Tag Archives: world cup 2018

Beer World Cup

Beer World Cup Last 16

The Beer World Cup last 16 now gets under way. Click on pictures and links to get a general review and info on the beers we will be a drinking during the Football World Cup.

 

 Denmark V Nigeria

Denmark, unlike in the football, came top of my Beer Group C, while Nigeria came second in my Beer Group D. So today it will be a match up between Carlsberg of Denmark against Guinness Special Export representing Nigeria.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                    Carlsberg Lager                                                 Guinness Special Export

Victory to Guinness Special Export and to Nigeria. As the goals were flying in, I was getting steadily buzzed with the Guinness, had the kick to accompany a great game, brilliant. Nigeria make the last eight of my Beer World Cup. 

Russia V Spain

As Uruguay didn’t qualify for my Beer World Cup last 16 (I couldn’t source any beer from Uru), I made Russia winner of Beer Group A. On the other side, Spain (and not Portugal) came second in my Beer Group B. So today we have a match up between Knightberg of Russia against Estrella Galicia of Spain.

Knightberg Microbrewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                           Knightberg                                                         Estrella Galicia

Close encounter. Knightberg and its Premium Lager was certainly very tasty and I enjoyed drinking it, but Estrella coming cold from the fridge was so, so good!  But then it didn’t have as many tastes as Knightberg which was all tingly on the tongue. Hard to call that one, so gave it as a draw. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the decider I had another Estrella, but this time up against an Oatmeal Stout. Now I love the lagers, but I love stouts more, a sure fire way to win the contest so. Russia edge it in a close encounter here, 2-1 to Russia who make the last eight of my Beer World Cup!

 Portugal V Saudi Arabia

Portugal eased to the top of my Beer World Cup Group B, while unfortunately Group A had three non beer nations so I since I love kebabs, sure why not have SA as second best of a bad group for beer lovers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                           Super Bock                                                       Gallas Cerveja

Saudi Arabia!

Enjoyed my football special, Superbock, also really enjoyed my kebab, but beer always wins in these scenarios! 

Croatia V Australia

Both teams qualifying from tough groups. Croatia came top in Beer Group D, up against heavy hitters from Iceland, Argentina and Nigeria. While Australia’s group, Group C, was also tough. They came second in a group that had France, Denmark and Peru all well represented in my beer World Cup.

Ožujsko, Croatia’s most popular beer

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

                        Ožujsko                                                              Bura Brew

                                                                          Fosters Lager

Good evening of drinking, much better than the football that was an offer. But like the game, there was drama and the result was very close. I started with a Bura Brew which although it might not be the best looker was sure lovely to taste and had great big lovely mouthfuls that went down well. Only thing was that Fosters is so smooth to drink, that nectar juice is so good to have while looking at the footy on the box. Too close to separate, I need another few beers to make a decision on this match up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                    Step forward Ožujsko, who did just enough to put Croatia into the last 8 of my Beer World Cup. It won on pure tastes and had that little bit more of a bite to it than the Fosters. 2-1 to Croatia

 

 Switzerland V Mexico

Switzerland easily powered home in my Beer Group E, no problem at all. While Mexico really only had to beat Sweden to come second in Beer Group F

 

 

 

                

Celestial Brewery                    Soo. Soors Beer                 Dr. Brauwolf

                                                                              Corona

What a contest, the big guns out today.

First up it was Corona up against Dr. Brauwolf and it’s Bohemian lager, really no contest, come on, a lager against a light beer you have when the sun is in the sky, no need for a lemon to decide this one, Brauwolf wins. One nil to the strong lager, roar!

Then we had Corona up against Soo. Happy a fruity effort from Switzerland. Close enough contest, but, much like Mexico, Corona just were not doing it for me today.  Strength in taste and flavour, two nil to Switzerland!

Final battle was Corona against an IPA from Celestial brewery, Corona just playing for pride at this stage. Well Celestial was strong and full of taste, and is good enough on aroma alone to beat Corona. The fruity tasting IPA put Switzerland into the last 8 of my beer World Cup. Get in!!!

Three nil Switzerland! EASY! EASY! EASY!

 

 Belgium V Colombia

Belgium had a tough close encounter with England to come top of Beer Group G, but just got there in the end as group winners. Colombia came close with Poland in their group, Beer Group H, but qualified in second place. 

Kamil

                          Jessenhofke                                                                Kamil

Club Colombia 

Wow, here we go, still reeling, still fucked from it. Jessenhofke TRPL of Belgium had a lovely fruity bier, that was at 8% ,perhaps a it too much to take on Club Colombia, which was off to a slow start, one nil to Belgium.

Was able for another beer, but when a Belgian BRWN was lining up, it was time to take break!  The Black tasty beer was always going to beat Club Colombia lager, no contest!

