Gary Lewin will be able to tell his grand kids about the time he broke his leg at the World Cup!
15/06/14 03:21
Day 3 in the Footcall house...
Welcome back everyone, I'm sure all the Footcall noobs are getting in the swing of what this game (some say it's more important than a game) is all about. Couple that with the excitement of England playing we're all set. First up we saw Colombia take on underdogs Greece. Now we know the Greeks aren't that strong but hardened Footcallers will remember Euro 2004, I'll certainly never forget it, I had Portugal to beat Greece in that Final and that would have seen me top the Footcall table. Anyway that was a decade ago and this is now. From the off Colombia were bossing this and they scored within 5 minutes, it was well worked but quite soft really. Although Greece had their chances Colombia rode their luck and in the second half they added a second in the 58th. And this is how it looked to stay (which was good for me as I had 2-0) but Rodriguez scored a third in the 93rd effing minute! Grrrrrr! Bad for the two nil Footcallers but great for the three nillers (is that a word?) queue the wonderful Colombian goal celebrations leaving the tragic Greeks to wonder what to do in their next match.
Following this it was time for Group D to kickoff. First up, Uruguay versus Costa Rica. Looking at the Footcall predictions the big money was going on Uruguay to walk this. Sadly though their numero uno player, Mr Suarez was not on the starting sheet as he's been recovering from a leg injury. He was on the bench so he no doubt was going to make an appearance much like the shopkeeper from Mr Benn? In the 24th minute Diego Forlan (remember him?) took a nice free kick only for Jr Diaz to give the wrong man a big cuddle in the box and give away a penalty. Cavani stepped up and put in the right hand corner. This was looking ominous for the Costa Ricans but they're made of sterner stuff than we give them credit for. In the Second half the man of the match Joel Campbell smashed in an equaliser from seven yards out. Three minutes later Duarte made it 2-1 to Costa Rica. The Uruguayan manager made three substitutions but no Suarez, I reckon the Liverpool frontman must have left his boots back in the changing room and come out in his slippers (schoolboy error!). As Costa Rica run the clock down they even carve out another chance and Urena slots home a third to seal the deal. Soon after Pereira shows his true colours with a needless reckless feckless pointless challenge and gets Uruguay their first red card of the tourno! Pathetic. Great game and Suarez will surely be lined up for the England game next Thursday.
Finally it was our time, England take on Italy! First let me apologise to any non-England Footcall fans for any passionate patriotism. With our young team we had slightly less expectation than previous WCs but all that goes out of the window as soon as the whistle is blown. Manager Hodgson took the welcome decision to play Sterling alongside Rooney Welbeck and Sturridge which was quite a dynamic setup against a much more mature Italian squad. And a Sterling effort was made, as time and again he taunted the Italian defence and in the 6th minute he flashed a shot at the goal to make the side netting bulge. But experience is a valuable thing and it was Marchisio who latched on to a Pirlo dummy and he whammed it right in the corner or Joe Hart's net. Our heads didn't drop and barely a couple of minutes later Rooney hooked in the perfect cross form the left in to Sturridge's outstretched leg. One all... GET IN! Suddenly the cameras were diverted to an off pitch incident and then a stretcher appeared on the sideline. Not for one of the players, but the England physio, Gary Lewin, who allegedly dislocated his ankle tripping over the water bottles as he desperately tried to get Lucozade some product placement. The next thing we know he's being carried off to be taken to see errr? um?... Gary Lewin! Or whomever does Gary's job when he gets injured, can anyone tell me if we have a backup physio?
Soon after we had to rely on Jagielka to clear off the line and once again our weak left side was becoming exposed like a 1970s entertainer! Come the second half and Italy yet again prized us open as Super Mario Balotelli headed Italy into the lead once more. As time started to evaporate we made some subs, Wilshere, Barkley and Lallana all coming on but Rooney stayed on. Despite a quiet game where he was arguably played out of position, Wayne nearly managed an equaliser but put it just wide of the post and he is still yet to score in a World Cup appearance. One thing Italy are the masters at and that is soaking up the pressure, they're like sponges just waiting to give the opposition a good soaking given the chance and that chance came right at the death when old man Pirlo (35) struck the bar with an amazing free kick. Soon after the final whistle went and we had lost our opening game yet again, it's like deja vu. There were many positives for England though and Sterling could have easily been awarded the man of the match, we'll just have to see how we get on against the South Americans in our next two games.
And so to the Footcall league...
The first game saw a handful of three pointers awarded to Robert Pritchard, Mark Pedler, Kelly Sains, Andy (check us out Stella) Upson, Tim (Super Footcall Fan) Jennings, Mark Paver and David Ginger scoring back to back threes and quite a lot picked up one point for this game. Match number two was a shock result. Nobody had Costa Rica to win 3-1 and only five people had them to win. These included Clive (not again) Gigney, Robert Leon, Spencer, Anne Herring and Thomas (hey Dad I'm up here!) Frost.
The England match saw a few traitors, sorry I mean Footcallers, take the anti-gamble by tipping Italy to win. I will admit to putting myself in this bracket but those who got it dead right include father and son David and Harry Hitch, Gigi (he is Italian after all) Segatto, Darryl Farmer who appears to have teamed up with John Fox overnight. Sean Ellis moves topside along with George Relf and John (I'm a Dad) Trent, Graham Weaver, Barry Smith and Maxine Read. Dave Billington, Aaron Sutcliffe and Eleanor Fairman all get nice little red squares.
I'm going to give the team of the day to Messrs Marshall & Pope as they were rooted to the foot of the table on zero points in 182nd but their first points (a three) has moved them up to 118th, whatever next? Sadly this has left a host of people stranded in joint 175th including Emma Wakefield who must be biding her time before making a move and for the umpteenth Footcall in succession my brother Simon is once again propping up the table and fighting to keep hold of the covered Vuvuzela award for coming last!
That's it for now, despite the Ivory Coast v Japan game going on as I type I will report on that tomorrow.
Until then...
David
PS. A couple of things to point out...
1. The Footcall Divisions have all been established, HOORAH! (I hear you cry) and we have 10 Divisions all titled after the names of the official World Cup balls since 1970. Just scroll down the league table to check your division and where you are in that mini-league. The purpose of this is just to give a bit of added interest particularly for those not doing so well. Heck... Emma is only 16th in the Tricolore Division! All 10 winners of the Footcall Divisions will receive free entry into the next Footcall, what more incentive do you need than that?
2. A few of you may not be aware that you can see "in play" live league table updates as the goals go in. Contrary to popular belief this is not sponsored by Bet-365 but it's me updating the league table as and when a goal is scored, I'm sorry if there is any delay before the table is updated, I might be celebrating (or drinking) at the time but I shall do my best (if I'm watching the game) to keep up to the mark and that includes checking the final score before writing my report! Anyway you can just go to the League Table page on the website to see it happening, you will need to refresh the table should a goal go in. The direct link to the table is http://www.footcall.co.uk/league_pdf.php?DIV=ALL so you might want to bookmark that.
Over and out!