Internationals 31/08 - 05/09

[CJay]

http://www.live-footballontv.com/live-world-cup-football-on-tv.html

Holland - France on right now. The gulf between the two teams is massive. It's 2017 and Wesley Sneijder is still turning out for the Dutch. Janssen is the most ineffective and pedestrian striker I've seen in a long time, but he has no chance in this Dutch side. And Van Persie awaits on the bench.

England play Malta tomorrow night and Slovakia on Monday night.

[Yevrah]

Malta and Slovakia and a group stage/second round exit to follow in Russia.

There is nothing to get excited for about England at the moment. Nothing.

[Mazuuurk]

We're playing Bulgaria away, must-win match if we hope to make it through the group - as unlikely as that has always been (a draw between France and Holland would be great probably).

2-2 currently, fucking this up a bit.

[-james-]

Janssen is really astonishingly bad.

[CJay]

Kante is in beast mode tonight.

Strootman sent off now. :lol: For nothing it seems - terrible decision.

[Lewis]

Remember when Holland were so good that peak Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink could barely get a game? Now look at them.

[-james-]

That is a stunning hit from Lemar. Lol Arsenal.

https://streamable.com/g6n1j

[Weaver]

Pogba should be scoring from there, surely? It's about four yards out.

EDIT: Lemar :drool:

[CJay]

That was beautiful. So cleanly struck. :drool:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Malta and Slovakia and a group stage/second round exit to follow in Russia.

There is nothing to get excited for about England at the moment. Nothing.

The first thing we need to do is stop drawing Slovakia.

Uganda have beaten Egypt in the African qualifiers today to go top of the group. Absolute scenes.

[CJay]

Mbappe honestly looks like peak Ronaldo.

[Foe]

'Mon Luxembourg.

[Adramelch]

Bosnia were 2-0 up in Cyprus and conceded 3 in the space of 10 minutes and we still manage to get a 0-0 at home against Estonia, in true Greece fashion.

[-james-]

Bosnia were 2-0 up in Cyprus and conceded 3 in the space of 10 minutes and we still manage to get a 0-0 at home against Estonia, in true Greece fashion.

Should still be fine for second place. If they win in Cyprus then they're just relying on Bosnia not beating Belgium

[Jimmy Floyd]

Will Cyprus throw that for you a la Eurovision?

[Mazuuurk]

We managed to fuck up even more :moop:

[-james-]

Will Cyprus throw that for you a la Eurovision?

Fat chance. Judging by tonight it's got embarrassment written all over it.

[Adramelch]

Cyprus are actually in with a shot after that win so doubt it. We're still the favorites for second though. A win would have all but guaranteed it, however.

[Pen]

Ronaldo and Witsel scored nice goals today even though both were against goat herders.

edit: Also Belgiums right back Meunier scored a hat trick and assisted four goals.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Meanwhile in Asia, how's this. Syria have beaten Qatar today and moved up to third place. Last game is fucking Iran v Syria (Jesus wept), with Uzbek v Korea being the other game. Iran are through and any of the others could join them.

[Lewis]

Iran will throw that one then.

[Spoonsky]

France have to win the World Cup, right?

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's France. Of course not.

[Pleb]

:D

[Reg]

France have to win the World Cup, right?
Someone else is bound to be good. About time one of Argentina or Brazil turn up.

France's second and third elevens are better than half of the first elevens in World Cups though.

[-james-]

Just watched Chile get absolutely dumpstered by Paraguay 3-0 at home. Alexis looked pretty grumpy.

[Spoonsky]

It's France. Of course not.

I don't mean that they're going to actually win it, I mean that they would be one of the best teams on paper to bottle

[Weaver]

Hart; Walker, Jones, Cahill, Bertrand; Henderson, Livermore; Chamberlain, Alli, Sterling; Kane.

Japan qualified for the World Cup last night.

[Jimmy Floyd]

http://i.imgur.com/zwCHjXB.png

The absolute scenes if they pull this off. Still have to go to Egypt though.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Clive Tyldesley is like a ghost from the past now. How he keeps his commentary game going without match practice in between international breaks I have no idea.

[Waffdon]

Stuart Armstrong makes me wet.

[Waffdon]

Andrew Robertson oh ma goad. 2-0 to the Dundee United biyyyys

[Magic]

England game turgid so far? If anyone's watching, that is.

[Samadini]

Yes

[mugbull]

The Czechs still don't know how to do anything, sadly.

[Waffdon]

Andrew Robertson is world class.

[-james-]

Germany have been fairly poor as well tbh. They finally have an actual striker in Timo Werner and have no idea what to do with him.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm now positively thirsty for some sardine seller to arrive at the back post and put us out of our misery.

[niko_cee]

Clive Tyldesley is like a ghost from the past now. How he keeps his commentary game going without match practice in between international breaks I have no idea.

He probably just moonlights on loads of foreign feeds, doesn't he?

[Kikó]

Scotland were really good. Very composed performance and it'll make the game v Slovakia interesting.

