Poland V Colombia
(Synopsis in red)
Pregame bets:
James should be fully fit for the game and rearing to get a goal to start his World Cup in earnest.
€3.00 Single
Poland v Colombia – Anytime Goalscorer James Rodriguez 12/5
Going for Colombia who have slightly more skill to beat a Poland who lack any creativity.
€5.00 Single
Colombia 5/4
Full betting review here>https://www.thisdrinkinglife.com/top-bets-of-the-world-cup-2018/
A nice handy win, James didn’t score but what a game he played, brilliant.
Beers: Group H of Beer World Cup:
Club Colombia up against Polish heavy hitter Tyskie. Might be a battle royale, or perhaps just a damn squid. Let see.
Was hard to separate Club Colombia and Tyskie. Both came cold from the fridge, and both were enjoyable in the hot breezy summers evening, while the football was on. Since I quite liked the two beers, I decided a draw would be the fairest result.
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PreGame:
Against Senegal Poland didn’t do very much. The game started off end to end but without any clear cut chances, fairly even, but after a while it was Senegal who were doing all the pressing. On the box the commentators were not impressed with both teams, but I thought Senegal played some good football. They passed it well, were pacey and lively, showed some great ball control and pressed high up the field. They also created some decent chances, Niang in particular missing an easy opportunity to get on the score sheet.
The goal that did come was a bit of good fortune, getting a bad deflection off Cionek who diverted a shot into his own net. Was a lucky goal, but no more than Senegal deserved as Poland did nothing in the first half.
Senegal did drop the tempo a bit in the second half, but Poland didn’t react at all. And after Senegal poxed another goal from a comedy goal they kind of gave up. The goal was a mix up between midfielder Krychowiak who booted an aimless back pass towards his goalkeeper Szczesny, who wasn’t expecting it and came off his line to intercept, but he missed it and Niang got the bounce and scored into an empty net to make it two nil.
If Poland were dead before that then they were well buried after that goal. With 20 minutes to go they looked out for the count. Eventually they did get a goal back with a good header by Krychowiak, but with 4 minutes left it was too little too late.
This result, and the Japanese one in the first game, sets up a mouth watering tie today between Poland and Colombia where the loser exits the World Cup, possibly earlier than expected.
Colombia: In the Colombia V Japan match, I knew Japan would score goals, but I never guessed they would come out as victors. Excellent win, and fully deserved as they totally had Colombia in their pockets all through the second half. Well done Japan.
Was surprised to see Honda not starting then I see Rodríguez is also not playing. What kind of crazy shenanigans is this from the managers!
A fast break at the start rattled Colombia and ended up with C Sánchez touching the ball in the box with his hands. That’s a big no no and so he was sent off and gave away the penalty, a peno that Kagawa dispatched with no bother. Great start from Japan.
It took Colombia along time to get back into the game after that shock to the system. And they did. It resulted in an open ended game with both teams running at each other, hell for leather. A great contest to see. The Japanese defence holding up very well though.
Cuadrado was surprisingly taking off by José Pékerman after half an hour, which was kind of strange but I did say in my preview he is a donut of a manager, so what gives. They could have done with him in the second half as Colombia had no pace by then.
Colombia did come back from a free kick. It was never a free kick but well done to Quintero for fooling everyone and kicking it under the wall. Very clever goal. Also funny to see the Japanese goalkeeper protest, was the sun in his eyes or what?!
In the second half Japan came out all guns ablazing and pretty much that’s what the whole second half was all about. Relentless attack after attack from Japan, intricate shot passing to get behind the Colombian defence there pressure played dividends when in 73rd minute, Osako, who had a fine game, scored with a power header, from a lovely out swinging cross by Honda (who eventually came on!).
Japan held on to record a famous win, and totally unexpected result, and another shock in this years World Cup. Japan now know probably one more point might be enough to get them through, while Colombia know that a loss today against Poland and they are out early.
A more detailed review on Poland here and on Colombia here
Well well well, that result has certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons. Colombia have shown that they might be a dark horse in this years world cup, a team that can play good football, pass it on the deck and can score goals. Plus in James Rodríguez the have a truly world class star and play maker.