 

2 nil to the Belgians:

Next up it was Kamil, and by that stage I was phished. Wasn’t from the Club Colombia, I tell you. Kamil a beer that was very appetizing and hit the spot, 3-0 whitewash to Belgium, and they head to the last 8 of my Beer World Cup. 

 

 Germany V Serbia

Germany might be out of the football World Cup, but they are still very much alive in my Beer World Cup, powering to victory in Beer group F, no problems here. Serbia also had little problems in getting out of Beer Group E, albeit in second place to Switzerland. 

Zombräu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                        Zombräu                                     Brauer & Co., Funky trout n Pretty sperm whale!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose                                                         kabinet beer 

Close enough game in my beer World Cup last 16 game. Brauer & Co., with a nice Radler which was exactly what I needed after the heavy drinking of the day before, something nice and light to get today’s drinking underway. Did the business but truth be told a radler will never be a match for a full bodied beer full of tasty hops such was Kabinet’s Mozart IPA, one nil to Serbia.

After that it was Zombräu with a very interesting and very tasty porter with whiskey aromas and flavours, a bit weird and too strange for my taste-buds I have to say, and for this reason I give it a draw against another Mozart from Kabinet. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final match up to decide who goes through, was another salty gose Döllnitzer Ritterguts, and again Mozart from Kabinet. A close contest, I liked both beers, both had their own unique tastes, but will give the victory to Germany, as Gose is a new style that I am really getting into, while Mozart is an IPA (American Pale Ale!), regular enough and not bad, but there are tonnes of them around! 2-1 to Germany!

 

England V Poland

England just lost out in their epic tussle with Belgium, both in the football and in my Beer World Cup. But they are still very much alive in this competition, coming second in Beer Group G. Poland also did well to come tops in Beer Group H

 

 

 

                    London Pride                                                              Tyskie Gronie

Close match-up, but in essence, London Pride is a far superior beer, in terms of taste and flavours, and more enjoyable,sorry Tyskie. 

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: Senegal

Senegal V Colombia World Cup 2018

Senegal V Colombia

Synopsis in red

Beers: Group E of Beer World Cup: 

World Cup of Beer Group H

Club Colombia today will qualify for the last 16 of my beer world cup with victory over Senegal. Couldn’t source a beer from the African country, so let me just enjoy a nice cold one from Colombia instead.

                      V  

 

 

 

Club Colombia head for the last 16 of my Beer World Cup, with no competition from Senegal

PreGame:

Colombia V Poland: Well well well, Colombia beating Poland 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 they 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 and you would imagine they should have too much in the arsenal to beat a limited enough Senegal.

Senegal V Japan: Well done to Japan, for coming behind twice to get back into the game, and I am sure if there were another ten minutes or so to the game they might have nicked it, as they had all the momentum near the end of the game. 

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: SenegalGood 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.

But Japan came back with a lovely goal by Inui, who placed it lovely into the back of the net, great goal and a nice run and pass from by Nagatomoto set it all up. Senegal were sitting on their lead by this time and deserved to be punished. 

In the second half there really was only one team, Japan. Inui hitting the top of the crossbar with an unbelievable strike, unlucky. But against the run of play Senegal only just went up the field and scored another goal. Wagué with a nice goal from a tight angle from a lovely ball into the box from Sabaly. 

But once again, Senegal decided to site on their lead and once again they were punished for some diabolical defending and play. A goal keeping mistake from K N’Diaye, where he completely missed the ball not once but twice, let Honda tap in for the equaliser. 

Today Senegal still have it all to play for in a very tight group, a win will be enough, but a draw might do, and even a lose and they could still scrape through, if Poland decide to do them a favour.

A more detailed review on Senegal here and on Colombia here

Looked at the first half of this game:

Senegal have only themselves to blame, after wasting so many chances in the first half, with Mane, Balde and the rest of the forward line missing some decent chances and generally messing up some attacking play. When its 3 v 2 a few times and you still lose the game, you can whinge all you want about yellow cards and unfairness, but the reality is your team weren’t that good at all.  Senegal should have scored a few in the first half. End of!

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: ColombiaColombia on the other hand, were lucky. I dont know how they managed to win this game, as in the first half they were simply awful and then to make matters worse they lost Rodríguez who had to go off with an injury. Cuadrado was simply brutal today, couldn’t even manage a simply pass all game, and spent most of the game falling to the ground. If they dont get James Rod back in time, and its asking a lot in 5 days, then I cant see them causing Belgium or England too many problems. 

Music to get you in the mood

Daara-J: Yalla (Senegal) V The Monas – Cae La Noche (Colombia)

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: Japan

Japan V Poland World Cup 2018

Japan V Poland

(Synopsis in red)

Beers: Group E of Beer World Cup: 

World Cup of Beer Group H

Asahi up against Tyskie to see who will qualify from Beer Group H, like the real football group, this group is also delicately balanced. 

