WORLD CUP

First topic message reminder :

Should I support Italy or England ?

V 

I am old enough (just!) to remember the shock waves in 1953 when Hungary came to Wembley and demolished England 6-3.       I don't believe anyone (irrespective of social class) has really believed we're better than 'Johnny Foreigner' since.

However I believe that many people do take pride in the sporting success of their country (you seldom see people out on the streets celebrating a rise in the GDP! ) whether it's football, rugby, cricket, olympics etc.

And it may interest Neil to know that my local pub in Devon is festooned with flags of St George at present (just like Genova!).

ghiro wrote:Gala.  I hope your team will find this link helpful: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Flights-g187514-o303506-Rio_De_Janeiro_to_Madrid.html      

Ghiro, I think that after tonight we should jointly charter a plane to bring the loosers back to their respective homes.       
 My sincere condolences!!!

Dreadful Gala.  When you think that the total population of Uruguay is some 3.4 million (of which only 48.3% are male) and then you think of the population of England and how much money professional English footballers are paid - just dreadful.

Totally agree, ghiro and Spain, even if our population is smaller than the UK, we are also paying exhorbitant salaries and fees, which are disgusting and immoral in the current economic climate. I think that we should tell all of them to swim back home 

Vicino wrote:Should I support Italy or England ?V 

Abdication not necessary, Queen Elizabeth's job is safe  

Vicino - now's the time to support Italy...England needs you 

Bread and circuses.  If it wasn't football it would be something else.  Anything to distract the people from what is actually important....

It is an old recipe, which obviously works. And too much doom and gloom is depressing and counterproductive. Most people need to get away from reality, at least for a while. Nothing wrong with it. Smile and laugh! It is contagious...   

Oh well, England holiday over now. Must admit, rather watch the cricket against Sri Lanka or the F1 from Austria.

With England out of the picture, I can now concentrate exclusively on Italy's fortunes and the prospects for my bold and ultimately hopeless bet @25/1. What Prandelli has against Immobile, I do not know, but to bring on the totally clueless and ineffectual Insigne against Costa Rica - what was he thinking? If Immobile doesn't start on Tuesday, then 'gli Azzurri possono fare le valigie'.

Shame about England…there was a lot of sympathy here for them    
 
Yep, it certainly wasn’t Italy’s best performance…Insigne was constantly offside as were several other players (OH was impressed when I mumbled offside   ) Thiago Motta wasn’t very good either.
 

We’re still in with a chance, we as in The Netherlands 

Another inept shambles from Italy. First Fulham, then England and now Italy. It's been a footballing year to forget. The only bright spot was Frosinone's promotion to Serie B.
And what about Suarez's bite! He was probably thinking about 'having an Italian' after the game in a local Italian restaurant - perhaps a new dish: 'Chiellini al dente'.  

And it was not the first time he has done that...   They were saying that FIFA could sanction him...

I claim my prize.  You shouldnt be at the world cup finals for being the best of the worst - as England and Italy were this year.  They didnt deserve to be in BRazil and didnt deserve to go through.  Now it will get interesting.... Im for Holland.

Suarez is doomed !!

Totally unacceptable…   the ref may not have seen it but the rest of us did!!  It looks like he may get his comeuppance though Luis Suarez 'bite':.  Wasn’t there something similar with a German player in 2006?

I think tha ALL those who were watching the match saw it. The ref may have not seen it, but I think that it is about time to give referees the possibility to check videos whenever they are in doubt. Besides, teeth marks were clearly visible on the Italian player's shoulder and it was not the first time that Suarez had bitten another player. Under the circumstances, he should be banned and I would go as far as ordering a replay of the match.

Better late than never  ok, we're not World Champions but still a respectable third place...and we never lost a game in normal time   
 

We live close to the Dutch/German border so it felt like we’d won 

Well, unfortunately they both were disqualified at the group stages.
What a big disappointment for both nations this year's tournament.