Going to Sweden vs Italy tomorrow night. I'd only got tickets to USA-Netherlands and the Wellington quarter final initially but figure a football WC here is once in a lifetime so I may as well make the most of the games being here and the tickets being pretty cheap. 7.30pm Saturday night I'd likely be watching it at home anyway so no reason not to go.
Going to Sweden vs Italy tomorrow night. I'd only got tickets to USA-Netherlands and the Wellington quarter final initially but figure a football WC here is once in a lifetime so I may as well make the most of the games being here and the tickets being pretty cheap. 7.30pm Saturday night I'd likely be watching it at home anyway so no reason not to go.
Hell yea! I initially only had the Ferns and finals games.
Been adding games everywhere I can. If I could squeeze the last 2 of the 9 in I bloody would!
Defenders testing the definition of insanity etc etc
Keeper cannot deal with the corners,and also doesn't want to come off the line. Worse,they are still trying to play out from goal kicks and losing it everytime.. Sweden have been great,but Italy have self destructed
Good game with a fun atmosphere. Definitely didn't expect that scoreline after the first 20 minutes. Is there anything more lame than a Mexican wave though? Just can't get through a stadium event in NZ without it.
An excellent game to watch. As a neutral observer, it was interesting to see that Italy had a much more cohesive and organised game plan from that against Sweden, and could call themselves somewhat unlucky. However, the second and third goals for SA were an example of excellent cool headed performance under pressure. The game could have gone either way, but went SA way in extra time. There were tears at the end of the game. That's football.
Slightly miffed to see South Africa advancing with a W, D, L record...
They did score 6 times as many goals as NZ though.
Their players scored 5 times as many to be fair. Italy scored one for them :)
Fair call.
i get where Gull is coming from though.
Same goal differencial, same number of wins and losses, it's tough we didn't advance. But that's Football.
South Africa scored more goals but let more in. Last year when the Nix were scoring heaps the narrative was defence is more important. It's pretty incredible that between those 3 games the Ferns only conceded 1.
But I saw before the tournie that there was a just over 50% chance of getting through with 1 W and 1 D. Unfortunately that means roughly half don't get through and this time that was us
Awesome for SA though. If we had scored 5 goals and conceded 6 then no doubt the critics would be sharkting all over the Ferns defence.
Slightly miffed to see South Africa advancing with a W, D, L record...
They did score 6 times as many goals as NZ though.
Their players scored 5 times as many to be fair. Italy scored one for them :)
Fair call.
i get where Gull is coming from though.
Same goal differencial, same number of wins and losses, it's tough we didn't advance. But that's Football.
South Africa scored more goals but let more in. Last year when the Nix were scoring heaps the narrative was defence is more important. It's pretty incredible that between those 3 games the Ferns only conceded 1.
But I saw before the tournie that there was a just over 50% chance of getting through with 1 W and 1 D. Unfortunately that means roughly half don't get through and this time that was us
Awesome for SA though. If we had scored 5 goals and conceded 6 then no doubt the critics would be sharkting all over the Ferns defence.
Sometimes it hurts but that's football.
Brazil and Portugal also went out with a WDL record
Just the way it works in these tournaments. You're generally safe with 2 wins. Anything less and you rely on other results and other teams not winning.
Norway had the same point as New Zealand, but played an excellent attacking football against the Philippines and gained superior GD over NZ. Our effort against the Philippines officially meets the Green Gully Standard of a fiasco.
Not sure anyone can complain about going home with a 1-1-1 record. It’s the teams that go home on six points that can feel truly aggrieved, and the teams that go through on three points that can count themselves very lucky.
Noone is going home on 6 points or going through on 3. Both of those outcomes are always pretty unlikely to happen. So far 4 points is both the lowest to go through with and highest to go out with. Technically either could possibly happen tonight in the final group but still unlikely as there would need to be some big swings in goal difference. If I've worked it out correctly Colombia would need to lose 4-0 to Morocco (by my count that would put them on equal goal difference with Morocco having scored 1 more) who have scored 1 and conceded 6 so far aswell as Germany winning for them to go out with 6 points. Colombia will presumably take the game seriously to secure top spot and avoid France in the round of 16.