     

Close game but I will have to give the victory to Tyskie, as its a stronger beer and has more of a taste to it. 

PreGame:

Colombia V Poland: Well well well, Colombia winning in style against Poland 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 they 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. 

Poland have only respect to play for against a decent Japanese team today, and you would imagine they would want to go out with some pride. 

Japan V Senegal: Well done to Japan, for coming behind twice to get back into the game, and I am sure if there were another ten minutes or so to the game they might have nicked it, as they had all the momentum near the end of the game. Also was great to see the old warrior Honda again on the score sheet.

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.

But Japan came back with a lovely goal by Inui, who placed it lovely into the back of the net, great goal and a nice run and pass from by Nagatomoto set it all up. Senegal were sitting on their lead by this time and deserved to be punished. 

Osako had not one but two simple chances to put Japan into the lead. One was a free header, he hit straight at the goalkeeper, and the other was a complete sitter with the ball right in front of him and he missed it completely.

In the second half there really was only one team, Japan. Inui hitting the top of the crossbar with an unbelievable strike, unlucky. But against the run of play Senegal only just went up the field and scored another goal. Wagué with a nice goal from a tight angle from a lovely ball into the box from Sabaly. 

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: JapanBut once again, Senegal decided to site on their lead and once again they were punished for some diabolical defending and play. A goal keeping mistake from K N’Diaye, where he completely missed the ball not once but twice, let Honda tap in for the equaliser. 

A good second half, especially from Japan. Japan now play Poland today knowing a draw could be enough, and its certainly no less than they deserve for playing well so far in this tears World Cup.

A more detailed review on Japan here and on Poland here

Looked at the second half of this game:

Oh my word, Japan were so lucky, so, so lucky. Lucky that Lewandowski is muck and that he couldn’t put the game to bed when he should have scored. Tsk, tsk. If he had scored Japan would be going home and their clown of a manager would have egg on his face. 

Leaving out Inui was crazy, relying on the score of the other game was a big decision and a really foolish one at that. 

Game was not great, and Poland did enough to get the victory. Grosicki on the wing was playing some good football and set up Zielinski lovely to score, but the Japanese goalie was just first to the ball, unlucky. Grosicki also had another lovely cross just deflected wide for a corner in the box. 

Poland got the goal from a lovely weighted cross from a free kick that was smashed home by Bednarek, nice and simple really.  

With news coming through that Colombia were beating Senegal, Japan knew they were through by virtue of having less yellow cards, and Poland were happy to get the three points, so the last ten minutes was played at a walking pace with both teams mutually deciding to stop playing football. A bit surreal but there you go.

I thought Glik in defence today for Poland was very solid and put in some really crunching tackles, excellent. 

Anyway Japan were lucky today, and I think they will be beaten easily by either England or Belgium in the next round. As for Poland, good riddance to a bad team.

 

Music to get you in the mood

Dragon Ash Life Goes On (Japan) V Tomasz Stańko – Droga (Poland)

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

Panama V Tunisia World Cup 2018

Panama V Tunisia

Synopsis in red

Beers: Group E of Beer World Cup: 

World Cup of Beer Group G

No beer is no fun, a nil all draw so. 

                V 

 

 

 

No beer, keeping my liver ready for the second half of the heavyweight battle between England V Belgium. Fuck these shitty retard nations.

 

PreGame:

Tunisia V Belgium: Was too easy for Belgian, as I had predicted there would be a hammering, and that Belgium would be too strong for a severely limited Tunisian team. 

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. 

Rather than crumble Tunisia did somehow manage to pull one quick goal back, Bronn scored from a glancing header, unmarked, back of the net. Great response, and exactly what his team needed. Game on. 

Or so we thought, but Tunisia continued to gift Belgium simple chances, and with De Bruyne and Witsel pulling the strings in midfield it wasn’t long before Lukaku got his second goal of the afternoon. Put on a plate for him from De Bruyne, 3-1, just before half time. 

Straight into the second half normal service resumed as in the 51st minute hazard got his seond and Belgium’s fourth. Another great ball from De Bruyne, and nice control by hazard to hit it easily past the hapless Tunisian goalkeeper. 

As a contest it was over, and still we had so many minutes of the game to go. Subs came and went, and Batshuayi who was only on the pitch a short while, managed to have about 5 simple goal scoring chances, hitting one of the post when it was easier to score, rounding the glk in another and tamely hitting it when he should have blasted it into the empty net, but he did get the one nice goal, a well taken effort  to make it 5-1. 

Tunisia got one back, but they were never at the races today. 

Panama V England: Panama started good, they had a great chance to hit the target when Bárcenas was through but he ballooned it way over. After that it was pretty much one way traffic for England.

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: PanamaStones 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. 

The fourth goal was a perfectly executed training ground routine and Stones got to the end of it when Sterling refused to score with his free header, very considerate of him and all. There was time for another penalty before the half was called up. The Panamanian defenders were warned all game about their manhandling in the box, but they choose to ignore it and so gave away a simple peno well called by the ref.  Kane again, same as.

