Can the Spaniards redeem themselves or will Chile secure a spot in the round of 16?
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by Randinho| 154 Comments
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Can the Spaniards redeem themselves or will Chile secure a spot in the round of 16?
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Morzer
Is picking Iker Casillas the thinking manager’s equivalent of spending some quality time with the pearl-handled revolver in the library?
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
So, let me see if I have this straight:
1) Spain loses: They’re done. Chile and the Netherlands will play to see which is first and which is second.
2) Spain ties. They’re almost certainly done. To advance, they need to beat Australia, have the Netherlands beat Chile, and have the aggregate goal difference of those games be at least five. If it’s exactly five, how would the tiebreak between Chile and Spain work?
3) Spain wins. Then they advance if:
a) They beat Australia and the Netherlands gets a win or tie against Chile;
b) They tie Australia and the Netherlands beats Chile;
c) Both of the last games are ties and they beat Chile by at least five goals today;
d) They lose to Australia, Chile loses to the Dutch, and the goal differential today plus the goal differential between the Netherlands and Chile minus their goal differential of their loss to Australia is at least five goals.
Australia is done no matter what happens from here out.
Do I have that right?
SRW1
Given their goal difference, Spain absolutely needs a win here and has no margin for error. I haven’t seen much of Chile, except the 2-0 dismanteling of England last November. How good are they on the counter?
HumboldtBlue
Spain wins and they go through because Aussies won’t threaten them
Morzer
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):
Yes.
⚽️ Martin
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): Yep.
Spain needs to win here, and likely need to win by a few goals. I think they are going to collapse in a cloud of yellow cards.
HumboldtBlue
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): Pretty much nailed it
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
Hopefully Chile just wins and simplifies the whole thing.
HumboldtBlue
Wow, that was almost an own goal
Morzer
Spain do not fill the heart with confidence.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
Actually, I think I missed 3e) Spain wins today and against the Australians; Chile beats the Dutch; and Spain makes up the goal differential on one of the two of them.
I’m pretty sure that that’s the only scenario in which the Dutch don’t advance. That would mean that the goal differential today plus the goal differential of Spain’s victory over Australia plus the goal differential of Chile’s win over the Netherlands would have to be at least seven.
Violet
Enjoyed The Guardian’s liveblog photos and video of the Chilean fans charging through the press area to get into the stadium.
Morzer
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):
If Spain wins by 1 goal today and then in the next round Australia slaughter Spain and the Dutch slaughter Chile, could Australia still get through with 3 points on goal difference?
I think they could. Highly hypothetical though it might be.
SRW1
@Morzer:
Shoring up the defense with Martinez looks like a solid decision, bringing in Pedro for Xavi is brave, sticking with Cassilias looks iffy. If Casillas messes up again, Spain will have to look for a new coach. So your metaphor is kind of apt.
Violet
@Morzer: That would be awesome. I’m a fan of the Socceroos.
⚽️ Martin
@Morzer: Yeah, there are some really slim ways for Australia to advance instead of Netherlands. Nobody is a lock yet, but that goal differential is daunting.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
In addition to being higher scoring and more exciting, it also seems to me that the games are a lot more physical than they were four years ago. There’s diving, sure, but there are also a lot of players really getting knocked to the ground.
SRW1
@⚽️ Martin:
Australia could advance, but not at the expense of Holland. They have six point in the bank.
Morzer
@⚽️ Martin:
The biggest thing in their favor is the way Spain were annihilated by the Dutch -plus Chile haven’t scored a huge number of goals to date. If Spain don’t win by much today and then lose to Australia, they might well be behind them on goal difference. If the Dutch then spank Chile.. well, maybe it isn’t that wild a set of possibilities.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@⚽️ Martin: How could Australia advance instead of the Netherlands, given that the Socceroos can end with no more than 3 points and the Dutch already have six?
Morzer
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):
I was just thinking that so far we’ve seen a remarkably restrained Nigel de Jong.
MattR
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): If goal differential is tied, the team that scored the most goals advances. In this case, because Spain and Chile will have played a tie game, if both teams have the same number of goals, it goes to a drawing of lots to determine who advances.
EDIT: Umm, nevermind?
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
Not looking good for Spain now.
SRW1
Oh, Oh. Goetterdaemmerung!?
pseudonymous in nc
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):
I’m still not quite ready to write tiki-taka’s obituary in international competition, but the teams that have impressed so far (including ones that have lost but played above expectations) have been more northern-European in style: hard tackles, quick counterattacks, physical presence in the box for crosses.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@Morzer: Is Nigel restrained, or has the world just decided to imitate him?
