30/07/14 01:18
Footcall VIII Day 2...
Whoa! This is a lot of football in one day!
Today saw another 8 matches for the competing teams and if you tried to watch all the games, you'll know how demanding it is especially when you have two if not three games going on at the same time. Then if you wanna watch the archery, curling or underwater windsurfing you could be down A&E with Olympic RSI before you know it! Maybe we could introduce "Watching the Olympics" into the Games in 2016? Surely we'd be world beaters at that, and if we get the IOC to chuck in "Running for A Bus" and "Queueing" I think Team GB would be nailed on for a more certain gold medal than Wiggo, Cav and Radcliffe all put together!
Brazil, in particular Neymar, looked pretty amazing against Belarus this afternoon as they took them apart with a 3-1 victory. Although this result sees them through to the Knockout Stages they have a frailty at the back and are definitely prone to letting the odd goal as we saw in their first game against Egypt. If the boy Neymar ever leaves Santos to come to Europe he has the talent to possibly be compared to world greats of the game such as Messi, Zidane and Shilton! Let's hope it happens, I'm sure 'arry will wanna sign him!
Stars of the show for me today were Senegal as they really dominated the Uruguayans in a match they would be considered second best to win. They took an early lead with that man Konate again only to see his team go down to 10 men with cynical foul from Ba on Suarez. You'd think they would have folded against the formidable Uruguay, not a bit of it, Konate latched on to a corner to put his boys even further in front. They then held on as the opposition threw everything at em and it finished 2-0 to Senegal.
Of course let's not overlook the "magnificent" performance of Great Britain to put us in a commanding position in Group A with a three one win over United Arab Emirates. The boy Giggsy put us one nil up with a rare headed goal, before Cleverley hit the post with his shot to see it agonisingly run across the line and ping off the other post and back into play :-( Then we played the classic Team GB card of letting the opponents back in the game. We did it in our first match which finished in a draw, and this is not just football I'm talking about here if you were watching the British badminton earlier, it must be inbuilt in our psyche to just show everyone how it's done then in true spirit of fair play, just let the other guys have a go! Come on guys, we need more killer instinct than this, surely we can download some off a dodgy website or pay top dollar on eBay, whatever it takes... WIN!
Despite letting UAE draw level we did take our chances and forge ahead again with the scintillating sublime super-sub Scott Sinclair (try saying that with your teeth out!) managed to slot home another to see us take the lead again and he'd only been on the field for 60 seconds. We capped off the win with the goal of the game when Sturridge lobbed the keeper from 20 yards and finish the match 3-1 and top of the group.
And so to the Footcall league...
Kevin stays top but he's been caught by Patrick "I'm on holiday so I can't celebrate" Ferguson. The pack have closed up behind the leaders and for a very brief 90 seconds between Sinclair and Sturridge scoring for GBR, little ol me was top of the league for the first time in Footcall history! Well it was short lived and now I'm down to joint third, who knows where come Wednesday evening.
Bryan "I had no help from William" Relf is right up alongside me as too is Stewart "I'm new to this Footcall lark, WTF is going on?" King. Even Christine "the GLW" Jenner struck gold with two three pointers today. James Vallender and Steve Russell also gathering vital red squares as too did Paul "wasn't I top after the second game today?" Wakefield, chin up fella you can still get back in the game. The ominous sight of Paul "Footcall's Mr Consistent" Firmston once again has appeared on the horizon and Roheet "I'm lovin' this Dad" Gupta also performed well today. Manoj "don't get too cocky son" Gupta fought back with back to back threes. Stephen "wasn't I last place on Thursday?" Hills is now unbelievably up into 22nd! Andy "Don't Hurt Me" Kirchell is not totally wiped out just yet whilst Mark "space light and delight" Horner scored a three as did Spencer "now we are talking" Collins and Adam "as good as a chocolate fireguard" Jones.
Mark "I'm gonna tweet about this" Pedler, David "apparently I won a prize in Footcall 2012" Frost and Russell "I'll show you the way to the top Lauren" Morris were three point collectors. Rachel "how many dresses do I take on holiday? Rowland also picked up two reds today along with Steve "no Sky in my team name this time" Goodwin, Jo "still better than Daniel" Mackenzie, Nathaniel "still celebrating my 2012 victory" Ridley, Andy "all sorted in the nick of time" Booth and Rob "I'm gettin' the hang of this now" Smith.
