Football Season 2014/2015

[Valeron]

this Brazil - Colombia friendly sure isn't very "friendly"

[Deleted]

this Brazil - Colombia friendly sure isn't very "friendly"

Hardly surprising, the last time they met was a battlefield, pretty sure it was that match at the WC when Neymar got injured.

[Deleted]

Talking about Brazil-Colombia, Maicon played the full 90' after not doing a second of pre-season preparation , which pisses me off a fair bit.

[draykorinee]

Great win for Yeovil today! Need to make sure we get mid table at least this season, really don;t want a relegation scrap in our first season back in league one.

[Gorged]

It wasn't a great win for Yeovil it completely fucked up my bet

[draykorinee]

It wasn't a great win for Yeovil it completely fucked up my bet

Haha, yeah someone needed 1 more thing for his accumulator and the one that messed it up was Yeovil.

[Valeron]

some interesting scores so far

games in progress (between 60th and 70th minute)

Portugal 0-1 Albania
Germany 1-1 Scotland

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and Germany get a goal, up 2-1 now

[Xjev]

Someone just posted on twitter, Arsene Wenger vs Roy Hodgson freestyle

https://twitter.com/Vine_Football/st...91486868013056

[Jackmoves]

Zlatan wants someone to fulfil his role in a good fashion, and 2 years more will give Muamer Tankovic and Branimir Hrgota more development time, both young strikers with allegedly high potential. Both are from Bosnia and Herzegovina, like Zlatan.

An interview witH Branmir from my morning paper today(game against Austria). He will start on the bench.

Branimir Hrgota chose the German league, despite the fact that it is notoriously difficult to succeed in. Or rather, just because.

- I have been able to perform in the Bundesliga. And then you get the chance here with the National Team, he says.

He has gone his own way. As a 18-year-old, he was a huge success in Jönköping Södra when he was top scorer in the Swedish second division with 18 goals in 25 games. That, was his first season at a senior level. First division clubs were queuing up to sign "Branne" - but he wanted to stay and graduate High School first.

When it was completed, in spring 2012, he once again turned down the teams from the first division and went straight to the German Bundesliga. A notoriously difficult environment to succeed in, which well-known players can attest to. But that was what Branimir Hrgota wanted.

- I went to a league which I knew was difficult. Bundesliga is definitely in the top three in the world and I would rather go to a league which I knew to be tough than to an inferior league, he says to GP.

The first period of time was tough and Hrgota had to settle for occasional appearances. But in May last year got his first chance from start - and scored a hat-trick.

This year he has been given an almost perfect start to the season, with seven goals in the team's first four competitive games. Life is great and Hrgota does not regret that he chose the German league.

- Definitely not. Not when it has taken me this far, he says, sweeping his hand over the Ernst Happel Stadium, where Sweden held its last training session yesterday.

He hopes to get some play time today. Erik Hamrén has said he sees Hrgota as a pure striker, which means that he will start on the bench considering who has the position today (Ibrahimovic). But Branimir Hrgota would gladly play on the wing too.

- When we play 4-3-3 so it's almost like being a forward even if you play a little to the right. And I have developed my defensive skills much since I came to Germany, so it will probably be fine too.

What are your expectations?

- I have not so huge expectations. Things have been great in the club, but I'm new here, so we'll see what plans Erik has. And if I knew more, I would not say it, he says, smiling.

He responds calmly on reporters' questions, whether they are in Swedish, English or German. And he seems not the least bit frightened of the expected crowd pressure in the stadium in Vienna.

- That isn't really a big issue for me. I play in Germany, it is always packed stadiums and awesome supporters. It's no big deal for me. All the players in the national team has played at major Stadiums, at the level we are at now so it should not be a big problem, he says.

Fact: Branimir Hrgota

Born: January 12, 1993 in Zenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Height: 182 cm.

Clubs: IK Tord, Jönköping Södra, Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Caps: 1 A. 9 U19. 10 U21.