Unless they mess up v Malta.

[Shindig]

He probably just moonlights on loads of foreign feeds, doesn't he?

He keeps himself fresh reciting the Championship Manager 2 lines he was fed back in 1995.

[SincereTheRebel]

Im watching the usa vs costa rica game and clint dempsey is still part of the usa setup.

[CJay]

Yeah, I'm on it too. Pulisic looks tidy.

http://buffstream.com/watch/soccer.php

[Lewis]

I was talking about this with my friend the other day, and it's a bit mad to think that America was an actual joke country at football twenty (even fifteen) years ago. Now everything about the game over there seems to be getting better all the time (complete with filthy Arab involvement).

[CJay]

Their national team hasn't improved much since 2002 have they? Just gone behind now, which I actually think could be very problematic for their qualifying chances.

This American co-commentator is very hard to take. Blinkers on and proud.

[Pleb]

The only way I can see the Americans move to a playoff spot is if Panama give Mexico a hiding and even then the Mexicans are laughing at how pathetic this qualifying group is.

[Spoonsky]

I was talking about this with my friend the other day, and it's a bit mad to think that America was an actual joke country at football twenty (even fifteen) years ago. Now everything about the game over there seems to be getting better all the time (complete with filthy Arab involvement).

:nod:

The league has grown so quickly in terms of reach and quality. As long as college soccer is still a thing our national team will still be limited but the academies of MLS clubs are starting to produce quality players.

[mugbull]

Pulisic will save us

[Spoonsky]

The problem the US has is that there are so many immigrants, the crowd in any qualifier against a Central American team is always half-filled with Salvadorians/Cost Ricans/etc. It's why we always beat Mexico when we play in Ohio.

[Lewis]

Yeah, I meant more domestically. What is driving it? I read something about Atlanta United (https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/aug/21/atlanta-united-mls-soccer-popularity-average-attendance) that put their success (almost literally overnight) down to the city being full of fannies, but that doesn't explain everywhere. Is it simply that the market was always there for it but nobody had exploited it properly?

[Spoonsky]

The bigger question to me is why it wasn't more popular earlier. Americans love sports, and soccer doesn't take any more sophistication to appreciate that baseball does. The World Cup gets massive coverage here, and each one brings exponentially more people into the fold, along with the expansion of MLS into new parts of the country (like the South). The MLS itself is a very well-run league, with a good mix of marquee players to attract people and homegrown and domestic players to keep the league sustainable.

There's probably also a hipster factor, lots of people who actually love sports but don't identify with the college football / NFL / NBA crowd.

[Waffdon]

Scotland have two world class left backs unbelievable Jeff

[John]

American sports tend to be either high scoring or basically socialist in their approach to scoring opportunities. A baseball game without runs is technically possible, but both teams will have the same opportunities to score runs over the course of the game. I reckon it's just taken some time for a game where the standard scoreline is 2-1 and scoreless games are incredibly common to be marketed properly and find its place in that climate.

[McAvennie]

I think it's more that Americans like a winner in their games, and football has lots of draws so it doesn't match their psyche

[Shindig]

There's a lot of downtime in American sports, basketball aside.

[mugbull]

I just think it wasn't popular because (after the 20s at least) everybody saw it as foreign and effete and you were some social outcast fanny if you were fucking around with this European game. Don't think it had much to do with the nature of the sport itself.

[mugbull]

Football won't be proper popular here until the MLS is very good, which I can't see happening any time soon. Nobody's gonna be waking up at 5 am on Saturday mornings, vomit encrusting the mouth from the previous night's binge, to watch Premier League.

[SincereTheRebel]

It does not have to pop-off in the USA. Its already the biggest sport in the world. I dont know if its the biggest sporting market in the world, but thats not really important.

[mugbull]

I would like it to, because I live there

[phonics]

It's the push from the middle class to not have their kids playing American football and increased visibility from matches being on TV outside of a World Cup every 4 years.

[SincereTheRebel]

I would like it to, because I live there

Move.

[mugbull]

It's the push from the middle class to not have their kids playing American football and increased visibility from matches being on TV outside of a World Cup every 4 years.

The US national team is still the extent to which 95% of the country watches football

[phonics]

And yet that's still a larger amount of a populace than most small European nations.

[mugbull]

http://awfulannouncing.com/nbc/viewership-2016-17-premier-league-season-lowest-since-moving-nbc.html

Viewership numbers aren't going up. NBC even made changes after this article was written for this season that are driving down viewership as well. 400k people watching football is not a lot.

[igor_balis]

http://awfulannouncing.com/nbc/viewership-2016-17-premier-league-season-lowest-since-moving-nbc.html

Viewership numbers aren't going up. NBC even made changes after this article was written for this season that are driving down viewership as well. 400k people watching football is not a lot.

That's barely more than who watches TNA every week.

[Weaver]

The 'Game for Grenfell' is on Sky 1 at the minute if anyone's got nothing better to watch - Team Ferdinand 1 Team Shearer 1 at HT.