But player of the day must go to Leigh "triple" Boardman who scored an impressive 9 points in three games with exact scores for each. She's now up into 10th and must seriously be considering a move into the primary positions topside?
That'll do for now, see you Wednesday for the final 8 games of the Group Stages. Don't forget the Knockout Stages entry will be ready to go Thursday morning and you need to get your predictions back in before kickoff on Saturday morning or you won't be able to score any more points in the competition. There will be 24 points available in the second stage and we know from experience just what a difference they can make.
If you are going to be away between Thursday and Saturday then please contact me to make alternative arrangements for your KO Stages to be done for you.
Until then...
David
27/07/14 02:01
Footcall VIII Day 1...
Well here we are once again all ready to do battle once more on the hallowed Footcall turf. Maybe this Footcall was one for the purists and I must say I'm thoroughly delighted with a turnout of 53 players even if one or two of you have turned up in your trainers rather than your footy boots! For those of your who don't know, the Olympic Football tournament is made up of 16 teams where the teams comprise of a minimum of eight players 23 years old or younger with just three players over 23. I'm not sure who set this age limit but some of them look as if they have come straight from university, barely had any time get some product in their hair before taking to the pitch. Some of them looked a bit worried cos they might have a late finish and it's a school day tomorrow!
We we need to remember this is a showcase for the beautiful game and our chance to see some of the nations that don't get many opportunities to play in big tournament, especially not one as big as the Olympics. I'm sure one or two of us might even struggle to point to these countries on a map, does anyone know where on earth Gabon actually is? (Christine you can put your hand down now). Of course because of these variables and new parameters, this is where you, the Footcallers, might feel you're at a disadvantage but may I remind you that a four year old won the last Footcall :-) but let's face it, if you can write a number in a box then that's all the qualifications you need to take part and we all have as a good a chance as one another, unless of course you're name is Simon Jenner and you're a master of coming last!
Throw into the mix the format of eight games over three days in one long 10 hour footballing marathon, we have what will undoubtedly be the quickest Footcall in history. You'll have little time to bask in the glory of any success because this train ain't stopping and there's another match straight up as soon as one finishes. In fact there were several games going on simultaneously and there can play havoc on trying to keep tabs on the live scoring I can tell you. Because of the overwhelming amount football going on, I shall try and focus on the Footcallers rather than the matches. Of course, the home nation is represented by Great Britain and the team would be made up of players from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
We're one big happy family now although Stuart Pearce the manager has opted to leave out any Scottish and Northern Irish (probably some historical thing going back to that match in Euro 96). Our team was led out by captain Ryan Giggs with Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards the other two over 23s. The big news was the exclusion of David Beckham and despite all that work he did campaigning for the Olympics to come to London, he must have thought his name would be first on the team sheet. Well Psycho Pearce had other ideas and he obviously felt David would be better off schmoosing in the hospitality Pimm's tent with Lord Coe and other IOC dignitaries. Shame really but at least he has provided a few good team names from you lot!
We have had one cock up already as Welshman, Joe Allen the Swansea City central midfielder was listed as being English in the programme for Team GB's first match with Senegal. Classic! At least they correctly displayed the Union flag before the match unlike the North Korean women's team who decided to walk off when the South Korean flag was shown on the big screen! What a mistaker-to-maker! Didn't anyone tell the IOC they're not best buddies? I can't believe anything else can go wrong, can you?
And so to the Footcall league...
Game one ended Honduras 1 v Morocco 1 and only two Footcallers had predicted this score, Andrew Green and some called David Jenner! Yep I was top of the Footcall table, I knew it was good idea to do this all again even if I am a "Glutton for Punishment!" I quickly printed this out A3 and put it in my Footcall scrapbook ;-) A few of you picked up one pointers here and game two didn't see anyone collect any three pointers.
Game three was Spain v Japan and coming off the back of their Euro success, we all had Spain to dish up proper good in this one but we were all in for one big shock. Japan managed to beat the Spanish one nil and I watched that match it would not be too flattering to say that Japan could have easily scored half a dozen, they out stripped the Spaniards for pace time and again and must surely be one of the dark horses for the gold medal. Of course it's too late to change your predictions now. Absolutely nobody scored a single point for this match!
Game four saw a collection of red squares from Les Herbert, Bryan Relf, Christine "Oh no not again" Jenner, Tim "Mr Footcall" Jennings, Paul "the Wanderer" Wakefield and Rob Smith.
