I'm busy watching Asian Games. Have no time for Football right now! OK, I just watched our leagues matches and watched the sport news about major European ones.
The Best of Football - An ongoing discussion -
Débuté par
DragonRageGT
, juil. 19 2010 09:13
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#3852
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Posté 28 septembre 2014 - 11:18
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Not quite yet, but...
It's only 6 games in, but yeah, it's bad. At least they scored this weekend. That's a start, right?
I'm busy watching Asian Games. Have no time for Football right now! OK, I just watched our leagues matches and watched the sport news about major European ones.
No worries, mate, that's what I'm here for; to round up the best European action with a sidedish of mild sarcasm. I've been a bit busy celebrating my beloved All Blacks win in the Rugby Championship myself, but I'll be back a little later for the Champions League. Losts of juicy games coming up: Man City vs Roma, PSG vs Barcelona, Atletico Madrid vs Juventus.
- Kaiser Arian XVII aime ceci
#3853
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Posté 01 octobre 2014 - 02:42
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No Ibrahimovic? No problem! PSG just went ahead without their star man/physics-bending magician and beat Barcelona 3-2. David Luiz was brilliant, scoring a goal and holding the defence like a human brick wall. Man City's quest to qualify for the knock-out stage is starting to look shaky; they went up a goal through a Sergio Aguero penalty, before Francesco Totti, all 38 years of him, rolled up in his mobility scooter and tapped in the equalizer with his Zimmer frame, beating Ryan Giggs' record for oldest goal scorer in European cups. Nice one, old man.
Chelsea beat Sporting Lisbon 1-0, in a game which was a lot better than the scoreline suggest; both teams had chances, but Chelsea were clearly dominant, and only heroic goalkeeping from Sporting's Rui Patricio kept Chelsea from scoring more. BATE Borisov beat Athletic Bilbao 2-1, while Apoel Nicosia vs Ajax and Schalke vs Nk Maribor both finished 1-1.
For tonight, Liverpool goes to Basel, Arsenal hosts Galatasaray, Atletico Madrid will clash with Juventus, Bayer Leverkusen will take on Benfica, Belgian champions Andelecht welcomes Borussia Dortmund. All potentially interesting games in this particularly strong midweek.
- Kaiser Arian XVII aime ceci
#3854
Posté 01 octobre 2014 - 04:14
Kaiser Arian XVII
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^ I actually watched PSG - Barcelona. Good game. Barcelona's defense line looked vulnerable. Still not as bad as Real Madrid.
I liked some of the Roma's players, so I wish them well.
Rui Patricio is a good goalkeeper. He's Portugal's goalkeeper after all.
#3855
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Posté 02 octobre 2014 - 01:59
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Welbeck hat-trick, woohoo! We have a new Thierry Henry - at least until he starts misfiring again! Oezil seems to be enjoying his new role in the centre midfield. Sanchez curled in a third goal before Welbeck completed his treble before Szczesny fouled Burak Yilmaz in the box to concede a penalty and get sent off, but by then Wenger was ready to shut up shop and the game was effectively over. Pleasing performance all round.
Zenit St Petersburg vs Monaco was a damp squib; I watched bits of it, and the overall impression was plenty of endeavour, but a distinctly casual pace. Boy are they in for a shock if they ever play an English or a German side. A very poor Liverpool got beaten by the Swiss outfit Basel. It's now 9 games total into their season, and they've won just 3. Crisis club in the making? Dortmund put their indifferent Bundesliga form behind them to comfortably beat Andelecht 3-0, while Bayer Leverkusen outclassed Benfica 3-1, just in time to finish Oktoberfest. Atletico Madrid scrapped to a 1-0, 49-foul, 8-yellow-card win over Juventus. That Atletico would fight like 11 demon-possessed madmen for every game is expected, that Juve showed a distinct lack of attacking ability is worrying - they had 5 shots total, none on target.
This weekend, three big questions in the Premier League will be answered. Are Man United really better and more balanced without Rooney? With him suspended for three games, Everton will test them on that. Are Arsenal really doing okay enough to pass up on Fabregas at the beginning of the season? He and Chelsea might beg to differ. Will Southampton continue their unexpected hot run of form? Tottenham are next in their sights. Meanwhile, in Serie A, Juventus vs Roma stands out. Looking forward to them.
- Kaiser Arian XVII aime ceci
#3856
Posté 02 octobre 2014 - 07:10
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Where is everybody gone? There is not many people to appreciate the KnossosTNC's awesome comments.
