Disappointing opening game for us but not entirely unexpected (we should be accustomed to disappointment by now XD). Predicted a 1-1 draw beforehand thinking they had an ageing midfield, injured first choice keeper and lone attacking threat in Balotelli but it seems once we hit the hour mark we replicated the Italians play in the first half hour by keeping possession and not doing anything substantial with it, never being able to penetrate their back line and wasting all our set pieces. Sterling playing in the hole was a nice experiment against a side mostly playing through the middle and his pass through to Rooney was exquisite but I think we'd be better off playing Wazza in his optimal no. 10 for the next two games. Ross Barkley and hopefully Oxlade-Chamberlain if he's fit would also be great to have as impact players coming off the bench, so here's hoping we can salvage things come Thursday. I wouldn't think going in we'd get any further than the quarters but dropping out of the group stage would be pretty fucking humiliating. >.> Also Horrendeson was fucking shocking, would definitely prefer an injured Wilshere over him. Uruguay was kind of surprising but on the other hand when you take away Cavani and Suarez (who's injury may still hopefully rule him out of Thursday) they really don't have anything all that special. Holland have kind of been my go-to second team to support since about 2004 so seeing them give Spain a 5-1 dicking was pretty brilliant especially as a Man U fan knowing what Van Gaal can bring to us in the new season. Seen all the games of the tournament (with varying degrees of interest/engagement) with Japan vs Ivory Coast in the background as I type this and it's shaping up to be an interesting competition though I just hope the three lion's fortunes can improve.
But that's the magic of football, if you don't think about it sometimes it feels like anybody could win.
