Group A: Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador

[roseboy64]

Bang!!! Game over.

 

[roseboy64]

No luck for Poland today.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Fair play Ecuador. I'll be the first to hold my hands up & say I underestimated them/overestimated Poland. Poles were shocking tho. Very poor. I was under no illusions that they were world beaters, but I had them down as a capable & fairly efficient side.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

I expected Ecuador to be worse than they've been, given the way the qualified (getting virtually all their points playing at altitude). Still nothing to write home about... quarter finals should be a breeze for two certain Group B sides...

Sweden are really struggling with their right back, though, which Lahm and Schweinsteiger should enjoy if it turns out Sweden v Germany. Am beginning to regret my 2-1 to Sweden tip for that match.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Fair play Ecuador. I'll be the first to hold my hands up & say I underestimated them/overestimated Poland. Poles were shocking tho. Very poor. I was under no illusions that they were world beaters, but I had them down as a capable & fairly efficient side.

Shows how shocking your qualifying group really was. Almost as bad as ours.

And to be fair, Poland had two shots off the post, but I think they lacked the ability in front of goal today. There were a number of good opportunities, but they were either a) shot into rushing Ecuadorians who came out to tackle or b) went over the players who got the crosses. Ecuador really weren't that good defensively as they were made out, though, often overrun..

 

[Matteh]

Expected Poland to do better tbh. Certainly one of the more capable sides and Ecuador only qualify because they play their home games on a mountain....

 

[luckyeddie]

Go back to the CWXI forum please. You're not allowed out here, and I'd rather not have to call security.

I was wondering how someone could have over 1000 posts and still slip under my radar.

 

[luckyeddie]

Costa Rica were dire. Germany really should be embarrassed to concede two against them.

Choppy's still a class act though.

 

[Blaze]

How good is the world cup! I am no expert nor a great fan of football but I plan to watch every game of this tournament.

Germany looked ominous in attack early in their match against Costa Rica. I was pretty impressed and surprised. They didn't look too flash at the other end of the park though.

Loved seeing Ecuador get up over Poland. Poland were boring and didn't test the keeper out enough, who looked very nervous at the back I might add.

Ecuador vs. Costa Rica could be a pretty good game. Looking forward to it. Poland have a lot of work to do from here to make it through...

 

[Pedro Delgado]

Brilliant first game, best for ages and ages. Choppy eh, he's still gorrit, he's 'ere all week.
Poland and Equador were both ****.

 

[Sir Redman]

Looks like my tip of Ecuador going through could pay off. I intended to get up and watch both games - didn't happen though, was woken up by the cat at about 4:30 a.m., let him out, turned on the tv and it was a minute away from half-time in the first game. Probably should have stayed up, but I was tired and wandered back off to bed. Woke up at half time in the second game but fell straight back asleep again. It's not easy living in NZ when the World Cup's on you know.

 

[33/3from3.3]

. Its not easy living in NZ when the World Cup's on you know.

I know aye, there's just no support here, theres no buzz
And the time difference ****s ya

 

[Blaze]

I know aye, there's just no support here, theres no buzz
And the time difference ****s ya

There has been plenty of buzz IMO...

MySky is going to be very good for me for the world cup. Record all the matches and wake up the next day and watch them one after another.

 

[Craig]

Quite enjoyed Poland and Ecuador, haven't watched Germany v Cost Rica yet as I have it taped. I timed it just right, I got up to tape it just as the game was about to start when I thought I had missed the start and was angry at myself.

 

[Simon]

The German game was pretty exciting, i watched about half an hour of the second game before going to sleep, it seems i was right in my prediction of Poland, vastly over rated because they are a european team in a weak group.

 

[chaminda_00]

Pretty interesting games today, Germany look a class above the rest of the teams in this group. But Costa Rica and Ecuador look like they got some potential, really looking forward to their match against each other. Poland look pathetic, to say the least. I can't see Costa Rica or Ecuador moving belong the 2nd round though and Germany really need to work on their defence, but they didn't seem to miss Ballack too much, which is a good sign.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

are you talking about the other 3 out of .... all of the groups?

what the hell ..... broad generalisations off 2 games

"All the teams we've seen so far". That means Germany, Costa Rica and Poland, yeah? No, I wasn't referring to teams we hadn't seen yet.

 

[Cloete]

Costa Rica were dire. Germany really should be embarrassed to concede two against them.

I know a few of the keepers were having a moan (as keepers do) about the balls being "goalkeeper unfriendly", but jeez they move like the 99p plastic floaters you used to buy from service stations on the way to the seaside! Frings's shot must've moved 8-10 feet laterally in the air!

On the plus side my accumulator lives on!

Yeah he got some ridiculous swerve on that. He started it out in the middle of the goal.

Sweden are really struggling with their right back, though, which Lahm and Schweinsteiger should enjoy if it turns out Sweden v Germany. Am beginning to regret my 2-1 to Sweden tip for that match.

Who's been playing there for them? Lucic? Cause he's a fairly good player IMO...

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Who's been playing there for them? Lucic? Cause he's a fairly good player IMO...

Edman. Lucic is centre back, IIRC.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Much better performance from Poland first half. Germany probably shaded the half (Podolski must've been briefly possessed by the spirit of his Polish forebears to not even hit the target just before the break), but Poland have shown glimpses. They really need to win tho & I think that might just be beyond them.