World Cup Moaning Thread

[Gary Baldi]

I don't care that the World Cup starts this week.

I wish I could get more excited, but I can't. It doesn't have the usual excitement and anticipation that it usually has. SA had some excitement to it, so did Brazil. Russia has little going for it.

Who will win? I don't care.

 

[MJB]

Are you going to start hundreds of threads about all the other subjects for which you have no interest?

Personally, I’m looking forward to this more than the last couple of World Cups.

England have a likeable and fluid team who should at least be more entertaining than their 2010 and 2014 counterparts.

Having binned off Sky a few years ago, it’ll also be a World Cup at a time when I haven’t really watched live football on TV for a long time so it’ll have more of a novelty value for me.

Plus, there are genuinely four or five teams which you would consider amongst the favourites so it’s relatively open too.

Should be good. Keeps things ticking over until the real action starts again in August at the Kassam at any rate!

 

[Grumpy Git]

At least there will be footy going on.... People on here go thru cold turkey until the first game takes place!

 

[horseman]

it's rather like the champions league group stages, though rather than 3 or 4 teams you have just the one.

A scan of the fixtures shows a number of blank days for me with games that have no appeal whatsoever.

 

[unification]

I love the World Cup. Anything that pitches different nations against each other is always good in my book. I was boring the missus this morning about various tournaments so I’ll post my thoughts on here where (hopefully) they’ll be more appreciated!

Some World Cups are always better than others but that’s just the way it goes. 1998 was good, 2002 had a lot of novelty and 2014 had some memorable moments, 2006 – aside from the Zidane moment was there anything else truly memorable about it? 2010 with the ghastly vuvuzelas is worth forgetting too and not just from an England standpoint – Spain were nailed on to win it from the off. I don’t really know what to expect in Russia but I do hope it passes peacefully.

And the games that have less appeal can sometimes throw up a lot of excitement. I recall a thrilling 2-2 game between two no-hopers in Tunisia and Saudi Arabia in 2006. Sami Al-Jabar rolling back the years and absent defending leading to Radhi Jaidi scoring a late equaliser. Super match even if it meant b****r all in the long run. That’s what the World Cup is about!

Finally, the BBC’s World Cup trailer is a thing of beauty this time round. They’re already 1-0 up on ITV already in that department.

 

[JuanPabloRaponi]

I also love the World Cup. It's fantastic and to be perfectly honest it'll consume my life.

This is my first World Cup with my girlfriend, although we did meet in the last World Cup. She LOVES the fact I remember the first day we met, memorable because James Rodriguez scored that screamer against Uruguay the following day.

Okay, she doesn't love it, she acts like she finds it mildly amusing but deep down I know she thinks it's stupid. But frankly she should be grateful, I can always google that (28th June 2014) and know the day before we met for the first time.

Luckily she is also a football fan, although not passionately, but understands the World Cup will be a priority over the next few weeks.

 

[Corporate_Clive]

I don't care that the World Cup starts this week.

I wish I could get more excited, but I can't. It doesn't have the usual excitement and anticipation that it usually has. SA had some excitement to it, so did Brazil. Russia has little going for it.

Who will win? I don't care.

I think you are getting old.

 

[Corporate_Clive]

I also love the World Cup. It's fantastic and to be perfectly honest it'll consume my life.

This is my first World Cup with my girlfriend, although we did meet in the last World Cup. She LOVES the fact I remember the first day we met, memorable because James Rodriguez scored that screamer against Uruguay the following day.

Okay, she doesn't love it, she acts like she finds it mildly amusing but deep down I know she thinks it's stupid. But frankly she should be grateful, I can always google that (28th June 2014) and know the day before we met for the first time.

Luckily she is also a football fan, although not passionately, but understands the World Cup will be a priority over the next few weeks.

You meet watching the games on telly or at a game?

 

[Scotters]

The office sweepstake lets me down once again, as it seems I'll be cheering for Saudi Arabia this year.

I think with the draw the way it is England will surely be hoping they can make it to the quarter finals as a minimum.

 

[holdsteady]

I still get excited by it, it’s the best summer sporting event by a country mile. Booked the second week off work so I can enjoy the culmination of the group stage games with a beer in my hand, it’s not as good quality as the champions league but it’s far more interesting and exciting than it.

 

[JuanPabloRaponi]

You meet watching the games on telly or at a game?

Apologies. Slightly misleading... We met out drinking but the world cup was on. From memory no actual game that day. I was pretty lucky with where I was living at the time. With one of my best mates and we had a big balcony, maybe 3m wide and 10m long. Set up a tv outside with a BBQ. we were very popular. Lots of World Cup parties and BBQs, best world cup ever!!


Oh and I met my girlfriend, I'm sure that contributed to such a good World Cup for me.

