Anyhow, Nick Ames’ report is in…
… which means we’re finished here. Thanks all for your company. comments – sorry I couldn’t use them all, but please do keep them coming – and enjoy the next game!
“Sorry Daniel,” begins John Donnelly, “but did you really say if Curacao keep their composure against Ecuador you never know? The same Ecuador that finished second to Argentina in the South America qualifiers, ahead of Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia? Hmmm.. I highly doubt it…”
“You never know” is hardly an emphatic pronouncement,. it’s also worth noting that Quito is the second-highest capital city in the world; Kansas City is not. But of course, Ecuador are strong favourites.
“It would have been interesting to see how Germany would have coped without the first-half water break,” reckons Luke Jones. “They were actually reeling a little before that, and totally regrouped and regained momentum after the break. It’s crazy how we have accepted three-minute quarter breaks as just a routine part of the game. This game was played inside with climate control!”
I’m not sure what choice we’ve got but agree with all the rest. It confers an artificial, unearned advantage,. the man with ultimate responsibility, Gianni Infantino, doesn’t grasp that football doesn’t exist to make money, rather makes money – and lots of it – because it exists.
Rob Smyth is building us up to Netherlands v Japan. which might well be one of the matches of the group stages.
I say that,. at 18, Lamine Yamal, though not at his peak, is good enough right now to be worthy of noting.
And two countries, Brazil and the Netherlands, famous for fantasy attackers, have one, Vinicius Jr, between them. Across the board, we’re probably missing all-time greats at their peaks, but the depth of quality is an outrage.
I’m not sure I can remember a World Cup with this many potential winners –. aside from the countries I mentioned, look out for Morocco, USA and Cote d’Ivoire, all of whom can beat the traditional powers. There are so many brilliant players in the world these days that lots of countries have them,. the athleticism that helps shut them down is uniform.
Do Germany look like potential winners? Well, the best sides tend to improve through the tournament,. it’s rare that the best one in the first round of matches is the one running about with the trophy at the end of the final. But Musiala is good enough to win them any game. Pavlovic is also excellent, but I’d not fancy them against France, Portugal or Spain, and I also think England and Argentina could beat them.
I enjoyed that. As Peter Oh emails, “Despite the scoreline, Curaçao continue to work hard. see out the match with intensity and desire. Lovely to see” – and I agree. There was no headloss, and if they keep their composure against Ecuador, you never know.
Germany are away, but if these group stages deliver a more affirming moment than Curacao’s equaliser, we’ll be doing very well –. we know for almost-certain that they will.
90+5 min Raum, who almost scored a while ago, clearly facies himself a World Cup goal … no, he chips over the wall, but an awkward bounce takes the ball away,. that’ll be full time.
90+3 min Germany are going for eight, mercilessly snapping into challenges and hurling men forward. They'll want this to be a statement victory and win a free-kick just outside the D, just left of centre…
90+2 min The maddest thing about that Germany 7-1 Brazil game is that Brazil came out for the second half. At 5-0, surely you just do a mass runner?
90 min We’ll have five additional minutes.
Are Curacao now as good as Brazil? Goretzka slides into a hard challenge, robbing Antonisse,. when the ball squirts loose, Undav slips a perfect pass in behind for Havertz, lanking through the middle. He does really well to hold off the defender. actually movers slightly wider making his finish harder, but he waits and waits then, when the keeper feels obliged to act, wedges an expert’s finish over his dive, a finessed version of his Champions League final goal.
88 min I don’t often feel this way about 6-1 tousings, but this has been an enjoyable contest, Curacao sticking in it for almost a half. Germany taking their goals nicely, the whole match played at decent tempo.
86 min Undav pulls left. slips a pass in behind for Raum, who shoots low, hard … and straight at Room, who saves well with his feet.
84 min I guess this is giving us decent gen on who Nagelsmann likes – the players not getting on today feel like those least likely to get on during the tournament. I was hoping to see Angelo Stiller, another I think might thrive in slower-paced games,. I guess IU’m not surprised to see Goretzka deployed instead of him.
