The Brazilian and Merkin - FISO's WC2014 Matchday Pub

[thebillfella]

Can't think of one outfield premiership player who's done particularly well, goalkeepers Howard and Krul did well, possibly Kompany although maybe not for Higuain's goal.

Brian Ruiz

I know he wasn't there all year before you point it out!!!

[liquidfootball2]

Krul is pushing it! Vlaar? Zabaletta and lately Demichelis have done ok.

Other than defenders it's really bare though.

Yep, some of the defenders and Brian Luiz have done ok but thought Howard the only one to do particularly well.

[hancockjr]

So i guess on the law of averages Coutinho would have been magnificent!

[golden bear]

I thought Rooney looked a tit with his see through weave but the Argentinian Palacios beats him hands down with his Friar Tuck with a rat's tail.

[WilBert]

and here's Maxi the man they've been mising all the way through.

Taxi for Maxi 4rth pen?

Say what you like about Kuyt, hell of an engine.

[golden bear]

Seriously, Ron Vlaar as your first penalty taker?

Good luck Manchester United fans, he don't look such a genius now.

[moonlightdribbler]

Should have kept two of them out. No wonder Van Gaal was desperate to get Krul on to the pitch in the quarters!

[WilBert]

Seriously, Ron Vlaar as your first penalty taker?

Good luck Manchester United fans, he don't look such a genius now.

You can see why he subbed Cillissen in the previous match, he went down slower than an exploding chimney.

[Tacalabala]

Seriously, Ron Vlaar as your first penalty taker?

Good luck Manchester United fans, he don't look such a genius now.

You can see why he subbed Cillissen in the previous match, he went down slower than an exploding chimney.

Maybe Vlaar insisted on taking the first one. Yeah, hard to explain.

[TriXaM]

It appears that the 3rd place playoff is counted in the FIFA game; Dutch and Brazilian players that are still in my team are playing in 2 days and are active in the Transfers page. That being said, the lineups will be pretty unpredictable I imagine. Will be an advantage if you're around before kick off to tweak your team according to those playing.

[redcanuck]

I was wondering about the 3rd 4th place game as well. When you look at the rules under rounds it just mentions the final as round 7. So i was going to get rid of my two Brazilians.

When you tick the only available players box, Dutch and Brazilians are included. So maybe the 3rd place games counts in this game.

[redcanuck]

Seriously, Ron Vlaar as your first penalty taker?

Good luck Manchester United fans, he don't look such a genius now.

You can see why he subbed Cillissen in the previous match, he went down slower than an exploding chimney.

Maybe Vlaar insisted on taking the first one. Yeah, hard to explain.

Supposedly LVG asked two other players to take the first penalty but they refused. If that is true you have to give Vlar credit for stepping up.

[Knulpuk]

It now says;;


Round 7 runs from 12-13 July and comprises the play-off for the third place and the final match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™.

[golden bear]

Seriously, Ron Vlaar as your first penalty taker?

Good luck Manchester United fans, he don't look such a genius now.

You can see why he subbed Cillissen in the previous match, he went down slower than an exploding chimney.

Maybe Vlaar insisted on taking the first one. Yeah, hard to explain.

Supposedly LVG asked two other players to take the first penalty but they refused. If that is true you have to give Vlar credit for stepping up.

Those two players shouldn't play for their country again then.

[fancy dan]

Seriously, Ron Vlaar as your first penalty taker?

Good luck Manchester United fans, he don't look such a genius now.

You can see why he subbed Cillissen in the previous match, he went down slower than an exploding chimney.

Maybe Vlaar insisted on taking the first one. Yeah, hard to explain.

Supposedly LVG asked two other players to take the first penalty but they refused. If that is true you have to give Vlar credit for stepping up.

Those two players shouldn't play for their country again then.

If you're not feeling confident about taking a pen, surely the best thing is to let your manager know rather than having a go and missing?

The surprising thing is that they didn't have the order already worked out, surely?

