pirate
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World Cup
Jun 12, 2018 11:44:41 GMT
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Post by pirate on Jun 12, 2018 11:44:41 GMT
I think it will be a Brazil vs Spain final. I'm looking forward to watching Belgium and think they'll do ok and I expect England will be knocked in the quarter final. It looks like either Germany or Brazil for England in the QF. I also fancy Spain. They have quality all over the pitch, and throughout their squad. I think Belgium will be their usual selves, and not do themselves justice. You could be right about Belgium, although with the quality of players they have in their squad you never know. They should be fun to watch whatever happens. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2018 11:50:54 GMT
It looks like either Germany or Brazil for England in the QF. I also fancy Spain. They have quality all over the pitch, and throughout their squad. I think Belgium will be their usual selves, and not do themselves justice. You could be right about Belgium, although with the quality of players they have in their squad you never know. They should be fun to watch whatever happens. The Belgium's always seem to be a bit like the Dutch and French, and usually have 'internal issues' within the squad. I think Neymar will once again get injured, and Brazil will mentally implode as they did at the last World Cup. If Portugal can keep it tight at the back, with Ronaldo getting the odd goal, they could be quite dangerous. |
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pirate
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Jun 12, 2018 12:05:49 GMT
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Post by pirate on Jun 12, 2018 12:05:49 GMT
You could be right about Belgium, although with the quality of players they have in their squad you never know. They should be fun to watch whatever happens. The Belgium's always seem to be a bit like the Dutch and French, and usually have 'internal issues' within the squad. I think Neymar will once again get injured, and Brazil will mentally implode as they did at the last World Cup. If Portugal can keep it tight at the back, with Ronaldo getting the odd goal, they could be quite dangerous. If Neymar does get injured, they'll still have the likes of Coutinho, Firminio and Gabriel Jesus. I like Portugal and with Ronaldo you will always have a chance, but I'm not convinced by them defensively. Croatia have quite a strong team with the likes of Modric, Rakitic, Perisic, Rebic, Lovren, Vrsaljko and are another one I'm looking forward to watching. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2018 13:50:08 GMT
The Belgium's always seem to be a bit like the Dutch and French, and usually have 'internal issues' within the squad. I think Neymar will once again get injured, and Brazil will mentally implode as they did at the last World Cup. If Portugal can keep it tight at the back, with Ronaldo getting the odd goal, they could be quite dangerous. If Neymar does get injured, they'll still have the likes of Coutinho, Firminio and Gabriel Jesus. I like Portugal and with Ronaldo you will always have a chance, but I'm not convinced by them defensively. Croatia have quite a strong team with the likes of Modric, Rakitic, Perisic, Rebic, Lovren, Vrsaljko and are another one I'm looking forward to watching. Jesus wouldn't get in England's starting XI. In any event he'd have to miss our second match as its on a Sunday |
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Post by William Wilson on Jun 13, 2018 6:53:15 GMT
If Neymar does get injured, they'll still have the likes of Coutinho, Firminio and Gabriel Jesus. I like Portugal and with Ronaldo you will always have a chance, but I'm not convinced by them defensively. Croatia have quite a strong team with the likes of Modric, Rakitic, Perisic, Rebic, Lovren, Vrsaljko and are another one I'm looking forward to watching. Jesus wouldn't get in England's starting XI. In any event he'd have to miss our second match as its on a Sunday On the other hand, if the pitch gets flooded, he will have a definite advantage over everyone else out there. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2018 7:38:15 GMT
Jesus wouldn't get in England's starting XI. In any event he'd have to miss our second match as its on a Sunday On the other hand, if the pitch gets flooded, he will have a definite advantage over everyone else out there. When he started out, he was a Keeper. Problem was though that every shot went straight through his hands ! |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2018 7:39:12 GMT
The question is, do you think he'll be nailed on to start?