Random fact: Hrgota could choose between the Croatian, Bosnian and Swedish national team.

More Extras: Until 2008 Hrgota also competed in karate. He gave up that career when he was signed by J-Södra.

[Valeron]

Rock, Paper, Scissors in the Germany - Scotland game

https://v.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/2BC27...GSmHsC78K3EH.1

[Gorged]

So what does everyone think of the this new referral system blatter has come up with. I honestly think it sounds ok except for it only being used in televised games is a massive disappointment.

[Deleted]

Shitstorm going on in Roma.

Mehdi Benatia's interview with Kicker.de:

The Morocco defender signed for Bayern for a reported €26million fee last month from Roma.
The 27-year-old was said to be the subject of widespread interest and he has now revealed that several of Europe's elite clubs were chasing his services.
Benatia also said he wanted initially to stay at Roma, but that now he had made the move, he was happy with his decision to join the German champions.
"Manchester City and Chelsea wanted me, while there were also approaches from Real Madrid and Barcelona," Benatia is quoted as saying in Kicker.


"I discussed my future with Roma sporting director Walter Sabatini.
"He told me that the club wanted to hold on to me, but that they needed the money from a sale. That annoyed me, because I initially wanted to stay put.
"But let it be clear, I was happy to join Bayern Munich. I like Munich - even if it's a bit cold here."
Benatia will face his old team-mates when Bayern visit Roma in the UEFA Champions League next month.

AS Roma's president statement about the interview:

Mehdi Benatia has obviously continued with his pattern of outright fabrications over the last couple of months. We had a verbal agreement on compensation and a raise back in July in Boston. He personally said to me that he was happy after I told him flat out with no exceptions that we wanted him to stay. Over the following month he lied about wanting to stay and about the details of his compensation to both Rudi Garcia and his teammates. Lying to me was one thing which I can somewhat handle. Lying to Rudi Garcia and his teammates was completely unacceptable to me. I told Walter Sabatini he was becoming a poison and I wanted him gone, and Rudi and Walter agreed. It wasn’t about the money; it was about having character in our locker room. We are in a very sound financial position. As owners of Roma, we make difficult decisions all the time. As a fan of Roma, I am deeply disappointed that one of our players could act this way.

I'm glad our president gave the cunt a piece of his mind.

[Deleted]

So what does everyone think of the this new referral system blatter has come up with. I honestly think it sounds ok except for it only being used in televised games is a massive disappointment.

What is the system?

[Rixis]

I'm guessing it's this: http://www.theguardian.com/football/...referrals-2015

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Seems like a shitty version of having a video referee. Or sort of like a managers version of Hawkeye that they do in tennis.

Seriously, have a guy watching video footage in mic contact with the ref to help the ref in decisions. Doesn't need to hold play up, especially in cases where the ref is dealing with the players and the video ref has time to review footage about fouls, pens/goalkeeper fouls or simulation etc.

[Xanjori]

Raheem is a god-send for English football. Important goal for England, I was worried we'd lose this tbh.

[Xjev]

Yeah Switzerland was starting to get some seroius chances, I think this goal garanties England's top spot in group. Also how did Swiss end up 9th in ranking?

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Its been a while England is ahead by a goal at any moment ingame

[Xanjori]

Nice win for England. 2-0 is a good score-line to win by at home, GD could be important in this group depending how we do in Switzerland. Who knows though, we may crush qualifying stages (again) without really conceding.

[burek]

watched a bit of that england game, is this delph guy really national team material? seemed like they were wiping the floor with him. wouldn't cleverly be a better choice?

[Deleted]

considering how shite england were in the world cup, that was a pretty good effort tonight.

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watched a bit of that england game, is this delph guy really national team material? seemed like they were wiping the floor with him. wouldn't cleverly be a better choice?

no, cleverly is also crap.

[Valeron]

5-1 win for us, never really got out of 2nd gear. David Silva was amazing, even with missing two goals.