[liquidfootball2]

Is there any point of the 3rd place play off?

Most pointless game ever.

LVG joins in the chorus now he's got to get the third place game out of the way. Said he doesn't want to play it, "what's the point of that? You come here to win it or you don't want to win anything at all, coming third, who remembers third?".

I think a lot of people agree.

[golden bear]

Fair points Fancy Dan but if you're part of a team you should be willing to do what is asked of you by your manager, imo.

LvG's motivational skills seem to be a bit lacking in this episode though.

[Surprised]

Seriously, Ron Vlaar as your first penalty taker?

Good luck Manchester United fans, he don't look such a genius now.

You can see why he subbed Cillissen in the previous match, he went down slower than an exploding chimney.

Maybe Vlaar insisted on taking the first one. Yeah, hard to explain.

Supposedly LVG asked two other players to take the first penalty but they refused. If that is true you have to give Vlar credit for stepping up.

Those two players shouldn't play for their country again then.

If you're not feeling confident about taking a pen, surely the best thing is to let your manager know rather than having a go and missing?

The surprising thing is that they didn't have the order already worked out, surely?

I don't think it was a case of "I'm not confident"
More a case of "I know I earn 100k plus a week but I really can't be arsed to step up for my country as I'm a piece of shite and a coward"

[Striker]

I don't think it was a case of "I'm not confident"
More a case of "I know I earn 100k plus a week but I really can't be arsed to step up for my country as I'm a piece of shite and a coward"

While there are possibly a few international players who fit your penalty declining stereotype, I'm sure that the majority of the actual and potential refusniks simply find the pressure gets to them.

Perhaps you're just having a bad day rather than a true believer in what you've written. After all an analogy would be to argue that anyone suffering from manic depression should simply pull themselves together, and I'm sure that you aren't a member of that school of thought.

[foxinthebox2001]

The bit I found comical was the way Cillissen tried to approach Messi before his penalty, trying to remember how Krull did it, almost as an afterthought.
Never a hope in hell it would put Messi off.

[redcanuck]

I am sure that LVG had his penalty order set while sitting on the bench. However when his first choice to take the first penalty declined he went to his second choice who also declined to take the first penalty. It is assumed by many that it was Sneijder and Robben that declined to take the first penalty. That only left Vlaar and Kuyt since I imagine Huntelaar was to take the 5th penalty.

It's hard to blame LVG or Vlaar here, players refuse to take penalties all the time, they can't seem to handle the pressure. I don't know how many penalties Vlaar has taken and what his success rate is, but at least he had the balls to step up where others did not.

[hancockjr]

I'd be surprised if they refused, more like indicated they really didn't want to. As someone said, the first rule of pens is select people who are confident, so LvG rightly moved on.

[fancy dan]

Surely he should have had his penalty order agreed with the players before the game?

[golden bear]

Surely when you select international players, courage is a characteristic you look for.

The worst that can happen is that they miss and have accept a large amount of money from Pizza Hut anyway.

[forestfan]

The trouble for England players and probably the Dutch as well, is that there have been so many penalty shoot-out villains over the years that there's not really even any celebrity value in it any more...

For example, from an England point of view - Pearce, Waddle, Southgate, Ince, Batty, name the seven who have followed in their footsteps since, not so easy is it?

[golden bear]

Exactly, no one remembers because its forgotten so quickly.

So where's the pressure?

[redcanuck]

Anybody have any thoughts on the starting line ups for Brazil and Holland on Saturday. I would think a lot of players who have not had a lot of playing time until now will get a start. Jo and Willan for Brazil, Clasie and Depay for Holland?

[moonlightdribbler]

Mascherano's tackle on Robben - Not only did he break his neck to get there, but he also "tore his anus".


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[From4corners]

I didn't even think that was possible. That said, the rest of the Argentine players are up next this Sunday.

[Knulpuk]

"I cried at the end because I have spent a lot of time waiting for this moment," the 30-year-old said.

It should have read

"I cried at the end because my arse was in shreds"