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Post by stuart1974 on Jun 13, 2018 7:45:13 GMT
On the other hand, if the pitch gets flooded, he will have a definite advantage over everyone else out there. When he started out, he was a Keeper. Problem was though that every shot went straight through his hands ! Keeper? What is he like on crosses? |
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Post by axegas on Jun 13, 2018 8:48:33 GMT
The Belgium's always seem to be a bit like the Dutch and French, and usually have 'internal issues' within the squad. I think Neymar will once again get injured, and Brazil will mentally implode as they did at the last World Cup. If Portugal can keep it tight at the back, with Ronaldo getting the odd goal, they could be quite dangerous. If Neymar does get injured, they'll still have the likes of Coutinho, Firminio and Gabriel Jesus. I like Portugal and with Ronaldo you will always have a chance, but I'm not convinced by them defensively. Croatia have quite a strong team with the likes of Modric, Rakitic, Perisic, Rebic, Lovren, Vrsaljko and are another one I'm looking forward to watching. Croatia are my dark horses, they just seem to have a good depth of quality players all along the pitch, along with those you mention they also have Inter Milan’s Marcelo Brozovic who has had an impressive season with Inter, Milan Badelj who is Fiorentina’s captain, a good striker in Mario Mandzukic and a decent keeper in Danijel Subasic which is always useful. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2018 8:49:33 GMT
The question is, do you think he'll be nailed on to start? Not for any matches over Easter |
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pirate
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World Cup
Jun 13, 2018 9:05:40 GMT
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Post by pirate on Jun 13, 2018 9:05:40 GMT
If Neymar does get injured, they'll still have the likes of Coutinho, Firminio and Gabriel Jesus. I like Portugal and with Ronaldo you will always have a chance, but I'm not convinced by them defensively. Croatia have quite a strong team with the likes of Modric, Rakitic, Perisic, Rebic, Lovren, Vrsaljko and are another one I'm looking forward to watching. Croatia are my dark horses, they just seem to have a good depth of quality players all along the pitch, along with those you mention they also have Inter Milan’s Marcelo Brozovic who has had an impressive season with Inter, Milan Badelj who is Fiorentina’s captain, a good striker in Mario Mandzukic and a decent keeper in Danijel Subasic which is always useful. Very good depth and quality. Mateo Kovacic is another one not mentioned, he played 36 times for Real Madrid during the season just passed. |
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Post by William Wilson on Jun 13, 2018 9:58:52 GMT
The question is, do you think he'll be nailed on to start? Not for any matches over Easter Dear God. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2018 10:17:30 GMT
Big scandal here a few years back, when German troops in Afghanistan were caught wearing t-shirts that basically said, "I got further East than my Grandad". It made me chuckle anyway. We don't mention the Russian Front in our house. My (now dead) Father-In-Law lost a Brother there. It's not easy explaining to my seven year old that he had one Grandad (now dead) fighting with the British, and the other Grandad fighting for the Germans ! I haven't discovered the full picture yet, but I reckon the relatives of my German family were a bit dodgy. Anytime soon I expect to find some pictures of geezers in SS uniforms ! Oh, dear. It`s not a conversation that`s easy to imagine, is it?
"My grandfather was at Treblinka, in 1944." "Oh, my God, that`s awful." "No no, he wasn`t an inmate, he was a guard. He used to pick up the Zyklon B from the local station, and drive it up to the camp. And when the tins were empty, he used to take the kids to the beach, and they`d make sandcastles. He was heartbroken when the place had to close."