Jose Mourinho is expected to come on in Goal at some point.

[Giggles]

I've another abject showing of pump it long (to Long) to watch.

[Giggles]

Randolph

Christie
Clark
Duffy
Ward

Walters
Brady
Whelan
Arter
McClean

Long

Dodgy looking at the back especially. Duffy is a mistake waiting to happen.

[CJay]

Brady will see us through. Scrappy 1-0 win.

[Giggles]

Randolph

Christie
Clark
Duffy
Ward

Walters
Brady
Whelan
Arter
McClean

Long

Dodgy looking at the back especially. Duffy is a mistake waiting to happen.


:uhoh:

[CJay]

That looked like a foul on the keeper, tbf. Great start for us though.

[Mike]

Jose Mourinho is about to go in net for a shoot out for some charity match on Sky 1

[Giggles]

That's a howler of a miss from McClean when you see it back.

[Giggles]

I was expecting abject but this is fucking pathetic, despite the scoreline.

[CJay]

We're getting well and truly donned. This will be a smash and grab for the ages when we nod in a corner in the 89th minute.

[Giggles]

I don't think I've ever seen a worse performance from the international team. Absolutely woeful, how the fuck they're level is beyond me.

62 successful passes and 24% possession in a half vs Georgia :face: Just one hoofed clearance after another.

[CJay]

I don't think I've ever seen a worse performance from the international team. Absolutely woeful, how the fuck they're level is beyond me.

62 successful passes and 24% possession in a half vs Georgia :face: Just one hoofed clearance after another.

I wonder is that something we practice in training? Kicking the ball as high into the air as possible - it's been our go to move this evening.

[-james-]

Croatia - Kosovo is being played on what is basically a swamp. The theory that the Kosovan national side are all match fixers will be well tested here, they'll need to find a way to chuck five in if that's the case.

[Mazuuurk]

Anyone got a stream to the Spain - Italy game?

[SincereTheRebel]

I was going to comment on the ireland came which i was watching earlier. But yeah.

[Weaver]

Anyone got a stream to the Spain - Italy game?

Try Navixsport.com

We've got it on ITV4 here so I haven't been on to see if they're showing it.

[Mazuuurk]

Try Navixsport.com

We've got it on ITV4 here so I haven't been on to see if they're showing it.

Works a treat, cheers buddy.

[SincereTheRebel]

Isco and asjensio* move dangerous

[Mazuuurk]

I have a bit of a mancrush on Asensio recently.

[Waffdon]

Isco and Asensio :drool:

[SincereTheRebel]

Napoli have two small players that also play savage. Mertens and insigne**

Trying to spell player names is at an all time difficulty level.

[Giggles]

I was going to comment on the ireland came which i was watching earlier. But yeah.

O'Neill has to go after this campaign. Whatever about results, you still have decent English based players there and they're set up to play like minnows. They all can't forget any football ability they have as soon as they join the international squad.

[Mazuuurk]

Napoli have two small players that also play savage. Mertens and insigne**

Trying to spell player names is at an all time difficulty level.

Are you fucked?

Man I wish I was fucked in some pub somewhere.
Working on it at home instead. But they aren't not going down so smoothly today. :mad:

[CJay]

O'Neill has to go after this campaign. Whatever about results, you still have decent English based players there and they're set up to play like minnows. They all can't forget any football ability they have as soon as they join the international squad.

Most of our English-based players are simple workhorses. We aren't exactly awash with talented ballers. I do agree with you overall though, there's setting up defensively and then there's the hoofball we watched tonight.

[Toppedogge]

Ireland dropping points in good for Wales. It's a shame Scotland drew against England as there would be a chance for all the home nations and Ireland to qualify for World Cup. Basically GB v Putin's people.

[Giggles]

Most of our English-based players are simple workhorses. We aren't exactly awash with talented ballers. I do agree with you overall though, there's setting up defensively and then there's the hoofball we watched tonight.

They're all limited but there's no way they collectively should be that bad. I'd expect some bad performances as that's what goes along with such players but that tonight was shocking. Surely a team made up of Championship and Premiership players can show for the ball and string more than two consecutive passes together against Georgia.

[CJay]

They're all limited but there's no way they collectively should be that bad. I'd expect some bad performances as that's what goes along with such players but that tonight was shocking. Surely a team made up of Championship and Premiership players can show for the ball and string more than two consecutive passes together against Georgia.

At the end of the day O'Neill will be judged on his results, like Trapattoni was. If he fails to qualify from this group which has no stand out big team then I'd say we'll get rid.

[Lewis]

When I heard Roy Keane talking about 'average players' going for thirty million quid the other day it struck me that he must think all of the Ireland players are absolute shit. I wonder how that influences how you coach, or even how receptive you are to being coached.

[Giggles]

He knows enough to know that even though they're average, they're capable of a better setup than yesterday. I don't know how he hasn't walked away completely, though he has turned into a bit of a yes man for O'Neill and he's getting great money for an assistant.

