holding them off comfortably enough, and when they do get close to goal, the dependable Enyeama is in the way.
Messi has a last minute free kick chance now.
Into the second half and this is a real Christmas cracker of a match. It's 3-2 now with a brace from Messi (including a superb free kick) and a bobbly one off the knee from a corner from center back Rojo. Nigeria have answered with a brace from Musi.
Oh - Messi nearly with his hat-trick. He's really showed up today.
Messi is withdrawn while on a hat-trick. Sabella has no sentiment.
Oh - Musa was bearing down on his hat-trick and was foiled by Zaba.
Oh - Ambrose nearly leveled matters there but hit the side netting. Close call.
That's it - Argentina will go through top and Nigeria go through second to probably meet France in the next stage.
I'm back for the Group E fixtures, now. I'm plumping for France v. Ecuador at the Maracana rather than watching the Hondurans kick lumps out of the Swiss.
The team news for this afternoon's match:
France: 1-Hugo Lloris; 15-Bacary Sagna, 21-Laurent Koscielny, 5-Mamadou Sakho, 17-Lucas Digne; 14-Blaise Matuidi, 19-Paul Pogba, 22-Morgan Schneiderlin, 18-Moussa Sissoko; 10-Karim Benzema, 11-Antoine Griezmann
Substitutes: 2-Mathieu Debuchy, 3-Patrice Evra, 4-Raphael Varane, 7-Remy Cabella, 8-Mathieu Valbuena, 9-Olivier Giroud, 12-Rio Mavuba, 13-Eliaquim Mangala, 16-Stephane Ruffier, 20-Loic Remy, 23-Mickael Landreau
Ecuador: 22-Alexander Dominguez; 4-Juan Carlos Paredes, 2-Jorge Guagua, 3-Frickson Erazo, 10-Walter Ayovi; 16-Antonio Valencia, 14-Oswaldo Minda, 6-Cristian Noboa, 7-Jefferson Montero, 15-Michael Arroyo; 13-Enner Valencia
Substitutes: 1-Maximo Banguera, 5-Renato Ibarra, 8-Edison Mendez, 9-Joao Rojas, 11-Felipe Caicedo, 12-Adrian Bone, 17-Jaime Ayovi, 18-Oscar Bagui, 19-Luis Fernando Saritama, 20-Fidel Martinez, 21-Gabriel Achilier, 23-Carlos Gruezo
French hot-shot Kareem Benzema is on three goals from the first two matches. He also missed a penalty and had one ruled out at the end of that crazy match against the Swiss. He could be on for the Golden Boot.
Didier Deschamps with a typically Gallic expression on the sideline.
I'm having a good laugh typing in phases such as "Ouch! You just bit me, you big gorilla!" into the Babelfish translator.
Shaquiri has put the Swiss 1-0 up in the 6th minute.
Griezmann tries a pop but it's well wide.
So the Swiss are on 6 points now. But they'll need a boat load of goals to beat the French tally.
They're on -2 and France on +6, so they'll need to effect an 8 goal shift.
And they need Ecuador to win as well. A tall order. In all likelihood now, the Swiss will take on Argentina and the French will the relatively easy task of Nigeria, as the gods intended it.
Uh oh - someone's limping off now for Ecuador.
Christian Noboa has just gone off for a head wound and has come back on with a hairnet straight out of Coronation Street. Do they not have gauze on the Ecuadoran bench?
The Swiss have gone 2-0 up. They still need an Ecuadoran goal and six more of their own to avoid Argentina.
That's half-time, then. France merely trying to play out the string at a walking pace. 0-0.
Oh what a save from Dominguez from the shot by Griezmann. Sagna found him so well.
And Antonio Valencia has been shown a straight red for a really nasty tackle, raking straight down Matuidi's leg.
Hairnet model Noboa nearly got a goal back.
Ecuador are right up against it but they're giving it a go with ten men.
Varane is coming on now for Sakho.
It opened up for Benzema but he shot wide.
hey blue devil!
This game is confirming my France suspicions - they are formidable in the counter-attack, but without Valbuena or Ribery, their halfcourt offense is a bit uninspired.
of course, maybe France just wants to make the Swiss sweat
oh dear, Pogba
In the earlier game, Argentina finally came alive offensively, but defensively, that exposed some frailties. In any case, a highly enjoyable match - much better than this.
Wow - hat-trick from Shaquiri today. He's on three for the tournament now.
Hi there Red Devil - good to hear from you today. I agree with your assessment of Les Bleus. They should be able to get by Nigeria in the next round but will lose to the first decent team.
In the other game, Honduras puts the "F" in CONCACAF with their performance at this WC. One goal for, NINE against. three solid losses.
The French may do well if the next round is Germany.
Enner Valencia is the real deal. We'll miss him, but overall, the Swiss have more to offer.
Yeah - Honduras have really let down the CONCACAF side. They might make a decent Championship level outfit if managed by the likes of Neil Warnock.
What about the performance of Antonio Valencia as captain. Straight red today for a shocking tacle.
Messi is finally coming into form, which is good for my bets.
So Benzema misses out on the his chance to add to his Golden Boot tally.
Yeah, Antonio Valencia did not stand out at all. He was disappointing throughout.
Now I have to decide whether I want to watch the Swiss game, the Iran-Bosnia game from earlier, or England-Costa Rica from yesterday. I figure it should be the Swiss, since they are going through and will be an interesting foe for the Argies.
Yes, indeed. Was there any national hand-wringing today over the Italy exit and the Suarez biting incident?
I was happy to see that the mention of Suarez and the ref was minimal. Unbelievably, they seem willing to actually point some fingers at themselves at this stage.
I feel the Marchisio call was a bit harsh but defendable. It was easily a yellow card. In any case it really did not change the complexion of the game much as the Uruguayans were bypassing the midfield anyways in their attacks.
That's quite remarkable. I don't think that the English media and public would be that mature about it. I'm sure that had Suarez bitten Gary Cahill there would have been calls for his summary execution.
I think the personnel repercussions are so heavy that the resignations got more attention than the bite.
I opted for the Swiss game. The first goal is a nice shot, but the Honduran goalkeeper's non-attempt is pretty laughable.
Have a good night!
Group G matches tomorrow should be great. I am hoping Algeria-Russia becomes a good match. Russia has to start showing something.
Cheerio!
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