It’ll be here soon.
Are we bothered? How will WE do? Do we care anymore?
What’s going on with the Germans (“You wouldn’t bet against them, Gary.”)
Will Brazillian’s Hip Priest manager repair the nightmares of the 7-1?
Will Panama do an Iceland?
More importantly, has anyone seen a decent wall chart yet?
Moose the Mooche says
I think Russia will do an Iceland. And their fans will do… absolutely anybody in.
Mousey says
I’m not at all interested, but folks here may find this amusing
https://www.wearedorothy.com/blogs/boredroom-news/dorothy-s-world-cup-classic-albums-round-one
Tiggerlion says
Brilliant stuff. Love The Bends especially.
fortuneight says
I plan to watch as many games as I possibly can. I downloaded a fixture list just this morning. I know I’ll be sick of it by the the time the group stages are over, but until then I’m fully in.
duco01 says
Fortune, you might want to give Sweden v. South Korea (18 June) a miss – I’m convinced that match is going to be a big-bore, full-snore, no-score draw.
Black Celebration says
I am thinking Spain v Portugal might be like that too.
fortuneight says
You could well be right. The opening game is also usually a guaranteed 0-0 – indeed most opening group games seem to be played on the basis that it’s more important not to lose than it is to win. Morocco v Iran might also be an attention tester.
I’m supposed to be travelling on July 15th. I could delay the trip and fly on the 16th. Maybe if I leave the flights unchanged I’ll give England the boost they almost certainly need.
Black Celebration says
As usual I find myself optimistic about England’s chances. The U20 and U17 sides have won their tournaments and, apparently, Southgate was a supporter of the “England DNA” methods used by those teams. From what I understand (which is not a lot) the idea is that the players arrive for training already knowing what the preferred style of play is i.e. less time is needed to explain – in theory they arrive ready.
I also like the idea of a young/fresh/keen bunch of players.
Mike_H says
It’s always good to embark on these things with some optimism, so that it can be crushed later.
Gatz says
I’ll have a lot of it on the background I’m sure. I don’t have a horse in the race, to mix my sporting metaphors, so just hope for plenty of eventful, entertaining games.
Moose the Mooche says
My money’s on Jesse Owens.
dai says
Do they still have “Panini” (?) sticker books? Remember lovingly collecting them first in 1970.
Moose the Mooche says
Oh yes. On prominent display in most shops. You can now get a little tin to keep your “swappers” in.
Bought by more bearded men than apple-cheeked urchins I suspect.
duco01 says
Indeed, a few days ago, the Guardian made a 10-minute video about modern Panini “stickerheads”….
https://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2018/jun/01/meet-the-stickerheads-the-people-keeping-panini-alive-in-the-digital-age-video
Moose the Mooche says
Did you know that if you take one of these books and put the stickers in upside down , you can be sentenced to death in Uruguay?
Bloke in the pub said
davebigpicture says
Are Esso doing “coins” this time?
fortuneight says
I still have my set. Probably not a thing to be proud of I suppose.
Moose the Mooche says
And to think, you could have had some shitey wine glasses instead.
davebigpicture says
You won’t be able to retire on the proceeds.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/esso-coins
fortuneight says
I cannot lie – that’s a little disappointing. Even with all the Esso badges it seems barely worth a curry. I think the wine glasses would have been a better investment.
Moose the Mooche says
Well my parents had some and they broke so easily that I think they might have been made of sugar.
Mike_H says
I still have 5 of the 6 wineglasses left and 3 of the 4 half-pint tumblers I and my dad collected. I think ours were from Shell petrol stations.
These days the tumblers get used for wine drinking as well as for G&Ts, so the wine glasses are just for collecting dust now. They don’t sound as nice as the crystal glasses I also have, for posh, when you ping them.
Paul Wad says
I find it quite sad that my disillusionment…is that a word?…with football these days is such that I won’t be watching any of it. In my nursing days I used to be begging and swapping shifts so I never missed a match. I even brought my wedding forward 2 weeks so that there would be no arguments on honeymoon when I wanted to go and watch the World Cup games. But these days I don’t watch any football apart from my own team, Barnsley, where I’m a season ticket holder. And the way we played last season I didn’t see much decent football there either.
I just can’t identify with the players any more. The game is now all about money and the big half a dozen teams. After Barnsley got taken over last year, due to the death of our previous owner, there are only 5 clubs in the country with richer owners than us. Thankfully they’re not going to throw the money about to chase promotion to the Premiership like Wolves, Bournemouth and Leicester did, because I’d probably lose interest totally if we became another club like that and stick to following the local non-league team. It just breaks my heart to see what has become of the game I was obsessed about for so long and if you had told me I would feel like this 20 years ago I would have laughed at you. Yet I am so distanced from it that I had never even heard of Mo Salah until a couple of months ago.
