Folks, did you see the second match yesterday? Wow, Japan, and then wow, Belgium! What a thrill – the drama at the end, the goals – that header! – , the saves (the Japanese double!), the amazing comeback. Just glorious!
Today, we have the last of the round of 16, followed by two days of rest and then Friday things begin anew.
At 10, Switzerland v Sweden. I expect a great match and am rooting for the Swiss. I don’t know the rankings or who’s expected to win – at this level, anything can happen, and sometimes, does!
And then to close out this round, Colombia v England. With a maternal link to Colombia (long story), I’m of course rooting for Los Cafeteros. Truthfully, I expect England to win pretty easily. In their last match, Colombia got banged up.
We shall see what Fortune has to deliver today – enjoy, everyone!
Nicole
One of my good friends took a cab ride yesterday. The driver was from Senegal and they started discussing the World Cup. The driver told her he was very happy there was still one African team left in the World Cup- France.
Platonailedit
S vs S – 0-0 or 1-1 snoozefest. Swiss have a slight edge with Shaqiri, but not enough to score a win.
Columbia – Brits – 2-1. (for football is coming home arrogance). Hoping Rodriguez is fit to play. He is a treat to watch.
Platonailedit
Hey, sign-in sticks. Thanks, Alain.
SFAW
I realize tracking the “brackets” [quotation marks because I generally think of that term in an NCAA hoop context] and watching the “upsets” is fun and all that, but since we already know that Russia will be the eventual winner, it kinda dampens some of the enthusiasm.
Y’all probably think I’m joking.
mali muso
That Japan-Belgium match was so fun to watch! I really thought Japan might just pull it off, but what a finish by Belgium. I have quite a few Japanese friends and the word on FB was that perhaps the coach overreacted to criticism of their last game and kept them attacking in the last half when they should have been focused on defending their 2-0 lead. Still, they should definitely be proud of themselves. They were fearless.
Definitely pulling for Switzerland today. I lived there for about a year after college and will always have a special place in my heart for la Suisse.
Yarrow
Thanks for fixing the nym and email thing, Alain. It’s nice not to have to type it every 30 minutes and in every new thread.
SRW1
Quite a number of empty seats. Not the signs of great anticipation.
Tony Jay
WTF is going on in this game? Both sides look like they only rolled out of bed five minutes ago and are stumbling around gummy-eyed and yawning. Switzerland were handed that 1st minute chance on a platter and then gave the Swedes two (TWO!) gilt edged opportunities in 30 seconds.
Yeah, can’t see this staying goalless.
Amir Khalid
@Platonailedit:
British =/= English.
Tony Jay
Does this new World Cup ball have a helium-injection pump that only activates when in and around the penalty box? How many more nailed on chances are going to be skied high over the bar before someone gets a shot on target?
Amir Khalid
Neither Switzerland nor Sweden is among the highest-rated teams that got to the last 16, but they’re more or less evenly matched and that usually makes for a watchable contest. Which this has been, so far.
Platonailedit
Snoozefest.
Tony Jay
Someone needs to put away one of the chances. Either team would do.
Jeffro
Go Sweden! Go England!
Amir Khalid
@Tony Jay:
No, no, no. The Russians are using the World Cup to field-test a magnetic repulsor technology developed by weapons engineere infiltrated into adidas R&D labs and factories. When you turn it on, it deflects all shots on target away from goal. When it’s fully deployed Russia will win all the Euros and World Cups, and Spartak Moscow will win the UEFA Champions League every year.
eclare
@Amir Khalid: Hahaha….
Anonymous At Work
How does one judge “banged up” in a game where flops are so obvious and abusive, even Karl Malone is aghast?
Mike J
@Amir Khalid:
Imagine the British team with Gareth Bale there alongside Harry Kane.
Platonailedit
And they Spaniards killed tiki-taka forever.