Good news about Welbeck. Athletico is quite a funny douche! I'm also very interested to watch Juventus vs Roma.
#3857
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Posté 02 octobre 2014 - 11:33
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Where is everybody gone? There is not many people to appreciate the KnossosTNC's awesome comments.
Good news about Welbeck. Athletico is quite a funny douche! I'm also very interested to watch Juventus vs Roma.
Eh, I've been around long enough to see that this is the kind of thread that's never going to set the forum alight, but is just going to hum along at its own pace, with or without my contribution. It goes quiet for while, then springs back to life, and it's not like the internet is short of places to talk about football. Me? I just happen to be around once in a while to check on news about Bioware games, so I thought; "eh, why not, I'm otherwise a bit of a lurker anyway." Besides, I enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and the lack of stupid things like arbitrary character limits. So yeah, I'm relaxed about it.
Atletico are just reflecting the personality of their manager, who was a classic bare-knuckled, win-at-any-cost enforcer in his playing days. If you don't remember what Diego Simeone was most famous for in the 1998 World Cup, then David Beckham certainly does. Even as manager, he still has that dark overlord vibe about him, what with that all-black suit and slick swept-back hair. I guess it just takes that kind of personality to break the Real-Barca duopoly of Spanish football.
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#3858
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Posté 04 octobre 2014 - 07:10
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Plenty of goals in the Premier League today. Even the Hull-Crystal Palace game which promised to stay goalless for a long time bloomed late to deliver two of its own, with Hull scoring both. Man City had 68% possession and 27 shots, but only managed to break Aston Villa down with two late strikes. Liverpool toiled to a 2-1 win over West Brom, ending their run of 4 Premier League games without a win. With Balotelli rested until late in second half, Liverpool's attack looked sharper, but their defending continue to leak like a condom made of Swiss cheese; they have now managed just one clean sheet in 16 games.
Leicester was heading for a 2-1 win, until Burnley pulled off the sucker punch at 95 minutes 15 seconds on the clock - the latest goal of the season. Ouch. Meanwhile over in Wales, if Alan Pardew was feeling the heat, then certainly Swansea did their best to fire up the grill Newcastle fans hope to cook him on, with 2 goals from 64% possession. However, it seems Papiss Cisse really, really doesn't want to see Pardew go, single-handedly pulling both goals back. It's okay Papiss, we'll miss him too, but it's okay to let him go.
In La Liga, Valencia blitzed Atletico Madrid with 3 goals in 7 minutes, before Atletico got one back just before half an hour on the clock. Atletico piled on the pressure afterwards, but couldn't convert a penalty, and had just enough time to get a player sent off for deliberate handball. Most unbelievably, Valencia were momentarily on top of the La Liga table, at least until Messi and Neymar fired Barca to a 2-0 win over Rayo Vallecano. Signs of a another surprisingly competitive title race in Spain? Meanwhile, Messi's league goal count is now 249, two short of Telmo Zarra's record of 251 goals, adding yet another log to the ever-burning Messi vs Ronaldo debate fire.
Juventus vs Roma tomorrow. I'm excited. Chelsea vs Arsenal is also tomorrow. I'm terrified.
- Kaiser Arian XVII aime ceci
#3859
Posté 04 octobre 2014 - 07:39
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#3860
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Posté 04 octobre 2014 - 08:13
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Villa alone was worth his weight in gold, which admittedly at 5-foot-9, wasn't as much as I hoped to convey with that expression, but you get the idea. Then you got the likes of Silva, Morientes, etc. So yeah, on paper, 06-07 Valencia was a really strong side. That they still only finished 4th is a testament to how tough that season was, with the usual dominance by Real and Barca, but also a really strong Sevilla side.Best Valencia team ever?
http://en.wikipedia....encia_CF_season
But if this year's Valencia somehow pulls off the title... ...well, that would be something else entirely. Still a long way to go, though.
#3861
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Posté 05 octobre 2014 - 06:14
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Yeah, my worst fears were realised. Welbeck didn't do much, but then again, with both Oezil and Cazorla shut down by Chelsea's midfield, he wasn't really allowed to do much, leaving Wilshere to try to win the game all by himself. Arsenal had 10 shots, none on target. Chelsea, on the other hand, had no such problems; Hazard was hauled down after being clean through to open from the spot. Fabregas delivered an emphatic "you should have signed me" to Wenger; he was everywhere, and it was his brilliant pass that allowed Costa to add a second. Fabregas now has 7 assists this season, 4 of which were to Costa, who has now scored 9 goals. The most fearsome midfield-striker combo in the Premier League right now? Not that Wenger was exactly paying attention; he was too busy almost getting into a fistfight with Mourinho on the touchline. Overall, a feisty encounter, but one Chelsea was always in control.