It was a big game for both teams, a win was needed, lose and you are out of the World Cup. The atmosphere was electric (mostly thanks to the Colombian fans) and the tension high. Poland started livelier but as the game went on there was really only one team in this game, Colombia!
Mojica from banging long balls up from defense, 
causing all sorts of problems on both wings, Barrios working hard as a defensive midfielder, while James Rod was doing his thing in the centre of the park. It was all Colombia and Poland had nothing to stop them.
From a short well worked corner, Mina headed home the first goal, put on a plate for him by Rodríguez, excellent. The second came from Falcao, on the 70th minute, just when I thought he was not doing much he pops up to score a real strikers goal, placing coolly beyond the Polish goalie, brilliant. Not even 5 minutes later we got the third, another great pass by Rodríguez to this time set up Cuadrado, who capped off a fine performance with a well taken goal, scoring with little difficulty. It is so easy for these Colombian fellas.
Colombia looked great today and you would imagine they should have too much in the arsenal to beat a limited enough Senegal, while Poland have only respect to play for against a decent Japanese team. This World Cup keeps getting better and better.
Music to get you in the mood
KAMIL BEDNAREK Feat MATHEO – TALIZMAN (Poland) V Ekhymosis – Solo
Started very brightly, Deli Alli was sprightly and on fire early on, while Sterling missed a complete sitter. England were strong in attack and caused Tunisia all sorts of problems that they couldn’t cope with. Sure enough England scored early, with a Stone header not saved well and Kane with the rebound. A real poachers goal.
That penalty kind of rattled England a bit and they started to fanny around the pitch as they sometimes like to do, aimless balls and passing back and forth with no decisiveness. Always so frustrating to watch at times, these millionaire footballers so inept at playing what should be a simple game. Alli faded badly in the second, and Sterling was his usual crap self for England, and just when you were losing all hope to live, England get a corner, and to be honest you kind of felt they might jam in a goal from it. And they did. Kane again, good goal, great to get the space and England survive for another day.
But against the run of play Panama had a great chance to equalise when Michael Murillo was one v one with the goalkeeper but Courtois spreadeagled prevented a goal. 
Stones got a free header from a corner, as the Panamanian defenders were more into WWF than concentrating on how to actual defend a set piece. Then shortly after, Lingard was brought down for a penalty which Kane easily dispatched off. Lingard, again, scored a cracking curler in the tip right corner for the third goal. This was getting too easy for England. 
R Torres nearly got his country’s first world cup but badly missed at the far post. Good enough for the cunt, what a shit captain, in everyone’s face throughout most of the game and couldn’t control either himself or his team. But that goal came in the end to Baloy, on a sub, and with a well struck goal put himself into his country’s footballing history books. 
Going with my old fav Honda who won me money in previous tournos. 
A fast break at the start rattled Colombia and ended up with C Sánchez touching the ball in the box with his hands. That’s a big no no and so he was sent off and gave away the penalty, a peno that Kagawa dispatched with no bother. Great start from Japan.
Senegal did drop the tempo a bit in the second half, but Poland didn’t react at all. And after Senegal poxed another goal from a comedy goal they kind of gave up. The goal was a mix up between midfielder Krychowiak who booted an aimless back pass towards his goalkeeper Szczesny, who wasn’t expecting it and came off his line to intercept, but he missed it and Niang got the bounce and scored into an empty net to make it two nil.
Good start to the game from Senegal, and sure enough it didn’t take long for them to take the lead. A lucky goal but Mané wont mind, capitalizing on a bad mistake by the Japanese goalie, Kawashima, who palmed the ball straight into the path of the Senegalese striker. What a gift for Senegal to take the lead.
And I just have a good feeling that they will jinx a peno. There are a lot of penalties in the World Cup so far and the Germans are the masters of getting them, so why not?
Germany were disappointing, I wonder if Low regrets leaving Leroy Sané back home, as they could have done with his pace and vision today. 
I wonder if they didn’t get the penalty would they have scored from free play, ans their forward, Berg had about 3 seriously good chances to put the ball in the net and fluffed them all, poor stuff from him.
