JSSkinz

I kinda want England vs Russia, with all the political hate between those two countries it makes the game even more intriguing.

Weak finish

I would hate being a defender with the job of chasing down Hazard all game, the guys motor doesn't stop and he basically used his speed to maintain some sort of possession to run out those last 15 minute's, I'm not sure Belgium survives the late onslaught without him.

It's on now, I think I jinxed Belgium. Belgium's getting lazy now

Belgium is doing exactly what Japan should have done, their not packing it in but they're getting numbers back everytime Brazil gets in their 3rd.

IMO France dominated, Uruguay only had 1 or 2 good looks all game. They've definitely been building momentum since the pre-tournament friendlies, we're just now starting to see what they are capable of.

Use the FS1 app or stream from the FS1 website, the app works better.

Good for England, they broke the curse.

I've never seen England win a game that went to PK's.

I agree we have to continue to develop players but NO, Japan will never be the standard or any kind of measuring stick unless you're aiming for low-end mediocrity. We've already been mediocre and a better form of mediocre than Japan has been for years now.

The average age of the Japanese team is 29 years old (Min 3 apps) so that entire Japanese team won't be there next cycle, I'm not going to break down all the young players the US has in Europe, you can do that yourself by just looking at the call-ups for the past 3 friendlies, the talent is there they are just young and haven't had a chance yet but they showed well in those friendlies against Bolivia, Ireland, and France. The US is in transition, lots of old players hanging around but we have an influx of new talent most don't even know about. They should have never let Jurgen go, he got us to the Semi's of the Copa Centenario and got us out of the group of death in the 2014 WC, US Soccer panicked and Bruce Arena's horrible tactics are a big reason we aren't in this tournament.

I'm not even going to argue this because its so ridiculous, Japan has always been technical but in the end, they cant match up physically, just look at the last goal by Fellaini and how he swallowed up the 5 foot tall Japanese CB as he scored the game-tying goal. I know the US crapped the bed but people are getting a bit crazy. We have some good young talent and we'll be ready next cycle. Japan won 1 game in the entire tournament, it means nothing, consistency is where you gain respect, the US has been consistent whether people want to give them credit for it or not, at least consistent in making WC's and getting out of the group.

This is the dumbest statement I've heard in quite some time and it makes me think you have no clue about AFC and CONCACAF football. The top 5 CONCACAF teams will take out the top 5 AFC teams all day, I would put good money on it. It's laughable that the AFC gets the same amount of auto bids as Conmebol when there are 3 average teams in the AFC and the other 45 countries are terrible. Mexico makes it out of the group stage every WC, the US has made it out of the group stage in 3 of the past 4 WC's (Last WC they were in the group of death). CONCACAF has 3 teams ranked in the top 30 by FIFA, the AFC has none. "Mile ahead", are you on Robitussin?

What?

And I was talking about Brazil vs Belgium in the next round, a little foot in mouth.

Adios Muchacho On another note, I just don't see the same quality in the last 2 Brazilian world cup teams that I used to see in the 80's and 90's, we'll see what happens but I'd take Belgium all day over Brazil.

No doubt there were some unusually poor kicks by both teams, players weren't using any real technique to throw off the keeper, it was just run up and hit it left.

France is starting to look scary, they didn't look great in the lead-up games and even in the first group stage game but they seem to be getting better each game.

England vs Russia in the Semifinal? Either one of those teams in the cup final would be surprising but it looks very possible.

Just finished watching the Russia game, they're gonna to end up in the Semi's, Spain was the best team in the bottom half of the bracket.

The Germans had 67 shots in 3 games and could only muster 2 goals from it, that's crazy. Would have loved to see Mexico go out, they are who I thought they were. They tried to pay more aggressive today and they got killed for it. They will be back to playing bunker ball in the next round.

These morning games could be interesting, it's very possible we could have a 3-way tie at 6 points apiece.

Its been a rough couple days but I knew it was coming for some time now. My 15-year-old Pit Bull mix "Romeo" had to be put down today because his lungs were failing, he lived 5 years past the average age of a Pit Bull so I feel good about that. I've had him so long, it's going to be tough not having him around. Here's to you Romeo.

20 PK's awarded in the group stage this year, the most ever. Only 5 of the 20 pk's were missed, Ronaldo and Messi account for 2 of the 5 misses.

You're right, it was a poor generalization. I have lots to say on this issue just not enough ES stamina to get into it.