Tony Jay
@Amir Khalid:
OMG! You know what this means!?! Neymar must have swallowed the miniature prototype when he was touring the Adidas Death Factory before the tournament, so every light brush or miniscule tap he receives is intensified 1000fold by his internal magneto-repulsive field. That explains everything, including the weird colour of his hair.
Someone cut that boy open, the safety of the world depends on it.
Tony Jay
Come on Sweden. Do what Germany did to you.
Or not. That’s fine too.
Tony Jay
Finally! Sweden 1-0 Switzerland.
Amir Khalid
I make that an own goal by Akanji: he deflected into the net a shot that his keeper was positioned to collect.
Platonailedit
Lucky goal for the swedes.
Alain the site fixer
Let’s go Swiss!
Tony Jay
@Amir Khalid:
Like virtually every other shot that hasn’t been aimed at Row Z it was going straight down the keeper’s throat until it twoinged off the defender’s foot.
Not a lot of quality in this game so far.
Platonailedit
Corners game.
Platonailedit
Swiss are so fucked.
Amir Khalid
Red card to Lang of Switzerland. Free kick to Sweden for a foul just outside the penalty area.
Platonailedit
Fifa team ratings shot to pieces in this edition.
Tony Jay
Two minutes thirty seconds into three minutes of injury time, camped on the edge of the Swedish box, and Switzerland couldn’t even clear the first man to get a ball into the area. Meh.
Right. So that’s Sweden into the Quarters. I’m off home to stock up on arrogance and entitlement before our game against Columbi… Columbin… Columbo? Whoever. 8-)
waratah
@Alain the site fixer: I love the soccer threads. I choose my teams like you do. I played soccer with our street team growing up. They only let a girl play because they needed players. I really think our soccer rules were not proper and lots of cheating.
Amir Khalid
@Platonailedit:
The FIFA rankings have no connection to reality. If they did, Malaysia would be ranked around 400th instead of an unrealistic 171st.
Platonailedit
So swedes didn’t miss Ibrahimovic much after all?
Platonailedit
@Amir Khalid: Yup, what 6 of their top 10 are already gone now?
Platonailedit
Go Col goals.
Ella in New Mexico
Am I the only one who isn’t suspicious that so many of the best teams in soccer have been knocked out, but Russia is still in the play?
Amir Khalid
@Ella in New Mexico:
I have a theory about that in my comment #15.
Onkel Fritze
Go Colombia! Let’s beat those Brits!
Platonailedit
Rodriguez out due to injury. Bummer.
Platonailedit
Brit humor on bbc
Married my Colombian wife two months ago. First relationship test. Can’t we just both go through? Either way, it’s coming home!
SRW1
King James is out. In the next round is waiting Sweden. The semis are waving alluringly. If not now, then when, England?
Onkel Fritze
@Platonailedit: Congratulations, I’ve got mine for 17 years now.
Might as well root for Colombia now, it’ll save you a lot of trouble and the inevitable crushing defeat for England is coming anyway ;-)
eclare
I’m for England, lived there for six months years ago…
HumboldtBlue
Engerland 3-1, Colombia runs out of gas and Yerry Mina turns into a pumpkin.
Platonailedit
@Onkel Fritze:
Lol. It was a quote from bbc live blog.
SRW1
At the whistle of full time?
SRW1
This game livelier than the preceding snoozefest.
Tony Jay
By the conventions of some societies Mina and Sterling are now engaged to be married. That’s some – close – marking.
And Sterling continues his unbroken run of duff last balls and rubbish shots for England.
HumboldtBlue
England’s speed can make the difference. England needs something from this early pressure, they’re expending a lot of energy.
Amir Khalid
England have dominated the first 15 minutes. Kane’s had a close look at goal already.
Tony Jay
That Lingard/Trippier overlap on the right wing is something to watch. Stripping the Colombian left-back for pace over and over again.
Good start by England. (Slaps fingers three times and invokes the anti-jinx faeries).
Amir Khalid
Not a lot of England support in the crowd, though. Jeers everytime a red shirt gets the ball.
