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2014 WORLD CUP THREAD


RIPPA

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I'm very very happy with our draw. I'm not sure why people are fretting, I have us winning the group, never mind struggling. We owe Italy one, I think Uruguay will finish second and I'm sure we'll lose to Costa Rica.

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According to the Guardian - England is changing its prep plans and will now play two friendlies in Miami to prepare for the weather in Brazil.

 

One game will be against the US - the other to be determined

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According to the Guardian - England is changing its prep plans and will now play two friendlies in Miami to prepare for the weather in Brazil.

 

One game will be against the US - the other to be determined

Probably somehow tied into Becks' new MLS team.

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Falcao's knee surgery was a success and the surgeon who performed the surgery says there's a 55% chance he can play for Colombia at the WC.

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The Guardian are running a series of articles highlighting 25 stunning World Cup moments. The first one is when Cameroon beat Argentina at the 1990 World Cup and is well worth a read - http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/feb/12/world-cup-25-stunning-moments-cameroon-argentina

 

This part about the third place goalie is outstanding... (Joseph-Antoine Bell, the first choice, had been dropped after criticising his teammates and their chances against Argentina)

 

 

 

Until just a few hours before kick-off in Milan Thomas N'Kono had considered himself unlikely to even be in the matchday squad – Bell didn't like him, and wanted the relatively inexperienced Jacques Songo'o on the bench instead. Suddenly he was first choice, a decision taken so late, and so unexpectedly, that his wife missed his moment of glory having decided to go shopping instead. "I thought it was a very bad team and we were going to lose," N'Kono told Jonathan Wilson in the latter's book on goalkeeping, The Outsider. "Suddenly the coach said I was going to play. Five hours before the game. I said no way. I had no confidence in the coach. The federation, the minister of sport, seven or eight people were telling me I had to play and I was saying I didn't feel ready. They said if I wasn't going to play they would play Songo'o, and if he didn't want to play they would put an outfielder in goal. I went to talk with the president of Cameroon, and eventually I agreed to play."

 

The replacement's performances at the World Cup proved so good that a promising 12-year-old midfielder from Tuscany decided that he'd prefer to be a goalkeeper all things considered, and bought his first pair of gloves. "It was N'Kono and his spectacular saves that made me fall in love with the position. He became my hero," the kid said, many years later. As an adult, he named his son Thomas in the Cameroonian's honour. The young Italian's name was Gianluigi Buffon.

 

Italia 90 was my first world cup, and while it's considered one of the most boring (it led to the introduction of the back pass rule), I have fond memories of it. As is mentioned in the comments section, it's considered the last "blind" world cup, in that outside of the top European teams, and Brazil and Argentina, nothing was known about the competitors. Nowadays, you watch an African team play and realise that half of them play in the Premier League. Roger Milla for Cameroon in 1990 was a sensation for example. His goal celebration (a gyration of the hips at the corner flag) was mimicked on patches of grass by kids everywhere. That kind of exuberance is plentiful these days.

 

I'd be remiss if I didn't include a video of the hilarious red card in the Cameroon-Argentina match. Beats one challenge. Beats the second. Fuck that shit!

 

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Julian Green reportedly has decided to play for the U.S. The people who know more about soccer then me consider this be potentially awesome news, and I am fine with taking a couple of younger guys and looking more at 2018 (can Gideon Zelalem also hop on board?!). I am damn impressed with an 18 year getting some first team time with Bayern, and am psyched that Klinsmann has successfully recruited some promising German-American talents.

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In two bits of news related to the USMNT

 

- Julian Green picked the US over Germany

 

- Steve Cherundolo will be announcing his retirement from the sport today

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