Fantasy World Cup Live Match Day 15
It’s hard to believe that the group stages come to an end today! We’ve had a great two weeks of football and those of us under the age of 40 will probably agree that at this stage it is the best World Cup which we remember. We’ve already said goodbye to England, adios to Spain and arrivederci to Italy and today we could conceivably be saying adeus to Portugal…oh and let’s not forget that Luis Suarez has once more upset the holy joes!!
First up today is Group G as the US face Germany while Portugal square up to Ghana. A draw between the Germans and the Yanks will see both qualify for the next round and word on the street is that Angela and Obama have had a natter on the blower and everything has been arranged, this would see the Germans top the group. Should there be a positive result one way or the other in this game then both Portugal and Ghana will hope to take advantage with a victory, but with the Portuguese currently on a goal difference of minus 4, they’ll need a minor miracle…maybe they know a few holy joes?!!!
The final group to come to a conclusion is Group H, with Belgium having already qualified after two workmanlike victories and the Belgians will claim top spot in the should they secure at least a point from their game against South Korea. 2nd spot in the groups is very much up for grabs, although a win for Algeria over the Russians will see them progress, while a draw could possibly be enough.
Hull City have had a bid in excess of £6m for Scotland striker Robert Snodgrass accepted by Norwich City.
Fernando: Manchester City sign FC Porto midfielder
Manchester City have completed the signing of Brazilian midfielder Fernando from FC Porto.
FC South America City. 😉
SUAREZ BANNED FOR FOUR MONTHS AND NINE INTL MATCHES
That sounds about right. All this talk of 2 year bans or even for life is ridiculous. Shame for his WC but his own fault!
Far from ridiculous.
This is the THIRD time he has done the same thing. Should have been 12 months minimum.
I’d outline my reasoning but this guy does it more coherently than I could.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/worldcup/luis-suarez-bite-lets-move-past-the-shock-value-and-get-some-perspective-9563690.html
CC, while it’s a well-written piece and he does indeed make some very valid and correct points, it’s very difficult to compare different examples, involving different governing bodies, in different sports.
For me – and i’ll try and take my dislike of Liverpool out of this – to argue whether biting is worse than dangerous tackling (much more difficult to prove if deliberate or not) or missing a drugs test or kicking a spectator or throwing a coin at a fan is a debate we could have all day.
Ultimately, this is a guy who clearly has issues and fails to learn from his previous misdemeanours. Personally I think its a disgusting thing to do once, unless you’re a one year old baby. To do it again and then again on the sport’s biggest stage pretty much demanded they threw the book on him.
Hoddle is right – for once – the last you would want is to see 10 year kids copying that at school or for their clubs – we all know these guys are idolised and are an example – well, unfortunately an example has now been made of him.
Some will argue its harsh, some will argue its lenient…whatever. For me, there’s no place in the game for someone like that, who cannot learn – he’s a grown man ffs.
Just to prove my non-bias, the real losers here are Liverpool – he’ll miss more games for them than Uruguay!
I’ll use the only example i can bring to mind.
Cantona kicked someone, FIRST offence – 9 month ban.
Suarez bites someone, THIRD offence – 4 month ban.
The guy needs to be taught a lesson, and obviously bans of FIRST offence 2 match ban, SECOND offence 10 match ban, were not severe enough to teach him a lesson.
The worst part about ALL these cases, is the fact it is left to the FA and FIFA to deal with it. If i bit, or Kung-Fu kicked someone in the street, i would be arrested and charged with ABH. Why are they not charged in the same way, just because they are on a football pitch.
Rant over, i’ll move on. We should be enjoying the world cup.
Come on Zusi
Fair enough guys, guess we’ll be respectfully disagreeing then
Life would be a bore if we all thought the same about everything.
Good enough for him. He deserves worse but it’s harsh enough to be acceptable, for me.
FIFA press conference just now, Suarez getting a 9 match ban (from WC?) and a 4 month ban from football entirely.
So essentially 9 international matches, 9 PL matches, and 3 CL matches. I don’t think hell be allowed to train with LFC either as he’s banned from all football activity, so he should be nowhere near match fit when the ban is lifted.
Germany: Neuer, Howedes, Hummels, Schweinsteiger, Ozil, Podolski, Muller, Lahm (c), Mertesacker, Kroos, Boateng
USA Burgers: Howard, Gonzalez, Bradley, Besler, Beasley, Dempsey (c), Jones, Davis, Beckerman, Zusi, Johnson
Portugal: Beto, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Miguel Veloso, William Carvalho, Ronaldo (c), Moutinho, Eder, Nani, Amorim, Pereira
Black Stars: Dauda, Afful, Mensah, Boye, Asamoah, Rabiu, Badu, Atsu, Ayew, Waris, Gyan
No Bedoya!! That’s one ace in the pack now useless…
Yeah, disappointed. But still keeping him in the first 11 in case he comes off the bench and does a wonder.
I hope he doesn’t I’ve just booted him out so I can have Yabba Dabba Djabou later on… It kicked out my furthest right mid as well in the process (Ozil, so no probs) but just thought I’d say it’s still doing it in some cases.
Oh dear, you have me worried for later tonight when i need to make changes!!!
However, it says it won’t remove a player who has played, and as Ozil (or Germany) hasn’t then it doesn’t mess things up, you can put him back in.
So hopefully i’ll be ok.
yup, me too. And realistically, he’s a cheap benchwarmer- one of those players who you’ve paid nothing for, and I think we have to be glad he’s anywhere near the starting XI at that price. He’s not been great the last two games, and Davis will be a bit more combative for the US in the middle. This wouldn’t be an issue if I’d remembered to make changes yesterday (promise, that’s my final word on the matter…!)