The View from the Spaghetti Factory

England 1 – 0 Ecuador Well, once again it wasn’t pretty, but once again it was slightly less ugly than before. I’m not sure what to make of Ecuador. Powerful and creative against Poland and Costa Rica, they then looked hopelessly deflated against Germany. Today, they managed to condense both moods into one match… I [...]

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It seems fitting that, in a World Cup where several big teams have produced decidedly mediocre performances, the refereeing has been similarly erratic. I’m reluctant to criticise the men in black, as the fast pace of modern football and the steady stream of helpful (haha!) advice from the players, not to mention the ever-growing list [...]

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Ukraine 1 – 0 Tunisia Spain 1 – 0 Saudi Arabia I believe there was some football this afternoon. Having just returned from a sixteen mile walk over Kentmere Pike, I found myself more captivated by the dual charms of my cup of tea and bottle of ale. Anyone who managed to sleep through the [...]

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Czech Republic 0 – 2 Italy Ghana 2 – 1 USA Along with Group G, this was one of the most interesting in the run-up to the final matches. Any of these four teams had a chance of progressing, but by the same token, any of them could have been knocked out. As it turned [...]

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Holland 0 – 0 Argentina Ivory Coast 3 – 2 Serbia & Montenegro With Group C’s final matches came further evidence to suggest that Ivory Coast could have been one of the surprise successes of the tournament, if only they hadn’t been drawn in the Group of Death. Ah well… I’m sure that won’t be [...]

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Germany 3 – 0 Ecuador Costa Rica 1 – 2 Poland ln light of the influence Group A has on England’s progress to the last eight, there’s been plenty of speculation relating to the Germany/Ecuador match. If Ecuador, playing five hours before England, were to beat Germany, would England have to contrive to lose against [...]

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Togo 0 – 2 Switzerland Saudi Arabia 0 – 4 Ukraine Spain 3 – 1 Tunisia Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Yesterday, we learned that the French are back in self-destruct mode. Today, we learned that Switzerland can play attacking football. Just think… if the Swiss had been a bit more adventurous against France, Group [...]

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Japan 0 – 0 Croatia Brazil 2 – 0 Australia France 1 – 1 South Korea After the initial group games, the pressure has been on certain big teams to prove themselves. In today’s matches, the onus was on Brazil to win more convincingly, and on France to… just win, or score a goal at [...]

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Portugal 2 – 0 Iran Czech Republic 0 – 2 Ghana Italy 1 – 1 USA One moment in today’s first match was guaranteed to bring a wry smile to the face of any seasoned football fan. After seeing one of the Iranian players yield to the softest of challenges, everyone in the Portuguese dugout [...]

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Argentina 6 – 0 Serbia & Montenegro Holland 2 – 1 Ivory Coast Mexico 0 – 0 Angola Cutting swiftly to the chase, Holland were lucky to win their match, despite having started in fine form. Arjen Robben couldn’t match his impressive performance against S&M, and instead veered worryingly close to his diving, whinging Chelsea [...]

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