World Cup 2014

Does he really want that kiss?

Balotelli goes to Arsenal next season, apparently?

Just called them Chile again.

ESPN Game of Thrones reference fell flat there...

Apparently so StanM. With Joel Campbell going to Milan if the papers are to be believed.

why don't they play night matches? afraid of rioting?

Ruizzzzzzzzzzz

STONEWALL PEN

JUSTICE

oh damn

campbell jobbed

cannot believe they didn't get that penalty

lovely goal tho

Justice indeed, great header!

Costa Rica way better than England in any case. Now can the commentator shut the fuck up about England.

lots of rumours saying he is coming but lol rumours. im also weary if true- hes good but afaict hes not been v impressive for milan, bar the odd good performance or wondergoal.

oh shi

lol my stream is behind obvs

whats the rule about tackling, are you never allowed to hit the guy's leg or is it ok if you get ball first

My prediction:

Costa Rica 9
Uruguay 6
Italia 3
England 0

not as simple as either of those, xp

usually okay if you get the ball first unless it's from behind, your studs are showing, two footed, or too forceful

xp to kev

caek's here so he knows more than me

certainly nothing wrong in principle with physical contact

but

"ok if you get the ball first" is something really thick footballers who end up as commentators think is true

Funny indeed how pundits are "well let's just hope Italy wins, then we'll be ok", as if you don't even have to play CR and win yourself.

first class hand gestures from the costa rica coach

why don't they play night matches? afraid of rioting?

― k3vin k., Friday, June 20, 2014 12:43 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

would be the middle of the night/ early morning for a lot of the big tv markets, i assume.

usually okay if you get the ball first unless it's from behind, your studs are showing, two footed, or too forceful

pretty good rules of thumb

Are there official rules online? There's some stuff on the fifa site but it's v vague

#summerofCONCACAF hashtag starting up

also worth noting that the ref is one guy chasing 22 guys around a huge field and he has to make a split second decision on every tackle no matter what angle he sees it from. never going to get much consistency imo.

Why's Lineker wearing an Italy kit anyway? What the hell is that?

espn just showed the teams shoving and hollering in the tunnel on the way in for halftime. ready for a spicy 2nd. <3 CRC

yeah the written laws are very brief

this is partly deliberate i suspect

a lot of what is and isn't a foul at the top level is built up by precedent

see p.36 onwards here http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/footballdevelopment/refereeing/02/36/01/11/lawsofthegameweben_neutral.pdf

ENTER CASSANO

Costa Rica and Uruguay making it out of this group would make this whole thing so hilariously worth it.

not sure the defender got the ball there but the ref would have to have some fucking stones to give that to italy

does anyone know why joel campbell has such an english-sounding name?

matt dc otm

italy goal feels inevitable

look like they've decided to gamble on campbell's pace and step up anyway, starting much higher up the pitch trying to pen CR in. Here comes Rafa's boy.

de rossi schooled

ruiz has been terrific

Italy not looking like they are going to score easily now, struggling. Ruiz has been v good so far indeed. And I love Campbell, had not heard of him before.

caek re joel campbell i found this: Most Afro-Costa Ricans, who constitute about 3% of the country's population, descend from Jamaican immigrants who worked in the construction of that railway. it does sound like a jamaican name fwiw

Only just got to the pub but wow Costa Rica appear to be properly outplaying Italy here. Shades of South Korea in 02.

Their tactics are just spot on. Italy can't get through.

They've been excellent Matt although their high line has been aided by Italian inability to time a few straightforward runs

It's a kind of conceptual art tribute to inzhagi i suspect

How many off-sides have we seen for Italy Pandemic? Feels like a lot.

Amusing how this is the season where co-commentating pundits try to show that they've been on coaching courses by mentioning "3rd man runners" periodically.