In the second half, the tempo came down a bit which was understandably as the job was well done already by England. Kane did get his hat trick and England sixth, when he scored from his heel, what a pox. 

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. 

Today’s game sees who is less shit than the other, with both teams not really contributing anything much to the World Cup other than as good and easy target practice for England and Belgium. 

A more detailed review on Panama here and on Tunisia here

Only saw the first half of this game:

Good high tempo start from both teams, both eager to get a win in the World Cup before they go home. But once again the shooting from both teams left a lot to be desired. F Ben Youssef, him of the dodgy red highlights in his hair, the most guilty, missing a host of chances, even kicking his own leg during one attempt, while his teammate Sliti and Khazri had their own mini competition to see which players could balloon the ball out of the fucking stadium (think Khazri won that battle), tsk. At least Bedoui got his chance on target which got the Panamanian goalkeeper to pull off a decent save. Tunisia were at least getting the chances, and to be fair to them, some of their players were doing well in the game. Sassi was pinning the passes around the pitch.  

Panama, on the other hand, still haven’t figured out how to attack. They had many breaks from midfield, about 4 or more, and every time they slowed the ball right down, gave the Tunisian defenders time to readjust, and proceeded to pass it back to their defence. FFS!! What a rubbish team, how bad were the USA!?

And then they only went and score a poxy goal with a wicked deflection! Still you could sense by half time that if Tunisia started any kind of decent link up play they could open up this Panama team real easy, and so it proved, they ended up winning 2-1.

Two bad teams, hopefully we wont see them round again for a while as they brought nothing to the World Cup.

Music to get you in the mood

ORQUESTA GARASH – HITLER (Panama) V zina gasrinia _ b3athli marsoul (Tunisia)

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: England

England V Belgium World Cup 2018

England V Belgium

Beers: Group E of Beer World Cup: 

World Cup of Beer Group G

The first real heavyweight clash of my beer world cup. London Pride, a past finalist of my inaugural beer world cup in 2014, up against Bieren Van Begeerte and their interesting brews in the dinky little bottles. Will be a good clash today, hope I dont have a hangover tomorrow morning!

       V  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok this was a battle royale between two great beer drinking nations. For Belgium we had some beers from the Jessenhofke brewery while for England there was the old reliable, London Pride. 

Arvum, a Belgian Ale of 6%, went first. It was quite nice, a typical blond bier, looked fine, and was very tasty and the flavours stuck around for a while on the tongue. As much as I love London Pride, the Belgian Ale got this, one nil to Belgium.

London Pride is a solid pale ale, with lots of flavour, and was fairly easy to drink, a good session beer.  So for this reason I would give it a point/goal against Jessenhofke’s RGLR, a blond ale, which was fine but at 3.5% didn’t have the kick against the big boy here.  1-1.

So there was one more pair up to decide who would go through as leaders of the group. ‘t Bottelke, with its strange name, again up against LP. ‘t Bottelke again, a Belgian ale, 6% so not too much alcohol, but with a lot of taste and oh boy so smooth. Really enjoyed this beer, it was so silky on the tongue, and i would have loved to have had another one. London Pride couldn’t match the smooth flavours and feel of this little Belgian beaut. Belgian win 2-1.

PreGame:

Belgium V Tunisia: Was too easy for the Belgians, as I had predicted there would be a hammering, and that Belgium would be too strong for a severely limited Tunisian team. 

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. 

Rather than crumble Tunisia did somehow manage to pull one quick goal back, Bronn scored from a glancing header, unmarked, back of the net. Great response, and exactly what his team needed. Game on. 

Or so we thought, but Tunisia continued to gift Belgium simple chances, and with De Bruyne and Witsel pulling the strings in midfield it wasn’t long before Lukaku got his second goal of the afternoon. Put on a plate for him from De Bruyne, 3-1, just before half time. 

Straight into the second half normal service resumed as in the 51st minute hazard got his seond and Belgium’s fourth. Another great ball from De Bruyne, and nice control by hazard to hit it easily past the hapless Tunisian goalkeeper. 

As a contest it was over, and still we had so many minutes of the game to go. Subs came and went, and Batshuayi who was only on the pitch a short while, managed to have about 5 simple goal scoring chances, hitting one of the post when it was easier to score, rounding the glk in another and tamely hitting it when he should have blasted it into the empty net, but he did get the one nice goal, a well taken effort to make it 5-1. 

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: BelgiumTunisia 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.  

England V Panama: Panama started good, they had a great chance to hit the target when Bárcenas was through but he ballooned it way over. After that it was pretty much one way traffic for England.

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. 