Violet
Wow! Where was Spain?
tsquared2001
@Morzer: Although for six LONG years, they did so. Like running backs falling of the cliff, right now Spain is Wiley Coyote. A shame really.
Morbo
Hot damn.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@pseudonymous in nc: As someone who is primarily an ice hockey fan I’m probably more prepared to tolerate physical play than most football purists are. Even if I do spend most of my time watching hockey under no-check rules.
Violet
The Spanish players look like they don’t know what has hit them.
HumboldtBlue
Spain/Barca/Real have provided us with seven years of extraordinary soccer, remember it was just four years ago we were talking about how Spain was the best team to have never won a major tourney then they went out and won the Euros, Gold Cup and World Cup
⚽️ Martin
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): Oh, right. Australia can advance but only if Netherlands also does. Different scenarios keep Australia in or Netherlands out.
I’m not seeing Spain win here. They look really ragged.
tsquared2001
Soccer teams, with their emotional fragility. I can’t believe how high Chile is playing right now. Talk about dissing.
Thoroughly Pizzled
What has happened to Casillas? I just feel bad for the guy.
Onkel Fritze
@HumboldtBlue: They did win their first Euro in 2008.
EDIT: As a German, the Spanish team has really been getting on my nerves these last couple of years. Right now, reveling in Schadenfreude. CHI-CHI-CHILE!
Morzer
I hope Chile don’t get over-excited and self-destruct here. They ought to win this game on the evidence so far.
Morzer
@Thoroughly Pizzled:
Indifferent and slow defense in front of him, plus some slowing of reflexes due to age.
Violet
The Chilean uniforms are quite see-through now that they’re wet.
Morzer
Spain look like a side that has no real belief in their ability to win this game, never mind progressing to the next round.
tsquared2001
You can book it right now. Spain wins 2-1 since Chile simply can’t keep up this pace. It would be a result for Spain but not the one they will need
Morzer
@tsquared2001:
Spain don’t look like scoring one goal, never mind two.
SRW1
Oh, Oh, Iker!
MattR
@tsquared2001: I will bet against that :)
Punchy
And thats the end of Spain’s WC….
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
Things look to be getting simpler by the moment.
Onkel Fritze
@tsquared2001: I disagree. Chile has one of those teams that can keep up a pace long after it should be humanly possible.
Plus, they just keep scoring…2-0!
SRW1
@tsquared2001:
You jinxed ’em!
Onkel Fritze
Singing bye, bye Miss Iberian Pie
scav
oh dear dear. this is getting a little dizzy even.
Morzer
@tsquared2001:
So, anything else you would advise us to book?
SRW1
Spain will need three goals in the second half. More likely they will make the defending champion failing in the group stage a threepeat.
tsquared2001
Okay. Don’t book that bet.
I watched Sugar Ray Leonard lose his comeback fight after the eye injury and that was some painful shit since that was my guy. But now the World Cup champ has been outscored 7-1. Damn shame.
Morzer
@SRW1:
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Chile get a couple more goals. They’ve looked sharper, quicker, tactically superior. Spain are lumbering around without much evidence of a plan. Del Bosque looks like he wants to get back to the hotel and have a lie-down in a darkened room.
raven
And the US Women’s Hockey team in the Olympics?
Amir Khalid
@tsquared2001:
Spain are 2-nil down at halftime. The match might just, you know, be getting away from them.
tsquared2001
@Morzer: Let’s see. Are the Twins losing to Boston? Book that. How do you feel about softball? No dice? I got Croatia tonight. Book the opposite and never say I didn’t do something for you.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@SRW1: How would it be a threepeat? The 2006 champ (Italy) didn’t make it out of the group stage in 2010, but the 2002 champ (Brazil) did in 2006.
Morzer
@tsquared2001:
Lucky for me I have an iron rule of never, ever betting on sport. I reckon it’s saved me millions over the years. These days I root for the under-dog and sleep with a clear conscience.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@raven: Huh?
tsquared2001
@SRW1: That was ALL on me. I jinxed Aussie earlier too so – it looks like that is what I do
Villago Delenda Est
FC Barcelona is in a world of hurt right now.
Mike E
That 1st Chilean goal was like parking a Suburban on top of a grocery cart.
Morzer
@tsquared2001:
To be fair, you had some help from Eek…er… Casillas.
