Does anyone cheer the French outside of France?

Doubt it.

Maybe when Zidane was in, and Henry too. The young-ish Gunner fans used to worship Henry. Nowadays not so much.

Quebec?

Nice one, Han.

Yeah, I'll be rooting for Ukraine as well. Hope for some karma for Henry's hand goal vs Ireland.

Exactly. And for the remaining two sports, I'm all for Greece and Croatia! For obvious reasons!

France have more interesting players than Ukraine so I'm rooting for them.

As for Sweden-Portugal... GO SWEDEN! it's most probably going to be Zlatan's last world cup, and to be honest I like Zlatan's magic more than Cristiano's athleticism. Portugal are more interesting overall but I can do without them.

I want to see both in the world cup. It would be a shame if there was a world cup that did not include either one of them. Both are easily the best at what they do on the pitch. That being said. Ronaldo still has a couple of world cups left in him while you're right about Ibra, this will be his last one

Yeah of course it's a shame that one of them has to miss the World Cup. I'll miss not seeing Ibra at the World Cup for one last time, but wouldn't be bothered much if Portugal went through.

Would rather both of those through than some of the teams that are through, their own fault I guess but the World Cup will lack either one of them.

Ibra all the way. Thuggish personality aside, I just love him as a football player. And he was great with us.

I'll support France. I see no reason for supporting Ukraine; on the other hand I'd be sad to see a WC winner like France or a player like Ribery missing out on a big tournament. Also, they've got some young talents who need to grow, and Brazil is the perfect place for a step forward. Finally, I kind off like Deschamps.

Ha, you saw right through me, Fillipo, with that obvious reasons comment. Hopefully, dst and Nova did too. On that token, I must say though, that Croatia NT has always been my perennial third favorite for some reason. I blame the classic shirt, though they have had some pretty neat players too. Best of luck to you guys!

As much as I love Greece I cant stand that old fart Karagounis anymore. For f sakes, retire allready !

Having that said I think it's obvious Greece is gonna win this world cup. What are the odds , a 1000 to one ?

What were the odds of winning the EUROs?

Oh , 2 to 1

Belgium-Colombia currently underway. Some important names from both sides.

Belgium: Alderweireld, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Witsel, De Bryne, Fellaini, Hazard, Benteke.
Colombia: Zapata, Cuadrado, Armero, Falcao, James Rodriguez, Muriel.

No interest in the pointless England friendlies over the weekend but Portugal - Sweden should be a cracker.

Probably the 2 dark horses for the World Cup.


I'd rather England play than not. Obviously Premier League can't be on because of WC playoffs, might as well make the most of it.

Don't really see a need for these friendlies there pointless the have enough games in the season to get tired and drained. Unless its a qualifier match i really don't see any point in these kind of matches the manager pretty much knows the team he is taking to the world cup bar a few that won't be.


" In general terms, I think most people involved in football feel that these ‘friendly weeks’ are pointless and ultimately self-defeating.

A good manager knows what formations and players he can use anyway, and he is unlikely to decide to take someone to the World Cup off the back of a friendly performance. A coach will have a good idea about what makes an international footballer, and a couple of non-competitive matches will not give you that information. "

The last part answers why it's important to play when you can. First of all we need to know who rounds out the squad, which is why there's nearly 20 players in the squad with less than 25 caps, a good number of those with less than 10 also.

It'll also help limit the "Gerrard and Lampard can't play together" type rubbish. No **** they can't when they only play together about 7 or 8 times a year as it is.

Each to their own though.

Not saying it shouldn't be on, just that I won't be watching a friendly when you have a qualifier like Portugal - Sweden going on.

yep defo watching this big game !!

1 hour to go !

Fair enough I thought you meant we shouldn't be playing! I'll be watching it too, Best striker in the World v Best player in the World. Who's gonna score more over the 2 legs?

I'd be very hard pressed to classify Cristiano Ronaldo as the best striker in the world, mate.

Got both games on.

Sanchez 1-0. Glenn Johnson giving Roy another reason not to take him to the World Cup.

Criscito having a great game. can we please sign him?

Italy playing well, better than Germany.

Ronaldo needs to do it in big games.

I love twitter. England aren't winning a friendly with a reserve side out. Sound the alarm bells, the World is going to end. Half of these England "fans" need shooting in the head, would probably improve their intelligence.

FRANCE!

Great win for Ukraine and with a little more luck it could have been a 3-0 too. **** you France, karma is a b!tch, b!tch!

Should have been! Should have been!

Doesn't matter, not even watching, Italy will still win every competitive game against Germany. It's like a rule of football

People have long stopped accusing him of choking in big games because that doesn't happen anymore. just drop it man

I'm all for Ronaldo winning the Ballon d'Or. Ribery wasn't and isn't as important to his teams as Ronaldo is. especially at club level where Robben seemed to do as much as Ribery, if not more.

Alexis Sanchez is a beast this season.

Yeah about 17 years and still no win, just incredible. they hit the post/bar 3 times, that ball just didn't want to go in.

I guess, but he never does it for Portugal either.

Anymore? It's never happened, that's why me and Ash joke about it.

Great goal from Abate today, first ever senior goal for the Azzurri

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWtrWOuHemE

I can't resist... why did he not help Pirlo out at all in a 2-on-1!? Nice play though, I'd like to see that sort of thing from our fullbacks more.

I was going to mention Abate's goal. brilliant buildup and finish.


What do you mean "never happened", that he never chocked or never did what was expected from him for Portugal?

He never really had an extended period of being bad in big games, which is what a choker is. For some reason it was just something created from nothing.

Because he's a jerk.

Well, international games are different. there's no such thing as an extended period of being bad because there's only a handful of games (or two) played every year. to be considered a great, one has to shine in the majority of them like Zidane did.

I'm a bit pissed how this World Cup will be played (most likely) without Ribery and Ibrahimović. Two of the five best players not around.

Yeah, without Ibra, the world cup will miss an amazing player, but let's be frank, Sweden are a very poor team. It would have been a waste of space IMO.

Ribery, really? He did have a good year, but one of the five best players around? Um...