The other big reason I won’t watch football on the telly is the acceptance that cheating has become part of the game. I watched about 10 minutes of a Man City game a while back. I knew that Aguero scored loads of goals and was supposed to be a great player, but all I saw from him was diving and feigning injury, which he did 3 times in the 10 minutes I saw. Pathetic. And the ‘experts’ employed by Sky can’t pick him up on it for fear of ruining the ‘brand’. Instead we get told that the young defender he dived over showed his inexperience in allowing Aguero the chance to win the foul. And the next time I hear anyone say ‘he was entitled to go down’ I will launch something at the telly!
All that said, I have recorded all the official FIFA World Cup films and I’m enjoying watching those again. I just watched the 1978 one this morning, having watched the 1970 and 1974 ones over the past couple of days. The 1978 World Cup is the first one I remember watching, so it’s great to watch all those goals again, particularly the Archie Gemmill one against Holland that had us jumping off the settee. 1982 next and I still think that’s the best World Cup I’ve seen. When I went to Wembley to watch Barnsley a couple of years ago one of my mates went for a wander round the shop and when he came back he said that he’d just bought the ‘best England shirt ever’ for £25, so me and another mate immediately replied ‘what, the 1982 Kevin Keegan one?’ and promptly went and bought them too!
The only interest I have this year is that I hope John Stones does well, as he’s a local lad and went to the school that my daughter goes to. She gets very excited when she sees him around the town! I did have a look at the fixtures the other day though, as I wasn’t sure who was in England’s group or even who had qualified, and I was shocked by how poor it all looked. By increasing the teams and particularly by increasing the African and Asian teams (I’m not necessarily saying that’s a bad thing), it has watered the competition down somewhat. I could only really see Spain v Portugal and England v Belgium as ‘big’ games out of the 48 first round fixtures.
fentonsteve says
My biggest surprise of being a parent is that I actually enjoy watching football, but only my son’s U14 matches. Unfortunately I’ve noticed an increase in diving, shirt-pulling and querying the ref as the players hit 13. One opposing player spent so much time “falling” I asked him if he would consider ballet instead. I’m hugely proud that my lad’s team won “cleanest team in the league” this year (voted by the opposing teams), even if they did end up near the bottom of the table.
I have a fiver in an office sweepstake, team names to be pulled out of a hat on Friday. I probably still won’t watch many matches though.
johnw says
I hope John Stones does well too but I’m not very hopeful. In fact anything better than no overconfident howlers would be a bonus in my books. I must admit, due mainly to not seeing any Champions League for a couple of seasons, I’ve got a bit out of touch with international players outside the premier league but I have to be fearful of Germany as they’ve left out Sane… surely if he was English, he’d be pretty much the first name on the list each time!
Leedsboy says
I think there is less cheating in football than there used to be. You only need to look at the 1970 Cup Final, Italy v Chile in 1962, Schumacher and Battiston in 1982. There is so much violence in these games and that violence is cheating. It’s just the ref’s did very little about it. It’s actually all the pontificating about the cheating that gets my pip.
Moose the Mooche says
It’s all the pontificating about football that gets my pip.
(I don’t mean us of course, I mean those shiny berks on the telly)
Tiggerlion says
In days of yore, the national teams were usually better and more exciting to watch than club sides. These days, dozens of club teams would beat most of the World Cup semi-finalists. Even Germany would struggle against Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man City, Juventus etc…
Just look at each league. How many of the top six in the Premier League would the current England team beat?
Moose the Mooche says
Sculcoates AFC play on the field at the back of my house. I bet some of the filler teams in the group games would get a good game out of them. The quality of their shouting is pretty impressive to start with.
Gary says
As always, I’ve bet a small fortune on Italy to win. I got really, really good odds this time.
Ahh_Bisto says
I’ll watch the England games if I can and some of the others. As a Spurs fan I enjoy the fact we have a few players in the squad and I also admire Southgate’s decision to go with youth which is a policy that has served Spurs well to date under Poch (although I do feel now is the time to buy in some experienced players).
I don’t think we’ll go all the way, I suspect that youth and inexperience will count against us in a key game but hopefully that’ll be in the latter knockout stages. I also hope that the players will genuinely try and do their best. I fear it’ll be what happens off the pitch with the fans that will grab the headlines and will taint the media’s presentation of how we actually perform on the pitch if and when we lose.