83 min another Curacao change, Kastaneer replacing Chong, while Germany send on Anton for Kimmich.
80 min I like what I’ve seen of Cote d’Ivoire recently – they’ll be a good test for Germany. the two meet on Saturday – 9pm BST.
Havertz crosses low from the left and though it runs between the various attackers therein, Kimmich retrieves. A poor first touch ruins his own chances of scoring, but he squares for Undav, loitering about the six-yard box,. he finishes off the defender for his seventh goal in his last seven international appearances.
75 min “Comenencia has now scored more goals against Germany than Messi, CR7, Zlatan, Henry, Iniesta and Wayne Rooney.. combined,” says Waw Waw, “including WC, Euro, and friendlies.”
Meantime, Curacao fancy another, Margaritha trying a curler from the left of the box. only just missing the far angle.
74 min A triple change for Germany, Tah, Nmecha. Schlotterbeck taking a blow, with Rudiger, Raum and Goretzka replacing them.
72 min So, back to Michael Meagher, who says “Nagelsmann changed his shirt at half-time! Was he reading the MBM?”
It’s the only plausible conclusion to draw, but what does the writing say?
70 min …and so he is. The goal stands, and it’s now time for a water break, though it’s not especially hot. I daresay Curacao are glad of it.
69 min Was Brown offside? I think he’s on, just…
69 min But VAR wants a look…
Wirtz punches another pass into the box. Undav’s adroit first-time flick around the corner puts Brown in … and he keeps his knee above an awkward bouncing ball to lace a fine finish into the far corner.
68 min Curacao have the ball i the net but the naked eye tells us Leandro Bacuna was miles offside. Meanwhile, Michael Meagher emails …
67 min The other teams in this group, by the way, are Ecuador. Cote d’Ivoire, who meet four-and-a-half hours from now. If Curacao hit a similar level of performance, they may yet surprise us.
65 min Changes: Germany send on Undav for Musiala, who needs protecting, and Curacao try Margaritha for Locadia.
63 min Tah espies Sane running off the shoulder and flights a gorgeous ball that sticks him in! He takes a shot, steadies, opens his body,. punches his first World Cup goal into the far corner … except he sends it wide. You’ll go a long way before you see as clinical, emphatic a miss.
62 min Curacao attack for the first time in a while and win a free-kick down the left. Antonisse swings out, Leandro Bacuna is up … but the ball’s behind him. he can only contort to send it over.
61 min I’ve not seen loads of Brown, but I’ve heard plenty about him. As a good german player. he’s about to do what almost all of them do: leave the club that made him, Eintracht, to join Bayern. I’m not sure where that leaves Alphonso Davies, but it’d be a decent choice to have.
60 min Havertz slides into Brown, running off Floranus. into the box, but there’s a little too much on the ball and I think he’s offside anyroad up.
58 min I wonder if we might see the best of Wirtz in this environment. We know he’s got brilliant imagination. touch around the box – the problem he has is the speed of the game in England, and his relative physical and defensive weaknesses. I fear he may be a player around whom a team needs to be built. which is not something the best ones tend to do.
56 min “With public broadcaster ARD here in Germany having simply shocking commentators,” says Francis Lee. “I elected to watch their kids’ channel stream with a 12-year-old on co-comms. Far more bearable – oh, plus he said “Scheisse!” when Curacao grabbed that unlikely equaliser.”
54 min Germany are pushing for five, Nmecha having a shot blocked. Havertz firing wide when the ball break back to him. It’s a bit like when England beat San Marino 7-1 in 1993 – all anyone remembers is Davide Gaultieri’s goal.
52 min “Making the most of the country’s spotlight,” says Daniel Voskoboynik, “I would encourage people towards the liberatory literature of Elis Juliana, the music of Oswin Chin Behilia. Izaline Calister, the genre-universe of tambú. Smallness is not the opposite of greatness.”
Absolutely not – I’ll look forward to looking that stuff up when we’re done here but. in the meantime, feel free to send in any playlist you have.
50 min A quickly taken free-kick. Nmecha is down the side of the box, leathering a rising shot which Room beats away.
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