Last week, as Rooney bowed his head in shame as he marched off to a chorus of boos from the fans, somewhere in the stadium, Mata was smiling. He was probably smiling even more as he walked out on to Old Trafford to start against Everton, and his grin must have stretched from ear to ear as he bagged an assist off of Di Maria's opening goal. He didn't exactly come out of the blocks all guns blazing, but the overall performance did suggest that Man United were more assured and more balanced without Rooney. The busiest man of the day, though, was David de Gea; saving a penalty, and pulling off two great saves as Everton began to dominate late on. Man United ended victorious, 2-1. Maybe the next few games will convince van Gaal to make Rooney the captain of the Seating Temperature Regulation Squad. Elsewhere, a disappointing Southampton side lost 1-0 to Tottenham.
And last but not the least, Juventus vs Roma. Both teams were on 5-wins-out-of-5 coming in. Both teams are led by legendary Italian captains, Gianluigi Buffon and Francesco Totti, with 1090 club appearances combined. Something had to give. Tevez opened from the spot, before Totti replied in kind to end Juve's streak of 832 minutes without conceding. Roma went ahead after Gervinho combined with Iturbe, before Tevez converted another penalty just before half-time. Both sides slowed down the pace in the second half, and a draw looked likely until Bonucci fired home a brilliant strike. Morota then made a bad challenge on Manolas, who replied with a piece of his mind, resulting in both players being sent to cool off. Juve win 3-2. Terrific game, lived up to all the billings and then some.
Next up, we have another international break, with two rounds of Euro 2016 qualifiers. While World Champions Germany face neighbours Poland away then Ireland at home, Roy Hodgson and his team of "babies" will face San Marino at Wembley, then fly to Estonia.
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#3862
Posté 05 octobre 2014 - 06:19
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United has shown some glimpses of how it used to play and it was great to see United use the entire width of the pitch like happened this game. That said without De Gea once again showing some brilliant saves things would've gotten so much worse and beating the current Everton is hardly a feat. They are not at all like they were last season. McNair look very promising, just hope he get the time to mature properly and can avoid doing really dumb stuff. That kid got a future! Now Shaw on the other hand, far too slow and far too unfit for a player that play on this level. He need a lot more training and to lose some weight.
#3863
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Posté 05 octobre 2014 - 06:34
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United has shown some glimpses of how it used to play and it was great to see United use the entire width of the pitch like happened this game. That said without De Gea once again showing some brilliant saves things would've gotten so much worse and beating the current Everton is hardly a feat. They are not at all like they were last season. McNair look very promising, just hope he get the time to mature properly and can avoid doing really dumb stuff. That kid got a future! Now Shaw on the other hand, far too slow and far too unfit for a player that play on this level. He need a lot more training and to lose some weight.
Shaw was a player United had been chasing a long time, but now that he's here, yeah, he does look a bit out of his depth. Hibbert isn't exactly known for his speed, yet he strolled past Shaw like he wasn't even there. He owes de Gea at least a beer.
Still, he's only 19, and with the way things are, United aren't exactly well stocked on defensive options at the moment. I think they'll continue to appreciate having Luke Shaw around, half-fit and all.
#3864
Posté 05 octobre 2014 - 06:41
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Shaw was a player United had been chasing a long time, but now that he's here, yeah, he does look a bit out of his depth. Hibbert isn't exactly known for his speed, yet he strolled past Shaw like he wasn't even there. He owes de Gea at least a beer.
Still, he's only 19, and with the way things are, United aren't exactly well stocked on defensive options at the moment. I think they'll continue to appreciate having Luke Shaw around, half-fit and all.
It's how United is forced to think at the moment. Players like Shaw are far better than nothing and United has had far worse players on the field in the past and managed. I got great hope in Shaw and we all know how good he can be. I've been patient with many players and stood behind De Gea when he had a hard time at the start and days like today make that faith really worth it. Shaw will be excellent for United but not today, not this month but before the season is over for sure
#3865
Posté 05 octobre 2014 - 08:23
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I wanted to see an actual fight between Mourinho and Wenger but it didn't happen. Chelsea is overpowered, considering Diego Costa worths around 50 million dollar and others have good height and strength. Dat Hazard is really dangerous. If Arsenal players could shoot sooner they could actually score, but the plan was to get too near to the goalkeeper and both Cortois and Ceck were ready.
