A few years ago I watched Panama play in the Gold Cup, the competition for north and central American teams (Concacaf), and I was very impressed. So impressed that I rang my bookie and placed a bet on them to not only qualify for the World Cup but to also reach the last 16 and the last 8. Got odds of about 50/1, 20/1 and 12/1 as far as I can remember. That was way back in 2013, and they had a great tournament playing some scintillating free flowing football, beating Mexico along the way, not once but twice, and just losing to the USA 0-1 in the final. I figured as four teams make the Concacaf qualifying my bet was decent. Well unfortunately they missed out on making the play offs when beating an already qualified USA, they somehow managed to lose the game and ship two goals in injury time to lose the game 3-2. Ah well.
Well time changes, as for this years World Cup, they got their own slice of lady luck when they beat Costa Rica 2-1 with a goal two minutes from time to move them into automatic qualifying, and the fact that the USA somehow lost to Trinidad and Tobago a score that no one foresaw and resulted in the USA not going to Russia. I guess the long wait was worth it, two minutes from time to qualify for the biggest stage.
What do I know about the present team? Not a lot, most of their team play in the MLS in the US, and that this time the standard in the Concacaf region was pretty tame. It was nearly harder not to qualify (well done USA!). They are also ranked 56th in the Fifa rankings, which isn’t great, and were recently hammered 6-0 by Switzerland in a friendly. In a group with European powerhouses Belgium and England, and Tunisia, I fear it wont be a pretty World Cup for them at all. I think they will be doing very well to get even one point from the three games.
One face that does look familiar is the manager Hernán Darío Gómez, the wily Colombia has previous in the World Cup, having taking Colombia and Ecuador to the world stage on two separate occasions. One would hope that Gómez has a learnt a few tricks up his sleeve if he wants Panama to progress, but well done on getting them there in the first place.
In the last six tournaments they have made the last 16 but no more, playing good football along the way. But its like a mental thing that stops them from progressing to the last eight. Its not like they haven’t done it before, they have twice before in 1986 and in 1970, but for a team of the quality of Mexico, 32 years is a long time to break that barrier.
Rafael Márquez is back for his fifth World Cup, yes his fifth! He is a wily old player, 39 to be exact, world class in his day, but I do wonder what the hell he is doing back with the team considering his two mistakes cost Mexico in the last World Cup and got them knocked out by the Dutch. Could he not have just let it go? Actually looking at the squad, it is quite an old squad, Héctor Moreno also a rock in defence (30), Andrés Guardado (31) and Giovani dos Santos (29) back in midfield and Javier Hernández (30) upfront. This will be the final swansong for a lot of the Mexican players on the world stage.
Can they do it this time and finally make the last eight? I dont think so. For two good reasons. Germany and Brazil stand in their way of doing that. I think they have a good chance of getting out of their group, they probably will lose to Germany, but definitely have the ability to beat both Sweden and South Korea. This will set up a second round game with most likely Group E champs Brazil. And no further forward will they go. Sadly.
Switzerland have qualified for the last eight European and World Cup Competitions on the bounce. Not a bad stat that. But whats not so impressive is that they have done fuck all once they get to a major tournament. It looks like they do just enough to qualify and leave it at that.
The last World Cup, they were thoroughly shocking. Did the bare minimum to get out of an easy group that included a poor Ecuador, and an even worse Honduras, and lost 5-2 to an average French team. But the worst for me was when they had a piss poor Argentina on the ropes for a good twenty minutes. They basically were playing touch football and toying with them while the crowd were doing ole ole’s from the stands. But the obscene thing is that after getting the better of the Argentinian midfield, they gave up, totally. Was truly an awful sight to see. Compare a team like Iceland to a team like Switzerland and you can understand what I am talking about, men versus boys. Ok to be fair some of their players played well, Rodríguez, Shaqiri, Fernandes all having a decent tournament, but as for the rest of their prima donas, meh!