Phew, good news. I found this old helmet in the loft. It proves that the wife's relatives were just Electricians ! ![]()  ![]() |
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Post by William Wilson on Jun 14, 2018 10:51:47 GMT
That is a relief, Nobby. And I`m sure they made a very good job of wiring up Belzec, Buchenwald and Dachau.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2018 14:54:44 GMT
When he started out, he was a Keeper. Problem was though that every shot went straight through his hands ! Keeper? What is he like on crosses? Great hang time. |
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pirate
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Jun 14, 2018 17:03:59 GMT
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Post by pirate on Jun 14, 2018 17:03:59 GMT
Any players or teams you are particularly looking forward to watching? Apart from the usual suspects, I'm looking forward to seeing Daniel Arzani (Australia), Moussa Konate (Senegal), Hirving Lozano (Mexico), Emil Forsberg (Sweden), Aleksandr Golovin (Russia) and Pione Sisto (Denmark). 2 assists and a goal for Golovin against the Saudi's. |
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Post by William Wilson on Jun 18, 2018 6:45:18 GMT
OK, I'm going to stick my scrawny neck out..........I reckon Germany are going to struggle. There, I've said it ! Why? There are small signs that all is not well in the German camp. Training ground bust-up last week. They haven't won in in their last five games. They don't have a decent striker. Indications are that Jurgen Löw should have left after winning last time. Manual Neuer (keeper) has hardly played in the last ten months. Last week they lost a friendly to Austria. That is Austria who haven't qualified for the Finals and all their players really wanted to be on the beach somewhere. My wife and son may be in tears at the Germans demise, and I will give them both a hug while quietly grinning  Well, you`ve called it right so far, Nobby. But there`s a long way to go. I still reckon, Red Square will be ringing with the sound of "Die fahne hoch..." come the evening of July15th.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2018 7:00:28 GMT
OK, I'm going to stick my scrawny neck out..........I reckon Germany are going to struggle. There, I've said it ! Why? There are small signs that all is not well in the German camp. Training ground bust-up last week. They haven't won in in their last five games. They don't have a decent striker. Indications are that Jurgen Löw should have left after winning last time. Manual Neuer (keeper) has hardly played in the last ten months. Last week they lost a friendly to Austria. That is Austria who haven't qualified for the Finals and all their players really wanted to be on the beach somewhere. My wife and son may be in tears at the Germans demise, and I will give them both a hug while quietly grinning Well, you`ve called it right so far, Nobby. But there`s a long way to go. I still reckon, Red Square will be ringing with the sound of "Die fahne hoch..." come the evening of July15th.
Cracking evening for me. She Who Cast No Shadow had invited six of her friends round for a BBQ and to watch the game. I duly attended to my duties of cooking the meat and handing out the beers. I had to endure the usual taunts banter about how bad England were. They all had their German hats, sun glasses, scarves etc etc, and we all sat down to watch the humiliation of Mexico....but as we now know, it didn't quite turn out that way did it......Oh, I was chuckling inside I can tell you |
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Post by William Wilson on Jun 18, 2018 11:30:42 GMT
Well, you`ve called it right so far, Nobby. But there`s a long way to go. I still reckon, Red Square will be ringing with the sound of "Die fahne hoch..." come the evening of July15th.
Cracking evening for me. She Who Cast No Shadow had invited six of her friends round for a BBQ and to watch the game. I duly attended to my duties of cooking the meat and handing out the beers. I had to endure the usual taunts banter about how bad England were. They all had their German hats, sun glasses, scarves etc etc, and we all sat down to watch the humiliation of Mexico....but as we now know, it didn't quite turn out that way did it......Oh, I was chuckling inside I can tell you Lol. I can imagine. Come on, Sweden!!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2018 12:12:38 GMT
Cracking evening for me. She Who Cast No Shadow had invited six of her friends round for a BBQ and to watch the game. I duly attended to my duties of cooking the meat and handing out the beers. I had to endure the usual taunts banter about how bad England were. They all had their German hats, sun glasses, scarves etc etc, and we all sat down to watch the humiliation of Mexico....but as we now know, it didn't quite turn out that way did it......Oh, I was chuckling inside I can tell you Lol. I can imagine. Come on, Sweden!!
It's well known in work that I'm up for a bit of banter. Usually when Germany win, I get blokes who I am barely on nodding terms with, arriving at my desk to talk about the latest German win. Hordes of the buggers. Today.......silence. Not a single person has approached me to talk about the football. I'm being sensible and keeping my powder dry until after England play tonight, but I'm primed. |
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