[Shindig]

He's probably waiting for a shot.

[Giggles]

He's probably waiting for a shot.

I'd say he'll be next once this campaign is over. There had been talk of him going to manage Israel but it's close enough for him now.

[niko_cee]

Big Davy Propper donning things for the Dutch I see.

That's probably an accurate reflection of just how poor a side they are these days.

[Waffdon]

Belgium could really do with getting a proper manager. They've clearly got the talent. A lack of a left back will constantly trouble them, though.

edit: right on cue, Vertonghen scores.

[Waffdon]

Left back in no mans land. I win.

Scotland could do with lending one of our two world class left backs.

[Kikó]

France. :D

[SincereTheRebel]

Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Luxembourg with the 0-0 win. France hit the post three times. Luxembourg also hit the post late on.

[Waffdon]

That must be Luxembourg's best ever result.

[Kikó]

Great win for Portugal in Hungary.

[Lewis]

The French match statistics are seriously lol.

[Weaver]

Were France just missing the goal completely, or was it HEROIC defending from the Luxembourg defenders?

Belgium are the first proper qualifiers from Europe, and Germany could secure their place with a win tonight and a Northern Ireland failure to win. England will wrap up at least the playoffs if we beat whichever Slov we're playing tonight.

[SincereTheRebel]

Were France just missing the goal completely, or was it HEROIC defending from the Luxembourg defenders?

Belgium are the first proper qualifiers from Europe, and Germany could secure their place with a win tonight and a Northern Ireland failure to win. England will wrap up at least the playoffs if we beat whichever Slov we're playing tonight.

France hit the woodwork 3 times. Luxembourg goalkeeper made lots of saves you would expect any goalkeeper to make. France should have converted a chance though

[Samadini]

France were good in the first half and should have been a few up, but their second half performance was terrible. Lemar was hopeless. Just lots of over hit crosses and poor control around the box.

[Mazuuurk]

That miracle from Luxemburg means we still have some hope of actually finishing top of the group :cab:

We've got to beat Holland for that to have any chance of happening, mind you, and anyway I doubt France will drop points against Bulgaria.

[niko_cee]

To the seethemobile! (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41146009)

[phonics]

Considering how corrupt he'll have had to have been to get to where he is in the Spanish FA, I wouldn't be encouraging anyone to look at books.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I didn't realise that as it stands (no idea how much change is possible prior to cut off date) the top 8 World Cup seeds will be: Russia (hosts), Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Switzerland, Poland, Portugal and Chile.

[phonics]

Switzerland finally getting the respect they deserve and will still manage to draw France in the groups.

[phonics]

Considering how corrupt he'll have had to have been to get to where he is in the Spanish FA, I wouldn't be encouraging anyone to look at books.

They rejected it in less than 24 hours.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Here we fucking go :drool:

[Browning]

Shambles. Get Big Sam back for the second half.

[CJay]

Serious gulf in quality in the first 15 minutes.

[SvN]

lol at Oxlade-Chamberlain :harold:

[SincereTheRebel]

Germany are running riot against norway. 3-0 up inside 20 minutes

[Waffdon]

Christ, didn't realise England losing put them in second only three ahead of Scotland.

[Max Power]

Northern Ireland don't quite get enough credit imo. Looks like second spot behind Germany in the bag, beating Czech Republic. Some excellent results in the past few years.

[John]

Dale Alli looks really sluggish, almost like he can't be arsed.

[Browning]

The Ox Vs Rashford for our shittest player is more competitive than this game.

[Danny]

The Ox Vs Rashford for our shittest player is more competitive than this game.

After all this shit about Ox being a central midfielder he is stinking it up on the left wing and Rashford is playing on the opposite side to normal and is also stinking it up.

Shocking news.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Trashford and Oxlade need the hook.

[CJay]

Why is Rashford playing as a winger? I know he probably doesn't score enough to play centrally, but he looks a bit lost playing out wide. Just seems like the usual attempt to shoehorn players into a side.

[mugbull]

The Czechs get worse with every tournament and there's no end in sight. Fuck em.

[SvN]

He's played most of his games for United out wide.

[Danny]

Why is Rashford playing as a winger? I know he probably doesn't score enough to play centrally, but he looks a bit lost playing out wide. Just seems like the usual attempt to shoehorn players into a side.

He plays on the left for United.

[Max Power]

Slovakia playing some lovely stuff

[Shindig]

This might be the strongest set of home nations we've ever seen.

[Jimmy Floyd]

This might be the strongest set of home nations we've ever seen.

On average, maybe.

Would quite like either Wales or Norn to make it and England not.

[CJay]

Woof. Not bad.

Atonement! :D

[Jimmy Floyd]

A goal for all Manchester.

[Danny]

He is much better coming in from the left.

Goal and assist. Make him captain!

