For years we wait for England to play like Spain... and now they do!
20/06/14 01:56
Day 8 in the Footcall house...
Group C saw the return of Colombia as they took on Drogba's Elephants, Ivory Coast. An energetic first half that had just about everything barring a goal and at half time it was difficult to tell who was going to break the deadlock. Well after the break it was the team in yellow who went very close as Colombia pinged a ball off the bar. Soon after they won a corner and James Rodriguez broke free to head it home leaving the Ivorians pointing at each other for blame; queue the exuberant Colombian goal celebrations that looked like some sort of line dancing move from the late 90s. Six minutes later the Colombian pressure was starting to show and they hit the green shirts on the break to make it two nil. Ivory Coast did manage to score a goal to give them hope but Colombia hung on for the win and must surely be through to the next round now.
Then came the big one, the return of England. We were up against the lack lustre Uruguay team who so easily rolled over against Costa Rica. There was one small difference, Luis "me leg's busted" Suarez. The Premier League player of the year had returned to his national side after recovering from a broken leg just a few weeks ago. We knew he was going to play but our only hope was he had all the mobility of an arthritic Dachshund! Sadly for us, this was not the case, he looked sharp and up for it right from the start. That said England started well and we were carrying the confidence gained from the Italy match, no signs of the trademark "siti-backa" style we can lapse into. We needed a hero tonight and the boy Rooney was at least playing "in the pocket" as Glenn Hoddle liked to call it. The only problem was the hero was the number 9 in the light blue shirt and we were in his pocket! It was England that had the best chance to start with as Rooney headed onto the bar but soon after Uruguay broke free and that man Suarez got his head on a perfectly weighted cross to go back across the sprawling Joe Hart; a world class goal from a world class cross.
So we were one nil down and maybe Roy gave them the hairdryer in the changing rooms maybe he didn't we did at least come out with a little more belief. Rooney had a golden opportunity to equalise and hit it straight at the keeper and just as it was looking as our talisman was never going to score in a World Cup finals match finally Wayne did find himself in the right place at the right time to tap in from four yards out and tie the scoreline and break his duck. Surely now was the time to really do the business and forge ahead. But it was the tiny little South American team (pop. 3.3m) that rewrote the script again as a hopeful ball from midfield caught England defence napping and that pesky Mr Suarez bobbed up again to blast it into the back of our net. The unfortunate (not ironic) fact was it was Luis' team mate Steven Gerrard who gave the assist as it pinged off the top of his head. This left us with our heads in our hands (apart from those who predicted Uruguay to win) and the grains of sand were running out for England. The final whistle blew and were done. We're not out yet but we now need the Italy results and our remaining game against Costa Rica to go our way - a tall order but not impossible.
The number one Topic we are all debating is "Why is it that dart players can hit a five pence piece but some of our players can't hit a Double-Decker bus?" The three lions on our shirts were more like three Lion bars and when we needed a Boost, it just never came. If we intend to score a Bounty of goals in our final game we need to learn how not Rolo-ver and remember these tournaments are a Marathon not a sprint!
And so to the Footcall league...
Tons of points today as 2-1 is always a popular prediction in every game. Nick Rowland has reclaimed the top spot and Dan (what can I say?) Wilks has moved into second on accurate scores. Russell Morris and Alastair (all part of the master plan) Pullen and Andy Brunt are all right up there. Robert Pritchard has crept into the top ten from nowhere, Kelly Sains and Mick (just getting into position for the latter stages) Mallion and Alan (been there done it) Church all scored well today. Dan Mackenzie picked up a red square along with Alex Smith, Chloe Norris, Mark Mandry, Yasmin Coupland and Steve Capp. As too did Chris Read, David Hitch and James Vallender, Sam Ford, Nick D'Avanzo all did well. Finally Chris and Nick along with Jack Goodwin and David Bourne all scored their first three pointer - well done guys.
Begrudgingly I shall award the Player of the Day award to Paul (current Champion) Wakefield as he had a clean sweep collecting a perfect 9 for the three games today. You just have to ask yourself how could he bet against England?
Let's hope Italy can do us a favour tomorrow and destroy Costa Rica.
Until then...
David
PS. I forgot to mention Japan played Greece in the late kickoff, he was a decidedly average game with very few goalmouth opportunities, hence the 0-0 scoreline. Greece lost one of their men and it's looking tricky for them to move into the Knockout Stages. Japan looked Flakey and there really wasn't much to Revel in.
* I'd like to announce that despite scurrilous Wispas, Footcall is in no way sponsored by any brand or organisation and just like FIFA, our Club has not ever taken a Dime in backhanders!