Tony J
Wow. Did not expect Spain to collapse in this manner. No one is playing well and the Chileans are just pounding them with muscular counter-attacks. Never seen Xavi Alonso play this badly.
Expect changes at half time. They’ve got no choice. They – have – to get at least three goals in the second half to stand any chance whatsoever of progressing. That means pace, better passing and someone who can grab the game by the scruff if the neck and make the team work as a unit.
So not Torres.
Calouste
Looks like this is going to be the worst performance of a defending champion at the World Cup since Uruguay didn’t bother to show up in 1934.
SRW1
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):
You’re right. I somehow jumped Brazil 2002. The series would be
1998: France, fail in 2002
2006: Italy, fail in 2010
2010: Spain, fail in 2014?
SRW1
@Calouste:
Nah, France 2002: not a single goal in the group stage.
tsquared2001
@Morzer: That, to the detriment of my bank balance, is beyond me. Sport, cards, who makes it back to Mom’s the quickest, all of that is subject to a bet. You haven’t lived until you pound on the shower wall Monday morning, regretting the bet back on the late game. Or just me.
Calouste
@SRW1: France weren’t already eliminated after the second match. They even managed a draw. And they conceded less goals in 3 matches than Spain in 27 minutes.
scav
Seriously, over and above the problems that Spain is seemingly go though (people keep talking about a change from some tiki-taki ? style) is that a larger thing were seeing, a general change-over in styles of play as I’ve seen posited, so that defenses haven’t been worked out and everything is in an unusual state of free-for-all? The thing I read also said it was a change from a more possessive-based play to something more aggressive. Don’t know much about the pre-WC state itself to know if they’re talking bollocks, but it logically made sense.
⚽️ Martin
@SRW1: France 2002: 1 point, goal differential -3. Spain is shaping up for 0 points with a goal differential of -6 after today. And the only thing that might keep them from losing or drawing to Australia is that Cahill will be out that game on yellows. France at least had a respectable defense in 2002.
SRW1
@Calouste:
I am not really disputing Spain as the (potential) new title holder for this category, but Uruguay as the current champs.
Villago Delenda Est
@SRW1: Is anyone really sure if Spain showed up for this World Cup? So far it seems like they’re not there…
pseudonymous in nc
Juan Carlos officially abdicates in just under two hours; right now it looks like two Spanish reigns will end on the same night.
@scav:
Someone on twitter suggested that tiki-taka, like Total Football, has an in-built capacity to consume itself. Ultimately it becomes an end in itself, not a means to an end. It’s been found out. But in addition, you can argue that Del Bosque has picked a team and a style based upon the past and not the present, and followers of the US womens’ team know all about that.
⚽️ Martin
@scav: I think that’s related to the internationalization of the sport as humboldt was mentioning. If the teams are more even, you can’t rely on draws to carry you through hoping that weak teams will reliably lose. Mexico played Brazil to a draw, the favorites, at home. You have to play for wins.
Morzer
I do feel Spain would be better served trying to cross the ball into the box once in a while, rather than hoping to walk it into the goal.
Calouste
@SRW1: Well, it’s a bit of a matter of definition. Is not entering worse than losing your first two matches?
Villago Delenda Est
Totally OT, but this is an open thread, so…
Noisemax jumps on the Chuckles the Toddler bandwagon, predictably.
WSJ/NBC Poll: Americans Increasingly Losing Faith in Obama
Of course, the same outfit that publishes a newspaper that fish refuse to be wrapped in helped,
Morzer
I still say that if Fernando Torres is your Plan B, you might seriously want to consider moving straight to Plan C.
Also, what is the point of Diego Costa?
tsquared2001
At least I get to see Torres. And that is the only cool thing I can say about this match.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
Fernando!
tsquared2001
@pseudonymous in nc: I’ll just leave this here.
http://www.sbnation.com/2014/6/3/5776064/world-cup-team-flowchart-rooting-guide
SRW1
@Calouste:
Statistics-wise I’d say not showing up doesn’t leave as much blemish.
scav
@⚽️ Martin: Thanks. It was humboldt’s comment that partially got me thinking more about my insomniac reading here Goals, thrills and villainy – so far this has been a World Cup to savour
with excerpt for focused.
SRW1
@Villago Delenda Est:
I think we’re coalescing on Spain as the new champ. They are about to manage having been there without showing up.
Alex S.