[Jimmy Floyd]

This England side will get embarrassed at a tournament again or in any game that matters against a decent side. Entirely reliant on what I will tactfully refer to as 'pace and power'. Zero composure or decision-making.

Might make an African Nations semi. Maybe.

[Lewis]

Danny Welbeck will more than likely start the proper matches there, what with him being - no, seriously, right - him being our best (only?) Big Game Player.

[Max Power]

Nah England would wilt in a quarter final marathon AFCON penalty shoot out to Burkina Faso.

[Shindig]

This England side will get embarrassed at a tournament again or in any game that matters against a decent side. Entirely reliant on what I will tactfully refer to as 'pace and power'. Zero composure or decision-making.

Might make an African Nations semi. Maybe.

And? It's where we've been at for at least a decade.

[phonics]

I definitely just saw Delle Ali just flip the bird at someone right?

[Magic]

Omg the Slovak game is HUGE.

[CJay]

The slow pan of Alli giving the finger. :face: Such a child.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Alli should get a life ban just for those BT Sport ads.

[Lewis]

Raheem Sterling is better than 'Dele'.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Some fruity sides in the playoffs. Can't wait for Serbia to bottle their group and then draw Montenegro.

Failing that, Ireland v NI is on and someone's going to get Italy.

[Waffdon]

Scotland to finally not bottle a big game and draw Italy :drool:

[Giggles]

Some fruity sides in the playoffs. Can't wait for Serbia to bottle their group and then draw Montenegro.

Failing that, Ireland v NI is on and someone's going to get Italy.

Not a snowballs our lot are making the playoffs. Even if they can scrape a draw tomorrow night, it'd come down to winning in Cardiff.

[Samadini]

Danny Welbeck will more than likely start the proper matches there, what with him being - no, seriously, right - him being our best (only?) Big Game Player.

Has Jones ever been fit for one? He looks properly good these days.

[Magic]

Seeing a 2-0 result out at home against a team of park rangers. What a fucking embarrassment. I'll be supporting England like John.

[-james-]

Scotland could well end up being the second placed team that don't get a play-off spot. Looking forward to explaining that one to yer da after they win four competitive games on the trot for the first time in history.

[Waffdon]

Aye, they'll only be on 14 points if they win their next two games. I think they're fucked regardless.

[Browning]

It should be enough. To miss out on 14 you'd need Bosnia to win both their last games (including Vs Belgium, who granted may phone it in but still) and get a better goal difference than you (currently they're on +2) which doesn't seem too likely.

Plus, obviously, all the other 2nd place teams would need to pick up enough points too.

Edit- Actually just noticed that Scotland's goal difference is negative once you take Malta out, so that is a bit tougher, but I still reckon they'll be alright.

[Reg]

I'd no idea Azerbaijan were good enough to be above Czech Republic and Norway.

[mugbull]

Both us and the Norwegians are at our lowest points in 50 years. Easy enough, really

[John Arne]

The main story on the Guardian sports site is Alli giving the ref/Kyle Walker the middle finger... is this really a big story?? The players spend half the game screaming and swearing at the refs constantly - why is giving him the finger such a big deal?

[Jimmy Floyd]

I don't know about the Czechs but Norway are genuinely minnows these days. Don't let the high GDP and 1998 World Cup fool you.

Only 4 places above the Faroe Islands in the FIFA rankings.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Australia v Thailand at 11 our time, Australia need to win and ideally by 4+ goals to give themselves a reasonable chance of overtaking Saudi.

God bless time zones meaning the last group games are played at staggered times.

[John Arne]

Thailand will get bummed. They were doing well recently, having got further than ever in World Cup qualifiers - They then decided to sack their manager because he couldn't beat the likes of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

[John Arne]

Qatar blockade at Iraq-UAE press conference. UAE official removes beIN Sports microphone AFC member returns it, channel has exclusive rights

Petty cunts.

904851040968826880

[ItalAussie]

This Australia-Thailand game is utter rubbish. They've got nine men in the box at any given time, and not even pretending to be interested in anything other than the counter-attack. We're basically terrible at passing, and our first touch is utterly useless.

We've still managed 25 shots, and hit the post three times. :moop:

EDIT: Finally got the goal. Could see 10 Thai players on the screen at the time, too. :D

EDIT: Now the Thais are forced to attack. They're fast, too.

[John Arne]

This Australia-Thailand game is utter rubbish. They've got nine men in the box at any given time, and not even pretending to be interested in anything other than the counter-attack. We're basically terrible at passing, and our first touch is utterly useless.

We've still managed 25 shots, and hit the post three times. :moop:

EDIT: Finally got the goal. Could see 10 Thai players on the screen at the time, too. :D

Thailand had a stonewall pen turned down, too. In fact, the ref has been awful, a massive homer.

[ItalAussie]

We're so rubbish.

[ItalAussie]

58 balls into the box. :D

We're back ahead, which means the Saudis should need to win. We're not going to get another three, so that's as good as it gets.

EDIT: Final whistle. We made heavy weather of that one.

