Village Idiot

Damn! Close.

Do you know how lucky you are? I know man, I know... Without people like Cesc or Villa in the pitch, we seriously lack people who have the confidence to have a pop.

Nice pass from Neymar there, he'll have the little Argie finishing that stuff over here

Arbeloa having the mare of his life.

Arbeloa man, sub him off already

All the games I saw had some pretty good atmospheres (our group was great) despite neutral teams playing.

Marcelo losing it already.

Nah it's fine, I get to blame Real Madrid players for it

Heh, defending.

Love the massive tilting down the camera had to do when it got to Xavi during the anthem pan through all our players

On a neutral ground I'd have us as clear favorites. Not here, though. The crowd will fire them up.

God, Spain was awful in 94 At least they would have given Brazil game. Awful final. Ruined the tournament. You probably didn't watch us play back then, our tactics would have made Pulis proud.

God, Spain was awful in 94

FYP True. And Shearer and Hansen in the studio. Been absolutely superb this tournament but still gets so much criticism here. Who gives a f***? We've got Welbeck and Sturridge... It's more comedic/pathetic over here, since he now plays for Barça. Madrid media saying he's been largely disappointing while the Barcelona ones already putting him in the running for the second place in the Ballon d'Or. This country

I just want to beat Brazil, two times we've played them in my lifetime we have lost narrowly/unfairly.

Just realized that our starting XI plays for just 3 teams: Barça, Madrid and Chelsea.

Why is there such a big sample of German-American players in Yank football? What the hell is going on in those bases?

The fans are feisty, ready to see blood The Brazil crowds have been booing us like we were the nWo, all tournament long. FFS we didn't even colonize this country.

The Brazil crowd booing their own keepers because the were wearing red Took them a bit to realize it was their own players

We have never beat them in a competitive match either.

Looks like Cesc failed a late fitness test and Mata's starting instead.

Yeah, on one hand he does that cool flick, on the other hand it goes out for a goal kick. He doesn't actually do what he wants to do either, he misses the final connection on the flick. Still outrageous to try that in the box mind. In 2nd half stoppage time when it's 0-0 as well. Now that I think of it, it might have been his debut.

Yeah, I was youtubing it too. Damn, he can't have gone to s*** so soon. Somebody's got to rehabilitate him and get a player. He's stalled as a player. But his other attributes were his pace and ball control and fanatical devotion to the Pope, plus his hunger. This last one is what seems to have deserted him. It was amazing how he ran on the pitch after every pass, making runs, running at defenders...

Wasn't it with the U21s? Against some Whateveristan. Personally I think he has suffered from the De La Peña syndrome. Too much hype too soon and you could see how he slowly crumbled under the pressure. Going to a small-but-good team like Betis, with a great setup and an attacking brand of football, could help him regain his confidence.

He broke into our first team when he was 17. Too soon, in hindsight.