SRW1
What happened to Trippier’s shirt? Is that the hairy breast edition?
Tony Jay
@Amir Khalid:
Massive swoop by the Russian Internal Security Directorate this morning. As we speak many thousands of pot-bellied, middle class Englishmen are squinting myopicaly in the glare of Kamchatkan gulag lights wondering where the devil the match-day bus has gone and why does their mouth taste of roofies.
Tony Jay
It would be ace of some English players stopped trying to Neymar a flash back heel or flick on the edge of the area and just pass the bloody thing to someone in red. Too many attacks are bogging down around the 18 yard box. Colombia are defending that in depth. Get the ball out wide, stretch the defence and open up a route for a good delivery. Save the fancy-dan skill set for when you’re a goal or two up and Colombia have to push up the field leaving gaps.
SRW1
Game has settled into a more sustainable pace.
SRW1
There’s no scrum in footies, lads!
Tony Jay
That should be a straight red. Headbuts are red aren’t they?
Yarrow
@Tony Jay: I just tuned in. What just happened there? He didn’t get a red card?
Amir Khalid
I don’t think I’ve seen a ref in this World Cup use his magic spray as much as this American one has. But then again I haven’t seen a team crowd their opponent’s free kicks like Colombia are doing.
Amir Khalid
The mood on the pitch is becoming somewhat less than friendly.
Tony Jay
Nope. I’m the wall for an England free kick. Pushing and shoving. Colombian player rams his head into Henderson’s chest and flicks his head up into his chin. Put Henderson on the deck, referee eventually have a yellow. Don’t understand that at all. Put your head into an opponents face on purpose and it’s a straight red.
Tony Jay
Good time for a break. Colombia getting a little bit nasty out there.
SRW1
Ref needs to watch that the game doesn’t get out of control. Lots of pushing, shoving, and shirt pulling.
mali muso
I haven’t been able to devote full attention (am ostensibly at work) but it definitely seems a little chippy out there.
Neldob
Any good ideas for how to watch on my computer without signing over more than necessary?
Tony Jay
Looks like Colombia are getting a bit frustrated with having so little of the ball and have decided to try roughing up a few England players in the hopes of drawing a reaction they can try to con a red card out of. not nice to see.
Yarrow
From The Guardian liveblog:
HumboldtBlue
@Neldob:
Beastfeeds.com Wear protection,, you’ll get two pop-ups and you’ll need flash player
HumboldtBlue
@Yarrow:
Clattenburg said the head butt was a clear red.
Amir Khalid
Gareth will have reminded his players that they need to stay calm in the face of Colombia’s provocations, and keep probing the Colombian defence until a gap opens up.
HumboldtBlue
And I agree with Gary Neville, England are far better and just need to keep their heads. Lee Dixon agrees as well.
HumboldtBlue
What a play by Davinson.
Clear penalty.
Tony Jay
agreed. If like to see fewer England players shaping to receive the ball with their backs to goal.
Oooh! Penalty.
Tony Jay
Come on ref. If they won’t get out of your face book someone.
SRW1
That stupidity could be seen coming from a mile away.
And right next to the ref.
Bostonian
Yellow cards for everyone!
Onkel Fritze
The ref really doesn’t have a lot of control.
And it’s in. Dammit.
mali muso
And BAM, there goes England with a goal!
Amir Khalid
Another penalty conceded to England by rugby-tackle defending. Colombia spend three whole minutes trying to put Kane off but to no avail. But his teammates are losing some of their cool.
Bostonian
@Neldob: Telemundo is doing a great job for me this cup.
mali muso
Dang, yellow cards all over the place. Feels like the pitch is going to devolve into a fight at any moment.
Bostonian
I am waiting for fisticuffs to break out
Yarrow
@Onkel Fritze:
No kidding. It’s crazy.
SRW1
Falcao won’t see the end of the game on the field.