German started off fine, stretching Sweden down both flanks, but Sweden showed they could be dangerous early on when Neuer made himself big for Berg to hit it straight at him when through. That was the big scare that should have woken the Germans up.
Now surely Germany would ease to victory and get that second goal. Or so we thought, but the minutes started to tick away, and then Boateng got himself sent off for a silly reckless challenge. It was hard with 11, now it was going to be near impossible with only 10. 
Have a feeling Mexico will push on from the Germany game and hit the ground running, up against a Korean team with nothing to offer, this could be a whitewash. 
Great goal by Lozano, brilliant to get the drag back and the space to rifle it home. Excellent move from the back, and in three lovely movements he was in.
The Korean goalkeeper, Cho Hyun-Woo, has to be commended for keeping his team in it, as he made about 3 or 4 top class saves, one a point blank save from Berg.
R Márquez made an appearance and proceeded to have a brain freeze gifting the ball to Min, who should have done better. Corona came on and I was wondering what Porto got for their 10 million, as he barely made a forward run at all, tripping up over the ball at times. Anyway Korea pulled one back and Mexico held on, just about. 
Against England the Tunisians were quite dirty and physical, and they are the type of team that will offer up loads of frees. Step forward De Bruyne, a man who knows how to hit them. he was so close in the first game, I expect him to get it right this time. 
After the first goal went in Belgium started to play a bit more freely and with more confidence, as the heads dipped a bit for Panama.
Three nil is all good and well for Belgium but I saw a lot of flaws in this game today that would make me very concerned if I was a Belgian fan. One thing that can’t be excused was that Eden Hazard couldn’t give a simple pass all game, well apart from setting up the one goal, he must have lost the ball a million times in the game. He can afford to do that against Panama but will be severely punished if he does that shit v Spain or Portugal for example. And you wonder on why the manager didn’t take him off. I would begin to wonder about Martinez there.
It was a very cynical and dirty Tunisian team who tried to disrupt the play of England all game. They slowed down the game, took their time over frees and throw ins, and players had severe cramp a couple of times. Also for corners they wrestled Kane to the ground time and time again. I will be amazed if they escape the World Cup without a red card! Tunisia might be lucky to get a draw with a similar performance against Belgium today, perhaps, but I doubt it!
Belgium started with much more intensity, and I guess after looking at the England game, they knew that if they get at Tunisia from the get go they might crumble early. And so they did, very early in fact, after about 6 minutes, with Hazard getting and scoring a penalty. We didn’t have to wait long for the next one, ten minutes in fact, for Lukaku to score a nice goal that was well set up. 
Tunisia got one back, but they were never at the races today. Belgium looked good, particularly De Bruyne quietly going about his business behind the forwards, making most of the build up play and assisting in a few of the goals for today. Also for me, Vertonghen in central defence has had a good world cup so far, marshaling his back four very well, a good rock at the back. Belgium got their goal ratio way up today and knowing that a draw against England should be enough to qualify as leaders of the Group. 
Surely to god Brazil will be on fire tomorrow, come on the fuck. Neymar has to get off the mark, surely!
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Brazil started off on fire against the Swiss, in the first game, it was all Brazil, pacey and dominant, and sure enough it wasn’t long before they got on the score sheet with a brilliant goal from Coutinho who curled a lovely goal in off the post, brilliant finish. 
But Costa Rica were fannying around for long spells of the game, not really doing anything of substance, particularly Guzmán who was awful and should have got substituted much earlier than the 72nd minute. He also gave away the silly free that lead to the goal. Costa Rica were also quite a dirty team, constantly fouling every time they didn’t have the ball.
Neymar was active, and he forced Navas off his line to save, early on. He also had another good chance to score but for the reaction save of Navas again. Neymar had the chances but looked a little off the pace just ever so slightly. Remember he still isn’t completely back to full fitness. But it wasn’t all Neymar, Coutinho had a cracking game, with all the good moves starting with him on the ball first. 
Fancy Nigeria to at least play a bit better tomorrow, knowing that they must win will throw the shackles off the team and let them just go for it. I really fancy this bet as I do think there is a goal in their team. While Iceland have scored against much stronger opposition. Plus two tough tacking teams, and end to end football, yeah this is a cracking bet me thinks. 