I’m not sure Kane is the right person for captain but I think he’s the best kind of “football brand” to represent the English team at the moment. He doesn’t covet media attention or try and come over as anything other than a man who enjoys playing football. His social media presence is there but he seems to know when to speak and when to shut up. Perhaps some of my doubts about his role as captain is that he doesn’t have a strong “personality” defined by what he says and does off the pitch so he’s less obvious as a choice. But maybe we need a throwback to a Bobby Moore type captain, someone who is self-aware and not self-entitled and I hope that that kind of statesmanlike stewardship is what he brings to the squad behind the scenes. He’s not fully fit yet but he is getting sharper and some of his link-up play on Saturday was encouraging to see.
I don’t know many of the players in the full squad but I’m looking forward to seeing the newer ones play and I genuinely hope that one or two of them can shine and become talismanic for the team in the competition sooner rather than later. It would be nice just to see those kinds of headlines where everyone goes OTT about a positive performance rather than a bad one.
dai says
I seem to remember that Kane was unaware that England were out when they lost to Iceland in the Euros. But maybe he has “football intelligence”? Not sure captain means anything anyway, someone who is bound to play and has a few caps is chosen, but what do they actually do on the pitch? Toss a coin and exchange rosettes.
Ahh_Bisto says
He was terrible in that game.
Lemonhope says
Feel his ferocious heat
Moose the Mooche says
Oh I say
duco01 says
Re: “But maybe we need a throwback to a Bobby Moore type captain…”
Well, I’d agree with you there, Bisto. But we wouldn’t want Harry Kane getting arrested and detained for three weeks on suspicion of nicking a bracelet from a jewellers’ shop in Volgograd…
Baron Harkonnen says
I may watch the England games only because friends have insisted that I `turn out`, no excuses. They are right I hardly go out these days, health issues but I am positively managing these issues so going to the pub will be part of that.
The only problem I have is where the tournament takes place – Russia. Putin will have that rat-eyed smirk on his fuckin` face when trying to present his human side. There is no humanity in that tw%t and the same goes for the rest of his robber baron cronies. At this time the Russian people are as brain-washed/afraid as the American people…Feck it that`s enough.
Moose the Mooche says
If I had any friends who were going I’d be extremely worried. There has never been a worse time for a British person to go to Russia. At least in the USSR you could probably expect some basic human sympathy from ordinary people. Now they all hate us with a passion that Uncle Joe could never have imagined. What happens if there’s trouble and you end up in the police cells or even just a hospital? You’re bumped off in some suitably weird way and then someone pops up on RT to say that it never happened and anyway MI5 fid it.
And that’s if you’re white, male and straight. If you’re not… do you feel lucky? How much do you really want to watch a second-rate football match?
Moose the Mooche says
Did not fid.
AW’s first use of RT to refer to something other than the Balmoralmeister.
Baron Harkonnen says
I wouldn`t go to the WC Finals even if I was paid to go, the food is shyte anyway and there`s only bootlegs in the record shops and Putin`s a c%nt. A good thing is the Rusky footie team is shyte.
Sewer Robot says
Ah! But you’re forgetting World Cup tournament ..er.. anomalies, particularly with respect to hosts: South Korea in extra time against Italy in 2002, Argentina requiring six goals against Peru in 78, that one being “over the line” in 66..
Baron Harkonnen says
Aye not to mention Russian cheating tw&ts and drugs and that c¥nt Putin.
Ainsley says
Despite the years of let-downs as an England supporter, I am nevertheless champing at the bit to get this underway, as much for the joy of watching other teams show off their chops as any realistic hope of England going further than the first round of knockout games.
I lost all interest in football around my 14th birthday when I discovered “proper” music (and then girls) but when my kids started to take an interest in playing (aged 6-8 in the mid 90’s) I got back into it BIG time and have been fanatical ever since.
I will be watching as many games as I can get away with (GLW is not a fan).
duco01 says
I have two citizenships,and both nations have qualified for the World Cup. That means I have TWICE as many opportunities to celebrate victories and general glory as the average fan. OH HURRAH!
So let’s just check out these two worderful national teams then, shall we?
England – will almost certainly be crap
Sverige – kommer säkert att vara skitdåligt
So … erm … as you were, then.
Locust says
Well, a good excuse to drink twice as much then? 😉
duco01 says
Yes … I suppose I can have two small dry sherries instead of one!
dai says
British (Welsh) and now Canadian so I am 0/2. Will grudgingly support England as the only UK representative. I kind of hope they do well without winning it, if that can be understood.
Rigid Digit says
I will watch some of the games because they are on – only the England games will I (sort of) make a point of watching.
Only the Final is a “must see” for me (ie I’ve watched them all since 1982, so why stop now).
