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ArkRoyal wrote: great posts everybody

The most important point I noticed in the competition so far is the fact that the Germans, for the first time in my life, have no word-class Centre-Forward -- goodie. England do so they will have a good chance overall.

I think the Russians will win it -- they just have to channel the magical powers of the ancient slavs, peter the Great and Stalin together, and they should be fine.

They might have a world class CF but England are still agricultural England - just a bit younger. They should progress beyond the group stages though - an improvement at least on the 2014 model.

Belgium looked fairly awesome after their first goal in the 6th minute. Then going on to sore 4 more in the match. Tunisia kept plugging away in the second half, although didn't seem to have any answers.

Germany's second goal against Sweden was awesome. As the Germans recorded the 2 - 1 Win. But having 76% of the Ball possessions, should they have won by moire? Sweden played well, just couldn't seem to finish things off.

England v's Panama game tonight is going to be interesting. Panama need to score or Win to stay in contention. And England are looking to seal a place in the final 16. Apparently the canal men are going in with the starting line-up of.Jaime Penedo; Roman Torres, Fidel Escobar, Michael Murillo, Eric Davis; Gabriel Gomez, Anibal Godoy, Armando Cooper, Edgar Barcenas, Jose Luis Rodriguez; Blas Perez.
Kick off at 9pm Perth time apparently.

westaussieguy: the Germans deserved their win through sheer effort; against the better teams, their mid filed will actually have to compete for the ball so we will see what happens.

Tiem: prettiness very rarley wins the WC otherwise the Dutchman would have won every tournament datting back to the 1970s, as you know.

Actually, it is unfortunate that both Italy and the Dutch are not in the competition because they would have certainly added to it. There are too many Asian and African teams. --the game might be loved on those continents but it does mean they are any good. In fact, if you look carefully, you will see that only one black African country has qualified this year.

I would get rid of one spot for Latin America, Africa and Asia
make Australia qualify through Oceania -- as New Zealand did last time

correction Senegal also qualified

which means the following:
africa 5
north america 3
asia 5 --

so 13 spots are resreved for prats of the world that have barely appearred in the semi finals never mind the final or winning the cup -- Sth Korea did make a smi when it was played in Korea and because of some diagraceful referring against Spain in the quarter-final

just 14 for Europe
just five for South America

Wow.
The England - Belgium match is going to be a ripper.

Another typical arsie effort by the Germans as long as I have watched world cups they have had the tendancy to sneak through with a bit of luck and then go all the way...gotta feel for the swedes.

Well Poland what a fizzer, rated among top 12 or so, and another terrible loss last night, that's them cooked for the 2018 WC.

I guess the big news was England 6 1 win v minnows Panama, I have to say of all the teams Iv watched England in their first game v Tunisia and then again last night looked among the most vibrant and unpredictable, they seem to have a lot of options in attack, Kane is in form, Vardy is yet to fire up.

Big test coming up v the Belgium side - it looks as if a second place finish would be better that to top the group going into the next round.

The Japan v's Senegal match was entertaining. Ended at a 2 all draw. Both teams had their chances for another goal, and couldn't finish off. Apparently Japan over 55% of the ball possessions. Senegal had twice as many scoring shots. I think a draw being a good end to the match.
Senegals next game will be against Columbia, which should be a good test. Whilst Japan next face Poland.

100 per cent correct on Germany
they also have the biggest population in Europe outside of Russia, and in a country, where literally soccer is the only mass team sport played, you could argue that they should have had an even better record at world cups.

The same can be said for Argentina in lots of ways: they won a home tournament in 1978 because the military junta threatened the Dutch team before the final; in 1986, there was the outright cheatting on the part of Maradonna 'with the hand of god gaol', which got then through against England. The goal should not have stood, Maradonna should have been given a red card for 'deliberate had-ball' and banned for the rest of the tournement. He, was, indeed, banned in 1982. They certainly would not have won in 1986 without him. Put that way, we can see that Argentina's record at world cups is far from spectacular, a fact, which in part, at least, can be ussed to explain their plight in 2018.

Have noticed the odds for Australia winning is quoted at $2.60,. Apparently Peru are at $2.50. And the Draw is said to be $3.25.