Tony Jay
And while the mob of Colombian players were surrounding the referee two others were deliberately scuffing up the penalty spot to make it harder to convert. There’s cynical and there’s just shitty. The referee really needs to get a grip before something nasty happens. They’re targeting certain players trying to get a reaction, simulating to try and fake a card. Really not nice to see.
Neldob
@Bostonian: thanks. I’ll work on it.
Bostonian
This has to be a yellow card record
Onkel Fritze
Oh god, Colombia has to get a grip. Instead of bitching at the ref and fouling they need to get some kind of offensive game going. IF they go on like this, they’re going to have somebody sent off in the next 10 minutes.
Carolina Dave
Flip side to “the beautiful game” is an ugly match. Two nasty squads. I’m not faulting the American ref for thuggish behavior all over the pitch
HumboldtBlue
Colombia just playing the cad, ugly tactics.
HumboldtBlue
@Bostonian:
We’re quite a ways off the Battle of Nuremberg (2006) between Portugal and the Netherlands. Russian referee Valentin Ivanov issued a FIFA World Cup record four red cards and 16 yellow cards, setting a new record for cards shown at any FIFA-administered international tournament.[4]
Tony Jay
@Carolina Dave:
Sorry, I’m just not seeing the nasty coming from England. They’re trying to play football and being goaded, fouled and intimidated by a team that knows exactly what it’s doing.
SRW1
@Onkel Fritze: They seem to have heard you!
eclare
@Tony Jay: Agree
Onkel Fritze
@Carolina Dave: A good ref can nip these things in the bud early on. This one doesn’t have a clue.
HumboldtBlue
Why is he bringing on slow-as-molasses Eric Dier?
Loftus-Cheek better option.
Tony Jay
Whoof! What a let off.
We could do with another goal to settle this.
SRW1
Oh dear, Columbia, there won’t be many of these kinds of gifts.
HumboldtBlue
Colombia has done very well against the set pieces.
eclare
Hope the stadium has good crowd control/security for whichever side wins and loses.
Amir Khalid
I wish the BBC’s English commentators weren’t quite so blatantly partisan.
Bostonian
@HumboldtBlue: oh yeah. I remember that. Wasn’t that the one with van Bummer doing flying karate kicks?
SRW1
I love how Southgate is always dressed for Sunday tea.
Tony Jay
Vardy coming on. Good. If we’re letting them come into us then we could do with a guy whose speciality is waiting for long balls he can run into behind the defence.
Dyer has been crap though. Should have been Loftus (Aquaman) Cheek.
Tony Jay
Save!!!
Tony Jay
Frig!
mali muso
Woah, and they equalize!
SRW1
Jesus, extra time beckoning.
HumboldtBlue
@Bostonian:
That was the final against Spain.
Wow, they get one corner and score.
Amir Khalid
It’s one-all from a rare Colombia corner!
ETA: I wasn’t expecting this to go to extra time. But England haven’t scored from open play today.
Platonailedit
U oh, extra time. Colombians pull it off in the last minute.
Tony Jay
And he’s crippled himself with his celebration. Heart bleeds.
mali muso
lol, people are flying around like bowling pins.
SRW1
Such are the perils of the game. England haven’t done much after the 1-0, except trying to control the game.
Carolina Dave
@HumboldtBlue:
I’ll always remember that match. I’m a big Oranje fan and have never seen a match that physical. Still.
Amir Khalid
Is this going to be the day that England rediscover their true nature and disappoint their fans?
Tony Jay
Said we needed a second goal to nail down a deserved win. What a crap goal to convert after dealing with their balls in the box all game.
Knuckle down, fresh legs on, take advantage of the fact that we’re comfortably the better team.
Onkel Fritze
Btw, my comments take forever to post after I’ve written them. Anybody else have that problem?
Platonailedit
Vardy has to chip in now.
SRW1
@Amir Khalid:
You predict another tragic penalty shootout?
Onkel Fritze
30 minutes extra. That’s a very Colombian way of doing things – doing a crappy job all along and kind of getting it finished at the very last moment.