[John Arne]

40,000 in the Olympic Stadium for Cambodia v Vietnam :drool:

https://gyazo.com/73eaf72119967495ad376473e75a0fe3.png

[Jimmy Floyd]

Not sure that will be enough, imagine the Saudis will bung their way through later.

[ItalAussie]

I have faith that Japan will do us a solid here.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Syria 1-0 up in Iran, approaching half time. Somebody find that Ron Paul gif.

[Kikó]

Syria are winning!

[Jimmy Floyd]

Equaliser, jinxed them.

Korea must have made an absolute mess of this group.

[Lewis]

https://s26.postimg.org/ritc9fktl/DI-_Ibki_Xg_AAU9_ZT.jpg

1-1 now. Losers.

[-james-]

https://i.imgur.com/F19TqOx.png

:(

[Jimmy Floyd]

Shock they have got an equaliser right at the death which I think gets them in the playoffs ahead of Uzbek.

Winner here takes them through.

[-james-]

Very real chance Syria will get Murica in the play-off. :drool:

[mugbull]

It's crazy how repetitive qualifying results are. Uzbekistan always come within inches of qualifying, but never do, meanwhile SKorea, Japan, Australia always qualify, often just barely. Also read that Uruguay have had to qualify through playoffs for 4 consecutive World Cups, meaning they've finished 5th in SAmerica 4 times in a row. African teams are usually all chosen from a pool of 8 or 9 (excepting Togo, Angola in 06) and in North America it's usually Mexico, Costa Rica, USA, and Honduras in 4th.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I reckon Sweden and Ukraine are pretty much always in the Euro playoffs as well.

[Jimmy Floyd]

On an unrelated note I've just been directed to this via twitter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbados_4%E2%80%932_Grenada_(1994_Caribbean_Cup_q ualification)


Now the game was at 2–2, with just three minutes of normal time left. The Grenadian players caught on to Barbados's plan, and realized that they would advance in the tournament by scoring a goal in either net. This left the match in the highly unusual position of no clear side of the field for one team versus the other, but rather one team trying to score a goal in either net, and the other team trying to defend both. For the next three minutes, Barbadian players successfully defended both sides.

[Ian]

Yeah I've read about that a few times and I'm sure I watched some clips. Lunacy.

The second best thing about the game is this dude's name:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Stoute

If I got him as a regen on FM I'd never let him leave. I'm already crushed that I stopped my FM13 save when I had a young AM regen called Clive Dickens. Biggest regret of my life.

[Giggles]

Dunno what way that's lining up.


905119595610202112

[CJay]

Five in midfield, Walters behind Long picking up the scraps.

:sick:

Win this tonight and we're top and unbeaten. :drool:

[Giggles]

Booting the ball over a 5 man midfield again. Sounds a plan.

[CJay]

Wes Hoolahan is 35. The RTE lads are still talking about him as if he can control a big game.

[Giggles]

It's a sorry state of affairs when he's the only hope of holding onto possession and offering any creativity, but there's absolutely nobody else who can come close to doing it.

[Giggles]

If you're not playing Brady wide (either midfield or defence) he's absolutely worthless to have there too. Like Dunphy said, I'd have kept Arter in there, but I'd have left Ward too and dropped Brady.

[Giggles]

They just did a bunch of clips titled "we can play football" and the first one was Houlihan running in a complete circle before passing back to a centre half who passed it back to the keeper :D

[SincereTheRebel]

Ben haim is still playing in defence for israel.

[CJay]

They just did a bunch of clips titled "we can play football" and the first one was Houlihan running in a complete circle before passing back to a centre half who passed it back to the keeper :D

Yeah, that was amazing. :lol: The title of the montage really made it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

McClean costs Ireland any hope of a World Cup place with that braindead attempted header away. I've never seen him do anything on a football pitch that wasn't thick as shit.

[Giggles]

McClean costs Ireland any hope of a World Cup place with that braindead attempted header away. I've never seen him do anything on a football pitch that wasn't thick as shit.

I seen him score a winner in Austria. Was only a matter of time before they scored anyway, just holding out until it happened.

Brady especially needs a long break on the bench.

[CJay]

Hopefully Moldova and Georgia both do us favours tonight. If results stay the same - and Ireland and Wales win their next games, then a draw in Cardiff leaves Ireland 2nd, right? Would we get tossed out for being the worst team, though?

[Giggles]

Hopefully Moldova and Georgia both do us favours tonight. If results stay the same - and Ireland and Wales win their next games, then a draw in Cardiff leaves Ireland 2nd, right? Would we get tossed out for being the worst team, though?

The way the groups are I'd imagine if they lose this it's over and done.

[Jimmy Floyd]

You'd be right down there for worst 2nd. Hard to say for sure though.

[CJay]

Bosnia are bottom at the minute, it seems.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(UEFA)#Ranking_o f_second-placed_teams

[Giggles]

Time for hoof ball to Murphy now, game definitely over.

