World Cup 2018

Neymar appears to have lost his self respect. Much like Maradona.

holy crap England 1 game away from a world cup final
did not see this comming

And nor did anyone else. The build up to the compo was underwhelming - look at the wall to wall coverage now. And ridiculous over-selling.

Agreed. I've been really impressed with Southgate's approach to the tournament and he certainly proved me wrong over the Belgium selection. Getting his team into this half of the draw was a master stroke and they hardly needed to get out of second gear yesterday. They should be far fresher than Croatia on Tuesday and I'm starting to wonder if either the much admired France or Belgium will choke in the final! Strange times....

Oh, and I'm too excited to update the compo table - it will be up tonight so please save your semis predictions for then.

Table after the quarter finals...

6 Benny 1
6 Ashley  2
5 Powell  1
4 2Weird  0
3 Rudi   0
2 Beau  2
0 Tovid   0

predict the semis!

Belgium v France
England v Croatia

comrade powell wrote:Agreed. I've been really impressed with Southgate's approach to the tournament and he certainly proved me wrong over the Belgium selection. Getting his team into this half of the draw was a master stroke and they hardly needed to get out of second gear yesterday. They should be far fresher than Croatia on Tuesday and I'm starting to wonder if either the much admired France or Belgium will choke in the final! Strange times....

I posted the same thing about Southgate on Facebook.

Belgium v France Tuesday After penalties going on for an hour and exhausting the players.  
England v Croatia Wednesday

I had it as a Russia Brazil final from the start. So the quarters have completely messes that up. 
France 
Croatia.
There is a togetherness about the Belgians that has not been seen before but I think they do not have the killer instinct which the French have.
I think the croats will p1ss on our chips.

France & england please

Belgium v Croatia. Just to be different. I actually have no idea, as shown by my last predictions.

I thought Southgate got the subs all wrong. We needed to stiffen up midfield but he just changed like for like. Should have brought Loftus Cheek on.

But they are all young lads and Kane isn't a leader.

What do you think about them on the whole, though? And I don’t mind which account you post from.

Yes LC would have brought some much needed physical strength to midfield. Rose for Young should have been done earlier, he was a weakness last night. Kane hasn't been on it for last 2 games. And Sterling? great runs, etc, but as a striker you have to produce an end product, no confidence at all. Still its been a great run in the best World Cup I can remember for a long time.

I think on the whole Southgate got it spot on. He got the very best out of players who have never previously demonstrated that it matters enough.

Nerves got the better of them last night. I thought there were too many Spurs players on the pitch. They have shown over several seasons that they cannot close things out. Although that could probably be leveled at the whole squad.

Some positive thoughts on England's WC campaign....

They went further than most predicted

There is a nucleus of young players who could finally win a tournament in the next few years

Gareth Southgate has turned out to be an inspired choice as manager - hopefully he will be given all the backing he needs from the FA to achieve the above success

At times they played at a level rarely seen by England at tournaments and showed that they had finally learned some of the many lessons of past failures

A penalty shoot out was finally won

Some less than positive thoughts on England's WC campaign....

They were drawn in one of the easiest of the eight groups and progressed to the far weaker of the two halves of the draw in a lopsided tournament - a record of three wins, two defeats and success in a penalty shoot out hardly equates with the growing hysteria of the past week. Can you imagine the Germans treating their team as 'returning heroes' after such a limp showing in the semis?

While the victory over Sweden was convincing and saw us finally winning a knock out match, there was a swift return to the bad old days in their next match. Croatia were there for the taking in that first half and we should have been at least three goals up before the usual second half decline set in.

Despite the signs of more intelligent football being played up to then, the depressing long ball tactics were our only answer to the Croats taking charge.

Despite those failings re-emerging the team gave supporters real hope for the next couple of tournaments. However, it should be remembered that expectations were at an all time low just four weeks ago. That won't be the case in the 2020 Euros, especially with the final matches to be staged at Wembley. The media will quickly turn on this team and manager if they don't deliver.

To set the scene for Sunday's final try this WC Final quiz - I got a miserable 6/15...

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/13/world-cup-finals-quiz

I got 11. Hadn’t heard about the speeding to the final one.

The one which annoyed me was the final question as I know more about geography than football!

10/15, a good test, some unfamiliar areas that you can only take a guess at.

comrade powell wrote:The one which annoyed me was the final question as I know more about geography than football!

I got that wrong as well, just couldn't remember where some countries won tournaments.

updated table after semis...

8 Benny 2
7 Ashley  1
7 Junior 1
6 Powell   1
4 2Weirdo   0
3 Rudi      0
2 Beau   0
0 Tovid    0

Final prediction

Please state France or Croatia

Those level on points will be decided on their prediction for the 3rd place play off - state England or Belgium

If still equal, will be decided on number of entries in whole compo.

No complaints or appeals - rules are rules!

France
Belgium