@SRW1:
Indeed. It’s as if Bobby Fisher was the worst chess world champion ever.
raven
“Vaya con Dios” Les Paul and Mary Ford
Now the hacienda’s dark, the town is sleeping;
Now the time has come to part, the time for weeping.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
Remember back when Spain was ahead of the Dutch 1-0?
Yeah, that does seem like ages ago.
⚽️ Martin
@Calouste: I would say that depends on how gloriously you fail. I can certainly think of a few situations where I would have been better off not showing up. In Spain’s defense, they aren’t losing against Algeria and Honduras, but against two teams that everyone would agree are their equals.
tsquared2001
Its odd that ticki taka is dead in regards to football while the Spurs just won a NBA championship employing the same ethos
Alex S.
Also, Germany was a pretty bad defending european soccer champion in 2000.
1 point, -4 goals.
Onkel Fritze
@scav: Tiki-Taka is the style that Spain very successfully played the last couple of years. It describes one-touch-football (therefore ‘tiki-taka’) with very high rates of posession. The Spanish used to be able to pass the ball from one player to the other like 40 or 50 times without givinig it up. The attacking game in this style of football isn’t of primary importance; it just kind of happens when the opportunity arises. It’s incredibly frustrating for the opponents and rather boring to watch at times, but it does require players of the highest personal and tactical skills to pull it of. The underlying philosophy is basically an overwhelming rate of ball posession.
The answer to this kind of game seems to be good old counter-attacking game on steroids. Teams will leave them their possesion where it doesn’t hurt, but once they get to close, you try to get the ball and immediately attack with all of your team. For that, you need a very good tactical defense to be able to prevent the forward passing game of a ‘Tiki-Taka’ team and a very fast transition of your whole team from defense to offense, which sounds a lot easier than it is. The philosophy is: Screw possesion – get the ball when and where it counts and use it fast.
Violet
So if Spain loses, that means Australia’s also out?
raven
Man, this is in the wiki already!
SRW1
@Violet:
Yep, qualifiers from the group are Holland and Chile. Order stil TBD.
Violet
I’m enjoying these British announcers who are completely befuddled by how awful Spain is.
scav
@Onkel Fritze: Ahhh, thanks, that helps a lot with details.
pseudonymous in nc
@Violet:
Yeah, top two’s done, only thing to be decided is the places.
Brazil vs Chile in the second round? Ooh, that’d be one to watch.
Violet
@SRW1: @pseudonymous in nc: Thanks. I wish Australia could get through. Soft spot for the Socceroos.
tsquared2001
Sarcastic Oles from the crowd. Gotta love World Cup
pseudonymous in nc
The Socceroos still have the chance to beat a Spanish team that just wants to be on the plane home.
Morzer
Spain are going to be bottom of the group on goal difference – and they deserve it.
PaulW
Was Spain expected to be much of a force this year? They’ve seemed to have imploded in the worst way possible…
Tony J
@scav:
Short version I’ve heard.
Teams that mastered the possession/passing style of play have dominated the last few years and Spain are the exemplar of that tradition. The football arms-race did its thing and an answer to the Spanish style was born. Solid defence starting at the half-way line, constant pressing of the team with possession, then counter-attack with pace and numbers. It’s bloody hard to build leisurely and beautiful moves when everyone who receives the ball is instantly harried and one mistake leads to a lightning fast attack on your goal.
Teams playing that style are routinely turning over teams utilising tiki-taka now. OTOH when you’re not playing a team using the ‘Spanish style’ the counter-attacking style doesn’t really work. When two teams are playing it things can either fizzle out it it turns into a goal fest.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@tsquared2001: The shot clock means you can’t play basketball at all like tiki-taka. There’s some elements of it but a very different approach is required.
“Possession” is the new mania in ice hockey, too, but again, it means something very different. The puck spends a lot more time directly contested or not possessed at all in hockey than it does in soccer, so “possession” is typically measured by attempted shots on goal. A part of the difference is that a hockey rink is much smaller than a soccer field, so it’s tough to maintain possession for long stretches without generating shots and scoring chances.
Morzer
Bravo Bravo!
Paula
@Onkel Fritze:
Man, you kinda explained it better than most soccer journalists over the last 6 years.
I read the Twitters and apparently by one account #tikitaka is the football equivalent of neoliberal austerity and they are glad it is dead.
Sophomoric leftism via sport >> gagworthy.