[CJay]

Daryl Murphy is 34. :cab: What an awful striker to have to turn to in search of a goal.

[Giggles]

Daryl Murphy is 34. :cab: What an awful striker to have to turn to in search of a goal.

Though that said, there's fuck all else there. Only other option is dragging Doyle over from the States.

[CJay]

George Hamilton wanted a penalty there. :lol:

Here we go. Have to get a win from here.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Ireland are the least creative team since the dawn of humanity, so I've switched to Wales and Woodburn really does look class but it's an absolute proper eastern European sludgefest. FC ZIMBRU in massive communist era letters opposite the camera, some bloke with a first touch longer than the pitch as the lone striker.

[CJay]

Our lack of options on the bench dictates that sticking John O'Shea on up top is probably our most threatening option.

[mugbull]

Iceland should be 4 up. Jeez.

[Giggles]

I'd give McGeady 15 minutes. He's a fucking waste of space 99% of the time but at least his 1% chance of doing something decent is 1% more than anyone else.

[Giggles]

Long passing to the linesman :lol:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Welsh goal, Woodburn made it brilliantly, best player here by a mile. Has to get in the Liverpool team imminently.

[Giggles]

Now for the most entertaining bit of any international, Tony O'Donoghue interviewing O'Neill.

[niko_cee]

Welsh goal, Woodburn made it brilliantly, best player here by a mile. Has to get in the Liverpool team imminently.

Well, the league cup is coming up, otherwise any game time he'll get will be the same as for Wales, and even that might be a push. He's only got Salah and Coutinho ahead of him, at a minimum.

:cab:

Nice to have a few good youngsters all of a sudden.

[Adramelch]

Group I has Croatia and Iceland on 16 points and Turkey and Ukraine on 14 points. Remaining fixtures:

Croatia vs Finland
Kosovo vs Ukraine
Turkey vs Iceland

Finland vs Turkey
Iceland vs Kosovo
Ukraine vs Croatia

Can't recall such a close group for quite a while.

[-james-]

Algeria are gonners.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Well, the league cup is coming up, otherwise any game time he'll get will be the same as for Wales, and even that might be a push. He's only got Salah and Coutinho ahead of him, at a minimum.

:cab:

Nice to have a few good youngsters all of a sudden.

I'd have taken the morally pure dollar for Phil, myself. Could buy a defender with that.

[niko_cee]

You couldn't have bought the only one they wanted so may as well keep moany sadface for a year.

[Lewis]

905136609640710144

He must have cashed out early.

[Lewis]

The Iranian 'keeper clearly let that in as well. Unfortunately Japan lost to Saudi Arabia (I mean really, lads), so Shia Twitter never got the DEATH MATCH it wanted.

[mugbull]

They're still so far from the World Cup though.

USA - Honduras on. Morris starting solo up front. Super nice guy, dunno about lone US striker though.

[niko_cee]

Is he just shouting Allah! over and over again? Is that allowed?

[GS]

The Republic of Ireland. :harold:

[mugbull]

Honduras are my least favorite World Cup mainstay, alongside the Ayatollah's lads

[Amigo]

Group I has Croatia and Iceland on 16 points and Turkey and Ukraine on 14 points. Remaining fixtures:

Croatia vs Finland
Kosovo vs Ukraine
Turkey vs Iceland

Finland vs Turkey
Iceland vs Kosovo
Ukraine vs Croatia

Can't recall such a close group for quite a while.

If only we'd beaten fucking Finland.

[Adramelch]

If only we'd beaten fucking Finland.

Even a draw would essentially mean top 2.

[mugbull]

DaMarcus Beasley sucks big chode

[Jimmy Floyd]

Honduras away must be an absolute bellend of a trip. England would probably go down 5-0.

Chile have decided to bottle the fuck out of this qualification as well, I see.

[CJay]

Peru in a World Cup? :drool:

[Adramelch]

Honduras are my least favorite World Cup mainstay, alongside the Ayatollah's lads

I wouldn't call 2 consecutive times (3 overall) as a "mainstay".

[mugbull]

Honduras away must be an absolute bellend of a trip. England would probably go down 5-0.

Chile have decided to bottle the fuck out of this qualification as well, I see.

They purposely fuck up the pitch before the match, or so I've been hearing. Sleazy mofos.

[SincereTheRebel]

Argentina and chile are doing their best not to qualify.

[John Arne]

The Iranian 'keeper clearly let that in as well. Unfortunately Japan lost to Saudi Arabia (I mean really, lads), so Shia Twitter never got the DEATH MATCH it wanted.

If Saudi hadn't of won, it would have been Uzbekistan qualifying... are they not predominately Sunni, too?

[John Arne]

I reckon some bloke just completely made up a quote from a source at FIFA saying that they were "gathering evidence" on the Dele Alli incident.

I wonder whether we could get something in the news.

UEFA source confirms "Euro 2028 could be held in UAE, with Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah expected to host most games". Get tweeting it guys.