The fourth goal was a perfectly executed training ground routine and Stones got to the end of it when Sterling refused to score with his free header, very considerate of him and all. There was time for another penalty before the half was called up. The Panamanian defenders were warned all game about their manhandling in the box, but they choose to ignore it and so gave away a simple peno well called by the ref.  Kane again, same as.

In the second half, the tempo came down a bit which was understandably as the job was well done already by England. Kane did get his hat trick and England’s sixth, when he scored from his heel, what a pox. 

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. 

Today’s game decides who gets to top the group, and what side of the draw they will be placed. Now that Germany is gone, you could argue that coming second would not be such a bad thing for either team.

A more detailed review on England here and on Belgium here

Saw the second half of this game:

Started off pretty slow. Januzaj though shaked it up, scoring with a cracker of a goal, a lovely long range effort that flew in. 

England started playing a bit better after the goal went in, woke them up a bit, but I dont think they had the personal on the pitch to do much damage to Belgium, as their defence was holding up quite well. 

Rashford though, got through, from a great ball by Vardy, and really should have scored, putting it wide. That was the chance to equalise.

Delph was on, showing his lack of skills, nearly hitting the corner flag from a shot on target, while at the opposite end, Mertens had a good strike saved well. 

Basically this game was between the England second team V the Belgium second team, and shows us that the Belgians have good strength in depth, not so England, but if they played their first team then I’d imagine a completely different result.

England now go up against Colombia, a very winnable game now that James Rodriguez is injured, while Belgium should have no problem disposing of Japan.  

Music to get you in the mood

The Clash – Rock the Casbah (England) V  2 Unlimited – No Limit  (Belgium)

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: Brazil

Serbia V Brazil World Cup 2018

Serbia V Brazil

(Synopsis in red)

Beers: Group E of Beer World Cup: 

World Cup of Beer Group E

Kabinet V Sol. Both countries need a result to get into my beer world cup last 16, who will get it?

   V  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kabinet pull all out all the stops to beat Skol. It looked looked, smelled fantastic, and was well tasty. Skol was actually quite refreshing cold from the fridge, but the win goes to Kabinet and their IPA 

PreGame:

For Switzerland V Serbia it truly was 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. 

How often have we seen teams punished for missing simple chances. Well that happened when Tosic should really have made it 2-0 when he totally missed a free header in the Swiss box. Oh how he rued that miss.

Then in the second half Switzerland came more into it, Shaqiri spent most of the first half moaning and falling down easy, but in the second half he decided to actually play, and was to be found on both wings and playing balls from all over. Much improved.

The game, and momentum, had changed in the Swiss’ favour, and sure enough on the 52nd minute, Xhaka (who did fuck all else in the game) scored with a cracker from outside the box to equalize. Was a good finish alright.

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: SerbiaIt 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.  

For the Serbs they can count themselves very unlucky. They also might feel a tad bit pissed as Mitrovic was clearly manhandled in the Swiss box, whats the point of VAR if they cant pick up those obvious infringements? They now play Brazil, knowing a draw might not even be enough (I think!?)

Brazil V Costa Rica: Good game, were Brazil started the more livelier and were far pacier in the early stages of the game, without creating a whole lot of chances either. In fact the first real chance of the game fell to Borges who had a clear shot on goal but he fluffed it way wide. What a terrible chance wasted.

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. 

Costa Rica continued to have chances of their own, had a 3 v 2 break but again they fluffed their lines. They really could have done with more composure in the final half of the pitch.

Time was ticking and it didn’t look like a goal was coming. Then Neymar capitalized on a bad mistake to be running on free towards goal on his favourite foot, a goal surely? Alas he hit it curling just wide. Was that the chance gone?

No, because not long after Neymar was again involved, this time in the box appearing to be dragged back by the Costa Rican defender. It looked a penalty, but the referee needed another view. He wasn’t convinced and changed his mind, no penalty. A brave decision and the correct decision I think. A slight touch but a dramatic fall by Neymar. Good decision. Neymar later got a yellow for petulance, silly card to get. 

Costa Rica thought they had done enough, got the draw they needed. But one minute into injury time, Coutinho ran onto a ball and smashed it home, brilliant, and no more than he deserved. A nation breathed a sigh of relief when that went in. This goal started the samba football off, and flicks and lovely ball control were shown by the guys in yellow, including Neymar who cleverly flicked the ball over the defenders head, what skill! And if that wasn’t enough, rather than defend the lead, Brazil only went up and scored another. Finally the man of the moment got on the score sheet, Neymar, with a nice square pass from Costa, 2-0 to get Brazil’s world cup finally on the road. All great fun and drama to watch! 

Serbia today might be a different proposition to Costa Rica. But now that Brazil have finally started to motor, I think they might just sneak a win here. 

A more detailed review on Serbia here and on Brazil here

Got to see the second half of this game. Paulinho got Brazil off the mark in the first half.