But nothing seems to have changed as we can see from the qualifying game against Northern Ireland. They scrapped through largely thanks to a dodgy referee. Stephan Lichtsteiner, their captain, spent so much time rolling on the floor that his shirt was completely brown by the end of the game, while a lot of the Norn Iron team must be wondering how they let this one slip through their fingers. For me they are a team that are lazy and not bothered too much, a team that is also leaderless and easy to put to the sword with the slightest bit of pressure.
Don’t get me wrong, they have some seriously good players. Xherdan Shaqiri is world class, without a doubt, but Jesus can someone have a good chat with him and tell him to get his finger out. One can see the attitude with his club choices, from Bayern to a relegation bound Stoke tells us all you need to know here, in it for the money. Johan Djourou, Michael Lang, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Ricardo Rodríguez are all excellent players that work well together, but getting from defence to midfield is always a problem when you have such muck in the centre, Granit Xhaka and Valon Behrami are simply woeful. Gelson Fernandes is a gem in the centre but he is definitely a confidence player and needs to be clicking with his teammates to hit form. Shaqiri plays as an inside forward, and he needs to because they struggle to score goals. Breel Embolo is a big lump of nothingness up front, I still laugh at how great a deal FC Basel did when they sold him off to Schalke, while Mehmedi, Derdiyok, Drmić and Seferović are all journeymen. So its a bit of hot and a lot of cold with this team. I find this disjointed team terribly frustrating to watch. And whats worse is that Vladimir Petković could have included a few of the Swiss champions Young Boys team in the squad. Kevin Mbabu for me should walk into that squad, even Christian Fassnacht or Steve von Bergen, but no not even one player makes the cut from the Swiss champs (as of going to press).
First up is Brazil and I see a hiding for Switzerland, then a dour game with an equally inept team Serbia, to finish with a game against the sprity Costa Ricans. I would be surprised if they have what it takes to make it out of the group. A quick exit for the Swiss.
Iceland were the darling of the last European Championships, getting further than anyone expected, playing with a lot of passion and their supporters were a great addition to the tournament. Yeah Iceland were great fun.
I have to be honest, I dont think they actually played much decent football at that tournament, a lot of it was smash and grab stuff. But to be fair to the Icelanders, it wasn’t a tournament with a lot of quality on show. We did learn though, that this team can compete and can beat the top teams. And they will never give up, playing right to the 90th minute and beyond. Which goes to show you that a team which such a strong work ethic always have a chance. I guess that’s why we love watching them.
Beating Croatia, Ukraine and Turkey is no easy feat, to come top in their World Cup qualifying group was a clear statement tho show that the Euros wasn’t just a lucky turn. A first World Cup but they are here not to make up the numbers, that’s for sure.
They have a tough group though. Argentina, Nigeria and Croatia, three teams that are no pushovers. The only thing with Argentina is that they are notorious slow starters and Iceland might just catch them cold on the first day. After that I’d imagine they might be a bit too clever for Nigeria, and would be well able to match them physically. Last match against Croatia they might just need a draw, but it might be hard to keep Modric and co quiet for 90 minutes. I expect Iceland to go close but at the moment my head says that Argentina and Croatia will just shade it. The fact I didn’t mention any players shows that its the team and their cohesiveness that is the main thing for Iceland, but sometimes you need a top star to change a game and that’s where I feel in such a tight group could be where they come up short. But I could be wrong, and like so many people in the last Euros, Iceland just might prove us all wrong. Again!
We had a good long chat about Iceland’s upcoming participation in the Fifa 2018 World Cup in Russia. We discussed their chances, the reasons behind their recent successes, the football scene in the country, the scramble for tickets or not, and an overview of the domestic league, amongst other things.
Looking at Australia in the Considerations Cup I was shocked. Shocked at how awful the Aussies were, but not only that, they played with a lot of cynicism and had no passion or heart. They were quite simply awful to look at, embarrassing really when you think of the great sporting teams of Australia’s past. (albeit their cricket team were in trouble recently, cough!)
