Diamond_Jim

One does not begrudge Japan their success of they progress but this is a poor group. Poland ranked 8 have not fired a shot... far worse than Germany Senegal and Colombia are ranked 27 and 16 respectively with Japan at 61 If no goals are scored the two lowest ranked teams will progress to the next round with the to team being decided on the number of yellow cards. And of course 2 minutes after I post the above Poland scores?

I did not realise that the Asian Cup is not a FIFA approved tournament and therefore the various league clubs are not obliged to release their players

Is this the first Thursday (non opening round/Easter) match played in Melbourne? Will be interested to see the crowd numbers

Must say I had imagined that Petty would come in for Joel Smith but it looks to be for Bernie V. Good luck to young Harry. As to all the other inclusions.. who knows. Interesting to speculate that if Tom Mac doesn't get up would they play both Weid and Pedersen. Looks like it could be a chance. I would say that the Weid is back whatever happens PS...or perhaps as Demons11 suggests ... Spargo and no Weid

Well I should not have mentioned the beer. About five minutes before kick off the German guy behind me spills his whole beer all over me. I am talking from shoulders to backside and all over my seat. Not happy Ralph. Anyway a great game because everyone sat down and you could watch the play. Apparently because Sweden were 3-0 up on Mexico all Germany had to do was score and they would be in the next round in place of Mexico. And then of course goal.... disallowed.... VAR .....and goal-to Korea. Extra time went 15 mins with the German goal keeper playing as a striker and we all know what happened..runaway goal to Korea. A joy to watch in the end. My beer spilling mate shook my hand... I toldmy son he should have bought me a T shirt !! First time that Germany have missed the play off rounds since 1938. Of course there was no German team between 1938 and 1990 which the Guardian reporter failed to point out. Now time for the late games !!

Another little bit of colour as I get ready for my 3k walk to the stadium for the 5pm kick off... Germany v South Korea. The official beer of the World Cup is Budweiser Non Alcoholic Beer... yep that's right. And what's more they charge the same price for that beer as for the normal budwesier ... A$7 per cup ... but the cup does have flashing lights on it ?

Given that T Mac will probably be a late test/decision I would not be surprised if there is more than one emergency held out of this game.

On the soccer analogy... you ought to go to a match with Colombia playing. I likened it on the soccer thread to sitting in the middle of a 30k strong Collingwood cheer squad. Of course one sees zero of the game which p...d me off no end. Another one of those almost irrelevant games against the Saints ...unless we lose which I doubt will happen. I see we have the prime TV spot as usual. Go Dees

I see that North have made a $5M over five years offer for De Goey. Hopefully it hurts the Pies to match it. https://au.sports.yahoo.com/north-makes-giant-afl-offer-young-pie-065430493--spt.html Also Gubby Allen has taken a job at North... will be interesting to see how Eddie reacts to his mate targeting one of their key players

Seating at the World Cup is fascinating in the sense that FIFA's categorisation of premium seats changes to suit themselves. In the round of 16 for example almost the whole stadium is recategorised to the highest price..category 1 so our seats are up top (second level) this time whereas for the group matches they were around 10 rows from the pitch. The logistics of ticket purchasing, travel and accommodation for a follower of a particular team in the knock out stages is mind boggling. If Colombia make the next stage I'm not sure how their 20k plus travelling supporter group will manage. From the game the other day most had to go back to Moscow and then travel to Samara which is a very hard destination with few links and virtually zero accomodation. If Colombia wins in Samara they don't know where the play next until the group standings are finalised. There are either a lot of rich Colombians or as I suspect they are borrowing big to follow their team.

Well .. that Iceland Croatia Argentina Nigeria group was certainly close. Memories of '87. So our round of 16 in Kazan will be France v Argentina ... my son is very happy as he gets to see Messi. It seems that Germany v Korea which is our game tomorrow has not exactly filled the bars ... he may have to talk to his old man !!

One could feel the result coming on. Let's hope that there is some 18 year old wonder kid striker coming through. IIRC the Asian championships are in Qatar which will provide a good test. Now onto the serious end of the tournament as distinct from the emotional....who to follow from here... I would kind of like England to progress so as to watch some final agony

The group games really are the luck of the draw including the order in which the teams play. There was always a big chance that France would play its second stringers in the last match if they had already qualified. So many combinations possible and most do not suit the Aussies. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/jun/13/1982-world-cup-algeria Incredible story in the link above of why group matches are now played simultaneously.It includes these two gems: "When German fans gathered at the team hotel to protest, the players responded by throwing water bombs at them from their balconies." Even less bothered was the head of the Austrian delegation, Hans Tschak, who made these extraordinary comments: "Naturally today's game was played tactically. But if 10,000 'sons of the desert' here in the stadium want to trigger a scandal because of this it just goes to show that they have too few schools. Some sheikh comes out of an oasis, is allowed to get a sniff of World Cup air after 300 years and thinks he's entitled to open his gob." Did you see the stat for the Iran v Spain game .... Iran had 49 passes in the first half... the lowest in World Cup history for many years with the record being held... you guessed it by Iran with 46. Not sure I'd like to follow a team like that.