Serbia made a good fist of it in the second half, had Brazil under the cosh for a good twenty minutes, and had their chances to equalise. Mitrovic got his head to a goalkeeper’s mistake but headed it onto a defender, a chance missed. Brazil looked shady and were just barely hanging on.

But they did, as they got a good second goal. A great corner from Neymar, found the head of Thiago Silva who headed it to make it two nil to Brazil and game over. A lovely header to kill the game.

After that it was samba football as Brazil could relax and Serbia gave up the ghost, even though there were about 25 minutes left.

Brazil now move onto playing Mexico, a better draw than playing Sweden I think. Mexico, as we have seen, can be beaten, and are really not that good. Korea beat Germany too, remember!

Serbia go home, a bit unfortunate not to get that penalty they deserved against Switzerland, but they had their chances against Brazil and didn’t take them, and that is that!

Music to get you in the mood

Bajaga-Tišina (Serbia) V  Rita lee – Lança Perfume (Brazil)

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: Switzerland

Switzerland V Costa Rica World Cup 2018

Switzerland V Costa Rica

(Synopsis in red)

Beers: Group E of Beer World Cup: 

World Cup of Beer Group E

Celestial Brewery from Neuchâtel, Switzerland, a late last minute edition to my beer world cup will be up against an old favourite Imperial from Costa Rica. Will it be a winning start to a new beer, or can Imperial qualify today with another win?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celestial Brewery make a winning start, nice one. Had a really interesting taste, hoppy and full of flavour, was nice to sip through while looking at the football. Hard luck to Imperial, a nice lager, but no match for a tasty IPA.

 

PreGame:

Serbia V Switzerland was 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, Serbia’s defence was again solid, the Swiss just couldn’t get pass them at all. 

How often have we seen teams punished for missing simple chances. Well that happened when Tosic should really have made it 2-0 when he totally missed a free header in the Swiss box. Oh how he will rue that miss.

Then in the second half Switzerland came more into it, Shaqiri spent most of the first half moaning and falling down easy, but in the second half he decided to actually play, and was to be found on both wings and playing balls from all over. Much improved.

The game, and momentum, had changed in the Swiss’ favour, and sure enough on the 52nd minute, Xhaka (who did fuck all else in the game) scored with a cracker from outside the box to equalize. Was a good finish alright.

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: SwitzerlandIt 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.  

For the Swiss, I thought Akanji in central defence was good, first time seeing him and I was impressed, he was pacy and on top of most things. Also Rodríguez came into it in the second half with his usual bombing runs on the wing. They now know a win today against the Costa Ricans and they are through to the last 16. A draw might also be enough. Mission accomplished, very efficient.

Costa Rica V Brazil: Good game, were Brazil started the more livelier and were far pacier in the early stages of the game, without creating a whole lot of chances either. In fact the first real chance of the game fell to Borges who had a clear shot on goal but he fluffed it way wide. What a terrible chance wasted.

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. 

Costa Rica continued to have chances of their own, had a 3 v 2 break but again they fluffed their lines. They really could have done with more composure in the final half of the pitch.

Time was ticking and it didn’t look like a goal was coming. The Neymar capitalized on a bad mistake to be running on free towards goal on his favourite foot, a goal surely? Alas he hit it curling just wide. Was that the chance gone?

No, because not long after Neymar was again involved, this time in the box appearing to be dragged back by the Costa Rican defender. It looked a penalty, but the referee needed another view. He wasn’t convinced and changed his mind, no penalty. A brave decision and the correct decision I think. A slight touch but a dramatic fall by Neymar. Good decision. 

Costa Rica thought they had done enough, got the draw they needed. But one minute into injury time, Coutinho ran onto a ball and smashed it home, brilliant, and no more than he deserved. This goal started the samba football off, and flicks and lovely ball control were shown by the guys in yellow, including Neymar who cleverly flicked the ball over the defenders head, what skill! And if that wasn’t enough, rather than defend the lead, Brazil only went up and scored another. Finally the man of the moment got on the scoresheet, Neymar, with a nice square pass from Costa, 2-0 to get Brazil’s world cup finally on the road. All great fun and drama to watch!  Not much fun for Costa Rica though, and perhaps today they can let the shackles off and play some good football, as I know its in them, somewhere. 

A more detailed review on Switzerland here and on Costa Rica here

Looked at the first half of this game.

Costa Rica started on fire, as I expected, and to be fair, like in all their games. They actually had 3 chances back to back within the space of about a minute, or about that!  Firstly Campbell (who was finally starting, jeez!) hit a long in-swinger that Sommer just about pushed away, then Borges hit the woodwork with a bullet header, again Sommer saving brilliantly, and the to cap it all off Colindres with a long range effort, again Sommer getting down to it. Brilliant start for CR.

Colindres had a few chances, hitting the crossbar with a great shot, unlucky not to score, then twice in the box failing to square a ball he shoots and misses, twice he did that, greedy bastard. 