#3866
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Posté 05 octobre 2014 - 09:21
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I kinda imagine that would be a bit like Obi-Wan Kinobi vs Emperor Palpatine... ...except a lot less awesome.I wanted to see an actual fight between Mourinho and Wenger but it didn't happen. Chelsea is overpowered, considering Diego Costa worths around 50 million dollar and others have good height and strength. Dat Hazard is really dangerous. If Arsenal players could shoot sooner they could actually score, but the plan was to get too near to the goalkeeper and both Cortois and Ceck were ready.
Yeah, anything short of voodoo dolls or a small Herpes epidemic in Fulham seem insufficient to stop Chelsea at the moment. As for Arsenal, it's the same old story; beautiful passing moves - so beautiful they seem to forget they're meant to shoot the ball every once in a while.
Oh well, at least it wasn't 6-0. Silver linings and all that.
- Kaiser Arian XVII aime ceci
#3867
Posté 07 octobre 2014 - 06:00
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I wanted to see an actual fight between Mourinho and Wenger but it didn't happen. Chelsea is overpowered, considering Diego Costa worths around 50 million dollar and others have good height and strength. Dat Hazard is really dangerous. If Arsenal players could shoot sooner they could actually score, but the plan was to get too near to the goalkeeper and both Cortois and Ceck were ready.
That would be great to watch, now it was pretty anti-climaxic..
Funny things happened in The Netherlands as well, a coach tripped a player, Cocu proved either to be a complete idiot or completely unworthy of being a coach for a big club like PSV and this competition is getting stranger by the week..
2 weeks ago we had 5 matches with atleast 6 goals and this week there were two 6-1 matches.. the qualtiy of the football decreses every year, as is really eveident in Europa.. PSV lost in the last minute in a match they should have won, Feyenoord got lucky as they almost gave their lead away and in the Champions League Ajax tied against Nicosia..
- Kaiser Arian XVII aime ceci
#3868
Posté 07 octobre 2014 - 03:54
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At least you can watch some goalful matches. Most of Iran's league matches end in 2-0, 2-1, 1-1, 1-0 and 0-0. In recent years not many of our clubs could defeat Japanese or Korean clubs.
And Edinho is still the league's top scorer like last season!
http://uk.soccerway....-season/r27163/
#3869
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Posté 09 octobre 2014 - 06:19
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Right, before I get into the today's games, there were a couple of things that happened between the last round of league games and the international break. First, Oezil got injured, and will be out for about 3 months, while Koscielny was sent home from France duty for, you guessed it, picking up an injury. Fantastic. Arsenal may not be winning trophies, but they are certainly racking up the Worst Injury Luck of the Year (also known as the Cosmic Chewtoy of the Year Award), and this ensures they're in the running again this year. Hooray!
Meanwhile, Premier League clubs are once again mulling staging league games overseas in places like Asia and the United States, this time picking games from the existing calender instead of creating a new 39th round. And once again, the online reaction was incendiary. Words like "greedy," "out of touch" and "contemptuous of fans" were thrown around. Main concerns were the rights of England-based fans and season ticket holders to see their teams, matchday revenue for local businesses, and loss of one home games affecting end-of-season results. Basically, it boils down to England-based fans clinging on to the "Englishness" of the Premier League, and all are fair concerns.
The problem is, the Premier League is the most popular league in the world, with a global television audience of over 600 million people. Manchester United alone is estimated to have at least 75 million fans worldwide; more than the entire population of the United Kingdom. Other clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool are also immensely popular, Man City's fanbase is growing rapidly, and even clubs like Tottenham, Everton and Newcastle have "cult" fanbases all over the world. In the U.S. alone, NBC signed a 3-year, $250 million deal to air Premier League games, and a recent pre-season game between Man United and Real Madrid drew a record crowd of 109,318 in Michigan. No elaboration is needed for the huge popularity of the league in Asia, and Africa is set to be a high-growth area in the coming years.
And that's why the overseas games are going to happen. Pre-seasons are nice, but everybody know they are not competitive games, and fans ultimately want to see their teams and players at their competitive best in person. FA Cup ties won't do; the line-ups are too random, which is a logistical nightmare because such overseas games take months or years to negotiate and prepare. And while it's natural, logical even, for local fans to cling on to the "Englishness" of the League as much as they could, the fact of the matter is, it's not the "English" Premier League any more; the Premier League now belongs to the world. I am not saying it's a good idea. I don't care either way, even though I live in a country that would be a prime destination for one of these games, I'm just saying it's inevitable; either the Premier League will lead the way, or someone else will beat them to the punch and force their hands.