They also have some pretty average players, who can barely control the ball let along trap it and pass it on. I am talking about Tom Rogic, Mathew Leckie and Tomi Juric to name but a few. And then their captain Mile Jedinak looks like he is a kiddie fiddler, about as intimidating as a pink butterfly. It was a sight to see him cream his pants after beating Syria. It’s Syria for fucks sake, at home. They just about qualified for the World Cup, leaving it right to the end, falling over the line. Not only that but after getting rid of the useful fat lump Ange Postecoglou, they only fuck it up again by getting Bert van Marwijk, the man who set the rot into Dutch football. I can only imagine how much more cynical the team might be now!!
So are there any positives? Well there are, just the one though. Luckily for Australia, Tim Cahill has stuck around, and gives them some chance of getting a result or two. But they will have to use him sparingly as he is 38 years old. I cant imagine him getting a whole lot of playing time, but only coming on in the last half hour or so.
They have a tough enough group to deal with too. France and Denmark are not easy teams to play against, while Peru, like any South American team, will be oozing with skill. If Australia get more than one point I would be surprised to be honest. Not this time Australia, sorry.
A new manager, Julen Lopetegui, but pretty much the same Spain we are used to seeing at International football tournaments these days. A team that plays lovely one touch football, with players that always impress. Ok it went a bit flat last time, but the current Spanish team are playing again with flair and confidence and they have notched up some good performances recently to put them in line as one of the main contenders for this years World Cup.
From back to front they look strong, and still have some of the old guard that we know and love (or love to hate) so well. David de Gea in goals is up there with the best, Piqué and captain Ramos in defence still going strong (albeit in Ramos’ case not strong enough to take a tackle), Andrés Iniesta in his last World Cup, with David Silva and Sergio Busquets in the midfield. Up front we still have Diego Costa hoping to improve on his last showing in the WC.
Beating Italy 3-0 in a qualifying group where they won nine out of ten games, drawing the other, and hammering Argentina 6-1 and drawing with the World Champions Germany 1-1 in their backyard all has confidence up. Added to this are a bunch of young Spanish players that have been playing well recently and you can see why people are beginning to talk about Spain again. There mojo is back.
In a relatively easy group, you would imagine they would take care of Morocco and Iran without too much bother. It just is the small matter of can they beat Portugal in what on paper are two relatively similar teams only separated in the fact that Spain don’t have a star quality striker like Ronaldo. It will be a tight game and a bit too early for me to call at the moment. I might go with Portugal if pushed. But to be honest I can see a pathway for Spain to go far in the competition even if they finish first or second. Russia/Uruguay are waiting in round two, both manageable, France and Argentina in the last eight, again both can be beaten by Spain when they play to their full potential. If they can get that far in the competition then it is likely they would play either Brazil or Germany in the semis. This is where I think their journey would end. Good but not good enough, but to be fair I think a last four position would be considered a success for a fresh man in charge and the heralding in of a new era of Spanish football.
Saudi Arabia? Yeah right, they wont do much! You would think, but I remember that game against Belgium in ’94 when Saeed Al-Owairan went on a dizzy run, breezing past about 4 or 5 Belgian defenders to score a Maradonaesque goal. Not only did they beat a half decent Belgian team, but they qualified for the second round from a group that also had a Dutch team overloaded with stars and a good Moroccan team. Ok a very good Sweden team knocked them out, 3-1, in the next round, but it goes to show that no team should every be written off at a World Cup.
Ok they haven’t done a whole lot since 1994, and are back at the world stage for the first time since 2006, but you could argue that their group is definitely manageable. Russia dont look that great and Egypt with a Salah that is carrying an injury are beatable. Uruguay would cause them too much trouble, but Saudi Arabia must definitely be targeting 4 points minimum to have any chance of getting into the next round.
As for their squad, it is top heavy with players who play in the Saudi National League, with a sprinkling of players who play with Spanish teams. Well I say play but it looks like none have actually had any games as of yet in the Spanish league. One player who catches the eye is Mukhtar Ali, a player who has represented the England team at under 16 and under 17 level, and plays for the Dutch team, Vitesse Arnhem, signing from Chelsea! He has made about 8 appearances for the Dutch club. Interesting, lets see how he fares in Russia.
