Belgium out too. They’re going with a front line of Lukaku Hazard Mirallas/Dries Mertens and De Bruyne behind them.
Nice team, The Euro teams look really strong. Just can’t see them doing it in the heat and humidity of Brazil.
The World Cup is all over the (big) place. The south will be pretty cold in July for our standards (maybe like NY autumn) while the north is always very hot. The games in the north and northeast will possibly be extra challenging for the europeans. From the middle to the south of the country this may not be such an issue.
^ You better be going.
Gotcha, what about manaus? England are playing a game there and the place looks to be bang in the middle of the Amazon.
Scientist are also predicting ‘El Nino’ which could raise temperatures beyond normal?
^Manaus is pretty much the hottest major city, the mouth of the amazon.
In other news, Thiago Alcantara out…that’s really bad…
If Yugoslavia was still a country their first 11 could’ve been
Begovic
Corluka, Ivanovic, Subotic, Srna
Matic
Modric Rakitic
Kovacic
Pjanic
Dzeko
Incredible really. Great story on a Bosnian Player
Nasri being omitted from the french squad is ridiculous, he’s been exceptional this season
It was definitely personal. Blanc made a statement saying Nasri doesnt like coming off the bench and that he gives off negative energy and doesn’t give 100% i.e I just don’t like the guy. The French sqaud is still somewhat stacked with a bunch of Ligue 1 all stars. Don’t think anyone was as upset as Anara though.
I guess she’s upset about not getting a free trip.
Atletico face their day of reckoning tonight, will they choke like they’ve done for so long before or have things finally changed?
apparently there are going to be less than 500 Atletico fans in the Nou Camp tonight. really hope they don’t choke, its incredible that barca managed to get back into from where they were. 100-1 for the title only 2-3 weeks ago.
I’m definitely watching la liga instead of the fa cup, how often do the top 2 teams in a league meet on the final day of the season.
Right after I’ve watched St Johnstone list the Scottish cup
Ha Ha Love it.
Real Madrid and their shiny expensive players and Braca the tax dodging jammy bastards have nowhere to hide now. A team built at a price less than Ronaldo’s hair shampoo products have just overthrown them.
10 min in, you loose two of your best players to injury, you then go a goal down, you’re playing in a stadium with 95,000 hostile faces, your fans are crying in their corner…they’ve seen this before, they know how it ends, you’re perennial chokers. You don’t belong here.
Half time comes around, This is an Atletico built on Diego’s image. They fly out of the blocks…aggressive, mean, sneaky and 2 min later they get their equalizer and never relequish control from then. Brilliant.
Vamos Atletico. The Barca fans were chanting Atleti Atleti at the end. Even they knew how monumental this achievement was
Take note Real…Your millions can buy you the best players, the best stadium and the favor of referees. It will never buy you heart and you will never have character.
I think it is odd you are pulling for Atletico but hate Chelsea’s style, given that they are stylistically very similar teams.
Cost of chelsea striker - 50 million pounds. Not 50 million generated out of revenue or smart marketing but 50 million out of a sugar daddy’s pocket.
Cost of At Madrid first 11 - Roughly the same built over a timespan of 5 years with patience and hardwork.
Chelsea - 2nd richest team in England with Mourinho in charge- A man who insults his colleagues, put’s pressure on the officials, gouges out people’s eyeballs and whines about not having a striker. He had the best young striker in Lukaku in the world and sent him on loan btw and shifts the blame on everyone except him.
At madrid - Financially constrained, up against the muscle of Real and Barca who dominate TV Revenue for some strange reason, a team who are chokers but they have Diego bloody Simeone in charge. The man is humble, never shifts the blame and said from day one the team which wins the league deserves to win it. Compare that statement to Mourinho’s shit about “Little Horses”.
Chelsea - Fans don’t make any noise except for waving some shitty plastic flags.
At Madrid- Fans who are passionate and as real as you can get.
Again, do you realize that on a footballing basis, they are the same style of team? Why do you care how much money they spend?
Eh it is simple.
Chelsea are bankrolled by a billionare and are run by a person who is self-proclaimed as the ‘Special one’.
At Madrid are broke as fuck and run by a man who is passionate and puts his heart into what he does.
I hate both styles of play but i pulled for At Madrid because they were the ultimate underdog. Chelsea as long as Roman Abrahamovic is their owner will never be that.
How is Liverpool any different from Chelsea then? Granted BR isn’t a world class tool the way Mou is, but still, effectively it is a rich man’s Arsenal. (with history)
You answered your own question 
Another big difference is culture of the club. Chelsea as a club are uninspiring. Their fans leave the stadium in the 85th min to beat traffic and if they are loosing they call for the managers head.
Liverpool fans at 3-0 down with their team hopelessly outclassed lit flares and sang their hearts out in defiance.
At Madrid fans filled out their stadium for the last decade to watch their team get thrashed by Real and Barca. They deserved this. If a Billionaire had bought them and splashed some cash on excellent players i’d have struggled to get behind them too. But they did it the hard way and the ‘right’ way.
watching the Atletico team fight for each other and their fans in the Nou Camp with less than 500 fans, 2 best players off injured and a goal down momentarily reminded me of what football is really about.
Then I remembered that the team will get picked apart over the summer and probably go back to fighting for a champions league spot next year.
I also don’t think that Chelsea and Atletico have very similar styles. Their teams are built upon solid defenses but that’s really the only similarity.
I avoid this thread because Isildurr embarasses all Liverpool fans.