I can only echo the feeling is detachment and disillusionment at the moment – just doesn’t seem to have the same excitement anymore (too much football on TV? Getting old?)
On the plus side, I haven’t noticed the usual “bigging up” of England’s chances. I’ve not heard anyone say “this is our year”, the team has not been dubbed The Golden Generation or The Glittering Hope (not even The Best We Can Muster) – Harry Kane did say something about a chance of winning, but I think Mr Southgate had a quiet word (I think Gareth Southgate only has quiet words, I’ve never seen him animated in anyway)
fentonsteve says
There’s not even a crap song clogging up the charts like a turd that won’t flush. Or have I just been spared the misery?
Twang says
I don’t follow any team or take much interest in footy these days but I like the world cup. I just hope an England team of young sappy quick players will at least give a decent show for a few matches. I’ll be watching England plus any other interesting games. France and Italy losing is always a joy too.
dai says
You won’t see Italy lose in this World Cup.
Twang says
Sure but that alone is a constant pleasure.
paulwright says
Too soon. Still hurting after Kiev.
I’m sure I’ll pick up soon.
Maybe after Ramos stops saying our team are soft because they can’t take a punch. Or a judo throw.
Actually maybe I’ll just support who ever is playing Spain. (oh, that appears to include Ronaldo, and Iran…. so, er, come on Morocco?)
duco01 says
I believe Morocco is one of the nations competing to host the 2026 World Cup. The FIFA vote is next week. Exciting. I’m sure all FIFA votes are scrupulously fair, without a hint of corruption.
Black Celebration says
It’s Morocco vs USA/Canada/Mexico.
I still hold out some hope for England stepping in at the 11th hourfor the 2022 tournament.
duco01 says
The US, Canada and Mexico all together? That’s a gigantic area! They could have one group based on Baffin Island and one in Mexicali, Mexico. Some pretty big temperature differences there….
paulwright says
so if USA/Canada/Mexico wins, who gets the free place in the finals? Or is it all 3?
And hey, according to Transparency international Morocco is less corrupt than Mexico. (and in our time zone so I vote for Morocco).
Moose the Mooche says
USA…? Remember Diana Ross. That’s all I’m saying.
Sewer Robot says
The Qatar World Cup reminds me of the joke about the Irish astronauts going to the Sun. Upon being asked about the heat, they reply that they will be going “at night”. Thus, the QWC is scheduled for the “cool” time.
When the plan goes tits up the tournament will surely “come home” B.C. as the Eurovision system will be employed, with the holders getting to host
Moose the Mooche says
Russia again then.
Sewer Robot says
Although I would add that Brazil tried and failed to win the World Cup in 82 with no defence or goalkeeper and a mascot playing up front and France failed in the same decade without top class strikers or defenders, Potugal’s “Golden Generation” was stymied by the absence of a goal scorer*…
England seem to be embarking without a midfield to speak of and attempting to compensate for the absence of any decent defenders by picking them all.
But, f**k it, I will be rooting for y’all and few things get my World Cup juices going quite like the sight of the classic Peru sash…
(*and all those teams’ other players were f*ckin’ ace!)
Black Celebration says
I like your thinking @sewer-robot. I like the addition “as holders”.
count jim moriarty says
There will be plenty of room for all 3. The finals will have 48 teams by then.
deramdaze says
Rejoice – We have an England manager that seems to “get it.”
And – It’s the first tournament since 1996 that hasn’t involved the 234 (TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY FOUR) caps disaster that was beckhamrooney.
I’d prefer to be watching cricket but … erm … there bizarrely doesn’t seem to be any cricket!
One thing – this team is full of Tottenham players (see 2016) and as Tottenham are in no danger of needing silver polish or, for that matter, even a trophy cabinet when they move back to “The Lane (copyright),” I’m not sure how the whole thing’s going to pan out, but, hey, I made great efforts tonight to move a meeting that might clash with the last 16, so I’m more up for this one than normal … despite it being in Russia, which is a disgrace (see also Qatar).
Moose the Mooche says
Next time it’s in somewhere called Catarrh which seems to be located on the surface of the sun. The future’s very orange.
Junglejim says
I’m looking forward to it more than I expected.
I think a season of live footy has re kindled my love for the whole rigmarole – but I confess I watched both the FA Cup & European Cup Finals with a certain jaundiced detachment – maybe the WC will pan out similarly. I hope not.
2 major bummers for me. The host nation. Just yuck on so many levels, & the antithesis of what anybody would conceive of as the setting for any kind of carnival. I honestly just hope nobody gets killed.
