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World Cup 2014 Thread...

PaulStanley

Alfrescian (InfP)
Generous Asset
Netherlands may have used up all their luck in their previous matches against Mexico and Costa Rica.

I checked loser sgpools plate and i had a good laugh. Theirs is unique from the rest. For today's match, punters make their betting decisions from the Brazil vs Germany game. It's not which team will win or lose or draw but how they will win. Bookmaker loser sgpools will be laughing their way to the bank. :biggrin:
 

Groove Armada

Alfrescian (InfP)
Generous Asset


World Cup 2014: Premier League players fail to make Fifa / Castrol Index team of the tournament so far

According to the Castrol Index not one player plying his trade in the English top division has performed well enough in Brazil to make the best XI

Castrol_2968077b.jpg


Usual suspects: But no Premier League players

By Oliver Pickup
4:30PM BST 08 Jul 2014

Not one Premier League player has performed well enough to earn a place in the World Cup team of the tournament so far, according to sponsors Castrol, whose best XI is on the Fifa website.

That England have long departed Brazil and not one person who plies his trade in the English top division is deemed good enough to feature on the teamsheet – which is determined by using a complicated and detailed algorithm – leaves the Football Association and the Premier League open to further ridicule.

Questions have been raised about the true strength of the much-hyped division, in the wake of poor performances in the Champions League – only Chelsea made it through to the semi-final last season, and not one club made it to the quarter-finals stage the season before – and by England at this tournament.

And Castrol's assessment of the top-rated players at the World Cup further condemns the domestic championship, even if there are a number of questionable selections.

There have been some impressive displays in between the sticks over the past month, but Claudio Bravo, the Chilean goalkeeper, is apparently the No1 No1, with a 9.26 Castrol Index rating. Earlier in the tournament the 31-year-old's £9.7-million move to Barcelona from Real Sociedad was announced.

The rest of the team are largely made up of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich players. French defender Raphaël Varane, 21, has been selected at right-back after scoring an average score of 9.7, and his Spanish club team-mates in the Castrol Index side include Angel di Maria (9.46) and Karim Benzema (9.79).

Representatives from Bayern include Xherdan Shaquri (9.32), Toni Kroos (9.28) and Arjen Robben (9.59) – though there is no place for four-goal Thomas Müller.

Paris St Germain have two players in the Castrol Index XI, with Brazilians Thiago Silva (9.66) and David Luiz (9.56) – selected at left-back – making the grade. There is also space for James Rodríguez (9.74), the Colombian playmaker who is currently the tournament's top scorer with six, and speculation is rife that he will soon move from Monaco to Real Madrid. And Mats Hummels, the Borussia Dortmund centre-back, makes the side, scoring 9.63.

In actual fact, the top-rated Premier League player in the Castrol Index is 10th-placed Jan Vertonghen. The Tottenham full-back has impressed for Belgium, especially when rampaging forward, but his 9.48 rating is not enough to make the final XI.

Manchester United striker Robin van Persie is the next highest Premier League performer (9.26), in 20th, followed by Vincent Kompany (27th with 9.14) and Mesut Ozil (29th with 9.1)


 

THE_CHANSTER

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
World Cup 2014: Premier League players fail to make Fifa / Castrol Index team of the tournament so far

This is hardly surprising or expected. When FIFA release the country rankings after the World Cup, expect to see England (currently 10th) slump to 20th position.

A really shitty team comprised of overpaid, under performing multi millionaires. England will never win a World Cup again in my lifetime. There is much wrong with the English game from grass roots right up to the selection of players and even Manager.

But in a nutshell, England players just aren't good enough when asked to perform on the World or even European stage.

1966 is a generation ago.
 
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