SRW1
@PaulW:
Yes, Spain was supposed to be among the four top favorites (in alphabetical order):
Argentina
Brazil
Germany
Spain
⚽️ Martin
@Onkel Fritze: I think the Spanish style of play requires a lot more experience working as a team. You can’t really anticipate those quick passes without the experience of playing next to them for some time. How many of the Spanish players are teammates in club play?
@Tony J: It seems to be we have a lot more mid-field attacking of the ball than I recall in past cups. Algeria really stood out on that to me – they were attacking constantly yesterday. They had almost no offense, but they made it damn hard for the other team to get anything going.
Onkel Fritze
@Paula: To be fair, ‘most soccer journalists’ is a pretty low bar….
Calouste
@⚽️ Martin: It’s not just that Spain is losing to two good teams, it’s the manner of and the margins by.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
The UEFA Champions League final was between two Spanish teams. Albeit, there were plenty of non-Spaniards on those teams, plus Atletico doesn’t produce a lot of players for the national side. But there wasn’t any evidence that this collapse was coming.
Onkel Fritze
@⚽️ Martin: It’s not a coincidence that the heydays of Tik-Taka were dominated by Barcelona in club-football and Spain as a national side respectively.
Cacti
@Calouste:
It’s not just that Spain is losing to two good teams, it’s the manner of and the margins by.
This.
It’s not the losses so much as looking like the trainers need to check them periodically for a pulse.
Paula
@Onkel Fritze:
Well, to be fair who is their audience?
The home team fans. Who probably just want some version of Sport Tiger Beat.
Who wants to condense/read Inverting the Pyramid other than intellectual die-hards?
pseudonymous in nc
@⚽️ Martin:
This is mostly the same team that won everything in 2010 and 2012. Enough of them play together across the big Spanish teams. Arguably, that’s its problem.
The Dutch found them out, and they’ve played like a team that has been found out. Had Chile or Australia played them first, the lustre might have lasted a bit longer.
Morzer
Adios, Espana! Jog on, Australia!
SRW1
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):
Well, not in Real and Athletico, but Barcelona has had a rather miserable season despite the fact that they still were title contenders going into the final day of the season (a fact they hardly could believe themselves). And Tiki-taka is much more connected to Barcelona, whereas Real and Athletico play more a lightning counterattack style.
And the midfield of the Spanish national team (Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets) which drives the Tiki-taka style is pretty much all Barcelona (Alonso as the holding midfielder from Real is the exception).
Onkel Fritze
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): But the team that won was Real Madrid. They are Spanish, but they play counter-attacking football, probably the best in the world. Ironically, they humiliated Bayern Munich in the Semis, who are going a lot more Tiki-Taka under their coach Guardiola. The year before, they destroyed Barcelona (the first time that happened on this level to Tiki-Taka) with their coach Heynckes.
Violet
@Morzer: Since they’re the Socceroos, shouldn’t that be “Hop on, Australia”?
Well done, Chile! They were there the whole time. Spain looked lost and slow. Chile fought the whole time. Well earned win.
⚽️ Martin
@Onkel Fritze: Yeah, I think if Spain could have brought either of their top club teams intact, they’d be storming through this. I wonder if we’re going to get a further shift toward Central/South America who tend to keep their players local – or will they become more international as well? I don’t think there’s the money anywhere in the west to draw more than a few superstars here and there.
Morzer
@Violet:
Yes, but “Hop on!” sounds like someone giving them a ride.
Ash Can
Totally OT, but PSA: Mike Malloy and his minions are being complete assholes to Jim Wright (Stonekettle). (H/t LGF)
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
Fair enough. All I really know about Real Madrid is to root against them.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
Is there a world title for club teams, or just the various continental trophies?
Morzer
@Ash Can:
Who is Mike Malloy?
Onkel Fritze
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): That’s all you need to know.
scav
Next dumb query, I know Brazil used to be known for a characteristic style (quick read says lots of dribbling and fluid, which seems to not be tiki-taki), what’s happened to them? Still have it or . . . ?
tsquared2001
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): No, but the court is tremendously shorter & you are on the offensive end with 20 seconds left in the clock. If the whipping around passes from Manu, Parker, et al, don’t remind you of the Spain of old, then I can’t help ya.
I spent ten years NOT watching hockey for exactly that bullshit dump and chase nonsense. This Stanley Cup was all about the Canadiens since those guys had some passing going on. Plus, they had a black guy and I am all about the color.
