World Cup 2010

[Kongster]

Agreed.

Best performance of the night came from Shakira

[NemesiS]

I don't think anyone on here is disputing that Spain were the marginally better side last night, more the fact that they were constantly throwing themselves to the floor and waving imaginary cards every time a foul was committed.

That said some of the Dutch fouls were shocking and refreshing in equal measure. Its about time we saw a game of blood and guts thunder crunching football because the way its going, it will be a non contact sport soon.

But i simply refuse to subscribe to the general consensus that football won the day with Spain winning because if that example of the beautiful game is the way forward, then they can f*cking keep it in Spain and stick it where the sun don't shine

[saturn-gamer]

Truth is though that this final was actual wussy play compared to the 1974 semifinal against Brazil

[Spooky Mulder]

Agreed, when Holland played Brazil in '74 it was much more brutal. I seem to recall Luis Pereira clattering into Cruyff so hard that the Dutchman span up into the air like a rag doll...ah, football was played by real men back then

And yeah, Brazil in 2014 is a definite home banker. No European team has ever won the World Cup in the 7 times it's been played in South, Central, or North America...mind you, another South American side has a slim out side chance of pulling off a shock...after all, Uruguay beat Brazil 2-1 in the Maracana in front of 150,000 people back in 1950 to win the trophy... however, that was 60 years ago

[Number45]

The only problem with Brazil 2014 is that it's pretty obvious who's going to win.

[NemesiS]

Agreed, when Holland played Brazil in '74 it was much more brutal. I seem to recall Luis Pereira clattering into Cruyff so hard that the Dutchman span up into the air like a rag doll...ah, football was played by real men back then

Your talking a completely different era though. You could almost decapitate someone in the 70's and be unlucky to get a yellow. In the last 10 or 15 years or so football has become almost birdified. That picture a couple of world cups back with the Argy defensive wall all holding handbags was quite possibly the most poignant and relevant picture regarding the ponciness of football that i ever have seen.

Tbh, i played Rugby as i was just to big and too ****e for footy, but i prefer watching football. But even rugby is slowly starting to clamp down on hard tackles Pff, health and safety will be on the touchlines soon, mark my words.

[MisterBubbles]

If the so called ' Golden Generation ' struggle to get out of the group and into the last 16, then in 4 years England have no chance of winning it, most will be far too noob and inexperienced,might not even qualify.

[Number45]

Technically, if you get past the knockout stages, you've won the World Cup.

I'm an optimist. I have already wiped the last several weeks from my mind and am looking forward to the Euro qualifiers, hoping that things get shaken up and we improve while bringing on better and younger players.

As a West Ham fan, this cycle is a yearly event for me.

[teddymeow]

The only problem with Brazil 2014 is that it's pretty obvious who's going to win.

At last the stadiums will be more than half full.

[Number45]

And you'll be able to hear the fans.

Brazil will put on an amazing tournament, of that much I'm sure.

[sharky_ob]

If the so called ' Golden Generation ' cant even get past the knock out stages , then in 4 years England have no chance of winning it, most will be far too noob and inexperienced.,might not even qualify.

Erm, we did get past the knock out stages. Not very far past admittedly.

[EJG1980]

And you'll be able to hear the fans.

Brazil will put on an amazing tournament, of that much I'm sure.

And even better, you should be able to see "a lot more" of the fans too...

[Number45]

Absolutely.

I would insert a Google image search link here, but got NSFW-ness in it regardless of how strict I had the SafeSearch setting.

[abigsmurf]

"don't worry, here at brazil we won't have stupid annoying single note trumpets... We'll have a hundred different samba bands in every stadium to ensure a nice solid wall of noise!"

[Brats]

Erm, we did get past the knock out stages. Not very far past admittedly.

We got past the Group stages. As Number 45 said, the only team that got past the knock out stages was Spain.