Game five saw Robert McNamara and James Parker make great strides up the table for their correct guesses.
Game six saw Brazil beat Egypt and after going three nil up the Brazilians were somewhat lucky to finish the match with a win as the Egyptians fought back well scoring twice but eventually ran out of time to get the equalizer. Bryan "I'm on holiday" Relf was the only player to get this score therefore takes the best prediction of the day award.
Game seven (are you keeping up with this?) finished one nil to Belarus and Patrick "slightly sunburnt" Ferguson, James "where's Nick and Nikki?" Vallender, Richard "might just see that tenner again" Goodwin and Footcall new comer Lauren "I'm catching you Dad" Morris all collected their first red square.
Finally this football marathon was capped off with Team GB taking on Senegal which saw Craig Bellamy put GB in front after 20 minutes but in an almost England-esque style let it slip and let Moussa Konate beat the offside trap and chip the ball past the oncoming Jack Butland in the 79th minute. It finished one all which was good for me as it gave me my second red box. Other three pointers include, Les "What another one" Herbert, Nick "just moving into the contention" Stacey, Neil "this is my time to shine" Jefferis, Graham "Hee Bee" Weaver and Matt "Get in!" Clark. Well would you believe it, look in joint 7th place suffering from vertigo and no doubt a sense of an impending nose bleed it's my bruv, Simon who has possibly scuppered his chances of third straight vuvuzela as he got a result dead right!
Talking of the "vuvu" award we have two players fighting it out at the bottom of the table, Stephen "Sharon did you pick my scores?" Hills and Spencer "Oh dear, I remember being at the other end of the table three weeks ago!" Collins.
So I shall sign off with the man of the match and laying claim as the greatest Footcaller of all time, Mr Kevin "in the bag" Appleton is flying high once again and with a no show from Mr Mallion he must surely be thinking of the bigger prize and the glory of going top of the Footcall Hall of Fame. He managed to predict three perfect scores with three more one pointers to give him 12 points and a four point lead over me and Les. Well there is still a long way to go, let's see if he maintains his cracking start.
Sunday sees yet another eight matches, so hang on to your hats, it could be all change come Monday morning.
Until then...
David
10/07/14 03:16
Think again... Footcall VIII is coming!
What?
Another one?
So soon?
We've only just had one of those football thingies haven't we?
We're not pulling your leg, it's true, the next generation of Footcall is already upon us. Nathaniel Ridley might have been expecting 700 days of red carpet treatment, schmoozing with local celebrities and even a cameo appearance on the forthcoming series of The Only Way Is Essex before Footcall 2014 appeared on the horizon.
Well sadly, his celebrations are short lived as the Footcall wagon has made it's way from the East End of Europe to set up stall in the East End of London for the 2012 Olympics! As we all know, the games are nearly here and they are hosting a football tournament in the exact same format as the Euro championships and we thought let's keep the momentum going and host another Footcall.
We know certain teams let you down and you were robbed of several vital three pointers, so this is your chance to put all that right! Just as before, there are 16 teams competing in four groups with the best two teams going through to the Quarter Finals. As this will be the second one of the year and this is the eighth incarnation, we've imaginatively called this "Footcall VIII" (that's an 8 for those of you who were kicked out of Latin ;-)
We are just putting the finishing touches to the website ready for the tournament kickoff on Thursday 26th July, just over two weeks away. Once everything is in place we'll give you the nod and then you know the drill, we shall need your score predictions for all of the Group Stages matches and you'll score three points for an exact score and one point for a correct result.
You will need to get your entry in before 4pm on Monday 23rd July and get your name in the draw... and I'm certain that this must be your time to shine! For the Division winners from Footcall 2012, you qualify for FREE entry, I bet you thought you'd be two years older before you cashed that little nest egg in?
A few things you might like to know about the format of the tournament on the field. First up, there is no England team :-o Yep, we're one big happy family now and the home nation will be Great Britain. Each nation hosts a team made of a minimum of eight Under 23s players along with three players who can be older. The Group Stages are going to be held over three days with eight games a day. When possible, the in-play match score updates will still happen so you can see how the league table changes as the goals go in. Don't worry though you'll still get the usual report round ups... Jon Hill, you can stop groaning now!
I hope you will do your best support Footcall once again, just as we will do our best to keep you entertained. Please spread the word and look out for the notification to get your entry in later this week. You can email me back to express your interest and maybe give me any email addresses of friends you know who would also like to take part.
Watch this space!
David Jenner