The main thing I was worried about in this WC was the issue of struggling in knockout games. It would have maintained the negative cloud hanging over the squad for so long. Now regardless of what happens we can come away with an element of momentum to continue rebuilding and improving the group of players.
Well well well. Semi final for England. Got to admit I was still nervous until about the 93rd minute. I will now watch tonight's other quarter final but with a more relaxed feel to it.
Got exactly the same thing man, I'll admit I'm a bit of a troll sometimes but the South American bullshit in that thread was too much to let go;
Was never in doubt was it? When it was, Pickford came up huge. The whole squad should have a lot of confidence going into the Croatia/Russia game. We'll feel like it's ours to lose. We go again...
The Southgate lookalike guy - Met this brilliant @GarethSouthgate lookalike, one of the @england fans. Neil from Surrey and nelly_southgate on Instagram).#Eng pic.twitter.com/zfW1RApBcu— Jacqui Oatley (@JacquiOatley) July 7, 2018
Yes!!!! pic.twitter.com/qq0UY0h1yk— Ross Kemp (@RossKemp) July 7, 2018 pic.twitter.com/1tBzS7Gkab— Ross Kemp (@RossKemp) July 7, 2018
It's a bit of a strange feeling after this match. We're in the semi finals, but it never felt like a typical quarter final and I'm struggling to get excited about it to be honest. Yes, we had our poor moments and Sweden had chances but it didn't feel like we were under concerted pressure or in danger of losing control of the game. If we'd won on penalties or got through after a classic end to end match I might feel more excited, but as it stands it feels like we just went out and took care of business. This must be like how Germans feel at most tournaments.
Totally agree with you. We normally face a favourite at the QF stage and back in 2006/2002/2010 I would’ve celebrated like crazy but I was a bit more tempered today, Columbia match was different though, maybe it’s because I could never have imagined winning in that manner through penalties and never thought we would, I don’t think you can beat that feeling! I love reading South American bias towards us, they are so incredibly bitter haha! Argentinians and Brazilians especially complaining about us playing poor teams, yet Argentina failed against these so called average teams in the group stage lol. ******** Argentina, I absolutely love this and seeing their self entitled fans whingeing! Just wish we had a chance to play them
This Brazilian would support England a million times over Argentina if England and Argentina played a million matches. England has done well at this World Cup and the 1-0 loss to Belgium in the group stage was simply a defeat which any team on any given day may experience. I found your triumph over Colombia just and England was superior to Sweden today. Bring it home. It's been 52 years. It's time for football to come home.
You seem like a decent poster and my earlier one was mainly aimed at some of the other ‘fans’ on this board. Thanks, it’s been a great World Cup that’s for sure. much better than 2010
Indeed. The mods let it get out of control. I don't think there will be any Swedish petitions to FIFA to replay this game.
It was also a bit strange watching a match with two teams just out to play football. No histrionics, no haranguing of the refereee, no over the top dives. Quite refreshing really.
Well I am American and I don’t know anyone who is anti English. The Royal Family is hugely popular, for example. As for football , anyone who likes it follows the Premiership over anything else. I may be speaking for white Americans I guess. I for one am very happy to see England do well.
really you speak for the irish and italian and Germanic americans who make up 40% of your population? i doubt you speak for many people in america at all on youtube many of you think we hold the scots in bondage because of that outlander bollix lol oh i couldnt give a shite about the royals either lol.
I know this isn’t accepted wisdom but the habit of playing at age group tournaments and, lately, winning them as well must be a huge factor in this and has seemingly seeped into the senior team. And, whatever individual weaknesses, this set of players is beginning to play as a unit, unlike in previous years when we simply threw good players together and hoped for the best.
Kids often stop other sports too early. Maguire credits schoolboy rugby for "helping me with my bravery, weaving in and out of players, helping with agility" & hockey "helped my vision and passing" and cross country for his county (reached national standard one race) for stamina.— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) July 7, 2018
I made a tweet on Twitter about the amount of players that have played tournament football. We’ve done a lot of good work there. My main criticism is U21 level, which bar a decent qualifying campaign under Southgate has been an issue. We could have got a lot more out of those experiences.
“It’s coming home” is the exact phrase my mum used to use, as she looked out of the window & saw my dad stumbling from the pub. True.— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) July 7, 2018