SympathysSilhouette

There is something strangely comforting about Englands consistency in terms of their performances at major football tournaments. TBF to them, a draw was probably the fair result in last nights game, and Godin should have really been sent off for a second yellow card.

I think it might be true. Following in the mold of some other former Barça stars, getting one last paycheck in the desert.

I suspect this will have been the last tournament for a lot of this generation. I am curious what happens to the likes of Ramos, Iniesta, Piqué. They are part of this golden generation, yet are still too young to simply discard before France 2016. Casillas, Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Torres, ... will probably have represented La Furia Roja for the last time at a major tournament.

Well I suspected that Spain would find the end of their dominance at this tournament, but I was still pretty convinced they would survive their group. I was sure that Holland would have been the casualty. I think the problem is more that this side was mentally and physically drained. They looked so very tired and lethargic. People forget that the core of this team has been playing nearly non-stop since 2008. 2008: Euros 2009: Confed cup 2010: WC 2012: Euros 2013: Confed cup 2014: WC One Summer off in seven years would catch up to any team, let alone a team consisting of players who endure some of the most grueling club seasons to boot (Barça & Real Madrid, but also their premier league contingent).

So relieved we won. Mertens should start every game, he always brings a spark whenever he starts/comes on. Also, young Origi made Lukaku look ordinary by comparison in his short half hour cameo! Fellaini proving that he still has value to any manager who uses him to his strengths.

Well TBF, Portugal had showed next to nothing even before that card. So I think it only was a factor in the score-line, not the result.

The quality is decent but not great. It is much better than in 2010 to be fair.

France looked decent. Not sure how to rate this performance though, since Honduras did little going forward, even before the sending off. Also a bit baffling that this side managed to end in third place in Hex qualifying, before Mexico!

The Swiss were really lucky. For a team that looked so good on paper, they really disappointed. The tempo of the ball was too low throughout the game and only Rodriguez lived up to the hype somewhat. Shaqiri was probably the biggest disappointment.

Well a few things. He cannot just plug in Diego Costa and leave the rest of the set-up the same. Costa is used to playing in quite a different manner with Atletico. Either he has to have Spain play a more direct attacking game, or he would probably be better off just playing Fabregas as a false nine. I would choose to bring in Koke instead of Xavi and move Iniesta into the Xavi role. Juanfran also comes into the team, as does De Gea. And I would bring in a dribbling winger just to make sure that no opposing wingback has another such easy night on the defensive end as Blind did yesterday. In that regard, it's a shame that Jesus Navas is not in the squad.

No more Nishimura . FIFA has it official now,they decided and declared that there will be no Nishimura in this World Cup again.He won't judge a single match during this Cup. This ofcourse after his disastrous way of judging the opening match,after also reports and angry media expressing fear that bad referees mar ruin the competition,also after the Croatian coach threatening to leave the Compt because of the bad referee. How about also getting Croatia (at least) the point they deserved in that game?

That was shockingly easy. The only difference between the first and second half was that Holland took care of the first ball, which meant they got Robben the ball in some decent areas. Not sure how Del Bosque will fix this in a couple of days. He'd really need an entirely new backline and a goalkeeper. The fullbacks especially were shocking. Piqué too, really.

It's hard to keep enthusiastic about a tournament that will so obviously be bent until - at least - the latter rounds of the knock-out stage.

Honestly, my desire for the rest of this WC has already been dulled. If this is the kind of crap we can expect in terms of refereeing, why don't we just hand Brazil the trophy already? If that is a penalty than I want to see at least five of them given every single game.

Go Croatia!

Wow, her boyfriend got killed by the cops?

This could be me You're a Cubs fan with an orange beard?

Awesome:

Daaaaaamn!

Does anyone have any more pictures from the Maxim Hot 100 event? She looks spectacular!

I love her smile in that shot!

In FireFox, there is an extension called ImageHostGrabber. When newest version installed, right click on the forum page or gallery page, ImageHost Grabber -> Get all pics on page. Thanks!

Can one download those entire galleries at once?

I love her! Her face is amazing and I just read that her body ideal/role model is Wonder Woman!

Puffy? Her face looks terrific!