Not sure anyone can complain about going home with a 1-1-1 record. It’s the teams that go home on six points that can feel truly aggrieved, and the teams that go through on three points that can count themselves very lucky.
Maybe Brazil can feel hard done by going out on 4 points with a goal difference of +3. But NZ out of 4 points with gd of +0 - nah, it was in our own hands and we unfortunately couldn't get it done.
As an aside I went back through old world cups to see who had found themselves on those unlucky situations before. Look at these brutal final standings in three of the groups from the 1994 mens world cup. As it turned out those teams on six points went through (it was the last 24 team tournament), but imagine if two teams on 6 had been eliminated, and one team on 4 finished last.
As an aside I went back through old world cups to see who had found themselves on those unlucky situations before. Look at these brutal final standings in three of the groups from the 1994 mens world cup. As it turned out those teams on six points went through (it was the last 24 team tournament), but imagine if two teams on 6 had been eliminated, and one team on 4 finished last.
Noone is going home on 6 points or going through on 3. Both of those outcomes are always pretty unlikely to happen. So far 4 points is both the lowest to go through with and highest to go out with. Technically either could possibly happen tonight in the final group but still unlikely as there would need to be some big swings in goal difference. If I've worked it out correctly Colombia would need to lose 4-0 to Morocco (by my count that would put them on equal goal difference with Morocco having scored 1 more) who have scored 1 and conceded 6 so far aswell as Germany winning for them to go out with 6 points. Colombia will presumably take the game seriously to secure top spot and avoid France in the round of 16.
Goal difference doesn’t come into it (we’ll it does, as far as who, but not as far as going through on 3 or home with 6)
If Germany an Morocco both win, 3 teams on 6 [Morrocco likely worst goal diff] If they both lose, 3 teams on 3 [Germany with likely best GD]
Not sure I understand your point there. You start by saying goal difference doesn't come into it, but then explain how in both scenarios goal difference would decide who goes through. If Germany and Morocco both win, as you say 3 teams on 6 points so one will have to go home with 6 points due to goal difference. If Morocco win by 4 goals in this situation Colombia would go out on 6 points. If Morocco win by less than 4 goals, they would go out with 6 points due to goal difference. If Germany and Morocco both lose, then there's 3 teams on 3 points so one will go through on goal difference.
Anyway, it's possible to go out with 6 or go through with 3 but rare, and both situations would happen due to goal difference. The likely outcome tonight is Colombia and Germany both end up going through on points so it doesn't matter anyway.
Not sure I understand your point there. You start by saying goal difference doesn't come into it, but then explain how in both scenarios goal difference would decide who goes through. If Germany and Morocco both win, as you say 3 teams on 6 points so one will have to go home with 6 points due to goal difference. If Morocco win by 4 goals in this situation Colombia would go out on 6 points. If Morocco win by less than 4 goals, they would go out with 6 points due to goal difference. If Germany and Morocco both lose, then there's 3 teams on 3 points so one will go through on goal difference.
Anyway, it's possible to go out with 6 or go through with 3 but rare, and both situations would happen due to goal difference. The likely outcome tonight is Colombia and Germany both end up going through on points so it doesn't matter anyway.
You don’t seem to understand your own comment.
“No one is going home on 6 points or going through on 3. Both of those outcomes are always pretty unlikely to happen.“ Then you say “Technically either could possibly happen tonight in the final group but still unlikely as there would need to be some big swings in goal difference.”
It doesn’t take any swing in goal difference, it only takes Germany and Morocco to both win OR both lose, then someone is going home with 6 or going through with 3.
You're right, I didn't quite word it correctly. It would have taken a big swing in goal difference for Colombia to go out on 6 points is what I should have said, given the goal difference advantage they already had over Morocco. But the results last night ensured it didn't happen anyway so never mind.
But for this group in the thread (Group G), it is not just the numbers but also the letters. Capital letters. The losers - Argentina and Italy - needed an upper case S in the name to progress. How about that, eh?.... Eh?? .... :-)
