Group D Thread - Iceland, Argentina, Croatia, Nigeria

[KC McElroy]

People say Asian and African teams are bad WHEN IN REALITY IT'S SOUTH AMERICAN TEAMS WHO DROPPED IN QUALITY!!! SMFH

They have players in Barca, we don't!

At the conclusion of today's games here are the new rankings. Three European and one South American team have advanced. Two African, one Asian and one South American team have been eliminated.

Continent/Games/Goal Difference Average/Points Average
Europe: 18/1.16 / 2.33
South America: 8/-0.5/1
CONCACAF: 3/-1/1
Asia: 8/-0.875/0.875
Africa: 7/-1/0.43

[Azeem98]

South American teams have never really done well at Europeon World Cups apart from some showings by Brazil.

[Adesor Vafaseya]

South American teams have never really done well at Europeon World Cups apart from some showings by Brazil.

Brazil won WC1958 in Sweden, beating Sweden in final game!
with 17 year old Pele.....
1990 in Italy, Argentina reached the finals and became Vice World Champs.
1998 in France, Brazil reached the finals and became Vice World Champs.
1974 in Germany, Brazil became 3rd.
etc,...

They didn't do too bad, unless you refer to winning the cup on European soil, then yes, only once by Brazil in '58.

[Azeem98]

Brazil won WC1958 in Sweden, beating Sweden in final game!
with 17 year old Pele.....
1990 in Italy, Argentina reached the finals and became Vice World Champs.
1998 in France, Brazil reached the finals and became Vice World Champs.
1974 in Germany, Brazil became 3rd.
etc,...

They didn't do too bad, unless you refer to winning the cup on European soil, then yes, only once by Brazil in '58.

Like i said Apart from the big two the fringe South American nations have never really done well at Europeon soil which makes overall graph of the continent go down.

Same could be said about Europeon teams at South Ametican soil.

[Bagg10]

I honestly think Croatia can win the wc. They have arguably the best midfield in the tournament. Their defense and and forwards are pretty solid too.

[Azeem98]

I wouldn't say They will win it all the way.

[forzatm]

Croatia, a nation of only 4 million people, has produced significant football talents over the years.

[Bi-honar]

All I have to say about that game is that gol-koochik type goal at the end was

[khosro]

In my mind the fault primarily lies with the coach. He didn't know what he was doing during qualifying, prior to the tournament and clearly during the tournament.

Argentina struggled to qualify despite their depth of attacking talent relying entirely on Messi to drag them into the WC.

Putting aside their attackers this was one of the poorest Argentinian squads I have seen since I started watching international football in the mid-to-late 80's.

Mercado?
Tagliafico?
Perez?
Acuna?
Meza?

With all due respect who the hell are they?

Where was Banega or LoCelso when it was obvious that they had no one but Mascherano (who let's face it is past it) to knit the play together.

Taking off Aguero? Why not put Higuain alongside him and Messi in the pocket.

[The]

Che bazi tokhmi between Iceland and Nigeria. These pundits can't single Iran out for playing super defensive.

[OFFSIDE_1]

nice goal ..... very nigerian style :-)

[Mr Pouya]

Sick goal

[OFFSIDE_1]

Moses backed up by Mussa ...... what a combo ..... all they need is Issa on the wing, and they would be tough to beat

[footballeirani]

Goodbye Iceland

[OFFSIDE_1]

if they keep their composure and not fall apart, this Nigerian team is exciting. If I'm Argentina, I would be very worried.