Do I think Saudi Arabia can repeat their 1994 success and make the second round? No, not really, but I cant just write an article and say they are shite, I have to pad this out somehow!!
In the ancient ruins of Macchu Picchu, Peru, thousands go every year to experience the spiritual lands of the ancients in the hope they to can drink some special beer from the brewery Backus y Johnston, at the the seat of the Inca empire. Using pure mountain water sourced from the nearby Andes this beer was founded in 1911. Ok not quite way back in time, but good enough for me and for the general masses who have made it Peru’s number one beer.
On October 1, 1908, Ernesto Günther, and a group of investors, founded the Cervecera Alemana in the ancient city of Cusco. Their bottled brew proved a hit. Over time they changed their name to reflect local traditions, increased production and grew in popularity. By 2000, Backus and Johnston, the largest brewery in Peru, came a calling and took over the company.
Backus and Johnston, the big daddy of brewing in the country, with its headquarters in the capital Lima, is the largest brewery in Peru, and also produce bottled water, soft drinks and other alcoholic beverages. They have taken over many smaller breweries in the country, and run what some have called a monopoly in the beer market with complete ownership of all the most popular brands in the land.
Cusqueña beer comes in four main varieties that are sold throughout Peru: Cusqueña Dorada, a regular lager and the most popular beer in the land, a Cusqueña Roja, a red Lager, a Cusqueña Trigo, a typical Wheat Beer, and a black lager a Cusqueña Negra.
Review: 33cl reddish Bottle of Cusqueña Roja: ABV: 5 %
Coming in a narrow reddish bottle, with the image of the ruins of Machu Picchu in yellow on a label around the head of the bottle. Not a stand out look though it has to be said, would easily pass by it on the supermarket shelf.
On pour I get a dark orange colour with a reddish hue, with no real head to speak off. All fairly flat and not great. Dead in appearance.
The smell is malty and faint, not much to smell. Got a whiff of caramel.
On taste, oh its not great, tasteless, I am not getting anything substantial at all. A slight taste of the barely and caramel, on the initial taste, but that’s basically it, flavourless and has no bite to it with only the slightest bit of an aftertaste. Very dry in the mouth too.
Got the malts and the grains alright, and it certainly is very easy to drink, but not one I will be buying again in the future.
Ok for a light beer, drinkable, but not anything brilliant, quite the opposite in fact!. Perhaps it didn’t travel very well.
On the second bottle things picked up a bit for the beer.
The white head decided to stick around that bit longer, and its appearance wasn’t as flat looking as the first beer I had.
Ok got generally the same tastes, but this one was a little better to sip at, more to savor, and over the time it became a bit more manageable. The caramel and the malts came more to the fore. Still though, won’t be searching for it in the beer shop anytime soon!
“Fosters, the Australian for lager” or so they say, but is it really? I am sure we all have heard the stories at this stage that Aussies dont actually drink Fosters. Its like a funny weird game the company play with the public, the more people cotton onto this “fact” the more they flex their “Australian credentials” via advertisements and sponsorship of all things Australian.
So the story is that actually the “amber nectar” that we know and love this side of the world (Europe) is actually made in Manchester, in the UK. A little bit far from Australia, 9,454 miles to be precise (I checked, thanks Google!)
It is a popular beer though, hell my mother drinks it. And I always see it well stocked in the local supermarkets, its not a bad beer to quench.
When I was a kid in the 80’s Paul Hogan was celebrity gold. Everyone loved him and Crocodile Dundee. The movies were class, something different, and brought into our homes the outback humour and Australian not give a fuck attitude. It was very charming. And if he told us to drink Fosters then so be it.
So how did this beer get off the ground, how did it start and what exactly is its origins?
William M. and Ralph R. Foster, two Irish-American brothers, arrived in Melbourne from New York in 1886. In November 1888 the brothers started to brew their own Lager, Fosters. So at least we know it was actually started in the land down under. The drink was actually an initial hit as due to the prominence of strong ales and the hot weather, a soft drinking cold lager was exactly what was wanted by the public. The company also had some expert refrigeration techniques developed early on so ice cold beer could be delivered to a public used to warm shitty beer.