Finally, Roy Keane has just released a new autobiography. In it, he said he didn't mean to hurt Haaland after all, and that Sir Alex... ...HOLY MACKEREL, THAT BEARD! Speaking of Haaland, apparently he's been suggesting that Roy's facial foliage kinda look familiar:
Can you spot the difference? I'll give you a hint: one's a ruthless authoritarian tyrant, and the other is Saddam Hussein. Oh, Roy, you make this too easy.
Right, qualies: Spain are away at Slovakia, England host San Marino at Wembley, Sweden takes on Russia in Stockholm.
- Kaiser Arian XVII et cato potato aiment ceci
#3870
Posté 09 octobre 2014 - 06:34
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Funny thing is in my 1998-99 soccer games I was a fan of Dortmund and Newcastle.
#3871
Posté 09 octobre 2014 - 06:37
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It's always quite difficult to tell how Sweden will behave without Zlatan Ibrahimovic. We got excellent performances like against the Netherlands 2 years ago then we got some rather numb performances. Doesn't help that two other starting players that have been in good shape lately are also unavailable. I still feel like Russia shouldn't be that impossible to play against and it's hardly possible for us to get our bums handed to us like in 2008.
#3872
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Posté 09 octobre 2014 - 06:49
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It's always quite difficult to tell how Sweden will behave without Zlatan Ibrahimovic. We got excellent performances like against the Netherlands 2 years ago then we got some rather numb performances. Doesn't help that two other starting players that have been in good shape lately are also unavailable. I still feel like Russia shouldn't be that impossible to play against and it's hardly possible for us to get our bums handed to us like in 2008.
Yeah, I'm kinda afraid that Sweden vs Russia might become a bit of a damp squib, with both teams lacking star power. Still, fingers crossed, and if nothing else, it should be an even contest between two sides of some quality.
#3873
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Posté 09 octobre 2014 - 09:30
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First, in undoubtedly the biggest upset of the qualifiers so far, Slovakia beat defending European Champions Spain 2-1, despite Spain starting Fabregas, Costa, Silva, Iniesta, and pretty much any big names you can imagine throwing on to the field - basically, it was a full-strength Spanish side. Well, full-strength except for maybe Casillas, whose error allowed Kucka to ambush them in the 17th minute. Then came an agonising 65 minutes in which Spain amassed a whopping 73% of possession but failed to break through. Finally, substitute Paco Alcacer equalised in the 82nd minute, before Miroslav Stoch delivered the sucker punch 4 minutes later. Cue thousands of Slovaks flooding on to the pitch at the final whistle, just like the old days.
England played in front of 55,990, which is more than the entire population of their opponents' country, San Marino (32,000). More facts about San Marino: they've played 123 games in their entire history, and won 1, drew 3 and lost 119. These guys have never won a European Qualifier match. Their current FIFA ranking is 208th... ...out of 208. This wasn't so much David vs Goliath as Ant vs Boot, and it kinda showed; England seemed content to just hold the ball and pass it around casually, and yet somehow managed to beat them 5-0. Cue internet complaints that it should have been 8-0 or 11-0 and therefore England sucks, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Elsewhere, 53rd-ranked Slovenia beat 10th-ranked Switzerland 1-0 in a another, slightly less-publicised upset, while Sweden fought back from a goal down to draw 1-1 with Russia, despite Russia having 60% of possession.
Next up, Wales vs Bosnia & Herzegovina should be a fun one. Netherlands will welcome Kazakhstan; Gregory van der Wiel in particular will be looking forward to playing against Borat. Turkey vs Czech Republic could be a feisty one, while Italy host Azerbaijan and Belgium continue their campaign against minnows Andorra.
- cato potato aime ceci
#3874
Posté 09 octobre 2014 - 09:36
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Don't know what impress me the most about Sweden Vs Russia, that Toivonen managed to hit goal or that both teams looked so amazingly tired for almost the entire game that one could imagine that they had all done an ironman as preparation the same day. Either way both teams should be fairly alright with the result and prepare for the next match.
#3875
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Posté 09 octobre 2014 - 09:55
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Toivonen is no Ibrahimovic, but he's a striker with a respectable record; 61 goals out of 139 appearances for PSV Eindhoven, and 10 from 20 so far for Rennes. Now, if he gets injured, Sweden would be in real trouble; can you imagine Elmander starting? Brr.
After watching Zenit vs Monaco in the Champions League, I'm starting to think that's just how the game is played in Russia.