Sommer was unbeatable, making save after save, the man just could not be beaten in the first half, a world class performance.

Of course if you dont take your chances then the usual thing happens, the other team goes up the other end and scores, and that is exactly what Switzerland did. A lovely, one-two-three, from Lichtsteiner (only the one dive in the first half) with a lovely cross to Embolo who knocked it down beautifully for Dzemaili to rifle it home in the box, lovely goal. One nil to Switzerland, with oh so little effort.

Lichtsteiner, the prick, ended up getting a deserved yellow for a bad tackle which means he will miss the next game, a big loss to the team. What an idiot.

In the second half the game ended up 2-2 which didn’t mean much as Switzerland surely must have known that they were through at that stage.They now go on to play Sweden which will be a tough enough game for them. Will Shaqiri be able to handle it i wonder, the big girls blouse? As for Costa Rica, they kind of disappointed a little, in that they had chances in all their games, but most of the time they just couldn’t put the ball into the back of the net. 

Music to get you in the mood

DJ Antoine ft. The Beat Shakers – Ma Chérie (DJ Antoine vs Mad Mark 2k12 Edit) (Switzerland) V Suite Doble – Profanar (Costa Rica)

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: South Korea

South Korea V Germany World Cup 2018

South Korea V Germany

(Synopsis in red)

Beers: Group F of Beer World Cup: 

World Cup of Beer Group F

No beer from Korea, but will be trying some Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose, first time trying a Gose beer, should be fun!

             V 

 

 

 

 

 

The Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose was very interesting, got me well giddy, but that could be seeing Germany crash out of the football World Cup. Good news, Germany are still in Thisdrinkinglife’s Beer World Cup.

 

 

PreGame:

For South Korea, in their last game V Mexico, crikey they could have had ten yellow cards for all the misplaced tackles they did,, rather than the measly 4 they got. They just didn’t have the players to do anything substantial in this World Cup, albeit Son Heung-Min played much better, was lively throughout, had a rake of chances, and managed to score a cracker of a goal. We wont mention the simple chance he had well before!

Mexico got the penalty in the first half, a definite peno, don’t know what the Korean defender was doing flying in with his hands up. Nice penalty from Vela, about all he did in the game.

Korea pulled one back and Mexico held on, just about. 

As for Korea today, they might be hammered by Germany. 

Germany: Wow, what a game against Sweden, a game of high stakes all in pressure, wow. Where do I even begin to start? Sweden were unlucky to let in the goal, had defended stoutly for most of the game, and put it up to the Germans. And fair dues to the Germans, looking dead and buried at half time, and even worse when Boateng stupidly got sent off, they somehow, somehow, managed to get a win in this game. How??????

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.

But it didn’t, and in the 32nd minute Toivonen was through, and somehow chipped Neuer from nearly an impossible angle, one nil to Sweden, oh heck! Claesson, later then had a great chance to make it two nil, but he was let down by a terrible first touch, on a 2 v 1 break. Tut tut.

I really couldn’t see how Germany could get back into this game. They were not playing well, had a load of passengers on the team and no leader on the pitch to drag them to victory. But luckily for them Reus was on target, in the right place at the right time, in the box to score level, just after the break. 

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. 

Gomez missed a point blank sitter, amazing really how he can call himself a striker, then Brandt hit the post with a long range effort, Robin Olsen the Swedish goalkeeper in between making a number of excellent saves. The Swedish back line were under all sorts of pressure. With only about 30 seconds of the allotted time left, Jimmy Durmaz, with the paedo like beard, gave a silly free kick away on the edge of the box. This was surely the last chance for the Germans, it was a tight enough angle but no bother for Kroos who, with a quick one two with Reus, smashed it over the wall into the net. Brilliant recovery from Germany, and they are still in this years World Cup. PHEW, my heart!

Today You would imagine they wont slip up against the Koreans and will want to ease themselves into the last 16 without any more hiccups, well you would hope so!

A more detailed review on South Korea here and on Germany here

Saw the second half of this game. Wow, what can I say? Germany playing like there was lead in their boots, shameful from a team with such quality, or at least apparent quality. Low should have freshened this team up, he had 4 years to do so, yet he played players that were/are living of their World Cup win of 2014. PFA young player of the year, Leroy Sane on his couch looking at this shite, most be laughing his hole off. 

As the Germans were doing everything to get a goal, they only had two at the back, so naturally Korea had a host of easy chances to score. And score they did, Kim Young-Gwon slotting home from a knockdown by the German defence, Son Heung-Min into an empty net after Neuer went AWOL. 

That was after Gomez had a free header (how many times did Low need to see that Gomez has always been rubbish), and Hummels with a free header hitting it off his shoulder to go over. Terrible by the Germans. Ozil has not done anything in 4 years, shouldn’t have been brought, while Muller is more or less the same. Low should have went with a total revamp of that team. 

