(Times are UK)
15 June, 16:00 - Morocco vs Iran 15 June, 19:00 - Portugal vs Spain 20 June, 13:00 - Portugal vs Morocco 20 June, 19:00 - Iran vs Spain 25 June, 19:00 - Iran vs Portugal 25 June, 19:00 - Spain vs Morocco
Portugal v Spain is the tastiest tie of the group stages. England v Belgium is also lovely.
I'll watch all Brazil games and England games and maybe Senegal.
Can't be bothered to watch full games of other ties. I'll watch highlights.
Spain sack their manager a day before the World Cup starts. That's actually fucking insane but ironically possibly the only way out of this farce, if anyone needed reminding how Madrid are pure scum there you go
Yeah just saw that. Madness.
Jeopardizing a world cup campaign to give Madrid the middle finger. Not sure it's worth it
If anything Madrid are happy that he can start preseason with them. This step was more likely necessitated by the big Barca/Madrid chasm in the Spain squad. Someone like del Bosque could bridge that gap and if you believe the interviews the likes of Ramos and Pique do get along as well but playing for the next Madrid coach under these circumstances - apparently the Madrid players knew about it first - can have a big effect on morale and form
I've read that all of the players wanted him to stay and that Ramos and Iniesta both expressed this to the management. But yeah, Madrid did this and it's just another reason why they're pure garbage.
Love a bit of drama - the build up to this WC has been tame
Hierro is the replacement apparently
Mirth wrote: Love a bit of drama - the build up to this WC has been tame
Yeah, Holland have been missed.
I understand the Spanish FA are pissed about this announcement, but to sack the guy 2 days before the tournament starts is just absolute f*cking craziness. This could go one of 2 ways.. it can send the team into a tailspin and they perform miserably, or it can galvanize the team and make them go farther than they might have. Time will tell which way they will go
Apparently the Spanish FA only knew about it 5 minutes prior to Real Madrid confirming it. No matter the circumstances that's not on and Lopetgui has no one to blame but himself. I say fair play to the Spanish FA for having the balls to send him packing a day before their first WC game.
2 years of preparation and they jeopardise it like this, ridiculous. Hierro has a massive task to do for his first ever managerial job.
I don't blame the Spanish FA tbh. Think of the precedent it would set.
Regardless, still will send the Spanish team in one of 2 extreme directions for the tournament. Remains to be seen which one
That was always going to be the case wasn't it? Either Spain dominate and win every game or they don't and disappoint
jones wrote: That was always going to be the case wasn't it? Either Spain dominate and win every game or they don't and disappoint
eh... they are a strong team still.. i dont know if they are strong enough to win it, but they are certainly strong enough to get to the qtr or semi.. but if they fizzle at the group stage like they did last time, it would be a massive disappointment, especially given who they are playing (with Portugal being the only half decent team).. at least in the last WC, Netherlands and Chile were decent teams. But Morocco and Iran? lol no
Not sure you're in a position to "lol no" at anyone tbf
Was a decision made hastily. The issue is that Real Madrid and Lopetgui disrespected the FA and violated a contract by signing their deal. That was a private issue. The rest of us needn’t have known that. The Spanish FA could have resolved that issue behind closed doors with the manager and Real Madrid and continued the competition. Unless there was the real risk that the story was going to come out that the manager had violated his contract. That would have been the pragmatic approach, one that would allow the national team players to continue unperturbed. But I think egos prevailed here.
Lopetgui and Madrid are wrong. They both deserve to be punished. But national team players and the nation did not need to punished along with them
Perez is citing Conte when he signed for Chelsea. What was the difference then?