 

[JuanPabloRaponi]

I still get excited by it, it’s the best summer sporting event by a country mile. Booked the second week off work so I can enjoy the culmination of the group stage games with a beer in my hand, it’s not as good quality as the champions league but it’s far more interesting and exciting than it.

I love this commitment. We have a projector hooked up to the tv here at work and I have the keys to the control room and tv remote so I'll be working flexibly and trying to get home between games. Luckily I work about 40 miles from home and it takes me an hour on the train. If I still lived in Oxford a 1mile journey between games might not be possible.

 

[JuanPabloRaponi]

The office sweepstake lets me down once again, as it seems I'll be cheering for Saudi Arabia this year.

I think with the draw the way it is England will surely be hoping they can make it to the quarter finals as a minimum.

I have Panama, Croatia and Japan. We also have smaller prizes for things such as worst defeat and most cards.

I'm hoping I can reclaim some of my entry money by Belgium battering Panama and in return Panama kicking the **** out of Belgium

 

[Gary Baldi]

Are you going to start hundreds of threads about all the other subjects for which you have no interest?

Personally, I’m looking forward to this more than the last couple of World Cups.

England have a likeable and fluid team who should at least be more entertaining than their 2010 and 2014 counterparts.

Having binned off Sky a few years ago, it’ll also be a World Cup at a time when I haven’t really watched live football on TV for a long time so it’ll have more of a novelty value for me.

Plus, there are genuinely four or five teams which you would consider amongst the favourites so it’s relatively open too.

Should be good. Keeps things ticking over until the real action starts again in August at the Kassam at any rate!

I almost started a particular subject thread but in fairness to everyone, a moaning thread is more appropriate to minimise the contagion!

I've got bored with the endless Russia negativity and bovver articles everywhere - SA and Brazil werr bad but Russia is another level! Even the office Panini sticker club are giving up as the prices went up and amount of stickers you have went down.

Oh, and Glenn Hoddle as a commentator. Good coach, terrible, terrible commentator.

At least for once England fans aren't over rating our chances, so that is a massive positive! And no more golden generation talk

 

[Sarge]

This is the first world cup finals where I really am not that excited with a few days to go to kick off....once it's underway I'll take an interest in England games, as for the other matches I dunno? .. .. I get frustrated listening to idiotic banal commentators and pundits spouting rubbish..... and the bigger the gap between premier league and league football becomes the less interest I have in overpayed ,Over rated prima donnas (pseudo christian players, who inexplicably cross themselves, for no real reason during a match,yet they play on sundays & probably havent seen the inside of a church since they were children, they annoy me-(isnt there a fifa directive prohibiting that kind of thing?)what next muslim players taking prayer mats on the pitch and holding up play at corners or something?)...still the world cup keeps armchair/pub football 'fans' occupied for a few weeks in England replica shirts instead of their prem team that they've never seen live but have all the up to date shirts which they wear to the pub, ,so every cloud and all that

 

[Essexyellows]

Today i spotted my first car with cheap plastic flags on.... probably last about the same time as England do in the competition.
Various folk have taken to adorning their houses with the same dirty, tatty flags they hung up 4 years ago.......and the pubs have various "extra`s" such as a 8 pint dispenser you can have on your table.............. lovely.
I enjoyed Frankie Boyle in Russia last night though!

 

[Marked Ox]

This is the first world cup finals where I really am not that excited with a few days to go to kick off....once it's underway I'll take an interest in England games, as for the other matches I dunno? .. .. I get frustrated listening to idiotic banal commentators and pundits spouting rubbish..... and the bigger the gap between premier league and league football becomes the less interest I have in overpayed ,Over rated prima donnas (pseudo christian players, who inexplicably cross themselves, for no real reason during a match,yet they play on sundays & probably havent seen the inside of a church since they were children, they annoy me-(isnt there a fifa directive prohibiting that kind of thing?)what next muslim players taking prayer mats on the pitch and holding up play at corners or something?)...still the world cup keeps armchair/pub football 'fans' occupied for a few weeks in England replica shirts instead of their prem team that they've never seen live but have all the up to date shirts which they wear to the pub, ,so every cloud and all that

Likewise I can't say I'm that interested. I will watch games and if interesting will carry on watching them but if not quite happily do something else.

 

[Marked Ox]

Today i spotted my first car with cheap plastic flags on.... probably last about the same time as England do in the competition.
Various folk have taken to adorning their houses with the same dirty, tatty flags they hung up 4 years ago.......and the pubs have various "extra`s" such as a 8 pint dispenser you can have on your table.............. lovely.
I enjoyed Frankie Boyle in Russia last night though!

Frankie Boyle's comment about needing drink (I think he said substances) before watching Scottish football did make me chuckle.

 

[Marked Ox]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-44437851

Reason not to watch the opening ceremony.

 

[Gary Baldi]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-44437851

Reason not to watch the opening ceremony.

He must have a hell of an agent or have no scruples!