Btw, my comments take forever to post or don’t go through at all. Have to restart the browser to have a chance of posting. Anybody else have that problem?
Amir Khalid
@SRW1:
This World Cup, I have learned not to predict anything.
ETA: But I wouldn’t rule it out.
HumboldtBlue
@Onkel Fritze:
It depends on the device you’re using. Alain fixed the desktop issues, not sure about mobile issues.
SRW1
@Onkel Fritze: Nope, just have to fill in username and PW for every comment. But we’re committed!
Onkel Fritze
@HumboldtBlue: Nope, on a desktop, using firefox.
HumboldtBlue
@Amir Khalid:
Yeah, this is one in which you just sit and watch the magic happen.
Platonailedit
Cuadrado is very fast. No support for him.
Yarrow
@Amir Khalid: Bound to happen at some point.
Platonailedit
It has not been Falcao’s day at all. So many misses.
Tony Jay
What is the use of playing the ball out through defence when all you do then is pass the ball around through the defenders, get pressurized by their front players, panic and loses the ball around the half way line?
Vardy hasn’t seen the ball, no one up front has. Kane is coming back into his own half looking for it. Get a bloody grip.
SRW1
Columbia have taken over, but in extra time anything can happen.
HumboldtBlue
@Onkel Fritze:
I am having no issues, that’s what I use.
When was the last time two South American teams are the least likeable?
Brazil are overrated and have none of the joie de vivre of past teams and Colombia are just ugly and cynical.
Onkel Fritze
What a difference a goal makes. Colombia has discovered how to play football, England in disarray. Love it :)
Yarrow
Why would England play for penalties? That’s just stupid.
Platonailedit
For all the hype, england is losing it when it is needed most.
Platonailedit
Oh, come on, Vardy. You had an entire goal face to hit that.
SRW1
England the first to bring on a fourth substitute,
Tony Jay
Radford on. Finally pace and threat up front.
HumboldtBlue
Sweet Jesus with a giant fucking forehead, you can’t miss that, Dier!
Bostonian
Nice head Dyer
Platonailedit
That was what 7th or 8th corner for brits that they missed? They are supposed to be great at set pieces.
Amir Khalid
This will go to penalties.
There: I said it.
Platonailedit
3 minutes from the dreaded time.
HumboldtBlue
@Platonailedit:
They scored six of their eight goals from set pieces, Colombia has defended well.
Amir Khalid
@Platonailedit:
England, not Britain, damn it.
SRW1
Aaaaaand squeaky bum time.
Platonailedit
And there it is. Shootout.
Tony Jay
Penalties. Bloody cursed penalties.
Onkel Fritze
England and penalties? What could possibly go wrong.
HumboldtBlue
Here’s an example of Brazil’s whining.
Yarrow
Gotta love that Fox has a segment called “England Nightmares” full of disastrous penalty disasters.
SRW1
What I don’t understand is why Columbia thought there had to be a round of catching before they played football.
Tony Jay
@Platonailedit:
Dude, if you keep on calling England ‘Brits’ you’re going to find a squad of the True Briton Celtic Commando Collective swimming up your toilet pipe to take a claymore to your nethers.
Tony Jay
Can’t watch.
Platonailedit
Both caps score.
Onkel Fritze
@Amir Khalid: England and penalties? What could possibly go wrong.
raven
@Onkel Fritze: There it is.
raven
Back atcha!
Yarrow
Ohhh….
Platonailedit
And Henderson misses. 3-2 Colombia.
Uribe hits the post.
SRW1
@Tony Jay: You’re not the only one, Peckerman hs trouble too.
Platonailedit
3 each.
Platonailedit
Bacca stopped. Last chance for england.
Tony Jay
Oh God not Dyer!
I love you Eric!!!!!!
Bostonian
Pickford good job
eclare
Yay!!!!!
raven
Well goddamn!
SRW1
Whew!