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Iceland were damn lucky in their first game that Messi missed a penalty, that is something that nearly never happens. It was an unlucky penalty for Iceland to give away, more clumsy than intent from the defender, but truth be told Argentina didn’t deserve the win. They started off great and full of heart, but in the end they found the Icelandic defenders just too strong to get past, and with Messi double marked, a draw was a fair result. A draw they needed and will give them a great chance to get out of the group, starting today against a Nigerian team that are very beatable for the Icelanders.
I would worry about Nigeria. I wonder where their goals will come from, and their general play was all over the place, no structure, a team in only name. 
Nigeria can be very disjointed at times, and terrible to watch on occasion, but when they click boy do they click. Its really all about confidence. They also got some half decent players. Moses is such an awkward player, at times he can be an ass taking potshots from all angles, but other times like today he was opening up the space on the wing and doing so much running at the Icelandic defence, that he had a huge effect on the game today. Then you got Musa, who did very little in the first half, but was extraordinary in the second. Two absolutely brilliant goals, one taken from a quick break, again on the counter, he flicked it up and banged in into the bag of the net, every schoolboys dream, brilliant. The other, running with amazing speed, beating the defence and the goalie at will, back of the net. Brilliant.
Pregame bets:
But after the while the Brazil attack petered out and Switzerland came more into the game, and got the equaliser from a free header. They played well, the Swiss and even though I am not one of his greatest fans, Behrami gave a world class performance today, top stuff. Their defence also held out very well today, Sommer was strong in goals, and we only got the two dives from Lichtsteiner today. I wonder is he not well? (and the cunt was complaining about Neymar diving, he really has a face I’d like to punch)
If Kolarov hadn’t of scored in the first game, from a classy free kick, I doubt Serbia would have got a goal at all, as they missed a few simple chances and they didn’t seem to have their shooting boots on, something that does not bode well for them against defences that are a bit stronger than Costa Rica, like Switzerland’s today. 
A game of two halves, really. Mitrovic scored early doors, from an excellent cross by Tadic, who only a minute beforehand had whipped in a virtually similar cross into the box. This time they scored, and Mitrovic and Tadic were combining well all first half, with most play coming down the left side. At the other end of the pitch, their defence was again solid, the Swiss just couldn’t get pass them at all. 
It was amazing what a goal can do, for the Swiss it reinvigorated them while totally shocked the Serbs who looked like it drained them of all their energy. Shaqiri hit the post with a wonder strike, and you could sense that perhaps there was a win for this Swiss team. Well in the 90 minute that goal came, and Shaqiri was the man to take all the credit, on the break calming slotting it past the on running goal, you just knew he wasn’t going to miss from there. Brilliant, what a turnaround for the Swiss. 
But they were lucky that Poulsen was on form. He had a great game, definitely a man of the match performance, pacing up and down the pitch, scoring a cracker of a goal and also got in a very decisive header near the end to clear the defence. Brilliant work ethic.
Australia can consider themselves a little unlucky in their first game against France what with the dodgy penalty and a fluky goal to concede, and yes they defended well against France but maybe, just maybe, if they had went for it a bit more perhaps they might have gotten more from the game?
We expected Denmark to come out in the second half and normal service would resume, but instead it was all Australia and they were unlucky on a few occasions not to snatch a winning goal. What they lacked in skill they more than made up for it in spirit and tenace. Leckie for Australia was simply outstanding, all over the pitch, left and right, and such a workhorse. he might not be the most technically gifted player but boy does he work his socks off for the team, great performance. 
Denmark left their brains in the dressing room as they played shite in the second half, barely doing anything of substance and their star players were missing. Nothing from Eriksen, Sisto reverted to his usual game of running a bit then losing the ball, Schmeichel getting nutmegged, and what can we say about N Jørgensen, a fucking donkey if I ever seen one, hopeless. I was wondering why the manager took so long to replace him, in the 68th minute then I realized why, as the bench was full of muck too. Braithwaite and Cornelius, who eventually replaced him, and who both came on, were as bad.