Onkel Fritze
@⚽️ Martin: On the contrary. The best players from all over the world play in the top European leagues. South Americans first. Nowadays they import players at age 15 or 16 (or even younger) and try to build them up. Big problem for the kids who don’t make it. Borders on human trafficking.
SRW1
@⚽️ Martin:
The income differential between the top Eurpean leagues and South-America is such that South-American teams will always end up selling their best players to European teams. Actually, this is true not only for top players, there are a lot of South-American (and African) players in lower league European clubs.
One of my favorite examples: Arsenal London has been known to go into games without a single English player in their starting eleven. Manchester City is similar, except that their goalie is English, so they tend to have at least one domestic player on the pitch.
MikeJ
@Onkel Fritze:
The academies start recruiting at 9.
⚽️ Martin
@Onkel Fritze: Well, I mean the reverse, actually, in that the South/Central American teams aren’t generally made up of players from outside the region, so their national teams can be cherry picked from their home league (should they choose to reject those that went off to Europe). I think that’s why England has such marginal teams – so many of the players in their league aren’t English so it’s harder to pick up subsets of club teams for the national team.
SRW1
@scav:
Brazil tended to be all about free style with flamboyant and high-powered attacking but somewhat wanting in defence. That works with a bunch of brilliant attackers, which even Brazil has trouble producing by the boatload. They have become much more tactically disciplined (i.e. European) and this year Neymar is so far the only one who shows some of that good old Brazilian attacking flair.
SRW1
@⚽️ Martin:
Just go through the South-American teams and check at which clubs their players earn their money. Lots of them, especially the really big stars, do so in Europe.
ETA: You are right about the detrimental effects on the quality of national teams and England is a good example. Young domestic players there tend to have a hard time to break into the first team and that shows, or at least has shown, in the national team.
Violet
The ESPN announcers are filling time until the next match and they’ve moved to this faux rustic table in their glassed-in studio. It’s complete with rough-woven table runner, wooden bowls filled with tropical fruits like coconut, starfruit and papaya. There’s even a wide-brimmed woven hat. Looks utterly ridiculous. Completely contrived.
scav
@Violet: It’s exactly that pampered bubble that made the Chilean fan invasion rather extra satisfying. reality alert!
⚽️ Martin
@Violet: Just like a US theme restaurant. They’re just eating at Rainforest Cafe.
Schlemizel
I’m a bit reluctant to post these because I am admittedly not a huge fan but I thought they were funny and hope nobody will be offended. Its the Onion after all
Breaking down the US WC roster
http://www.theonion.com/articles/breaking-down-the-us-world-cup-roster,36283/
WC players to watch
http://www.theonion.com/articles/world-cup-players-to-watch,36267/
Schlemizel
@Schlemizel:
And WC teams to watch
http://www.theonion.com/articles/world-cup-teams-to-watch,36253/
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@Violet:
You pretty much described what ESPN has become in one sentence.
KG
@Violet: sounds like something Disney would do.
Violet
@scav: Yeah, I kind of enjoyed those fans bursting into the media area. Glad no one was hurt, but hello reality!
@⚽️ Martin: Does the Rainforest Cafe still exist? I guess since so much of the rainforest is in Brazil that it’s a fitting theme.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@Schlemizel:
Violet
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): I guess so. I don’t watch ESPN much so I don’t have much idea what they’re like.
⚽️ Martin
@Schlemizel: The Onion got it pretty spot on, actually.
KG
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): i obviously watch too much Top Gear because I always call Wayne Rooney and Range Rovers “Range Rooney”
Schlemizel
@⚽️ Martin:
What little I know of the game I thought so too – but that can be the worst thing to do for some fans. Truth hurts.
⚽️ Martin
@Violet: Yep. They’re a Landry’s brand – lots of seafood and steak houses – Mortons, McCormick and Schmick, Claimjumper, Bubba Gump. You’ll find them around vacation spots. Pretty sure Downtown Disney has one.
HumboldtBlue
@⚽️ Martin: Conjugation: yo Españo; tú Españas; él/ella España; nosotros Españamos; vosotros Españáis; ellos/ellas Españan
Hilarious.
And Clint Dempsey — managed to convince Klinsmann he’s a 20 year old German
Tripod
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):
Yes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_Club_World_Cup
Tripod
As to Spain, I don’t know, maybe they just got old?
burnspbesq
@Tripod:
They’re not only merely dead, they’re really and sincerely dead.
Learn these names between now and Euro 2016: Isco, Illaramendi, Deulofeu, Jese.