Tragic Football Stories - Let us Kick Around the misshapen Jabulani that is English football right here

Just watched highlights of Eng-Arg 98. Most shocking moment: seeing Paul Merson running up to take penalty. Like, what was that buffoon doing allowed near a world cup? I forget he was actually really good, now I just bracket him with Steve Claridge.

oh that's cold

ah sure who knows rly

Yes, all the goals were in the first half.

ha ha really no memory of merson at wc98. mind boggles. i will always remember him being england's best player on the night they went to shit in rotterdam (nov 93) not that it meant owt.

Time of Possession 65% 35% (Arg Eng) in 2002

According to http://www.englandfootballonline.com/Seas2000-10/2001-02/M0792Arg2002.html

lol

that feels about right but you need to experience the acid gnawing thru yr stomach to fully feel that match

That doesn't tell the whole story though - it was backs-to-the-wall but also somehow comfortable, Argentina were never going to score that day.

simeone's goal was classy too.

my memory of the game was that it was fairly even. don't remember argentina bossing it even after becks was sent off. don't know if this is heresy as an irishman but i would really really like england to be good again someday, and to win a world cup.

x-post otm...

it was backs-to-the-wall but also somehow comfortable

I remember feeling happy for Becks but otherwsie thought the game somewhat dull.

don't know if this is heresy as an irishman but i would really really like england to be good again someday, and to win a world cup.

REPREHENSIBLE.

DID WOLFE TONE DIE FOR THIS??

it was backs-to-the-wall but also somehow comfortable, Argentina were never going to score that day.

i agree i guess...nowhere near as stressful as the 98 game where they felt much more a constant threat.

just really dreading the complaints about tiredness next summer now. was forlan fucking tired last summer? schneider? iniesta? even with a midwinter break (which i do support) they still played as many games as most of the england squad. got to stop making the excuses that affect everyone.

The English players run about more y'see

yeah chasing the facking ball

I remember feeling happy for Becks but otherwsie thought the game somewhat dull.

yes definitely. i defended it at the time on a 'needs must' basis. just winning any which way was so important.

don't know if this is heresy as an irishman but i would really really like england to be good again someday

I've kind of given up on England but man that game in '02 between Ireland and Germany was exciting.

Replace the ENGLAND MANAGER with a 'selection panel' made up of Gareth Southgate, Lee Dixon and Trevor Brooking.

but then who would hype the lads up pre-match with a stirring monologue on Agincourt, El Alamein and Enoch Powell?

The other thing I remember about '02 was that England went out against the winners and they even scored first, well, that and the Seaman jokes.

ireland were woeful against germany tho

highly deserved equaliser

nicky barmby and all that, was that 98?

Better players throughout squad then, i think.

kills me that england will bypass huddlestone without ever even wondering why.

Owen scored and then I had to go to work. I was so sure England were going to win, they were so effective and lucky in them days, and then win the tournament too. I was genuinely dumbfounded later when I saw what happened while I was stuck on the tube.

That's v Brazil in 02, breakfast kickoffs & all that.

lol work jesus what were you 12

there was a long period of time when England would have a bunch of Barmby-esque players: good technical ability, versatile, keen, not quite the superstars of the PL but confident at international level. now it's predominantly prima donnas and future reality TV stars

Hey we're not all still in our twenties.

ireland were woeful against germany tho

Mighty behemoth vs wee island folk and then at the death stalwart Keane beats the world's best keeper. I was with a bunch of Irish folks and everyone went wild. Tbh, I had pretty much given up for the last 20 to concentrate on getting a drink.

I had to work during Ireland - Spain in 02. Probably for the best.

yeah i think maybe that's a thing?

we all remember big mick's big shorts

xxxp to nv

I was in the corridor when we scored

I am in my late twenties fyi yes

1st half v Wales was the best I've seen them play. The "Look, 4-3-3, it's how Barcelona play!" thing really seemed to work. Then they got bored and got hammered by Switzerland.

jesus Big Mick in them shorts with his legs splayed i had to keep covering my eyes

i remember him saying "fucking breeny" all goggle eyed when breen scored v saudi arabia

i remember the three-stage jaw drop when keane scored against germany, pythonesque but not the way you think

i was just as happy about that goal as i was becks pen, no lie

"C'est La Vie" as those lovely Irish popsters B*witched use to say!

is he riiiight?

^ meant to go on "My client became a YouTube sensation at the age of 12" - rolling off-season/transfer speculation thread 2011

wonderin tbh

On the other hand, England go above Brazil in world rankings.

Ireland almost cracking the top 30. Yes!

prob deservedly so

Emphatically not an xp

The future's bright. U17 WC was on in the pub tonight. Our England beat the bloody Argies on penalties. Some Sunderland GK was the hero. Golden years, golden years. Absolutely terrible match, but I don't know what a U17 game normally looks like tbh.

Well Germany up next and they just demolished USA so hold that thought.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cbq7gX1aTM

dirty cheating foreigners with their newfangled "route eins" and deflected-in punts from the d

love it when teams "pay the ultimate price" for a defensive balls-up btw