World Cup News 8

Report 8

My Opinions

So we reach the round of 16 and Holland get through in the final few minutes courtesy of a beautifully executed 'dying swan' dive by Robben. Everyone was screaming 'he dived' ! Yes he did and that's cheating but no-one has mentioned the Mexico defender throwing his leg in front of Robben with a ' there you go old chap,fall over that if you dare '. What a prick !
Anyway, that's one less South American and one more European side( forgot to mention,I'm supporting all the European sides).

Costa Rica go through because they were up against a side who couldn't hit a cows' arse with a cricket bat.I was actually shouting at the TV( I think I need help )at the utter uselessness of the Greeks shooting.They obviously thought the goal was 50 feet up in the air. Useless bastards. I really felt for the Greek manager,Santos; his expression speaks volumes.You can almost see him  thinking 'FFS, WTF are them useless twats doing out there ? '

Brazil go through 'though the lord knows how.Hang on,maybe that's it; it must be divine intervention because they really have been shit up to now.

Colombia go through and Uruguay are out. Oh joy unconfined ! I did forecast Mr Suarez would be crying soon enough following his gloating and boy,did I enjoy this result.

The French continue to impress. Following the 2010 World Cup where their team was a bloody disgrace,Deschamps has put together what I consider to be the best Team at these finals.They just seem so organised and together.

Germany had their toughest test yet against, would you believe it,Algeria who,it has to be said,paid the price for missing a host of chances.To quote the BBC match report " The three-time champions lacked urgency throughout the 90 minutes. They frequently looked rattled as an enterprising Algeria wasted a succession of chances in an open, exciting encounter, before Andre Schurrle finished from close range early in the first additional period. " That's just it ! They needed extra time and will need to up their game considerably if they are get past the French.

Argentina are through.Switzerland are not. The Swiss could and should have put this game out of Argentinas' reach despite Messis' team dominating possession.They don't look like World Champions to me(but WTF do I know,I backed Italy).

Belgium go through at the expense of  USA. The Belgians were better in this game after looking like a bunch of bloody carthorses in previous games.I predict the USA will win the World Cup sometime in the not too distant future. Klinsman has put together a more than decent team made up of virtual unknowns( this side of the water), who just refuse to give in.Howard,in the USA goal was utterly brilliant.

I'm getting the feeling the old order could be changing.The usual suspects, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Germany and Italy have,up to this point all under-performed and I'm fully aware some will say 'yes but when they need to up their game,they're capable of doing so '. It isn't just that though. It's the fact that teams like Costa Rica, Algeria, Chile, Switzerland and USA have all played exceptionally well on the biggest stage. We'll see if I'm right or if I'm barking up my own arse, in 2018.

Ciao !