Village Idiot

Never imagined being an Eire fan was so trying. I'm forced to root for Italy in a game. That's too much FFS.

Spanish commentary lavishing praise on Hodgson for putting Vardy on the pitch. FFS, I hate when they do that, the smart move was starting him to begin with!

Ashley Williams pulling off a nice suplex there. The WWE should give him a call.

This game is shit. That surely was a pen though?

<- Freelancer

I see the English tabloids are finally hitting form! http://66.media.tumblr.com/cdfb7df469758e192df7b6f8340fb389/tumblr_o8u3sa17Hp1u5f06vo1_1280.jpg That photoshop, pure cringe

I'd have had Iniesta before any of Spain's back 4, and I'd have definitely hoyed Modric in there.

Official Best XI so far: http://i.imgur.com/13YlAhu.jpg Some decent and some nonsensical picks, as per usual. Ronaldo? Pretty much all of Spain's back 4?

Sigh.

I love the face on the new player. He's aware they are going to ritually murder him next

The club is not involved in those two cases. What was being judged here was how Neymar's transfer had been conducted on the tax front. Mostly we paid him a huge signup fee, and we reported it as a transfer fee, which is taxed less than a salary. The taxman said "no, it's a wage", and we had to pony up back dated tax (€13 million) and a €5 million fine.

Barça have been linked with 20000000000 players, as usual during transfer season, but lately we seem to be linked a lot with some Brazilian kid named Gabriel Jesus: ¿Know anything about him, Flip?

Barça's president will submit himself to a motion of confidence in this summer's assembly, after the club pleaded guilty to tax fraud in the Neymar signing. He could well lose this one, but I'm terrible at predicting how those assemblies go. I have never been selected for one!

Mackems sniffing. The feet? Pervs.

Carrasco is a class winger too. Given their lack of width they should use him more. Heck, I wish Spain had stolen him given that he's half Spanish and we lack direct and skillful wingers. But yeah, it's undeniable Belgium has a lots of class (yes, there are unbalances, but pretty much all NTs have unbalanced squads) and they should be doing much better than they are. And that should fall on the lap of the manager.

Who's giving him grief, think he's done well today. Still a mistake not to bring Diego Costa. Diego "10 caps and a goal against Luxembourg" Costa? Nah. I'd have brought Alcácer though. His club numbers aren't great but he clicks with Spain's style.

Messi has said he won't shave his beard until the Centenario is over. I hope Argentina stays long enough for him to grow a hipster beard. That would be awesome. http://estaticos.sport.es/resources/jpg/5/8/barba-messi-cuestion-supersticion-1465803687585.jpg

Real Madrid Castilla lost again in the Segunda B playoffs and won't go up, which means Odegaard will be loaned out somewhere. It will do him good since things really aren't working out right now.

Despite Xisco's heroics (scored again yesterday), Girona are through to the Liga Adelante playoff final after a dramatic 120-minute ET winner. They'll play Osasuna for a spot in La Liga. I hope Girona can manage it after last season's heartbreak. Never been in the top flight and it's a class city. Osasuna have the "been here a dozen times" psychological advantage, though. The way they disposed of Nàstic in the other semifinal was pretty impressive.

Further shows that if you take Neymar and Marcelo out of Brazil, Brazil's got nothing.

Almost certainly This new format is a bit of a joke, tbf. Agreed. Whack it up to 32 teams imo. The right decision was to keep it as it was but, yeah, if they were going to expand best to go all the way to 32. A group phase where 16 out of 24 teams will progress to the knockouts is close to pointless.

I never understood what he brings to Barca tbh, tries to be their new Xavi but just seems so inferior to lots of other players in a similar mould. VI please rebuff me He's great for Barça. He's more workmanlike than Xavi, and that's how Lucho wants the midfield to be nowadays. He's playing very close to the box for Croatia, which is a bit weird.

The Poles were massive compared to the Swedes, tbf, proper MMA has weight classes and shit.

Almost certainly This new format is a bit of a joke, tbf.

You'll be fine, this group phase is pretty ridiculous, even finishing 3rd you have a good chance of going to the knockouts. And there's just no way you'll finish last I enjoyed watching England play, which is a pretty novel feeling. You're usually boring and ponderous. Even if this tournament comes still a bit early, your spine is so young you can expect nice things from this team in the future.