FIFA World Cup 2010 - Group Stage

Japan draw no bet here looks a decent betā€¦

The Dutch were lucky to win that. If you continue to back 1/2 shots it is a short road to financial ruinā€¦

Iā€™ll be steering well clear of this one

Cameroon and Italy will surely win the next two matches. Iā€™d say Italy especially so but i must see the teamsheets firstā€¦

Mmm a bit to consider after that one. Positives - the Dutch were decent enough at the back. Keeper was a bit of a tard kept kicking the ball away but I suspect altitude was a factor. The players on both sides were fucked from early on. De Jong had a fine game in midfield but was lucky to escape with a shocking two footed tackle. Elia made a serious impression too.

Negatives - the opposition were absolutely shocking so that has to be taken into account when assessing the merits of the Dutch defence. Van Bommel was diabolical in the first half. Get on the ball you fooking tard and dont leave it all to De Jong. The Dutch were far too narrow with Kuyt and Van der Vaart on. Sneijder didnt kill himself too much. A worrying negative was the performance of Van Persie who was beyond useless. His touch was Foley esque (Danny not Art), his movement extremely laboured. The Dutch wont win fook all unless he seriously gets the finger out.

Still and all that is progression as good as ensured. No point risking Robben till the knockouts. De jong will hopefully pick up a yellow card towards the end of the next game to rule him out of the dead rubber. Van Persie aswell.

It is starting to irk me that we are miles better than half the sides at this World Cup. It has been a bit of a shocker thus far.

ā€œI couldnā€™t give you any real assessment of Japan, Darragh. When was the last time weā€™ve seen them play? The last World Cup? Four years ago? I donā€™t know much about them, but anywayā€¦ā€ - John Giles when asked to give his opinion on Japans chances of beating Cameroon today.

He went to to talk about the Cameroon team from the early 90ā€™s and said theyā€™ll have a great spirit but on Japan again he said ā€œto be honest, i donā€™t know.ā€

:lol:

Thatā€™s brilliant

Darragh put up the Japan team there and said ā€œyouā€™re going to love this, John. Hereā€™s the Japan team for you to assess.ā€ Giles went on to say ā€œwell this will be pointless, Darragh. I honestly donā€™t know anything about them, i havenā€™t seen them play in four years. The one player thatā€™s well known is Honda and weā€™ve been making jokes all day that heā€™ll be motoring about the place.ā€ :lol:

Imagine going into a presentation at work and going ā€œI know absolutely nothing about thisā€

Giles is predicting a Cameroon win now.

What a World Cup occasion we are in for. The commentary debut of one Peter Collins.

Some great nuggets of information about the referees from Peter before the off.

Ah this new Cameroon keeper is sure to make a few fuck-ups, he is both wearing a tracksuit pants and is a member of the rap community.

+1. The Nigerian keeper was just the exception that proved the rule.

At least Giles opted not to tell us that the Japanese will struggle from set pieces. I was expecting him to name Marc-Vivien FoĆ© as one of the players weā€™ll be familiar with.

The World Cup has come to the Free State. The Orange Free State.

Peter Collins is off to a fast start as the green light flahes and itā€™s GO!

Former Orangeman Paul Le Guen takes charge of Cameroon for this tournament. The Japs believe they can qualify, but I think they are burying their heads in the sand. Shunsuke Nakamura starts on the bench. But the Cameroon goalkeeper is wearing tracksuit bottoms so theyā€™d be advised to get as many shots in as possible.

Japan
21 Eiji Kawashima
03 Komano
04 Tanaka
05 Nagatomo
22 Nakazawa
02 Abe
07 Endo
08 Matsui
17 Hasebe Captain
18 Honda
16 Okubo

Cameroon
16 Hamidou
02 Assou-Ekotto
03 Nā€™Koulou
05 Bassong
21 Matip
11 Makoun
18 Enoh
19 Mā€™bia Etoundi
09 Etoā€™o Captain
13 Choupo-Moting
15 Webo

This Honda lad looks like he has a good engine. Good in training I believe, loves doing laps. Takes corners well.

Peter Collins must be disappointed that Senna and McLaren wonā€™t be making an appearance at this World Cup. Thatā€™s Marcos Senna and Streve McLaren.

Honda!!!

beep beep

Holy fook, Iā€™ve seen some shite association football matches in my time. West Germany v Argentina 1990, Red Star Belgrade v Marseille 1991, Ireland v Iceland 1996. This is on course to top the lot.

And yet again the writerā€™s curse has struck. Honda drives Japan into the lead.