Warming up here... 30 degrees at 8am. A 5pm start for the Aussies will be very warm. Hoping to find a nice bar to watch in the aircon. The Colombian match was a wipeout from a spectating viewpoint. Think of yourself in the middle of a Collingwood cheer squad 30,000 strong all on their feet for 80% of the game. I suppose I should be thankful that they left their vuvuzelas at home. As an aside the TV coverage is always showing the pretty young ladies in the stands. In reality the crowds are 80% male if not higher. The VAR is starting to dominate games. Cannot think of many sports where scoring is so hard which makes for real tension when the ref goes off to watch the TV. Wonder why soccer doesn't try more onfield referees. A relatively stationary ref at either goal plus the roving ref springs to mind.

Out of interest does anyone have any idea of the revenues of the various AFL social clubs putting poker machine revenue to one side. Many pubs struggle these days and running an establishment based on match days at the MCG (10-13 a year?) doesn't jump to mind as a great return on fixed costs. That being said I confess to having no idea as to whether social clubs are profitable when you take return on establishment costs into account. Of course many are built on free land which helps.

I assume the club has a back up plan as I can only see this plan working if there are massive compromises. The days of building ovals in CBD parklands are pretty well gone. Assuming this doesn't fly what do people think of other venues. Would the Port oval with some form of sharing with Port be a possibility. It's centrally located and there is office space potential nearby. Don't know but I suspect the VFL clubs train late in the day as the players have work commitment so there would be no clash. Not sure if it is used for cricket.

Our last goal was at the 17 minute mark of the third quarter. Our first behind for the final quarter was at the 20 minute mark. The gameplan certainly broke down against Port.

It's 6:15 and just getting myself together to head for the stadium for the 9pm Poland v Colombia clash. It has been a very hot day here and the temperature is still around 31 and shows little sign of decreasing. The Colombian fans are here in force.My son verily informs me from his many late night bar outings that there are lots of Colombians at the university here. Vuvuzelas galore I suspect The Polish border is a long way from Kazan so I am not sure how many Poles will turn up. As well as the usual items that are banned from the stadiums they also clearly list selfie sticks and vuvuzelas as banned items. I was silly enough to think that no one would break the rules in a society that is so absolutely rule driven as Russia (they are like Singapore and pedestrians wait for lights). Not to be and I will have my ear plugs ready if it becomes unbearable. Not many round 2matches to go now and the various possibilities are in many instances clearer. We have Germany v South Korea next match which will be like that day at the Whitten Oval back in '87 for the German fans.

As Korea bows out this evening along with the already departed Iran and Saudi Arabia (and probably Japan to join soon) one wonders whether Ange was right or is simply getting here a result in itself. In soccer terms there is nothing wrong with being mid table as the money etc is well stacked in the various leagues in favour of the powerful and wealthy few. Not so sure the Australian ethos will accept it going forward. Have an English friend who supports Manchester City. Will not accept that like others they have purchased their way to somewhere near the top.

Not laying the blame at JH's feet for our last two losses but his onfield presence was a major part of our recent run of success. He has the ability as we all know. Up to the coaches to get it right. A quarter on the ball or down back for a little while.. whatever it takes but without him in form we will struggle

The last Australian game is played in Sochi..the site of the Winter Olympics. The city is on the Black Sea and is a major tourist resort. Predicted weather for kickoff is 30 degrees. Bad luck we are not playing one of the European teams as I suspect the Peru team is used to the warm. Could however be a tough day at the office. Nearly 30 degrees here in Kazan and boy is the sun warm. Had Russian dumplings for lunch...they are called khinkalis and if well made are absolutely delicious. Also had my first borscht... very good ?

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-06-23/analysis-how-demons-can-save-their-season This guy must be reading Demonland: AFL.com.au has taken a look at what must change for Melbourne, which has an extremely tough draw to finish the season, to become legitimate top-four contenders.

He's had a few good games for Casey. I recall the Port game where he played very well. A backman's lot is not an easy one these days. They are expected to position themselves correctly, outmark or spoil the forward and then either kick/handball to advantage or run it out. A lot to ask of one player. People might laugh at Zac Dawson but Lyon had it right in that Zac had all of the above except the disposal ability. Answer... surround him with those who have it. I don't know if Frost will make it but key backmen don't grow on trees. My real worry is that no one seems to be pushing to replace Vince or Lewis.

18 minutes with no score by the Dees is disgusting... I agree

Must be something about Friday night football.... rarely a good game including this one