Respect to Korea for never giving up and creating a special world cup memory. The last time the Germans were knocked out of a World Cup in the first round made them quite upset. (1938)

Music to get you in the mood

조용필 Cho Yong Pil 헬로 Hello 뮤직비디오(M/V) (South Korea) V Kraftwerk – Das Model (Germany)

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

Mexico V Sweden World Cup 2018

Mexico V Sweden

(Synopsis in red)

Beers: Group F of Beer World Cup: 

World Cup of Beer Group F

Corona need only one more win to get into the last 16, while Crocodile of Sweden has been very disappointing so far in my Beer World Cup. 

   V  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corona get the victory, as once again I couldn’t really get any discernible taste at all from Crocodile. As light as Corona is, its still a relativity nice drink on a very hot summers day. 

PreGame:

Mexico Beat South Korea in their last game but I was far from convinced by that performance. Lets be honest they wouldn’t have scored in the first half if it wasn’t for the penalty. They were very slow to get motoring at times, and defending with over 25 minutes to go is a bit beneath them. 

Mexico are one of those teams that always provide excitement and always play decent football that is easy on the eye. Unfortunately they sometimes forget about the defensive side of the gameMexico got the penalty in the first half, a definite peno, don’t know what the Korean defender was doing flying in with his hands up. Nice penalty from Vela, about all he did in the game. 

The thing I hate about Mexico is that they always waste so many score-able opportunities and good forward play with sloppy play or ballooning the ball over the bar. Layún did it in the first half, Lozano did it a good few times, even the usually reliable Javier Hernández kicking the ball out of the stadium. FFS lads try and keep your shots low to gravity.

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: Mexico 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. 

I am not so sure about Mexico now and cant see them getting to far into the tournament after this display. 

Wow, what a game that was Germany V Sweden, a game of high stakes all in pressure, wow. Where do I even begin to start? Sweden were unlucky to let in the goal, had defended stoutly for most of the game, and put it up to the Germans. And fair dues to the Germans, looking dead and buried at half time, and even worse when Boateng stupidly got sent off, they somehow, somehow, managed to get a win in this game. How??????

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.

But it didn’t, and in the 32nd minute Toivonen was through, and somehow chipped Neuer from nearly an impossible angle, one nil to Sweden, oh heck! Claesson, later then had a great chance to make it two nil, but he was let down by a terrible first touch, on a 2 v 1 break. Tut tut.

I really couldn’t see how Germany could get back into this game. They were not playing well, had a load of passengers on the team and no leader on the pitch to drag them to victory. But luckily for them Reus was on target, in the right place at the right time, in the box to score level, just after the break. 

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. 

Gomez missed a point blank sitter, amazing really how he can call himself a striker, then Brandt hit the post with a long range effort, Robin Olsen the Swedish goalkeeper in between making a number of excellent saves. The Swedish back line were under all sorts of pressure. With only about 30 seconds of the allotted time left, Jimmy Durmaz, with the paedo like beard, gave a silly free kick away on the edge of the box. This was surely the last chance for the Germans, it was a tight enough angle but no bother for Kroos who, with a quick one two with Reus, smashed it over the wall into the net. Brilliant recovery from Germany, and they are still in this years World Cup. PHEW, my heart!

As for Sweden they will hope to bounce back today against Mexico, but I fear they wont. They already sound like a defeated team, Jimmy Durmaz, moaning to the press about death threats (on the fucking internet!) and the whole Swedish team complaining about the German celebrations. I know its modern Sweden, but man the fuck up. What a team of losers.

A more detailed review on Mexico here and on Sweden here

Looked at the first half of this game.

Mexico nearly caught out early doors, ball flying across their box and no Swede to tap it into the empty net. Warning signs early on. 

But Sweden kept up the pressure and continued to hit Mexico hard from free kicks and corners. Forsberg blasting in a good free kick that Ochoa in the Mexican net did well to push over for a corner. Berg with a clever overhead that just went the wrong side of the post. Forsberg, again, blasted over with a free shot on goals when he could have got it at least on target.  It was all Sweden.

The the first controversy of the game. It appeared that Javier Hernández handled in his own box, at least thats what it looked like to me. But not top the referee who had to refer it to VAR and still made the wrong decision. In my opinion it should have been a peno. 

Berg had a point blank shot superbly saved by Ochoa, brilliant save to tip over the bar. At the end of the first half Sweden were miles and away the better team. And so that proved as they only went and got three goals in the second half, wow!!

Must say that their defence is the best I have seen in this years World Cup, very tall and difficult to break down. In particular, Granqvist in the centre of the defence has caught my eye with some great performances in the 3 games so far. Take a bow Sweden, well done today. 

Music to get you in the mood

Alejandra Guzmán – Mi Peor Error (Primera Fila) (Mexico) V Europe – The Final Countdown (Sweden)

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post