The other is no Italy. Even though England is my team, the Azzuri have always been a great fall back to root for when England inevitably balls it up. I fell under their spell in ’82 when they destroyed the dastardly West Germans after having seen off everybody’s darlings, Brazil. Endlessly frustrating, & ‘professional’ but usually with glorious talent only seen in glimpses, I love ’em & the WC will be much poorer without them.
I actually think England might do OK – they should be mostly young enough to have the fearlessness of youth & it’s a tournament not a league, so the rub of the green can take you a long way. I do fear for Jones, Stones & Cahill though. There are forwards who can tie those 3 in knots & may just feel like doing so.
Expectation is low, which is good, so bring it on!
Sitheref2409 says
I shall be mainly watching Iceland who seem a half decent plucky little team who work very hard for each other and understand how important the fans are.
They will also have the best twitter following them – Reykjavik Grapevine
Moose the Mooche says
Anybody else singing this now? “The Reykjavik Grapeviiiiiine… not much longer would you be mine…The Reykjavik Grapeviiiiiiine…and I’m just about to lose my mind!”
….I’ll get me puffin.
Sitheref2409 says
#smite
Tony Japanese says
I’ll try and watch as many games as I can. My wife and I have reached an unspoken agreement where every two years, I’ll watch 40 + games on the TV/Laptop in about six weeks, and for the rest of the time I’ll only watch the team I support if they’re on normal TV.
Freddy Steady says
Good news…When Saturday Comes has a half decent wall chart.
Moose the Mooche says
Shouldn’t the world cup special be called something like When Thursday Morning Comes?
Mike_H says
When The Federal Security Service Comes And Locks Us All Up is more likely.
Moose the Mooche says
Well this makes it look absolutely delightful.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44385630
PS. when did the England football team become the “Three Lions”?
Bargepole says
Which channel has the best line up though…..interesting both have included female pundits in Alex Scott and Eni Aluko, either for extra insight or to seen to be doing so….
The BBC TV coverage will be fronted by former England star Gary Lineker with Gabby Logan reporting from inside the England camp and further coverage from Dan Walker.
The coverage will be complimented by contributions from former England players including Alan Shearer, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Phil Neville, Jermaine Jenas and Alex Scott. Other studio guests will include World Cup winners such as Jurgen Klinsmann, Didier Drogba and Pablo Zabaleta. Co-commentators include Danny Murphy, Mark Lawrenson and Martin Keown.
Over on ITV, coverage will be led by Mark Pougatch and Jacqui Oatley.
Pundits include Gary Neville, Ian Wright, Roy Keane, Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs, Henrik Larsson, Lee Dixon, Eni Aluko, Slaven Bilic, Martin O’Neill and referee Mark Clattenburg. Co-commentators include Glenn Hoddle, Ally McCoist and Ian Dowie.
Sewer Robot says
Whatsay we don’t bother broadcasting the detested third place play off and give those studio boys a runout?
I like the look of BBC’s 3-4-3, spearheaded by that tasty Shearer/Drogba/Klinsmann front line (but with the obvious weakness that Phil Neville’s not a natural wing back and Lawro and Rio will both be itching to “step out”with the ball leaving Caveman Keown alone to mind the shop. The big question on the ITV team is will can crankbox Martin O Neill stay wide on the right to allow the “beauty and the beast” Keane/Hoddle centre pairing space to function?
There will be cards – Shearer v Bilic looks like two already.
And plenty of goals since neither team has a keeper…
(Intriguingly, as well as having Shay Given, this tournament’s surprise drop-by over on RTE [and no-one’s expecting them to ever surpass the genius of the worry-for-his-health-level sweaty and mostly requiring subtitling Ossis Ardiles] is U.S. women’s goalkeeper and Star Wars character Hope Solo.
When Damien Duff is whipping one in to the box or Liam Brady is measuring one of his slide rule through balls only Richard Sadlier will be there..)
Moose the Mooche says
The BBC having Neville renders them a veritable Barnstoneworth.
count jim moriarty says
What does having the other Neville make ITV then?
Moose the Mooche says
Not The Meters, that’s for sure.
count jim moriarty says
Up!
Freddy Steady says
Eeeeek. We beat Costa Rica and now have a rare sense of serenity.
Anyhow, chez Freddy we did our World Cup sweepstake last night. Four of us in the house so 8 teams each, a fiver in. I was outvoted and we didn’t base the draw on the seedings but instead it was random.
Amongst my 8 I’ve got Germany, France and Portugal so not too shabby.
Moose the Mooche says
This “Russia-cleaning-up-its-international-image” business is going well…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-44388968/how-a-bbc-crew-was-followed-in-world-cup-2018-russia