Yarrow
ENGLAND!!!!!!
HumboldtBlue
Wow. What a goddamn tournament this has been. Absolutely riveting football.
Platonailedit
And england wins on penalties. Finally.
Yarrow
Announcers said it’s the first time in World Cup history that England has won on penalties.
raven
@HumboldtBlue: Some expert will be here soon to tell us how terrible it is.
HumboldtBlue
@raven:
Yup
Tony Jay
Jesus sweet joint-rolling Christ I don’t believe it.
We so deserved to go through, but we never, ever win those. And when Jordan Henderson had his saved I thought that was it.
I’m spent.
Now we’ll totally go out to Sweden. 8-)
Onkel Fritze
Well, fuck that. Looking at the brackets, England could go a long way now.
Amir Khalid
Eric Dier scores his penalty, and England are through to the quarterfinals. A very emotional reaction from the BBC’s studio pundits, every one of them an England player in his time.
HumboldtBlue
@Amir Khalid:
On ITV, Ian Wright and Lee Dixon were in tears and Neville was choked up.
Wait’ll you see the clip of their reaction. Priceless.
Tony Jay
@raven:
Well, now that you mention it…. No, I got nothing.
I’ve been watching England lose those since my teens. Going out to that bunch of dirty wankers would have been so horrible I don’t even have words.
Sloane Ranger
Yaaaaaaay! Now Sweden on Saturday! A nation celebrates!
Tony Jay
@HumboldtBlue:
That was hilarious. Love it when they stop hugging, look at each other a bit “What do we do now?” And start tossing their paperwork up in the air.
Very English.
HumboldtBlue
@Tony Jay:
Enjoy it. While we celebrate our realpolitik victory over youse tomorrow you can savor a key victory, the sort of win that teams that end up hoisting the trophy always seem to endure.
Platonailedit
Now that particular monkey is off their back, Sweden should not be so hard to beat.
Leeds man
I’m suing the England team for taking years off my life. Not a great performance from them, but they showed grit. Also: Pickford makes the #1 goalie spot his. Brilliant save near the end, even if the following corner was disastrous for us.
Sweden is always a tough nut for England, but we made the quarters!
Tony Jay
@HumboldtBlue:
I will. What realpolitik victory though? I’m so scrambled I can’t think what that is.
Kieran Trippier just got interviewed. My girlfriend took one look and gasped “What happened to his hair!?!” Then ” That’s on purpose, isn’t it? ”
She’s right. What is going on there?
Leeds man
@Platonailedit: “Sweden should not be so hard to beat”.
Have you seen many Sweden/England games? Never easy. They are supremely well organized, difficult to score on, and fast on the counter. Nothing to get complacent about.
raven
@Tony Jay: I have a dear friend who is Colombian, her nephew is there so I ws interested but there is something about England. . .maybe it’s that I have people from Marlow in my family.
Platonailedit
@Leeds man: Not so hard doesn’t mean easy. Of course, they have to play hard to get that win. But the big momentum is on their side and so the chances of english win are better.
Tony Jay
@raven:
Marlow in Buckinghamshire? Ha! You literally could not get more Middle-English if you wore exclusively tweed, drank warm beer and had a friend called Mufty who owned an antique shop and solved crimes in her spare time. 8-)
raven
@Tony Jay: Yea I think so. Mom visited there in the 80’s and had a great time.
raven
@Tony Jay: I have a 200+ family history that confirms that’s where we came from!
Yarrow
LOL
HumboldtBlue
@Bostonian:
Yes, I got mixed up. 2006 was the Van Bommel assault and 2010 was De Jong flying kick to Xabi’s midsection in the Final in South Africa.
TomatoQueen
@Onkel Fritze: yes very much so, on the IE/Win 7/vpn that I must use during the day (work laptop). The site is now all but completely useless during the day. Night and Fireyfox (Win7 and vpn) restore functionality. Except of course for nym saving, Puerto Rico, and Flint.
Also, ENGLAND!