Taylor Swift

SA needs two more goals in their favour, whether that be scoring the goals themselves or Mexico conceding. Would be a great story of the south Africans pull it off.

They should just take pks the next day.

If Switzerland beats Honduras by less than two goals then they coud go out if Spain beats Chile by only a goal. If they win by more than 2, they're in regardless of what happens in the other match. If they win by only two, then they're guaranteed at least a chance to draw lots, unless Spain beats Chile by a high-scoring one goal margin, which would knock the Swiss out on total goals scored.

Spain beats Chile 1-0 and Switzerland beats Honduras 1-0.

If England won 2-0 and lost 0-2 then E wouldn't apply. I think rule F is written badly, I believe it means ALL goals scored in ALL games (not just head to head). My reading is the last three clauses apply for when there are three teams who have equal points.

So Spain wins tonight, they're on 3 pts, Chile on 6 and the Swiss on 3 with Honduras up next for them. They'll beat the Hondurans, meaning Spain will have to win against Chile, with the required margin depending on how badly they thump the Hondurans tonight. A good 3 or 4 goal victory will mean only a 1 goal margin over Chile is required.

Jesus, this is a raping.

Nice draw for the Kiwis. It's been a fun WC in terms of underdog performances.

He's been everywhere.

I don't think England's troubles have that much to do with the plan Capello has in place (which was very successful in the qualies) nor the quality of the players at his disposal (you have four or five genuine world class players in your first eleven). Your play is too formulaic, too rigid, which makes it easy to defend against. Something just needs to be done to relax the players so they actually move, anticipate and try to improvise, rather than thinking then reacting to the game, which I feel is something which is really unnatural for your players to do.

Great save. fwiw, England's main problem seems to be that they're thinking too much. Every time Gerrard has to the ball, he hesitates before he passes, then moves. It's not fluid. Rooney's been even worse. Rooney's had a ton of success this year because he's simply reacted to the play, either taking a quick shot or moving the ball on. He's rarely dwelled on the ball, which he's done so too often in the first couple of matches. It's as if when each player receives the ball, the first thought is 'what did Fabio say to do when you receive the ball in this position', which is the initial phase of hesitation, then they hesitate even more because whatever they're supposed to do, can't be done. For Heskey maybe it's squaring it for an onrushing Gerrard/Lampard but when Gerrard/Lampard aren't there, he hesitates then passes it back, which results in time for the defence to get set and also slows down the pace of the game, which doesn't favour your midfielders who have spent years playing a really, really fast game. All the reports coming out about the coaches wanting the players to 'just play' seems to reflect this feeling that the players are thinking too much, so that's why I believe that if the players actually play, you'll be fine against Slovenia and be fine in the round after that as well, assuming you don't get Germany.

as if . i dont know anyone who thought we were favourites. when you ask the average fan on the street the usual answers are brazil, spain, netherlands, argies etc. all the 'easy' shit is either press bollocks or pre-match bravado, like a newcastle fan going onto a mackem forum and saying newcastle will twat sunderland when in reality we're shit scared of the result. That was my impression, johnny. Maybe not thought of themselves as 'favourites' but definitely in with a great chance, which I thought was really people falling for the hype. I got the same arrogance from some of the Spaniards I know, but at least they have a legitimate reason to be confident (reigning Euro champs and all), and then you have the usual Brazil fanboys, and again, they imo have a legitimate reason to be confident. The confidence that the English people I knew displayed just smacked of arrogance.

I've got an American accent as well, man.

To be honest, I don't really like England. Most of the players are douchebags, the press' arrogance just makes it hard to like them and the average England supporter seriously thought they were favourites for the WC at the beginning, so I wasn't a massive fan. However, there are good lads here in this forum who deserve a decent performance from their team so I'm gonna be rooting for England against the Slovenians.

You want me to predict an American defeat, don't you? cheeky cunt, I know your game. I think England and you will both scrape a 1-0 win.

The French imploding. You know, as shit as they've been, they only need to beat a woeful South African team to have a decent chance of making the round of 16. I'm sure Mexico will attack Uruguay because 2nd place means a meeting with the Argies.

The last round of group games will be immense, especially the German group; one goal could send a team from last to first. Paraguay are a quality team. It looks like all five South American teams will make it through to the 2nd round, with Chile's progress dependent on their next match against the Swiss.

Win or go home, am I right? You draw, the us draws, they're through on goals scored. You draw, Algeria wins, Algeria leap frog you into second. Lose and obviously you're out. So unless you have a goal filled draw, you have to win. 2-2 is the lowest scoring draw needed. Best of luck.

Don't pollute this thread with your shit, mike.

Nice goal. Just what id do in FIFA.

Refs been card happy.

That's genius

So the Argies have turned up. Good shit.

What a ball from both Messi and Aguero.

Should have scored.