[Byron]

Not sure what I want more, Argentina to miss out on the World Cup or Peru to qualify. Mrs. Byron is starting to get quite excited for the chance of Peru in a World Cup.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Peru have got to go there next matchday, that will be entertaining. Another ten million barrels of grain heading north.

[SincereTheRebel]

Aregentina have list how the past four finals that include messi & co. They should miss the world cup on pure principal.

[Pen]

If only we'd beaten fucking Finland.

Altough I was holding a grudge from our last game against you, I kind of hope you had beaten us now as it would've made you the top team in the group and I hope you make it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I can't work out who will get ahead in that group. All teams in contention have one easier game and one harder one. If you give Kosovo 2 losses and Croatia the win at home to Finland, it looks like this:

Croatia 9-19
Iceland 9-19
Ukraine 9-17
Turkey 8-14

Turkey v Iceland
Finland v Turkey
Ukraine v Croatia

So then a point for Iceland in Turkey will guarantee top two, but they'll need to win there to have a chance to top the group.

[John Arne]

The AFC have opened an investigation into "breaches of regulations" during the final round Asian World Cup qualifiers.



The letter sent by the AFC stressed that the principle is a cornerstone of both the AFC and of the international sporting movement, and is reflected in Article 3.2 of the AFC Statutes which states: “the AFC is neutral in all matters of politics and religion”.

It added that Member Associations are also bound by Article 14.4 which says: “Member Associations shall manage their affairs independently and without undue influence from third parties”.


Sounds like it's something off the field, rather than on.

[Lewis]

It used to be good when Bolivia played their home games in space and ran rings around the opposition, but everyone is probably too fit and disciplined (and not carrying a designated timewaster) to fall victim to it these days.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The AFC have opened an investigation into "breaches of regulations" during the final round Asian World Cup qualifiers.



Sounds like it's something off the field, rather than on.

What would that be? President Rouhani telling their keeper to let one under his body?

[Weaver]

It used to be good when Bolivia played their home games in space and ran rings around the opposition, but everyone is probably too fit and disciplined (and not carrying a designated timewaster) to fall victim to it these days.

Imagine 90s England playing away there - Tony Adams, Gazza, David Batty etc all knacked after 20 minutes.

[John Arne]

What would that be? President Rouhani telling their keeper to let one under his body?

Possibly :D

More likely due to Iran banning women from the stadium, or something daft like that.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Actually I think it might be something to do with Qatar/UAE and their bitch fight, I'm sure I read something about that.

[-james-]

It used to be good when Bolivia played their home games in space and ran rings around the opposition, but everyone is probably too fit and disciplined (and not carrying a designated timewaster) to fall victim to it these days.

No, they still do. They beat Chile last night and I don't think Chile had a shot on target all game.

Bolivia's away record this campaign is P8 W0 D0 L0 F2 A22.

[Lewis]

I figured they were just not as good at it now, but it seems as though they only ever got a few lol results (like when they gubbed Brazil in 2001) and then did bollocks all elsewhere.

[mugbull]

Imagine how good they'd be in qualifiers if they actually had some decent players and could go to away grounds and put up a fight.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I can't name a Bolivian footballer. Do they even travel outside the country?

[niko_cee]

Yeah, surely if they had any decent players they wouldn't be playing in Bolivia and would, hence, no longer have the altitude advantage.

Was that Jaime Moreno of CM lore a Bolivian?

[mugbull]

Marcelo Martins played in Russia for a hot second. Other than that, nope, no one. Maybe their blood clots if they ever reach sea level.

^Donetsk actually. Which you could argue is...

[John]

Imagine how good they'd be in qualifiers if they actually had some decent players and could go to away grounds and put up a fight.

'Imagine how good they'd be if they were good.'

Stunning insight.

[mugbull]

'Imagine how good they'd be if they were good.'

Stunning insight.

For everyone who might've been confused, if Bolivia had players as good as Paraguay, let's say, they would do way better than Paraguay would in qualifiers because they'd be playing in La Paz instead of Asuncion and nobody could touch them there.

[Baz]

No, they still do. They beat Chile last night and I don't think Chile had a shot on target all game.

Bolivia's away record this campaign is P8 W0 D0 L0 F2 A22.Eight no contests? :eyemouth:

[Browning]

FIFA have ordered a replay of South Africa Vs Senegal because the referee got a hand ball decision wrong?

It was pretty bad, but I've seen worse. I really hope there's more to it than that.

[Danny]

Apparently he was banned for life after receiving a bribe

[Shindig]

I can't name a Bolivian footballer. Do they even travel outside the country?

Marco Etcheverry, Jaime Moreno.

[Giggles]

Is that Cuaivdtbvdynnkkvvvtec Blanco lad Mexican or Bolivian?

[niko_cee]

Pepe's gonna have you for that.

[Giggles]

:face:

https://www.balls.ie/football/report-martin-oneill-offered-new-deal-regardless-qualification-373112