With this initial success, the brothers sold the company to make a quick buck and the company eventually ended up in the hands of the Carlton & United Breweries company. These days it is owned by the international brewing giant AB InBev, and its biggest market is in the UK (second only to Carling), distributed by Heineken International who own the European rights to the brand (SABMiller for the US and Molson in Canada)
In the 70’s the beer was reasonably popular in Australia. They had not as many competitors and it was viewed as a premium beer. On draught initial success was found but then Castlemaine XXXX (“Four X”) and Toohey’s Draught basically kicked their arse and that was the end of that.
Could also argue that the more it became popular in the UK through mass advertising, the more that Aussies grow disinterested in it. Leave it to the “pommie bastards”. To the stage today where it is virtually impossible to get this national Australian icon……….in Australia. MAD!!
Aside from TV advertisements, the brand was famous for sponsoring Norwich football team and also for the Formula One seasons from 1986 to 2006.
These days the beer still likes to rely on the Australian stereotypes when it advertises it fare….it has a representation of a kangaroo and the Australian flag on its can, and when advertised you are bound to see references to sandy beaches, cork hats, and “G’day, mate” bellowing out at us from the TV screen in rather loud exaggerated accents, just so we know its an Australian beer, right! From their side I guess you could argue that the unique yeast strains only ever come from Australia and are only used in Fosters, keeping it real back to the 1880’s.
What do I think about it all? Well as an Orish fella, and to be shure when your havin the craic down in the pub and skullin the pints who gives a rats arse whadda the feck yer drinkin. Top of da mornin to ya all. (stereotypes, eh! LOL)
Review: 500ml Can of Fosters: ABV: 5% vol
Coming with the big fuck off blue can with the iconic “F” logo, “The amber nectar” or so they say, with a kangaroo hopping around the place as well, yep its Fosters alright.
Have to say poured cold from the fridge, it came out looking fantastic into the glass, a nice white frothy head, lovely clear golden colour, was surprised at how well it looked. Head does die a death but heh its a cheap lager. Top marks for appearance.
If I was surprised about the look, then I was shocked with the smell. There was none, NONE! Completely odorless. Pretty neat trick I think.
On the taste side of things, well there are not much flavours or stand out tastes with this beer, but its very drinkable, albeit a tad bit watery. It is extremely smooth, and very easy to quaff, with very light tastes of malts and only a slight hoppy bitter kick to it, mostly very clean and manageable. Not sure you are going to get too smashed downing these as the alcohol is very well hidden, but that’s fine if you just want to sit on the sofa and watch the footy on the box, a good beer to while away a few hours.
It does the job, it is a good lager to drink and enjoy. I enjoyed it, I always do.
Always decent to down. Fosters is just a very easy quaffable beer, inoffensive and very refreshing to drink, and it is what it is, a decent cheap lager. Simple.
As they say on their own marketing spiel, “Foster’s lager is a full bodied beer with excellent drinkability.” perhaps not full bodied but 100% drinkable.
Of the eight top seeds in the World Cup, Poland in my mind are the ones that might not even make it out of the group stage. Ok it is a relativity easy group, with Senegal, Japan and Colombia making up the other teams, but any of those teams on their day could beat this Polish team.
For sure Robert Lewandowski is the one to watch, but I have never been convinced about him. Yes he bangs in the goals in the Bundesliga but in my mind he has never performed at the big stage, be that an international tourno or the latter stages of the CL. He was simply atrocious in the last Euros, bad form and an ever worse attitude. As captain that seeps into the rest of the team and what I see any time Poland plays is a cynical team and doesn’t offer much in the way of excitement or free flowing football. If a team can get Poland’s back up then they can definitely beat them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Senegal in the opening game could cause them all sorts of problems.
All boils down to the last game with Japan where a win might be whats needed and for me Poland will struggle to get that and get out of this group.